19 Days in the MTC

While Ryan was in the MTC we were able to email back and forth, so we don't have any actual letters. I will do my best to summarize his experience while there.

He was able to teach investigators. He shared stories about three of the people he taught. The first was named Johnny:

"Our first one is Johnny. When we met him, he didn't believe in God or anything. He also didn't believe that we evolved. He believed that there was a middle ground. He also was also wondering if there is a God, why he let's bad things happen. So in our first lesson we talked about how he is a child of God, and that Heavenly Father loves him. And that we have agency that let's us make choices. And if God stopped the bad things from happening he would be taking away their agency. We committed him after the lesson to look at the tender mercies that the Lord gives him every day. In the second lesson we talked about the restoration and it some how ended up in doing temple work, but the spirit wanted us to go there so we did. And after that lesson we committed him to read the Book of Mormon. So in two lessons he went from not believing to starting the Book of Mormon."

The second was named Arnold:

"Our second guy is Arnold. And he is one of the nicest old guys I have ever met. He believes in God and all of that. He just didn't feel inclined to join any of the churches he has been to. So we talked to him about Joseph Smith. And how he was in the same situation. Arnold also doesn't like to pray because he said the last time he got an answer to his prayer, his wife died. And then the spirit told me to tell him that he could pray for his wife's comfort. Tonight we are going to teach him about the plan of salvation and how he can be with his wife again."

The third was Jose:

"Yesterday we got to give Jose a blessing because he has anxiety and insomnia. And after the blessing we talked to him about why God gives us challenges. At the end of the lesson we were bearing our testimonies, and the spirit told me to make him a promise. It told me to tell him that he was going to make it through his struggles and be stronger from them, and that he would be able to help others struggling through the same thing. It was really neat."

Ryan's companion in the MTC was Elder Lowe. He said they got along very well. They have the same interests. He was excited that they were able to be the zone leaders before they left. This meant they would write reports to the Branch President about the progress in their district, interview district leaders, and do the orientation for the new, incoming missionaries. They were able to attend the temple on their P-days (prep days).

Ryan was excited to report to me that he exercises everyday, brushes his teeth everyday, washes his face everyday, and writes in his journal everyday. These are things I would remind him about constantly (except the journal writing). He did say that he had gained 5 lbs though. He also goes to bed and wakes up on time everyday!

After 19 days in the MTC, he was sent to the airport to report to North Carolina. They had to wake up at 3:30 am to leave. He was able to call home at 6:00 am. We were all a little tired, but we talked for 20 minutes. Around 7:30 am, Dustin got a text from a stranger. It had this picture:

The caption read, "This is all you get till Christmas!" I thought it was thoughtful of someone to think of this boy's parents!! It sure made us smile!!

Here are a few pictures from the MTC:

This is Ryan putting his awesome sewing skills to work after his laundry bag ripped!!