WEEK 1

Wow I can't believe it's already been a week at the MTC. I have literally so much to say that I know for sure that I'm going to miss so many things. But I will try to do my best haha. 

Okay so first of all there are some cool things you should know. I found out that Missionaries here are allowed to read emails any day of the week but you just can't reply to them until wednesday so feel free to email me about cool things that happen or whatever you want because I can read them. Also because my P-day is on wednesday If I know what time a Missionary is coming in I can just chill and wait for them to come in. So those are pretty sweet.

Basically the first week of the MTC is the worst, and the best. It's hard to really explain. They say the first few days of the MTC are like trying to drink out of a firehydrant, you get a little bit of water but it mostly just hurts your face. They weren't wrong. Literally on the first day you are so overwhelmed with so many things. It's so stressful. The teachers for language class never really speak english because they want you to pick up the language as fast as possible. And then they throw these goals at you that seem literally impossible. The worst part is that on the third day you have to talk to an investigator IN YOUR NEW LANGUAGE. Russian is so freaking hard lemme tell ya. But I'm honestly so surprised at how much I've improved. I can now pray in Russian and i memorized Moroni 10:5. Russian is also the coolest language though so even though it's so hard and stressful I'm absolutely in love with it. Our Teacher Brother Hayden is really cool and is such a good teacher. I still struggle with pronouncing it while reading but it's so much fun. Lessons are super stressful but they're getting better. Our first one was so bad we were laughing about it forever. We forgot how to say read so we just handed him this pamphlet and it was like silent for a solid minute because we had no idea what to do. 

Okay now onto the people in my district and zone. My companion is totally AN AUSSIE. His name is Elder Dumbrell and he's from Brisbane. He's a total goon and I love that guy. Everyone in our zone is obsessed with him and makes fun of him for Australian things. His slang is so funny and we say it all the time. He says "Cooked," "Filthy," "Sweet as," he says "Mate" a lot, and a bunch of other random stuff. He's so funny. Alright so my zone is also like the best zone in the MTC. Because our group was one of the first groups coming out of high school all of the older missionaries are like 20 because they all went to college first. They're so sick. Everyone in my zone loves volleyball so that's what everyone does for exercise time, it gets competitive. There's also a running joke about flirting with the sister missionaries. They compared the Russian missionaries to the Elves in Lord of the Rings because were in here for 9 weeks so we basically just watch everyone come into the MTC and "die" (leave). English missionaries are here for 3 weeks while everyone else is either 6-9. We hate the english missionaries lol. But they gave us pizza last night so I guess that was cool. Some super cool people in my zone are Elder Stott, Rolfe, Brodowski, and the two other guys in my district. Everyone in my zone is super cool but I can only write so much. Stott looks like Brian D from vghs is you know what that is lol. He's literally one of the coolest guys I've ever met. Rolfe kinda looks like Malfoy and he's super outgoing and hilarious. He's also got a little bromance for elder dumbrell so that's funny. Brodowski is this surfer guy from cali and he's so cool too. he kinda reminds me of my uncle scott. But yeah I love the people in my zone. Speaking of them, they are all GENIUSES. Okay so in my district there are four guys; me, elder dumbrell, elder paul, and elder martindale. So it turns out that Martindale is going to Romania/Moldova as well!! So it's me, Dumbrell, and Martinedale. Elder Paul is from Montana and he's going to Kazackstan. Paul got a 34 on his ACT and is planning on going to MIT, super smart guy. He picks up Russian insanely fast. Elder Martindale is from Logan, Ut and he got a 35 on his ACT and a 4.0. He was a national champion debater and he going to HARVARD. HARDVARD. yes harvard. Not only that but there's another guy in my zone who came in this last week and he went to a year at HARVARD. He plays football there and he's a massive buff D-end. Literally the elders in my group are insane. Me and Dumbrell are the only normal ones haha. Transfers for the Russians happen every three weeks so there's the people who have been here for 7 weeks, 4 weeks, and now us at 1 week. There's like 45 or something people in my zone. They also make everyone in our zone do choir and it's actually really nice and fun. We also play beach volleyball on saturdays and it's so fun.

REALLY cool story. So my Grammy has been telling me to find an Elder Menzel (this guy from Germany from their mission). And I was like sure but I knew there was no way I was going to find this guy. So on like the second or third day we're playing volleyball and I was in line to play. i heard this super deep scottish accent so I went to talk to him about where he was from(scotland) and where he was going(france). And then he asked me and I said I was elder whiting and that I am going to Romania. Suddenly this guy turns around and he's like 'Are you elder whiting?' and I said yeah and he said he was ELDER MENZEL. LITERALLY OUT OF NO WHERE. I was freaking out because you typically don't just randomly find people you don't know in the MTC especially on the second or third day. So then I played volleyball with him for the rest of the time. He's super cool. Also another cool story is the scottish guy I was talking about earlier. It turns out, he's a triplet and his other siblings are going to Germany, and Spain. All speaking different languages. How cool is that? 

Oh yeah! Also sister Jex is in my zone! She's from Saratoga Springs too and we were in the same prom group my sophomore year!!! She's so awesome and it's so cool we're in the same district. 

The food here is wrecking me. It's pretty good most of the time but man it's taking a toll on my body. I'm literally in the bathroom so much. yikes yikes yikes. Although they have this orange guava passionfruit drink that I get every single day. it's all just wild.

Basically our schedule from here on out is going to be the same every week, it's a little different for people who just get here but you have 3 hours of class in the morning, study time after lunch, and class after dinner. So like 6-7 hours of Russian everyday. I love it. We have devotionals on Sundays and Tuesdays and they're probably one of my favorite things here. Yesterday we had one that was amazing. He talked about the process of faith and having a realistic and idealistic view on the gospel and life. My mind was completely blown afterwords. 

I've seen a lot of people from Westlake and I see them all the time so that's super cool. Elder Bates, Riding, Pay, Hall, Jones. It's really fun seeing them. 

This week was really hard for me. In the beginning I was having all sorts of doubts about the language and how a lot of people in the group are doing better than me. But I received so many amazing talks about how its okay. As long as you are working hard and trying to learn the language the gift of tongues will come. I feel great about it now. I had a really cool experience where I thought back to the Stake President setting me apart as a missionary. He said something about me being fluent in the language and that I'll be able to say exactly what I want. It was amazing.

The spirit here is SO STRONG. I feel at peace here all of the time. Even though I'm stressed I always feel so good and I know I'm exactly where I need to be. I wouldn't be able to do this without the Lord. 

Okay the new MTC building is amazing. Like it's so so cool. I'm sad I don't have any classes or anything in there. We always go there for study time. The murals in there are some of the best art pieces I've ever seen. I can't wait for some of you guys to come in and see them. I could just sit by them and study all day. We love to go to this one room with a music box in the new building. It looks over the MTC and it has a great view. It's super peaceful and I definitely took a little nap there once. (it was like 2 minutes). 

I'll just leave a spiritual thought with you guys that I thought was really cool. On Sunday(I love sundays) we heard a talk from the second counselor in our branch presidency. He talked about when we walk outside at night it takes time for our eyes to adjust to see the heavenly stars. It's the same way with the gospel. It takes time for us to understand God and His ways. But as long as we have patience and diligence we can get through any challenge and eventually see the beautiful ways of God the same way we can see the beautiful night sky. 

Okay so also I forgot my camera so I'll send a few pictures later...

I love and miss you guys so much! Let me know what's happening in your lives and feel free to ask any questions you might have. Make sure to pray and read your scriptures. Love ya!

-Старейшина Whiting