"I have decided that it is super weird that the rest of the
people in my zone are going to Russia. They are always talking about power
converters and snow and how to be baptized in Vladivostok, you have to cut into
the ice to get to the water underneath (there is legitimately a picture of
missionaries in the Vladivostok mission doing that hanging up in one of the
buildings). Sister Bolander and Wilson are going to Vladivostok and the rest of
my district is going to Moscow. The Russia Moscow missionaries go to the Spain
MTC on Monday. There will be 5 people in my branch next Sunday unless we get
some Baltic missionaries on Wednesday. So lonely. I am so sad that Sister
Shippen is leaving! She has been a wonderful companion and friend. I don't know
how to missionary and MTC without Sister Shippen!!
Some things we discovered this week:
The song head, shoulders, knees, and toes absolutely does
not work in Russian. The Russian words for those have entirely too many
syllables to work correctly with the tune of the song. We have also learned
that Ukrainian Russian is entirely different. They have a different accent
there than they do in Russia even though it is the same language.It's almost
like the difference between American English and British English. Hopefully we
will get the hang of it eventually. I am understanding SO much more as our
teachers talk to us and learning how to remember words by looking them up in
the dictionary and then writing them down and then reviewing them throughout
the day. The best way to learn words and phrases is to use them in everyday
life! Memorization just doesn't work so well for me. I have also learned that
having a blanket from home is the best thing ever. Also sheets. The blanket and
sheets that they give to you in the MTC are crappy. I love having my soft
blanket that actually keeps me warm and isn't basically thin enough to be
see-through. The food is on kind of a cycle. It seems like we have some type of
burger like 3x a week (whether it be a turkey burger or a pork or maybe even a
beef one once in a while). The cafeteria food definitely gets old after a
couple weeks. ONLY 7 to go! 4-square is so fun! I don't know why I never played
it more in middle school. It's so entertaining how intense and competitive it
can get. It's a lot of exercise as well! I'll be a pro by the time I leave the
MTC.
Our investigator's name is Tapac. Which in Russian is
pronounced Taras, but we think it's so funny that we call our investigator
Tupac all of the time. It never gets old. I'm just worried that one day we
might accidentally call him the wrong name during a lesson.
Our zone had a rock-paper-scissors bracket and I am proud to
say that I made it past the first round. The other district ended up winning,
but Sister Shippen got to the semi-final!
We hosted this week and it was a lot of fun. The new
missionaries coming in were all so happy, but it was emotional to watch them
all say goodbye to their families. I hosted a Sister from Tahiti that was
called to New Zealand and another from Idaho that was going to Cali Spanish
Speaking. IT was a lot of fun and I hope that I get to do it a few more times
while I am here.
We have the baptismal question and most of the First Vision
story memorized in Russian.
We also discovered a new verse for I believe in Christ, it
goes like this:
"I believe in Christ, he bled for me. So for him I'll
serve, unselfishly. I'll share his word of love and grace, enlisting all in
royal ranks. I believe in Christ. I fight with faith. The sword of truth I'll
wield with strength, and so I'll shout to everyone those words of his 'thy will
be done'"
We sang it for Sacrament meeting and it actually worked with
the music pretty well.
Choir is absolutely amazing! The chorister is my favorite.
We sang the opening song for the devotional on Tuesday with Elder Soares. His
Brazilian accent was awesome sounding. English is like his 4th language! #goals
We have plants, and I am supposed to ask everyone from home
if they have any name suggestions. Please send them back!
Never forget...if you want different results you have to do
different things! I have learned this so much this week and it is 100% true!!
I was so tired this week that I literally fell asleep during
personal study time, but I am still loving it!!!!! Especially now that my cold
has cleared up. I love you all!
With Love,
Cectpa Jenne"
As you can see, Sister Jenne is doing great! I received a couple of pictures from Sister Jenne's companion that are also from this week.
"Our first day with the orange dots!"
"Exercise time!!"
Stay tuned!!!
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