MTC Week 1!

Well hello family!

It's been a crazy week here, and the days are SO LONG-- just as everybody says. But they go by quickly.

Parents, I hope you got the letter that I mailed home. Please send me food because ohmyheck there is not enough of it here. Also, one more exercise shirt would be nice to have. As well as 3 dozen Krispy-Kreme donuts (and other assorted treats) for my district. They told me to tell you that there are 20 men in my district and to give enough donuts/food for that amount. ;)

(there are only 8 men. haha)

Anyway, MTC. It's been interesting. Everyone always says it's like being hit in the face with a fire-hose or something. But really, it was just like my first couple days at BYU. A bajillion orientations, a bajillion classes, etc. The HUGE difference though was teaching investigators. The first night we were all thrown into separate rooms (100 missionaries/room) and group-taught investigators. Fun fact: one of our investigators we saw singing with MoTab during Music and the Spoken Word Sunday.

Anyway, for some reason my stomach has become a black-hole here. I eat and eat and eat what I THINK should be a good amount of food, and then I'm still hungry for more. (Don't worry, I go running everyday, so I won't get fat.) We actually didn't have scheduled gym time either Wednesday or Thursday and BELIEVE ME, I was going stir-crazy so.bad. Going running on Friday was AMAZING. Unfortunately, I decided to stuff myself at dinner with 8 pieces of Papa John's pizza (the only good food the cafeteria had had all week), but I was able to get about 4 miles in.

Sleeping has been interesting. Sister Smith and I are right by the door in our room, so we hear everything from the hall. It's surprising how some missionaries refuse to keep the curfew time, and I don't know how they stay up so late, but it's been keeping me up too. I think the main reason is that my brain won't turn off at night and then I hear them being loud, and it keeps me up too. And some sisters have their service cleaning assignment at 6:05am, and when they wake up at 5:30 they are ultra-loud in the bathroom. Fortunately, the last couple of days I've been so exhausted that I've kind of just slept through it.

The second full day we were there we taught an investigator in Russian. Sister Smith, bless her heart, is not quite as talented as I am at speaking Russian, so it was a struggle, but the Spirit was there and that was all that mattered. His name is Ruslan and he is from Ukraine. The language is coming along great for me, but that's because I took Russian 101. I am definitely the most knowledgeable one in my district, but I'm sure in the next couple of days that will change because some of those Elders are SO STUDIOUS and have already learned a lot of conjugation/spelling rules on their own outside of class.

I LOVE MY DISTRICT. I met Elder Moore and Elder Coppinger before the MTC, and Elder Moore is District Leader. All the elders are incredible. They have the sweetest testimonies and try so hard in Russian. Taking Russian 101 has been SUCH a blessing because we only have a teacher available 3 hours a day, and I am the resource the rest of the time for grammar questions/pronunciation issues. It's great because everyone knows I like being a smart-aleck.

But my district is incredible. I already feel like they're my family, and I know I'll cry when we part ways (only 3 elders are going to Yekat, so I won't see the rest of them for another 2 years). They're so funny, and they'll burst out into musicals frequently to pass the time. I giggle like a maniac, and they all just roll their eyes at me :)

My companion, Sister Smith (she's my facebook friend, fyi) get along GREAT. Bless her heart, the Russian sounds haven't quite clicked yet in her mind BUT THEY WILL. I prayed for my companion before I came, and she's been a perfect match. She was absolutely matched up with me to test my patience. It's interesting reflecting the months leading up to my mission call and how/when I decided to submit my mission papers. Mom, remember how I told you how I couldn't decide between April 24th and May 1st as my availability date? Well, I know now that I was supposed to choose May 1st so I could get shipped off the June 5th transfer to have Sister Smith as my companion. Her experience is similar in submitting her papers. We are perfect for each other. She is so sweet and tries SO HARD that it's impossible to get frustrated for mispronouncing things/forgetting words. We giggle all the time and all the "ctareishnee" (Russian word for Elders) just roll their eyes at us. We love our Elders so much because we would go insane without them. And they feel the same way as us. Even though we're the only "see-o-stree" in our district, we all get along fantabulously.

Overall, I like the MTC and I'm soooooo grateful that my mission is being paid for by dad. Being here is like being in spiritual boot camp. My testimony has grown so much already, and it's only been since Wednesday. It's going to be tough. I know that because it's already been tough. I've thought about going home quite a bit, but I recognize that that is ABSOLUTELY IN NO WAY AN OPTION EVER. So don't worry about that :) I love Russian, and I love speaking it. I understand almost everything our teacher says (her name is Sister O'Neill). She actually took Russian 101 when she was at BYU because she got called to Ukraine (Russian-speaking), and she had Olya, my same teacher, too! How awesome, huh?

Eric, if you could hack into my email that would be great. I ordered an SD card reader and an external hard-drive that are supposed to be here by now. I can't include pictures in this email because I don't have my SD card reader, but I will try to hunt one down and send pictures in a separate email (please post this letter on my blog as well as a link to my blog on Facebook). How are you? Send me a DearElder! But really, send me a dearElder and let me know where my amazon orders have been shipped too. This is extremely frustrating. :)

If anyone has time to shoot me a DearElder, my address is posted on Facebook. We look super popular at meal times when they're delivered. So far, I'm one of the more popular ones but that's really only because Dad writes me frequently. MOM YOU NEED TO SEND ME A LETTER AND TELL ME HOW EVERYTHING IS GOING.

Have Dave and Laura had their baby yet? Good to hear that Heather had a good time in her marathon. I thought about her that day.

Thanks for the care package mom! I really like that shade of lipstick.

Funny Story: When the package arrived, it was in a basic grocery-store brown bag. Inside, was a ultimate-brownie cupcake from cocoa bean cafe (a little squished BUT EXCELLENT), some stickers, and a pink Victoria's Secret bag with lipstick/lipgloss inside. I put the brown bag by my chair in my classroom and apparently the Elders decided to peek into it (they're so funny). They were QUITE SCANDALIZED to see the Victoria's Secret bag. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. It was really funny. My companion and I giggled quite profusely and tried to explain that it was only lipstick in there, but the Elders gave us looks like "uh huh.....riiiiiIIIIIIIghhhhhht". It was a hoot. I love them a lot.

My Pday is Tuesdays, and I have a set-time for emailing. So if you want to write me hand-written letters, that would be great. Also, Mom if you could send me some stationary/envelopes/stamps that would be great. Dad and I never discussed the credit card, but I figured using it for mission expenses would be acceptable. Dad, what I bought at the MTC bookstore was:

Oxford Russian Picture Dictionary (James Christiansen highly recommended). $35

Flashcards-- $1.29

Flashcards-- $1.29

Shade Shirt size Medium-- $10.99

Shade Shirt size Medium-- $10.99.

Subtotal was $59.56 with a "$15.04 missionary discount" to being the grand total to $44.52. I will take a picture of the receipt if you want, but as I explained earlier, I don't have my SD card reader that I ordered from Amazon yet. Ah well, tis life.

Keep praying for me! I love you all!!!

Cecpa Brown

p.s. expect another email with pictures later today.