While I wait for laundry I will continue writing you. I hope my email hasn't sounded too down, truth be told most of the time things are great. Sundays are hands down my favorite day. We had the most incredible fireside last night, Clayton M. Christensen spoke. It was quite possibly one of the greatest talks I have ever heard. He spoke about his experience as a member missionary and how to teach people how to read, ponder and pray to gain stronger testimonies.
The closing song though was what sold it. It was a special arrangement of Called to Serve. I know you are familiar with the 2,000 stripling warriors, well the MTC has almost exactly 2,000 missionaries (I think it's actually 2,100) but this arrangement was sung by all 2,000 of us. It started with the piano playing a marching type of song with a couple fanfares, then we came in really quietly singing the first verse of called to serve. It was meant to paint the visual of an army on the other side of a hill marching to battle. As we began the second verse, we sang a bit louder as if we are coming over the hill and as we reached the chorus we sang louder.
"Onward ever onward as we glory in his name, onward ever onward as we glory in his name, forward pressing forward as a triumph song we sing, God our strength will be, press forward ever called to serve our King"
As we said King we stood and sung, as the D&C states, with all our heart, might, mind and strength, repeating the chorus. I am not going to lie, I was doing all I could not to cry, it was incredibly powerful. The spirit of God in that room was more powerful than words could ever describe. That experience alone makes all the sacrifices of serving a mission worth it. I can't wait to go and declare the word in Germany. This is the true church, Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, my testimony of that has already grown exponentially. The Book of Mormon is true, and Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet today. I love you all and will write you again next week. Thanks for the love and the prayers. Love,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen
P.S. There is a rumor floating around that Thomas S. Monson is speaking here on the 31st! How cool would that be?
1 comment:
Ryan, I got tears in my eyes just listening to your description of all of you missionaries singing that song. I can only imagine the spirit that must of been felt. Thank you so much for sharing.
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