Week 2

Another week....

When I arrived it was said that at the MTC "days" feel like "weeks" and "weeks" feel like "days". Well, the truth is that the "days" feel like "years" and the "weeks" feel like "months".

But onward!!!

Our zone consists of 4 districts, 2 districts of us got here two weeks ago and 2 districts have been here for 7-8 weeks, well, our zone is also the designated zone for native Russians to come and be trained for a few weeks before they go back to Russia to serve. They arrived this week, about 6 of them and they are awesome. Today was temple day and two of them were going through to receive their own endowments and its was so beautiful. The temple was prepared with a few workers who speak Russian, some natives, and I was able to stand right next to the veil as they went through speaking their native tongue of Russian. How amazing that the lord blesses all his children, in their own language.

At the MTC we have lots of devotionals, firesides, "large group meetings" or "lgm", so let me just brag for a minute on the speakers we have had since I've been here this short time...

Ok, not really any advantage to me, but Elder Holland spoke the night before I arrived, but many people have quoted his remarks and I have benefited greatly from them, so it counts, also the MTC received a new President the week I arrived and his address was amazing as well.

Last Tuesday Elder Gong of the Seventy addressed us with his wife and gave an extremely spiritually and intellectually invigorating speech. In Relief Society each week we have guest speakers, last week Kathy Madson, and this week Sister Rosemary Wixom, General Primary president addressed us...again amazing.

On Sunday night, Stephen B. Allen, the managing director of the missionary dept here spoke to us and I feel he pierced everyone's heart in the very unique way it needed to be. In his talk he addressed the four phases generally everyone goes through when they start a new phase in their life, a new school year, a new job, or hey, even a mission. Phase One: The honeymoon phase, Phase Two: the hostile phase ("I" hate everything, "I" am going home, "I", "I", it comes out of nowhere and hopefully you picked up on who we focus on during that phase), then eventually, hopefully, you make it to Phase Three: Grin and Bear it, and then Phase Four: endure to the end then things are going great because hopefully you are focusing on not yourself, but others, and that is where your joy comes from.

I think, I think, I think I've made it to the "grin and bear it phase". I may still have a pinky toe in the hostile phase, but I think I'm going to make it.

This week was pretty overwhelming, we learned how to conjugated three different types of verbs, the past tense, and have started to memorize Joseph Smiths account of the First Vision in Russian. Ah! but I am doing it. I have been able to open up to my companions more and confess to them how I am feeling and that has helped a lot. We are really working to make our personalities jive.

Luckily, I've realized I do have lots of resources here, not just to learn Russian, but emotional supports. Our branch presidency wives are wonderful, and our teachers do care about us. I met with one of my teachers one on one this week and he served in Donetsk, Ukraine, and he was sooo jealous I was going to Kiev. He said they have amazing missionaries there. One story he told was that a few Elders were teaching a man in Donetsk and he left to visit his sister in Kiev for two weeks. They found out when he got back that he had been taught and baptized while in Kiev :) and he said I will get to go to the temple there.

Something funny I've realized about the meetings and devotionals here is their messages follow a pattern:

You are all great missionaries -->the work is going to be hard -->the lord will bless you --> but your mission is going to be hard--> but you are all great missionaries--> the lord will bless you--> but the work is going to be hard.... so on :)

You all have a homework assignment, we are learning the song "Katyusha" I think that's how you spell it in English...you-tube it or something. it is an awesome Russian song.

I love you all and feel the powers of your prayers!!