Week 2



WEEK 2

Okay so again I'm definitely going to miss a lot of things and I'm going to have typos because there's no autocorrect. So here we go.

This has been probably the longest and shortest week of my life. During the week it felt so long but looking back it flew by. Now that I'm done with my second week here things are starting to become very routine. We pretty much do the same thing everyday. Some days are different and so some days are actually way better than others. I actually made a list.

Here's the ranking: 1. Wednesdays (P-day) 2. Tuesdays 3. Sundays 4. Mondays 5. Fridays 6. Thursdays 7. Saturdays
Tuesdays and Sundays are devotional days and we have choir. They're so fun and more laid back than other days. On mondays for dinner they have a resturant cater food. Fridays are pizza days. Thursdays are just typical days and saturdays are the worst because our schedule that day is different and it is the worst. The day just feels a lot longer. Don't get me wrong they're all great days but some are just better than others. 

I actually love the MTC. I love that you get so close to so many people you never met before. I think the craziest thing is that you come in not knowing a thing about someone but by the end of the week you can find out so many cool things about them. I'll do some examples later. 

There are some things I forgot to mention in last weeks email. So I'm in the Eastern European Zone and there are 7 different languages taught in the zone. About 90-95% of the people here are speaking Russian though so that's why we're known as the "Russians". There's Armenian, Latvian, Lituanian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Russian, and some other language. There's only one Ukrainian, and a few going to some other languages. The Armenians left this week. Two sisters going to Armenia and one elder going to California. So right now nobody is learning Georgian, Armenian, or the other language. We have some crazy languages in our zone. Singing our different hymns make church wild.  

Going back to not knowing people but then finding out cool things... I want to tell you about some people in my zone. So there's Elder Gheen and at first he's just kinda quiet but I found out that he's the most insane piano player I've ever seen. He plays songs just by listening to them and then he can just play them by heart. He'll play over ten songs in a row and he'll do these super cool transitions into them. He's also self-taught and he plays trumpet too. Then there's elder scow and he's probably the best three point shooter I've ever seen. He's the kid that whenever you pass to him will just shoot a three even with someone in his face and that normally would be super annoying but this dude does not miss. I've never seen anyone that good at shooting threes and he's only like 5'6. He also played baseball at BYU so apparently he's really good at baseball too, he's super athletic. Elder Cooperus is a guy that doesn't talk much either but I found out that he walked onto the wisconsin baseball team but then he quit because they play on sunday. He's really cool too. Elder Franskowiak played lacrosse at Corner Canyon so that's really cool. He's super quiet too and doesn't talk about it much but sometimes we talk a little about lacrosse. He's super dope. 

I got a lot of packages this week so I'm feeling super blessed. I love everyone back home!

For the next 6 weeks there are now MTC tours and at first we were excited until they told us that volleyball would be cancelled because they were worried a guest would be hit by a volleyball. Somehow basketball is still allowed. Our zone was heartbroken and now no more volleyball for pretty much the rest of the time I'm here:'( oh well it's not that big of a deal though we can always go play at the sand courts but they're always so hot and further away. I've been running a lot while I've been here to try and stay in shape. This is like the most running I've ever done before and I actually really like it. 

We taught a few lessons this week and my Russian is really improving! I've memorized a few things and I can bear a simple testimony and say a kind of simple prayer. The spirit here is so insane I always feel at peace. I feel like I should be more stressed than I am because I'm always feeling good and I know I need to be here.

I absolutely love the devotionals here. They're always so powerful and I learn so many things through them. 

Funny story. Typically when we play volleyball we play with just our zone and no one is our zone is really good because no one played it outside of the MTC but three guys decided to join our game basically because they wanted to wreck. We play king of the court so they would've never left the court because they were all really tall and pretty good. So Elder Dumbrell (my comp) joins their team and completely throws the game. He would run across the court and hit it super far out of bounds until they lost. We kinda felt bad but it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. The three guys didn't play with us again and I'm pretty sure they hate us now lol. 

I'm starting to forget all of the music I used to listen to so that's really sad. But it'll just make it even better when I get back. 

I love you guys so much! Just know that I'm praying for you and that I'm so happy to be out on my mission. I love this gospel and I know that we can feel true happiness through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Don't forget to study the Book of Mormon and say your prayers. I know that if you do you'll find so much joy and you'll feel closer to your Heavenly Father.

Keep sending me emails and give me updates of things back home! My next email will have pictures. I'll see you next week!

-старeйшина Whiting



















































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