Family,
You will never guess where I was just assigned to. Go ahead, guess ... Nope! I'm assigned to the Mission Office. Did you know that was even possible as a missionary? I sure didn't. Weird. It means that I now have a desk and am in charge of a bunch of random odds and ends in the Office so that President doesn't go insane and so that Salt Lake doesn't tear my head off for filing bad records or whatever. I never ever expected that I'd be sent here. So weird!
But, that being said, it's already shaping up to be a great transfer. We only have to be in the office for three days in the week, T-Th, and beyond that we are in charge of a small area concentrated right in the center of Donetsk. It's great! We already have a few progressing investigators, which is hard to keep up as an office Elder, but we have it! Elder Smith says that it's a two front battle, being assigned to the Office and an area. Because President wants us to do good missionary work in our area. . . but he also wants to throw random projects at us that eat into our time. We call this his "Tetris mode". It's where he throws half baked, oddly shaped projects out and expects them to be done, and we are left to do the impossible. I am so up for this! It's already pretty fun.
My companion is amazing. Elder J. Smith and I hit it off right away. We have similar attitudes, as well as taste in movies (which is very important when you're street contacting in cold weather and no one is around. Gives us something to talk about and keeps us sane.) So that's going great. Not to mention that my new district includes some of my best friends in the mission already- Antamanov (my trainer) and Arrington! It's nice to come and already know some people.
The branch is great. They actually have a building!! I was blown away by that. Which made me realize that I will probably go into cardiac arrest when I get home and things are so.... not Ukrainian. That'll be so weird. Like having showers that you don't hold up and things like that. The little things are amazing. But I love it here, so it's all good.
Exciting news here in the mission! A new translation has been made for the Book of Mormon in Russian! The old one that we've been handing out is fantastic and still the word of God, but there are words and phrases that are slightly less understandable to Russian speakers. But it's finally out, and missionaries are going to be issued triple combinations this month! Woot!
By the way, so I hadn't been using the Yak Trax things all winter (attachment for shoes which help you walk on the ice without falling). I don't fall easily and I have a good sense of balance. Elder Groothuysen in Lugansk falls a lot, so I gave them to him. The day after I handed those off was the iciest (is that how you spell it?) I've ever seen in my life. Everything looked like a sea of glass. And reading Revelations, I got really scared for a bit as to whether the Celestial Kingdom will be like that. Come to really think of it, a sea of glass doesn't sound all that fun. I sure hope God has a different idea for that than I do.
Anyways, I will now be in the office for at least 3 months. That's the long and short of it. I'm excited for a change in pace! It'll be great. I get to work really closely with President Campero and the APs, so that's cool. Til next week, you know where I am!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Moving on!
Family!
So, what's up? Everything going well? That's good. Well, this week suddenly it got WAY cold, way fast! For most of the Winter it's been hovering right around freezing, but this last week it shot down to -13 degrees all of a sudden! I stopped looking at the thermometers after that, for fear that it would get lower. It's pretty hard to get out the door, motivation-wise, when you lose feeling in your face and knuckles after a few minutes outdoors! But those gloves you sent me have been wonderful, so I've been pretty good there. And the coat I have keeps heat so well that I'm actually able to walk around in just a short sleeve white shirt and that coat! I could be naked under that coat, if that didn't violate certain modesty codes. Anyways, the point is that it's the rest of my body that freezes, not what falls under the coat. Fun fun!
Funny moment this week. I walked into the Branch President's office for a meeting, and he had a new board hanging on the wall, listing all the youth quorums/groups. I stared at one called "Lavr" for a while, and then felt kind of stupid realizing that it was just "Laurels". Immediately after this revelation, the first councellor walks in, looks at the board and says "What the heck is a Lavr??". Even after explaining to him that it was YW from 16 to 18, he kept making fun of the word for a bit. Laaaaavrrrr. It's good to know that people are the same no matter where you go.
So, transfers are this Thursday. We found out that both Elder Solin and I are moving out. That's called whitewashing - when both members of the companionship move out. It was way unexpected, especially since Solin is native and has been able to fill in as branch secretary much better than any other non-native missionary ever could. Plus, it's just weird to have both leaving, since that means that the next companionship will have absolutely no idea what to do and where to go. So this has added a billion times more work for us this week, since we have to prepare everything so that the new companionship can smoothly transition into Lugansk life. It's a good thing I'm so good at writing up every little detail of what they need to know living here, seeing as I've been here for six months. No, see, that's a lie. I'm not very good at that. I'd rather tell them in person, but that's impossible. Anyways - Work!
Because we're whitewashing, we've set up a billion lessons with members and investigators before we head out. I discovered that it's actually really hard to say goodbye to these people. I've come to know some of them really well, and others I just plain love from serving them. That's not fair. Especially not fair since most of them won't really remember me after a few weeks. Oh, well. Life moves on.
Back to the whole cold thing, today we had the first real snowfall of the season. I mean, REAL snowfall, none of that little dusting of an inch or so. We have probably five inches and counting right now, and it doesn't look like the clouds are going to let up any time soon. But who knows. And when it's really cold, I found out that snow turns into something more like sand that snakes around in the wind along the streets. It looks so creepy! I decided that it's the dead souls of Ukraine wandering the streets. They probably couldn't sleep. It's so COLD.
At the same time, I'm very grateful that I'm not in the coldest areas of Eastern Europe. It gets way colder for way longer in other places. Like St. Petersburg. My companion won't let me forget that. Every time I say it's cold he gives me a big "Psh!" and tells me how this is Summer for him or something like that. Yet Antamanov, the Siberian, was always the first to complain about how cold it was getting. I've decided that it doesn't actually matter where you're from in things like getting adjusted to the weather. It's all about your perspective and your attitude. Anyways. Little thought there.
Well, it's Ukraine. It's January. Transfers are in three days. Excitement. But more importantly, it's Dad's birthday on Saturday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! Or as they say it here, С Днём Рождения!! Have a good one.
Anyways, I have to go. Love you all, and I'll talk to you next week after I've settled into my new area! Til then!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
So, what's up? Everything going well? That's good. Well, this week suddenly it got WAY cold, way fast! For most of the Winter it's been hovering right around freezing, but this last week it shot down to -13 degrees all of a sudden! I stopped looking at the thermometers after that, for fear that it would get lower. It's pretty hard to get out the door, motivation-wise, when you lose feeling in your face and knuckles after a few minutes outdoors! But those gloves you sent me have been wonderful, so I've been pretty good there. And the coat I have keeps heat so well that I'm actually able to walk around in just a short sleeve white shirt and that coat! I could be naked under that coat, if that didn't violate certain modesty codes. Anyways, the point is that it's the rest of my body that freezes, not what falls under the coat. Fun fun!
Funny moment this week. I walked into the Branch President's office for a meeting, and he had a new board hanging on the wall, listing all the youth quorums/groups. I stared at one called "Lavr" for a while, and then felt kind of stupid realizing that it was just "Laurels". Immediately after this revelation, the first councellor walks in, looks at the board and says "What the heck is a Lavr??". Even after explaining to him that it was YW from 16 to 18, he kept making fun of the word for a bit. Laaaaavrrrr. It's good to know that people are the same no matter where you go.
So, transfers are this Thursday. We found out that both Elder Solin and I are moving out. That's called whitewashing - when both members of the companionship move out. It was way unexpected, especially since Solin is native and has been able to fill in as branch secretary much better than any other non-native missionary ever could. Plus, it's just weird to have both leaving, since that means that the next companionship will have absolutely no idea what to do and where to go. So this has added a billion times more work for us this week, since we have to prepare everything so that the new companionship can smoothly transition into Lugansk life. It's a good thing I'm so good at writing up every little detail of what they need to know living here, seeing as I've been here for six months. No, see, that's a lie. I'm not very good at that. I'd rather tell them in person, but that's impossible. Anyways - Work!
Because we're whitewashing, we've set up a billion lessons with members and investigators before we head out. I discovered that it's actually really hard to say goodbye to these people. I've come to know some of them really well, and others I just plain love from serving them. That's not fair. Especially not fair since most of them won't really remember me after a few weeks. Oh, well. Life moves on.
Back to the whole cold thing, today we had the first real snowfall of the season. I mean, REAL snowfall, none of that little dusting of an inch or so. We have probably five inches and counting right now, and it doesn't look like the clouds are going to let up any time soon. But who knows. And when it's really cold, I found out that snow turns into something more like sand that snakes around in the wind along the streets. It looks so creepy! I decided that it's the dead souls of Ukraine wandering the streets. They probably couldn't sleep. It's so COLD.
At the same time, I'm very grateful that I'm not in the coldest areas of Eastern Europe. It gets way colder for way longer in other places. Like St. Petersburg. My companion won't let me forget that. Every time I say it's cold he gives me a big "Psh!" and tells me how this is Summer for him or something like that. Yet Antamanov, the Siberian, was always the first to complain about how cold it was getting. I've decided that it doesn't actually matter where you're from in things like getting adjusted to the weather. It's all about your perspective and your attitude. Anyways. Little thought there.
Well, it's Ukraine. It's January. Transfers are in three days. Excitement. But more importantly, it's Dad's birthday on Saturday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! Or as they say it here, С Днём Рождения!! Have a good one.
Anyways, I have to go. Love you all, and I'll talk to you next week after I've settled into my new area! Til then!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Monday, January 16, 2012
Reactivating someone as well as uniting families!
Hey,
So, I'm in Ukraine. I woke up and thought that was kind of weird today. I don't know why, since I've now been here for 6 straight months. But today it was weird. I just thought I would share that with you.
So let's see. My week. . . What happened this week? It's a bit of the blur at the moment. Oh! It's coming back to me, good! This week, for the first time in months, we were able to meet with some new investigators (that's people that are willing to meet multiple times, not just once). That's exciting! We've got a family where the parents are investigating and the son is a less active member. That's like a gold mine of missionary work right there! Reactivating someone (a male priesthood holder, at that) as well as uniting families! I'm excited for them.
We also met with a guy named N.. I'm not sure if we're going to meet with him ever again, though. He was way nice and even gave us apples and stuff as a gift. But he has some strange religious views that he refuses to give up. Like the fact that he asks God what to do in literally every situation and says that he hears voices telling him what to do (i.e. "Should I have toast or waffles today?" "Thou shalt have toast, Nikolai") God doesn't want to direct every decision we make, and I'm not convinced that his voices come from a good place. He also prays in tongues. This was my first experience with someone praying in tongues. I think everyone should see it sometime in their life. It's ridiculous. Elder Solin said that he would say the opening prayer and Nikolai said "Okay. You pray your way and I'll pray mine". Solin started praying, and we heard strange moaning and other unpleasant sounds coming from that man. I had to try really hard not to laugh.
The thing about his ideas is that I can point out the scriptures that he is reading that justifies these things. Stuff about how God hears the groans of our hearts, and there's one (in one of the Peters somewhere?) where one verse says that when a man prays in tongues, he is not speaking to man but speaking to God. But he's not reading the rest of the chapter. The rest of the chapter explains that, while it's true that God understands what you're saying no matter what, it's just stupid to pray in a tongue that no one around you understands. When praying in a group, it is suggested that you pray so that at least one other can understand. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that Peter (or maybe Paul) was very clear in that chapter. That, among other weird things, led us to believe that he is not totally right in the head. Still a good guy, though.
By the way, thank you for the peanut butter, again! I've been having peanut butter on bananas most mornings for breakfast. Reminds me of home. Love you!
My testimony of the fact that God "gives you in that very moment what to say" grew yesterday. I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting. I knew the story that I wanted to share (Nephi and Lehi's experience in the prison; Helaman 5), but I was a little worried about how to convey the message. Honestly, I know that my Russian needs plenty of improvement, and I struggle for some obscure vocab. I went up with an outline of what I was going to say and some key words. But once I opened my mouth and started speaking, everything just flowed. Maybe there was a few slips on my part (for some reason I have a hard time with the word for "darkness" and "prison") but it went well. Afterwards a bunch of members came up to me and told me that they felt the Spirit very strongly. That's all that matters anyways, right?
Also, the Hatches (senior couple) let us use their computer last P-Day to try out some familysearch exploration. It was pretty cool! I think I was shown before what my genealogy looks like, but I didn't know how extensive the work already done was. Porters already trace back all the way to the year 1000 AD?! And they're from Normandy way back there, called de Porte.. Oh, and on Mom's side, I didn't realize how close our bloodline was to Switzerland. Very cool stuff.
Well, that's about it for this week. Transfer calls are this weekend and transfers will be the following week. I'll let you know what happens there. It's a pretty sure thing that I'm leaving, since I've already been here for 6 months, which is unusual as it is. I love Lugansk, but I'm way excited to get to a new area!
Love you all! Talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
So, I'm in Ukraine. I woke up and thought that was kind of weird today. I don't know why, since I've now been here for 6 straight months. But today it was weird. I just thought I would share that with you.
So let's see. My week. . . What happened this week? It's a bit of the blur at the moment. Oh! It's coming back to me, good! This week, for the first time in months, we were able to meet with some new investigators (that's people that are willing to meet multiple times, not just once). That's exciting! We've got a family where the parents are investigating and the son is a less active member. That's like a gold mine of missionary work right there! Reactivating someone (a male priesthood holder, at that) as well as uniting families! I'm excited for them.
We also met with a guy named N.. I'm not sure if we're going to meet with him ever again, though. He was way nice and even gave us apples and stuff as a gift. But he has some strange religious views that he refuses to give up. Like the fact that he asks God what to do in literally every situation and says that he hears voices telling him what to do (i.e. "Should I have toast or waffles today?" "Thou shalt have toast, Nikolai") God doesn't want to direct every decision we make, and I'm not convinced that his voices come from a good place. He also prays in tongues. This was my first experience with someone praying in tongues. I think everyone should see it sometime in their life. It's ridiculous. Elder Solin said that he would say the opening prayer and Nikolai said "Okay. You pray your way and I'll pray mine". Solin started praying, and we heard strange moaning and other unpleasant sounds coming from that man. I had to try really hard not to laugh.
The thing about his ideas is that I can point out the scriptures that he is reading that justifies these things. Stuff about how God hears the groans of our hearts, and there's one (in one of the Peters somewhere?) where one verse says that when a man prays in tongues, he is not speaking to man but speaking to God. But he's not reading the rest of the chapter. The rest of the chapter explains that, while it's true that God understands what you're saying no matter what, it's just stupid to pray in a tongue that no one around you understands. When praying in a group, it is suggested that you pray so that at least one other can understand. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that Peter (or maybe Paul) was very clear in that chapter. That, among other weird things, led us to believe that he is not totally right in the head. Still a good guy, though.
By the way, thank you for the peanut butter, again! I've been having peanut butter on bananas most mornings for breakfast. Reminds me of home. Love you!
My testimony of the fact that God "gives you in that very moment what to say" grew yesterday. I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting. I knew the story that I wanted to share (Nephi and Lehi's experience in the prison; Helaman 5), but I was a little worried about how to convey the message. Honestly, I know that my Russian needs plenty of improvement, and I struggle for some obscure vocab. I went up with an outline of what I was going to say and some key words. But once I opened my mouth and started speaking, everything just flowed. Maybe there was a few slips on my part (for some reason I have a hard time with the word for "darkness" and "prison") but it went well. Afterwards a bunch of members came up to me and told me that they felt the Spirit very strongly. That's all that matters anyways, right?
Also, the Hatches (senior couple) let us use their computer last P-Day to try out some familysearch exploration. It was pretty cool! I think I was shown before what my genealogy looks like, but I didn't know how extensive the work already done was. Porters already trace back all the way to the year 1000 AD?! And they're from Normandy way back there, called de Porte.. Oh, and on Mom's side, I didn't realize how close our bloodline was to Switzerland. Very cool stuff.
Well, that's about it for this week. Transfer calls are this weekend and transfers will be the following week. I'll let you know what happens there. It's a pretty sure thing that I'm leaving, since I've already been here for 6 months, which is unusual as it is. I love Lugansk, but I'm way excited to get to a new area!
Love you all! Talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Monday, January 9, 2012
"I'm offering her increased knowledge of her Savior and His plan of happiness and exaltation for her... and she gives me a stuffed mouse. Am I the only one that thinks that's weird?"
Dear Family,
Happy New Year! Or Christmas.. Or whatever holiday it is now. Ukrainians have it all messed up. They celebrate New Years on Jan 1, Christmas on Jan 7 and then OLD New Years on Jan 13th. It's really interesting that the Communist regime would think it important to change even that. Weird.
So, because of all this, this week has also been a party week for the Ukrainians. Lots of strange schedules of investigators and lots of drunkards everywhere. They're funny. But funny at a distance. I'm getting pretty good at telling who's sober from a good distance away, so that I don't have those little encounters with those who are not in their right frame of mind. But it's all good and fun, being missionary-y out here and all. Good stuff.
By the way, you asked me to tell you what I use my Christmas money for. I have bought myself one little gift so far- Settlers of Catan. It's actually all in Russian and has a space theme, but it's still the same game. It's an awesome P-Day activity! So there you go. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
I still quote things all the time out here. Songs, movies, books (like above), whatever. The problem with that is that I've had only Russian companions. They never really know what I'm referencing. Oh, well. I can enjoy the references all on my own.
Oh, funny story- so, I was tracting a building the other day. Usually people are pretty mean at the door. In my experience. We take turns as a companionship in leading the conversation at the door. So it was my turn at one door, and this middle aged woman answers the door. I give her my little schpiel about how the Gospel can only bless her and her family and how we want to help her strengthen her faith. She's just smiling all the way through (I only talked for about 15 seconds, btw). Then she tells me something along the lines of "Oh, you're from America? Your face is so clean!" And some other things that essentially told me that I was cute in some Russian way. She was not the least bit interested in my message and refused to take any flyers or anything, but she wouldn't let me leave until she had given ME a gift! She ran and got me a little stuffed toy mouse to put on the refrigerator. I thought that that was a really strange exchange. I'm offering her increased knowledge of her Savior and His plan of happiness and exaltation for her... and she gives me a stuffed mouse. Am I the only one that thinks that's weird?
There hasn't been a whole lot of exciting stuff this week. Not a whole lot of people could meet. But President Campero announced to us this week that we are now required to get up and out the door by 7 AM in order to talk to people on the street. It's a pretty big change in our schedule. It's good, though. We've met some great working men that we wouldn't otherwise have met through this early morning finding time. And hopefully I can make this into a lifelong habit to be up and out the door for a walk or whatever by 7. I'm not holding my breath on it, but hope springs eternal!
Well, that's all for today. I love you all! Thank you for your letters, prayers and support. You're awesome. Til next week!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
Happy New Year! Or Christmas.. Or whatever holiday it is now. Ukrainians have it all messed up. They celebrate New Years on Jan 1, Christmas on Jan 7 and then OLD New Years on Jan 13th. It's really interesting that the Communist regime would think it important to change even that. Weird.
So, because of all this, this week has also been a party week for the Ukrainians. Lots of strange schedules of investigators and lots of drunkards everywhere. They're funny. But funny at a distance. I'm getting pretty good at telling who's sober from a good distance away, so that I don't have those little encounters with those who are not in their right frame of mind. But it's all good and fun, being missionary-y out here and all. Good stuff.
By the way, you asked me to tell you what I use my Christmas money for. I have bought myself one little gift so far- Settlers of Catan. It's actually all in Russian and has a space theme, but it's still the same game. It's an awesome P-Day activity! So there you go. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
I still quote things all the time out here. Songs, movies, books (like above), whatever. The problem with that is that I've had only Russian companions. They never really know what I'm referencing. Oh, well. I can enjoy the references all on my own.
Oh, funny story- so, I was tracting a building the other day. Usually people are pretty mean at the door. In my experience. We take turns as a companionship in leading the conversation at the door. So it was my turn at one door, and this middle aged woman answers the door. I give her my little schpiel about how the Gospel can only bless her and her family and how we want to help her strengthen her faith. She's just smiling all the way through (I only talked for about 15 seconds, btw). Then she tells me something along the lines of "Oh, you're from America? Your face is so clean!" And some other things that essentially told me that I was cute in some Russian way. She was not the least bit interested in my message and refused to take any flyers or anything, but she wouldn't let me leave until she had given ME a gift! She ran and got me a little stuffed toy mouse to put on the refrigerator. I thought that that was a really strange exchange. I'm offering her increased knowledge of her Savior and His plan of happiness and exaltation for her... and she gives me a stuffed mouse. Am I the only one that thinks that's weird?
There hasn't been a whole lot of exciting stuff this week. Not a whole lot of people could meet. But President Campero announced to us this week that we are now required to get up and out the door by 7 AM in order to talk to people on the street. It's a pretty big change in our schedule. It's good, though. We've met some great working men that we wouldn't otherwise have met through this early morning finding time. And hopefully I can make this into a lifelong habit to be up and out the door for a walk or whatever by 7. I'm not holding my breath on it, but hope springs eternal!
Well, that's all for today. I love you all! Thank you for your letters, prayers and support. You're awesome. Til next week!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
"It's good to be able to celebrate holidays with friends"
Hey!
So, this week hasn't been very productive at all missionary wise. Who knew that Ukrainians could party so hard? They really care about their New Years. And by that we mean that they mostly get really drunk and run around town. This is why the General Authorities told us missionaries that we had to be home by 4 pm on New Years Eve. So we had a sleep over with the other elders here in Lugansk and played Risk and Settlers of Catan (first time in my life!). Don't worry, it was totally sanctioned and everything. We had some fun. It's good to be able to celebrate holidays with friends.
Besides that, we haven't been able to meet with hardly anyone this week. We have G and A, mother and daughter, that are amazing! They may be on baptismal date soon; we find out on Saturday when we visit them.
Life continues as usual... or at least, how it has been for the last six months! I've almost been in Lugansk for 6 months. That's a long time in missionary years. I'm getting old! Hopefully I can leave a good impact on some people here before I head out. Not sure when that'll be, but still.
Well, we are going to go meet up with other missionaries and make cookies! I am so sorry that that cuts into your letter. I love you all! I'll eat those cookies in your honor and think about home the whole time, how about that?
Alright, love you and I'll talk to you again in one week!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
P.S. I promise that next week's letter will be longer. This one is an anomoly. Don't worry about making the letters shorter! I LOVE reading them. Just so you know.
So, this week hasn't been very productive at all missionary wise. Who knew that Ukrainians could party so hard? They really care about their New Years. And by that we mean that they mostly get really drunk and run around town. This is why the General Authorities told us missionaries that we had to be home by 4 pm on New Years Eve. So we had a sleep over with the other elders here in Lugansk and played Risk and Settlers of Catan (first time in my life!). Don't worry, it was totally sanctioned and everything. We had some fun. It's good to be able to celebrate holidays with friends.
Besides that, we haven't been able to meet with hardly anyone this week. We have G and A, mother and daughter, that are amazing! They may be on baptismal date soon; we find out on Saturday when we visit them.
Life continues as usual... or at least, how it has been for the last six months! I've almost been in Lugansk for 6 months. That's a long time in missionary years. I'm getting old! Hopefully I can leave a good impact on some people here before I head out. Not sure when that'll be, but still.
Well, we are going to go meet up with other missionaries and make cookies! I am so sorry that that cuts into your letter. I love you all! I'll eat those cookies in your honor and think about home the whole time, how about that?
Alright, love you and I'll talk to you again in one week!
Love,
Elder Brandon Porter
P.S. I promise that next week's letter will be longer. This one is an anomoly. Don't worry about making the letters shorter! I LOVE reading them. Just so you know.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
"Not a lot has happened in the last . . . hour since I talked to you."
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
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
"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
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