Sister Tanner in Ukraine: Temporary Reassignment?

August 21, 2013

I have a feeling today's letter is going to be pretty short. Sorry folks. Thursday we did MTC missionary stuff, per usual. Friday was in-field orientation. I had been looking forward to this day for a long time, because it meant I was going to be leaving in a few days. Well, since that's not happening anymore, it was less exciting. It was still good, but long. It took up most of the day. That night we had a class session where we translated sentences and heard mission stories. The last couple MTC classes are pretty low-key once you have gone through all the major grammar principles.

Saturday we had another sub (since all of our teachers have left us, we have subs every class), a sister native to Vladivostok. She served in the temple square mission, so she gave us some good advice and helped us practice contacting people like normal people. It's hard in Russian. I know my few key questions, and then I can speak about the Gospel. It would be very easy to come across as a very strange person. Saturday was also Brother Dean's last day, so we had class with him in the evening. We had collected a bunch of little pine cones and decorated them to represent each one of us, and then we had a big pine cone that we decorated to represent him. As a way of explanation, there is a phrase in Russian that directly translates to "the big pine cone" which is equivalent to the American phrase "the big cheese." So it did have a reason behind it. Anyway, we took pictures, translated sentences, and heard mission stories (with pictures of course).

Sunday was great. Our Branch Presidency was reorganized, so it was sad to see President and Sister Harrison leave, as well as President and Sister Gallacher. But President Heaps, the former First Counselor, is the new Branch President, and the new counselors seem really nice. Because of the reorganization, President Nally, the MTC president, was in attendance, so that was cool. I got to shake his hand. Other meetings were wonderful. All of my district went to the departure devotional, even though only four of the sisters were leaving, but we were told to do all the stuff anyway. It was funny because they had the 6 week missionaries raise their hands, then the 9 week missionaries, and then they asked the 2 week missionaries. All the 2 weekers whooped (that is a strange word) when they raised their hands, and Sister Nally was like "let's try that again, but without the yelling." Whomp. You can totally pick out two week missionaries here at the MTC though, and whenever they find out I'm staying here for 9 (or more...) they always say "oh wow, I don't know how you do it. I'm dying already and this is only day four." If only they knew. After Sunday devotional my district got together and had a testimony meeting outside. I was again reminded of how blessed I am to have been placed in the district I was, and how sad it was to see four sisters leave.

Monday, all things considered, was pretty normal. We had class, we studied, we learned, etc. etc. It was really sad to watch Sisters Carr, Grandy, Dryden, and Powell pack up though. That night as a district we sang a song, and said our goodbyes. Monday we also received more news concerning the visa situation, which I will explain soon.

Tuesday was sad. The Kiev sisters were leaving at 3:30am, so I got up at 3:00am and helped them finish checking out and carry their bags downstairs. Then it was goodbye and Sister Finlayson and I watched them walk away to the buses. It was really sad to walk back to an empty room; it was a bit difficult to fall back asleep. I am so grateful to still have the Elders though, and the rest of Tuesday we just kind of stuck together. Actually, considering the fact that I watched four very dear friends leave for Ukraine, and had a shorted amount of sleep, Tuesday was a really good day. Usually on Tuesdays, as I think I have written, I get super sleepy. Not yesterday. Devotional was good as well, and my district all booked it to the Marriott Center, so we got to sit on the floor in the second row. It's like Mario Kart attempting to get there early, as all the missionaries are speed walking and dodging around one another. Pretty sure I almost got hit by a red turtle shell.

So more on my situation right now:

The latest news I have heard concerning visas is that Dnieper missionaries received theirs, and will be leaving around the third of September. We still have not received ours. Therefore, our names were put in for temporary reassignment, but there may or may not be slots available. We find out either tomorrow or Friday if we are being temporarily reassigned. If not, it will probably be the beginning of September before we leave.

Dad - I really appreciated your blog stalking news from Donetsk, as its always good to feel wanted. I wish there was some way you could let them know that we want to be there, probably more than they want us to be! Also, five of the seven elders who will be going to Donetsk are in my district, and they are just absolutely stellar. But really. The other two I don't know as well as they are in the other zone, so I can't say for sure, but I think they're pretty good as well. I feel bad for them - they are the only two left in their district since everyone else left for Kiev.

In the meantime here at the MTC, we have two teachers who have been assigned to teach us, as all of our other teachers are gone. However, they cannot be here for every class period, so we are supposed to come up with things to do on our own. I developed a game called "Ultimate contacting," which we are going to try out tomorrow. Basically, it's competitive contacting in Russian. When we actually do have a teacher, often times they will be teaching two districts at that time, so we will be split up to help the other districts. We have already done that some, and its funny, because the younger districts look at me like I know everything, when I very definitely do not.

To get a sense of what I do know, you can try this: So recently Mormon.org has been cranking out the Russian "I'm a Mormon" videos, which is great, because I can watch them turning on and off the captions. Yesterday I discovered there was a new one, and so watched it without captions. I have yet to turn on the captions, but this is what I think the basic gist is:

Andrei, since he was fourteen, has known he wanted to be a doctor. Right now he is a neurosurgeon (and yes, I know the description says that, but before I saw that, or even the picture of the brain on his computer, I heard him say the word "brain"). More than anything, he loves his family. He has a daughter named Masha, and a wife named Lena. Masha said it is so fun to be together, because her parents are basically like little kids. All of Andrei's outside cares go away when he is with his family in their home. Lena can see the difference in her life from before the church, and really likes the principles of the church. At the end, Andrei calls Masha beautiful, and she protests and says "do it again," and Lena is like, "you can call me beautiful" and Masha agrees, and for herself she says "Smart. I am simply smart."

So yep, that's the gist. Go check me now. ." Diana did a pretty good job on translating this. Here is the link if you want to watch it. http://mormon.org/andrey

I love you all. I hope I didn't forget anything, but I probably did. Be good, and don't forget your prayers!

Sister Tanner

Did you go to the temple last Wednesday?

I did! I get to go again today, which is a blessing of staying. The temple was great, and I really enjoyed the new video. Going to the temple takes up a good chunk of your time though, so we really didn't do much else afterward, although, and I forgot to include this, we had our last TRC, which was finally face-to-face/non-skype. Much easier.

Keep up your good spirits. Up until a few months ago all Russian speaking stayed 12 weeks but I know they got to keep their teachers too.

Oh yes, I know. Honestly, most of the time I am okay with it; it's just the few times here and there. And the teachers here are all great, and I had met most of them before, so subs are okay. I just don't want to feel like I'm wasting my time. I have to go now, but I love you all dearly. Have a great week! Maybe you will be receiving an email from me sooner than Wed. I forgot to mention, but the number thrown at me was 70% chance reassignment, so... maybe I will have a full Russian, half Russian, and full English name tag. Exciting!

Bye!

This evening as I was preparing to post this e-mail, we received another e-mail from Diana.

So my visa hasn't come yet, so I have a reassignment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you ready?!

Georgia, Atlanta Mission!!

I'm so excited!! Can you tell?

My entire district has been reassigned there until our visas come! I will soon send an email with all the information!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Sister Tanner
Diana leaves on Tuesday morning for Atlanta.