That's the beauty of the Gospel. It'll go forth boldly, nobly, and independent.

Elder Porter's letter - 2/20/12

Family!

So, as you already know, half of this week I was in Armenia.  That was an amazing experience for me.  I already told you about the first day with that lesson with T.  That was probably the highlight of the trip, missionary-wise.  I loved how I could come, knowing Russian, and just converse with practically anyone I wanted in Russian.  The missionaries I was with, Elders Fry and Watterson, thought I was pretty cool for being able to hold complete conversations with all these people and seem completely at ease.  And they were way cool too, we became pretty tight friends in those three days.  But yeah, walking around, if we stopped and talked to anyone, I would just jump in in Russian and see where it could take us.  Many of them were just thrilled to be able to converse in Russian, since many of them were raised speaking mostly Russian (they, too, were under the Soviet Union).  I also got to go ice skating...in Armenia!  How many people can say that?  In a suit, no less!  Speaking Russian!  Yeah, so the trip really boosted my confidence in my language abilities, actually.  Seeing as I could converse with the people and not even take a thought as to what words I should use, I'd say that was pretty good.  Great refresher before getting back to the grind.

I was very surprised to get back to my mission and see the reaction of other missionaries to my stories about Armenia.  Most seemed to pity me in some weird way or be like, "Man, I really hope that I don't get sent there on MY visa trip!"  Apparently Bulgaria (the place they usually send missionaries to renew their Visas) turns into a party for many elders, since it is a very European city and all. They get there and just get cut loose and told to go have fun, telling them just to be sure to be on the plane home to Donetsk.  And it doesn't help that that mission is one of the most lax in all of Eastern Europe.  So many missionaries use that as a time to just party like crazy since they're "not missionaries" while they're there.  But they always get back super depressed that the trip is over. I don't know, I don't want to rag on their fun time, but I felt like I had the best of both worlds.  I got to help out in the work in another country, make new friends, eat new food, and just have fun with other missionaries in a totally appropriate way. I absolutely loved the experience, I don't care what others think about it.  

Since I've gotten back not a whole lot has happened.  We had some amazing lessons with people.  We set up a lesson with a Nigerian named L, and the lesson turned into a little party with a bunch of black guys in the hostel (i.e. a crappy dorm) where we discussed our religion freely with all of them.  I love Nigerians.  

Oh, we had one really interesting lesson.  With another black man, of course.  This guy, Q, was on our past teaching records, so we called and got an appointment to meet this week.  We got there and found out that he was with his girlfriend, who was very white (not to be racist; it's part of the point I'm making).  She spoke absolutely no English.  He spoke a good amount of Russian.  So our lesson was in Russian. But the weird thing was that the girl said that she was from Donetsk all her life.. but she spoke Russian with such a weird accent and made all sorts of mistakes.  We actually are pretty sure that she was German or something.  So there's three of us, all speaking our second language with each other, each pretending like we are totally confident in what we are saying.  I don't know about you, but I thought that was a huge ironic moment.  Speaking of Russian, I thought you'd like to know that I still get mistaken for a Russian/Ukrainian a lot.  When I focus hard, I can be pretty convincing with my speech.  It's a fun way to break the ice a bit.

Well, what else has happened..  I don't know, lots of office stuff.  I'll think more about what to include next week.  

I love y'all!  Talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Brandon Porter

Here's a few thoughts Brandon shared with Dan in a separate letter:

Oh, yes.  Helping people on to the right path is our job... but most people are very resentful of it.  Really the best thing that we can do is to love everyone around us unconditionally, even those guys that cuss you out or don't give you the time of day.  It's really hard always, but being kind to someone else is the best way to soften their heart towards you.  And I'm pretty sure that that principle applies to more than just Ukrainians.

Thank you for your advice and encouragement.  Sometimes I don't feel like I could ever possibly do enough.. which is true.  But that's the beauty of the Gospel.  It'll go forth boldly, nobly, and independent.  I don't have to move it on my own, nor does anyone else.  I just have the opportunity to be a part of this Ukrainian mission part of it right now.  Thank you for your thoughts!