Week 3 - MTC

 

Two of my friends who left for Russia this week

Добре День From the MTC!

Pretty normal week us over here. It definitely feels like we have been here for ages and we are finally getting used to it. The worst thought is that we will be here for another 6 WEEKS! My saving grace, besides the food, is the people I'm with. I love my district and my zone. Amazing people. We just lost the oldest group. They got to Russia earlier this week. So today we get 24 more Russian speakers. Sadly no Ukrainian speakers until 3 weeks after we leave. But today, in the group that comes, there are a ton of international missionaries. We are all pumped to meet them.

On Thursday we had our first TRC lesson which is where you teach members, mostly returned missionaries. It went OK....we didn't really know what we were going into so we kind of prepared for something different...as if we were gonna teach an investigator. But knowing how it is now we are definitely going to prepare different. Our next one is this Thursday and we are super excited because we know how they go and they are super fun just asking questions about there missions and life and whatever, Super fun!

Elder Howard and I got haircuts Saturday morning. I got sooooooo scared when she started cutting my hair. She combed my hair up, and with the comb still in my hair she just started shaving it off the top....I almost jumped out the chair but didn't want it to be even worse. It turned out ok in the end just so different having someone other than dad cutting my hair. That evening we had class and at the end we had Book of Mormon studies with the class. Elder Edwards and the Latvian teacher came and joined us. The Latvian teacher led the discussion and it was amazing. He had us all choose our favorite scriptures and had us read them and share why, I shared Alma 7:11-14.   After we all shared, he came back up to each one of us and acted as an investigator with a problem that our scriptures would be able to help him with. He did an amazing job and it was weird how real it felt. We all felt the spirit very strong and our testimonies of reading and studying the scriptures grew a ton.

Studying in class

We had our first fast Sunday here. It was so weird not eating. It was amazing fasting though. We definitely felt the blessings of it this week. The Sunday devotional was Jenny Oaks Baker, President Dallin H Oaks Daughter. Her family is very very very talented. It was a musical devotional so she would get up, share a testimony and the whole family would play a song. It was super cool and they were amazing.
 
Monday was when we realized the power of fasting. We were preping our lesson all day because it was at 6 that night. We had no idea what we were gonna do because it was the furst lesson that we couldn't use any notes our books or anything.... we were freaking out. Our lesson plan was this: Say a prayer with her, have her read a scripture about baptism, tell her about three lines about baptism that we have memorized, ask her if shell be baptized, if she says no, share Mosiah 18:10 (amazing scripture to share if they say no), ask again and whatever her answer, bear testimony, and close with her saying the prayer. Of course, she asks us a question we were not prepared for. Somehow we got through it and i got the chance to ask her to be baptized. She said No. I asked if she would read Mosiah and she did and I asked again. She said "for now I will say yes. But you told me to pray and ask God so I will do that first" YOOOOO we were so hyped!! I told her that she is making the right decision and God will bless her for it and bore my testimony. It was so cool. And I saw Mariah who just got a job here!! So awesome and weird seeing a family member. I will be seeing her like everyday she works..... So awesome!
 

Not really studying in class

Tuesday Devotional, President Jean B Bingham spoke!!! She is amazing. but I wanted to share something her husband said. He bore a short testimony but what he said really changed my outlook on the mission. He said "This next two years of your life will be the simplest.....not the easiest....but the simplest" I love that! Its so simple what we are doing out here. We do the same thing everyday and teach the most amazing message. Its not complicated what we have to do. It will be very hard but very simple. Love it.

Yea things are going great. Definitely learning patience. Thank you for that scripture! (1 Nephi Chapters 5-7) I actually just finished 1 Nephi and learned so much. Yes we have been learning a lot about Ukraine and its amazing. You guys should watch the Kiev temple dedication youth video its amazing and makes me so excited.

I love all of you.

Я Любит Вас

P-Day life