Well, I survived the first week! Hard to believe that it has only been one week. It feels like I have been here forever. Sometimes, it is hard to remember life before the MTC.
First off, thank you dad for the donuts. They were a nice night time snack. And thank you for sending me that skirt. Also, I don't have any addresses for a lot of people so let everyone know that if they would like me to send a letter to send me their address via dearelder. I can read letters sent through dearelder any night after 9:30 but I can only respond on Preparation Day.
I don't know where to start! Well, every day is much like the day before it: busy, busy, busy. We spend about 10-11 hours in class. There are 10 missionaries in my district: six elders and four sisters. Five of the elders are going to the St. Petersburg mission while the other elder and two of the sisters are heading to the Baltics. My companion (Sister Thrall) and I are heading to the Russia Moscow Mission together. The first day or two our district was really quiet. Now we have all opened up a lot more, especially the elders. The elders are really great and when they teach they have a strong testimony. But at dinner and before class it is easy to remember that they are also only 19.
Sometimes, I wonder why on earth I am learning Russian. I love it but at times it seems to make no sense considering my French background. The first day we learned how to introduce ourselves and say where we are from. The next day (Thursday) we learned how to bear our testimonies. Friday we practiced bearing our testimonies to a fake investigator on the street. Our teacher paired us up with a missionary in another district who has been here for 6 weeks. The older missionary was the senior companion while my district was the junior companion. The activity gave us a nice idea how the mission field will be: we did not understand what the investigator was saying but we could bear our testimony and hope it would communicate the Spirit.
We also learned how to pray in Russian on Friday. That stressed everyone out. Thankfully, our wonderful teacher saw how overwhelmed we felt and took us on a walk. As we walked he said the pray words and we repeated them. There were a lot of heartfelt pleases that have been expressed in our prayers.
Sunday was probably my most overwhelming day. Everyone loves Sunday here at the MTC. We get more study time and ice cream during lunch. However, my companion and I were asked by the President to serve as coordinating sisters. The calling is the only leadership position among the sisters. We interview the seniors companions and take care of the sisters. We also work closely to help the natives. I am excited about the calling but it overwhelmed Sister Thrall and I because we had back to back meetings for our calling that afternoon. Then the President told us Russian natives would be arriving this week and they might not know English! We have only been learning Russian for a week!
But the Lord does not forget His servants. We were stressed but the Lord blessed us through our Sunday devotional. It was a music devotional by the BYU Men's Chorus. The songs they sang were exactly what I needed. I felt peace and that everything would be all right. And things have been. We met the sisters this morning and it seems like they know a little English whichs helps us and answers my pray.
Well, I only have 3 minutes left so I need to wrap up. I love you all. I love being a missionary and teaching people about Christ. I can't wait to bear my testimony to the Russian people. I love the Lord and He really has helped me to meet my calling. I do all that I can and He helps with all the rest.
With love,
Sister Daniel
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