Week 1 at the MTC is now complete and wow this week was so busy. There are 9 people in my district, 4 sisters (сестры) and 5 elders. My district is basically a group of us all going to a Russian speaking mission who got here at the same time, so we all have Russian class together and things like that. They’re my MTC family:) Here are some of the highlights of this week:
WEDNESDAY- This was the day I first left for the MTC. Nothing super interesting happened, it was just a lot thrown at me. We went straight off to Russian class and had a few introductory devotionals. During Russian class, we found out everything rhymes with pizza. So the way I remember how to say “please help us to learn” for our prayers is to say cheese pizza at the end because that’s what it sounds like. Unfortunately, my companion was going very fast during this particular sentence and ended up saying “papa johns cheese pizza” which sounds almost like the actual phrase. Soooo yeah that’s what Russian sounds like.
THURSDAY- Here’s a video that my companion (Sister Maccabee) and I took on Thursday that pretty much describes the day. We were so excited about Russian and being missionaries and everything! Also don’t judge this video too harshly, we know a lot more Russian now. We also took some pictures in front of a big map and I also found out that I’m the shortest person in our district:( BUT IM NOT SHORT IM AVERAGE HEIGHT.
FRIDAY- This was the day that found out Russian is really hard. And not just really hard, but really REALLY hard. I say that because Friday was when we started learning cursive in Russian. I don’t know what the Russian people were thinking when they invented cursive, but it makes little to no sense. For example, т is a block letter in Russian but in cursive it looks like a lowercase m. Who does that?
SATURDAY- Saturday was the day we broke our teacher. We have two Russian teachers, Sister(сестра) Slight and Brother(брат) Hayden. Брат Hayden was teaching our second three hour class block from 6-9 pm, and we were trying to memorize a new phrase. It must have been a long week or something because we were all DEAD. We were taking turns saying each word but someone messed up every time. We ended up spending a whole 30 minutes trying to say this Russian thing before we finally got it right. Once. But we all know it now so it’s ok.
SUNDAY- Sunday was a nice break. Also we didn’t have Russian class! My favorite part of Sunday was either the choir practice or the devotional. The MTC choir director actually spoke during the devotional. I had been having a hard time with feeling like I actually should be here and if I’m cut out to do this work. Brother Eggat (the choir director) just talked a lot about how God saved us specifically for this period of time and how we are sent to the place we are serving for a purpose. God knows all of us individually, and He knows that Russia is where I’m supposed to be. Even though Russia is terrifying and Russian is hard, He will help me through it.
MONDAY- I got to talk on the phone on Monday. I had an issue with my passport and had to call the department of state to get it all worked out which was kinda a pain. On the plus side, I get to leave campus (which we normally never do) soon to go to the post office and apply for a new passport.
TUESDAY- The best part of Tuesday was definitely the devotional. We as a choir got to sing in it which was so amazing. Stephen Owens, the Young Men’s general president came and talked to us. The biggest thing that stood out to me about what he said was that we need to keep going out of our comfort zones. Being comfortable is dangerous, as it’s easy to get caught up in routine and then not only would our lives be more boring, but we would never get to experience anything new or be able to reap benefits. As he put, “the hungry dog is the best hunter.”
WEDNESDAY(today)- Today is my Preparation day (or P Day)! This is the day of the week that I get to run errands like doing laundry and also reply to emails. Thank you so much to those of you who have written me throughout the week. I have an iPad with me while I’m in the MTC and I’m able to read the emails during the week, I just can’t respond until Wednesday. So please, I would love to hear from you!!
Also one last story before I close: these Tongan missionaries were outside in the cold this week and one of them shouted, “WHY DOES AMERICA HAVE A SUN? IT DOESN’T DO ANYTHING” so yeah. It’s cold.
I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father. I know that He gives us trials and asks us to do things not to punish us, but to help us grow and become better than we ever thought we could be. I know that He will never ask us to do anything without giving us the means by which to accomplish it.
Pictures:
1. Me and сестра Maccabee (my companion)
2. My district in front of the big map... I know I look short but I’m not
3. Сестра Eckery, Сестра Murton, me, and Сестра Maccabee with the pretty mountains:)
4. MTC Lights ahhhh
5. Me not being short anymore!! Also we are pointing at Novosibirsk
6. Called to Serve
