March 14, 2012
Happy Pi Day! Four Weeks Out!
In the MTC you kind of forget about everything else going on in the outside world. Including daylight savings time. None of us had any idea that it was daylight savings time until about 9:45 Saturday night when they came over the intercom and informed us that we had to move our clocks ahead. That was a terrible realization, but we all survived.
The other day in class, one of my teachers was talking to us about service. The people of Russia, Ukraine, the Baltics etc. don't really understand the concept of service - they think you must have some ulterior motive because nobody would just do something nice like that. He shared a story where he and his companion were in the community kitchen of this huge apartment complex where they weren't having too much success and they just started doing people's dishes. There was a huge uproar in the room - people were yelling and trying to stop these Americans from doing their dishes. After a while, though, the uproar died down. Once they'd finished the dishes, everybody they talked to in the apartment complex agreed to listen to a message about God. That was a really neat story - once people understand that we really just want to help them, service is a wonderful way to soften people's hearts.
We watched the cultural celebration of the Kyiv temple as a district the other night, and that was neat! I loved that before I came on my mission, and I love it even more now. It was neat to be able to understand some of the testimonies and what was being said. I love those people of Ukraine so much already and I can't wait to get over there and serve them.
I got to go on splits yesterday with a teacher at the MTC. It's a new program they're starting with us where we each get the opportunity to spend a three hour class block one-on-one with a teacher who acts as our companion. Together we study, plan, and teach. That was a really neat experience - it was great to be able to see how an experienced missionary does those things and to receive training and insight on the plan/study/teach cycle. We spoke in Russian a lot, and it was neat because I was able to understand most of what she said.
Mom asked me to talk about our usual schedule, and I thought maybe you'd all be interested. It depends on the day for the exact order of the activities, but it's usually something like this:
We wake up at 6:30 and have until 7 to get ready, at which time we're supposed to be in the classroom studying or planning. Breakfast is at 7:50 then we go back and have personal study for an hour in the classroom. At 9:30 we begin a 3-hour block of class with one of our teachers. That usually includes a couple companionships teaching (our teachers role-play as progressing investigators and we teach them for about 30 minutes per companionship) while those not teaching have companionship study. We also do Russian grammar during that time, as well as read the Book of Mormon together and talk about teaching skills, our purpose, etc. I really enjoy our classes - our teachers are wonderful and really care about us and want to help us learn. I especially like it when they teach by the Spirit - for example, yesterday we were supposed to spend 2 hour of class on one of the fundamentals in our MTC booklet, but we ended up only spending 10 minutes on it because Brat Okoren had so many other things he wanted to teach us about.
At 12:30 we have lunch for an hour. There is usually another 3-hour class in the afternoon, or in the evening Sometimes gym is right after lunch (or breakfast, or dinner - it's always right after a meal for our zone, which is kind of annoying sometimes, but it works). We also have an hour of language study in the afternoon. Dinner is at 5:30, and depending on the day, we go to gym, class, or a fireside after that. Four or five times a week we spend an hour in the computer lab using TALL, which is a language training program. It's really great - it has a ton of Russian phrases about the gosepl and you can listen to a native speaker pronounce them, and you can also record and listen to yourself saying them - it's really helpful. (As a side note, Mormon Messages are the Facebook of the MTC - that's the favorite thing for missionaries to do during TALL if they are tired of working . . . It's kind of funny.) Tuesday evenings we have devotionals, which are always wonderful! It is such an incredible sight to see over 2,000 missionaries gathered in the auditorium. If we were allowed to take pictures in there, I'd send you a picture, because it's really powerful to see. But you'll just have to imagine it. (Or watch that video, "Inside the MTC" or something). After the fireside we meet as a district and discuss what we learned. I really love those times! The Spirit is really strong as we share our testimonies with each other and gain further insights into the devotional.
Sundays are different from the rest of the days. We don't have class, TALL, gym, or language study. There's a lot of personal study time, Sacrament meeting, Relief Society (with all the sister missionaries! So neat), district meeting, temple walk, choir, and a fireside. Wednesday is P-day, which is also very different. We have study in the morning, then go to the temple, then have the afternoon to do laundry and write letters. In the evenings we do TRC, which is so fun! I really enjoy being able to teach members and share a message with them.
I can't believe I've been here four weeks already! It's been a wonderful journey, and it's amazing how much we've learned. I'm glad my date got changed, and that today's not my first day, but that I've got 4 weeks of Russian under my belt. :)
-Sharisa
Comments
Post a Comment