Letters from MTC

We have received some letters from Ryan and some photos..

He is doing well, really enjoying the MTC but says it is hard and the language is coming along but still confusing. His companion was a wrestler in school as well so they are getting along well. He says he can really feel the spirit there and loves that. He is seeing a lot of his friends from school there which he says is fun. He was a bit concerned that he hadn't received any letters from us in the email he sent but if he would have just waited a couple of hours all of our letters got to him the very same day (by the way he had only been in the MTC for 8 days) I tried to explain to him that we had written but it does take some time to get there through the mail and it didn't help that he gave us the wrong box number (we realized that after he got the letters).  What a funny kid he is!! Anyway that is about all we heard. Here are the photos he sent......

The first one is his lessons in Cebuano, The second one is of them taking pictures of a tree the smells like cream soda, The third is his lesson books and then of course we have to have a silly Ryan one too.

Until next time.....

Scary!!

So I received an email this morning about an earthquake in the Philippines, the area that this happened in was in Ryan's mission the Cebu east.
The following link has all the info about it.
All of the missionaries in the area are accounted for and safe. Ryan is still in the MTC here in Provo. Just thought I would share as I found this interesting and frightening
Keep them in your prayers.



http://earthquake-report.com/2013/10/15/very-strong-earthquake-mindanao-philippines-on-october-15-2013/

MTC October 9, 2013

Sorry I have not updated since we dropped Ryan off....

Wednesday was an emotional day for sure. Janel (Ryan's mom), Harvey, Stephen, Tyler, Ashlee and I all accompanied Ryan to the MTC that day. Photos to come soon. (I forgot my camera so Janel was very kind and took the photos that she wanted and the ones we wanted).
Ryan was super excited to finally be getting on with this next step in his life. The host that was there for him was from Spain and very friendly and outgoing. My heart broke for Janel as I knew exactly how hard it is saying goodbye for 2 years in such a short time to your first missionary. I did have an easier time this time knowing what to expect but I did cry a lot and I have spent a lot of time just moping around thinking of our baby boy being gone.
On Friday I was very surprised and excited to have Stephen bring the mail to me and there was already a letter from Ryan. He is loving the MTC and feeling the spirit strong. There was a total of 501 missionaries that entered the MTC on Wednesday. He is in a group of 6 elders and 4 sisters. His Companion is from Magna, 18 years old, graduated from Cyprus High and wrestled in middle school so Ryan and him have made instant friends. He told us about the meeting they had to meet the MTC Presidency and how they ended it with the primary song "we have been born". He said it was amazing how strong the spirit was.

His MTC Address has changed the new one is:
Elder Ryan Patrick Larson
NOV18 PHI-CEBE
2011 N 900 E Unit 208
Provo, UT 84602

Both Janel and I will be posting on his facebook account to share what we are hearing from him so if you see something stating it is from his mom that is from Janel and all of my correspondence will be through the blog and if I happen to just write something I will sign my name to it so as not to add confusion.

Thank you so much from all of us for your support and love. Until next time....

Farewell

Thank you to everyone who came to my farewell, I will be leaving this week October 9th, for the Provo MTC. I hope you all liked my talk on "The Hope of Gods Light." I will then spend the next 6 weeks in the MTC, and I will have the opportunity to spend a week in the "Mental Torture Chamber" with my older brother. I will be in the MTC until November 20th. Thank you again for coming to my talk! And I will see you in two years.