MTC

This will probably be shorter than I want it to be, I apologize, we only have a little bit of time to e-mail.  It has been killing me having to wait to tell you this but, I arrived here and was in class less than 30 minutes after you dropped me off.  I asked the teacher how long I would be here, and he said, "they didn't tell you?"  I said, no and he said this class is the Advanced Language Track, if you are in this class you will only be here for 3 weeks" YES!!  Elder Young and I (he is my companion, and lucky for me also happens to be going to my same mission) were blown away and excited.  It has been interesting here, I didn't officially get a companion until day two (being the advanced language track has really caused a lot of chaos) Because of the advanced language track I am in the international ward, which according to my Zone Leader makes me and Elder Young the first Americans they have seen in the ward for awhile.  It is so awesome! Everyone in my ward is from a different part of the world, and I get to meet and learn a little bit of a few different languages.  For example 1 of my Zone leaders is from France, and the other is from Denmark (he is fluent in German which makes it fun to talk to him)

The days are going a bit better now, at first it felt as each individual day was an eternity.  But as we adjust to the schedule it makes it easier.  There are a few buildings that are shut down due to renovation, so there are 6 elders per room with 4 closets to split between them.  I wouldn't change it for anything though, my roommates are the coolest!  Elder Tiatia, lived in Samoa for a few years before moving to Orem, he was called to serve in the Auckland New Zealand mission, Samoan speaking.  Elder Moss is from Washington state and is called to serve in the Germany-Berlin Mission (on his ID card it abbreviates it as GER-GER and so we call him Elder Gerber, mainly when he does something stupid, we all get a laugh out of it, even Elder Gerber.  :)  Elder Rodriguez is his companion from Mexico City, and is going to the Riverside California mission Spanish speaking.  Elder Young is my companion, he is from "St Louis Illinois"  He lives in Illinois, but he is so close to St Louis that he will say that is where he is from when asked.  As previously stated he is going to the Alpine-German Speaking Mission as well.  It is good to have German Speaking elders in the room, it allows us to practice our German.  Being here for 3 weeks (actually it will be close to two (I won't know till tomorrow, but we will likely leave here February 6th, a Monday two weeks from today).  They don't teach us any German, so we have to find time to teach ourselves.  Which I think I like better, it allows me to study what I want, I have already taught myself how to pray in German, and have advanced my language enough to be able to teach the lessons (they aren't called discussions anymore) in German, and be able to answer virtually any question they can ask about them, and it's only been 5 days.  There is so much more that I would love to say, but I don't think we will have enough time so I will try to give you the highlights, and perhaps wreite you a letter.  But overall things here have been alright.  It's hard, I look forward to mail every day and as of yet, I am the only Elder who hasn't received any mail (except the package that I got this morning, Thank You :) )  I do realize I have only been here a few days, so I assume letters will come as people get time.

Thanks for the package and the notes, it helps :)  Life has truly been great here.  I am doing well and know this is where I am supposed to be.  Expect a letter in a few days with the rest of my stories.

Until then,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen