MTC Week 9&10
Hello Everyone!
Short Version: MTC is over! It's sad to say goodbye to everyone, especially the ones who weren't reassigned to Chicago, but I will not miss being on the computer all day everyday. I'm ready to go do missionary work. It's finally time to put in to practice what I've been learning and practicing these last 10 weeks. Missionaries (I'm not sure how many but some) are making their way back to the Baltic Mission. I'm excited to go to Chicago but I'm 12x (exactly) more excited for the day when I get to go to my original assignment. Hopefully sooner than later but with COVID, you honestly never know. Chicago better be ready for me because I'm coming ready to convert the entire city, gang leaders and all.
Long Version: Well to start off, these past two weeks have gone really great. For the last week, I haven't had a companion because he left for the Spokane Mission. All of the Chicago missionaries left in our MTC district had an extra week between the last day of MTC and when our flights are to the mission. There's been ample time for naps (not that I ever took one, heavens no;)) and hanging out with family more than before. There's also been lots of time that I filled with language study. I feel like I finally got to the point where it's not so painful to speak and I can mostly say what I want in correct grammar when I'm talking about a subject I'm familiar with. There's still lots of mental strain going on whenever I'm not talking about missionary life or my family, but progress is progress.
One thing that stands out to me about being a missionary is the amount of goals we set. Missionary work is intended to be very goal-oriented to use time best and to make sure the things we are doing are actually meaningful. Since I set so many goals, a lot of them are forgotten or I just never get to them. However, I'm proud to announce I actually finished one of my goals that I made during my time at the MTC. Hooray!!! Maybe I should set a goal to follow through on more of my goals, food my thought?
I'm wavering between being really excited to go to Chicago and sad that I won't be in the Baltics. On one hand, I really want to use and improve my Russian since I spent all this time learning it. It's awesome that the Church trusts 18-20something year olds to teach people the gospel, and even more so in a language they don't know very well. On the other, being fully immersed in the language is pretty terrifying to think about. I'm glad I'll have some time to adjust to missionary work before I have to adjust to having literally no idea what people are saying to me and then feeling super uncomfortable because I know they're waiting for a response.
Below I have included some pictures that demonstrate what happens when 19 year old boys are left to themselves with zoom backgrounds and video effects. It's still so funny everytime I see myself or one of the other Elders in a mustache or weird hat.
A book of Mormon verse that stood out to me this week was Alma 15:18: "Now as I said, Alma having seen all these things, therefore he took Amulek and came over to the land of Zarahemla, and took him to his own house, and did administer unto him in his tribulations, and strengthened him in the Lord." For context, they were heading back to Zarahemla but Amulek's family and friends had disowned him, he had abandoned everything so he had no money, so he really didn't have anything other than what he could carry around with him. Also, his previous home was in a city taken captive by Lamanites so basically Amulek was toast. This verse is really just the essence of what it means to be a good friend/companion/husband/wife/
пока пока,
Elder Smith
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