Espanick

2011-08-31T19:24:00.004-06:00

Back home again... more to come.

Nick's Return

2011-08-07T00:15:00.003-06:00

Nick's coming home soon.

Watch this

to get excited with us!

Home

2011-08-01T12:24:00.001-06:00

Nick will be back in our midst again next week!
Please drop by our house Saturday, August 13 between 7 and 10 pm and/or hear him speak at church Sunday, August 14 at 2:50, Milo Chapel.

Richard's and Kelvin's baptism

2011-07-13T17:18:00.007-06:00

Here's a photo I found from a long time ago.

He looks pretty happy, eh?

Cactus

2011-07-02T22:44:00.001-06:00

We went to this castle but it was closed. So what we did was walk all the way around it through cactus infested hills. The next day I find lots of red rash marks on m arms and right leg. Then it gets worse.

We go and eat with an investigator on Thursday and he freaks out and takes me right to the hospital. The doctors kinda freak out and give me some creams, pills and wrap me up.

Since then it has gotten much better. Turns out I am allergic to something because nobody else got the rash. Note to self: don't go to Mediterranean deserts.
The sad part of the story is because I was all wrapped up I couldn't get it wet, meaning I couldn't baptize Richard on Saturday. Elder Hughes did it for me. But Richard is doing amazing. He loved his baptism and many of his friends came and all want to be baptized.

He was so excited that he was ready to go at 8 am and the baptism was at 11. The next day he made it to church half an hour early in a nice white shift and tie.

This week we passed by a woman we contacted and she said "Sorry I can't listen right now. I am going to move a fridge into my apartment." We offered to help and got ourselves into a task bigger than expected. The fridge was in another apartment about three blocks away and we had no way of getting it to her house except by carrying it. We could not lie it down either so it was an awkward hour of carrying a fridge down the street, dodging signs and people and sweating our faces off.

More from Valencia

2011-07-02T15:48:00.001-06:00

Looks real, eh?

They found Yoda when out contacting

A Gulliver park

More from Spain

2011-06-16T21:19:00.003-06:00

The T-Mobile Angry Birds commercial was filmed in Terrassa, Spain

Valencia

2011-06-13T20:46:00.001-06:00

Nick's having a great time in this lovely city, Valencia, that hosts a crazy festival.

In emails, he wrote:
"my companion is Elder Hughes. He is a very good teacher and very effective with examples - we get along well. I am in a four man piso. The other two are both from St George and happened to know each other before the mission.

Ted, your prophecy will come true. I am going to get really fat. All the missionaries that come through this city gain at least 10-15 pounds because the members feed us wayyy too much and wayyy too often. Here's some Paella that served 80 people!

Daniel's baptism

Daniel's baptism sounds like a nightmare: "We got lost on the way to the interview and showed up late. Then on the baptismal day he had trouble getting there but finally we found a member that could pick him up. We spent about an hour and a half before the baptism looking for a place to make the programs and copy them. Then they copied them and did it upside down on the inside. After that we found out the person that was going to baptize him didn't know he was doing it! We call him... turns out he hurt his chest and couldn't lift heavy things. So we had to find someone else to baptize him. The speakers didn't show up so my companion gave both talks. The oven was messed up so it took forever to make cookies for afterwards. The clothes were too big for him so they were all baggy. We didn't have towels for them to use to dry off. It was just one giant mess but the important thing is that he was baptized. I will remember that baptism forever for all of the crazy things that happened."

Nick's last night in Badalona - some members held a going away party for Nick.

Happy Birthday!

2011-06-06T06:39:00.001-06:00

Sister Hinckley left a message on my cell phone on Nick's birthday - sooo nice!!

She described Nick as a "wise and seasoned missionary. His comments are so solid. He teaches well, he's a good example. He can take a special assignment from President Hinckley, who trusts him."
I'd be happy to play it for you if you want to hear it (proud mom).

Valencia

2011-05-24T13:55:00.009-06:00

Nick's been transferred to Valencia. Two things Valencia is famous for is

paella, which he loves, and

the City of Arts and Sciences

Mother's Day Phone Call

2011-05-08T20:35:00.000-06:00

Nick Skyped today!

Rachel wants him to see Kira up close.

Nick sounds and looks great. The work is challenging but the members work hard to help them. There is a lot of reactivation occurring in Badalona. Many people have moved to find employment. Nick's companion, Elder Cannell,is coming home in one transfer; Nick in two. One of their diversions was to create a chain of ties that was long enough to go the height of a 9-story building. His advice to incoming missionaries is that they shouldn't believe that Spaniards can't be baptized. He hopes that Alberto, the husband of a recently activated sister, will be baptized.

Check out our Ryser family blog to see his reaction to Maggie's engagement.

Radio is for the birds

2011-05-02T21:17:00.004-06:00

Not really.. just trying to get your attention.

Nick and President Hinckley participated in a live radio broadcast from the Badalona Chapel. President Hinckley posted this picture and compliment: "Elder Ryser got some airtime and did a great job!"

They also found this falcon sparrow? on their balcony and hoped he found his way back to safety.

From March 21, he wrote:
"This week we did splits and they have the most interesting man ever. They're teaching a guy named Miguel Angel, from Madrid. He called up the elders one day and told them he had a spiritual confirmation that the Church is true and wants to be baptized. The most interesting part is that he lives an hour and a half up the mountain on foot (we hiked in our suits and tennis shoes)... in a monastery! Yep he was training to be a monk that lives in solitude and when he was meditating in the chapel there in the mountains, the spirit said "What are you doing here? You know the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true." So he is going to escape the monastery and be baptized in Madrid this week."

Package from Spain

2011-03-27T11:55:00.002-06:00

We received Nick's old shoes and a flashdrive with accumulated photos and a few movies. Enjoy!

I'm From Barcelona

2011-03-19T15:28:00.002-06:00

Now Nick can say I'm From Barcelona
(although they're Swedish).

Badalona

2011-03-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

Church was amazing. I think it was the most powerfull testimony meeting I have ever been in here in Spain. It is because of just one man's testimony. He was an old Spaniard who got up and told us that it had been a year since he had given his testimony and he said that he had over the years gained many testimonies but was going to share his strongest one. It was about geneology work and the temple. As he spoke the room was filled with the spirit and everyone was listening silently as he testified of the work and how important it is. I loved it and I am very excited to be with these members here. They are all great. They are much more organized and dedicated to missionary work than any other ward I have been in.

Clementine was baptized two days ago.

Risk took most of a pday.

View of sunrise from apartment

View of studying

Hermana Roerig came out with me. This was her last night as a missionary.

Anca and her family in Zaragoza

Transfer

2011-02-24T23:19:00.002-07:00

Nick has been transferred to Badalona, near Barcelona

"I am going to serve in Badalona. It is a part of Barcelona that is super hilly and is said to have an amazing view. I am really excited to be here but not too excited to learn Catalan. I am going to be with an elder Cannell who is from California but has lived most of his life in Utah."

Elder Cannell is the second from the left, back row.

Learning a new version of Spanish will be interesting for Nick too. And he thought he knew what he was doing! ha ha. Check out this sample of Catalan for tourists It looks like a mixture of Spanish, French and Italian.

Three Kings

2011-01-16T22:44:00.002-07:00

Three Kings is celebrated on January 6th and is almost a bigger holiday than Christmas. They eat a King's Day Cake. Inside the cake is a tiny king statue and a bean. Whoever gets the king in their piece is king for the day. The bean has to do the dishes.

Elder Jacinto got the bean, Nick's the king.

El Alma del Ebro was created for the International Exposition

last August. It is eleven meters high, the sculpted letters represent cells of the human body which is over 60% water. Its white letters and hollow structure invite the view to look inside and reflect on the relationship between human beings and water.

This porcelain statue was created by the Lladró company in Valencia, using two

Spain Barcelona Missionaries as models. Looks like Nick eh?

On January 11, he wrote:
The Lord has blessed us with some amazing miracles this week. There is a quote from an apostle that says "To reach a goal that has never been reached you must do things that have never been done." As I said before we have been having a hard time finding new people to teach and well we have been doing almost everything. We contact, we visit old investigators, we ask for references, and set up activities and things to get the members involved but there was one thing we discovered we were not doing... knocking doors. I have always figured knocking doors is not very effective because well my entire mission I have gotten one investigator out of it... until this week. So we decided we were going to do that and the first door we knock was Maybis, Frostina and Desmond. After that we found a man one floor beneath them named Starling who told us that he has been waiting for a long time to come back to church and raise his family with God! We go to another house and knock the building and found a Romanian family who is incredible and they all were asking us for Books of Mormon. In the end because we knocked doors and the fast that we did without agreeing on it was to find new investigators we received 15 new investigators this week! I have never met so many good people who are willing to listen to the gospel in just one week but the Lord has blessed us for our efforts.

Christmas phone call

2011-01-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

We got to Skype this year! It was soo fun! He and the other missionaries went to an internet cafe and they were all lined up with their earphones on, talking to their families.

At home, we all sat around, facing the monitor, and it felt just like a visit in the kitchen! We even showed him a picture Maggie gave us for Christmas, and other things, like sticky buns, Millie, etc.

Christmas in Zaragoza

2011-01-16T22:05:00.003-07:00

The best part of Nick's Christmas was a baptism! Joshua is from Nigeria and his baptism was delayed because his marriage was tribal and wasn't legal. However, by Christmas, things were worked out and Nick said it was the best gift ever.

Feliz Navidad!

2010-12-07T21:06:00.002-07:00

Ok so it's Mexican Spanish but Merry Christmas anyway!

More in Zaragoza

2010-11-29T23:44:00.003-07:00

The day before Thanksgiving we went to the tastiest restaurant I have been to in Spain. It was Urugayan pizza. Saturday I had my least favorite meal of the mission. It was about a half gallon of soup, filled with full shrimp (heads and legs), and entire crab and a whole fish (head and fins). So we spent about one hour dissecting the animals, eating the fishiest soup I've ever had.

(this picture isn't from that meal)

Interviews with Elder Hadley

Nick's new zone includes Lleida, Zaragoza and another beautiful new city,

Tarragona

As we were walking the streets I had the strongest impression to turn around and so I did. We started talking to two men that were right behind us. They were incredible men from Ecuador and just loved everything we said to them.

Karla got baptised!

Sunday we had a visit really far away from church so we had to run run run to get there in time. We were praying we would make it in time for Sacrament and when we come through the door, president is just barely announcing the song and 2 seconds later the door was locked. It was a miracle that Heavenly Father answers our prayers and helps us to have the strength to do what we must.

Second pair of shoes worn out.

We got to go to La Sagranda Familia in Barcelona. It's this giant cathedral that they have been building since 1850 or so and it's still not done!

On the way back from Barcelona, they couldn't get us out early enough so they had to put us on a sleeper train. Yep it was incredible. The chairs turned into beds and they gave us those eye covers and everything.

2 Nephi 5:27 is a description of our life

Zaragoza

2010-10-14T12:17:00.001-06:00

I am now in the incredible city of Zaragoza. I'm with Elder Matherus, from Gilbert, Arizona. He already knows the language pretty well and knows how to work. I came at the perfect time; they had a party named La Fiesta del Pilar.

Spanish bagpipes and Greek dancing?

   Also we have two baptismal dates for this Saturday and they are the most golden investigators I have ever seen but their story is crazy. They had been homeless for about 3 months when a member felt like he should go talk to them. He talked to them and invited them to stay in his house and come to church with him... this was one month ago. Their names are Islamil and Ana. They are so happy now and they have an amazing amount of hope.

Here's what Nick wrote to our Herrscher neighbors. A nice summary of his mission so far:

   "Everything here in Spain is great. I have already been in 5 cities and I have only been gone a year! The mission is exciting and so fun. I love talking to so many people and learning another language. I have been very blessed and have been with 4 native companions who have all really helped me with the language. We had to go through a bit of a change and I am actually in the Barcelona mission now.

I want to share with you my testimony of missionary work. It is the greatest joy that a person can have in this world. It brings the most blessings and really brings the best out of a person when we share the gospel. I have been changed immensely and already know I will not be coming back the same person (hope you accept me into the neighborhood all the same haha).

Alma 26:16 We can not find a greater joy it is only through joining the lord in his work
   Matthew 11:28-30 This is not so much a sacrifice as it is a blessing. Always trust in the lord and learn from his example and you will be lightened of your load
   3 Nephi 18:19-21 Prayer is what brings miracles. If we do not ask, we will not recieve.

I miss you and hope for the best for all of you. And please also pray for our mission we are trying to baptize 400 people before the end of December and we need all the prayers we can get."

Last entries from Bilbao

2010-10-14T12:03:00.000-06:00

For p day we decided to go bowling and it was really fun and luckily free but it took forever to get out there and then even longer to get back which made us get home extremely late. So we figured we were going to miss our visits. We were praying to find a way to have the visits and when we get back to our apartment we call the visit to tell them we wont make it. She tells us that she has two friends that have come to hear our message. When we hear that we get dressed in five minutes and are out the door. We ran the entire way but it was completely worth it. We had a visit with two of her friends and one actually started crying in the visit. After that we were already late and so we go running to the next visit which is a fair distance away. We get there about half an hour late but somehow that is when they were just walking in the door. We had an incredible visit and could give his wife a blessing to help her back. He told us that is just what they needed in this moment. I know the lord helped us make it to these visits and help these people.

About conference, I really liked President Uchtdorfs talk about simplifying life and focusing on the four relationships that really matter: God, family , fellowman, and yourself. There was a big focus on gratitude in this conference as well which I have already seen makes everyone happier.

Bilbao

2010-09-27T00:32:00.001-06:00

On a hike near Bilbao

Beauty and Beast cutout for youth activity

Zone Leader Council in Barcelona

Excerpt from Nick's email from Sept 20:

We met a woman on the street named Elizabeth. We had a visit with her on the bench on the street, invited her to read and come to church; she ended up reading and she was ready to go to church with us on Sunday!... Yesterday we had a visit with two retired catholic priests... It was fairly interesting. We started teaching the first lesson and they had no complaints and were actually very anxious for us to move on to the things they didn't know and as soon as we start talking about the apostacy, Fernando (the one that invited us) starts to flip out. He just says "no that's not possible. That didn't happen. You don't know that." and refused to listen to us. But the other one had more interest and actually asked where the church was and asked for a Book of Mormon so we will see if I can get a Catholic priest baptized. In the ward we now have a new mission leader named Presidente de Malino. He is the second counselor in the stake and is INCREDIBLE. We already have seen a change in a lot of people and have received more help with the visits. He is very excited to make this ward a missionary ward and I can see that he will be able to do it.

Defender of The Faith

2010-08-29T23:08:00.001-06:00

Nick's trainer, Elder Webb, made this video before his mission. So funny

Elder Webb's video

Nick and his clever companion

Executioner of the Barcelona Mission

2010-08-15T22:14:00.000-06:00

The first week in August Nick attended a leaders' conference in Barcelona. "It was pretty intense, almost like the MTC all over again... We didn't learn many new principles but just relearned what they taught in the mtc and Preach My Gospel. I am very excited. I have already seen improvement in the lessons. The spirit is much stronger and I feel like they understand better.

I'll be honest. It was weird to be with Jose on the mission. I felt like I was in school again, learning all sorts of stuff sitting by my friends. But it was good to see him again.

These past 2 weeks have been insane but I have gotten to know our secretary very well because he has been calling us about every day to organize everything. We finally organized our areas with the sisters here so we had to give them a pretty portion of our investigators that were on the point of getting baptized. But it's ok. We have plenty more to start progressing."

Executioner Nick has had 3 companions who are on their last weeks or months of their mission. He currently serves with Elder Chavez. "He is incredible. He's 25 and from Ecuador but has lived in Madrid for 10 years. He wanted to go on the mission before but didn't have the option so he is excited every day."

Changes

2010-07-26T06:24:00.000-06:00

Over the past month, Nick has gone from Santander, to San Sebastian, to Bilbao; 3 companions and becoming Zone Leader. That includes a new mission assignment (Barcelona) and president (Hinckley, yes President Gordon B Hinckley's son, Clark).

When asked what a Zone Leader does, he replied "I am in control of 3 separate cities and several companionships. I have to go to Council in Barcelona every transfer and I do exchanges with the District Leaders in my zone. I also have to lead the Zone Conferences with President in some sort of way to improve the work."

Last week he wrote: "This week I had the chance to go back to Santander to do an interview with an old investigator! It was so cool to see him ready to get baptized. Also this past Saturday we headed over to Las Arenas to do three other interviews for the elders there. They are great. So the work is going well here."

Here's a photo of the former Bilbao missionaries, being silly. Nick's on the back row, with tongue sticking out.

About Spain winning the World Cup, he wrote "No one here really likes Spain because they are all immigrants and Basque so they didn't do anything to celebrate the victory of Spain. There are still so many parties and festivals; it's almost impossible to do contacts because the streets are empty."

Everything's Spanish

2010-07-12T00:15:00.006-06:00

Click on the links to see highlights from Spain!

Alberto Contador wins the Tour de France!

Buzz Lightyear

World Cup Champions!

Rafael Nadal won Wimbledon

"A Spanish July," wrote El Mundo newspaper as Contador and Formula One driver Fernando Alonso's victory at the German Grand Prix on Sunday "closed the greatest month ever in Spanish sport."
It does not end there. Spain's national basketball team — already the European champion and Olympic silver medalist — was preparing to defend its world championship title in Turkey in September. And Nadal also helped Spain to its third Davis Cup victory in five years in 2009.

Barcelona Mission

2010-06-26T19:56:00.002-06:00

How many missionaries can say they received two mission call letters from the Prophet?

Nick's now in San Sebastian, a beautiful beach city in the Basque area.

His companion is Elder Cepeda, from Cadiz, Spain.

Here's the blog from his new mission.

Watch this amazing Youtube of San Sebastian

Last but not least, look at Spain's World Cup team

Barcelona, here he comes!

2010-06-22T23:46:00.001-06:00

Check out an entry about Nick on the

Spain Bilabao Mission blog

Yomarra, Jessica and Kevin's baptism, right before Nick was transferred from Santander.

Now he's in San Sebastian. Check it out at San Sebastian Travel Youtube

Great news is that he'll be reassigned (the Bilbao Mission is dissolving) to the Spain Barcelona Mission - with Elder Zunu Estrada!

Happy Birthday!

2010-06-08T23:13:00.001-06:00

The wonderful Guiterrez family served a big dinner on Nick's birthday, then pulled a trick on him. Someone told him there was an investigator at the church so he left to see them and when he returned, there was a birthday cake! They also gave him Kit Kats galore, which is so kind, especially since his birthday box from home didn't arrive. It's been sitting at at Spanish post office since May 25. Aack!

Shoes

2010-05-07T11:03:00.000-06:00

How could they be so worn out already? He's only 1/3 way through!

Santander

2010-04-10T22:11:00.003-06:00

Near a faro (lighthouse). I almost fell off the cliff and decided to take a picture at the same time.

A crazy statue at the palace.

For a "Feed the Missionaries" calendar. They're trying to look poor and starving.

April 5: In Santander, we don't watch General Conference when it is live but sometime this month they will be sending us a dvd and we will get to watch it then. I really cant wait. It's always such a blessing to hear from our leaders. Because I couldn't listen to the new conference I have been spending the last hour before bed listening to last years conference and it is so amazing the inspiration and guidance that the leaders give to literaly every single member.

March 29: So this week has been truly an awesome relief and so incredible. After so many long weeks of having nearly no investigators or visits I was feeling very down and... left alone but I knew that the success would increase. The Lord really does bless us when we have patience. After weeks of nearly nothing but hard work with no fruits of our labors, this week really was the complete opposite. We began having visits with incredible people and all of them had such desires to learn. The hard times came and we were patient through it and after, the Lord gave us the success and joy that we had been waiting for. We find 12 new investigators in one week! I have never even gotten 4 in a week. The Lord will really never leave us if we will do all we can in this work.

Turns out this new investigator is an assassin. He was part of the bloods in America and did their "dirty work" but he wants to change and all he really wants is his son with him. I was really pretty scared to talk to him but we promised him this message could change his life... I honestly hope he comes to church because president told us we can't teach him because of his history but if he comes to church he can be taught there.

March 15: Our ward mission leader is such a stud he had me and the new hermana speak in church yesterday. I was surprisingly happy to have him invite me to do this. I was very nervous because it was the first talk I have given in Spanish outside of the mtc and well it's a ward now not a branch and so we had the place jammed all the way to the back. I felt very good about it though because this really was the first time I have given a talk without the entire talk written down. I just had some general guidelines to direct my thoughts and let my memory and the spirit do the rest.

March 8: We were walking through this tunnel and I was thinking about what I should contact with and I was thinking "I will talk about prayer." I stop this lady and she just looks at me with the most stunned look on her face. We kept talking for a bit and she told us that she had just gotten off the bus and was praying the entire ride for help from God. Such incredible miracles God works through us. I probably would never have stopped this woman normally but man I just got such a burst in my mind: "stop her."

Zoo

2010-04-10T21:28:00.002-06:00

Nick and friends went the zoo at Santander. It's so big, a car is required to go from animal to animal.

Los Osos

A wild bird show - this one flew wildly close to Nick!

For April Fool's joke, I emailed Nick and Maggie that Dad would be offering a prayer at General Conference. They both fell for it - what trusting missionaries! So I emailed their presidents' wives to tell them the truth on April Fool's Day. Hermana Clegg wrote me back:

"Just want you to know that Elder Ryser is looking so good and doing so great. We saw him this last Saturday and he looked happy. His Spanish is wonderful and it looks like from the report of this past week they had a great week... Thanks for raising such a great young man. He is super!!!"

Me Voy!

2010-03-03T19:15:00.001-07:00

Nick reached his quarter-mark.

"i am leaving tommorow for santander!! santander is a two man piso and my new companion is elder griotti and he is from barcelona. i am going to have a native companion! i am insanely scared for only speaking spanish but i have heard he is incredible and very creative with how he does the work and the city is beautiful. other great news if i stay in this city till the end of this mission i will be in the barcelona mission! how incredible is that i have been so blessed during my mission. having an incredible first city with so many loving people and now i am going to a new beautiful city that had a ward. its going to have 120 members that come every week."

The Ourense branch had a Pioneer party February 27, the same night that a Hurricane hit Spain and France. Here's what Nick said: "it was super fun. we watched the work and the glory, played bobbing for apples.. thats awesome, and a few other random games and also that night there was a hurricane warning so we were not allowed to leave the capilla untill like 9:30 so it was a blast and the members loved it. i really love the people in this branch they are so much fun and so caring and great."

New email address

2010-02-23T11:17:00.001-07:00

For some reason, missionaries' addresses have recently changed. Write to Nick now at:
nicholas.ryser@myldsmail.net

The Ourense ward is having a Pioneer/Western party this weekend and here's what

somebody drew of the four elders.

Notice Nick's cigarette.

Another photo on the Bilbao mission blog. Nick looks pretty focused

on pulling his sock up - more than listening to the leaders - ha ha.

Nick's leaving the Bilbao mission

2010-02-09T22:09:00.001-07:00

That got your attention, eh? Effective July 1, the Spain Bilbao mission will be dissolved and the boundaries of the Spain Barcelona and Spain Madrid Missions will be realigned to include the areas now served by Nick's mission.

His response on Monday, 2/8, was: "Its going to be interesting because I will have more time in the other mission than for the one i was really called to. How strange. Honestly i am just excited for it... Going to either mission would be incredible in my opinion though. I could serve with Jose! How awesome would that be. I also really want to see all those cities in that mission and well President Hinckley's son is the president there so that would be pretty interesting. Madrid I would be excited for because that means I could have the chance to go to the temple during my mission which would be a huge help and relief for me and well they have the Canary Islands in that mission."

What a resilient guy. They're teaching a man named Michael, who is doing amazing. He's read a lot of the Book of Mormon and says the only thing he needs is a scripture marker.

These are from the mission blog:

Nick's new companion is Elder Renshaw.

Goofy picture in their apartment. They're making decorations for a ward event.

Holidays

2010-01-26T23:56:00.000-07:00

Three Kings Day. It's the biggest holiday here in Spain so everyone was busy getting ready, stressing out about the gifts and what they are going to do. (Sounds like Christmas in USA). On King's Day Eve, we went to a hospital for special needs people and we sang them Christmas songs. It was very nice and they all loved it. One lady kissed my hand but liked it enough she wanted to keep it. After that, we went to the Celebration of the Kings. They came cruising in on floats with their candies that they lob at the little children. Problem is that the candy is rock hard and all the parents have their babies on their shoulders so they are just getting pelted right in the face.

Brownies they gave people.

And cupcakes (from US)

Merry Christmas!

Ourense

2010-01-26T23:46:00.000-07:00

Ourense, Nick's first city

Guggenheim Art Musuem - front and center

They even have McDonald's

and a fun playground

and interesting places for tracting.

So this week was... interesting. You must hear of the ridiculous things I have seen here in the little corner of the world, Ourense. First of all we're doing some contacts when a beast of a hummer, the type that can't fit in the street and would be able to eat Moog's car, comes cruising up and it was so strange because there was no one in the drivers seat. So we walk around the car and the door opens and out falls a midget. He had a beard and was smoking a giant pipe. . he had some height problems.

The mission is incredible and I am loving every minute of it. I love you all and hope all the work you do there for the Church brings you as much joy as it has brought me. Love, Elder Ryser

New photos

2010-01-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

Bronze statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, at the Plaza de España in Madrid.

Prado Art Museum in Madrid

Madrid MTC time to exercise

Beautiful Spanish cathedral

December

2009-12-28T04:24:00.004-07:00

We did a hike to a hill overlooking Ourense:

Awesome stuff this week (12/7). Elder Webb will baptize Solomon and guess what... he asked me to do the confirmation! Luckily he only speaks English so I get to do it in English.

We had cambios on Saturday and I was with Elder Kofe. It's sad, he is leaving tomorrow!

Highlight of this week was Solomon's baptism. It was incredible. He came all dressed up in his nice shirt and pants. When he came out of the water, he had such a look of gratitude on his face. I love that man. I was terrified of doing the confirmation before but when the time came, I just cleared my mind and let the words come to me. It was such a great feeling.

November

2009-12-28T04:16:00.000-07:00

This is what Nick's Mission Mom wrote on the blog:

"Papa Webb with his son, Elder Ryser. I guess these terms of endearment are universal. Elder Ryser is one of our newest missionaries but he doesn't act like one. Elder Webb reports he is incredible in his language and teaching skills. We need those kind of missionaries here." We say wow!

November 23 Elder Ryser wrote: "We totally thought it was Thanksgiving week last week and were stressed out because we couldn't find a turkey anywhere. On Wednesday we called Herman Clegg and she said, "You know it's next week, right?" We felt so stupid; we didn't even remember our own holiday. Oh well.

Thanksgiving was incredible. We could not find a turkey but we bought a bunch of pastries and chicken and we just had a party. Our feast was chips, soda, chicken, pastries and sparkling cider. Played Phase 10 after - still haven't finished our game yet. It was probably the closest I've come to throwing up, probably because after we ate, we did the Fiddler on The Roof dance to celebrate "El Dia De Accion De Gracias." Quality stuff.

Sister Clegg wrote: We decided to take every missionary a small loaf of homemade bread to wish them all a little Happy Thanksgiving, American Style." So they toured the mission and gave our little breads, asking all the missionaries what they are thankful for. "I told them that I would say that everyone is thankful for their family and the mission, so if they wanted to come up with something else they could. Elder Webb is thankful for frosted circus animal cookies with the sprinkles on top, Elder Oscanoa is thankful to estar aqui en la mision y muchas milagros. Elder Kofe is thankful for Spanish Bread while Elder Ryser is thankful for Branca, an angel of a member. (She cooks them breakfast every Thursday - meat rolls, oj, hot chocolate, and cake. She works 10 hours per day and is Stake YW President. Says "While it is hard, I will do whatever thing the Lord asks of me."

On November 30, he wrote:

"I can no longer pray in English. Tried a few days ago. Had more trouble with it than Spanish." Also: "Can't get enough of the mission. So many miracles every day."

Halloween in Ourense

2009-10-31T11:17:00.000-06:00

Elder Ryser arrived in his first city just in time for Halloween. He said:

I was in Bilbao for just one night and we did some visits. The next day I took the party train to the amazing and beautiful city of Ourense. The first two days have been incredible! My companion is Elder Webb and he is super nice, knows Spanish incredibly and is really funny. It's going to be a blast and the work is going well.

On Saturday we have a Halloween party so we are preparing for that; dressing up at Teletubbies."

Nick can write everyone outside the mission so "tell all my friends I can write them." See new address at right...

Arrival in Bilbao!

2009-10-29T23:42:00.003-06:00

Nick and four other missionaries arrived at the Bilbao airport on Oct 27. President and Sister Clegg welcomed them with other mission leaders. Here's their report:

We certainly felt of his great spirit right away and know that he will be a fantastic missionary. His Spanish is coming great and he doesn't seem to be hesitant to go out and teach. We feel so blessed to have him here and want you to know that his welfare is our #1 concern. We love him with all our heart already. Thank-you for raising such a valiant young man who is so worthy and willing to serve.

Check out Nick's arrival on the
Bilbao Mission Blog.

Madrid MTC photos

2009-10-29T23:23:00.001-06:00

10/26

Saturday I was in the park and we were not having very much success. We ran into pretty much only English speakers but they only wanted to talk because we spoke English. As soon as we mentioned the Church they would walk away. Just as we were getting ready to go back to the fountain to sing, we started talking to a man. We asked if we could walk with him and he obliged. He was a very interesting man. and spoke English, German, and Spanish. He told us how he is no longer religious because when he is a nice person people treat him badly but when he is a bad person people treat him nicely. So we told him all about how nice everyone is in the church and gave him a Book of Mormon and continued to explain how we had gained our testimonies. We talked to him for 40 minutes and it felt great. We got a referencia!

I have never been so sure of something in my entire life. Since I have been here, my testimony and entire feelings of this gospel have tripled. I hope I can keep this faith in the real world as well as I did here in the CCM. La iglesia es verdad siempre."

10/22 "This week we learned subjunctivo and it pretty much explains to us that we have been speaking Spanish wrong the entire time. I am really going to miss the CCM but I can't wait to get out and start having experiences like Maggie has had.
I really don't think I have ever changed and been this devoted in my life. Today was my last time in the temple for 22 months. It's a sad thought but the joy will overpower the sorrow (Alma 31:38)"

10/15 "It's crazy how fast time is flying by. It really feels like yesterday when I was with my friends and we just hung around doing nothing and now Jose is coming to Espana! Que guay! I can't wait for him to get out here. I am sure he will be an awesome missionary."

10/8 "This General Conference could not have been at a better time. I can't stop thinking about all the awesome messages we received from so many great people. My favorite was Pres Uchtdorf's about love. This work is is not something we do because we repay the Lord for what He did. It is a work of love. President Monson's talk Sunday morning topped it all off."

9/24 - "We are having all sorts of strange food but it's actually good. We had squid that was mixed with all these other sea things. The classes are complete opposite of what the Provo classes are like. Our entire focus is on the language and we have have 3 gospel classes a week. I have already taught the first lesson 3 times in Spanish and normally we would not be getting to that for another 2 weeks in Provo. Elder Salari just arrived. He's from Santa Cruz and met Max this summer. Small world, eh?

On Saturday we went to the city park and tried some contacting. It was crazy. Luckily they paired me up with a native and we managed to get a Book of Mormon out to a great family and a few pamphlets.

Right before we left the park we had the entire CCM sing to the park people. Our teacher said we sounded like a cat screaming while it clawed on a chalk board. (He doesn't really like to sugar coat things.)

Last week we went to the temple and my companion tried to listen to it in Spanish but it was actually in Portuguese so he had no idea what was going on the entire time. ha ha.

Sept 16 - "I made it! This is going to be so different - shooting from 2500 missionaries in Provo down to 19; I can't wait. Every Saturday we go out to the central park of Madrid and do contacting for an hour. I'm really scared but I hear it's great and going to be good for me. All the teachers and the CCM president are awesome. They are super nice and willing to help us with whatever we need."

Provo MTC

2009-09-14T22:16:00.001-06:00

Saying good-bye to Ted and Rachel

Some of Nick's comments from the MTC include:

After 5 days, he wrote: "We have been learning insanely fast. I can already pray and bear my testimony in Spanish with no notes." "Being here has really strengthened my testimony and I am loving it."

After 2 weeks, he wrote: "I am amazed because last Sunday we had about 8 hours of meetings and I actually didn't get bored... I might make it through the mtc without a nap."

Celebrating with Martinelli's - done in Provo!

"One small cool blessing I noticed this week was that my companion was having a hard time sleeping all week so I prayed to help him find more rest. That night he fell asleep quickly and said he didn't wake up in the night. It's awesome how the Lord will bless us even with the smallest things we ask of Him."

Only Nick and his companion, Elder Howard, are
going to to Spain. The rest of the district will serve in Texas.

Madrid MTC

2009-09-14T21:31:00.001-06:00

Excerpts from Beyond Provo "New Era" article, June 2000:

For years the international MTCs have been instrumental in training local missionaries throughout the world. Today, they’re also beginning to bless the lives of North American missionaries called to serve in the areas in which the MTCs are located.

Since November of 1998, all North American missionaries called to Brazil are sent to the Brazil MTC in São Paulo for the second month of their training. Because of the success of this “phased training” program in Brazil, similar programs have also been adopted at MTCs in Lima, Peru; and Madrid, Spain. Additionally, all missionaries called to serve in Great Britain go directly to the MTC in Preston, England. Although the integrated program was originally thought of as a solution to overcrowding in the Provo MTC, it has also been successful in better training missionaries and has revolutionized the MTC experience.

... mission presidents reported that missionaries trained in the phased learning program were more confident and better prepared to serve the minute they arrived in the mission field, and that culture shock went down while language skills went up.

Missionaries in international MTCs still have an experience similar to that in Provo: weekly devotionals with Area and General Authorities, trips to the temple, gym time, identical curriculum and Technology-Assisted Language Learning, and the same support services. But beyond the similarities, there are major advantages.

When English-speaking missionaries enter the Brazil MTC, they have no choice but to speak Portuguese—their roommates, teachers, and support staff are Brazilian. “In Provo we’d practice our Portuguese, but we could always fall back on English. Now, we’re with people who don’t speak any English at all,” says Elder Jacob Calvert. “Every day we realize how much farther we’ve got to go, so people are a lot more committed to learning the language.”

Teachers at the Brazil MTC are Brazilian returned missionaries, many of whom also speak some English. Here, all classes are conducted in Portuguese, although teachers will occasionally explain some things in English if missionaries appear confused. In spite of the increased level of difficulty in class, missionaries say they love having Brazilian teachers. “They’re able to explain the language better since they’re native speakers,” says Sister Sevy.

Culture shock is typical for anyone who moves to a new country, but the Brazil MTC makes the transition much easier for new missionaries. “It’s almost like a halfway point between the American culture and the Brazilian culture,” says Brazil MTC President James Palmer. “It helps them make an easier transition.”

Not only are North Americans and Brazilians able to become accustomed to living together, but North Americans are also able to experience Brazilian food, market places, and shopping during weekly outings. All missionaries in the MTC also go team teaching once a week with missionaries serving in one of the São Paulo missions. “The missionaries are able to go out into the ‘real world’ and then come back and talk about their experiences with their teachers and ask questions about things they need to improve on,” says President Palmer. “So by the time they enter the mission field, they’re ready.”

Pre-mission

2009-09-14T21:13:00.002-06:00

Hanging out with friends