Ty Bielozer grew his faith and his confidence on a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“My faith has been a large part of my life,” the North Ridgeville High School graduate said. “I already enjoyed sharing what I believe and this was an opportunity that always interested me.”
In the Mormon church, men and women as young as 18 are encouraged to become missionaries.
They are trained for six weeks, sometimes learn a foreign language and are placed throughout the world to share their faith and serve others.
Ty, 20, is the oldest of Keith and Alexis’ three children.
As a high school student, Ty played trumpet in the marching band, earned straight As and stood out as a kind, motivated young man, his dad said.
However, the mission field changed everything.
“The transformation is crazy,” Keith said. “When he came back, he was a man. He’s not my little boy anymore.”
After being accepted at Brigham Young University, Ty deferred enrollment to go on his mission which took him to Spanish speaking neighborhoods in the greater Seattle area as one of approximately 200 missionaries.
He said he now is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese.
Ty’s daily and weekly activities while on mission were pretty tightly scheduled, beginning with daily workouts, scripture and language studies.
Once a week, he could call home.
The rest of the time was spent finding ways to talk to people working with a rotating companion.
Playing basketball, soccer, working with location congregations on service projects and old-fashioned door-to-door visits, the missionaries worked on building relationships and inviting people to learn more about their church.
“Most people were very respectful, although they weren’t really interested,” Ty said. “It totally depended on the day but there were a wide variety of reactions.
“A lot of times we would find people who were interested in learning more.”
Homesick
The early days were hard for both Ty and his family.
“It was super hard for six or eight months,” Keith said, and then the family settled into a routine with weekly phone calls and ways to involve Ty in family meals, games and other traditions.”
At first, Ty said he was really homesick.
“It was definitely a big wake-up call from high school to real life,” he said.
Ty said he believes he is more organized and appreciated learning to cook and live on his own while getting along with a lot of different people.
“I got a lot better at handling stress and helping others handle stress,” he said. “I’d say emotionally is where I matured the most.
“It was a great opportunity to develop good habits and learn.”
Ty also had an opportunity to lead, a role which rotated among the missionaries in his area.
The goal of sending missionaries out is to grow the church, Keith said, so it’s not for everyone.
However, Ty had wanted to go since age 12, following in the footsteps of his mother’s brother.
He is so well-liked, his dad said, dozens of families from outside the Westlake congregation logged on for his Facebook Live send off.
“We kept telling Ty, you’re doing missionary work and you haven’t even left yet,” Keith said.
Ty’s parents weren’t the only ones to notice his transformation.
“It definitely was a great program for him,” said Kevin Bielozer, Ty’s uncle and the chief of the Westlake Police Department.
“I’ve never met a kid like him,” added Kevin’s wife, Aimee, “to always have such a drive and want to do better.”
Ty is majoring in computer science at BYU and playing trumpet for their marching band.
He earned the coveted spot by being one of 900 to submit video auditions for the 300-member group.
His mission
Ty continues to work his assignment in the church, co-leading a group of other students.
He knows that his time in the mission field will help him with whatever the church asks him to do in the future.
Ty said mission is not required for any of the church assignments, but he knows it made a difference for him.
“The mission is a personal thing to devote yourself to the Lord,” he said. “The mission gives you a lot of skills that will help you do your assignment.
“I just need to make sure I keep applying what I learned.”
Devotion to the Lord is the primary consideration for anyone thinking about making a mission, Ty said.
“Take the time each day to pray, read your scripture and recognize what the church has done in your life,” he said. “Make sure you believe in what you’re doing.
“The experiences are deep and life changing.”
