March 21, 2012 Half-Way Mark!


My district hit our MTC half-way mark this past week. In honor of the day, the mother of one of our elders (who is a professional baker) sent us one of the most elaborate cakes I've ever seen. It had a caramel/frosting message on the top, and it was quite delicious. It was definitely exciting to see half of the cake disappear within 30 seconds of us digging into it.

Elder Oaks came and spoke to us last night. He focused on teaching with the Spirit and how we simply CANNOT teach unless we have the Spirit with us. He emphasized the Sacrament as a key for having the Spirit in our lives. The Sacrament is not something we simply do every Sunday, but it is something that needs to be proceeded by much forethought and repentance in the days leading up to it. I think all of us who heard that talk were inspired to take the Sacrament more seriously so that we can have the Spirit more fully in our lives.

Ashley Kingery came into the MTC last Wednesday! She lives on my floor, so we get to see each other quite frequently. It's been a lot of fun to see her and to speak a little German with her. (Although Russian is currently overpowering my German - but that's okay, because I'm sure it will come back when I actually need it.)

There are currently five sisters from my freshman ward in my residence hall. (Another one left this past week, so there used to be six of us.) There's me, Megan Armknecht, Missy Hansen, Jen Itri, and Anna McKay, and Kiersten Carr just left. It's been really neat to be at the MTC with all those wonderful girls, and it's also crazy to think about how long ago freshman year was.

We got our new Russian triple combinations today! It was like Christmas when our district leader walked in and gave us the shrinked-wrapped scriptures. The new translation is apparently more colloquial, so that has been a difficult transition for some of the Russian speaking members. It would be like having the English Book of Mormon translated into modern speech. But we think it will be a good thing for investigators - it will make the scriptures more accessible to them right from the start. I don't quite know enough Russian to know which one is easier to read, but apparently the new one will be easier (once I know enough Russian to tell). I'm pretty excited about them. It's been really neat to work on memorizing the first vision in Russian - there is so much power in those words, both in English and in Russian. The other day, I realized that I'm going to be in Ukraine pretty soon and that I'll have to speak Russian all the time. That was a somewhat sobering realization, but I'm excited. Our district has a goal to speak only Russian for our last two weeks here, so that will be starting pretty soon. That will be difficult, but I know it will definitely help us prepare to be effective servants of the Lord as we teach in the Russian language.
-Sharisa

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Messenger of the Covenant

Recently I’ve been studying (at President Nelson’s invitation) about God’s covenants to Israel as well as each passage in the scriptures about Christ. As Christmas approached, I found a beautiful intersection of my two courses of study: Christ is the “messenger of the covenant” (Mal. 3:1).  For some reason this phrase struck me deeply. Christ is the embodiment and fulfillment of God’s promises to His covenant people. This poem tries to capture some of the wonder and gratitude I feel for the tiny Babe in Bethlehem who came to fulfill God’s promises to all mankind.   Millenia of promises From God to His children Lay swaddled in a manger That night in Bethlehem.   The incarnate fulfillment Of ancient covenants Was cradled by his mother Under heaven’s broad expanse.   God had promised love, And hope and resurrection; Forgiveness, joy, and family; Healing and protection:   Those promises all came to pass Through Christ our Heavenly...
Read more

Memories and Missing

Image
There’s something about an anniversary—about being located in the same cosmic space in relation to the sun that you were when something significant happened—that makes you nostalgic; that makes you think about the past. And if you’re like me, it makes you feel like waxing verbose and throwing scattered memories and thoughts onto a computer screen. It’s been a year now since my dad died. An entire revolution around the sun, complete with Christmas, birthdays, and all the other celebrations and mundane days that noisily squeeze themselves into our calendar. Each of the days of the year has now happened once without my dad here on the earth to welcome it; without him able to receive my texts or laugh at my jokes or tell me he’s proud of me or hold my little boys. And I wish I could say, at this end of my first year without Dad, that I have some profound insight to share with the world; some neat little package of how-to-succeed-at-grief tied up with a bow and ready for dissemination...
Read more

How can an American love both Russia and Ukraine?

Anybody who knows me is well aware of how much I love Ukraine. Ukraine will always be my second home. She will forever have my heart and my loyalty. So I guess, given that love and the current political situation in Eastern Europe, I shouldn't be too surprised when people ask me how I could've gone to Russia this summer--isn't that somehow betraying my loyalty to Ukraine? And yet, that question does surprise me. Because I see in it the implication of the entire Russian nation in causing the unrest in Ukraine--the entire population as being somehow antagonistic to Ukraine. And, having now lived in Russia, that is a concept completely foreign and unfathomable to me. Because Russians are wonderful people! I know them. I have seen their hearts. My coworkers in Moscow are not responsible for my Crimean friends now claiming citizenship in the Russian Federation. My Russian friends didn't kindle unrest in cities in eastern Ukraine. The Russia I know is kind. It is peaceful. It...
Read more