Media outlets throughout the United States continue to publish profiles on missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operating in their local areas. Without exception, these profiles have been respectful, accurate, and apolitical, which helps to counter some of the negative propaganda published by those few who are genuine enemies of the Church.
On June 27th, 2009, the Keene (New Hampshire) Sentinel has now published their own profile on Ryan McDaniel of Provo, Utah and Jared Cline of Farmington, Utah, both 19 years old and both of whom are serving a mission in the Keene area. McDaniel has been assigned to Keene for six months, having previously served in Cambridge, MA. Cline has been in Keene only three weeks, having previously served in Watertown and Newton in Massachusetts. Both missionaries say they can be asked to relocate elsewhere with only days notice.
Elders McDaniel and Cline both graduated from high school. McDaniel is the third in a family of six children. He attended one year at Brigham Young University studying music performance and music education. He will re-enter BYU after completing his mission. He plays the piano, French horn and has a great voice. He likes basketball and mountain biking. Cline mowed laws after high schools but expects to go to college after he finishes his two-year commitment. He is the middle of five children, is an accomplished pianist as well as a drummer. He likes to ski and mountain bike, noting “great trails in Utah.”
Like other LDS missionaries, McDaniel and Cline also give up the worldly "pleasures" - television, movies and concerts - during their two-year missions. Neither has a problem with giving up worldly things because they consider their mission is more important. They have a mission president who supervises them, but the missionaries also keep each other in check. Their typical daily schedule:
6 A.M.: Rise and study the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
6:30 A.M.: Exercise. In McDaniel’s and Cline’s case, it is a half hour of running.
7-8 A.M.: Breakfast, get dressed.
8-10 A.M.: Study Scripture.
10 A.M.-9 P.M.: Meet people on the street, knock on doors, ask people to listen to their message. Arrange for and teach study groups.
9-9:30 P.M.: Plan the next day.
9:30-10:30 P.M.: Study Scripture, then bedtime.
Sundays: No exercise, go to church. One other day a week is designated as "P-Day", for prep and chores.
The article brings out some other facts not replicated in other accounts. There are 53,000 men and women Mormon missionaries worldwide, about 40 percent of Mormon youth age 19 to 25, according to Cline. Missionaries have been coming to the Keene area since 1961 (although a longtime local resident, Wayne King, posted a comment in which he mentioned that missionaries have been in Keene since the 1940's or before. His mother and grandmother were both baptized in 1948). To pay the costs of these missionaries, each missionary family contributes $400 a month.
The Church has a chapel on Summit Street to house a ward consisting of 300 members; about 170 attend Sunday worship regularly. A construction project is doubling the building’s size.
Visit the Church's proselytization site, Mormon.org, for more information and to chat live with a missionary if desired.
2 comments:
I think this article is terrific. I just happen to be Ryan's mother.
Thanks, Eileen. I am particularly pleased that you found it useful, since your son is only allowed to call you on Mother's Day and Christmas, although he can write as often as he likes.
Oftentimes when these small town newspapers write about our missionaries, neither the Church News nor the Mormon Times picks it up, not out of lack of desire, but because there's simply so much news to cover.
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