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
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