Letter #4

So i decided to wake up early this morning because i have huge news, and i have been really exited to tell you guys all week!! I AM GOING TO BE SINGING IN PRIESTHOOD SESSION OF GENERAL CONFERACE THIS WEEKEND! i made it! i was so excited i am going to get on a bus with the choir and go sing right behind the PROPHET! i have never seen any of the general authoritys so i am really exited! i feel like i am a teenage girl going to a back street boy concert! it is funny what the MTC does to you! ok so now the story of how i got in to the choir. first my whole district got in exept for me and one other elder! it was a raffle and there were no try outs or any thing to get in! so we went to the first practice anyway and asked if we could join the choir! he said he had 5 more spots, and there were 15 people in our position! he made us fill out a little expierence card, ( i of course wrote about my ammon days in the road show!) then we left! we both really wanted to get in, so we decided that we would fast! We eventually got a call to go to this room. we were both really nervous, we had no idea what was going to happen! as we sit there a ton of boys walked in, then eventually a lady! the lady was talking about try outs! SOLO try outs in front of everyone! we were very scared! but, then we figured out we were in the wrong place! we were in the room to audition for musical numbers at the next devotional!! it was soo funny! so we went to the next room over, and turned in our things and walked away! that was alot less stressful! so any ways later that night a lady came over the intercome and said will ELDER RYAN BARTON please call the front desk! i was a little nervous, i thought i would be in trouble, but then BAM! I was in the choir! SO anyways i am really exited, and hope you will all watch prestood conference to see me singing as a first tenor! i dont really know what that means but hey, it is first! must mean that i am like the first best or something! ha! KIDDING! i hope that you all will watch priesthood session and look for me singing away! ( along with all of the amazing talks that i am sure will be given!) But anyways, this week was another great one! I did way better at the staged teaching appointment then i ever have! I got the "investigator" to commit for baptism! although it was fake i still felt really cool! we also taught the second lesson, which was cool! i bought this little dry erase board to draw out the plan of happieness!! i thought it was a pretty cool idea! the other part of the task was to pick up the "investigator" from church only using chinese, and take them to the "Bus" (it was actully a room with a bunch of bench seats!) then talk with them about the commitments that they were asked to make! i was very lucky to have an investigator with very clear chinese. i could mostly understand him, and respond! which i was really happy about! I learned that whenever you have no idea what is going on, just bear your testimony! it usually works out, or they just look at you really funny! OH I got my full chinese name this week! Ra Li Bao which translates to hot strong buns! i thought that was pretty cool i am not going to lie! it might get changed, but as of now i am hot strong buns! chinese is still really hard! but it is amazing how much you start to like it even when it is kicking your butt! i like the challenge of it! I am really exited to just be able to speak it! My testimony grows here every day! it is amazing to see how much heavenly father knows me as a person.

Thank you all so much for the letters! I really love getting them! i hope that everything is going well for you guys!

Wo ai nimen!!

Boa Zhang Lao!

PS i think i am going to wear a red tie at confrence if that helps at all!

LETTER #3!

Hello Everybody!!!

 

So this week was a really cool week! it is amazing how fast that the weeks go by here! i still feel like i just barely wrote an email! well, where do i start! let's start with the funny stuff! so my zone assigned all- of the new missionarys mentors this week. (which has been really cool) the mentors are all really nice. One of my roomates mentors is halarious! he came into our room and started showing us the "secerets" of the MTC. the first secret was something called a narnia hole! it is a smal compartment in all of the closets that past missionarys hide various items in! we looked in ours and found a sword made out of toilet paper rolls!! it came with a note! that said this sword is named shengling (which in chinese means the spirit) it also said next door has a matching sword and do what you will with it! it was awesome! we have been having many wars with our new narnia toilet paper roll swords! the next seceret was the CREAM SODA TREE! some of you may have seen the picture i sent of the grass that said "dont step on me i am trying to grow" well the reason they don't want you to go on the grass is because the tree smells like cream soda!! it is incredible! i smelt it with out touching the grass of course! no joke leaned and sniffed! he also convinced me to try something called veggie paste and said it tasted amazing! (i know i am an idiot) i tried it and nearly threw up but it was totally worth it! what also really made my week was... every one is now getting their visas and flight plans! every one has been excited! a few days ago, an elder ran out of the mail room screaming,"i have a one way flight to boise baby!!!" that was the funniest thing that i have ever seen in my life! everyone was all amped about all these crazy places and he was so exited to go to idaho!! i love the MTC! this week i contacted 3 doors in chinese and talked about families! however, not as cool as it sounds! i had a bunch of phrases memorized, and had no idea what they were replying back! so i would just say "Hen Hao!" which means very good! or "dui!" which means correct! so hopefully all of them had families because i just continued through with my lesson! on the third contact, i taught the person the first lesson! but not in chinese, in english! but it went pretty well. i taught two guys and both of them were really nice! For any one that has not been reading my letters, these were staged investigators, and were not real! on the spiritual side of things, i bought a fresh copy of the book of mormon and have been marking every reference, attribute, doctorine, and words of christ! all in different colors! it has been so cool to really see how much that book really is another testiment of jesus christ! almost the whole book is completly marked up so far! i love doing this, i really recommend it to anyone that has enough spare time! it is a really neat expierence! i also heard a quote from gordan b hinkly that says "if you are learning a language, if you read the book of mormon at the same time, by the time that you are finished reading the book of mormon, you will know the language!" I HAVE BEEN READING REALLY FAST!! hah! i love my mission and the MTC. my testimony has grown every day from studying these things so much! I am still making so many new friends! Oh and another couple funny things... me and T J Toolson (Elder Toolson) are going to start writing letters back and forth! haha we got each other's box numbers (at the MTC)! that is going to be really funny! we had alot of catching up that we wanted to do! so that will be really good! and the other thing that was funny was last night about 400 young men watched "the testaments", it was funny to see 400 young men bawling their eyes out at the end of the movie!! you can't beat the MTC! I love all of you soo much and thanks for all of the letters! i look forward to them everyday! and they really do help me get through the week! 

LOVE BAO ZHENG LAO!

 i found our that Bao translates directley to warm buns! pretty seet name huh?!? elder warm buns!

MISSION PICTURES!

Letter#2

hello!!!!!!
Nihoa!
 
So it is insane to me that i am already writing another letter!! The weeks go by so fast here!!! it is really wierd but i am still loving it! oh and BIG NEWS! i am not staying twelve weeks i olney get 10 and a half because of the time that transfers happen to new york so i am kinda freaking out about that! THIS LANGUAGE IS INSANE!! i feel like i need to stay in here my whole mission! It is hard but when i look back at my progress i am actullly doing pretty good! it is just hard to do that when eveyone in your district is fluent! haha! ha but it is good it is challenging me and making me really work, wich i like! i am getting so much better at studying and organizing my self! I am so happy this is going to help me so much in college, and in life! I have not missed one day making my bed scene i have been here! which is not because i am over achieving, they ask you to, BUT STILL! i think i have made my bed more times here then i have my whole life! but i love it it is really turning into a habbit!
This week was my first teaching appointment, well a pretend one but it was very good practice! I had to cantact them in chinese, which did not go very well! but then i taught them the first lesson on the resteration! which i really enjoyed! one thing that i learned is that if you try to teach people by your self with out looking to the lord the whole time, or listening to the spirit your lesson will not go any where! it is so important to completly rely on the spirit and the needs of the investigator! it is amazing how things start to change when you really do that! Sometimes you dont even teach the lesson that you have been working the whole week on! you just do what the spirit says!
I have also learned this week that studying the gospel makes the language come sooo much faster! last week i would just try to cram in as much chinese as i could! but this week, i would start studying by reading my scriptures! and every time i felt like my head was going to explode i would crack open my scriptures! it is amazing how much it really helps! i was able to absorb so much more when i would do that! and it helps me to really learn the gospel better! you can never feel like you know every aspect or princible of this gospel! there is so much to it, and the more you study the more you will realize that! It also helps you to come closer to the spirit which helps you learn faster!!
I am making so many new friends here! i love it! every one already treats you like there best friend because we are all here for the same purpose! we have all left the same things behind, and that makes really united! i feel like i can walk up to anyone here and immediatly be there friend! my roomates and i are still having so much fun! my chinese name is boa zheng loa, and now when ever some one has to go to the bathroom they say i have to go drop a boa zheng loa! i hope that you can understand this with out me going into detail! but i will tell you that boa is more purnonced bow! ha it is really funny! lets just say the caffiteria food is rough!
Thank you all so much for the letters and packages! i never realized how much they meant to a missionary until i was one! i hope that you are all recieving my hand written letters i am sending!! the mail system here is really late i think! i have been getting the hand written letters really late!! but the dear elders and the packages come really fast i dont know it is wierd!! but i will keep writning you guys as much as i can! I love you all so much!!! wai ni men! ( I love you guys in chinese!)
yes i know i am a boss........
 
scincerly,
              Boa Zheng loa
 
P.S. i go to the temple evey p day and it is amazing!

His First Letter

Here is Ryan's First Email!!!  :)

Ni Hoa!!! Family and friends!!
 
First of all thank you so much for all of the letters and packages! my distrct was so jelous of all of the love that i recieved from all of you! And they have really made me sooo happy i can not even tell you!! I love the MTC it is so amazing and the spirit is so strong here it is incredible! You feel like you are in this amazing army of teenagers! it is really a great feeling! so far i have seen Elder Toolson, Elder Dyer, Elder Willis, and Elder Braman! all of them have grown so much from being here! I was so surprised to see there maturaty and how well they are speaking there languages all ready!!
Mandrin is SOOOO hard!! I dont think i have ever done any thing so hard in my life! and to top it every one in my district is almost fluent in chinese ALL READY! they either lived in china, or took like three or four years of chinese in school! i am the olney one that has no expierence! i have to work 10 times as hard as every one just to attempt keeping up! it is insane! every day i feel like i am cramming in a bunch of information for a test the next day!! it is really gnarly! but if any thing i have learned that the gift of tounges is real! After a long lesson with Zhung Loa shi one of my chinese teachers that is from tiwan! and speaks chinese really fast, i was feeling very discouraged because i did not feel like i was remembering anything! But as i walked to the cafiteria after to eat dinner, i started singing Nearer My GOd to Thee in PERFECT CHINESE! MY companion looked over at me ( who speaks very good Chinese) and said where did you learn that elder barton? i said i have no idea! I feel that is how the gift of tounges works, heavenly father lets you work your but off, til you feel like you are going to give up, then just then something like that happens!
My companion is really cool! His name is Elder Jacobs, or Jung Zhung Loa! he is exactly what i needed entering the MTC his chinese is very good because he took it all through high school, and he is funny and we have alot in common! along with my whole district! wE HAVE two other room mates that live with us, and both of them are halarious! they are really making this expierence so enjoyable! I am so greatful for them! we have so much fun together! just the other day elder Fawcett said we are all going to be ripped when we leave from laughing so hard all of the time! he is another one of my room mates!
I miss you all so much! but surprisingly i dont think about home as much as i thought i would! you get so caught up in the work here, that it seems like days all form together, and it is all that you can think about!! I am really loving my missio soo much! and am so greatful for this great oppertunity! i am closer to the spirit than i have ever been! I feel so happy and great all the time! ( exept when i am done getting beat up by Chinese!) haha!
Me and my district are becoming really close! we all bought hymn books in Mandarin, and go in the bathroom a few times a day to sing! (for the acoustics!) haha! It is really fun! we actully do not sound to bad! At least we think! ha! OH Now for my progress! I can already bear my testimony in chinese, and say prayers! which i think is not bad for 5 days! I am sure that sounds crazy but it is truly amazing what you can do with the spirit on your side! I feel like i could move a mountain right now my faith is becoming so strong!
I am so sorry for the rushed email and for all of the errors i am sure that i am making! we olney get 30 minutes every monday, in the mtc for emails! I can hand write letters my whole p day if i want! i just have to do some studying! ha alot of studying!
Thank you all so much i love and miss you all so much!!! Thank you for all of your support! i really mean it when i say that i could not do this with out you! The letters help a ton! PLEASE KEEP WRITING

MTC Address

This is so EVERYONE can make sure and write Elder Barton :)

Elder Ryan Lee Barton
MTC Mailbox #237
NY-NYCN 1116
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo Ut. 84604-1793

There is also dearelder.com where you can send emails and care packages. He will get the emails that day if it is sent before noon, and the next day if it is after.

THE BIG DAY!

On Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 Elder Barton entered the MTC! YA! Brother Barton sent us this picture right before he went in. He said it was really amazing and Ryan went in with a smile on his face!  Elder Barton is in our prayers and we know he will rock it out there! What a missionary STUD :)

Elder Barton's Open House

The Bartons' invited family and friends to come over for an open house on Monday, August 30th. Everyone was able to say their last goodbyes and excited to see him again in two years. He was set apart as an elder after the party that night. My parents and his family said President Crickmore gave him an amazing blessing.

Elder Barton's Mission Farewell

On Sunday, August 29th, Ryan gave his mission farewell. IT WAS AMAZING! They had to bless the sacrament twice because so many people came. Hannah sang a song that her Aunt Lana wrote her brother Adam (Hannah's dad) when he went on his mission. The spirit was so strong! Ryan gave an awesome farewell talk that had everyone cracking up and crying. He is such a great public speaker. He will be an amazing missionary!