Week 3  BAM! The spirit

ძვირპასო ოჯახი და მეგობრები,

 [Parent note: translates to Dear Family & Friends]

 I am going to try and shorten my email a little this week, because last time it took me way too long.... and I have a lesson to plan today. So less detail this time. I will go through each day though, like I did last time. The beginning of this week a lot happened. Wednesday after emailing and everything else I taught a lesson. That night getting ready for bed I was called over the intercom to come to the front desk. As me and my companions knew we had to look presentable, as in had to wear church clothes to the front desk (there is a rule about that), we put church clothes over our pajamas and went out. The picture of me and companions posing goofy with weird outfits is what we looked like. I had just got out of the shower. Luckily, I was only called to the front desk for a package. [Parent note: I had sent Rachel a package to help celebrate her first week in the MTC, she was just then getting it. It took almost to 2 weeks to get Utah from California, UGH!]  That night I also had to plan a lesson for Thursday morning's class, but because of the package fiasco and the journaling I had to do, it was already 10:30. I told myself that I needed to be obedient and go to bed and work on the lesson tomorrow morning. We usually have time, and I get ready real fast. Then Thursday morning happened. Let’s just say everything was working against me making this lesson. My companion set the alarm clock to 6:30.....PM, so we all woke up at 7:13 am. So we quickly got ready, went to breakfast, and then to class. My lesson was sooooo bad. I basically just read straight out of the handbook and that was it.......I am so glad that's over. I had physical therapy that day, which is a nice break and a massage is always amazing. Then I had TRC that night, and let me tell you that was an experience. TRC is basically teaching a lesson to a member that speaks your language, the one you are learning. When I walked in and the brother started talking in Georgian, I think it was in that moment it finally hit me. Oh gosh I'm on my mission, and I have to speak that language somehow. My first TRC person was Jake and it was OK. However, he wouldn't let me use the Book of Mormon, which was.......nice. My current teacher thought it was OK to use the BOM in my lesson, so that was why I had references in the first place. But when I went in and said we were using the Book of Mormon he refused. So there went half of my lesson. I managed without it, but I basically about died in that instance. He said that he wanted missionaries to learn how to not use the Book of Mormon, because there isn't one translated in Georgian yet, Brother Muir I guess thought otherwise. Wonderful first time, right? Then my second person was Charity. She was super nice. She used to be a Georgian MTC teacher, and she used a lot of her old teacher tactics on me. At one point during the lesson she talked how this was her anniversary of coming home from her mission 3 years ago, and I, of course, said I understood (very little but I got the gist of it), and you want to know what she did next? She asked me to repeat her answer in Georgian. Basically she wanted me to explain her answer to make sure I knew what she said....... uh yah! Died on the spot as well. Oh how I can't wait for a companion that speaks my language, so that we can at least be confused together. They both said it was amazing I knew this much on the second week, but all the other missionaries got the same complement, so I feel like they were just saying that. At least they didn't say I sucked, so I will take it. 

PJs + church clothes = dressed appropriate to go to front desk before bed.

Russian District Soccer Saturday

Friday wasn't too eventful. I asked for homework during class, which was a first. I wanted sentences to translate so that I could get used to applying the grammar. The grammar for the most part makes sense (besides what I just learned because I'm still get a little confused between active and passive sentences at times), the hard part is applying it on the spot and remembering all the cases, the conjugations, and rules. Oh you know how I said last week there was 120 ways to conjugate one verb? I lied,... there is 128 and I do have to learn ALL of them. Luckily a lot of them are similar, so once I know a good solid half I’ll understand the rest, at least that's what Brother Muir said. During exercise time we did volleyball, which has become a norm. Volleyball is with the Russian district. I have picked up some Russian now that I am around them so much. My companions are part of that district. What was cool about exercise time that day was that Sister Johnson lost her key coming back from exercise as she rolled down the hill. So all of us (me, Sister Johnson, and Sister Burrup) went looking for this key in the grass. We said a pray and almost a minute later a district came asking if they could help. So that whole district and us lined up between two trees and walked down the hill, each looking at our designated hill spot to look for the key. I found the key! It was a really cool experience that showed the power of prayer. Saturday is “Soccer Saturday” and the elders go insane over this day. The whole zone played each other, just the elders, of course, since the sister can't play with them. The teams consisted of like 30 people, so it was like 30 against thirty. The sisters which was like 8 people played soccer against each other. It was fun. Lots of slipping since the grass was slightly frosted over. That night I had a sub for class. She served in the Ukraine and spoke Ukrainian. Super nice. I taught her Georgian grammar, so that was fun. Sunday I taught relief society with my companions. Sooo much easier than teaching in Georgian. That night we watched "Missions are Forever" by Elder Holland and it was amazing. I read the talk before but hearing it was a different experience. It made me change my view on the mission. It isn't just a break in time where I serve and then go back to my normal life. It is a life changing experience for both me and others. We should rejoice in the fact we are doing his work. So I made a challenge with myself. Every morning and night I say the missionary purpose, in Georgian of course, as well as to always wear my missionary tag. I get a very short period of time where I literally get to wear Christ's name on my chest, so I'm going to milk every last minute. I wear it constantly and the only time I take it off is when I am changing or showering. That's right I sleep with it! 

Classroom perspective and study materials. 

Monday was good. Class was great and I learned something in that class that I need to keep in mind not only here, but in Georgia. I'll get into that later. That day I met a senior couple who are are going to Iraq. They are the only missionaries in the whole mission. They have no resources to learn the language, they are only in the MTC for a week, and will have sacrament meeting in their apartment in the field to only 17 members. I thought I had a weird mission! Never complaining again. Tuesday I taught a lesson. My lesson plan was almost all in English, so I basically was using what I memorized and trying to speak what I know in Georgian. It went well, not amazing, but it was lot better. For Devotional an apostle came, Elder Soares. He gave an amazing talk, but that is a given since he is an apostle. But what I took the most out of that whole experience was the spirit he brought into the room. All he did was walk in the room and BAM! The spirit. It is truly inspiring.

This week was great, with of course an occasional emotional roller coaster here and there. But the good completely out-weighs the bad. During Monday’s class we talked about the Book of Mormon. I find that I have been struggling with this because how are we supposed to teach others about the Book of Mormon, when for some they can't even read it. In the past I’ve been told that for missionaries the goal is to give a book of Mormon to people because that it is essential to their conversion. But, what about the Georgian people? Some can read Russian and English, but not super well so they can't get everything out of the Book of Mormon, but at least they can read it. But, what about the people that can only read Georgian. Brother Muir said something during class that changed my outlook on this. For us Georgian missionaries we really have to teach like the Savior did, more than anyone else. We have to bring our A game, meaning the spirit we bring is critical to their conversion. Christ didn't have a Book of Mormon, but he converted thousands of people. Now we aren't Christ, but if we strive to teach more like him and bring the spirit into lessons like him, then we can convert, maybe not thousands, but a good handful. This is not to take away from the importance of the Book of Mormon, but for us Georgian missionaries who might teach those that can't read the Book of Mormon, we have to think like this. We have to get them far enough to where they are willing to wait for the Book of Mormon, because once that Book of Mormon comes out their conversion will sky rocket. This reminded me of the spirit that Elder Soares brought to the devotional just from walking into the room. I want that! To have the spirit so strong that you can't even deny that it's there. To the Georgians that can read some Russian or English, it is a little easier for them, since just reading the Book Mormon (even if they don't understand it completely) the spirit is still evident. To those that can't they will have to rely on the spirit from just learning about the Book of Mormon and the testimonies of other until that wonderful day when we get the Book of Mormon in Georgian. This mission is one of the very few, if not the only mission, that does not have a Book of Mormon translated in the language yet. Hopefully it doesn't stay that way for too long. 

That basically was the week. I have a lot going on in the next few days. TRC is tomorrow, soooo not ready....but I'm planning and working on it today. I am doing great! Till next week!

-და ჯენსენი

Finally a solo picture of Rachel pointing to Georgia. Solo is fitting...

Sister Johnson, Sister Burrap (Russian Sisters) and Sister Jensen