Week 4

Hello Family and Friends!!

Well Ive been in the MTC for a month now! and wow how time flies. Seems like just yesterday I was getting dropped off and entering the MTC.

This past week was very good in many ways! Nothing too crazy or exciting happened but I learned so much over the past week!

First off a little fun fact. Last Wednesday was the first time ever in the history of the MTC that more Sisters entered the MTC than Elders. It was pretty crazy. We set up the chairs for all of the new missionaries every Wednesday as our service so we get to see all the new missionaries. We were all talking about how many sisters there were and how it must be a record or something. Then we were talking to the MTC president after the meeting and he informed us with that information that more sister entered than elders!!! It is seriously amazing the amount of sisters that are here in the MTC! Every time we have a speaker at one of our firesides/devotionals they always make a comment about how many sisters are in the room and how finally there is some color in the MTC!! Us Elders dont have much color. Just a black suit and white shirt!!

Our teaching this week has progressed so much. This past week we started to have to teach with no notes and everything from memory. At first I thought there is no way I know enough Russian to teach a 20 minute lesson without notes but it happened!! It has been such an amazing experience. I am actually way more into the lesson instead of looking down at notes to help me. I can actually feel what the fake investigator is saying to me and talk back to him in Russian. I seriously still cant believe how much Russian I know. At times i feel like i know absolutely no Russian but then at other times it just comes to me and I have full conversations with others! Also the last two days I have been trying so hard to memorize Joseph Smith's First Vision in Russian. I got about 3/4th of it memorized. My companion and I just recite it back and forth all day to get to know  it better. We also say it back and forth and it sounds like we know so much Russian and other missionaries at the MTC, not Russian, will look at us like we are pros! It kinda funny to mess with people!

We had a really cool fireside on Sunday! We had the BYU men's choir come and sing to us. They were so good! I loved it so much! They sang mostly all missionary songs and the spirit of the meeting was amazing.

On Sunday i had the opportunity to teach my district during our district meeting. I taught about recognizing the spirit. It was so awesome to teach them but especially to listen to all their testimonies and their specific ways of receiving revelation. My district is seriously so awesome. We have a very sweet spirit among all of us. Everyone has bonded so well and we have become like a family. Every single day before and after class we always sing in Russian. It is so amazing how much our singing has progressed. It was so hard at first because of the whole new alphabet and all the new sounds. At the beginning it was mostly our teacher singing and not us. Its funny to hear the French missionaries across the hall who just got here and they can sing all their hymns so loud cause all they have to do is just read the words! But we have to try to figure out all the new sounds and rules to Russian. It has been such a challenge but so cool.

Today we are getting 3 new Russian districts for our Branch!!!!! I am seriously so excited. We are finally going to be not the youngest Russians in the MTC! I know that we are getting 18 elders and 12 sisters! I am seriously so excited! The older Russians told us that when you get new Russians that you feel so much better about your Russian because they know nothing! haha. 

THANK YOU so much for all the letters and DearElders that you all keep sending me! Please keep them coming. I love to hear from you all! DearElder.com box #154.

Well overall it was great week here in the MTC! I learned so much about the Gospel this week. It is so amazing that for the next two years I get to just focus my life on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not worry about anything else. I love being a missionary and serving the Lord. I love you all and have a great day!!

LOVE,

Elder Grochmal.