OH MY GOSH! SO it turns out today is my PDAY out here, so i am really exited that i get to write everyone so fast! WOW this place is insane, let's just say it is not very much like Carlsbad, CALIFORNIA or the MTC! Very different! The streets are filled with people! As i am sure all of you can guess... my first area is China Town! I have a really cool first companion, his name is Elder Near and he is from Iowa! (dont worry, he doesn't wrestle so i won't be getting any more skinned knees!) But he is really funny and knows amazing Chinese! I also live with two other missionaries who are also extremly cool! One of them is from Hong Kong and the other is from Utah i think? Pretty good guess! But they are all awesome i really lucked out!Ok... so let me just tell you about yesterday! First i woke up at the mission home, ate breakfast, had a fast lesson then we hit the road to meet our new trainers! Of course, as i am sure that you can guess we met in the Bronx, in a five story church building! The windows were bullet proof and it had a parking garage that was located under ground with a steal plated garage door! haha! The Bronx is actually a very good area for missionary work!!! Supposably, the missionaries have a really good rep with some of the gangs there so that is really cool! So then me and the 4 other Mandarin elders grabbed my stuff and walked through the Bronx to the closest subway entrance! Subways are soo cool! There are so many people on them and very interesting people! Our subway ride was about 30 minutes to get to China Town! Let's just say you know when you are in China Town! The smell changes to a nice pungent fish smell and all of a sudden a ton of Chinese music starts to play! I am no longer in the U.S.!!!!!!! I am in CHINA, and it is awesome! I am so happy! I had the biggest smile on my face walking through the streets of China Town, it is so awesome! OUR apartment is in the back of China Town! AND is very small!! so cool!So then, I unpacked and we went contacting right away! I guess one of the main ways that they contact here is by getting to teach chinese people ENGLISH! You tell them that it is a "free class" and they get all excited!!! They are a hallarious people! One of the ladies i contacted yesterday laughed at me the whole time and did not speak a word, then said "bye bye!" haha! I love Chinese people! They get so surprised when i speak to them! They say, "how do you know chinese!" really loud! It is awesome! I asked this little old man where he was from and he grabbed my shoulder pulled me about two inches away from his face then said, he was from Beijing! Then said something that i did not understand! I asked my companion what he said and he said he asked me if i could get him a green card! Contacting is so fun!!! I got a few people to take pass along cards and i was really happy about that!Then, i went and saw my church building! A very small floor of a building with about 30 members! They have a ping pong table in one of the class rooms! How awesome is that! I look forward to getting "whooped on" by some of these members! It will be a blast! ha ha! We also have two sisters in our district from mainland China and they are very nice people! At least if i can only understand what they were saying!Then to close of my day, I taught a lesson in English! some of the English Speaking elders in Manhattan needed a companion to come teach a single lady! It was so wierd teaching in English! She had 4 kids and was a single mother! Last Sunday she took all of her kids with her to attend church all by herself! Getting on subways and pushing her 3 month year old child in a stroller! She is an amazing investigator, i really think she is ready for baptism! Then i came home and tried to sleep through the sound of sirens and car alrams! "It's the best!" (nacho libre voice!)Well, yesterday was awesome! I really am enjoying the mission field! 117 motts st new york new york 10013 is my China Town address! You CAN send small packages and letters there! (bigger things to the mission home address!) THANK YOU all for your love and support! Sorry this email was a little long! I had alot to say! Love you guys and hope you have a great week!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Letter #12 OUR BOY IS OFF TO NY
Monday, November 15, 2010
Letter #11
> Well i had a very interesting week in the MTC! lets just say fisrt of all i am now not leaving tomorrow! I was extremely surprised! My whole zone leaves tomorrow but i have an extra week! Because i would have been the only one in my travel group, they wanted me to wait a week so i could go with a few other New York North missionaries! I am going to be very out of place though because they all speak spanish! I leave neaxt monday at 5 in the morning! So unfortunately, i don't think that i will be able to write an email next week.
> I think that my P day when i get to NEW YORK is on a Monday! So i will spend my P day on a plane! Not that it is a bad way to spend a P day!
> ANYWAYS let's get to some good stuff! Guess who came to the MTC this week to talk?!?!? ELDER BEDNAR! Is that four apostles in a row now?!?! It was amazing!!! I have always loved Elder Bednar. He speaks so clear and diriect about his topics! He taught us about teaching with doctrine! He said we all focus on appications to much of the time and don't think about the doctrine and principles behind it! It was really funny...ME and my district were in the cafeteria and we heard someone say that it was Elder Bednar speaking that day.... we were planning on just going to the overflow, but we sprinted in to the gym to get seats when we heard who was speaking! I ended up with almost front row seats! It is amazing to see an apostle in person! If you have seen one, you know what i am talking about! As he spoke, he caught eye contact with me a few times... I don't think i will ever be able to forget the feeling that i had. WOW i am so spoiled here aren't I?
> This week was extremely effective! I only had 4 people in my district all week so i was able to get alot of individual attention from my teacher and it was amazing! I really was able to feel myself improve this week! Not even close to prepared for the Chinese people of New York however! I met some native Chinese Missionaries this week, they speak so fast! But it is very helpful to talk with them. They all have such funny personalities! They are really trying to help me speak Chinese! One of them heard about the gospel in main land China, but had no idea what it was. He flew to Hong Kong ( which is not owned by China) and gave the Mandarin Missionaries a call! They taught him and he received baptism with in a week!! The other received baptism in MAIN LAND CHINA!
> It is so amazing to see what some of these people are willing to do just to be baptized! I wish that everyone had that strong of a testimony! If we did, we would have everyone serving missions and a huge increase of members!
> Well everyone, keep me in your prayers next week that i will be a good example to the younger elders in my zone! AND that i won't teach them any words in Chinese that are WRONG! ha! Well, i love this church and this amazing opportunity to serve a mission! It is so amazing how well heavenly father knows each of his children. I know that there is a reason that i have another week at the MTC... I am sure there is something that i need to learn from one of the younger elders! I will be sure to let you know as soon as i can how AWESOME NEW YORK IS!
> wo ai nimem
> bao zhang lao!
>
Ryan is now leaving to NYC on Nov 22nd... (early in the morning) His new address in NYC is:
Elder Ryan Barton
New York North Mission
700 White Plains Road, Suite 315
Scarsdale, NY 10583
We believe the mail will reach him weekly? The mailing address is different from where he will be living, so the Mission Home has asked us to not send too many packages nor too large as well! They asked us to NOT send perishable items ;(
They don't want Ryan to be mugged trying to get his things to his home in China Town and it is also difficult to carry packages on the transit systems... Once we get a chance to talk to Elder Dennis (returning from NYC NORTH Mission) next week, we will be able to let everyone know the mail situation :)
> ANYWAYS let's get to some good stuff! Guess who came to the MTC this week to talk?!?!? ELDER BEDNAR! Is that four apostles in a row now?!?! It was amazing!!! I have always loved Elder Bednar. He speaks so clear and diriect about his topics! He taught us about teaching with doctrine! He said we all focus on appications to much of the time and don't think about the doctrine and principles behind it! It was really funny...ME and my district were in the cafeteria and we heard someone say that it was Elder Bednar speaking that day.... we were planning on just going to the overflow, but we sprinted in to the gym to get seats when we heard who was speaking! I ended up with almost front row seats! It is amazing to see an apostle in person! If you have seen one, you know what i am talking about! As he spoke, he caught eye contact with me a few times... I don't think i will ever be able to forget the feeling that i had. WOW i am so spoiled here aren't I?
> This week was extremely effective! I only had 4 people in my district all week so i was able to get alot of individual attention from my teacher and it was amazing! I really was able to feel myself improve this week! Not even close to prepared for the Chinese people of New York however! I met some native Chinese Missionaries this week, they speak so fast! But it is very helpful to talk with them. They all have such funny personalities! They are really trying to help me speak Chinese! One of them heard about the gospel in main land China, but had no idea what it was. He flew to Hong Kong ( which is not owned by China) and gave the Mandarin Missionaries a call! They taught him and he received baptism with in a week!! The other received baptism in MAIN LAND CHINA!
> It is so amazing to see what some of these people are willing to do just to be baptized! I wish that everyone had that strong of a testimony! If we did, we would have everyone serving missions and a huge increase of members!
> Well everyone, keep me in your prayers next week that i will be a good example to the younger elders in my zone! AND that i won't teach them any words in Chinese that are WRONG! ha! Well, i love this church and this amazing opportunity to serve a mission! It is so amazing how well heavenly father knows each of his children. I know that there is a reason that i have another week at the MTC... I am sure there is something that i need to learn from one of the younger elders! I will be sure to let you know as soon as i can how AWESOME NEW YORK IS!
> wo ai nimem
> bao zhang lao!
>
Ryan is now leaving to NYC on Nov 22nd... (early in the morning) His new address in NYC is:
Elder Ryan Barton
New York North Mission
700 White Plains Road, Suite 315
Scarsdale, NY 10583
We believe the mail will reach him weekly? The mailing address is different from where he will be living, so the Mission Home has asked us to not send too many packages nor too large as well! They asked us to NOT send perishable items ;(
They don't want Ryan to be mugged trying to get his things to his home in China Town and it is also difficult to carry packages on the transit systems... Once we get a chance to talk to Elder Dennis (returning from NYC NORTH Mission) next week, we will be able to let everyone know the mail situation :)
Letter #10
> Hello!!
> Oh my... soo a crazy week in the MTC! A lot of really great things and some kinda sad things! First off, we will start with all of the great stuff that happened to me this week! First of all, I GOT MY TRAVEL PLANS!! I leave next Tuesday! I have to be at the travel office at 5 in the morning and have a one way flight into JFK airport and i am sooooooo excited!!! I can not believe how fast it came it is incredible! I am extremely excited yet scared at the same time. I am scared to go into the real world after being here for so long and having this constant spiritual charge all the time! It is going to be so weird!
> The sad...My companion and two other roommates left TODAY! So it is really wierd! I have a new companion now named Elder Stuart! He is from Provo, Utah and is going to New Zealand speaking Chinese! He will be able to walk the path of mordor from "lord of the rings", so i am a little jealous!!!!! I am not going to lie! I also have two new roommates who are serving in Hong Kong who are also very cool.
> We had some amazing speakers come to the MTC this week!! First off, we had M. Russel Ballard! I have heard 3 Apostles in a row now!!! I am so lucky! After that, we heard from Sheri Dew! Both of them were amazing speakers! I am sure now you can see why i am going to miss it here so bad!
> We took a Chinese Culture class this week that was insane!!!! I had no idea the chinese were so superstitious! If you write their name in red ink, they take it as you wish them to have a shorter life! RED INK! If you pass a old man on the street, it is very rude. If you drum with your chopsticks, it is rude. If you stick your chopsticks in the rice and leave them, it is rude. If you cross your legs with the bottom of your shoe pointing at some one, it is rude! If you give them an odd number of fruit, it is rude! haha This should be very interesting! I will be sure to count how many times I accidently offend someone!
> I also had an amazing expierence at my TRC this week. (the thing where we have the fake investigator) She was a native from Taiwan and was extremely friendly! The lesson was going great, we were really working hard to find what she needed to hear as the investigator, asking and answering questions. The spirit was very strong in the room. Suddenly we went off on a tangent about how her parents will eventually see that this church is true and be proud of her. We bore testimony of this for almost half of our lesson. Her eyes started to fill with tears as she told us that in real life she had just joined the church and her parents were having a hard time accepting her choice. It was amazing I was soo grateful that heavenly father gave me that opportunity to be an instrument in his hands. It really got me excited to start off my mission! I hope that i can have many more of these experiences.
> Well this week was amazing! I hope that all is well for all of you! Thank you so much for all of your love and support! You are making this mission so great! I LOVE my mission! I am soo excited to really get started in New York NEXT WEEK!
> bao zhang lao
> Oh my... soo a crazy week in the MTC! A lot of really great things and some kinda sad things! First off, we will start with all of the great stuff that happened to me this week! First of all, I GOT MY TRAVEL PLANS!! I leave next Tuesday! I have to be at the travel office at 5 in the morning and have a one way flight into JFK airport and i am sooooooo excited!!! I can not believe how fast it came it is incredible! I am extremely excited yet scared at the same time. I am scared to go into the real world after being here for so long and having this constant spiritual charge all the time! It is going to be so weird!
> The sad...My companion and two other roommates left TODAY! So it is really wierd! I have a new companion now named Elder Stuart! He is from Provo, Utah and is going to New Zealand speaking Chinese! He will be able to walk the path of mordor from "lord of the rings", so i am a little jealous!!!!! I am not going to lie! I also have two new roommates who are serving in Hong Kong who are also very cool.
> We had some amazing speakers come to the MTC this week!! First off, we had M. Russel Ballard! I have heard 3 Apostles in a row now!!! I am so lucky! After that, we heard from Sheri Dew! Both of them were amazing speakers! I am sure now you can see why i am going to miss it here so bad!
> We took a Chinese Culture class this week that was insane!!!! I had no idea the chinese were so superstitious! If you write their name in red ink, they take it as you wish them to have a shorter life! RED INK! If you pass a old man on the street, it is very rude. If you drum with your chopsticks, it is rude. If you stick your chopsticks in the rice and leave them, it is rude. If you cross your legs with the bottom of your shoe pointing at some one, it is rude! If you give them an odd number of fruit, it is rude! haha This should be very interesting! I will be sure to count how many times I accidently offend someone!
> I also had an amazing expierence at my TRC this week. (the thing where we have the fake investigator) She was a native from Taiwan and was extremely friendly! The lesson was going great, we were really working hard to find what she needed to hear as the investigator, asking and answering questions. The spirit was very strong in the room. Suddenly we went off on a tangent about how her parents will eventually see that this church is true and be proud of her. We bore testimony of this for almost half of our lesson. Her eyes started to fill with tears as she told us that in real life she had just joined the church and her parents were having a hard time accepting her choice. It was amazing I was soo grateful that heavenly father gave me that opportunity to be an instrument in his hands. It really got me excited to start off my mission! I hope that i can have many more of these experiences.
> Well this week was amazing! I hope that all is well for all of you! Thank you so much for all of your love and support! You are making this mission so great! I LOVE my mission! I am soo excited to really get started in New York NEXT WEEK!
> bao zhang lao
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Watch Out New York, Here comes Elder Barton!!
Elder Barton reports to New York on November 16. His new address will be:
Elder Ryan Lee Barton
New York New York North Mission
700 White Plains Rd. #315
Scarsdale, NY 10583
You can also write him on dearelder.com (a stamp charge will occur)
Elder Ryan Lee Barton
New York New York North Mission
700 White Plains Rd. #315
Scarsdale, NY 10583
You can also write him on dearelder.com (a stamp charge will occur)
Monday, November 1, 2010
LETTTTEEERRR #9!!!
Hi there!!1
> Another great week at the MTC!! And to start off, i would like to say sorry this letter has taken me so long to write! There was an E-mail account malfuntion today at the MTC!! And it was really scary, for a second i was not sure if i was even going to be able to write one!!
> But anyways!! Great week! We had a talk from Richard G Scott! We got two Apostles in a row!! How lucky are we!! I was so exited! He gave an amazing talk! He talked about spiritual promptings and the impotance of writing them down and remembering them! He then gave us a list of his own personal promptings! We are not allowed to copy them or use them in talks or anything. He wants us to just keep them for us!! It was so special! AFTER IT STARTED SNOWING!!! I was so exited! I of course, started a snowball fight! Which was all fun and games until, Elder Randel (a large man from New Zealand that plays rugby) got involved! He got a huge snowball and attacked Elder Peterson, a elder in my district! At that point, it was time to surrender!
> Next crazy thing! I am getting a new teacher! My native teacher is getting replaced with a new native teacher! And my new teacher barely speaks any English!! It is crazy!! I am bummed my old teacher is leaving, she was so funny and awesome! And made class very fun! But our new teacher seems awesome! I will have my first lesson with her on Monday! MY COMP got his travel plans. He is leaving next Monday! So i am freaking out!! I should get my travel plans this week! Can you believe how fast this has gone by?!?! It is so nuts! I will be sure to let you know if my departure date changes next Monday! But as of now, it is Nov 16!
> SO, i heard Alex Bertha's name called over the intercom this week to come to the front desk! I sprinted to the front desk! I saw his VISA but not him! hah... I saw his VISA before he did! That is pretty cool! But i didn't see Alex that day! I did the next day though and it was awesome! He seems to really be doing great!
> I bought an awesome pair of chop sticks this week! I have been using them very often to eat! However, most of the time i just eat "tator taughts" with them, I am becoming quite skilled! I am really starting to love Chinese and teaching! I have to rely on the spirit so much! The whole time that i teach, i am constantly praying!! It is amazing to see how much heavenly father is willing to help you when you give him all that you have to offer!!! There is no way i would be able to learn Chinese or even teach with out his help. It is very humbling! Well, the MTC is soo cool!
> I am loving my mission! I am getting so pumped to get out into the field!! I love you all, thank you so much for your love and support! It helps me so much!
> Love bao zhang lao!!
> Another great week at the MTC!! And to start off, i would like to say sorry this letter has taken me so long to write! There was an E-mail account malfuntion today at the MTC!! And it was really scary, for a second i was not sure if i was even going to be able to write one!!
> But anyways!! Great week! We had a talk from Richard G Scott! We got two Apostles in a row!! How lucky are we!! I was so exited! He gave an amazing talk! He talked about spiritual promptings and the impotance of writing them down and remembering them! He then gave us a list of his own personal promptings! We are not allowed to copy them or use them in talks or anything. He wants us to just keep them for us!! It was so special! AFTER IT STARTED SNOWING!!! I was so exited! I of course, started a snowball fight! Which was all fun and games until, Elder Randel (a large man from New Zealand that plays rugby) got involved! He got a huge snowball and attacked Elder Peterson, a elder in my district! At that point, it was time to surrender!
> Next crazy thing! I am getting a new teacher! My native teacher is getting replaced with a new native teacher! And my new teacher barely speaks any English!! It is crazy!! I am bummed my old teacher is leaving, she was so funny and awesome! And made class very fun! But our new teacher seems awesome! I will have my first lesson with her on Monday! MY COMP got his travel plans. He is leaving next Monday! So i am freaking out!! I should get my travel plans this week! Can you believe how fast this has gone by?!?! It is so nuts! I will be sure to let you know if my departure date changes next Monday! But as of now, it is Nov 16!
> SO, i heard Alex Bertha's name called over the intercom this week to come to the front desk! I sprinted to the front desk! I saw his VISA but not him! hah... I saw his VISA before he did! That is pretty cool! But i didn't see Alex that day! I did the next day though and it was awesome! He seems to really be doing great!
> I bought an awesome pair of chop sticks this week! I have been using them very often to eat! However, most of the time i just eat "tator taughts" with them, I am becoming quite skilled! I am really starting to love Chinese and teaching! I have to rely on the spirit so much! The whole time that i teach, i am constantly praying!! It is amazing to see how much heavenly father is willing to help you when you give him all that you have to offer!!! There is no way i would be able to learn Chinese or even teach with out his help. It is very humbling! Well, the MTC is soo cool!
> I am loving my mission! I am getting so pumped to get out into the field!! I love you all, thank you so much for your love and support! It helps me so much!
> Love bao zhang lao!!
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