MTC Week 5

 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 trainers hadn't corrected us because we hadn't learned the correct way with.

Long Version: Huge update for everyone! So if you remember last week I mentioned how awful my connection was because of my chromebook. Well some blessed soul out there (who will remain unnamed) let me borrow one a spare computer they had. Boy oh boy I am grateful for them and that computer. On Monday, my district and teachers were flabbergasted. It was the first time most of them had heard my voice not jumbled from the poor connection. Needless to say, this week's zoom classes have been so much more enjoyable for me now that people can understand me and hear the things I say to them.  

     Like I said in the short version, this week has been a week of humbling. I thought I was all that and a bag of chips, but little did I know my MTC trainers were allowing me to ignore cases for the time being. There's a long way to go, and even if I don't master Russian while I'm serving, as long as I have the spirit then people can figure out the message that I'm sharing with them. 

     Here's a good quote if you're looking for one: "Don't be a pickle-sucker." (Gordon B Hinkley). I promise I'm not making this up, he said it during General Conference. I'm pretty sure if it's okay for the prophet to say then it's okay for a missionary to say. 

     Elder Rockwood and I have been having some struggles scheduling TRCs (practice lessons with "investigators") because they keep getting cancelled. At this point we've taught the same number of lessons as have been cancelled. 6 lessons taught, 6 lessons cancelled. 2 of them were just because poor Larisa (an old Russian woman) can't seem to figure out how to get her Zoom link to work or how to let us in to the meeting. Hopefully our TRCs keep showing up because for a while we had more cancellations than lessons taught. Who knows though, it could be God's way of preparing us for what it's really like in the field. We have a goal to teach 5 TRCs in 5 days which will be an even bigger challenge with all the people cancelling/no-showing on us. 

     I ran a few miles this week to try and spice up my exercise routine and I have a question for you guys. When does one hit runner's high? Is this a real thing or just a made-up fantasy by long distance runners to trick all of us into running? 

     Today, some of our district got together to watch Hercules, since all our stake presidents/mission presidents are okay with that. The thing that really threw me for a loop was seeing everyone in regular clothes. Since I'm so used to seeing everyone in church clothes, I was doing double-takes the entire movie.

     This entire week we've been discussing the doctrine of The Plan of Salvation and practicing teaching the lesson in Russian. I noticed a common question that came up this week as well as in previous gospel discussions at church or with family that really intrigued me. Why does God let bad things happen to good people? Why would our Heavenly Father, our literal spiritual father, a perfect father, allow us to experience immense pain that tortures us past what we think we can bear? If he really loves us, how can this be? Now before I share my thoughts on these questions, I'm gonna let you in on this little secret. It's a total lifehack. There's this one book that has the answers to all your questions. If you read it everyday and applied its teachings in your life, I can not begin to describe how much better your life could be. If you don't know yet, I'm talking about the Book of Mormon!!!!!! Woot woot, everyone should read the Book of Mormom! Anyways, here's the gospel according to me. There are many answers and reasons to this complex question, but I was hoping to share a small insight I thought of while discussing with my district. In the first four books of the New Testament, we get to read about the life of Jesus Christ. We get to read about these mind-blowing miracles: people getting raised from the dead, Jesus and Peter walking on water, a few fishes and some loaves feeding 5000 people. It seems like whenever people go to Jesus with their problem, BOOM it's fixed. Oh you have a sickness, healed. Oh what's that, your legs don't work? Pick up your bed and walk. These lifelong problems people have are immediately rectified. Why though, is this not the case in our lives? Why do our loved ones still die of cancer and our parents still get divorced, among the countless other hardships we undergo? Is God not "the same yesterday, today, and forever"? If God healed men then, where is when we cry out to him? I'd invite you to read Luke's description of Christ's suffering in Gethsemane for the full story, but will offer a short verse from the account. "Father, if thou wilt be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him" (Luke 22:42-43). Verse 43 practically jumped into my lap when I read it, so I'm going to write it again: "And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him." Though he eventually would be on the cross, Christ was not alone in the garden. God sent an angel so that Jesus might be strengthened while suffering for the sins of the world. Likewise, we can receive angels. While we may not enjoy this truth, that fact remains that not all of our trials will be removed. Some must be endured and "if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high" (D&C 121:8). God sees us in our weakness and trials. He weeps with us and does not leave us alone. He sends angels to strengthen us. Whether the angel be from heaven or if it's your neighbor, He sends them. They can come in many forms and we may not always recognize them when they come. Joseph Smith asked a similar question in Liberty Jail saying, "O God where art thou?" (D&C 121:1). Perhaps instead of crying out to God asking why he has abandoned us, we might ask to receive and to recognize these angels. I think we would be pleasantly surprised if we could recognize all the angels God already sends to strengthen us. Joseph was also reminded "thy friends do stand by thee." (D&C 121:9) There are many times when trials can be eased by the familiar smile of a friend. At times we are in need of angels, but other times we need to be the angel. Who needs you today?

пока пока,

старийшина смит

*case explanation: So I realize that most of you probably have never heard of cases and I never had before either. That's because we hardly use them in English. An example of cases in English would be saying "you love me" instead of "you love I." Even though "I" and "me" are referring to the same person, the word has to change because whoever created English decided that's how we say it. The same concept exists in Russian but there's a lot more rules in Russian that just make your brain feel like you're having an aneurysm  when you're trying to construct a sentence. To give you an idea, any time you say a noun, adjective, pronoun, or a possessive pronoun, there are 24ish variations of the word, and if you use the wrong version it can change the meaning of the sentence. Depending on how a word is used, how it's spelled, or the words it's associated, the word may have to change its case. I'll attach a case chart that I'll have to memorize eventually, not any time soon though.