Letters from the Baltic

  Hello Everyone! Short Version:  Week 8 is in the bag meaning I'm exactly 88.88% done with the home MTC. I have not received any flight plans to Chicago but am expecting to get those this week. A phrase my dad says all the time is, "God comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable." That has been true learning the language for me. Whenever I'm feeling down on myself or confused out of my mind with Russian, either a teacher or someone in my district has said something that boosts my confidence in the language, and it helps me realize how far I've come in just 8 weeks. On the other hand, when I feel proud and start to strut my stuff, I'm quickly reminded how little I know. I'm still searching for that nice homeostatic equilibrium of confidence and humility. Long Version:  This week was not boring by any means, but there's not too much I'll write about. Mostly some odds and ends.      Elder Jordan decided we should have "spirit week"...

  Hello Everybody! Short Version : After 7 weeks of continuous zoom meetings, I’m doing surprisingly well. I’m pretty anxious to get to Chicago and will not miss being in the same room all day, but I will also miss the fun times we have together as a district. This week was quite the adventure having my companion's power go on and off unexpectedly (he lives in Texas). It’s back on now and should be for the rest of the time at the MTC. Russian is starting to feel natural. It rolls off my tongue.. Haha just kidding. I wish that was the case. It’s coming along but still takes a while to correctly construct a sentence. It’s also pretty horrifying to listen to someone talk at a conversational speed. I was practicing speaking with a Native Ukrainian teacher (she also speaks Russian) and I did not understand much of what she said to me. Practice makes permanent though, right?   Long Version : I was pretty excited to see the snow this week, especially since we never get very much...

  Hello Everybody! Short Version:  This week has been great one! We finished going through our case chart on Friday, hooray. Now that we know most of the main rules for using the cases it's time to start memorizing them. I'm really grateful for my district. The MTC is probably the best place you could ever learn something because you're surrounded by a bunch of your friends who are so supportive and clap for you whenever you try. Even when someone butchers a word or forgets how to pronounce a word, everyone claps, snaps and is so excited that they did their best. It's so important to "делать ошибки" (make mistakes) in order for anyone to learn. Brad Wilcox said,  "When learning the piano, are the only options performing at Carnegie Hall or quitting? No. Growth and development take time. Learning takes time" (His Grace Is Sufficient, 2011).  If we avoid making mistakes, we avoid progress. That's why I'm so glad to have a district who is so sup...

  Hello Everyone! Short Version:  Elder Rockwood and I taught our first lesson to a native Russian speaker, Viktor! It's surprising how different it is to hear the words pronounced in a thick Russian accent. My companion and I did a lot of head nodding and said "da" a lot of times in a row pretending like we understood what he was telling us. I have a humble brag for all of you. This week, my companion is my grandma, which is something not too many missionaries can claim. My parents are on a trip so the one and only Grandma Pam flew up from Utah so I could have a companion. Who better to have as a companion than your grandma? As for Russian, we have made it through the Nominative, Accusative, and Genitive cases* (see explanation at the bottom). Last week I told one of my MTC trainers that I was wondering when Russian was going to start getting hard. Well, now is the time. I found out that I've been saying most words incorrectly (due to case endings), but our MTC train...