We were lucky to have a Skype call with Brandon on the evening of Christmas (which was Monday in Ukraine, P-day for the Ukrainian missionaries). We took video of the conversation so we could refer to it later! Right after the call Brandon and his companion headed to the internet cafe, where he sent this short message.
Thank you, Mom and Family!!
I had a great Christmas. It was amazing to talk to you all! That totally made my day! You all look great, by the way. Don't change! Well, only change a little bit, okay?
Not a lot has happened in the last.. hour since I talked to you. Just checking up and saying I'm doing great over here! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Remember that I love you. Doesn't matter what language I'm speaking or where on the planet. The Church is true, and I've got an amazing family. Two consistent facts!
Anyways, there's not a whole lot of content here, but you video taped that video conversation, so I guess it's all good. I love you all! Have a safe trip home and a happy rest of your holiday season!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
"Merry Christmas to me!"
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I GOT MY CHRISTMAS PACKAGES!!! I have the best family ever!! I actually got the second one first with the no-bake cookies supplies in it. That was perfect, just what I needed! I made them up for my district immediately, which was the night before transfers so it was amazing. Then with transfers came my other package- unopened!! (by the way, I loved all the stickers all over the box :P) Every bit of it was exactly what I needed/wanted. I have had the hardest time sharing the Milky Ways, they're so good! And the C.S. Lewis book of selected works is amazing! But by far my favorite part was the "С Рождеством Христом" banner. I was beyond surprised to see all those faces holding Russian letters! That was my absolute favorite! Seeing family, extended family, Lauren, and everyone. What surprised me the most was definitely seeing Wistrand! Great job, Mom! Those packages turned an okay holiday season into a fantastically awesome one! Oh, and tell Bailey that I wear the Santa hat whenever possible.
So, I sent you the information on the Skype call. Hope everything works out well! By the way, we're supposed to keep the calls around 40 minutes. I don't want to surprise you with that on the day of.
Well, most of what I absolutely had to tell you was about the packages. I was very very excited to have those! In other news this week, we spent most of our weekend at a college for disabled people. The Humanitarian department of the Church over the Europe East area has been setting up this thing for months where they provide standardized wheelchairs for those who couldn't otherwise afford them, and this was the culmination of it with the handing out of the wheelchairs to a bunch of people. We as missionaries were just asked to be there so that the people could associate the Church with the donation. But we met some awesome people there, volunteers and wheelchair recipients alike. And at the end of it we got to see a play put on by the school! Good stuff.
Also, with the Branch Christmas Party coming up on Saturday, Solin and I have been preparing a musical number, that has eaten up just a little bit of time. We're doing "Silent Night" in multiple languages, including German, Spanish, English, Ukrainian and Russian. I'm soloing on German and Ukrainian, so we'll see how that goes! The best part about it is that I got to borrow a guitar to practice on! It feels so amazing to have a guitar in my hands again, you have no idea. And music makes everything better, just in general, so it's pretty awesome.
We have a couple exciting things going on, actually. The Christmas Party is one, and then there's the ongoing Scripture Study group that we set up. We've gotten some great gospel discussion going on in there, even without us having to "preach" the messages. We just discuss scripture passages and the people there offer up their own insights, which almost always ties into a gospel truth! I'm really glad that this group is having some success. And with Elder Nielson gone, I am now the "oldest" American missionary in the district, so I am in charge of leading the discussions! The people come partly for English practice with native speakers, so I provide that service. The interesting thing is that most of what is said is actually spoken in Russian. That means that often I am the only one speaking English, responding to a lot of Russian. Funny enough, the Russian isn't actually hard to follow any more. I guess that means that I'm improving, huh? Weird.
Oh, I mentioned that I'm the "oldest" American missionary here. The guy that got transferred in is Elder Groothausen, who just got finished being trained. He's awesome, but has a bit less time in country than me, so he's still getting a grasp on the language more than I am. It's amazing- being around someone who has less experience, suddenly my comprehension and everything skyrockets! Or maybe it was better than I thought before and I just hadn't noticed it.. Nah, that isn't it. Whatever the case, I can follow very nearly any conversation in Russian now. It doesn't sound like mud anymore! Yes! I mean, before I could understand well enough to get by, but it was very taxing on my brain to focus on the language. Much easier now. Woot! Merry Christmas to me!
Well, I hope that you all are having a fantastic Christmas in Utah! I'm definitely missing you guys this time of year, but it makes it so much better to know that you're out having fun! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
I GOT MY CHRISTMAS PACKAGES!!! I have the best family ever!! I actually got the second one first with the no-bake cookies supplies in it. That was perfect, just what I needed! I made them up for my district immediately, which was the night before transfers so it was amazing. Then with transfers came my other package- unopened!! (by the way, I loved all the stickers all over the box :P) Every bit of it was exactly what I needed/wanted. I have had the hardest time sharing the Milky Ways, they're so good! And the C.S. Lewis book of selected works is amazing! But by far my favorite part was the "С Рождеством Христом" banner. I was beyond surprised to see all those faces holding Russian letters! That was my absolute favorite! Seeing family, extended family, Lauren, and everyone. What surprised me the most was definitely seeing Wistrand! Great job, Mom! Those packages turned an okay holiday season into a fantastically awesome one! Oh, and tell Bailey that I wear the Santa hat whenever possible.
So, I sent you the information on the Skype call. Hope everything works out well! By the way, we're supposed to keep the calls around 40 minutes. I don't want to surprise you with that on the day of.
Well, most of what I absolutely had to tell you was about the packages. I was very very excited to have those! In other news this week, we spent most of our weekend at a college for disabled people. The Humanitarian department of the Church over the Europe East area has been setting up this thing for months where they provide standardized wheelchairs for those who couldn't otherwise afford them, and this was the culmination of it with the handing out of the wheelchairs to a bunch of people. We as missionaries were just asked to be there so that the people could associate the Church with the donation. But we met some awesome people there, volunteers and wheelchair recipients alike. And at the end of it we got to see a play put on by the school! Good stuff.
Also, with the Branch Christmas Party coming up on Saturday, Solin and I have been preparing a musical number, that has eaten up just a little bit of time. We're doing "Silent Night" in multiple languages, including German, Spanish, English, Ukrainian and Russian. I'm soloing on German and Ukrainian, so we'll see how that goes! The best part about it is that I got to borrow a guitar to practice on! It feels so amazing to have a guitar in my hands again, you have no idea. And music makes everything better, just in general, so it's pretty awesome.
We have a couple exciting things going on, actually. The Christmas Party is one, and then there's the ongoing Scripture Study group that we set up. We've gotten some great gospel discussion going on in there, even without us having to "preach" the messages. We just discuss scripture passages and the people there offer up their own insights, which almost always ties into a gospel truth! I'm really glad that this group is having some success. And with Elder Nielson gone, I am now the "oldest" American missionary in the district, so I am in charge of leading the discussions! The people come partly for English practice with native speakers, so I provide that service. The interesting thing is that most of what is said is actually spoken in Russian. That means that often I am the only one speaking English, responding to a lot of Russian. Funny enough, the Russian isn't actually hard to follow any more. I guess that means that I'm improving, huh? Weird.
Oh, I mentioned that I'm the "oldest" American missionary here. The guy that got transferred in is Elder Groothausen, who just got finished being trained. He's awesome, but has a bit less time in country than me, so he's still getting a grasp on the language more than I am. It's amazing- being around someone who has less experience, suddenly my comprehension and everything skyrockets! Or maybe it was better than I thought before and I just hadn't noticed it.. Nah, that isn't it. Whatever the case, I can follow very nearly any conversation in Russian now. It doesn't sound like mud anymore! Yes! I mean, before I could understand well enough to get by, but it was very taxing on my brain to focus on the language. Much easier now. Woot! Merry Christmas to me!
Well, I hope that you all are having a fantastic Christmas in Utah! I'm definitely missing you guys this time of year, but it makes it so much better to know that you're out having fun! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Monday, December 12, 2011
Staying in Lugansk
Family,
Hey, so first off, I am staying in Lugansk this transfer. That means that I will have stayed here for at least 6 months when I leave. It's a bit weird, but I like it here and it is apparently where the Lord will have me, so I'll keep on doing as usual.
We have two actual progressing investigators, G and A (I think I told you a bit about them already). We're hoping to get G to commit to a baptismal date this coming week! And A may take more time, but I think that her heart is in the right place, so I'm not worried about her. Our area here is strange in that we have at least three investigators that have heard everything and know that it's true, but won't get baptized for one reason or another. We recently fasted with one, N, that her parents will be less obstinate and that she can have their approval to be baptized. Immediately after that they completely exploded at her over the whole church thing. We're still hoping that her problem there can be solved soon. Things are always hardest just before you're about to do something really good, like get baptized. I've seen that a lot already here, and I know that's a fact.
Not a whole lot has happened this week. We celebrated my district leader's birthday, Elder Nielson, which was pretty cool. I love doing things for other people to make their day a little brighter. It was a fun time. But he's leaving this transfer, which is a little sad. He has become a good friend to me here (this will probably be a running theme about every time transfers come around, so watch out!). But it's nice to have people that you can relate to out here in the field. Especially someone American. Sometimes it's needed.
Sorry that this letter is pretty short, but I don't have a whole lot of time. We're a little overscheduled today. Remember that I love you all and, um... read your scriptures! I have to fit in something spiritual and missionary-like, right? Right.
Love you and talk to you soon!
Elder Brandon Porter
Hey, so first off, I am staying in Lugansk this transfer. That means that I will have stayed here for at least 6 months when I leave. It's a bit weird, but I like it here and it is apparently where the Lord will have me, so I'll keep on doing as usual.
We have two actual progressing investigators, G and A (I think I told you a bit about them already). We're hoping to get G to commit to a baptismal date this coming week! And A may take more time, but I think that her heart is in the right place, so I'm not worried about her. Our area here is strange in that we have at least three investigators that have heard everything and know that it's true, but won't get baptized for one reason or another. We recently fasted with one, N, that her parents will be less obstinate and that she can have their approval to be baptized. Immediately after that they completely exploded at her over the whole church thing. We're still hoping that her problem there can be solved soon. Things are always hardest just before you're about to do something really good, like get baptized. I've seen that a lot already here, and I know that's a fact.
Not a whole lot has happened this week. We celebrated my district leader's birthday, Elder Nielson, which was pretty cool. I love doing things for other people to make their day a little brighter. It was a fun time. But he's leaving this transfer, which is a little sad. He has become a good friend to me here (this will probably be a running theme about every time transfers come around, so watch out!). But it's nice to have people that you can relate to out here in the field. Especially someone American. Sometimes it's needed.
Sorry that this letter is pretty short, but I don't have a whole lot of time. We're a little overscheduled today. Remember that I love you all and, um... read your scriptures! I have to fit in something spiritual and missionary-like, right? Right.
Love you and talk to you soon!
Elder Brandon Porter
Saturday, December 10, 2011
"The Gospel is just true."
Alright. It has been a week. Awesome. What new profound missionary insights do I have for you this week... Ah, I don't know. The Gospel is just true.
So, this week I learned something significant in the Russian language. There are two words, ясно (yah-snah) and я знаю (ya znay-yoo). They mean "clear/understandable" and "I know", respectively. But when spoken by a Russian, they sound almost exactly the same. So, when I talk, a lot of times Russians (including my current and previous companion) would repeat "ясно" the whole time I was speaking. I always thought that was really rude to be saying "I know! I know! I know!" when I'm explaining something. But Russians aren't that rude, thankfully.
A lot of Russian just naturally sounds really rude to Americans. Like, instead of saying to your bus driver "Here, sir, here's the money for my fare" they say "MAN! Take the money!!" That's an exaggeration, but still, they use the command form a lot. Took some getting used to. Like when you're knocking on doors, they don't say something like "Of course I'd be interested in your lessons! Baptize me!" More often the response is "Stupid Jehovah's Witnesses, I'm calling the police!" I don't really like Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) very much, by the way. They make my life just that much harder. Ah well.
In recent news, we have two new investigators, a mother and daughter named G and A. They are great. G has been visiting the JWs for two years, but has refused to get baptized there. She says that lots of them are good people, but their teachings are generally kind of stupid. Yes! Score for the Gospel! They are very appreciative of the message, and they actively participate in discussion over the gospel principles. We've only had two lessons with them, but I think that they will come a long ways. Plus they fed us! They are awesome.
Oh, and I met my first legitimately crazy guy here. This guy named S who lives about 2 hours away has been calling us a billion times, wanting to meet with us, so we finally did this week. I wasn't quite sure what to think of it. He had a definite appreciation for the scriptures, and had an impressive library of Church literature. But he would argue with himself over random points of the discussion, and he just very plainly wasn't all there. Good for him focusing on the gospel, though! We left him with some words of encouragement, took pictures with him and left. It's hard to know what to do with people like that. Especially since he lives way away from us. Oh, and on the way there some old babushka tried to pawn off her granddaughter to Elder Solin. She got particularly interested when she realized that this Russian young man was hanging around an American (that's me, btw). We almost had a blind date set up for Solin. Maybe next time.
Hey, have I told you about our English Scripture Study group? We aren't currently allowed to have English Class in our mission, but we worked out a deal with President Campero to start this group where we study the scriptures in English with people. It has raised a lot of interest, and I think that it will be successful as a finding tool. An awesome couple comes every week, primarily for the English practice, but they always leave with some kind of church literature because they get interested in the topics we discuss. Success! It's kind of funny, doing this English thing with a bunch of people, yet only me and Elder Nielson are native speakers, but it works out well enough. Our Russian companions speak English well enough.
Well, what else can I tell you? Ukraine is still here. Still half a world away from Washington. Whenever Solin references my home, he points directly down to the ground. I obviously assume he's referencing somewhere else a lot of the time, which is pretty cool, I guess. Warmer weather would be nice. Here it's been pretty warm recently, just about at freezing or just above! Good stuff.
Well, I love you! Enjoy your holiday season, and don't let that elf see you doing anything bad. Give each other a hug for me, and bye til next week!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Monday, November 28, 2011
"I'm just hoping that I can do some lasting good in this area before I leave it"
Family!
Hey, so it's the week after Thanksgiving. Yup.
I spent Thanksgiving with one other American, and a bunch of Russians/Ukrainians. Actually it was kind of surreal. They didn't even really know the story of why we even have Thanksgiving. Elder Solin and Efoshkin (also Russian) both were just happy for a chance to have a ton of food.
We made our own Thanksgiving out here in Lugansk! Nielson and I split up the essentials and created a Thanksgiving feast, complete with mashed potatoes, gravy (thanks to those gravy packets!), corn, turkey, pie, stuffing.. the works! It was very filling. And awesome. It was most definitely awesome. Oh, and I wanted to let Mom know that I only cut my hand three times when making the food. I'm not quite as talented as her, but I'm on my way. I hope they scar- so I can have the most random story for a scar ever! I was slicing potatoes... in Post Communist territory... for Thanksgiving... Yup, it was a good time. A member donated a turkey to our cause, which was fantastic!
In other news, I had my first real, spur of the moment discussion with a little Russian kid this week! After a lesson with a family in the branch, we were all sitting around looking at pictures and stuff. A little girl, Lera, came up to me and started pulling me around, showing me all of her favorite toys and things. Her birthday was the following day, and she was just bouncing off the walls with excitement. By the way, she was turning six. She reminded me a lot of Joseph. Especially since the whole time she was dressed in a makeshift superhero costume with a cape and all. So, yeah, that probably doesn't sound nearly as exciting as it does in my head. But it was a huge landmark for me.
Oh, and we got a piano this week for our apartment! Long story short, there has been this piano outside our neighbor's door for about a year now. We asked them this week if we could use it, and they said we could have it! Our apartment is now complete. Besides the fact that we don't have an oven. Or a guitar. No home is complete without a guitar. But, besides that, you know.
Roman has been doing awesome. We've had two lessons with him this week, and he's brought a friend to one of them and his five year old son was there both times! It's so nice to see his life coming together with the Gospel. And he was absolutely beaming every time we discussed gospel principles. It's lessons like those that make all the other random little lessons that nothing comes out of worth it.
Russian is definitely messing with my English. I can feel it seeping in and corrupting everything. It's not helping my cause that I have had only Russian companions. Don't get me wrong, that's not a terrible thing- What is terrible is trying to say something in your native language and not finding the words you need. So, I've been studying English grammar along with my companion. I'm really surprised at all the things we have in English, like the billions of little nuances that make up verb tenses. We are so blessed to be native speakers of English, I can't even begin to describe it. That's not a blessing that I ever thought I would admit to having, but there you go.
Over all, things are doing good here. We're halfway through this transfer, and we're in the swing of things. I'm just hoping that I can do some lasting good in this area before I leave it (since I'm most likely getting transferred in two weeks).
I love the Ukrainian people I'm serving. And I love you all as well. I'm very grateful to have a great support back home, you don't even know. Lots of elders don't even have that. So thank you.
Until next week,
Elder Brandon Porter
I thought this was interesting. In my letter I asked him about his observations about why the Eastern Europeans generally have a hard time making the decision to embrace the gospel. This is what Brandon replied to me in a letter:
Our investigators are doing fine. It's really hard for a lot of them to see why there had to be a restoration of the truth. Most people that we talk to say something along the lines of, "God should have just one big church that has all of His authority on the earth". We get really excited and tell them that that church DOES exist, and that's our message. But they have a really hard time accepting the fact that it's not the ONLY church out there, saying that God should combine all churches into one. I feel like that attitude is a bit of a left over from the Communist Era, where anything "good" was standardized. People tell us occasionally about how that was pretty awesome for them, not having to make little decisions. But for the most part, everyone is generally very thoughtful and careful about what they associate themselves with, which is a very good trait for someone who is a potential new convert.
Hey, so it's the week after Thanksgiving. Yup.
I spent Thanksgiving with one other American, and a bunch of Russians/Ukrainians. Actually it was kind of surreal. They didn't even really know the story of why we even have Thanksgiving. Elder Solin and Efoshkin (also Russian) both were just happy for a chance to have a ton of food.
We made our own Thanksgiving out here in Lugansk! Nielson and I split up the essentials and created a Thanksgiving feast, complete with mashed potatoes, gravy (thanks to those gravy packets!), corn, turkey, pie, stuffing.. the works! It was very filling. And awesome. It was most definitely awesome. Oh, and I wanted to let Mom know that I only cut my hand three times when making the food. I'm not quite as talented as her, but I'm on my way. I hope they scar- so I can have the most random story for a scar ever! I was slicing potatoes... in Post Communist territory... for Thanksgiving... Yup, it was a good time. A member donated a turkey to our cause, which was fantastic!
In other news, I had my first real, spur of the moment discussion with a little Russian kid this week! After a lesson with a family in the branch, we were all sitting around looking at pictures and stuff. A little girl, Lera, came up to me and started pulling me around, showing me all of her favorite toys and things. Her birthday was the following day, and she was just bouncing off the walls with excitement. By the way, she was turning six. She reminded me a lot of Joseph. Especially since the whole time she was dressed in a makeshift superhero costume with a cape and all. So, yeah, that probably doesn't sound nearly as exciting as it does in my head. But it was a huge landmark for me.
Oh, and we got a piano this week for our apartment! Long story short, there has been this piano outside our neighbor's door for about a year now. We asked them this week if we could use it, and they said we could have it! Our apartment is now complete. Besides the fact that we don't have an oven. Or a guitar. No home is complete without a guitar. But, besides that, you know.
Roman has been doing awesome. We've had two lessons with him this week, and he's brought a friend to one of them and his five year old son was there both times! It's so nice to see his life coming together with the Gospel. And he was absolutely beaming every time we discussed gospel principles. It's lessons like those that make all the other random little lessons that nothing comes out of worth it.
Russian is definitely messing with my English. I can feel it seeping in and corrupting everything. It's not helping my cause that I have had only Russian companions. Don't get me wrong, that's not a terrible thing- What is terrible is trying to say something in your native language and not finding the words you need. So, I've been studying English grammar along with my companion. I'm really surprised at all the things we have in English, like the billions of little nuances that make up verb tenses. We are so blessed to be native speakers of English, I can't even begin to describe it. That's not a blessing that I ever thought I would admit to having, but there you go.
Over all, things are doing good here. We're halfway through this transfer, and we're in the swing of things. I'm just hoping that I can do some lasting good in this area before I leave it (since I'm most likely getting transferred in two weeks).
I love the Ukrainian people I'm serving. And I love you all as well. I'm very grateful to have a great support back home, you don't even know. Lots of elders don't even have that. So thank you.
Until next week,
Elder Brandon Porter
I thought this was interesting. In my letter I asked him about his observations about why the Eastern Europeans generally have a hard time making the decision to embrace the gospel. This is what Brandon replied to me in a letter:
Our investigators are doing fine. It's really hard for a lot of them to see why there had to be a restoration of the truth. Most people that we talk to say something along the lines of, "God should have just one big church that has all of His authority on the earth". We get really excited and tell them that that church DOES exist, and that's our message. But they have a really hard time accepting the fact that it's not the ONLY church out there, saying that God should combine all churches into one. I feel like that attitude is a bit of a left over from the Communist Era, where anything "good" was standardized. People tell us occasionally about how that was pretty awesome for them, not having to make little decisions. But for the most part, everyone is generally very thoughtful and careful about what they associate themselves with, which is a very good trait for someone who is a potential new convert.
Monday, November 21, 2011
"Free agency has been repealed in the mission. Well, it hasn't . . . but sometimes that's what you want as a missionary."
Family!
Like always, I can't believe another week has gone by! Weird. If this keeps up, then I won't have any mission left before I know it! I'd better get out there right now and baptize a bunch of Ukrainians right now. They don't have any choice in the matter. Free agency has been repealed in the mission. Well, it hasn't.. but sometimes that's what you want as a missionary. Just give people a little bit of a shove in the right direction. Ah well, that's not God's plan. Good to learn that sooner rather than later.
We've had a really hard time meeting with anyone this week. All the members seem to have decided that we missionaries are a huge burden to them, and don't want to meet with us. And most of our investigators have been getting really busy, or just not wanting to meet. Or, recently there was an incident where an Arabian man killed a Ukrainian, so there have been angry gangs going around Lugansk looking for foreigners and beating them up. Mostly just people that are obviously a different race or Middle Eastern, but the black population has been very worried as well. That's blown over now, but there's still an aire of uneasiness sometimes with people. So, yeah, sometimes it's hard to get to meet with people.
Oh, and I discovered recently that there is a problem with my visa. Well, I knew about it already, but I just found out what the implications could be. The Ukranian Visa is supposed to be good for a year. Everyone else's in my group says "3/8/2011 - 3/8/2012", meaning August 3rd. Mine says "3/8/2011 - 8/3/2012". This means that my Visa expires in March. That could mean that they'll have issues when it comes time for me to finish the last few months of the mission in 2013. But at the same time, they changed the requirements in Ukraine for foreigners staying within the country, so it may not be a problem at all. Either way, it probably means that I have to leave the country in March so they can renew my Visa. I don't know why it works like that, but it does apparently. I'll keep you posted when I find out more about what's going on with all that.
Not a whole lot has happened this week. We're making a special effort to get R to stay excited and keep growing spiritually. He has been telling his parents that he doesn't need to meet with us since he's already baptized now, and he has apparently been pretty apathetic about everything Gospel related. Our goal is to rekindle that fire. I will not let that man go inactive. He's destined to be a great member, I can see it in him.
Speaking of potential great members, G. G is such an awesome guy. When my companion, Solin, met him for the first time, he thought that he was mistaken and that we were actually meeting with a member, not an investigator. G is just that awesome. But yesterday he called me and said "Something has come up... I hope that time will provide that we can keep meeting" He needs to get baptized! It makes me want to scream sometimes, seeing him with the progress that he has already made, and not being able to show him that he really needs to get baptized immediately. He is going to haunt me for the rest of the mission if he doesn't get baptized.
I really love these people. They are great. Although, recently I've gotten a little fed up with the Russian language. I miss being able to do simple things, like buy groceries or get a haircut speaking my native language. I love Russian. But I really miss communicating fluently. It is what it is.
That's all I can think to include here at the moment. So, I guess that's it til next week! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Like always, I can't believe another week has gone by! Weird. If this keeps up, then I won't have any mission left before I know it! I'd better get out there right now and baptize a bunch of Ukrainians right now. They don't have any choice in the matter. Free agency has been repealed in the mission. Well, it hasn't.. but sometimes that's what you want as a missionary. Just give people a little bit of a shove in the right direction. Ah well, that's not God's plan. Good to learn that sooner rather than later.
We've had a really hard time meeting with anyone this week. All the members seem to have decided that we missionaries are a huge burden to them, and don't want to meet with us. And most of our investigators have been getting really busy, or just not wanting to meet. Or, recently there was an incident where an Arabian man killed a Ukrainian, so there have been angry gangs going around Lugansk looking for foreigners and beating them up. Mostly just people that are obviously a different race or Middle Eastern, but the black population has been very worried as well. That's blown over now, but there's still an aire of uneasiness sometimes with people. So, yeah, sometimes it's hard to get to meet with people.
Oh, and I discovered recently that there is a problem with my visa. Well, I knew about it already, but I just found out what the implications could be. The Ukranian Visa is supposed to be good for a year. Everyone else's in my group says "3/8/2011 - 3/8/2012", meaning August 3rd. Mine says "3/8/2011 - 8/3/2012". This means that my Visa expires in March. That could mean that they'll have issues when it comes time for me to finish the last few months of the mission in 2013. But at the same time, they changed the requirements in Ukraine for foreigners staying within the country, so it may not be a problem at all. Either way, it probably means that I have to leave the country in March so they can renew my Visa. I don't know why it works like that, but it does apparently. I'll keep you posted when I find out more about what's going on with all that.
Not a whole lot has happened this week. We're making a special effort to get R to stay excited and keep growing spiritually. He has been telling his parents that he doesn't need to meet with us since he's already baptized now, and he has apparently been pretty apathetic about everything Gospel related. Our goal is to rekindle that fire. I will not let that man go inactive. He's destined to be a great member, I can see it in him.
Speaking of potential great members, G. G is such an awesome guy. When my companion, Solin, met him for the first time, he thought that he was mistaken and that we were actually meeting with a member, not an investigator. G is just that awesome. But yesterday he called me and said "Something has come up... I hope that time will provide that we can keep meeting" He needs to get baptized! It makes me want to scream sometimes, seeing him with the progress that he has already made, and not being able to show him that he really needs to get baptized immediately. He is going to haunt me for the rest of the mission if he doesn't get baptized.
I really love these people. They are great. Although, recently I've gotten a little fed up with the Russian language. I miss being able to do simple things, like buy groceries or get a haircut speaking my native language. I love Russian. But I really miss communicating fluently. It is what it is.
That's all I can think to include here at the moment. So, I guess that's it til next week! I love you all!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
First Baptism! "I'm learning tons, and I'm not just talking about Russian."
Hey!
So, yeah, nothing big happened this week. Just a BAPTISM is all. Y'know. The usual.
But really, it's so awesome! You were talking about your 11/11/11 party? Well I had a BAPTISM on that day. How's that for special? And guess what time the baptism started? That's right, 11 AM. So there you go.
Yeah, my first baptism here in Ukraine! It went well. We missionaries were pretty much in charge of every aspect of it, including renting a pool and spa place to do the ordinance. I included pictures of how it all looked. The baptism was done in that little pool thing. I could talk about this baptism from a lot of different angles and I could go on for a long time about it, but the long and the short of it was that it was awesome. R, the one being baptized, was absolutely beaming throughout the whole time. There were lots of little issues with the program, like the fact that the font wasn't full enough when we needed it to be, or that a certain member kept trying to steal the floor and talk about random stuff as if she was the branch president, or even that one of the people that we asked to speak went off on a tangent about how the Nephites were so violent and doing horrible things at the end of the Book of Mormon (and there were non-members there, too. . . Oh well). But absolutely nothing could dampen R's smile. He genuinely felt the Spirit of the occasion, and I could see it in his eyes.
On a sadder note, N came to the baptism too. To recap, N was the one we met with along with R. She was supposed to get baptized on the same day as him. But we lost contact with her and couldn't get a hold of her for the last two weeks, so she wasn't able to be interviewed for the baptism. The interview is really all that she needs in order to be baptized, actually. It was really sad. She came in crying, and came to me, pleading my forgiveness for not being able to meet with us the last weeks. She had been in the hospital.. She was absolutely devastated. We need to get her baptized. But since I was the only one that knew her there, it was up to me to comfort her through the whole service. In Russian. I had a weird out of body kind of experience there where I realized that I am no longer a greenie here. I can actually communicate what I need when I need it. I was so grateful in that moment that I was able to speak Russian for N's sake. Good stuff.
The rest of the week has been fine. I've taken to reading everything that I can in Russian recently. My thought is that if I can read through the Book of Mormon and various other books and understand them well, then I'll be able to expand my vocabulary and understand people more fully here. I'm very excited with that progress. You have no idea how annoying it is to want to share something with someone, or desperately want to understand someone else, and just not have the words be there. It's especially sad when the topics are religious that you're trying to communicate. But, I've improved a whole lot, and I continue to improve!
So, that's most everything I wanted to share specifically this week. My companion, Elder Solin.. I can't remember, did I mention him last week? Well, in case I didn't, he is a Russian from St. Petersburg. He's learned all of his English while on the mission, and he's been out for a year and a half. He speaks very good English, but he doesn't believe it. We have many differing views on how things should be run, and he's slightly strogie (strict) with certain things that I feel no need to be strict about, but he's a cool guy. You can see him in the baptismal picture that I sent to you. Yeah, I can't think of much else to add to that at the moment. We're working well.
I guess that's all for this week. Tune in next week for more daring adventures in the wild Ukraine. It's a good mission. I like it. I'm learning tons- and I'm not just talking about Russian. About life skills, interpersonal relationships, personal development, religious knowledge, etc. It's crazy how much there is to learn in life. Wow. Taking it one day at a time is the only way to do it.
Love you! Talk to you next week,
Elder Brandon Porter
"Faith and fear can't co-exist."
Dear Family!
First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grandma Porter! Be sure to tell her to have a slice of cake for me.
This is going to be a pretty fast email. My new companion is really antsy to be getting out of the internet club, I guess. That's the big new change in my life here- I got a new companion! It's really weird, because Antamanov came to represent everything I know and have experienced here in Ukraine. It was really sad to say good bye to him. But, guess what- my new comp is Russian also! It's so weird that I have another Russian companion. Lots of American missionaries don't even ever serve with a native, and I'm serving with my second one in a row. It's crazy. I guess God is telling me to learn this language faster!
So, I guess it's been a good week. We had a scare with R the other day. He is supposed to be baptized this Friday, but he started asking questions about why he needed to get baptized again at all. He was scaring his parents a lot. But we went over yesterday and had a great lesson about the priesthood authority, and he's back on track to be baptized this Saturday. I'm so excited- my first Ukrainian baptism!! We have been working out all the logistics, since we don't have a font for the church here. I'll tell you more about that next week!
I love you, family! I'm sorry this message is so much shorter than usual. My companion really wants to go. I'm not exactly sure why. His name is Sollin, btw. He's from St. Petersburg. And he plays the piano really well! It's pretty cool.
Anyways, I'll talk to you later! Love you all!
-Elder Brandon Porter
PS. Maybe you can send out parts of my other email to Mom to the rest of the family that reads these? I just feel kind of bad that this is so short...
Excerpts of the letter he sent to me:
Answers to your questions, Mom:
Yeah, I bought a good winter coat finally. Those ~$200 are equal to 1000 greevan each. I took those out for any personal expenses. I still have to buy a hat and stuff soon, but I have about 600 greevan left (give or take), so I will be good for a while!
I haven't been the one to play in Sacrament Meeting or anything, no. I usually defer that to one of the other elders. Most elders play piano. But I have taken to playing the prelude music. I've got a few songs that I can play with no problem, and I'm working on being able to play any hymn by sight. I definitely understand what you mean when you say that you can express emotions through the piano like a voice. I feel the same way about guitar. And I can get pretty close with the piano. Music is life.
I'm jealous of your temple going. The temple is an awesome place. But hey, in a year and a half I'll have the chance to go to the Kiev Temple on my way out of the country! I'm excited for that.
Yeah, dryers.. I miss those. Also, you know that we don't have an oven in this apartment, right? It's pretty much the only one in the mission without an oven. We get creative for meals. It's good practice for cooking! And when we want to bake something, we can just go over to the other elders' apartment for an evening. Good stuff.
I really like that thought about Paul and being contented. It's so true- we always have our agency for how we react to things around us. Even when you're in jail. Or in a cold church building (they turned on the heat today, btw!) I also love that thought that fear and faith can't coexist. Good motivation to build your faith, huh?
Thank you for your prayers and your rooting. The babushki may be looking out for me. I don't know. Most of them are pretty much insane. I'll talk to you later, then!
Love you too!
Brandon
First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grandma Porter! Be sure to tell her to have a slice of cake for me.
This is going to be a pretty fast email. My new companion is really antsy to be getting out of the internet club, I guess. That's the big new change in my life here- I got a new companion! It's really weird, because Antamanov came to represent everything I know and have experienced here in Ukraine. It was really sad to say good bye to him. But, guess what- my new comp is Russian also! It's so weird that I have another Russian companion. Lots of American missionaries don't even ever serve with a native, and I'm serving with my second one in a row. It's crazy. I guess God is telling me to learn this language faster!
So, I guess it's been a good week. We had a scare with R the other day. He is supposed to be baptized this Friday, but he started asking questions about why he needed to get baptized again at all. He was scaring his parents a lot. But we went over yesterday and had a great lesson about the priesthood authority, and he's back on track to be baptized this Saturday. I'm so excited- my first Ukrainian baptism!! We have been working out all the logistics, since we don't have a font for the church here. I'll tell you more about that next week!
I love you, family! I'm sorry this message is so much shorter than usual. My companion really wants to go. I'm not exactly sure why. His name is Sollin, btw. He's from St. Petersburg. And he plays the piano really well! It's pretty cool.
Anyways, I'll talk to you later! Love you all!
-Elder Brandon Porter
PS. Maybe you can send out parts of my other email to Mom to the rest of the family that reads these? I just feel kind of bad that this is so short...
Excerpts of the letter he sent to me:
Answers to your questions, Mom:
Yeah, I bought a good winter coat finally. Those ~$200 are equal to 1000 greevan each. I took those out for any personal expenses. I still have to buy a hat and stuff soon, but I have about 600 greevan left (give or take), so I will be good for a while!
I haven't been the one to play in Sacrament Meeting or anything, no. I usually defer that to one of the other elders. Most elders play piano. But I have taken to playing the prelude music. I've got a few songs that I can play with no problem, and I'm working on being able to play any hymn by sight. I definitely understand what you mean when you say that you can express emotions through the piano like a voice. I feel the same way about guitar. And I can get pretty close with the piano. Music is life.
I'm jealous of your temple going. The temple is an awesome place. But hey, in a year and a half I'll have the chance to go to the Kiev Temple on my way out of the country! I'm excited for that.
Yeah, dryers.. I miss those. Also, you know that we don't have an oven in this apartment, right? It's pretty much the only one in the mission without an oven. We get creative for meals. It's good practice for cooking! And when we want to bake something, we can just go over to the other elders' apartment for an evening. Good stuff.
I really like that thought about Paul and being contented. It's so true- we always have our agency for how we react to things around us. Even when you're in jail. Or in a cold church building (they turned on the heat today, btw!) I also love that thought that fear and faith can't coexist. Good motivation to build your faith, huh?
Thank you for your prayers and your rooting. The babushki may be looking out for me. I don't know. Most of them are pretty much insane. I'll talk to you later, then!
Love you too!
Brandon
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
"I've learned so much, yet I still know nothing."
Dear Family
Well, we got our transfer calls on Friday morning. Antamanov is being transferred and I'm staying in Lugansk. That was way unexpected, especially considering all the work that he can do in the branch, being native and all. I feel slightly unqualified to continue the work of keeping this branch progressing without him. But I guess that's part of the process of growing, in the mission or otherwise- you do things that you aren't comfortable with. It'll be hard, but good.
Elder Nielson and I are both staying here (Arrington is leaving), and so we've been discussing a lot of statistics of who could end up coming out here to us. It's a bigger deal to me than I ever thought it would be. I already love my new companion, in a freaky weird missionary way. Man, being a missionary is weird sometimes.
In other news, I made sauce the other day! Not just any sauce- Russian sauce! Antamanov taught me how to make a sauce for chicken and noodles that is a family recipe or something, so I now officially can cook at least one Russian thing. Be excited for me to show you all the foods! I'm coming to love Ukrainian food. The branch president has been feeding us a lot recently, every Sunday night, so I get to try all the awesome local food. It's so awesome! Make sure that I show you homemade "Vereiniki" when I get back home. That's probably my all time favorite. We also had a really good kind of apple pie/bread thing. These people know their food pretty well.
I just realized that I've been in Ukraine for 3 full months this week. That's really strange. I feel like I just got here. I've learned so much, yet I still know nothing. I guess that's where God fills in the rest. I'll probably feel the same way when it comes time to actually go home.
This has been a very good beginning to my mission. Nearly 6 months since I entered the MTC.. Wow.. Time can't have gone that fast. I guess I should be all super mature or something by now.. Nah. I'm still me. Just in case y'all were wondering. I'm planning on still being me when I get home. Just.. more of me. If that makes any sense.
Well, time to get going with the rest of my day. I love you all back home! See you later! I'm still missionary-ing out here, don't worry. It's a good time.
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Well, we got our transfer calls on Friday morning. Antamanov is being transferred and I'm staying in Lugansk. That was way unexpected, especially considering all the work that he can do in the branch, being native and all. I feel slightly unqualified to continue the work of keeping this branch progressing without him. But I guess that's part of the process of growing, in the mission or otherwise- you do things that you aren't comfortable with. It'll be hard, but good.
Elder Nielson and I are both staying here (Arrington is leaving), and so we've been discussing a lot of statistics of who could end up coming out here to us. It's a bigger deal to me than I ever thought it would be. I already love my new companion, in a freaky weird missionary way. Man, being a missionary is weird sometimes.
In other news, I made sauce the other day! Not just any sauce- Russian sauce! Antamanov taught me how to make a sauce for chicken and noodles that is a family recipe or something, so I now officially can cook at least one Russian thing. Be excited for me to show you all the foods! I'm coming to love Ukrainian food. The branch president has been feeding us a lot recently, every Sunday night, so I get to try all the awesome local food. It's so awesome! Make sure that I show you homemade "Vereiniki" when I get back home. That's probably my all time favorite. We also had a really good kind of apple pie/bread thing. These people know their food pretty well.
I just realized that I've been in Ukraine for 3 full months this week. That's really strange. I feel like I just got here. I've learned so much, yet I still know nothing. I guess that's where God fills in the rest. I'll probably feel the same way when it comes time to actually go home.
This has been a very good beginning to my mission. Nearly 6 months since I entered the MTC.. Wow.. Time can't have gone that fast. I guess I should be all super mature or something by now.. Nah. I'm still me. Just in case y'all were wondering. I'm planning on still being me when I get home. Just.. more of me. If that makes any sense.
Well, time to get going with the rest of my day. I love you all back home! See you later! I'm still missionary-ing out here, don't worry. It's a good time.
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Last week in Lugansk?
Family!
Alright. Yes. Mhm. Missionary work. Yes.
It's been a pretty good week. A bit strange, though. For me, at least. A few weeks ago, President Campero visited our branch, and realized that none of the members know what they're doing in regards to the leadership of the church. Campero set out to fix that. How can he fix it? Through the missionaries, of course! So he called my companion to be the branch secretary. Now he has a bunch of branch leadership meetings to go to where he essentially is establishing a standard for the functioning of the Church out here in Lugansk. He knows how to go about all that, since he's served in branch presidencies back home and he's Russian and all. But it's not my calling, and I can't contribute a whole lot. So I have had a lot of alone time in the freezing cold church building to read or play piano. That's been a good chunk of my week. Not that I'm complaining- I do love having time to read the scriptures and everything. And I've been re-reading Jesus the Christ, so that's all good.
Oh, I think it was Bailey that mentioned President Uchtdorf's talk a few weeks ago where he was called to be the Elder's Quorum Teacher in Texas. Funny enough, we have a situation here that is very similar to that one. We have a Canadian named Lance in our branch who speaks essentially no Russian. And he was just called to be the Elder's Quorum Teacher. It's very interesting having a teacher that is trying to speak in Russian to a room full of Ukrainians and missionaries. We missionaries are the only ones that actually understand everything that goes on in those lessons, between Lance's broken Russian and the quorum members' comments. It's very interesting.
Lance is actually kind of a mission mystery. No one really knows why a Canadian self-proclaimed cowboy is out here in the boonies of Ukraine. He doesn't even seem to know. We have a lot of interesting exchanges with him. I'm sorry, but no amount of writing will do the situation justice. It's just interesting.
R and N are doing very well (that's the branch president's son). They've been through essentially every lesson that they need to hear before baptism and they are still very accepting and open. It's so refreshing teaching someone progressing so well! Every other one of our investigators is stuck in a point where we can't really help them a whole lot to do what they need to do. There's a point where the missionary lessons aren't enough to motivate further growth and the investigator has to take steps of his own. People we are teaching are having a hard time with this, in many different ways. We can only pray for them and continue meeting with them.
This Friday is Transfer Calls. That's when the AP's (Assistants to the President) call everyone that will be transferred to a new area and tell them they need to pack up and get ready to go to Transfer Meeting. We have been very interested in discussing possibilities of what will change. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be leaving Lugansk this transfer. I'll know next week! Oh, the anticipation.
Hmmm... I can't think of a whole lot else that I can share right now. My current district of missionaries is awesome. We have all become pretty close friends, and we have very good times together. I'm enjoying my mission, and consistently trying to make every minute count. I'm satisfied thus far- and it's already been 5 months! Since entering the MTC, at least. That is so weird to think about! Time flies when you're having fun.. or when you're working like crazy to bring about the kingdom of God on earth! Oh, missionary life.
Thanks for telling me all the news from back home! I really appreciate that more than I can say. I love having a picture in my mind of the goings on back home. It actually really helps me to focus on the work at hand, and not wonder about home life.
I love you! Love you, Dad! Love you, Mom! Love you, Bailey! Love you, Aubrey! Love you, Joseph! And if anyone else is reading this, I probably love you too. Just in a slightly different way. Короче, I love you, family!
Til next week!
Elder Brandon Porter
Alright. Yes. Mhm. Missionary work. Yes.
It's been a pretty good week. A bit strange, though. For me, at least. A few weeks ago, President Campero visited our branch, and realized that none of the members know what they're doing in regards to the leadership of the church. Campero set out to fix that. How can he fix it? Through the missionaries, of course! So he called my companion to be the branch secretary. Now he has a bunch of branch leadership meetings to go to where he essentially is establishing a standard for the functioning of the Church out here in Lugansk. He knows how to go about all that, since he's served in branch presidencies back home and he's Russian and all. But it's not my calling, and I can't contribute a whole lot. So I have had a lot of alone time in the freezing cold church building to read or play piano. That's been a good chunk of my week. Not that I'm complaining- I do love having time to read the scriptures and everything. And I've been re-reading Jesus the Christ, so that's all good.
Oh, I think it was Bailey that mentioned President Uchtdorf's talk a few weeks ago where he was called to be the Elder's Quorum Teacher in Texas. Funny enough, we have a situation here that is very similar to that one. We have a Canadian named Lance in our branch who speaks essentially no Russian. And he was just called to be the Elder's Quorum Teacher. It's very interesting having a teacher that is trying to speak in Russian to a room full of Ukrainians and missionaries. We missionaries are the only ones that actually understand everything that goes on in those lessons, between Lance's broken Russian and the quorum members' comments. It's very interesting.
Lance is actually kind of a mission mystery. No one really knows why a Canadian self-proclaimed cowboy is out here in the boonies of Ukraine. He doesn't even seem to know. We have a lot of interesting exchanges with him. I'm sorry, but no amount of writing will do the situation justice. It's just interesting.
R and N are doing very well (that's the branch president's son). They've been through essentially every lesson that they need to hear before baptism and they are still very accepting and open. It's so refreshing teaching someone progressing so well! Every other one of our investigators is stuck in a point where we can't really help them a whole lot to do what they need to do. There's a point where the missionary lessons aren't enough to motivate further growth and the investigator has to take steps of his own. People we are teaching are having a hard time with this, in many different ways. We can only pray for them and continue meeting with them.
This Friday is Transfer Calls. That's when the AP's (Assistants to the President) call everyone that will be transferred to a new area and tell them they need to pack up and get ready to go to Transfer Meeting. We have been very interested in discussing possibilities of what will change. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be leaving Lugansk this transfer. I'll know next week! Oh, the anticipation.
Hmmm... I can't think of a whole lot else that I can share right now. My current district of missionaries is awesome. We have all become pretty close friends, and we have very good times together. I'm enjoying my mission, and consistently trying to make every minute count. I'm satisfied thus far- and it's already been 5 months! Since entering the MTC, at least. That is so weird to think about! Time flies when you're having fun.. or when you're working like crazy to bring about the kingdom of God on earth! Oh, missionary life.
Thanks for telling me all the news from back home! I really appreciate that more than I can say. I love having a picture in my mind of the goings on back home. It actually really helps me to focus on the work at hand, and not wonder about home life.
I love you! Love you, Dad! Love you, Mom! Love you, Bailey! Love you, Aubrey! Love you, Joseph! And if anyone else is reading this, I probably love you too. Just in a slightly different way. Короче, I love you, family!
Til next week!
Elder Brandon Porter
Monday, October 17, 2011
"Hyperboles are the best" - 10/17/11
Family,
I'm doing really well right now. I've hit a stride here with missionary work. I'm used to the area, my mission district, and the work itself. So, life is good. It's just now starting to get pretty cold here in Lugansk. We had a week of really cold weather before the heat turned on in our apartment (which happened yesterday), so in that week I often bundled up in a sea of blankets in order to do not freeze to death while studying the scriptures. That's a little bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Hyperboles are the best.
R and N are doing awesome! They are very willing to meet often and they pore over every reading assignment we give them. They are so ready for this gospel, it's unreal. We've had two lessons with both of them this week, as well as two lessons with just R. They are progressing very very well.
It's great to hear that Jeffrey is doing well, and that Taylor is doing well too. Taylor has some crazy days ahead of him, that I don't exactly envy him for. Any news on how he's doing with the language or anything? I'd love to have little updates. And it's good to know that Jeffrey got my letter! Also, I can relate to his struggles that you related in that excerpt from his letter. Missionaries of the world unite!
I actually just the other day rediscovered my pack of seasonings. We are very excited to find uses for them in the near future. I don't know yet which seasonings would be good to have more of, but thank you for what you've sent! And brown sugar and peanut butter would be fantastic here. I've been really craving some no-bake cookies lately and things of the like. Those are really good ideas. Also, we just discovered the soup recipes that you sent me, and since it's getting colder, we are going to start trying it. I'm excited! By the way, do you know any kind of substitution for chicken broth? Or a different name for it that I could find? In English, of course.
I'm doing pretty good on clothes right now. I can't really think of anything I need in the near future. In fact, I'm not using all of my clothes that I have now. I have a couple sets of socks and underwear and such in a type of shrine in my suitcase, because they've never been washed or worn in the Ukraine. They are a reminder of dryers of the past. Soft clothes. Mmmmm.
Tell Bailey I sympathize with her struggles with Hattan in Geometry. I absolutely hated Geometry. No, not all math was created equal. When God came to the creation of geometrical proofs, he grimaced and told man, "I'm sorry". I'm sure of it. I could gripe about it with her if she'd like. Koroche, I'm not a fan. (and I just realized that's not an english word.. we use it like one here. It means "basically", essentially)
In response to what you said about scriptures, Mom, scriptures definitely are awesome. Like you with your red pencil in D&C, I've gotten a lot of use out of my scripture marking crayon things. I love being able to look back through my scriptures and have previously marked scriptures pop out at me in multicolored goodness! But I've noticed that I tend to have a hard time reading things that were marked in red. So I've taken to marking things that are bad examples in red marks (i.e. Gadianton robbers in 3 Ne. 3:7). There's always so much to learn from the scriptures. Pretty intense reading, too.
As for specifics on this week, there's not a whole lot. I've taken to reading a lot, especially since Antamanov has been sick on and off for the last two weeks. I've read Articles of Faith, Lectures on Faith, John Bytheway's "What I wish I knew before my Mission", I'm rereading Jesus the Christ, and I'm still reading in the scriptures, of course. Missionaries often bring books out here and then leave them in apartments, so I have fun finding little surprises around the house.
My Russian reading speed has pretty well stabilized. I realized that my reading of the Kniga Mormona (for those of you not familiar with the Russian language, that's the Book of Mormon) is pretty consistent and I can finish a chapter in about the time that it takes me to read it in English at a thoughtful pace. I don't often understand every word, of course. It's Russian. But, I can read consistently, which is what counts. That means that my learning curve will skyrocket. Yes!
I can also learn words from listening now. That may sound trivial, but it's a pivotal moment. Up til recently, I could only catch words in conversation that I already knew. But now, I find that I can pick up new phrases that people say and add them to my vocabulary. I'm moving up in the world!
Speaking of learning words, I had a funny exchange with a member yesterday. Antamanov was talking on the phone and she and I were small talking a bit. I hate small talk, by the way. But that's beside the point. In this discussion she asked me if I had a "holiday" tomorrow, meaning P-day. But I didn't know the word for "holiday", so I was really confused. She just kept repeating the same word, expecting that to help me somehow. Finally Antamanov came over and told me what it meant. The sister then rebuked Antamanov saying something along the lines of "He's been here so long and he hasn't learned the word for holiday yet? What's wrong with you?" I realized after that exchange that most of my vocab involves action and motion. There's not a whole lot of time for me to learn words involved in relaxation. Interesting to think about.
So, I'm doing good out here on the opposite end of the globe. Just so you know. And I will be sending more updates in one week's time. So, stay tuned!
Love you, family!
-Elder Brandon Porter
PS. Could you send me Taylor's Denmark address? I realized once I got his MTC address that he was going to be gone too soon to get my letter.
I'm doing really well right now. I've hit a stride here with missionary work. I'm used to the area, my mission district, and the work itself. So, life is good. It's just now starting to get pretty cold here in Lugansk. We had a week of really cold weather before the heat turned on in our apartment (which happened yesterday), so in that week I often bundled up in a sea of blankets in order to do not freeze to death while studying the scriptures. That's a little bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Hyperboles are the best.
R and N are doing awesome! They are very willing to meet often and they pore over every reading assignment we give them. They are so ready for this gospel, it's unreal. We've had two lessons with both of them this week, as well as two lessons with just R. They are progressing very very well.
It's great to hear that Jeffrey is doing well, and that Taylor is doing well too. Taylor has some crazy days ahead of him, that I don't exactly envy him for. Any news on how he's doing with the language or anything? I'd love to have little updates. And it's good to know that Jeffrey got my letter! Also, I can relate to his struggles that you related in that excerpt from his letter. Missionaries of the world unite!
I actually just the other day rediscovered my pack of seasonings. We are very excited to find uses for them in the near future. I don't know yet which seasonings would be good to have more of, but thank you for what you've sent! And brown sugar and peanut butter would be fantastic here. I've been really craving some no-bake cookies lately and things of the like. Those are really good ideas. Also, we just discovered the soup recipes that you sent me, and since it's getting colder, we are going to start trying it. I'm excited! By the way, do you know any kind of substitution for chicken broth? Or a different name for it that I could find? In English, of course.
I'm doing pretty good on clothes right now. I can't really think of anything I need in the near future. In fact, I'm not using all of my clothes that I have now. I have a couple sets of socks and underwear and such in a type of shrine in my suitcase, because they've never been washed or worn in the Ukraine. They are a reminder of dryers of the past. Soft clothes. Mmmmm.
Tell Bailey I sympathize with her struggles with Hattan in Geometry. I absolutely hated Geometry. No, not all math was created equal. When God came to the creation of geometrical proofs, he grimaced and told man, "I'm sorry". I'm sure of it. I could gripe about it with her if she'd like. Koroche, I'm not a fan. (and I just realized that's not an english word.. we use it like one here. It means "basically", essentially)
In response to what you said about scriptures, Mom, scriptures definitely are awesome. Like you with your red pencil in D&C, I've gotten a lot of use out of my scripture marking crayon things. I love being able to look back through my scriptures and have previously marked scriptures pop out at me in multicolored goodness! But I've noticed that I tend to have a hard time reading things that were marked in red. So I've taken to marking things that are bad examples in red marks (i.e. Gadianton robbers in 3 Ne. 3:7). There's always so much to learn from the scriptures. Pretty intense reading, too.
As for specifics on this week, there's not a whole lot. I've taken to reading a lot, especially since Antamanov has been sick on and off for the last two weeks. I've read Articles of Faith, Lectures on Faith, John Bytheway's "What I wish I knew before my Mission", I'm rereading Jesus the Christ, and I'm still reading in the scriptures, of course. Missionaries often bring books out here and then leave them in apartments, so I have fun finding little surprises around the house.
My Russian reading speed has pretty well stabilized. I realized that my reading of the Kniga Mormona (for those of you not familiar with the Russian language, that's the Book of Mormon) is pretty consistent and I can finish a chapter in about the time that it takes me to read it in English at a thoughtful pace. I don't often understand every word, of course. It's Russian. But, I can read consistently, which is what counts. That means that my learning curve will skyrocket. Yes!
I can also learn words from listening now. That may sound trivial, but it's a pivotal moment. Up til recently, I could only catch words in conversation that I already knew. But now, I find that I can pick up new phrases that people say and add them to my vocabulary. I'm moving up in the world!
Speaking of learning words, I had a funny exchange with a member yesterday. Antamanov was talking on the phone and she and I were small talking a bit. I hate small talk, by the way. But that's beside the point. In this discussion she asked me if I had a "holiday" tomorrow, meaning P-day. But I didn't know the word for "holiday", so I was really confused. She just kept repeating the same word, expecting that to help me somehow. Finally Antamanov came over and told me what it meant. The sister then rebuked Antamanov saying something along the lines of "He's been here so long and he hasn't learned the word for holiday yet? What's wrong with you?" I realized after that exchange that most of my vocab involves action and motion. There's not a whole lot of time for me to learn words involved in relaxation. Interesting to think about.
So, I'm doing good out here on the opposite end of the globe. Just so you know. And I will be sending more updates in one week's time. So, stay tuned!
Love you, family!
-Elder Brandon Porter
PS. Could you send me Taylor's Denmark address? I realized once I got his MTC address that he was going to be gone too soon to get my letter.
"Referrals! Missionary hey-day!" - 10/10/11
Dear Family,
Alright. It's been another week. Yes. I made the realization the other day that next week marks my 5 month mark of being out on a mission. That's so weird! I feel very young in the mission still, yet I'm in the swing of things here and I know how things run. It's a strange stage to be in on the mission. But, going with what Elder Bennett (I think it was..) said in Conference about when he was climbing a mountain, I decided to look back on the journey I've already traveled. I have definitely come a long ways. Further than I had thought.
I looked through some old Russian notes from my first days in the MTC yesterday. At times lately I've felt slightly incapable with my language capabilities, sometimes feeling like I have been stagnant in my learning. It was good to look back and laugh at how little I knew in the MTC. I realized that I have learned a ton of Russian- I just hadn't seen it in the progression of things. It's great to have the capability to look back on where I've been. Now I am reading Russian at a fairly consistent rate, which is awesome. Have you ever realized that when you read, you don't actually sound out each letter? As we read, we fill in our previous knowledge of the words we're reading. Usually people only read the first and last letter of a word and get a glimpse of the middle, from which you make the assumption of what the word actually is based on that information and context clues. That's all nice and everything, but when you're starting from scratch with a language, it goes very slowly as you painfully sound out each individual letter. Luckily I'm beyond that stage and I can read words like "свидетельство" at a glimpse. That's a good feeling.
Mom asked what I do on P-Days. Well, you're reading the bulk of my P-Day activities right now. Most P-Days revolve around our internet time, because hearing from home is the biggest thing on our mind usually. But besides that, let's see.. We window shop sometimes to see what fun stuff they have in downtown Lugansk. Each P-Day is based around some other activity that we want to do. Like one time we made pizza at the other elders' apartment (since we don't have an oven), sometimes we go to one of our apartments and just hang out and talk, playing guitar. That's most usual. Don't get too excited about the guitar, it's a terrible guitar that some missionary left here months ago. Still fun to play a guitar though! There isn't a whole lot else I can tell you about P-Days in general, since they're just chill time with other missionaries.. Today we're going to go make shaurmas, which are like Ukrainian burritos, full of vegetables, cheese and sausages. I love them. And they're actually Armenian, I think.. Ah, well. They're too good for me to care about their nationality.
The highlight of this week was a miracle that we had. We were doing studies in the evening when Antamanov suddenly felt like he should call the branch president. He called and found out that his son and his girlfriend were over there right then and wanted to hear a message. We had met with them just earlier that week, last Sunday, and had placed a KM (Book of Mormon.. in Russian) with the girlfriend, N. We came, expecting to just have a very basic lesson with them. We found out that N had read through 1 Nephi 17 and was enthralled with our message. R, branch president's son, has taken missionary discussions before and has been filling her in on some details. They were committed to baptism right then and there. They are so sincere in their desire to know more of the Gospel! We've met with them once since then. They're keeping all their reading commitments and actually coming up with spiritual insights of their own! Those of you who have taught anyone anything Gospel related know that that is very unusual. At least it is in my experience. So, they are progressing perfectly and should be baptized within a month or so. I'm so excited for them! They're great. And they told us about how they have a bunch of friends who are interested in our message! Referrals!! Missionary hey-day!
Not a whole lot else happened this week. I love you, family! For some reason, I've felt really good this week. Kind of buoyed. Thank you for your prayers and your thoughts. I'm doing my best out here, and hoping to have some great success soon! Thanks for all the news from back home, I love hearing it.
Anyways, til next week,
-Elder Brandon Porter
Alright. It's been another week. Yes. I made the realization the other day that next week marks my 5 month mark of being out on a mission. That's so weird! I feel very young in the mission still, yet I'm in the swing of things here and I know how things run. It's a strange stage to be in on the mission. But, going with what Elder Bennett (I think it was..) said in Conference about when he was climbing a mountain, I decided to look back on the journey I've already traveled. I have definitely come a long ways. Further than I had thought.
I looked through some old Russian notes from my first days in the MTC yesterday. At times lately I've felt slightly incapable with my language capabilities, sometimes feeling like I have been stagnant in my learning. It was good to look back and laugh at how little I knew in the MTC. I realized that I have learned a ton of Russian- I just hadn't seen it in the progression of things. It's great to have the capability to look back on where I've been. Now I am reading Russian at a fairly consistent rate, which is awesome. Have you ever realized that when you read, you don't actually sound out each letter? As we read, we fill in our previous knowledge of the words we're reading. Usually people only read the first and last letter of a word and get a glimpse of the middle, from which you make the assumption of what the word actually is based on that information and context clues. That's all nice and everything, but when you're starting from scratch with a language, it goes very slowly as you painfully sound out each individual letter. Luckily I'm beyond that stage and I can read words like "свидетельство" at a glimpse. That's a good feeling.
Mom asked what I do on P-Days. Well, you're reading the bulk of my P-Day activities right now. Most P-Days revolve around our internet time, because hearing from home is the biggest thing on our mind usually. But besides that, let's see.. We window shop sometimes to see what fun stuff they have in downtown Lugansk. Each P-Day is based around some other activity that we want to do. Like one time we made pizza at the other elders' apartment (since we don't have an oven), sometimes we go to one of our apartments and just hang out and talk, playing guitar. That's most usual. Don't get too excited about the guitar, it's a terrible guitar that some missionary left here months ago. Still fun to play a guitar though! There isn't a whole lot else I can tell you about P-Days in general, since they're just chill time with other missionaries.. Today we're going to go make shaurmas, which are like Ukrainian burritos, full of vegetables, cheese and sausages. I love them. And they're actually Armenian, I think.. Ah, well. They're too good for me to care about their nationality.
The highlight of this week was a miracle that we had. We were doing studies in the evening when Antamanov suddenly felt like he should call the branch president. He called and found out that his son and his girlfriend were over there right then and wanted to hear a message. We had met with them just earlier that week, last Sunday, and had placed a KM (Book of Mormon.. in Russian) with the girlfriend, N. We came, expecting to just have a very basic lesson with them. We found out that N had read through 1 Nephi 17 and was enthralled with our message. R, branch president's son, has taken missionary discussions before and has been filling her in on some details. They were committed to baptism right then and there. They are so sincere in their desire to know more of the Gospel! We've met with them once since then. They're keeping all their reading commitments and actually coming up with spiritual insights of their own! Those of you who have taught anyone anything Gospel related know that that is very unusual. At least it is in my experience. So, they are progressing perfectly and should be baptized within a month or so. I'm so excited for them! They're great. And they told us about how they have a bunch of friends who are interested in our message! Referrals!! Missionary hey-day!
Not a whole lot else happened this week. I love you, family! For some reason, I've felt really good this week. Kind of buoyed. Thank you for your prayers and your thoughts. I'm doing my best out here, and hoping to have some great success soon! Thanks for all the news from back home, I love hearing it.
Anyways, til next week,
-Elder Brandon Porter
"In life we can always learn something" - 10/3/11
Family!
So, it's been another week. Yup. There it went. I can't believe how fast it goes sometimes. Each day feels really long, but the week is gone like that. You can't see it, but I snapped there, to illustrate how fast it actually went.
Dad asked me to tell a little bit about my daily routine, so I'll try here. Here it goes:
Wake up at 6:30, pray and shower. Slip in and out of consciousness, trying to motivate myself to exercise. Don't exercise. Around 8, have breakfast, then have 3 hours of studies. One hour is for personal scripture study, one for companionship study (discussing what we learned in conjunction with lessons we have that day) and one for language study. Lately for language study I have been reading as much as possible out of the Книга Мормона and making sure I understand what is said. Every day I'm getting tripped up on fewer words, so that's good.
Usually we have one or two lessons set up in a day. We meet them at the branch building and teach them there, because they don't trust us to come into their homes and teach them. That's just how Ukrainians are. As we wait for investigators to show I usually go to the sacrament hall (if you can call it that) and play piano. We usually have about 3 member lessons in a week, and those ones we can actually show up at their house and visit with them. We ride a marshutka when we have to go long distances (I think I've described those before. Tiny bus-type things with crazy drivers). Most people live in the city in a "dom" (Like "dome"). These are essentially apartments that are shoddily made and they fill up any possibly space in the back of and on top of buildings. That's probably confusing. Don't worry, it's communist. But some people live in "lichne dom"s, or "personal homes". These are all over the country side and are anything from a trailer to a nice home. It's pretty random.
Anyways, we get home around 8 and have dinner (yes, we make our own dinner) and do an extra hour of studies. For the first 12 weeks being trained, you have to do this extra hour of studies out of a training manual. Essentially we are just told to read and discuss Preach My Gospel a lot. Good stuff. After that we make calls to try and set up lessons with people, and we plan out the next day. Then we sleep.
I'm sure that you realize that there is a lot more that goes on in any given day. But that's about all I can say that really.. makes sense. Ukraine doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you try to describe it in words. It's weird that way.
So, I told you that Misha was getting baptized this Saturday. That was almost true. He was way excited for it and he passed his interview last Friday with flying colors. He wanted Antamanov to be the one to baptize him. We were obviously very excited for this. Then on Saturday he called out of the blue and told us that he never wants to talk to us ever again and the like. That was kind of a low blow. Antamanov was very depressed after this news, not wanting to do anything the rest of the day. But we had a lesson with Gabriel, a recent convert from Africa, and I forced him to go. Good thing, too. The moment that we started that lesson, the Spirit was so strong. Gabriel said exactly what we needed to hear to lift our spirits, and we were all able to learn something. The best thing about that for me was that I was able to feel the Spirit bring things to my mind to inspire others, and I realized that those things were already in me. I had been wondering that day whether I had anything of worth that I could personally share with people around here that some other person couldn't provide. The Spirit was able to show me that I can fill people's needs in my own way through His help. Basically, that was a very good lesson and each one of us heard what we needed at that moment.
I've been thinking a lot about the Gospel. Funny enough. And in my reading I found that the Spirit is a spirit of truth. It dawned on me that this isn't just some church that God gave us- it's eternal truth that God is sharing with us. Studying further, I found the principle that there must be opposition in all things. What begins must end. The conclusion that must be drawn from that is that anything eternal is and has been for all time; no beginning and no end. Truth found in the Gospel, in the arts, in sciences, it's all eternal truth that works together and it is all from God. That also led me to think about how charity is the only thing which "never faileth" (Moroni 7:47?). Charity is the Love of Christ. His love has no beginning and no end. We can share in that. I just love going deeper into these doctrines. It's so.. enriching.
I had a terrible lesson this week that got me thinking a bit about this more. It was with a sister in the ward. She thought that she knew everything that we were going to say, and kept finishing our sentences saying, "See? I already KNOW all this." The spirit of contention was very prevalent. It got me thinking about how I at times have thought that I know everything that a teacher is saying in Sunday School or things like that. But it's that very moment that you think that which is when there is something much deeper that the Lord could be teaching you. I've come to realize that there is something to be learned in every instance in life. No matter how cliche the lesson is or how much previous knowledge we have on the subject. In life we can always learn something.
Now you know a bunch of my recent spiritual thoughts. Take it for what it's worth. Not a whole lot else noteworthy happened this week, so I think I will end it there. Just letting you know I'm working hard and enjoying my mission. Now to just get some Ukrainians in the water!
Til next week!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
PS. Could you send me Taylor's mission mailing address? While you're at it, let anyone know that they can send me anything and that I promise that I will respond to everything I receive. Thank you!
So, it's been another week. Yup. There it went. I can't believe how fast it goes sometimes. Each day feels really long, but the week is gone like that. You can't see it, but I snapped there, to illustrate how fast it actually went.
Dad asked me to tell a little bit about my daily routine, so I'll try here. Here it goes:
Wake up at 6:30, pray and shower. Slip in and out of consciousness, trying to motivate myself to exercise. Don't exercise. Around 8, have breakfast, then have 3 hours of studies. One hour is for personal scripture study, one for companionship study (discussing what we learned in conjunction with lessons we have that day) and one for language study. Lately for language study I have been reading as much as possible out of the Книга Мормона and making sure I understand what is said. Every day I'm getting tripped up on fewer words, so that's good.
Usually we have one or two lessons set up in a day. We meet them at the branch building and teach them there, because they don't trust us to come into their homes and teach them. That's just how Ukrainians are. As we wait for investigators to show I usually go to the sacrament hall (if you can call it that) and play piano. We usually have about 3 member lessons in a week, and those ones we can actually show up at their house and visit with them. We ride a marshutka when we have to go long distances (I think I've described those before. Tiny bus-type things with crazy drivers). Most people live in the city in a "dom" (Like "dome"). These are essentially apartments that are shoddily made and they fill up any possibly space in the back of and on top of buildings. That's probably confusing. Don't worry, it's communist. But some people live in "lichne dom"s, or "personal homes". These are all over the country side and are anything from a trailer to a nice home. It's pretty random.
Anyways, we get home around 8 and have dinner (yes, we make our own dinner) and do an extra hour of studies. For the first 12 weeks being trained, you have to do this extra hour of studies out of a training manual. Essentially we are just told to read and discuss Preach My Gospel a lot. Good stuff. After that we make calls to try and set up lessons with people, and we plan out the next day. Then we sleep.
I'm sure that you realize that there is a lot more that goes on in any given day. But that's about all I can say that really.. makes sense. Ukraine doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you try to describe it in words. It's weird that way.
So, I told you that Misha was getting baptized this Saturday. That was almost true. He was way excited for it and he passed his interview last Friday with flying colors. He wanted Antamanov to be the one to baptize him. We were obviously very excited for this. Then on Saturday he called out of the blue and told us that he never wants to talk to us ever again and the like. That was kind of a low blow. Antamanov was very depressed after this news, not wanting to do anything the rest of the day. But we had a lesson with Gabriel, a recent convert from Africa, and I forced him to go. Good thing, too. The moment that we started that lesson, the Spirit was so strong. Gabriel said exactly what we needed to hear to lift our spirits, and we were all able to learn something. The best thing about that for me was that I was able to feel the Spirit bring things to my mind to inspire others, and I realized that those things were already in me. I had been wondering that day whether I had anything of worth that I could personally share with people around here that some other person couldn't provide. The Spirit was able to show me that I can fill people's needs in my own way through His help. Basically, that was a very good lesson and each one of us heard what we needed at that moment.
I've been thinking a lot about the Gospel. Funny enough. And in my reading I found that the Spirit is a spirit of truth. It dawned on me that this isn't just some church that God gave us- it's eternal truth that God is sharing with us. Studying further, I found the principle that there must be opposition in all things. What begins must end. The conclusion that must be drawn from that is that anything eternal is and has been for all time; no beginning and no end. Truth found in the Gospel, in the arts, in sciences, it's all eternal truth that works together and it is all from God. That also led me to think about how charity is the only thing which "never faileth" (Moroni 7:47?). Charity is the Love of Christ. His love has no beginning and no end. We can share in that. I just love going deeper into these doctrines. It's so.. enriching.
I had a terrible lesson this week that got me thinking a bit about this more. It was with a sister in the ward. She thought that she knew everything that we were going to say, and kept finishing our sentences saying, "See? I already KNOW all this." The spirit of contention was very prevalent. It got me thinking about how I at times have thought that I know everything that a teacher is saying in Sunday School or things like that. But it's that very moment that you think that which is when there is something much deeper that the Lord could be teaching you. I've come to realize that there is something to be learned in every instance in life. No matter how cliche the lesson is or how much previous knowledge we have on the subject. In life we can always learn something.
Now you know a bunch of my recent spiritual thoughts. Take it for what it's worth. Not a whole lot else noteworthy happened this week, so I think I will end it there. Just letting you know I'm working hard and enjoying my mission. Now to just get some Ukrainians in the water!
Til next week!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
PS. Could you send me Taylor's mission mailing address? While you're at it, let anyone know that they can send me anything and that I promise that I will respond to everything I receive. Thank you!
"I'm not the newbie" - 9/26/11
Fam!
I gave up on numbering the letter, if you hadn't noticed. I don't really know anymore.. Weeks are beginning to blur together.
First, thank you for all the pictures from your vacation! That was really cool to see. I especially enjoyed seeing the kids trying to read Russian/Ukrainian. Joseph's amazed face at seeing both books made me laugh. Also, you guys have already changed a bit. Aubrey and Joseph look older than when I left. Weird! Bailey looks like.. like she feels older. That's the best way I can describe it. Mom and Dad, you look the same as always. Keep it up! People have actually commented on how Mom looks very young when I share my picture album. And then they ask where my Dad is, because he isn't in hardly any pictures (since he took most of them). I have to point out some obscure picture for them and they're like "Oh, THERE he is!" So, send me more pictures of Dad!
This week a lot happened. First things first, we met with M and J a couple times. M is very ready for his baptism- October 8th! So exciting. And J is totally ready. We just need him to see that it's time for him to be baptized. We had one of the most spiritual lessons ever with him this last week, and he still left saying he needs to think about it. I'm praying very hard that he can be baptized on the 8th as well. Also, the other guy who was going to be baptized, A, ended up not wanting to learn the gospel and just wanted to access our welfare and unload his problems on us. That wasn't initially a problem, as we're willing to teach anyone, but it got so bad with him that we had to drop him. I hope he comes around at some point.
This week was Zone Conference also, on Thursday and Friday. Since Lugansk is about 3 hours away from Center Donetsk, we came in on Wednesday evening and stayed with local elders until Friday night. I really enjoyed seeing the other missionaries in my Zone. I had forgotten that there were more than 4 missionaries in the entire world! Lugansk is so out of the way that nothing/no one really makes it out to see us. I got to see Elder Harris again, which was awesome. We are pretty close now. I feel like I've known him for years now, yet it's only since being MTC companions in May... Weird mission time. Also, the new set of missionaries were in- I wasn't the newbie! I'm through with being the complete youngest missionary in the mission! Woot! I was actually able to give some language study advice to some friends that I already knew from the MTC who came in this transfer. I felt very good about that.
President and Sister Campero are awesome. President Campero gave us a ton of mission statistics in Zone Conference, but he always seems to make it interesting and fun. He's a very light hearted, loving man. And then the Camperos came up to Lugansk on Sunday for a bunch of interviews in our branch. Since we had the keys to the building, we had to wait around until he finished. I got to spend most of that time talking to Sister Campero. She has a very interesting life story. I have so much respect for her - she is learning English while serving in Ukraine! Her English really is very good, but she's self conscious about it. I was able to communicate a little bit in Spanish with her, but I realized that Russian has corrupted all of my foreign language vocabulary. I am able to understand most anything said in Spanish or German, but I can't respond very well because Russian words bubble up to the surface. Anyways, I had a good time talking to her and it was a great experience.
Today we don't have a whole lot of time at the Internet club, so I'm going to have to cut this a bit shorter than usual. I love and miss all of you! Thank you for keeping me updated on life back home, I appreciate it very much. You don't even know how much.
Til next Monday!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
I gave up on numbering the letter, if you hadn't noticed. I don't really know anymore.. Weeks are beginning to blur together.
First, thank you for all the pictures from your vacation! That was really cool to see. I especially enjoyed seeing the kids trying to read Russian/Ukrainian. Joseph's amazed face at seeing both books made me laugh. Also, you guys have already changed a bit. Aubrey and Joseph look older than when I left. Weird! Bailey looks like.. like she feels older. That's the best way I can describe it. Mom and Dad, you look the same as always. Keep it up! People have actually commented on how Mom looks very young when I share my picture album. And then they ask where my Dad is, because he isn't in hardly any pictures (since he took most of them). I have to point out some obscure picture for them and they're like "Oh, THERE he is!" So, send me more pictures of Dad!
This week a lot happened. First things first, we met with M and J a couple times. M is very ready for his baptism- October 8th! So exciting. And J is totally ready. We just need him to see that it's time for him to be baptized. We had one of the most spiritual lessons ever with him this last week, and he still left saying he needs to think about it. I'm praying very hard that he can be baptized on the 8th as well. Also, the other guy who was going to be baptized, A, ended up not wanting to learn the gospel and just wanted to access our welfare and unload his problems on us. That wasn't initially a problem, as we're willing to teach anyone, but it got so bad with him that we had to drop him. I hope he comes around at some point.
This week was Zone Conference also, on Thursday and Friday. Since Lugansk is about 3 hours away from Center Donetsk, we came in on Wednesday evening and stayed with local elders until Friday night. I really enjoyed seeing the other missionaries in my Zone. I had forgotten that there were more than 4 missionaries in the entire world! Lugansk is so out of the way that nothing/no one really makes it out to see us. I got to see Elder Harris again, which was awesome. We are pretty close now. I feel like I've known him for years now, yet it's only since being MTC companions in May... Weird mission time. Also, the new set of missionaries were in- I wasn't the newbie! I'm through with being the complete youngest missionary in the mission! Woot! I was actually able to give some language study advice to some friends that I already knew from the MTC who came in this transfer. I felt very good about that.
President and Sister Campero are awesome. President Campero gave us a ton of mission statistics in Zone Conference, but he always seems to make it interesting and fun. He's a very light hearted, loving man. And then the Camperos came up to Lugansk on Sunday for a bunch of interviews in our branch. Since we had the keys to the building, we had to wait around until he finished. I got to spend most of that time talking to Sister Campero. She has a very interesting life story. I have so much respect for her - she is learning English while serving in Ukraine! Her English really is very good, but she's self conscious about it. I was able to communicate a little bit in Spanish with her, but I realized that Russian has corrupted all of my foreign language vocabulary. I am able to understand most anything said in Spanish or German, but I can't respond very well because Russian words bubble up to the surface. Anyways, I had a good time talking to her and it was a great experience.
Today we don't have a whole lot of time at the Internet club, so I'm going to have to cut this a bit shorter than usual. I love and miss all of you! Thank you for keeping me updated on life back home, I appreciate it very much. You don't even know how much.
Til next Monday!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
"Interesting reflection point"- 9/19/11
Family!
How's it going? Ukraine has been treating me pretty well lately, so I'm doing pretty awesome. Good companion, good district, great area. . . it's all going pretty good.
With my first transfer finishing up this past week, it's been an interesting reflection point. It feels like I just got in country, still. I don't feel that much more prepared now than if I had just stepped off the plane. But then I look around at the things I'm doing and how much I am understanding, and I've realized that I actually have come a long ways. Sometimes I will speak to members that understand English and they will speak Russian as I respond in English. It is a strange, yet satisfying feeling to know that I can do that. And in Russian I can communicate a lot. It's just painful at times. Imagine squeezing your brain, trying to wring all the Russian you know out of it. That is what it feels like some days. But, again, it's gotten worlds better in the last transfer!
I've also realized that I've never really struggled with the missionary work itself. All the little spiritual thoughts and testifying and such have never been a problem for me. The only real barrier there has been the language itself. I count that as a huge blessing. In the MTC, at least, I talked with a lot of people who said that they didn't even really know how to lead a discussion about gospel principles or how to convey their message. I absolutely love teaching others what I know to be truth, and the Gospel is the ultimate truth that's out there.
This week I had one of my favorite lessons of the mission thus far. It was very literally a "Great Spirit" lesson, like that of Ammon teaching King Lamoni in the Book of Mormon. I was on split with Elder Arrington, who's been out for two transfers more than me, and we taught this awesome guy named A. It was primarily a discussion about the nature of God and the purpose of being obedient to Him. His idea of God was that He is just a conglomerate of all the spirits of every living thing in the world, and that by following good principles we stay "in grain" with this Great Spirit. We had a great discussion about this. In talking we got him to see how closely most of his views match up with that of our church, and we were able to lead him through a simple discussion about the Plan of Salvation as well. Oh, and I led this lesson. It was a great feeling to be able to be the primary means of bringing light and truth to someone else. A left very satisfied with the discussion, and agreeing to continue meeting with missionaries. The only thing that was sad for me is that A is in the other elders' area, and so I won't get to teach him more. But, it's not about me. It's about him finding truth and coming to a knowledge of God.
Speaking of, M (the first guy we had on date forever ago) is finally about to get baptized! There were complications in how we could get someone to give him the baptismal interview, but now that's all worked out and he's set to be baptized on October 8th. He has come so far spiritually. He is very excited to be baptized. I can't wait until the day he does get baptized. I just wish I could bottle up that excitement and give it to other people here. Some people are just THIS close, but they need to have time to think and they talk themselves out of it. Ukrainians are not the kind of people to make big life changes on a whim. This is why we missionaries are here.
About my life.. hmm. What has been going on in my life? I've just been missionary-ing, I guess. In my free time I find myself thinking a lot about music. I play piano when we wait for investigators and we come up with random songs as we walk around the city. Music always lifts spirits, I've found. Music is awesome. Music is life. God knew what He was doing when he created music for the enjoyment of man.
Well, there's not a whole lot else going on at the moment. Just trying to find more people to teach. I'm asking President Campero if we can bring back English Club in our mission. We get asked all the time by people on the streets when they can meet with us for some English practice. That's my latest idea for getting to find more people to bring to Christ. Serve the people by teaching them English. I think it could be very effective.
Anyways, I love you, family, and I look forward to your next letter!
-Elder Porter
Brandon usually sends an additional letter to me. Here are a few excerpts from that letter, as well.
I'm doing great here, thanks for asking, Mom. Yup, I get to stay with Antamanov for another transfer, at least. We get along very well, which is nice. Most people in the mission don't get along so well with others, and I've been told that I will be a very desirable companion because I'm so compatible with anyone.
Yes, Lugansk is the chosen land of the Donetsk Mission. It's a smaller town than other areas, and it's generally cleaner, the people are nicer, and every missionary's favorite fast food, Blinok, is based around here. The main reason that most missionaries jokingly call it Рай (heaven) is that there are tons more girls than guys living in this city. I have no idea how that works out, but it is very true. My favorite thing is that there are tons of med schools and the like around here, so I get to meet people from all over the world, primarily Africans. Africans are always so polite and happy to talk, I love it!
About Sundays. So, the only people who have keys to the church are the branch president and both sets of missionaries. Basically, if anything is going on at the church, missionaries know about it and usually have to be there. On Sundays we meet with the branch president to discuss the progress of our investigators. As for sacrament, we are lucky enough to have over 4 members holding the priesthood at any given time, so we don't have to pass or bless the sacrament usually. It's always more meaningful if members do stuff like that. Pretty much, missionaries are like an appendage to the branch presidency here. We act kind of as members with a duty to greet people, make people feel welcome, and help them integrate into the Mormon culture. It's interesting. And then there's other nights in the week, like FHE on Monday or Sports night on Saturday where we are in charge of leading the youth that come to the activities. Basically, there's a lot for us to do here.
Love your son,
Brandon
How's it going? Ukraine has been treating me pretty well lately, so I'm doing pretty awesome. Good companion, good district, great area. . . it's all going pretty good.
With my first transfer finishing up this past week, it's been an interesting reflection point. It feels like I just got in country, still. I don't feel that much more prepared now than if I had just stepped off the plane. But then I look around at the things I'm doing and how much I am understanding, and I've realized that I actually have come a long ways. Sometimes I will speak to members that understand English and they will speak Russian as I respond in English. It is a strange, yet satisfying feeling to know that I can do that. And in Russian I can communicate a lot. It's just painful at times. Imagine squeezing your brain, trying to wring all the Russian you know out of it. That is what it feels like some days. But, again, it's gotten worlds better in the last transfer!
I've also realized that I've never really struggled with the missionary work itself. All the little spiritual thoughts and testifying and such have never been a problem for me. The only real barrier there has been the language itself. I count that as a huge blessing. In the MTC, at least, I talked with a lot of people who said that they didn't even really know how to lead a discussion about gospel principles or how to convey their message. I absolutely love teaching others what I know to be truth, and the Gospel is the ultimate truth that's out there.
This week I had one of my favorite lessons of the mission thus far. It was very literally a "Great Spirit" lesson, like that of Ammon teaching King Lamoni in the Book of Mormon. I was on split with Elder Arrington, who's been out for two transfers more than me, and we taught this awesome guy named A. It was primarily a discussion about the nature of God and the purpose of being obedient to Him. His idea of God was that He is just a conglomerate of all the spirits of every living thing in the world, and that by following good principles we stay "in grain" with this Great Spirit. We had a great discussion about this. In talking we got him to see how closely most of his views match up with that of our church, and we were able to lead him through a simple discussion about the Plan of Salvation as well. Oh, and I led this lesson. It was a great feeling to be able to be the primary means of bringing light and truth to someone else. A left very satisfied with the discussion, and agreeing to continue meeting with missionaries. The only thing that was sad for me is that A is in the other elders' area, and so I won't get to teach him more. But, it's not about me. It's about him finding truth and coming to a knowledge of God.
Speaking of, M (the first guy we had on date forever ago) is finally about to get baptized! There were complications in how we could get someone to give him the baptismal interview, but now that's all worked out and he's set to be baptized on October 8th. He has come so far spiritually. He is very excited to be baptized. I can't wait until the day he does get baptized. I just wish I could bottle up that excitement and give it to other people here. Some people are just THIS close, but they need to have time to think and they talk themselves out of it. Ukrainians are not the kind of people to make big life changes on a whim. This is why we missionaries are here.
About my life.. hmm. What has been going on in my life? I've just been missionary-ing, I guess. In my free time I find myself thinking a lot about music. I play piano when we wait for investigators and we come up with random songs as we walk around the city. Music always lifts spirits, I've found. Music is awesome. Music is life. God knew what He was doing when he created music for the enjoyment of man.
Well, there's not a whole lot else going on at the moment. Just trying to find more people to teach. I'm asking President Campero if we can bring back English Club in our mission. We get asked all the time by people on the streets when they can meet with us for some English practice. That's my latest idea for getting to find more people to bring to Christ. Serve the people by teaching them English. I think it could be very effective.
Anyways, I love you, family, and I look forward to your next letter!
-Elder Porter
Brandon usually sends an additional letter to me. Here are a few excerpts from that letter, as well.
I'm doing great here, thanks for asking, Mom. Yup, I get to stay with Antamanov for another transfer, at least. We get along very well, which is nice. Most people in the mission don't get along so well with others, and I've been told that I will be a very desirable companion because I'm so compatible with anyone.
Yes, Lugansk is the chosen land of the Donetsk Mission. It's a smaller town than other areas, and it's generally cleaner, the people are nicer, and every missionary's favorite fast food, Blinok, is based around here. The main reason that most missionaries jokingly call it Рай (heaven) is that there are tons more girls than guys living in this city. I have no idea how that works out, but it is very true. My favorite thing is that there are tons of med schools and the like around here, so I get to meet people from all over the world, primarily Africans. Africans are always so polite and happy to talk, I love it!
About Sundays. So, the only people who have keys to the church are the branch president and both sets of missionaries. Basically, if anything is going on at the church, missionaries know about it and usually have to be there. On Sundays we meet with the branch president to discuss the progress of our investigators. As for sacrament, we are lucky enough to have over 4 members holding the priesthood at any given time, so we don't have to pass or bless the sacrament usually. It's always more meaningful if members do stuff like that. Pretty much, missionaries are like an appendage to the branch presidency here. We act kind of as members with a duty to greet people, make people feel welcome, and help them integrate into the Mormon culture. It's interesting. And then there's other nights in the week, like FHE on Monday or Sports night on Saturday where we are in charge of leading the youth that come to the activities. Basically, there's a lot for us to do here.
Love your son,
Brandon
"Lugansk - Ukraine starts here"- Week 6
Well, Family, it is the end of my first transfer. I've made it. Be proud of me. I'm still going to be trained by Antamanov for the next transfer, but it is definitely a milestone to be past the first transfer!
In our district of 4 elders, only Elder Calvert (our district leader) is leaving. Our district has grown pretty close, I love it. We're expecting to have another awesome transfer the next 6 weeks! (or 7 weeks. They might extend this transfer a bit.) Antamanov and I get along very well in all areas, and so I have thoroughly enjoyed serving with him so far. And Elder Arrington is cool, too. We discuss music a lot. He's a bassist and was in a band back home. It's very cool to find things in common with those you serve around.
This last week has been crazy, just in general. It's been the Dyen Rozhdyenia Goroda, which is essentially the birthday party for the city of Lugansk. They have shirts everywhere that say "Lugansk.. Ukraine starts here!" It's been interesting having all the festivities all week. And since I'm in the city center, we've been in the thick of all the celebrating. Concerts everywhere, little kids dancing and singing.. I never knew that a city could all come together and perform for one another as much as these people do. It's been pretty cool to be here for all that.
Unfortunately, because of all this celebrating, we haven't been able to get a ton of missionary work done. Most people that we called were out partying all week. And we couldn't contact on the streets because the streets were filled with drunk rubiata (Russian for "guys" and missionary slang for "guys that want to be a nuisance to missionaries"). So there hasn't been a whole lot we could do. We did get lessons in, though! We've got two people still on date, but we're having to push their dates back again since they have been too busy to meet with us and learn everything they need to know. You know, most churches don't have such a rigorous standard for baptism. That's one thing that has really impressed A, one of the guys on date. His major issue with the Adventist church was that they just did a mass baptism for him and like 200 other people. There was no real meaning to their baptism. That's why we work with people individually in the Church. Each soul is precious and needs to be handled with dignity. I hope that we can find more people to handle dignifiedly, though.. That'll be this next week.
So, not a whole lot has happened this last week, because of all the celebrating. I've just been enjoying life here in Ukraine and all. Doing missionary work to the best of my ability. Oh, in addition, I've been practicing a bit of piano. We have all of our lessons at the branch building, and we have to wait a while for each meeting, so I usually get to go mess around on the piano for a bit. That's been pretty fun. I thought that was probably noteworthy to include here.
It's no surprise that Aubrey's doing well over at VSAA. And I thoroughly enjoyed Bailey's letter about Skyview. And Joseph is in school all day now. Tell him not to worry about the length of school. It only gets longer. Or maybe don't tell him that. I don't want to depress him too much. College is awesome though, he has that to look forward to.. in 12 years.. hehe.
That's good about the scripture study. We've really been hammering with members lately the importance of consistent spiritual nourishment. It is living water, after all. The bread of life and all that. Keep up the good work!
Yeah, I remembered it was 9/11. And I do remember that day. Sitting in the 4th grade classroom, watching the news reports about planes crashing into towers, wondering if anyone I knew could possibly be on those planes. That was a strange experience. What was weird, too, is talking to Antamanov about it. Everyone all over the world watched 9/11 happen just as solemnly as we did. He saw it live at like 2 in the morning in Siberia. Isn't that strange to think about?
That's odd that it's so sunny over there. Has it been just this last week? That'd be pretty funny, because it has been extremely hot here until the last week, where I keep thinking that the grey sky makes it look like Washington.
My journal is filling up fine. I don't let myself go to sleep until I write a full page in the journal every night. It's a pretty good habit to be in, I think. And I think I'll be fine on journal paper at least for another year.
You asked if I am confident in speaking Russian... Yes and no. We have a couple of English speaking members here in Lugansk, one from Canada and another from Nigeria. They've been here for at least 2 years each, but I dominate them in language skills at this point. It's a firm testament to how quickly the Lord can work through us as missionaries, or anyone for that matter. So, yes, I am pretty confident. But, that said, I have such a long ways to go. There is no way I will get this without a lot more consistent work and a lot of the Lord's help. It's amazing how well learning a language parallels learning in the Gospel. You need constant growth, or else you're actually regressing. But, Russian is pretty cool, and I can communicate any spiritual thought pretty well, given the time to find the words. Steadily improving!
I am anxiously awaiting the written letters you said are coming. So far I've gotten mail from my MTC mission president and from Jeffrey. Mail is always a great thing, especially for missionaries.
So, I love you all! I'm glad that you seemed to have a good first week of school. I'm excited for Bailey starting Seminary today! That'll be great. Read those scriptures.
Til next week!
-Elder Brandon Porter
In our district of 4 elders, only Elder Calvert (our district leader) is leaving. Our district has grown pretty close, I love it. We're expecting to have another awesome transfer the next 6 weeks! (or 7 weeks. They might extend this transfer a bit.) Antamanov and I get along very well in all areas, and so I have thoroughly enjoyed serving with him so far. And Elder Arrington is cool, too. We discuss music a lot. He's a bassist and was in a band back home. It's very cool to find things in common with those you serve around.
This last week has been crazy, just in general. It's been the Dyen Rozhdyenia Goroda, which is essentially the birthday party for the city of Lugansk. They have shirts everywhere that say "Lugansk.. Ukraine starts here!" It's been interesting having all the festivities all week. And since I'm in the city center, we've been in the thick of all the celebrating. Concerts everywhere, little kids dancing and singing.. I never knew that a city could all come together and perform for one another as much as these people do. It's been pretty cool to be here for all that.
Unfortunately, because of all this celebrating, we haven't been able to get a ton of missionary work done. Most people that we called were out partying all week. And we couldn't contact on the streets because the streets were filled with drunk rubiata (Russian for "guys" and missionary slang for "guys that want to be a nuisance to missionaries"). So there hasn't been a whole lot we could do. We did get lessons in, though! We've got two people still on date, but we're having to push their dates back again since they have been too busy to meet with us and learn everything they need to know. You know, most churches don't have such a rigorous standard for baptism. That's one thing that has really impressed A, one of the guys on date. His major issue with the Adventist church was that they just did a mass baptism for him and like 200 other people. There was no real meaning to their baptism. That's why we work with people individually in the Church. Each soul is precious and needs to be handled with dignity. I hope that we can find more people to handle dignifiedly, though.. That'll be this next week.
So, not a whole lot has happened this last week, because of all the celebrating. I've just been enjoying life here in Ukraine and all. Doing missionary work to the best of my ability. Oh, in addition, I've been practicing a bit of piano. We have all of our lessons at the branch building, and we have to wait a while for each meeting, so I usually get to go mess around on the piano for a bit. That's been pretty fun. I thought that was probably noteworthy to include here.
It's no surprise that Aubrey's doing well over at VSAA. And I thoroughly enjoyed Bailey's letter about Skyview. And Joseph is in school all day now. Tell him not to worry about the length of school. It only gets longer. Or maybe don't tell him that. I don't want to depress him too much. College is awesome though, he has that to look forward to.. in 12 years.. hehe.
That's good about the scripture study. We've really been hammering with members lately the importance of consistent spiritual nourishment. It is living water, after all. The bread of life and all that. Keep up the good work!
Yeah, I remembered it was 9/11. And I do remember that day. Sitting in the 4th grade classroom, watching the news reports about planes crashing into towers, wondering if anyone I knew could possibly be on those planes. That was a strange experience. What was weird, too, is talking to Antamanov about it. Everyone all over the world watched 9/11 happen just as solemnly as we did. He saw it live at like 2 in the morning in Siberia. Isn't that strange to think about?
That's odd that it's so sunny over there. Has it been just this last week? That'd be pretty funny, because it has been extremely hot here until the last week, where I keep thinking that the grey sky makes it look like Washington.
My journal is filling up fine. I don't let myself go to sleep until I write a full page in the journal every night. It's a pretty good habit to be in, I think. And I think I'll be fine on journal paper at least for another year.
You asked if I am confident in speaking Russian... Yes and no. We have a couple of English speaking members here in Lugansk, one from Canada and another from Nigeria. They've been here for at least 2 years each, but I dominate them in language skills at this point. It's a firm testament to how quickly the Lord can work through us as missionaries, or anyone for that matter. So, yes, I am pretty confident. But, that said, I have such a long ways to go. There is no way I will get this without a lot more consistent work and a lot of the Lord's help. It's amazing how well learning a language parallels learning in the Gospel. You need constant growth, or else you're actually regressing. But, Russian is pretty cool, and I can communicate any spiritual thought pretty well, given the time to find the words. Steadily improving!
I am anxiously awaiting the written letters you said are coming. So far I've gotten mail from my MTC mission president and from Jeffrey. Mail is always a great thing, especially for missionaries.
So, I love you all! I'm glad that you seemed to have a good first week of school. I'm excited for Bailey starting Seminary today! That'll be great. Read those scriptures.
Til next week!
-Elder Brandon Porter
"I may or may not die, but that's okay. It's for a good cause" - Week 5
Family!
This week has actually gone by REALLY fast. I feel like just yesterday was P-Day.. It's strange how that works.
So, first off, this week is SYL week (Speak Your Language) in my zone. That means 100% Russian all week. I may or may not die, but that's okay. It's for a good cause. We started yesterday and we're continuing until Saturday. It is definitely a help, but thinking in only Russian gives me a bit of a headache. I'm working my best on it, but of course I still slip into English every once in a while. Or German, randomly. But, in trying my best to speak completely in Russian, I've surprised myself at times with how much I can actually communicate. Last night Antamanov and I were joking back and forth completely in Russian. My thoughts always takes a lot more time to get the point across, but still! I thought that was pretty cool.
I still have my moments where Russian fails me. Like when we talk to the branch president, who has a heavy Ukrainian accent. We meet with him every sunday night to teach an FHE type lesson. Last night Antamanov had to take a call at the beginning of the lesson and left me to introduce our topic. Unfortunately I didn't know much of the vocab that I needed, so I pantomimed a lot of what I wanted to say. Branch President and his wife eventually got it, but they were obviously pretty happy when Antamanov came back. And then whenever they respond to anything, they go off on random tangents that even Antamanov can't follow. So I zoned a lot. My life flashed before my eyes in slo-mo. When that finished, they were still talking, so I continued to think about my future. It was a pretty productive lesson.
We discovered at the end of August that the MSF (living money for missionaries) that they give us isn't enough. They give us 1200 greevan, and considering a greevan is about 8 to 1 dollar, that makes it the equivalent of about.. $170. That's for one month. Prices here are lots lower than in America by those standards, but we still had to dip into personal money for the last week or so in order to actually have food and stuff. I'm still very very frugal with my money, as always, but I can't help but spend some personal cash. I just figured that I should let you know.
We teach this one old couple that I wanted to tell you about. Their name is T. They are technically Less Active because they can't make it to church, but they're the most amazing people. He is blind and has been for the last 11 years or so. They have some struggles, but they are some the happiest people I've met here. The coolest thing about him is that after he went blind, he decided to pick up the accordian. He plays pretty professionally! I have some videos of him playing. We had a lesson where at the end we switched off and I would show them an American song on the guitar, then he would perform a traditional Ukrainian song on the accordian. Definitely my favorite people here. They remind me a lot of grandma and grandpa Porter in their mannerisms and how their house is set up.
This last Sunday a young member family from outside the city limits visited church. We actually had little kids running around the church! I hadn't realized how much I missed that. One kid reminded me a lot of Joseph at about 3 years old. He kept running around messing with anything he could find. When his mom went up to bear her testimony, this kid ran up and pulled himself up to the pulpit and started yelling a bit. She shushed him, so he started just gnawing on the wood. Crazy kids. They're awesome.
You asked about my apartment and living conditions last time. The apartment is pretty good.. I don't know how else to describe it. It's a normal dom in communist housing here with everything we need except for a dryer and an oven. As for cooking, I do definitely cook some good stuff. Antamanov has showed me how to make some somewhat traditional Russian stuff. College kid style. As in, with really cheap ingredients. It's pretty cool.
That's the main things from this week that I can think of. How about back home? Does school start this week? Are you excited? Because I'm excited for you all. It's weird how life goes on while I'm here. As it should, but still. Just keep updating me and it'll all be cool.
I love you! Talk to you next P-Day!
-Elder Brandon Porter
This week has actually gone by REALLY fast. I feel like just yesterday was P-Day.. It's strange how that works.
So, first off, this week is SYL week (Speak Your Language) in my zone. That means 100% Russian all week. I may or may not die, but that's okay. It's for a good cause. We started yesterday and we're continuing until Saturday. It is definitely a help, but thinking in only Russian gives me a bit of a headache. I'm working my best on it, but of course I still slip into English every once in a while. Or German, randomly. But, in trying my best to speak completely in Russian, I've surprised myself at times with how much I can actually communicate. Last night Antamanov and I were joking back and forth completely in Russian. My thoughts always takes a lot more time to get the point across, but still! I thought that was pretty cool.
I still have my moments where Russian fails me. Like when we talk to the branch president, who has a heavy Ukrainian accent. We meet with him every sunday night to teach an FHE type lesson. Last night Antamanov had to take a call at the beginning of the lesson and left me to introduce our topic. Unfortunately I didn't know much of the vocab that I needed, so I pantomimed a lot of what I wanted to say. Branch President and his wife eventually got it, but they were obviously pretty happy when Antamanov came back. And then whenever they respond to anything, they go off on random tangents that even Antamanov can't follow. So I zoned a lot. My life flashed before my eyes in slo-mo. When that finished, they were still talking, so I continued to think about my future. It was a pretty productive lesson.
We discovered at the end of August that the MSF (living money for missionaries) that they give us isn't enough. They give us 1200 greevan, and considering a greevan is about 8 to 1 dollar, that makes it the equivalent of about.. $170. That's for one month. Prices here are lots lower than in America by those standards, but we still had to dip into personal money for the last week or so in order to actually have food and stuff. I'm still very very frugal with my money, as always, but I can't help but spend some personal cash. I just figured that I should let you know.
We teach this one old couple that I wanted to tell you about. Their name is T. They are technically Less Active because they can't make it to church, but they're the most amazing people. He is blind and has been for the last 11 years or so. They have some struggles, but they are some the happiest people I've met here. The coolest thing about him is that after he went blind, he decided to pick up the accordian. He plays pretty professionally! I have some videos of him playing. We had a lesson where at the end we switched off and I would show them an American song on the guitar, then he would perform a traditional Ukrainian song on the accordian. Definitely my favorite people here. They remind me a lot of grandma and grandpa Porter in their mannerisms and how their house is set up.
This last Sunday a young member family from outside the city limits visited church. We actually had little kids running around the church! I hadn't realized how much I missed that. One kid reminded me a lot of Joseph at about 3 years old. He kept running around messing with anything he could find. When his mom went up to bear her testimony, this kid ran up and pulled himself up to the pulpit and started yelling a bit. She shushed him, so he started just gnawing on the wood. Crazy kids. They're awesome.
You asked about my apartment and living conditions last time. The apartment is pretty good.. I don't know how else to describe it. It's a normal dom in communist housing here with everything we need except for a dryer and an oven. As for cooking, I do definitely cook some good stuff. Antamanov has showed me how to make some somewhat traditional Russian stuff. College kid style. As in, with really cheap ingredients. It's pretty cool.
That's the main things from this week that I can think of. How about back home? Does school start this week? Are you excited? Because I'm excited for you all. It's weird how life goes on while I'm here. As it should, but still. Just keep updating me and it'll all be cool.
I love you! Talk to you next P-Day!
-Elder Brandon Porter
"Oh, babushki. Gotta love them" - Week 4
Привет, Семья!!
Alright, so it's been a pretty good week. We've been meeting with a bunch of people and we have 3 that are SO close to baptism. They've heard all the lessons, we just have to get them to the water and dunk them. M is on date, and we originally planned to have his baptism last Saturday. But things came up and he needs a little more prep time, so now his date is for Sept 17. Pray that everything goes well! We also have J and N. They both know it's true without a doubt. J just still feels like it's not the right time yet and N's mom is extremely anti.. But they're all amazing people! Even if they speak a language that I can't fully understand.
That aside, I've had some good experiences this week. On Sunday M came to church! Also, this other guy showed up that we met briefly once who is literally searching for truth and feels he may have something with us. Antamanov and some members spent the last two hours of church teaching him about the Restoration and such, which left me to lead M to classes and sit next to him. M is fantastic, but I have the hardest time understanding his Russian. He kept leaning in to me and whispering something during the sunday school lesson and laughing. I chuckled out of courtesy, but I had absolutely no idea what he was saying. I later realized that he was telling me how the teacher's desk was set up backwards. That just went over my puny little greenie head. M is always much happier when I'm around, and I think it's because he feels like he is way superior to me in the language. Hey, I'm fine with that. As long as it makes him happy, y'know?
I am making great strides in the language, though. We had some office elders staying with us for the weekend (they had to do an audit on our branch). One of them, Hardy, was in the MTC with me and left one transfer before me, so he's also still being trained. We ended up having to go on splits after church, so both of us greenies went to teach our weekly lesson to a family and give them the sacrament. When we left their house, Hardy turned to me and said I was worlds further than he was when he got in the country. That was good to hear. Sometimes it feels like I am going nowhere with the Russian language, but other times understanding just comes in a wave. I'm doing good.
Oh, so you may or may not have heard about Russian babushki. If not, you will from me. A babushka is an old Russian lady somewhere over 60. They are usually very sweet and lovable, but completely insane. They've all gone crazy one way or another. Like when we tracted into a dom (Communist housing) and a babushka answered one of the doors. She couldn't understand us whatsoever and kept babbling and saying "Shhhto? Shhhto?", meaning "What?". She kept asking why the police were at her door (the word for missionary and policeman, "militionary", are very similar) To be honest, I'm not sure if she understood herself half the time. Oh, babushki. Gotta love them.
There's one babushka in our branch named Sister L. She is a very kind lady, but pretty fanatical about the gospel. She invited us to her home one day, saying she had a referral. we got there, and she had essentially kidnapped her neighbor, who still had her groceries in her hands and seemed slightly annoyed. Sister L sat us down and started laying out every piece of doctrine she could think of. The lady left when she started going into how the sacrament represents the body and blood of Christ and why we use water instead of wine. Then when we were teaching her, at one point I asked her, "Do you know about the prophet Jonah?". She proceeded to give me a 15 minute lecture on how it's best to read the Book of Mormom many times over and how certain verses represent different things at different times in your life.. Never once getting close to answering my question. Oh, Sister L.
I had the chance to teach a recent convert here named G. He is from Nigeria and was baptized here in Lugansk back in April. He's an amazing guy. He considers things very deeply and has many questions for us. I had this funny realization at one point that we had three completely different forms of English in the room: American, Russian accent, and African style. At times G didn't understand MY accent. That was a really strange moment for me. Especially after people here have been telling me how clearly I speak Russian.
It's great to hear from you guys! And thank you so much for responding to questions that I ask. I've talked to lots of missionaries, and they say that their families don't ever respond to their questions, and that it gets really annoying. So.. keep up the good work!
I love you guys. I'm doing fantastic here in Ukraine, and I'm so grateful to have such wonderful support back home.
Until next P-Day!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Alright, so it's been a pretty good week. We've been meeting with a bunch of people and we have 3 that are SO close to baptism. They've heard all the lessons, we just have to get them to the water and dunk them. M is on date, and we originally planned to have his baptism last Saturday. But things came up and he needs a little more prep time, so now his date is for Sept 17. Pray that everything goes well! We also have J and N. They both know it's true without a doubt. J just still feels like it's not the right time yet and N's mom is extremely anti.. But they're all amazing people! Even if they speak a language that I can't fully understand.
That aside, I've had some good experiences this week. On Sunday M came to church! Also, this other guy showed up that we met briefly once who is literally searching for truth and feels he may have something with us. Antamanov and some members spent the last two hours of church teaching him about the Restoration and such, which left me to lead M to classes and sit next to him. M is fantastic, but I have the hardest time understanding his Russian. He kept leaning in to me and whispering something during the sunday school lesson and laughing. I chuckled out of courtesy, but I had absolutely no idea what he was saying. I later realized that he was telling me how the teacher's desk was set up backwards. That just went over my puny little greenie head. M is always much happier when I'm around, and I think it's because he feels like he is way superior to me in the language. Hey, I'm fine with that. As long as it makes him happy, y'know?
I am making great strides in the language, though. We had some office elders staying with us for the weekend (they had to do an audit on our branch). One of them, Hardy, was in the MTC with me and left one transfer before me, so he's also still being trained. We ended up having to go on splits after church, so both of us greenies went to teach our weekly lesson to a family and give them the sacrament. When we left their house, Hardy turned to me and said I was worlds further than he was when he got in the country. That was good to hear. Sometimes it feels like I am going nowhere with the Russian language, but other times understanding just comes in a wave. I'm doing good.
Oh, so you may or may not have heard about Russian babushki. If not, you will from me. A babushka is an old Russian lady somewhere over 60. They are usually very sweet and lovable, but completely insane. They've all gone crazy one way or another. Like when we tracted into a dom (Communist housing) and a babushka answered one of the doors. She couldn't understand us whatsoever and kept babbling and saying "Shhhto? Shhhto?", meaning "What?". She kept asking why the police were at her door (the word for missionary and policeman, "militionary", are very similar) To be honest, I'm not sure if she understood herself half the time. Oh, babushki. Gotta love them.
There's one babushka in our branch named Sister L. She is a very kind lady, but pretty fanatical about the gospel. She invited us to her home one day, saying she had a referral. we got there, and she had essentially kidnapped her neighbor, who still had her groceries in her hands and seemed slightly annoyed. Sister L sat us down and started laying out every piece of doctrine she could think of. The lady left when she started going into how the sacrament represents the body and blood of Christ and why we use water instead of wine. Then when we were teaching her, at one point I asked her, "Do you know about the prophet Jonah?". She proceeded to give me a 15 minute lecture on how it's best to read the Book of Mormom many times over and how certain verses represent different things at different times in your life.. Never once getting close to answering my question. Oh, Sister L.
I had the chance to teach a recent convert here named G. He is from Nigeria and was baptized here in Lugansk back in April. He's an amazing guy. He considers things very deeply and has many questions for us. I had this funny realization at one point that we had three completely different forms of English in the room: American, Russian accent, and African style. At times G didn't understand MY accent. That was a really strange moment for me. Especially after people here have been telling me how clearly I speak Russian.
It's great to hear from you guys! And thank you so much for responding to questions that I ask. I've talked to lots of missionaries, and they say that their families don't ever respond to their questions, and that it gets really annoying. So.. keep up the good work!
I love you guys. I'm doing fantastic here in Ukraine, and I'm so grateful to have such wonderful support back home.
Until next P-Day!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
"Dryers are a gift from God. And black people are awesome." - Ukraine Week 3
Family,
First, some random thoughts. Dryers are a gift from God. And black people are awesome.
As you know, I don't get a dryer here. It's bittersweet to wash clothes, because, while on the one hand, they are now clean, they also get all crusty as they dry. Fun fun! And black people here are amazing. They're all from places like Nigeria and whatnot, and they are the nicest people ever. They speak English and are extremely open to hearing our message. They're here in Lugansk for Medical school. Just last night we were walking around and two black guys stopped us to give us their number because one of them has met with missionaries before and really likes us. So awesome!
Probably the best thing I've discovered here is Blinok. It's a fast food chain they have around here. Blin is Russian for pancake. They essentially take a pancake and roll together whatever you want in it. For meals you can put meat, sauce and cheese in, and for dessert it's great to get chocolate and strawberry. And the pancakes are more like crepes than american pancakes. It's hard to describe, but it's really good!
By the way, before I forget, I took out 1000 greevan from my account last week. Just thought I'd make you aware of that. I've bought a sweet black side bag to carry Book of Mormon and everything. The greevan conversion thing is interesting. It's about 8 greevan to an American dollar. Yet, with the budget that we have as missionaries, we end up scraping the bottom of that, so we scrimp and save wherever possible.
The other day we were walking to a member's home, and some really heavy rain came out of nowhere. Luckily I had an umbrella (thanks, Mom!) so we were fine. But as we walked, there was a blinding lightning strike, followed by thunder that was so powerful that it set off every car alarm in Lugansk! We just sat there laughing for a bit, lamenting the fact that we did not have our cameras out to take video recordings of it. Take my word for it, it was epic.
Russian sounds beautiful when it is spoken right. It can be so melodic, I love it. However, since I am around it so much I end up turning my brain off of Russian every once in a while. When I'm not listening for comprehension, it sounds a lot like the characters in those Sims games.
Speaking of Russian, I still get complimented a lot for my accent when speaking Russian. It's a great confidence booster! That doesn't, however, mean that I don't make mistakes. In Russian, it is crucial to get the accent in the word right. There's one accent per word.. it's hard to explain. I usually have a good sense for it, but I have those little stories of messing up the language. For example, I told my companion the other day that I wanted to "peet vah-DOO" (transliterated from Russian letters) and he started laughing really hard. What I meant to say was that I wanted to "drink water" or "peet VOH-doo". What I had said meant that I wanted to "drink in hell". I figure that would be a good phrase to know if I ever found myself there. I'd only be there for proselyting purposes, of course.
Also, I forgot to tell you my first ever mistake in country. On my first day, Antamanov asked if it'd be alright if we spoke only in Russian all day while on the streets. I responded with what I thought was "I'll try" ("Ya staraioos") But instead I said "Ya stradaioos". This phrase means "I will suffer". That did not bode well for my first day in country. But it's a good story!
Cooking has been going well. We are invited over to members houses to eat more often than I was led to believe, which is awesome (since I was told to expect none). Our apartment is the only one in the mission without a stove and oven, but we do have a hot plate. We've experimented with a bunch of different recipes and have found some good foods to make.
Me and Elder Antamanov get along really well. We have pretty similar personalities, plus we enjoy the same music and movies! We have great talks about all sorts of stuff.
Everything is going pretty well here overall. I don't have a lot of time on the computer today, because of plans bumping up against internet time today. But it is always great to hear from you all and I love sending you mail. You're great, family.
Enjoy New York this week and Happy Birthday, Mom!
Love,
Brandon
First, some random thoughts. Dryers are a gift from God. And black people are awesome.
As you know, I don't get a dryer here. It's bittersweet to wash clothes, because, while on the one hand, they are now clean, they also get all crusty as they dry. Fun fun! And black people here are amazing. They're all from places like Nigeria and whatnot, and they are the nicest people ever. They speak English and are extremely open to hearing our message. They're here in Lugansk for Medical school. Just last night we were walking around and two black guys stopped us to give us their number because one of them has met with missionaries before and really likes us. So awesome!
Probably the best thing I've discovered here is Blinok. It's a fast food chain they have around here. Blin is Russian for pancake. They essentially take a pancake and roll together whatever you want in it. For meals you can put meat, sauce and cheese in, and for dessert it's great to get chocolate and strawberry. And the pancakes are more like crepes than american pancakes. It's hard to describe, but it's really good!
By the way, before I forget, I took out 1000 greevan from my account last week. Just thought I'd make you aware of that. I've bought a sweet black side bag to carry Book of Mormon and everything. The greevan conversion thing is interesting. It's about 8 greevan to an American dollar. Yet, with the budget that we have as missionaries, we end up scraping the bottom of that, so we scrimp and save wherever possible.
The other day we were walking to a member's home, and some really heavy rain came out of nowhere. Luckily I had an umbrella (thanks, Mom!) so we were fine. But as we walked, there was a blinding lightning strike, followed by thunder that was so powerful that it set off every car alarm in Lugansk! We just sat there laughing for a bit, lamenting the fact that we did not have our cameras out to take video recordings of it. Take my word for it, it was epic.
Russian sounds beautiful when it is spoken right. It can be so melodic, I love it. However, since I am around it so much I end up turning my brain off of Russian every once in a while. When I'm not listening for comprehension, it sounds a lot like the characters in those Sims games.
Speaking of Russian, I still get complimented a lot for my accent when speaking Russian. It's a great confidence booster! That doesn't, however, mean that I don't make mistakes. In Russian, it is crucial to get the accent in the word right. There's one accent per word.. it's hard to explain. I usually have a good sense for it, but I have those little stories of messing up the language. For example, I told my companion the other day that I wanted to "peet vah-DOO" (transliterated from Russian letters) and he started laughing really hard. What I meant to say was that I wanted to "drink water" or "peet VOH-doo". What I had said meant that I wanted to "drink in hell". I figure that would be a good phrase to know if I ever found myself there. I'd only be there for proselyting purposes, of course.
Also, I forgot to tell you my first ever mistake in country. On my first day, Antamanov asked if it'd be alright if we spoke only in Russian all day while on the streets. I responded with what I thought was "I'll try" ("Ya staraioos") But instead I said "Ya stradaioos". This phrase means "I will suffer". That did not bode well for my first day in country. But it's a good story!
Cooking has been going well. We are invited over to members houses to eat more often than I was led to believe, which is awesome (since I was told to expect none). Our apartment is the only one in the mission without a stove and oven, but we do have a hot plate. We've experimented with a bunch of different recipes and have found some good foods to make.
Me and Elder Antamanov get along really well. We have pretty similar personalities, plus we enjoy the same music and movies! We have great talks about all sorts of stuff.
Everything is going pretty well here overall. I don't have a lot of time on the computer today, because of plans bumping up against internet time today. But it is always great to hear from you all and I love sending you mail. You're great, family.
Enjoy New York this week and Happy Birthday, Mom!
Love,
Brandon
First baptismal commitment! - Week 2
Family!
Okay, so here goes the marathon typing.. phew.. K ready!
First off, something cool; I got my first baptismal commitment the other day! His name is M, and his date is for Aug 27. We are very excited here that we have someone on track for baptism. And I was the one to extend the commitment in Russian, so I get to count it as my own. Yay! We have another investigator, J, who speaks pretty good English and he is ALMOST there on the baptism. He has taken all the discussions and believes it's all true, he just feels that "It's not quite time yet". Don't know why, but hopefully that time is soon.
The best way I can describe the Russian language right now is.. slippery. It's like my Russian retention is about a shot glass and they just pour water into it from the hose. I get the gist of what's being said usually. But sometimes I just get a massive headache from trying to think too much in Russian. Just last night we were at an FHE kind of thing with the Branch President, some members and Igor (our investigator). We talked about blessings that come from this gospel. I understood most of it, but then at the end Igor asked us a completely off-topic question and everyone started going off random tangents that I couldn't follow. All that I caught about the question was the words for "candy" and "communist". Needless to say, I was very confused. At the end of the lesson, the Branch President's wife came up to me and said "Всё будет.. okay" Basically meaning, everything's going to be okay. I guess I looked as hopelessly lost as I felt. Awesome.
There is a lot going on here. I understand what people mean when they say that every day of their mission was an adventure. It's all so different, even compared to the previous days. We don't do a whole lot of tracting here, though we do more than many missionaries. We're in a city center and we can only proselyte in so many different areas. Mostly we do calls to people who we already have contact numbers. That works pretty good, surprisingly. I wouldn't think that I would be too keen on setting up an appointment with random men on the phone, but I guess the Spirit can work across telephone lines too.
Also, Lugansk is apparently a big center for education. There are a lot of people here that are from other countries, here for medical school. Most of them are Africans. Africans are so nice! And it's always a plus that they speak English. At first it surprises them that men in white shirts are speaking English to them, and then they're usually pretty receptive to the message. It's pretty cool.
We have one guy who is from Nigeria. He speaks great Russian and English, as well as Arabic and any other language he may know. He is very intelligent, and can talk about nearly everything. Sadly, he's not too open to the message and mostly wants to discuss problems with the Bible (he's Muslim) and why it can't possibly be translated totally correctly. He's an awesome guy, though.
Almost everyone here speaks a little bit of English.. but usually it's about as much as people in America speak Spanish. People will use basic words with me like "okay" and "where do you live?" and then they'll look all pleased with themselves, but not understand my response. It leads to some interesting logos around the city. Like one in particular: There's this really popular teen shirt that just says "Say Me Yes". It makes no sense, unless you realize that it was translated directly from Russian. They mostly just think that English looks pretty cool.
A lot of people want to talk to us since we speak good English. We actually had someone call us the other day to ask if we still have an English club. That was discontinued a few months ago, but it might be reintroduced because of all the excitement it generates from people.
Since it's a branch here and not a stake, the missionaries are involved in pretty much everything church related. That's weird to me, since back home we hardly ever see the missionaries doing anything. They were always eating with members and contacting people. But here, we are in charge of Family night, as well as Sports night and any other youth function. It's pretty cool. It's a big deal for these people to have good missionaries around.
So, school is starting soon, right? That's cool! I don't remember if it's already started or not, but I'm excited for you guys. Is Bailey excited for Skyview? She should be. Also, she starts seminary this year, right? That's so awesome! My missionary advice: take the Scripture Mastery seriously. It has helped me so much to have memorized a bunch of scriptures. It helps me to know what to say in response to questions, and it also helps me understand the verses in Russian faster since I know the meaning. Not to say that I still can quote verbatim each of the verses. But they are all familiar, which is awesome. Also, I would suggest reading the chapter that the Scripture Masteries come from to better understand the context. Anyways, that's my obligatory missionary advice. Take it or leave it.
Oh, and how is Taylor doing in the MTC? He's got an experience ahead of him. Hehe.
So I'm doing well. Still adjusting, but I will be doing that my entire mission. I love you all! I love seeing what you've been up to, thanks for the pictures. And I bet Aubrey was amazing as a bird girl. She looked very convincing in the pictures! And Joseph.. I love that kid. Just tell him that.
Anyways, til next week!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Okay, so here goes the marathon typing.. phew.. K ready!
First off, something cool; I got my first baptismal commitment the other day! His name is M, and his date is for Aug 27. We are very excited here that we have someone on track for baptism. And I was the one to extend the commitment in Russian, so I get to count it as my own. Yay! We have another investigator, J, who speaks pretty good English and he is ALMOST there on the baptism. He has taken all the discussions and believes it's all true, he just feels that "It's not quite time yet". Don't know why, but hopefully that time is soon.
The best way I can describe the Russian language right now is.. slippery. It's like my Russian retention is about a shot glass and they just pour water into it from the hose. I get the gist of what's being said usually. But sometimes I just get a massive headache from trying to think too much in Russian. Just last night we were at an FHE kind of thing with the Branch President, some members and Igor (our investigator). We talked about blessings that come from this gospel. I understood most of it, but then at the end Igor asked us a completely off-topic question and everyone started going off random tangents that I couldn't follow. All that I caught about the question was the words for "candy" and "communist". Needless to say, I was very confused. At the end of the lesson, the Branch President's wife came up to me and said "Всё будет.. okay" Basically meaning, everything's going to be okay. I guess I looked as hopelessly lost as I felt. Awesome.
There is a lot going on here. I understand what people mean when they say that every day of their mission was an adventure. It's all so different, even compared to the previous days. We don't do a whole lot of tracting here, though we do more than many missionaries. We're in a city center and we can only proselyte in so many different areas. Mostly we do calls to people who we already have contact numbers. That works pretty good, surprisingly. I wouldn't think that I would be too keen on setting up an appointment with random men on the phone, but I guess the Spirit can work across telephone lines too.
Also, Lugansk is apparently a big center for education. There are a lot of people here that are from other countries, here for medical school. Most of them are Africans. Africans are so nice! And it's always a plus that they speak English. At first it surprises them that men in white shirts are speaking English to them, and then they're usually pretty receptive to the message. It's pretty cool.
We have one guy who is from Nigeria. He speaks great Russian and English, as well as Arabic and any other language he may know. He is very intelligent, and can talk about nearly everything. Sadly, he's not too open to the message and mostly wants to discuss problems with the Bible (he's Muslim) and why it can't possibly be translated totally correctly. He's an awesome guy, though.
Almost everyone here speaks a little bit of English.. but usually it's about as much as people in America speak Spanish. People will use basic words with me like "okay" and "where do you live?" and then they'll look all pleased with themselves, but not understand my response. It leads to some interesting logos around the city. Like one in particular: There's this really popular teen shirt that just says "Say Me Yes". It makes no sense, unless you realize that it was translated directly from Russian. They mostly just think that English looks pretty cool.
A lot of people want to talk to us since we speak good English. We actually had someone call us the other day to ask if we still have an English club. That was discontinued a few months ago, but it might be reintroduced because of all the excitement it generates from people.
Since it's a branch here and not a stake, the missionaries are involved in pretty much everything church related. That's weird to me, since back home we hardly ever see the missionaries doing anything. They were always eating with members and contacting people. But here, we are in charge of Family night, as well as Sports night and any other youth function. It's pretty cool. It's a big deal for these people to have good missionaries around.
So, school is starting soon, right? That's cool! I don't remember if it's already started or not, but I'm excited for you guys. Is Bailey excited for Skyview? She should be. Also, she starts seminary this year, right? That's so awesome! My missionary advice: take the Scripture Mastery seriously. It has helped me so much to have memorized a bunch of scriptures. It helps me to know what to say in response to questions, and it also helps me understand the verses in Russian faster since I know the meaning. Not to say that I still can quote verbatim each of the verses. But they are all familiar, which is awesome. Also, I would suggest reading the chapter that the Scripture Masteries come from to better understand the context. Anyways, that's my obligatory missionary advice. Take it or leave it.
Oh, and how is Taylor doing in the MTC? He's got an experience ahead of him. Hehe.
So I'm doing well. Still adjusting, but I will be doing that my entire mission. I love you all! I love seeing what you've been up to, thanks for the pictures. And I bet Aubrey was amazing as a bird girl. She looked very convincing in the pictures! And Joseph.. I love that kid. Just tell him that.
Anyways, til next week!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
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