Thursday, September 29, 2011

Nashville, Tennesse

Ryan will be going to Nashville, Tennessee while he awaits his visa to Brazil. He leaves September 30th for Nashville. He does not know how long he will be in Tennesse.

To send him letters, the address is:
Elder Ryan McCord
105 Westpark Dr. Suite 190
 Brentwood, TN 37027
United States

September 29, 2011

I think I will call the home phone between 6 to 630 Utah time, so 5 to 530 your guys time. I think I only have 5 minutes to talk though and I should be able to call you tomorrow morning at the airport, I get my flight plans after lunch so I will be able to tell you then. I am pretty excited to go to nashville, obviously never been there before and never guessed I would, still hoping I get my visa soon but I am definantly excited to go to Tennessee, cant complain about going to two missions. Oh and dont worry, I am not breaking any rules by emialing you, since I have P-day again today because I have to pack and what not. I am going to send the shoes back to Kess today, and do you know if she has sent new ones yet. I just dont know how the pair of rockports I bought with dad will do walking. Its great to hear from you all and thanks for telling me about Jacob, that sounds amazing. I know the beginning of my mtc experience was a little rough, and everyone for the most part kinda questions what they are doing here but I really feel now that I have made the most of this experiences. I have worked hard and made a lot of friends, overall a great experience and I love the direction I have been getting while being here. Love this work.

Love you all,

Elder Ryan McCord

September 28, 2011--Nashville, Tennessee

So I am leaving on Friday, I will call you all tomorrow and give you an email, it will probably be in the afternoon. send you an email a few hours before. Love you

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

September 27, 2011

So this is the week when I get my reassignment to somewhere in the states, english speaking. I really have no idea where I could go and from what I have seen so far its very random, most of the times you only go with one other elder from your district. So I should find that out tomorrow around 1 or so and then depending on when I leave can call home at the airport or friday or something. I will definantly send you all an email the day before I call. So thats the big news for this week, it is crazy that it has already been 8 weeks, I am actually having a great time, even though it seems like everyone else doesnt really like the mtc. I guess I just got pretty lucky to have 2 good friends in my district and have made friends with a lot of other elders. Finally started to work well with my companion and planning and studying together so that has made things go by real well and its amazing how time flies here. The portuguese is coming along pretty well, still working on verb conjugations and memorizing words, but at this point I no longer have to translate before I speak. Hopefully I dont lose it while I am in the U.S. for who know how long. I have a feeling I will go to NYC, anyone else have any guesses? I should be able to watch general conference here but the schedule is pretty crazy as they have to feed everyone in between sessions and what not, but I am excited as its a chance to get out of class and listen to some inspired men and women. Oh I also had the chance to host this past wednesday and tomorrow, its basically where you take the new elders with their bags to their rooms and then their classrooms, it is actually really interesting how families interact, there was one family who was crying and another one that says "see you in two" and drives off. It was a good experience though and funny to see how nervous some of them were. The phrase for this week for you all is Tudo bem? I feel blessed to learn a language here and the 8 weeks has also given me the opportunity to get a lot more scripture study in which I was kinda behind in. Oh I also didnt realize that in order to go to Brazil you must graduate seminary, guess those early mornings actually payed off.

Love you all and have a great week,

Elder Ryan McCord


Mals how are you teachers? you feeling better yet? what are you xc times? you running on your toes? take the SAT yet?

Pooch that stinks about soccer, sounds like you are getting cheated, just remember to play physical. Do you have more hw now? when does bball start? hows graham playing? and uw? Kess how was nyc? and can I get my memory card back yet? I might just have to ship those shoes back to you. Dating anyone? please dont send anymore candy, already have too much, thanks though. Love the packages! Taylor hows school going? you playing any intermurals? how many semesters left do you have? still living in that big house? Mom how are the little kids? hows the spanish coming? cant believe you are taking a college class. Dad hows school going? hows seminary with mals? heard sweets left for school. Thanks for the email from scott, need his address though.

Oh mals can you please update my address on fb when I find out. Thanks love you all and talk to you soon!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

September 20, 2011

So I dont think those shoes will work, what should I do? Can I just send Kess a picture of the ones I want? Thanks for trying though mom I really do appreciate it. So why is Kess in NYC? still didnt figure that one out? How is mals doing in xc? can I get times? How is she liking junior year, crazy it seems like last month she was a freshmen. Thats great about Pooch, got moved up to forward, remember to be aggressive and dont be afraid to go through kids. Thats was pretty good for the laps though 6 1/2in 12 minutes, still running with mals? Thanks for the football scores too. Mom the kids sound pretty strange not going to lie, have any biters this year or any Pelles or whatever that little french girls name was. Dad you start teaching at BC yet? Still playing church ball? Hows chandler doing adjusting back? tell him thanks for the letter, it means a lot. Oh and any chance I can get ahold of Garrett campbell, maybe email b/c stamps are too expensive! Love you all and thankyou so much. Kess can you buy a medium BYU shirt and I will send you money in return and find me the propet's I need. Thanks and have a great week!
So I see Joon about everyother day, so its good to talk and I have a lot of other friends here, so its always a fun time. So still no word on my visa, however I am actually really happy I came to this mtc. So in the past 4 weeks we have heard from 3 apostles. First Holland, than Ballard, and tonight Russell M. Nelson. Elder Nelson talked about the the BOM a lot and made several references to the new ensign that came out. I read the first 50 pages or so and its truely it great. It has been great though to hear from the apostles so often, and often times it is not the words they say but the spirit that they bring to the meeting which is so great. We are still studying here a lot and most of the times that studying is focused on the needs of our investigators (our teachers), but I find that a lot of the time the studying provides answers for some of my needs. Then trying to say what I learned in Portuguese is often times another story haha but the Portuguese is coming along pretty well, my verb conjugation is coming along better and I can speak fluently and quickly more often than not and a lot of the times I find its more how you say it then what you say. The days really do go by fast and its fun here, the 6 hours of class dont go by so slowly as I really try to crack down and learn Portuguese. Hopefully my reassignment til I get my visa isnt that long so I can keep my language skills. I know all the stuff I wrote before sounds boring but it is a good time here, from the small squirt gun fight, to teasing our British friends, its a good time. But its been going pretty well so far, still winning in soccer, so no need to worry. Finally figuring out how to work effectively in our companionship. I feel like its all finally coming together, just before I leave. Thank you for all the letters and the packages it really is a great help. Love you all, and tell everyone I say hi. 

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

September 13, 2011

So I just got my pants that you all sent in the mail and I finally got my other pants hemmed, so now I finally have more than 2 pairs of pants to wear. Which will be nice, they are changing the mail room to another building so I will probably get that and dear elders later. Oh and I finally got my online visa done about 10 minutes ago, so hopefully it gets done soon so I can head straight down there, but who knows. This week has gone by pretty well, while the verb conjugations are still pretty tough I felt like I was finally starting to get a hang of the languange and talk pretty fast. Which is nice because I dont feel so boring when I talk. Our district probably talks about 50% of the time in Portuguese, so thats nice. There is a ton of study time too but we watch quite a few mormon messages to give ourselves breaks. We are literally studying for probably 3 to 4 hours a day. Which is pretty intense but oh well. Oh soccer is going to well too, our district still hasn't lost yet. Tell Pooch I had a 45 yard bomb , curved it in the top left corner. So I want to know when he can top that haha. The gym time really helps to break up the monotony of the schedule, which is tough because sometimes you feel like you arent making much progress but we got a great district and so guys are always helping each other out. But ya the study time consists alot of planning for lessons, reading from preach my gospel, studying portuguese words. Then we usually have class,which is all in Portuguese. Oh and not really related but we always hear about BYU football, like a friend of mine will get a letter about it, or someone will find a newspaper article just kinda funny. Well I love you guys and thanks for the letters.

How is Mallory doing in xc? times? how is junior year? How is matt doing in soccer? record? scoring any goals? Does he have any teachers I have? Hows school going? Hows BC going for dad, ever see Jeff? Can I get his, Jake's, and Chris' address? Hows pre-school going for mom? When does Taylor head back to school? Who is he living with? How come Kess is going to NYC? Hows her love life? Thanks Pooch for the scores! The guys in the hall love them haha. I might write a little more later today but love you guys. Oh and can you check with scott Mccord's family if I ever wrote them back.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

September 6, 2011

So this week has gone by pretty well. The highlight was definantly Elder Holland talking to us last tuesday night for Devotional. He was very good and a powerful speaker. His talk didnt have a single topic but was kinda all over the place, he talked about prayer, the atonement, scripture study, how missionaries are often very as perfect as members and how we have no right to destroy that image. It was overall a very good talk. Oh I was in choir for it too, we he said he loved, so cant complain but I think I am done now b/c I dont think we will be getting another general authority while I am here. The Portuguese is coming along pretty well, but it got pretty tricky this week as we learned different verb conjugations, it is pretty similar to the spanish conjugations but still its tough cause we learned 5 different forms. The study has been going better this week, it is kinda tough at time to focus for an hour and a half at times but its good. I have gotten pretty close with most of the other elders in my district, although being in a room together for 10 hours a day can sometimes wear on you haha. Jessica sent me a little squirt gun this week, so that has led to some fun when we get back to our rooms, but one of the elders broke it yesterday so no more fun I guess. Its is amazing how many hours in the day I actually am able to focus, I have never focused this much at a time in my life or on one topic. But I can focus more and more fun each week. We have some really goofy elders which makes it fun, like Elder kolb my friend from school is always making joke and so is his comp elder stiborek. So its going pretty well, of course some days go by faster than others but for the most part it is enjoyable. I think mom would be proud of me that I am actually waking up at 6:30 every morning, its tough but every does it. Not sure what else to tell you, it is starting to get cold here too but we are always inside anyways. Oh and everytime for gym time I play soccer, had a sweet goal from 35 yards out yesterday. The best part of soccer though is you ge to leave the MTC compound, get to be outside, and run around which is a big deal cause I plan on sitting in a chair for at least 9 hours a day if not 14 its crazy. It is still difficult at times with the comp, just being with someone all the time and with someone who I probably wouldnt choose to be friends with but oh well, trying to make the most of it. So ya the grey pants would be sweet 34x34 works and propets size 11.5 should work I have tried on a few other kids propets and those should work, I just found one of the pairs of shoes I had wasnt really made for walking. Is mals excited to be a junior...crazy! and pooch in 7th grade? ohh and I cant believe AJ is going to be in middle school with pooch, maybe he can help matt with his hw. Thanks for the pictures I will try to print some off today for you guys. Thanks for all the letters and notes it really does help. Oh and tell mals to update me on her xc and tays schooling and kess' hunt for a husband or just a bf..I will take anything at this point.

Love you all so much,

Elder Ryan McCord