MTC Week 6

4 November 2015

So this week has been really great. I am learning some pretty hard Russian grammar, but I am actually understanding it. Things are starting to fall into place, and I am able to speak with native speakers a little bit. This week we had something called TRC which is when we give lessons to members. We usually have it on Wednesdays, and they are usually RMs (return missionaries) from Russia. This week however, we started a new kind of TRC involving skype and actual native Russian speakers. Elder Turner and I were the only companionship to use an ipad for it while everyone else was using a computer. It was pretty exciting, but the person we were supposed to teach never answered, so we switched to a different person, and they didn't pick up either. Eventually our teacher came in and said we could teach one of her friends from her mission over the phone. The TRC leader said that would be fine for this one, because no one was answering. Our teacher then said that this friend is super inactive, and that just about scared me out of my suit. Understanding Russian over the phone is super hard. All the sh, ch, and v sounds made it sound like there was constant static. We started our lesson about 15 min late, so they had us stop like 15 min before our time should have been up. She said she liked the lesson, and our teacher said that she would talk with her about getting skype and us teaching her every week. The friend said that would be a good idea, and seemed to like the idea of helping out the missionaries. I pray for her, and hope that in some small way we will be able to help her come closer to Christ.

We heard from Elder Maynes yesterday. He was the 70 who spoke about the potter's wheel, and having a Christ centered life. He was spitting straight fire. He said to consider how Joseph Smith was the first investigator of this dispensation, and that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father were the first missionary companionship of this dispensation. They came to him when he was utterly engulfed in darkness, and then bathed him in light that defied all description, just like we will do to our investigators.

We are getting new elders and sisters today, and as Zone leaders, it is the responsibility of Elder Turner and I to help train them on how to survive the MTC haha. We are also singing again today. So we might sing to the missionaries that we will be training later today. All in all everything is going well. I am having lots of fun, but working hard. Just this morning, we started our laundry before going to the temple, so on our way to the temple, we rotated it to the dryer. There was a worker who was moping the floor, and came by. I started talking to her, and asked where she was from, because my laundry had another 2 minutes before it was ready to be switched. She said she was from El Salvador, so I started speaking to her in Spanish. She then told me that she was not a member of the church, so instantly one light bulb went off into my head and I entered into missionary mode, but she didnt stop there, she continued to say she wanted to know MORE!!! These are the days that I live for. I am really looking forward to hearing about how things go for her. I know that this gospel is true, and I have seen the blessings it has brought both into my life, and into the lives of others. I am so proud of my brother, and super excited about his opportunity to serve the Lord in Tempe AZ.

love,

Elder Vincent

MTC in the Fall

Celebrating MTC Hump Day with some Martinelli's

Elder Memmott

Elder Foulk

Elder Gehring

Elder Garner

Elder Palmer

These are some of the Elders in his district.