Skip to main content

End of week 5


I JUST PASSED HALF WAY DAY!!!
 
The MTC is a magical land where you never hear anything from the outside world. I've heard rumors that there was some form of bomb at the Boston Marathon, but know nothing of the incident. When I came into the MTC there was tension in the Euro-Zone because f Cypress, there were issues of Marriage Rights preparing to come before the Supreme Court. I have no idea how any of these things have progressed, just as for most of you, I don't get to share in the joys and pains that you're going through. Even though I'm not there, and can't follow your Facebook or twitter, please know that I do care. I love and miss you all.
 
 There are a lot of things that you have to give up when you leave on your mission. The hardest thing for me has been listening to music. Prior to coming into the MTC, I listend to music like 80% of my waking hours. Now, when I get the chance to listen to music, it's only music from General Conference because it's on LDS.org, and those opportunities are exceedingly rare. Even though I don't get to have the constant companionship of my iPhone and the plethora of music that it held, I get the constant companionship of the Spirit of God. I think that's pretty cool too. On the subject of music, on Sunday, the BYU Men's Chorus performed for the devotional. It was amazing. I didn't have the best seat, but when I closed my eyes and listened for the polyphony of a live choir, it was magical.
 
Last Tuesday, for the devtional we had an extra special guest speaker. Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles addressed us; it changed my perspective on prayer. His message was simple, pray often, take the time to pray, pray with gratitude, pray with sincerity. There are so many influences in our lives, there are so many times when we let the world influence our thoughts, actions and emotions. I would like to encourage you all to let our Heavenly Father be one of those influences. He loves you, He cares about you individually, He created a plan for eternal happiness specially for you. If you want to grow closer to Him, talk to him, ask for opportunities to increase your faith.
 
Now I know there may be some of you who read this that don't share my faith; for you, I would like to encourage you to try and do a small act of kindness every day. I want to challenge everyone to make a specific effort to do one nice thing you normally wouldn't do every day this week. If you take my challenge, please write me a quick email and let me know how it went. I can promise that it will increase your love for those around you. It will create opportunities for you to build better relationships and make new or stronger friends.
 
With all my love,
An Uncommon Elder
 
Elder Timothy Scott Ryan

Popular posts from this blog

The happiest day so far this week! (9/16/13)

So this last week has been a week of overcoming, and I'm not ashamed to say that it hasn't been easy. I love my Heavenly Father, I love Jesus Christ, and I love the Holy Ghost. Without them, I would literally be nothing. I am not a perfect missionary, nor am I a perfect person, but I know through Christ's Atonement for us, I have received strength. Emails in the mission are always a plus. Letters are even better (but I don't expect people to waste money on postage).  At this time, I'd like to make a declaration of my faith. I don't really care if you don't agree, but it helps me to put it out there. I know that Jesus is the Christ; the anointed of God to come and cleanse us from our sins. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who knows us intimately, and we knew him before this life, and through a concerted effort, we can know him again. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know it, I know it, I know it! I know that Joseph Smith was a...
Read more

Pre-Story ( I love Context!)

My journey to becoming a missionary was far from your stock-standard, trial ridden, discovering of myself experience that it seems to have been for most of the missionaries that I served with. For me, the experience was pretty much just normal life, decisions, and an increase of trust and faith. Anyone who is familiar with the culture that exists in most LDS congregations (wards) will understand; missionary service is highly respected, and highly encouraged (even expected) of young men. At an early age, in Primary (Sunday school for children) I remember being taught about the great calling of missionaries. We would sing songs about hoping to serve a mission, color pages and write letters to missionaries serving from our ward. Growing up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the church) I don't ever really remember being confused about what it was that missionaries did -- Even if my original idea was that they came to people's homes ate dinner and shared scriptur...
Read more

What Should I Do?

...Continued from last post Things at this point were very good. I was excited about my job, I loved what I was doing and I really thought this was the path that I was meant to be on. I was having fun living down in Orange County, I was working a lot, and playing a lot as well. I had a pretty full social calendar with my friends from the YSA ward (ask your LDS friends what this means) and I volunteered with the Irvine Korean Cultural Festival. By no means was I just passing time, or waiting for life to begin; Life had already begun.  Around March of 2012, the rosy picture wasn't as rosy as I had originally perceived. Once again I began to feel unsatisfied in general. Ready to pack up at that point and try something different, I decided to pray. I wasn't fully committed to receiving an answer, but I prayed and was willing to listen. The answer that came wasn't really clear, but what I did know was that I needed to get out of debt and be qualified to go on a mission. ...
Read more