So, A lot has happened in the week and a half it's been since I wrote last. I'm no longer in the Bronx, but my visa came and I am writing from Australia. Funny story...
So I had been working with some investigators and such, and was having a fair bit of success. The people in the Bronx were amazing, and I loved them. My companion and trainer, Elder Fuller had been steadily increasing the amount of work, we had been slowly but surely increasing the numbers for the area, and we were starting to see some real growth in our investigators. Then, as I was out getting lunch after the district meeting on Monday, I was at the Checkers off Fordham near the church, and I got a call from Sister Dennison who worked in the mission office. She informed me that my visa had arrived and that I needed to get my things ready because my flight left at 6 PMthat afternoon. This call was received around 2 PM. Due to the international nature of the flight, I needed to be at the airport by 4 with an hour long drive from the Bronx to JFK. I'm sure you can imagine my surprise that I had a little less than an hour to prepare my things and get ready to go to Australia. After getting the call, I waited for my food to come, ran over to a cee and cee department store, bought a suitcase, ran back to the church to pick up my backpack and say good bye to the rest of our zone, and ran home with 30 minutes to pack...
So, working in the mission office for the last few weeks has been an interesting experience. I've been able to use the skills that I've acquired from my previous work experience, and help out the mission in different ways. It's very interesting to see how the work in the mission field is affected by the decisions and things that happen through the mission office. When things run well in the mission office, things in the mission field are a lot more smooth in terms of operations. I have a lot of respect for all of the missionaries that serve in the mission offices worldwide, they do so much to make sure that we as missionaries have a pleasant mission experience. There is a lot of work that goes into flats, cars, supplies, transfers, zone conferences, visas, etc. I have a new respect. Much Love, Elder Ryan