Dear Mom and Dad,
I somehow neglected to mention a few things (I really dislike the email time limit). This past Sunday me and my district sang and arrangement we created of "Ye Elders of Isreal". We sang accapella, it was awesome!! I sang bass, Elder Young sang tenor, Elders Moss and Rivera sang alto and the rest sang melody. If I can, I will see if I can record it on my camera for all of you to hear. Also if you wouldn't mind posting that any letters sent after Thursday would better be sent to the mission office in Munich. Can you also send me a copy of my mission call? I would like a copy to refer back to periodically. Thanks for all the support and I look forward to talking to you briefly on Monday from the airport.
Love,
Elder Ryan K Christensen
P.S. I was just made District Leader, more info to follow
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Weekly Update
Dear Family,
Things have been going well for me here, this past week has flown by! It's nuts! I am still in disbelief that one week from now I will be making my way to Muenchen! I am so excited to go! The MTC has been... well interesting to say the least. From some letters that I have received, I noticed that I didn't exactly explain very well why I am in the international ward. The reason for this is most international students speak English, and so when they get called state side, or to an English speaking mission, they come here and learn the lessons, and gospel vocabulary for three weeks, then are sent off to their respective missions. This is common enough that they have made a branch for it. Because American curriculum does not require that you learn a 2nd language, it is very rare for an American to speak a second language well enough to be fast-tracked ( on the 3 week schedule) and sent out. I should clarify however that the Spanish speaking fast-track is a branch in and of itself, which I assume is filled with Americans. But that is just it, not very many Americans learn a non-Spanish second language, if a second one at all. Does that help a bit? It is rather weird being the minority for once. It makes me laugh however, because one of the first questions I get asked is " are you American?" Yes, I am American and I am the minority, please don't rub it in... :-) It's awesome though, I have met people from everywhere! Hopefully dad got my letter today about my travel plans if not I am sending you a copy of the full itinerary, but here is somewhat abbreviated version:
Report to the Travel office at 5 am ( I am one of the lucky ones, some elders have to report as early as 1 am! ( the church likes to fly them out so that the missionaries can start proselyting on the same day they land )).
I travel from Salt Lake to Atlanta, and then onto Munich. I will land there the morning of the 7th, which will be around midnight here.
I completely skip a p-day, so you won't get an e-mail next week. I should be able to call from Salt Lake airport though... so hopefully that will suffice :-)
Today being a P-day we got to go to the temple, and this time instead of doing an endowment session, me and my companion went and did sealings. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! The blessings of the temple are truly marvelous to think on. All of the promised blessings, and the ability to be sealed as a family for eternity! I always have thought that I had a concept of this, but until I was able to be a part of it, it really hit me, how incredible of a blessing this truly is! It's something that I have taken for granted, having been born in the covenant. It kills me that there are people out who don't have these blessings! And the only reason they don't know it, is because they don't know where to find them (D&C 123:12). This is why missionary work is so important, there are those seeking to come closer to our Heavenly Father, and don't know how to. We have been so blessed to have the gospel and all of these blessings.
That’s all for now, I will let you know of any changes,
Love you all,
Elder Ryan K. Christensen
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
MTC continued...
Dear Mom and Dad,
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.
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?
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?
Monday, January 23, 2012
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
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
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