Elder Ryan Rios was Elder Bellomy’s first missionary companion in Houston. On June 1, he honorably finished his mission and has returned home to friends and family in Highland, Utah.
This weekend we had the privilege of being in the congregation when Elder Rios spoke to his home ward for the first time in two years. (A ‘ward’ is the Latter Day Saint equivalent of a parish.)
Every missionary has a ‘trainer’ who is the person who shows the ‘greenie’ the ropes and teaches him what he needs to know to be a great missionary. Mission presidents typically choose only the finest Elders to train new missionaries. As far as we are concerned, Elder Bellomy got the best trainer he could possibly have. Eldrew loved his time with Elder Rios. We can honestly say that Elder Rios set Elder Bellomy on the path to be the happy, hard-working missionary he is today.
Elder Rios gave a great sermon. He shared some wonderful stories. He is a confident, articulate young man. He bore a strong, spirit-born testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We enjoyed being the congregation with his family, friends, and ward members.
We are sure that one of the reasons that Elder Rios is such a great missionary is that he has great parents. When Eldrew arrived in Houston, we got a call from his father introducing himself to us. He told us that he’d arranged for his son to take Eldrew out to a nice restaurant. He and his wife were excited that their son would be companion to our son and that they were praying for Elder Bellomy’s success and well being. The Rios’s have no idea how comforting it was for us that they were rooting for Elder Bellomy and that their son would be our son’s trainer.
After the sacrament meeting, we were invited to visit the Rios' home and participate in a family meal. Relatives from several states had gathered to honor and see their returning missionary. The Rios’ and their family are wonderful people. We traded stories, learned histories, laughed, and got to meet the missionary who served so honorably and trained our Eldrew.
Welcome home Elder Rios. Thanks for serving a great mission.
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