August 30, 2011

So everything is going pretty well here, we got 2 new roommates, one of which I was friends with at BYU so thats pretty cool. We also had our whole schedules changed cause of our teachers byu schedule so we will see how that goes. Its about to be an entire month here and the days go by faster and faster each day. I got 2 packages from Julie and Juliun which has been sweet to hear from them. The portuguese is coming along pretty well too which is great, although it is kinda tough to have a conversation because we know a lot of verbs but most/nearly all of our vocab is gospel things, which makes sense and I can teach lessons more easily now but if you ask me about going shopping I would have no idea what to say haha. This week has gone really well, I feel the spirit more and more each day. Also its sweet cause i thought I wouldnt be prepared gospel wise but what I have found is that the lessons are really simple and basic. Of course more preparation would have been nice but I am feeling I am doing well. Oh and can you guys ask about the visa situation cause I havent even gotten my online done yet, so I will probably be reassigned somewhere like most of the brazilian missionaries are but it would be nice to go straight down there. Oh and I asked last week if you wanted pictures but no response, dont worry mom I am taking some about 30 or 40 so far. My district is getting alrong really well and we are like a big family, we get a little roudy in class but we work hard too. So about the shoes, my heels were just killing me for the first 2 weeks so idk we will see how it goes. Also my pants that mom hemmed were too short so I am getting the hemming redone(my bad mom, thought they were long enough), but if kess could maybe get a dark grey ones, even from DI would be sweet. It would be nice just not to have to switch off from my blue ones to charcoal and then back. Anyways though I think an apostle might be coming tonight but we will see. It was tough at first but really now starting to feel the spirit and see the change I can make in peoples lives, even though they are fake investigators. I have also used a lot of stories in class about the trips to Ecuador and Bolivia. So that has been great. My comp is pretty cool, occasionally gets on my nerves and tries to tell jokes somethimes but its fine haha. So Taylor wanted t know what we did on P days and its basically temple, laundry, eat, sleep..maybe, and just hang out with guys in our district and then we will have choir practice and a devotional tonight. So its good, got a bunch of great guys in my district so its been a lot of fun. Hows 7th grade going for pooch? soccer still? hows junior year for mals going? and hows xc? she still managing my fb? haha How was Taylors trip with grandma? I heard gma's prespective but I want taylors. I heard mom hit charlie....it just wasnt hard enough! Thanks for all the emials dad and the updates. You start at BC yet? and never got that letter from Jake you told me about. I wish I could have heard chandlers talk I am sure it would have been sweet.

Love you all and thanks for keeping me in your prayers.

Elder Ryan H. McCord-

Pictures before going into the MTC

 Ryan and his cousin McCord

 Ryan's last kiss from his aunt

Other missionaries going into the MTC

August 22, 2011

So this week went pretty well, thank you for all the mail and the package, the picture of AJ's mole was especially nice! How's kess training going? or did she stop? Where is she working next summer? Hows mallory's training for xc going? she running on her toes yet? How's Taylor's trip to South Dakota with grandma going, I bet she is having a blast. Has Pooch finished his summer reading book yet and has he started basketball? Thanks for the quotes each day mom, they really help me out. How was Jackson Hole? what did you guys do? Oh and tell dad to pay the net on my paychecks

This week went pretty well, I finally feel like I can effectively teach in Portuguese which is amazing. Even though the investigators we teach are just our teachers or other teachers pretending to be someone else, when you truely give a lesson driven by the spirit you can feel it. During the middle of one of our first lessons with an investigators I asked for them to be baptized and set a date and they said yes. That truely was a great feeling. The teachers here truely do care about your progress which is very nice and encouraging. Tell Jessica to look up Steven Cope, one of my teachers who is in Ricky Clark's ward. Stephen B. Allen spoke yesterday and the guy is hilarious, he had all these stories about obedience. Then he gave the talk which he wrote about feeling the spirit. Sometimes it is nice to mix in the comedy because some of the days can feel like a grind. sometimes we spend up to 10 hours in the same classroom! The Portuguese is coming though, I can say a lot about the gospel and I feel the words I need to know for the streets will come when I get down there. Nearly all my prayers are in Portuguese and I say a lot of them (need all the help I can get haha). Starting to get along better with my comp, we definantly have rough times but for the most part it goes well. I feel bad for another kid, Elder Heilner, who was actually in Grandma Hollands ward in Plano, his comp doesnt stop arguing. Arguing and contention drive the spirit away, yep after 19 years I finally got that lesson mom. Anyways we play soccer quite often during gym time and we split it up whites versus and we havent lost for 2 weeks, the Mexican Elders arent happy. Oh Weston Healy just got his visa, he is Duffy's comp so he is leaving tomorrow. I just want to get mine soon and get down there!!! It is fun here though, the lilttle things you find joy out of are amazing. From drawing on the whiteboard to singing songs just to help us from going crazy during all the study time. Oh and the whole district, all 11 of us are in the choir for the 2nd straight week, its sweet and way better than studying. Never thought I would get so much joy out of singing hymns but sometimes I just stop and listen and the spirit is there and its powerful.

Well Love you all, and thanks for the Dear Elders they really keep me motivated throughout the week.

Love your son, brother, and missionary,

Elder Ryan Holland McCord

August 15, 2011

In my district there are 11 guys including myself. Duffy, Kolb, and Healy (Trish's friends from Ecuador) are all in my district. The schedule is getting more routine and easier. I have learned a lot this past week and a half about what it is to be a missionary and also a lot about myself. It is not easy to be around the same person for 24 hours a day but Elder Clingman and I are finally starting how to figure out how to make things work. We get fake investigators who we teach all the way through, in only Portuguese of course, but its starting come though. I find myself speaking more and more each day and its absolutely amazing. I have also found this experience to be humbling and that I have had to turn myself over to the Lord, because I know I can not do this on my own. This has been very evident in my lessons, when there is just a voice that takes over and gives you words that you may have only seen once. At first this work was so difficult and it still is but I am working as hard as I can everyday and I am starting to truely find comfort in this work. Thank you family for all the support you have given me through the years, and I am just now realizing all you have done for me. Whats going on at home? Hows tay tay and kess doing? Is it true AJ finally rode his bike up hill? Hows the marathon going? Hows mals XC? Oh and if there is any chance you could send down my other pair of compression shorts and my black hawaii shorts that would be great, maybe one more t shirt cause we have gym everyday. Well Love you all and thank you for your prayers.

Love, Elder Ryan McCord

Ryan's First Email--August 8, 2011

Thanks for the email from Scott. He is definantly right it is tough, I thought me and a bunch of the other guys in my district(classroom) were going to lose it on Thursday. We are in classrooms trying to learn Portuguese for 7 hours a day and then we have study time for another 3 hours, it is intense and grueling but I have started to get used to it. I have 3 other guys who I knew before in my district of 11 people so its a lot of fun. Although having a companion is kinda weird and was very tough at first, I am definantly not used to being around some one nearly 24/7. Elder Clingman, my companion though is a pretty nice kid from Utah, a little different from what I am used to...he is from utah after all but he is nice and works really hard so no problems there. Brother Bateman gave a talk on faith last night which was absolutely incredible and inspired me to try harder and he talked about some things I had never thought about before, it was great. I also got the chance to go to the Provo temple this morning which was nice, but I had to wake up at 6:15 which is getting easier but is still pretty though. The MTC is not what I expected, its a compound lets be honest but that has also helped me to focus and learn portuguese and study my scriptures and other things. Oh and another thing I never though mail from the outside world would be so exciting. People here literally love letters and cant blame them. Dear Elder or a letter is definantly the way to go over myldsmail.net which we can only use for 30 minutes. Being here at the MTC is a learning experience and I am learning a lot and my testimony is growing and with sole purpose being on missionary work for the lord, I learn new things every day and strive to be better and work harder.

Love your son,

Elder Ryan McCord

heres my address