"Getting ready to ship us out. Whee!" - Last week in the MTC

Hey, family!

This is my last email I'll be sending from the MTC.  I am so excited to get out in the field!  Here's my travel plans:

Check out of the MTC at 5 AM on August 2
Fly out of SLC at 8:31 AM; Arrive in New York, JFK Airport at 3:14 PM
Leave JFK at 5:40 PM; Land in Vienna, Austria on Aug 3 at 8:25 AM
Leave Vienna at 10:20 AM; Land in Donest'k at 1:50 PM

I'm flying Delta for the first flight and Austrian Air for the last two flights.  I am allowed 2 checked bags, 1 carry-on bag limited to 17 lbs, and 1 small personal item.  I'm working on packing today.  I am pretty sure that most of my stuff will fit, but I will definitely be sending home a package of some things I don't need.  I am going to include in that a bunch of pictures of the MTC experience (since I haven't been able to send anything home yet).  Oh and out of curiosity, do you want me to ship home the extra towel that I brought?  It's no big deal either way, but I definitely could leave it here.

Everyone is so excited to leave, it's awesome!  Some are more freaked out than others, but that's mostly a healthy freak out.  I know that we're all going to have a big slap in the face one way or another in adjusting to, not only in-field mission schedule, but also a new country and culture.  I'm more excited than worried, though.  In a way, I'm kind of excited for that struggle.  It'll let me know that I'm actually out here doing something meaningful.

We had a really good devotional yesterday (last Tuesday devotional!!) about the importance of the Spirit and how the mission is a refiner's fire.  He pointed out that the two-fold purpose of our mission is to 1- Invite others to come to Christ, and 2- Sanctify ourselves.  Sanctification is the process that leads to repentance, which is a turning one's life towards Christ.  He included lots of analogies about how the Lord puts us into a furnace of afflictions in order to shape us into worthy sons and daughters of God, but it doesn't work if we try to hide ourselves from the affliction.  Sometimes we try to hold back that little piece of us, thinking "it's just part of who I am".  But God knows best who we are and who we should be.  The best piece of advice of the night was to ask God every day for insight into who you really are.  I thought it was a really good talk.

I've made some really good, deep friendships here.  I have definitely grown close to these guys in the district.  We've had awesome conversations on everything from deeply spiritual to life plans.  A few of the guys I am definitely going to look up after the mission.  Like Elder Zach Brasier.  He has come to be one of my best friends.  He goes to BYU-I, and he's from Las Vegas.  He's a goofball at times, but always has his head on straight when it comes to serious matters.  We have a similar sense of humor, which is hard to find sometimes.  You said in a previous letter that I had mentioned him, but never told you anything about him.  So there you go; Brasier in a nutshell!

Thank you so much for the package!  I loved the pictures you sent.  It looks like you've been having a pretty full summer!  The recipe book is perfect as well, thank you Mom!  Much more intensely helpful and organized than I would have ever made it myself.  Also, thank you so much for the CDs!  I love them. 

Dad mentioned wanting to be able to read some Russian words.  The first step there would be to learn the Cyrillic alphabet.  There are good lessons and examples in those books that I left behind, as well as good lessons online when you type in something like "learn russian beginner".  Here's an example:

Семьи могут быть вместе навеки
(syem-EE mah-GOOT bweet FMYES-tye na-VYE-kee)

That's the best transliteration I can come up with.  the biggest things to remember there are that "ь" doesn't make a sound (it's a soft sign; it helps you speak the word correctly), and the Russian letter "е" isn't an "ee" sound, but a "yeh" sound, like in the word "yes".  Russian really doesn't translate well into English.  You have to hear it spoken before you really understand the structure of Russian and how it sounds.  Oh and FYI, if you send me anything in Russian from Google Translate, I'm going just going to sit and scratch my head at it, because Google doesn't know how to formulate Russian sentances out of English ones.  It tries to translate directly, word for word- which doesn't work.  Fair warning.  But, yeah, you should definitely learn a little Russian!  That'd be awesome!   If you remind me, I can include a small 'reading Russian' lesson in each of my letters.

Is Taylor getting pretty excited to head out?  I'm plenty excited for him!  My advice to him, if he's still trying to prepare for the mission and life isn't too crazy right now, is to not focus on the language too much.  Focus instead on learning a bit about the culture, and start thinking about those people in your personal scripture study.  I felt pretty well prepared on the scripture knowledge as I came in, but I'm constantly reading them with new eyes, thinking about how I could convey some eternal truth to the people of Ukraine using that passage.  It really helps focus your study.  Also, Taylor is probably going to want to play plenty of piano here, so I'd suggest bringing some sheet music.  Just saying.

Dad, thanks for telling me a bit about your mission!  I'd still like to hear more, but what you've said about your MTC experience was pretty cool.  How was your first transfer in the field?

Hmm.. Things are going pretty good here.  A week from today I'll be landing in Ukraine, which is such an awesome thought!  Everything here is just wrapping up, getting ready to ship us out.  Whee!

I love you all and I hope that my missionary service is blessing your lives.  I know it's blessing mine.  I'll keep you in my prayers if you keep me in yours!  Well, I'll pray for you anyways, but still.  Love y'all!

Love,

Старейшина Брандон Портэр

or just,

Brandon