Goodbye party for English !

Hey everyone!

How are things back California? I hope everyone is ok despite the fires, it was even hazy and smokey here in Provo a couple days. Its really hard to hear about the news here, I feel really out of the loop. One of our teachers will occasionally tell us about the outside world though, because he knows how it is to be a missionary and knows that we need some things to keep us human. We did hear that BYU won their first game against the 3rd ranked team in the nation. So that was pretty exciting. When I heard that it really made me realize that the outside world is continuing without us, but I know I am here for the right reasons, and am so excited to be leaving in 4 more weeks (ugh)

  So things here are the same old same old. We basically study and eat everyday of the week except P day, which is a very welcome change. I truly know I have been blessed; I have been able to study diligently everyday; back at school it was hard studying for more than an hour! But really, I have made so much progress, both in my Gospel understanding and in Spanish. Something interesting: we had a goodbye party to English in class yesterday. We wrote letters and did a bunch of stuff, symbolizing that were only gonna be speaking Spanish in the class now, and I'm gonna try real hard to speak it throughout the day to. Thats pretty much my only problem in spanish, I can't speak it extremely well. But I can pretty well, hopefully by the time I get out of here I will be pretty well off. Were also teaching in the TRC in spanish for the first time on Friday. The TRC is a place where volunteers come in and be pretend investigators. It's a pretty cool experience, we'll see if i can do it in spanish though.
  So I'm really dying to get to the field. Oh, another thing, I think starting tomorrow I'll be experimenting with vegetables and fruits and what not. I'll keep you updated on how that goes, haha. So yeah, I want to get to the field so badly. On our temple walk the other day we talked to an RM who just got back 3 weeks ago for about an hour. He says he feels a lot more comfortable around us, and he already wants to go back. It'll be so crazy when I get to that point, but thats 23 months away. I really am anxious to get speaking spanish fluently; the guy said it took him about a year in the field, but he was in a beginner class. I don't think it should be too long before I feel close to fluent when I get in the field. As far as studies go, I'm practically done reading the Book of Mormon in english, I'll either finish today or tomorrow. Then after I'll either re-read it in Spanish or start the Bible in Spanish. Its amazing how much I can get done here, especially when we follow such a strict schedule.
  Something funny happened this week. One of the guys in my district, Elder Barksdale has been getting a lot of headaches. So they took him to the hospital to get an MRI. That night at 10:10 (5 minutes before quiet time) 2 BYU police pulled him out of the dorms, and he came back crying. His companion said they had found something small and they had to take it out before he could go to the field. But after about 5 minutes they told us he was just kidding. So yeah, had us spooked for a bit, but it was just a little bit of fun (not in very good taste if you ask me, haha)
  Well thats about all I can think of writing for now. I love getting Dear Elders and emails and letters from you, it makes my day. To my friends who write, be sure to include you home address, so I can write back.I'll write more a little later tonight!

Elder Mayberry

Blessed by an Apostle. Chad leaves for Japan.

Hey everyone! So just writing a quick note about how things are going here before I have to go to breakfast. So things are going pretty good here, although I am beginning to get a little tired of the MTC. But I am halfway done here, then the actual mission starts, which I am excited for. Spanish is coming along well; in fact we have had 2 days where we have spoken nothing but Spanish all day. We are going to be doing 2 of these a week, but probably soon increase it to 3 times a week. Thats basically what I need to get better in spanish. I'd say im fairly confident in all of my writing and listening, but speaking is still coming to me. I am making progress though, which should be good. If all goes well I think I should probably be a very good speaker, not fluent, but definitely well off.                                                
  On another note, my companion is now Elder Paull. Because the 3 Elders left for Guatemala they had to split apart our trio to accomodate. And they split up me and Elder Doxey, but its ok, Elder Paull is a nice companion.

  Our classes have been pretty crazy. So far we've had at least 12 teachers! We had our 2 original teachers, but one got married and the other went on a trip, so we've had substitutes for the past week or so. But now we have one new teacher for good, and the other teacher who was one of the originals is stuck in Chile, haha. But he'll be back soon. Our new teacher is a really nice guy, he talks to us about the outside world a bit, because he knows how much we can feel seperated or alone here in the MTC.
  Alright, well I've got a lot more to talk about, for instance an Apostle came and talked to us at a fireside! But I've got to go to breakfast. Ill talk to you in a bit!
Breakfast is complete:
  Alright here's some more stuff I didnt get a chance to write about earlier. Like I said, things are doing very well here. I am however getting tired of the MTC. People say its nothing like your mission and it improves many times over after you get in the field. I did receive the camera and its working great. Just one thing, next time I send the memory card home leave the pictures on the card too, and I'll delete them if necessary. I think the Microsoft charge is fine, they said they had to charge us one more time. I'm pretty sure thats the last one, but if it happens again we might have to call or something. About dad posting the pictures on facebook, he can if he wants to. Just make sure he doesnt check my notifications or anything. He could even give a little update on the status or something if he wants. Also, encourage people to write me, anyway, Dear Elder, email or regular mail.

 Alright, so things are good here. Like a said, im getting a bit tired of it, but at least I'm halfway done here. Chad just left for Japan on Monday, so we got another picture with all of us BYU guys. 3 more guys from the floor have come. The highlight of the week I guess was last tuesday Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the 12 came and spoke to us. It was easily the best talk I've heard given. He spoke so powerfully and I knew that he is a man ordained of God. He even gave us some apostolic blessings (if thats the word for it). He blessed us with a gift of protection and the gift of tongues. So hopefully those help :D Anyways, if I can think of anything else Ill write a little bit later today. ¡Hasta luego, Chao!

Elder Ryan Mayberry introduces his Companions

Entire District at the Provo Temple.

Elders (left to right): Barksdale(Anaheim), Mayberry(Chile), Velez(Texas)
Gardner(Nicaragua), Doxey(Chile), Woods(Nicaragua), Goodman(Guatemala)
Davis(Guatemala), Cooper(Texas), Montoya(Guatemala)

Hi everyone! How is everything going back at home? Things are going well here. I'm definitely used to the schedule nowadays. Its not hard waking up in the morning or anything. Writing by Dear Elder is fine, so is regular mail. E-mails are also fine too, just know I wont be able to read or write them til tuesday. And I can email anytime on tuesday before 6. And Mom, you can send the package whenever you like. Alright, so an update on things. I sent the camera home on saturday. So hopefully it'll be there soon. So about my companions, I may be getting a brand new one today or tomorrow. 3 of the guys in our district left this morning for the Guatemala MTC. Its weird, we only knew each other for 3 weeks but we felt pretty close. Anyways, one of the guys on my floor is now companionless. And he said he may choose me to be his new companion. Its still not known for sure, but we'll see how it goes. My current companions are Elder Doxey and Elder Paull. Elder Doxey is from Utah, but spent the past 3 years in Mexico, because his dad was Mission president there. He went to one semester of BYU after that. Elder Paull is from Florida, and played beach volleyball. SO when we play during gym he's pretty good. To answer Dads questions: The spirit is pretty strong here. I had problems recognizing the spirit at first, but I am getting better at it and more used to it. All of the talks and devotionals have been super good here. Probably because of the spirit here. Spanish is going pretty well, I definitely am good at listening and writing it, speaking I find to be much harder. But with practice that can get better. We haven't had to teach any of the lessons in spanish yet, but I'm pretty sure I could struggle through it if I had to. We taught lesson 2 the first time yesterday, which didnt go so well, because we had barely studied it, and because there is so much to teach in that lesson (plan of salvation).

Elders: Mayberry,Velez, Hatton, Martinez.

Well all is well here, I can't really think of anything else I want to type at the moment. I'm saving some of time for later use. Alright, thanks for all the letters, I love you all so much, and I'm thankful you are supporting me. I truly know I have grown a lot spiritually and as a person since I have been here. I know why I want to be a missionary, and I really want to do the Lord's work. Well I'll talk to you all a little later today.

Ryan getting the rhythm 8-18-09

Hi everyone!
Hows everything going? Im gonna start off this email by running through an average day here at the MTC. We wake up at 6:30, shower and do all that good stuff, then go to a classroom by 7. We have all of our classes in one classroom the whole day, so basically we live in that classroom, and sleep at home. We do personal study until 7:45, then go eat breakfast. After breakfast we go to the gym; ive been playing volleyball recently. After an hour of gym, we have 30 minutes to get ready for class again, then go to class until 12:30, when we have lunch. Usually during this class period we learn some spanish and go over some gospel stuff too. After lunch, we have a block of class for like 4 hours until dinner. After dinner we have MDT, Missionary Directed Time, where we choose what we want to study and stuff. This is nice because we can study outside, which is usually a relief. We do that until 9, then plan for the next day for for 30 mins, then head back to the residences. We go to bed at 10:30. So thats a normal day here, some days it gets pretty mundane, but as long as you study hard and keep yourself busy then time can go pretty quickly. Like they say here "Days seems like weeks, and weeks seem like days." This is very true, I cant believe its almost been 2 weeks. The P-day schedule is pretty similar, but we dont have to go to class to do our studying. We wake up, do some studying in the room then head to breakfast. After breakfast we go to the temple, then come back for lunch. Then we have time to do laundry, write letters, and all that good stuff. We don't have gym on P-days, which is kinda silly, but what can you do. As for how I'm doing here, im doing pretty good. Im learning a whole, lot, not only the language but I'm also growing a whole lot spiritually. I'm really getting excited to teach the Chilean people about Christ and His Gospel. I've been sleeping pretty well each night. It takes about 15-20 minutes of laying in bed before I fall asleep; theres so much going on in my mind each night. And each night I've been here I've had a dream, dont know why. I do sometimes wake up during the middle of the night, but its no problem. To answer Grandma Sharons and everyone elses question about learning spanish, its going fantastically. Spanish is really coming back to me now. I can write a letter home in spanish if you really wanted to. The hard thing about it for me is actually speaking the language, I can write it very well, but speaking comes a little harder, sometimes I'll forget a word or conjugation. However, I'm pretty sure I could make it through the day only speaking spanish. I say all my prayers in spanish now as a matter of fact. To answer a couple of your other questions: I dont think I need anything else other than whats being sent. Yes, Im working very hard here. Yesterday I went over every verb tense for spanish study yesterday. And I'm about halfway done with the Book of Mormon already. After I finish it I'm going to read it in spanish, and hopefully I can finish that before I leave the MTC. Another new development, my companion Elder Doxey and I got another companion, so were a trio now. His name is Edler Paull, hes from Florida and is a pretty cool guy. I see all of my BYU friends in here a lot, Jason left last tuesday, and my roomate Chase and Brian Anderson just left yesterday. The next to go is Chad, he leaves at the end of the month. A couple other random things: I got that package, and it was very nice, thank you. Another funny thing, my district is living on the floor and in the rooms that were quarentined with swine flu when it was here. So the rooms have been stripped of the furniture and we got some old run down stuff, but it works. And I did here about the triplets the day I got here, never saw them though. A funny thing is that there's a pair of twins in mine and Aarons classes; one's in mine and the other is in Aarons. So, the camera, I've been taking quite a few pictures, and I can probably send the card home soon. Do you think that would be that best way to do it? It probably is, that way the pics can be put on the blog. How would I send it home, in an envelope? One more thing, you didn't send up pictures in the last package, so next time you get that chance to that would be very nice. Well thats all I can think of writing at this time. Thank you so much for the letters, they mean a lot. I'll write you again later today I think, or if not, talk to you next week!!
With Love, Elder Ryan Mayberry

Greetings from the MTC !! 8-11-09

So to answer some of the questions from the dear elder letters;-The sleeping schedule has been fine. Most nights I sleep really well, and have very little to no problemn waking up in the morning. -The spanish is actually coming along really well. I can already confidently pray and bear my testimony in spanish, and more and more is coming back to me each day. I think by the time I get outta here i'll be pretty far along in spanish, almost fluent if all goes well.-Ive seen everyone from the floor that is here right now. Jason just left today I believe, and Chad and Marshall are doing well in their languages. Me and Mauricio are neighbors, and are in the same district. And Aaron is one floor above me, but i see him often. So here goes the real update: I sent a letter home after the first day, i dont know if you got that yet. So this past week has been going well. The schedule of studying in the same class every day day in day out has taken some getting used to, but im pretty accustomed to it now. The district im in is all good, the people are nice and our spanish is all more or less on the same level. Im in the intermediate class if you havent heard already from my last letter. Gym time is going well; I have ran some, (I ran 2 miles yesterday, which to me is quite an accomplishment), lifted weights, and played some volleyball. The food here is the same as the cannon center, and I'm trying not to eat too much. We went to the temple today, which was really neat, we got to do a session. Today is my P-Day. I'm basically just writing things as they come into my head, haha, so sorry if it doesnt make to much sense. We have started practicing Lesson 1, in english though. We spend the first 4 weeks here teaching in english, then it goes to all spanish. We got a nice picture of all of us from BYU right before jason left (Aaron didnt make it in the picture though) Ive also taken a few pictures of the temple, and my room and classroom. However, i dont think i can send those via email. So thats all for now, i want to save some time to check later if i forgot anything(ill explain below)Love you lots,
Elder Ryan Mayberry

8-10-2009 first handwritten letter from MTC

Dear Family,

Well, I just finished my first day here at the MTC. It was both long and tiring, but I know it will get better. They have given us a whole lot of instructions and rules and we haven't even done any of the actual classroom stuff yet; that starts tomorrow. I pretty much immediately misplaced my key card that I need to use for pretty much everything -- whoops! It's okay though; I found it shortly thereafter.

So, Aaron is living one floor above me and we're in different districts, but I believe we're in the same zone together. So, I think I'll be seeing him at lunch and stuff. It turns out that Mauricio is living next door to me and we have all the same classes, lunch hour, etc. Oh, yeah, they put me in Intermediate Spanish so we'll see how that goes. My estimated departure date is October 5th.

My companion's name is Elder Doxey. He's from Utah, but spent the last 3 years in Mexico City where hsis dad was a mission president. Funny thing is he bore his testimony in Spanish today and he may be bumped up to advanced classes and only be here for 3 weeks. We'll see how that turns out.

I already ran into Chad, Marshall, Jason and Brian Anderson as well as a few others I know from school. So, things are going well here. Hopefully, I will be able to sleep tonight. The schedule for the upcoming weeks looks pretty demanding. I think there is about 11 hours of classroom time per day. I'm still learning about the going-on's here. Hopefully, I'll be adjusted soon.

Well, I love all of you and miss you already. Don't be too sad. You can expect letters frequently. I'll report to you the progress I've made (I guess after tomorrow I should be able to pray in Spanish). Talk to you later.

Lots of love,
Elder Ryan Mayberry

P.S. I got a card saying that this address would be best to use. Hopefully, it's correct.
Elder Ryan Arthur Mayberry
MTC Mailbox #123
CHI-CON 1005
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Arrival at the MTC 8-5-2009

Ryan entered the MTC in Provo Utah at 12:30 PM.
8-5-2009

Missionary Mom: Elders Aaron, Ryan Mayberry

Jordan Mayberry with Elders Ryan, Aaron Mayberry: Provo Temple.