Life as an Uncommon Elder

The rest of my mission can be summed up through reading my posts sent via email. The purpose of this post is to sum up some of my final feelings and bring some closure in my mind to the events that led to me finishing my mission early. Earlier today I read a blog post by another missionary who served in the same mission that I did. She went through a similar experience. She was so open and honest, and through her display of courage, I figured that I could do the same. (Her post can be found HERE ) To provide a short disclaimer, the things expressed in this post are entirely my own thoughts based on my own knowledge and experiences. They may not always be accurate because I don't know everything, and I would encourage anyone and everyone to investigate and form their own conclusions. In August of 2013, 5 months after I left on my mission, an ugly beast that had plagued me most of my life, decided to manifest itself in the most forward and unavoidable way. For most of my ...

Once again, writing sometimes seems to be the hardest thing to do... I entered the MTC on March 20th, 2013. I went through the entry process, got my badge, dropped off my luggage, and was dropped in the classroom where a wonderful and smiling teacher greeted me but would only speak to me in a secret code that only she could understand (turns out it was Vietnamese). I had to go do some things on a computer, then I was sent for an orientation and officially met my companion. I specifically remember feeling really awkward, but not a normal awkward where I smile and act cool, then when I get some alone time I run away and cry to myself; this was an awkward where I knew that "alone time" would never come (unless you count sleep). That day, I was in so much of a haze that as I think back on the memories, I can't remember much other than the sequence of events, and how I felt. I was traumatized and scared, I felt inadequate, and strangely unworthy because I didn't feel pre...

Sorry for not writing for a fairly long while. the plans I had to write regularly kind of went up in smoke. Despite my best intentions, and my several recurring attempts, I never seemed to manage converting the thought and intent into reality. ...Continued As I left the temple that day, I was riding in the passenger seat of my friend's car. I pulled out my iPhone 4 and called my boss at the time. In a concise way, I informed him of my decision to quit, that I felt it was right, and that I'd be willing to work it out to make it as smooth of a transition as possible. We decided that it would be best for me to give it a few weeks, and I decided that it was okay not to be hasty. When you quit a job without a contingency plan, it can be a very stressful experience. All of a sudden you have bills that you know you're not going to be able to pay, the things that you've become accustomed to will vanish. But despite all of these fears and worries, I knew everything would b...

...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. ...

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...

For those of you who follow this blog via Facebook, you already know that I have returned from my mission. Albeit I'm home a year earlier than anticipated, my mission experience has been the best thing I could have ever done; Challenges and all. Now that I have more availability over the next few weeks (and have adjusted from jet lag) I would like to share my experience that it might provide some help and insight for those who have or know someone who may have experienced something similar. The next few posts are just going to be a telling of my story as I remember it. I hope you enjoy. -Uncommon, but no longer an Elder Tim Ryan

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

Sorry for not really writing the last little bit. Things here have been a bit hectic and crazy, and my world has been a bit topsy turvy the last couple of weeks.   So update, the investigator that we've been teaching for nearly 2 and a half months is finally going to get baptized!!! I'm so excited!!! But the sad news is I'm getting transferred to work in the mission office for a while so I may not be able to attend the baptism (I really hope I can though).   As a way of distracting myself, I want to post some of the funny things I've learned through what may have been the hardest period of my life so far:   -People are ticklish, and don't like to be tickled (namely my companion) -People think Mormon Missionaries are Jehovah Witnesses, but once they find out we're not, they're usually pretty happy to talk, even if they're not interested. -I haven't really had to eat much fish -I don't have as much time to bake as I'd like ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!   Not much to speak about this week, but thank you to all of those who sent packages and well wishes. They are greatly appreciated. :)   With Love,   Elder Ryan

So... Christmas is coming! It doesn't feel much like Christmas time, but the spirit is definitely here. It's not cold, on the contrary, it's pretty hot, and is going to be around 90 degrees on Wednesday. We'll be going to a baptism in the city on Christmas day, as well as spending time with families in the ward.   on a side note, I made some very tasty Caramel. :)   With Love, Elder Ryan

Hello all you on the mailing list and blog followers!   I have a pretty good amount of time to write, and someone called me out on not really putting substance in my correspondence, so today you're getting the whole enchilada.   So, this last week we had a baptism with a really awesome person named Trung. He's a really great person, his family is from Vietnam, but he was born here in Australia. He's led a pretty crazy life, having a lot of fun, has a lot of great stories, but decided that fun wasn't really bringing him happiness, so when some missionaries asked him if he wanted to be baptized, he said yes! Because he's Vietnamese he was referred to us, and we began to teach him. We started slowly and went thorugh each of the lessons making sure that he understood what he was learning, and the commitments he would be making when he entered the waters of baptism. He committed to read the Book of Mormon each day, and for the most part, did read it. He really p...

These last two weeks have been pretty good! We've been preparing one of our investigators for baptism. He's super awesome, and his mom is really glad that we've been coming by. He's stopped smoking, comes to church, is willing to keep all of the commandments, and is super ready for baptism. It's really exciting that as we've exercised our faith that we've seen miracles to help us reach the mission goal. We just keep praying that everything will work out. :)   Our other awesome investigator is still working Sundays, we keep praying and hoping that it will all work out in her favor. She knows the church is true, she really wants to follow Jesus Christ, but she needs her job, so some patience is required... Because we've taught her all the lessons already, we've just barely started doing in depth scripture study with her. Yesterday, we went over a timeline of the complete cannon of scripture including all of the standards works of the church.   ...

didn't have time to write a blog post this week.   Love you all, will write for sure next week. :)   Elder Ryan

So, this week has been a good one. The weather (while crummy this week) is going to get HOT by Wednesday. I'm mostly over a cold that I managed to get from my companion (side note: I know it's good to share, but sometimes I wish people wouldn't). Our awesome investigator came to church this week. We even got permission to go into the city to show her the International branch there. It was great to get to visit the ward where I served and know everyone. I'm likely to return there in the future as well.    A tender mercy of attending the branch this past Sunday, was that, while at the branch I had an investigator that said they wanted to join our choir. At the time, no one had even thought about a branch choir, but I didn't want to tell him we didn't have one, so I got to work talking to the branch music leader. She didn't really want to, and thought that too many people would join, but I insisted. I encouraged her nearly every week. My last week in the b...

So Normal generally means really good for me. Things have been level overall. My companion was a little sick this week but we still managed to have a productive week and make things happen. :) Our super investigator is still SUPER(!!!), and progressing really well. She really has a desire to follow Jesus Christ, she understands the doctrine and is developing an awesome testimony. This is what missionaries live for!   There are lots of great things going on here in the Melbourne Mission. The weather is heating up, there are a lot of exciting developments, and the mission is working to reach our end of the year goal of each companionship baptising one in the last quarter as a personal Christmas gift to the Savior. With faith and action, we will acheive it.   Best of luck to you all!   I love you!   -Elder Ryan