(Pictures of the MTC at the bottom of this letter)
Hey family! Or more accurately, Dad, Joseph and Aubrey!
a
Hey family! Or more accurately, Dad, Joseph and Aubrey!
a
First off, computers here absolutely hate me. Every week I have a different issue. I think they are bent on making me stressed no matter what.
a
a
So, I guess I should clarify, when I said that a bunch of elders left for Russian countries, I meant that the older districts left. My district is still exactly the same, but this last week there have been no older Russian elders here. Speaking of which, we have new Russian elders coming in today! They come in every 6 weeks, because that's how long it takes for Russian countries to let a wave of missionaries come in.
a
The language is coming along pretty well! I can do plenty of things, such as pray, bear testimony, talk about family, and teach most of the first 4 lessons in Preach my Gospel. We definitely have an accelerated learning curve here at the MTC. I can read the Cyrrilic alphabet really easily now, too. All of your lessons with our "progressing investigators" have been in Russian for the last few weeks. That was extremely stressful at first, but now it's going pretty good! You would be proud.
a
The language is coming along pretty well! I can do plenty of things, such as pray, bear testimony, talk about family, and teach most of the first 4 lessons in Preach my Gospel. We definitely have an accelerated learning curve here at the MTC. I can read the Cyrrilic alphabet really easily now, too. All of your lessons with our "progressing investigators" have been in Russian for the last few weeks. That was extremely stressful at first, but now it's going pretty good! You would be proud.
a
You know, there are a lot more cognates (similar words) between Russian and English than you would think! For example, all the words for the months of the year are almost exactly the same as in English. Being the language geek that I am, I have been looking over all these similarities and differences (also with Spanish and German) and it is very interesting to see how all languages weave together in some way. Yup, I'm definitely a language geek.
a
a
I guess I haven't mentioned the temple in previous letters. We've been going to the temple every Wednesday (P-Day). I've participated in it every week except for when I was really sick, and I always get something great out of the session. I sure hope that we'll be allowed to go to the Kiev temple while in Ukraine!
a
Oh! I met my new mission president this week! At least, I think it was this week. They all run together. His name is President Campero, from Bolivia (I think you knew that). He and his wife are AWESOME! FIrst thing he did when they walked in was shake our hands and hug each of us. They are so grandparent-like, I can already tell I'm going to absolutely love them. And their first language is Spanish, which is a really interesting mix. In addition to my Russian, I am brushing up a little bit on my Spanish, just so that I can communicate with them more efficiently. Sister Campero has so much faith. She speaks very little English as it is, and she is willing to go to a country in which she doesn't speak the language there either. Such cool people!
a
Oh! I met my new mission president this week! At least, I think it was this week. They all run together. His name is President Campero, from Bolivia (I think you knew that). He and his wife are AWESOME! FIrst thing he did when they walked in was shake our hands and hug each of us. They are so grandparent-like, I can already tell I'm going to absolutely love them. And their first language is Spanish, which is a really interesting mix. In addition to my Russian, I am brushing up a little bit on my Spanish, just so that I can communicate with them more efficiently. Sister Campero has so much faith. She speaks very little English as it is, and she is willing to go to a country in which she doesn't speak the language there either. Such cool people!
a
I have been loving reading the scriptures every day. Since it's been every day, I have obviously been picking up some funny scriptures in addition to the super spiritual ones. My current favorite is in Alma 1:15, which describes Nehor's death as "ignominious". Elder Brasier and I just think that's hilarious. We sit in class and every once in a while we'll look at each other and say, "Man... that was pretty ignominious". I've also been marking every time there's an emoticon in the scriptures (like that little winking face Bailey likes ;) ).
a
Oh, funny teaching moment. So we were teaching the Law of Chastity to our progressing investigator, Denise. I took the lead because I can speak the best usually. I wanted him to read Jacob 2:28 (the Lord delighteth in the chastity of women) to drive home the point of how sacred his marriage is to God. But in russian, the word for 8 and 7 are very close, so I accidentally directed him to verse 27. Read that, and just imagine the face he gave us, especially since we prefaced it by talking about how this directly applies to his life. Oh, I can't wait to be making those mistakes with REAL Russian/Ukrainian people!
Oh, funny teaching moment. So we were teaching the Law of Chastity to our progressing investigator, Denise. I took the lead because I can speak the best usually. I wanted him to read Jacob 2:28 (the Lord delighteth in the chastity of women) to drive home the point of how sacred his marriage is to God. But in russian, the word for 8 and 7 are very close, so I accidentally directed him to verse 27. Read that, and just imagine the face he gave us, especially since we prefaced it by talking about how this directly applies to his life. Oh, I can't wait to be making those mistakes with REAL Russian/Ukrainian people!
a
It's really weird seeing people around here that I knew before. All the Utahns see their friends everywhere, but I am firmly Washingtonian now and I haven't seen too many people. It's especially weird to think that Dad was here as a Spanish elder. My branch president keeps making fun of them, saying that they have the easy, wimpy language (he's such a cool guy!). Sorry Dad. Russian is just better, I guess :P
It's really weird seeing people around here that I knew before. All the Utahns see their friends everywhere, but I am firmly Washingtonian now and I haven't seen too many people. It's especially weird to think that Dad was here as a Spanish elder. My branch president keeps making fun of them, saying that they have the easy, wimpy language (he's such a cool guy!). Sorry Dad. Russian is just better, I guess :P
Well, I don't have much else to say right now. I love you all, and I'm working hard here. I love this gospel and can't wait to share it. Have fun at girl's camp, mom and bailey!
a
a
Love,
Brandon!
 |
| This picture was taken the first week at the MTC. And for some reason Brandon is pointing to the wrong location. ?? |
 |
| MTC District |
 |
| MTC District |
 |
| "Eyes closed. Thanks, Dad. I bet I'm going bald, too." |
 |
| "Our classroom at the MTC" |
 |
| "Our zone for the first transfer (6 weeks)" |
 |
| "Our first temple walk. Epic." |
 |
| "I'm so happy to be holding that flag! As are Elder Tautkus and Harris" |
 | |
| Brandon's MTC companionship of 3. He says: "This sums up our companionship." ?? |
 |
| Brandon's good friend, Zach Brasier. |
 |
| Brandon, Sister Tenney, Elder Brasier, Sister Paletta |
 |
| "Elder Bean. Ninja" |
 |
| Elder Silver, Brandon, Elder Bean, Elder Harris |
 |
 |
| Brandon, Sister Cheng, Elder Stegeby |
 |
| Brandon and Elder Stegeby (from Sweden) |
 |
| Brother Porter - MTC Teacher |
 |
| 7 week party! |
No comments:
Post a Comment