Week 4

Biggie Cheese = The Sickest (Week 4)

This week has definitely been an interesting one...

So normally my roommates and I are pretty good at going to bed at 10:30pm, where we just crash immediately after the long day. However, Sunday night, for whatever reason, we had this "debate" to figure out which person/tv character/historical figure was the so-called "realest" one. The goal was to name the most obscure/unknown character from our childhood within the deepest parts of our brains by saying, "You know who's realer than ______? ______." and then fill in the blanks with things like "The Guy" from "Spy Kids 3" or the hunter who shot Bambi's mom. This has easily been the hardest I've laughed since I've gotten here (sorry neighbors who were trying to sleep). We eventually came to the conclusion that the so-called "realest" one is Cookie, from Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, with honorable mentions being the rat that brought the black plague, and Dante, from "Dante's Inferno".

After staying up til midnight talking about that, and regretting it the next day, we did the same exact thing the next night, except we tried to figure out the "sickest" one. For this one, we concluded that, by a long shot, Biggie Cheese, the over-sized rodent from "Barnyard" that sings "Mista' Boombastic" was indeed the "sickest". My roommates are the best!

Also the Elders on my floor had the brilliant idea to create a sauna in the bathroom by turning on all of the showers to the hottest setting and hanging a sheet on the outside to prevent the steam from escaping. Seeing about 15 cramped half-naked Elders being super hyped about a sauna is a sight I don't think I'll forget.

On the more spiritual side, the devotional last night, given by S. Gifford Nielsen of the Seventy and his wife had many great messages of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Before God and Christ came down to the earth to answer Joseph's, Satan tried everything in his power to prevent Joseph Smith from praying to God by swelling his tongue and filling his mind with nonspiritual thoughts and images. 

Now a lesson that we can learn from this is that before every one of our happy experiences, we are also gonna have not-so-happy experiences. And vice versa, if any of us are struggling with something in our lives, just know that there is joy to come. Just keep pressing on - ask for help whenever you're struggling with anything to take some of the weight of your burdens off of your shoulders.

También es muy divertido a aprender y enseñar mis conocimientos en una idioma diferente. Habían sido algunos tiempos cuando mi distrito y yo no hablamos en ingles for todo el día, y he visto el don de lenguas en mi vida y en las vidas de otros misioneros. Estoy agradecido por todas las personas que me han ayudado a estar aquí.

Other than that everything is the same ol' same ol' here at the MTC. ¡Hasta luego!

Elder Terry

Fotos:

1. Two onion rings fried together and it looks like a sombrero --> SOMBRERO BURGER

 2. Some context: there's this painting of Abinadi and King Noah and in the background there's this funny-lookin' cheetah bein' all scared so...

 3. I drew it on these air fresheners cause it do be lookin' funny

4. The squad

Week 3

Hey everyone! Another great week finished!

So the Hermanas and the Elderes in our district are currently at war with each other, a gift war. One day, out of the blue, they surprised us with some candy and some motivational notes, so we had to return the favor. On this past Día de San Valentin (Valentine's Day), we gave them a bouquet of chocolate roses courtesy of Elder Law's mom, as well as a bunch of candy and some notes written on some origami hearts courtesy of yours truly, since that's all I'm good for. So that's a fun time.

This past Sunday during sacrament meeting I accompanied a special musical number sung by the guapos Elder Ward and Elder Muñoz. We performed "Savior, Redeemer of my Soul" and it went pretty well.

Elder Stephen and I also taught our first non-member "amigo" a 25-min lesson... en Espanol! Boy was that difficult, having only three weeks to learn a language and reciprocating everything that you've learned to someone who's never heard of the message your teaching. So that's a fun time too.

Finally, last night we were blessed to hear from the man, the myth, the legend Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the quorum of the twelve, at our devotional last night. Holy moly is he a great speaker; I have never taken so many notes in my life. Most of the messages had to do with missionary work, but one of the things that he mentioned that stood out to me the most was that in the story of the sacred grove, right before Joseph Smith tried praying to God to know which of the churches he should join, the most powerful thing that the Adversary could do to prevent one of the most historical events since the Atonement of Christ was to swell up Joseph's tongue so that he couldn't speak. Satan wins if we don't speak. He wins if we don't communicate, don't talk about our feelings or don't follow promptings to say something. He wins if we decide not to talk to a specific person on the bench that needed to hear an uplifting message. So open your mouth. Speak uplifting words and hopeful messages.

Other than this, everything else is still routine - just learning, studying, eating, sleeping, and repeating.

I'm excited for what's to come.

Elder Terry

One last thing, Amy Hatfield, the girl I went to Mormal with senior year (pictured below), just reported to her mission in Japan. I was great to bump into her at the MTC

Week 2

Hello everyone! Week 2 done!

Elder Stephan and I did our very first companion teaching to a non-member earlier this week and it went pretty well. We taught about how God is our loving Heavenly Father, how to pray, and the Plan of Salvation. It was in English so it wasn't super rough. However, tomorrow we have to teach for 25 minutes...in Spanish, so that's gonna be fun.

"¡Qué bendición!" is just a phrase that means "What a blessing!" that my Spanish teacher says after anything really good or really bad happens, and all of us have adopted that phrase now too.

My district is muy fantástico. Everyone is on top of it in terms of having great testimonies and learning Spanish. Elder Stephan and I have been called as the Music Coordinators of our branch, which has to be the easiest calling ever; we just gotta pick hymns, a pianist (which is probably gonna be me every week cause no one else plays), and a conductor every week for sacrament. Also I never have time to play piano cause there's no such thing as "free time" so I'm sad.

The whole district is part of the MTC choir, which consists of about 700 missionaries, and we perform at every Tuesday devotional. So far we've sang More Holiness Give Me and Joseph Smith's First Prayer, which have quickly become some of my favorite hymns ever. Also the director, Ryan Egget, has to be the best teacher ever; he's basically a comedian/gospel teacher for 50 minutes, and then a choir director for the other 10 minutes of practice.

To wrap things up, it's been awesome being in this routine of going to bed at 10:30pm and waking up at 6:30am every day instead of going to sleep in the AMs and waking up in the PMs. Also, contrary to what some people say, the MTC food is great; it's very diverse and tastes pretty good (although it's always cold by the time you start eating). And I'm starting to eat regularly and in bigger quantities and then exercising it off so I'm feeling great.

That about does it for this week. ¡Hasta luego!

Elder Terry

Fotos:

1. Spanish class

2. Elder Stephan and I at the Provo Temple

3. District Elders at the Provo Temple (prom style)

4. TRIPLE DECKER BUNK BED

5. District Elders lookin' guapo

6. Elder Mullen has a nice camera

Week 1

Hello all of you beautiful people whom I miss so very much!

It's ya boi Elder Terry here and I just finished the first of more than 100 weeks of my mission! This has been the longest week of my life at the Missionary Training Center (MTC). And to make it worse, I've been sick for a majority of the week as well. It started with just a sore throat just before I left for my mission, but by the end of the first day, my voice was basically gone. I actually couldn't speak; I had to just sit in silence for the first three days, which wasn't very fun cause all you do all day is talk. I also got very little sleep. It's definitely a lot better now cause my companion and the rest of my branch gave me a blessing on Friday night, and I was so much better the next morning.

Speaking of companions, I got the coolest one, Elder Stephen. He's a total stud and he and my roommates Elder Ward and Elder Fellows have definitely made this first week bearable with their light-hearted humor. My branch is also just a bunch of studs, and I see them all basically 24/7 in classes and devotionals.

Learning Spanish has also been a cool experience. I'm definitely very lucky to have taken four years of it cause I can pick up most of what's being taught pretty easily. However, it's taking a toll on the missionaries who have never spoke a lick of Spanish in their lives, since we're blasting through the basics, and we've already learned how to say a prayer, teach a lesson, and bear a testimony...in Spanish...in a matter of a week.

Also the highlight of the week is this cat named Sister Mittens, who just strolls around the MTC, and some elders gave her the priesthood as well, which got them kicked out of the MTC jajajajaja :)))

To wrap things up, the MTC food is good, it's cold (not Idaho cold though), and my Spirit is strong. Also it's rough to see people struggling with learning their language, dealing with stress, and just wanting to go home and see their families. I'm straight chilln' though; my motto has changed from "suck it up" to "press on" (it's exactly the same thing,  but more Christ-like)

Tengo un testimonio en el Evangelio de Jesucristo. Yo sé que por el poder del Espíritu Santo, podreís conocer la verdad de todas las cosas (Moroni 10:5). También, creo que es muy importante averiguar las respuestas de sus preguntas a través de oraciones. Yo digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, amén.

Please email me at ryan.terry@missionary.org anytime to brighten my day (although I can't respond to anything until any Wednesday), or send me stuff at
Elder Ryan Scott Terry
03-10 | PER-LIMS
2005 N 900 East, Unit #147
Provo UT  84602
United States

See you all next week! (With a lot shorter email :D)

Pics:
1. Mi compañero Elder Stephen and I

2. My district (I didnt get the photo positioning memo)

3. Sister Mittens (obviously excited to have received the priesthood)

4. Elders in my district

5. The view from the MTC

6. The Provo Temple

7. I thought of Jordan when I saw this