Week 4

Hard to believe I have almost been here an entire month. Even more incredible is that there are only two months before Moscow! Yikes!

 

Nothing earth-shattering happened this week. Not like I've been hearing from the outside world. It was only distracting for about 3 minutes and then we buried ourselves back into the Gospel and Russian.

 

The older districts are leaving on Monday and Tuesday. Which means that we are now the older district and everything switches to Russian. Next week at the TRC (Teaching Resource Center) all our lessons will be in Russian as well as all of our Sunday talks. So far we have escaped being called on because the Presidency only chooses Russian talks. Our grace period is over and the sisters and I are betting which one of us they will call first as there are only four of us. We don't feel ready to be the older district but we are excited for new missionaries. Appartently May 18 we are getting about 50 new Russian missionaries (Americans, not natives).

 

I don't know if I ever mentioned this but the last two weeks at the MTC we are only supposed to speak Russian. No supplimenting with English words. Sister Thrall and I were discussing it and the thought terrified us. So to prepare ourselves we are going to start doing 100% a few days a week. So this Saturday we are trying to go the entire day only speaking Russian. It might be a quiet day but it will challenge us.

 

I can't believe I almost forgot! Last Friday Sister Thrall and I "met" our progressor investigator. It is only a roleplay where our teachers pretend to be someone they knew on their missions. We met with this person multiple times so we have practice meeting with the same person more than once and can address some issues real Russians would have. It went so well. I am enjoying the MTC but having an investigator, even in a roleplay, filled what I felt I was missing and he was based off of someone our teacher, Bpat Gallo, knew in Moscow. We bore our testimonies that God lives and we are His literal children. We could all feel the Spirit so strongly and I felt such love for this person we had only just met. Later, when I was interviewed by our teacher for weekly progress checks he commented that our lesson went really well and that Sister Thrall and I taught in unison.

 

The thing I won't miss about the MTC is the food, especially these past two weeks. Our lunch and dinner times moved with the schedules and there is construction in the kitchens. We are among the last groups to get lunch and on Sunday the cafeteria ran out of meat. The food isn't bad but it is cafeteria food. I try to eat salads and watch what I eat. With so many choices it is easy to overeat. Thank goodness we have gym time.

 

Oh! I saw Hermano Melandez Monday night. Appartently due to visas he has been serving in South Salt Lake City and now he is in Argentina. But he had to stay a night in the MTC. He came up to me during my computer time. I don't know how he found out my building but it was nice to see him and wish him luck before he left.

 

Thank you all so much for your letters. They always brighten up my nights. I love being a missionary. I can't wait to be old and married and serve many more missions. I love the Lord and am working hard. I can't wait to get to know the Russian people. This Gospel truly brings happiness and light to my life.

 

- Ceptra Daniel