June 26, 2013
Well, I'm here and I've settled in. So much has happened,
and you (Mom) have asked me to be detailed, so I'll try my best. Here we go.
First off, everyone at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) is extremely nice. When you first arrive at the MTC you have a little orange sticker on your tag that means "I'm new! Welcome me to the MTC and tell me what to do!" My host took me to my room (4th floor - I felt so bad for her lugging my suitcase up those stairs) and then dropped me off at my classroom. Everyone else was already there and everyone was speaking Russian. It is a little overwhelming. I just kind of stared at the teacher. Soon after I arrived it was time for the orientation presentation, and then we did "in-house" tutorials where a bunch of us missionaries were in a room, and there was an "investigator" there with a certain situation. Two older missionaries would begin the discussion and then our class was supposed to finish it. It was a long first day.
But you probably want to know about my district! I know you
know a little bit because I was told to write you a letter at the end of
the first day, which I did. But I'll repeat: My companion is Sister Finlayson.
She is twenty, and from New Hampshire, and amazingly smart. She already spoke
quite a bit of Chinese, and then she was called to Donetsk, Ukraine and took a
semester of intensive Russian. She basically teaches the rest of us Russian
because we often don't have a teacher. She is also the older sister of a girl
on Alexandra's study abroad. (Editor’s note: On Monday we received the
handwritten letter from Diana with the name of her companion and emailed a copy
to Alexandra who had just arrived in Scotland for a Study Abroad with about 12
other students. Tuesday morning we had an e-mail from Alexandra saying that the
girl on her flight from New Jersey to Glasgow and with whom she had shared a
cab from the airport to their dormitory was the sister of Diana’s companion.) My
district has 6 sisters and 6 elders. The other sisters are going to Kiev,
Ukraine, and the Elders to Donetsk. Most of our Elders are fresh out of high
school; one turned 18 two weeks ago.
Thursday was the longest day of my life. People always say
(at least here they do) that if you can make it to Sunday, you can make it. If
you can make it through Thursday, you can make it. I literally sat in my one
seat in the classroom and studied for hours straight. We even had an extra hour
as a district because no one ever showed up for "MTC Orientation." We
didn't have a teacher until much later that night, so as a district we just sat
there freaking out as we're trying to learn the entire Russian language with no
idea of what direction to go. I almost broke down the first day when the
teacher arrived later that night. He only spoke in Russian, and I didn't
understand a lick of it, and I was exhausted and frustrated. But then I
just had to smile and laugh because otherwise I was going to cry. It helped.
The way they do language here is you learn phrases and bits
of vocab first, grammar later, and the alphabet on the fly. I am so glad I knew
some of the alphabet before coming out. The Russian language is difficult, as
there are no articles like "the" or "is," but instead the
end of a word changes. You should see our grammar charts. Like I said, most of
our language study is on our own, but it works, as the missionaries that have
been here 5 weeks can speak fairly well.
Thursday night we also met with our branch presidency, and
they interviewed us newbies as well as had us bear our testimonies. May I just
say my district is solid. Really, everyone is an example to me.
Time is running out, so moving on. Friday was so much better
than Thursday. The language was already easier to understand. I always go to
bed feeling like I remember nothing, and then go to class the next day and
discover I remember so much more than I thought. Friday we spent most of the
day preparing for our first lesson. Yes, two days into the MTC and Sister
Finlayson and I taught our first lesson to an investigator - in Russian. His
name is a Russian name that I will attempt to recreate without the Russian
alphabet: Aptem (imagine two dots above the "e"). It's pronounced
Are-tee-yohm (roll your "r"). He is incredibly nice, and more than
willing to do whatever you ask him to. The first lesson we taught about the
Book of Mormon and challenged him to read it. We came back the next day for the
second lesson and he had read 16 chapters. During the lessons, I usually write
out the lines I want to say, and then read them. Sis. Finlayson can actually
have a conversation, that I attempt to follow along with. That first lesson, I
also ended up giving him my copy of the Russian triple combination so he could
read the Book of Mormon (I mysteriously had it returned later that night). We
have a little Russian missionary phrase book that I still read straight out of,
but I can now say the prayer without peeking. We have taught three lessons so
far, and today is our fourth. And guess what?! During our third lesson we asked
him to be baptized and he said yes! It actually caught Sister Finlayson and I
off guard. We know he's just assumed a role, but it's still exciting! Now we
need to prepare him.
Oh, there's so much to write. Okay, so right before we got
to the MTC some bug had gone around, and then on Friday Sis. Powell was sick.
They tell us not to shake hands or hug, and always use hand sanitizer (there
are tons of dispensers around campus). Other random things: I have seen so many
of my friends here, which is really exciting. Most/all are from BYU. It's a
little bit trippy calling them Elder or Sister something, and sometimes I
realize I don't know what their last name is. It's still fun though. It is also
really great to see the sisters in my district on their knees every morning and
night to pray. People pray all the time here, out loud. Also sing. We sing a
lot. I have a Russian hymn book now, and our district and sometimes zone sing
together in Russian. It's really fun, and helps you learn the language. Also,
our room has 6 sisters, three bunk beds, four closets, and two desks. We also
had to store our luggage in the room. But we figured it out. And showers are
not a problem, people shower at such different times. It just stinks to get
either the one with poor water pressure, or the one that doesn't drain. Also,
my district plays sand volleyball during gym time. Gym time is wonderful, and
sand volleyball is ridiculously fun. That is all.
Saturday, because of the new mission president conference,
all us Donetsk missionaries got to have a special meeting with the Lockheads.
They are wonderful! I am excited to serve under them. We met in the main
building, which has been shut off to missionaries because a bunch of general
authorities are in there. The Elders in my district have had to go in there for
different things, and they've run into Elder Christofferson and Elder Anderson!
Sunday was the busiest and most tiring Sunday I've ever had.
No day of rest there. By seven I was singing hymns with the zone, and then we
had a special meeting with the Area Seventy of Eastern Europe and his wife. It
was a wonderful opportunity and they are great. Then it was breakfast outside,
as we can't eat in the cafeteria because it's in the main building. Then Relief
Society was combined in the gym, and a member of the General Relief Society
Board spoke. Sacrament meeting was split into two groups, and was held in the
gym. They passed the Sacrament to the 400+ people faster than our home ward,
though they did have four sacrament tables. Then us new missionaries had a
combined district meeting with our branch president, President Harrison. Again,
some good points were made. Then the broadcast. No, I was not in the choir, as
I was not allowed to be. They had been practicing for weeks. I was almost on
camera at one point though, but it went above me. Technically I'm in the wide
shots though. We sat in those little Marriott Center seats for three hours. My
rear was hurting pretty bad by the end. It was a great conference though, and it
was fun to see the back of the general authorities’ heads. I was pretty jealous
of the choir though. By the way, it's really fun to look at my tag, and look at
those around me, and realize I am a missionary. It's wonderful.
Yesterday I did sing in the choir for devotional, and what a
devotional it was. Sister Janice Kapp Perry came and spoke, as well as her
husband. They are hilarious. At one point Sister Perry mentioned how Brother
Perry's first words to her were "those lips were meant for more than
playing the clarinet." At that point he stood up, walked over to her, and
planted a huge one on her! The whole MTC was cracking up. Then he did it again
and gave a double fist pump. What a first devotional. It was also great though
because we got to sing a medley of her Primary songs. I'm telling you, you
enter the MTC, and all of a sudden you sing beautifully. At the end we also
sang the revised version of the EFY medley, and it was incredible.
Okay, I'm almost out of time. I will try to figure out
pictures. I don't know if I was specific enough, but like a said, a lot
happened. Send me some specific questions, and I will try to answer them next
time. And don't worry, I'm keeping my eye out for Sister Garces :)
The gospel is true, and the work is great!
Love,
Cectpa Tanner
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