Do I have some news for you!

August 14, 2013

Well do I have some news for you! But later.

First, last Wednesday we had a lesson with "Sergei," which highlighted the perils of learning a new language. For example, Sergei asked why people would kill Christ. Sis. Finlayson misunderstood, and said because of love (thinking he asked why Christ died for us), and Sergei said "no, you don't understand" and Sis. Finlayson, attempting to explain herself more said, "Well, don't you love your sister?" and Sergei just starts laughing and says "Well yeah! But I don't kill her!" I, for once, understood what was going on and finally decided to step in and save the day. We also said multiple times throughout the lesson that Jesus killed for us. Oops. A new language means false doctrine everywhere. I wish I could remember other funny things that have been said, but I just have my favorite: "A covenant is a 'what's up' from God" (another sister in my district). Good times.

So Thursday. Thursday was just one of those spirit crushing days. So Thursday mornings I get to wake up early to go to service, which I think I described last week. This week I had the lovely opportunity to clean tubs, and boy, were there some nasty tubs. More nasty than normal, which I will save you the details on. Then I lost an earring. Then we began learning verbs of motion, and pre-fixed verbs of motion, which are just confusing and terrible, especially when you are already tired. And this doesn't sound like a lot, but it was just one of those days when you feel really tired. But THEN, and here's the big news, our travel plans came. Mine reads: "We have not received your visa clearance and you will be unable to travel to Ukraine on your scheduled departure date. You will remain at the MTC until your visa arrives." So yeah. That was just the cherry on top. Fear not though, I feel much better about everything than I did that night. Basically, I have been told that the wait is not expected to be long, so I should probably not receive a reassignment. One day I will just be called up to the front desk, and they'll tell me my visa is here and I leave the next day. So I still do all the last week stuff, and I need to pack, but then I just get to stick around. By the way, all Donetsk and Dneiper missionaries did not receive visas, so the four sisters in my district leaving for Kiev leave at 4:30am Tuesday morning. They were planning on moving all Russian missionaries to Wyview right after we left (we just escaped it), so I may have to move to Wyview as well. Wyview districts are smaller as well, so my district may get split up. Basically everything is up in the air. All I know is, one day I will be in Ukraine.

So Friday. Friday we had Skype TRC again, which is the fourth time in a row and extremely unusual. It is so hard to understand Russian over Skype. It went though, and wasn't too bad. It was also our last Skype TRC I believe. The rest of the day went well, which was a blessing.

Saturday we had a substitute, and we got to practice street door contacting. It's a little difficult to understand Russian through a door, but we eventually got through. Either we're pros, or we street contacted into our teacher. (Hint: it's the latter).

Sunday I was dead sure I was going to be called on to give a talk. Instead they called Sis. Grandy, who was sitting right next to me. So close. In Relief Society Sister Wixom spoke, and she was wonderful. It was fun when she would tell stories from when Brother Wixom was Mission President in Washington DC South, because hearing the names of places by your home is just fun. I wanted to say hi, but you are not supposed to do that, so I just walked out and told all my friends that I knew her (kind of). Mom, you should tell her that she was wonderful, and all the sisters in my district kept gushing about how great she was and how much they love her.

Monday went really well. We had a great lesson with Vadeem (our last), SYL went well, all three meals were wonderful, and I was a beast at volleyball. I happened to stuff this one elder twice in volleyball, and the second one everyone got all excited and were giving me high fives and the elder I stuffed/blocked gave me "respect," and it was just one of those moments where you feel really good about yourself. That morning I also started off with a great scripture study, which always helps me feel better, and helps the day go well. I love the Spirit.

Tuesdays are always interesting. I start out great, and then at one point in time I just hit a wall, and the rest of the day is a fog. I have probably mentioned this before, but it happened again. Oh yes, and then they always get better for devotional. Before I talk about devotional though, I want to mention that Tuesday was Brother Parson's last day (hence no more lessons with Vadeem). Something about him getting married tomorrow and going on a honeymoon. I don't know, didn't sound too important. That was a joke. Ha. ANYWAY, we gave him a lovely going away present that consisted of a vase, and pipe cleaner flowers, and little flower shaped notes. We get some interesting things in our packages. It actually looked pretty decent. So then Tuesday night we had devotional, and it was AMAZING. Probably because Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve spoke! I seriously walked out of there feeling so uplifted. He spoke about how we can make our prayers more meaningful, and about recognizing answers to our prayers. One thing he said was that there are three ways we will receive an answer to our prayers: we will either receive peace and comfort about our decision, discomfort about our decision, or no answer. A no answer is the Lord giving us the opportunity to make the decision, and we must just walk forward in faith. Eventually, after we have done so, we will receive a confirmation or discomfort about our decision. So, basically, what I experienced trying to decide whether or not to serve. It wasn't until I was far into the process that I felt really good about my decision, and the more I'm here, the more I think "how could I have chosen not to go?" Elder Scott also pronounced an apostolic blessing upon those of us learning a new language, that we absolutely will have the gift of tongues according to our faith. It was such a good devotional.

So that was my week. I think this letter is a little shorter than usual, so sorry. My days just kind of go along at this point. It is great work though, and I am so grateful for it!

Love you all!

Sister Tanner

P.S. Today we get to go to the temple! I'm so excited.







I asked Diana if a word she had typed was correct or a typo. Her response - Apparently I can't even speak English anymore. BTW, I have been warned that as I become more immersed in Russian grammar, my English grammar will start to emulate it. So prepare for the day when you receive very funky letters, like "she wanted so that I spoke to her about that, how Jesus loved everyone."

My official Russian nametag! With a lovely backdrop of one of my Russian grammar books.

I updated the doll on my door. Isn't she lovely?