I have a little time to write while waiting for our weekly Sunday Fireside to begin, so I thought I would, though I may not get this sent off until after my prep. day.
Sundays are interesting here at the MTC. I woke up at 6:30 but didn’t have to be anywhere until breakfast at 8:00. During that time the Старейшини meet in Priesthood. After breakfast, we didn’t have anything until 9:30 when we went to be interviewed. (We have an interview with our branch presidency every week). We weren’t interviewed at that time because we had to be to Relief Society by 10.
I enjoyed that so much! It was more like General Women’s Conference. It was great. After Relief Society, we had a new sister meeting. We had lunch right after that. After lunch was sacrament meeting and District meeting (kind of like Sunday School). We met with the other new district in our branch. Following district meeting we finall
y had our interviews before heading back to our room for study time. (Left - The sisters from our branch: Sisters Nielson, Egan, Skabelund, Shelton, me, Wilson, and Christensen) I didn’t accomplish a whole lot because Сестра Wilson and I decided to go to choir practice at 4:15. That was an hour long but was great. The way they have it set up, the Sisters are in the middle, forward section with Elders on each of the sides and in the back. It sounded great to hear that many Elders singing. After choir, we had to hurry to the cafeteria for dinner. Then we finally had time to study so I was able to get my Book of Mormon Study done before our fireside which is starting now.Anyway, that was a good fireside. President Kohlert and his wife spoke to us. Now we will be having an evening with the president, or very soon anyway. I had some funny and good experiences today. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE being a Сестра? Well, I do. It’s kind of hard to explain but I will make an attempt, but first I will tell you about an insight that I had. You know how I was wondering why sisters were supposed to be 21 and guys only 19 to go on missions? Well, I thought of 2 reasons why this is the case. First, because girls are less likely to go for guys younger than them, it makes it less likely there will be problems with missionaries “hooking up.” That is why sisters are older. Elders are younger because most are graduated from High School by then, but are still young enough that it is a good time to teach them to respect the sisters. That brings me to why I LOVE being a sister. The Старейшины, well at least the ones that have learned, all stand when we come to the cafeteria table and even when we enter the room. Also at the cafeteria table, they take care of our trays when we are finished eating. Probably the BEST thing, though, is that they let us cut in line. Basically, it is just so they know we are different and respect us, or at least learn to treat us with respect. It is great, better even than being at BYU.
I love my district. The Старейшины in our district are always so happy to see us, and that makes me feel good. The Сёстры in our branch are also great. I’ll be honest with you; this is very hard. Sometimes I feel like I won’t be able to do it, but then I see our Сёстры and I know this is not only going to be worth it, but that I can make it. I still don’t see myself speaking Russian fluently, but then again, I’ve only been learning Russian for 3 days.
Oh, now my good experiences for the day. First, right after sacrament meeting, we stood in line to shake the hands of all the members of the Branch Presidency. Also in line was President Fillmore’s Father-in-law, who, I might add, is the one who thought of the MTC. He is getting really old and doesn’t remember a lot, but he loves being around missionaries. I shook his hand and he told me that I was going to have a great time and that this would be one of the best experiences I’ll have. Then he pulled me close and said into my ear, “Now, don’t let those elders fall in love with you.” I started laughing and just said, thanks! President Fillmore was next in line and he said, “Just forget what he told you, he’s starting to lose it.” I laughed at that, too.
Then in choir practice, Сестра Wilson and I sat down next to some Soers (I don’t know the plural for Sister in French). One of them, we started talking to. She told me she had already met me. I think her name was Soer Jensen. I vaguely remembered seeing her on the first day here. She told me on that first day that she had seen me in line and thought I had such a kind face. She then told me she thought, “She must be really nice.” I think that is probably the best compliment I have ever had in my life. It’s funny because all the older Сёстры in our branch keep telling me I’m so sweet. It’s great to be loved. I just hope I will be the best missionary I can be.
July 12, 2005
I’m singing in the choir today for the MTC devotional. We are singing, “Here Am I” by Alice and Larry Beebe. It is a great song. You should look for it and get me a copy before I come back. Richard E
. Cook is speaking. I thought I remembered seeing a broadcast of an MTC devotional, but maybe not. (Left - Sister Shelton hid in my closet one day and jumped out to scare me. It was quite unexpected, but it didn't stop us from being friends!) If they do broadcast it, you should record it for me, at least the singing part. If not, that’s alright.I was reading in 2 Nephi the other day and I found a great scripture. I started wishing that had been my favorite scripture for my plaque, but then I realized, I don’t remember anyone asking me about that. Are they even doing those anymore? If they are and its not too late, I would really prefer that one, so here it is: 2 Nephi 7:7-9.
“For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. And the Lord is near, and he justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near me and I will smite him with the strength of my mouth. For the Lord God will help me . . . .” It’s not all of verse 9, but I like it to end with that. That’s how I feel right now and I think that is my new favorite scripture.
I had a weird, awful dream last night. I dreamt that my companion, Сестра Wilson relooked at her call and realized she wasn’t really going to Russia Samara with me. Instead she was going to California (Russian speaking – there is one in Sacramento). I was dumbfounded in my dream. I kept thinking, what? You can’t do that to me! It was very sad.
This week has been much better so far. I haven’t felt at all like I can’t do this, even though it is hard. Being in class 12 hours a day is not easy, especially when most of that time is spent trying to learn a language that feels like a tongue twister to me. But, I have to admit, its not like I’m doing bad, not even close. Its just that I really want to know it all right now and get to Russia. I learned a very important word the other day. It goes into a sentence like this: Я скучáю по вам. It means I miss you all. I said it to the other Сёстры in my branch the other day. Сестра Nielson got so excited and said something to me that I don’t understand or even remember now.
That was an awesome devotional. I really loved it. Elder Cook had some great insight how to have a “million-dollar mission.” He told us that if a mission is going the way it is supposed to be, it will be hard work, but it is worth it. Well, this is almost exactly how he said it, “Missionary work, if done right, is hard work, but it is the most satisfying work.” That is so true, it is hard, but I know its going to be worth it.
July 15, 2005
It is Heather’s birthday today and I realized I don’t have her address to send her a letter, so I guess I can’t do that. So, I guess this is a warning to everyone: if you want to get something from me in the mail, you need to send something to me, first.
Now, I don’t know if you have sent me something, but I have not received a single letter from anyone and the only mail I’ve received is from Carly and it was a wedding announcement. That was awesome, but still, I want more mail. So, I have come up with a solution. Mom and dad you MUST send me an individual letter at least once a week. Nothing less will be acceptable unless you don’t want to hear from me. Lizzy and Sara must also each send me a letter once a week. These letters don’t have to be long, but you can tell me what you are doing/leaning/feeling/funny stories or spiritual experiences you’ve had. However, I will NOT accept just a letter saying, “Hi Rachel, I’m good, love whoever.” There MUST be substance.
If anything you will become good at noticing the little things that happen during the day, and I promise they are there if you look for them. (Left - Sister Shelton polishing shoes at the end of the day. I had no idea how big a part of my life cleaning shoes was to become . . .) I am even going to write to Becky to tell her she must write to me once a week. However, I will only send one letter home and 1 to Becky. This is simply so I don’t have to write 5 letters about the exact same thing every week. I don’t have time for that. Now, if I have time to write a long letter home, YOU have the time to write me a paragraph at the VERY least once a week. Plus, don’t write the same thing every week either. I might as well not get mail if it is exactly the same every week.I should probably tell you, mail is very important to missionaries. In the MTC we spend most of our time in class and mail is the one thing we have to look forward to, besides PDay. If you don’t get mail, its kind of equated with not being loved. Now, I know you love me (how could you not?) but you don’t want everyone to think you don’t love me.
I’m going to have to buy a pair of flipflops, but I’m not exactly sure where I’m going to do that. Maybe I’ll just wait until I get to Russia because I don’t want to have too much extra weight. But, the showers are disgusting there and I’m told I will want to wear a pair while I shower.
Oh, could you send me a picture of our family? The one we took at the MTC would be good so I can have a current picture. I wish I would have brought more because they told us Russians LOVE pictures and will want to see pictures of everyone. So send me lots of pictures. Maybe you could even print off some pictures from my computer for me to have. Mom, you should have my password. My pictures are located on the C drive, I think you can try going to start, my pictures. If that doesn’t work it is on D under my documents/my pictures. Actually, now that I think about it, that’s probably where they are, but I’m not positive. Anyway, pictures of me when I was little, of my roommates, of you all, of my friends, those would all be good things to have pictures of. You can use your discretion and feel free to print copies for yourself. The pictures of my roommates are easily found on my website as well. I don’t want pictures of cars or houses because its not good to show those things to Russians, so avoid pictures that show those things if possible. I mean, don’t be Naziish about it, just keep that as a general rule. Oh, you can also look through my scrapbooks and see if there are any good ones in there. I wouldn’t mind one from Hawaii or something like that just for fun. Oh, no pictures of landscapes, either. Russians like seeing people and being told who they are.
Since this may be my last letter (only if you don’t write me of course, by the way, if Lizzy and Sara don’t write me, they can’t read my letter. ENFORCE THAT! That will give them incentive to write to me) I will try to make it a little longer. It is really strange, I don’t feel like I am really going to Russia. I feel like I am at school. Even being in class 12 hours a day doesn’t change that. It just makes me feel like each day is a week long. I lose track of time so quickly. I never know what day of the week it is and I really can’t figure out how long I have been here without difficulty. I only have one complaint and surprisingly it is not the food or how hard the language is. No, it is my bed. The other Сёстры tell me my bed is one of the softest, but it hurts me. I don’t sleep well at all. It takes me forever to get to sleep and I wake up constantly during the night.
Well, I guess I have one other negative thing to say, though it is a little better now I guess. Don’t get me wrong, I love my напарница (companion, female not male) but I know that she kind of resents me because I understand what they are talking about in class, Russian Grammar. I’ve even told her that Old English had all of the cases Russia has, but she still resents me for understanding it. There is nothing I can do about that. This is what I love, this is my kind of fun, learning another language. Anyway, its bad because that makes me feel like I can’t do my best, but I’m going to keep doing that because I WANT to be able to speak Russian. I think, however, if I hadn’t wanted to go to Russia for so long, it would be very easy for me to walk away. It still would be easy, but I still have a strong desire to go to Russia and serve the people there, as difficult as it is going to be.
Anyway, other than those two things, it really is great being a missionary, especially a sister missionary. My district is great.
Oh! I was so excited last night. Some of the Старейшины in my district asked me to teach them English grammar. I had so much fun doing that. It’s kind of funny because everyone got this idea in their head that I’m really good at this, but I’m really not. I hate them thinking of me that way because I am at the same level they are and it makes me feel like they are waiting for me to mess up. But teaching English grammar really made me feel like they weren’t putting me up there as someone to fail anymore. Instead I became someone they could turn to for help. THAT is what I really want. They really are great and I’m sad that 6 of them are NOT going to Samara, but at least 6 ARE. We have so much fun together and I think they really respect the Сёстры. That is a good way for them to start their mission.
Well, I guess I’ll finish there, but I must warn you again, if I don’t receive a letter by next p-day, no letters! I will spend my time studying Russian rather than wasting precious time writing to people who don’t care enough to write back promptly. If you have sent a letter, great, just keep in mind what I said earlier.
Love
Сестра Атвуд
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