1/3 of the way to Ukraine!

Our older Russian districts left this week, which means that we're the “old, experienced” ones now. It was so exciting to see them go - they were so fired up to be going out to Russia and Ukraine to actually put in to practice what they've been training for for 12 weeks. That fired me up as well, and I'm excited to join them out there in six weeks. It's definitely a little different not having them around. My branch lost about 20 people, so now we only have about 20 left. The hallways of the Russian building and residence also seem a little empty. And apparently the districts that were supposed to come in on March 14 (like I was originally) got moved back two weeks so they can do the same pilot program we're doing. So we get the laundry room and gym to ourselves for a little while.

It's been so incredible to see the improvement we've all experienced in Russian. There's no way we're doing this alone. I have no doubt that the gift of tongues is real.

Every Monday we get to wake up half an hour early and perform service. That consists of cleaning the buildings at the MTC, and it's surprisingly fun. This past Monday we got to do trash, which meant we were able to go outside and use the trash compactor (which is fun in and of itself) early in the morning and enjoy the beautiful sunrise. It made me happy to see the sun lighting up "my" mountains south of Spanish Fork, and Maple Mountain. I really enjoyed those brief moments outside in the silent morning.

I'm sure you've probably heard of the legendary MTC 4-square. And it's about as wonderful and intense as everyone makes it out to be. I've become quite good at it over the past three weeks, and I've had my share of reigning in the king square. In addition, I really like to run during gym, because out the windows you can see the temple, BYU campus, and south Utah Valley. It's especially neat to run at night and see the city lights.

On Sunday, the fireside speaker was Alex Boye. That was a lot of fun! He is a hilarious speaker as well as a wonderful singer. He shared his conversion story, and I was very moved by it. He spoke about the sister missionaries who introduced him to the gospel and changed his life. Then he promised us that when we change someone's life, they will remember us forever and will always be grateful for what we did for them. That really hit me - not that it was something I'd never heard before, but it was powerful to hear how much those missionaries meant to him in his life.

This Tuesday in the choir for the devotional we sang a beautiful song called "Look at the World." I'd never heard it before, but I was deeply moved by it. It praises God for His wondrous creations and is just such a joyful hymn of praise and hope. Our speaker was Elder Evans of the Seventy. Like Elder Holland, he emphasized how we HAVE to use the Book of Mormon when we teach investigators and that we HAVE to stay active in the Church. It was powerful to receive messages two weeks in a row that focused on the same things - those are really the things we need to be working on as missionaries. One thing he said really struck me. He talked about our obligation to keep in contact with our converts and investigators after our mission. He shared a story of being able to talk to one of his converts after 10 years, and how they had both been praying for each other to stay active in the Church. He told us how important it is to our investigators that we personally stay active in the Church and that we continue to encourage them and strengthen them in the gospel. Part of our missionary purpose (found on page 1 of Preach my Gospel) is helping others endure to the end. It hit me then that when I submitted my mission papers, I was not signing up for just 18 months of service - it was a commitment for my lifetime. I have a responsibility to these people I will teach that will last forever as we all strive toward the same goal of eternal life.

I realized that I'm 1/3 of the way through my MTC experience. It's gone by so fast, but so slow at the same time. I'm loving it here and learning a great deal. And I can't wait to get to Ukraine in 6 weeks and begin serving those people I have come to love so much.

-Sharisa