Two Weeks and counting....

First things first- I was just in the temple this morning and guess who I saw... ALLISON! Yea! it was pretty awesome, it is so awesome to see people you know and to realize there still is a real world out there.
One more week down! It has been a really long week but altogether pretty good. It seem like the more time I spend here in the MTC the more I just want to get out and go to Russia. The lanugage is hard and yesterday started out two weeks of SYL. pure 100% Russian for two weeks. All classes, all studying everything 100% Russian. IT IS HARD! I've already made many mistakes and slipped in some English words but I know that it will be good for me to do. Thankyou so much for all of your letters and emails and packages. I got a package from Patricia this week that was AWESOME and filled with cute things to give to the kids and of course a Powerbar. I also got a package from Sara-- thankyou so much! best package idea ever was putting in some perfume! And thanks mom- I did get your package yesterday and all of my roommates loved your popcorn!
Well I guess I'll just summarize the week as usual and see how much time I have left-- it always goes SO fast!
Tuesday was our P-day which was really good. We had the Devotional and it was with Elder Hinkcley. It was FANTASTIC! It talked about a lot of things I needed to hear and again got me excited to go into the mission field and start serving people. If I have time this afternoon I will try and send you some quotes in a letter. Wednesday was of course the Softball game. Unfortunately I did not score any runs but it is okay. Our team still has not one the beautiful trophy I made so that's a bit of a disappointment but we're preparing already for the big game tomorrow and hopefully can win. Last week was "Dinosaur" themed. (Elders get really bored sometimes in the MTC and have to come up with things that seem funny:) My name for the game was Stegomorris. Yep. Also Wednesday our District was hosts for the new missionaries. When you get to the MTC you are assigned a host who takes you around to get your books and to your room and then shows you to your classroom. We had to do it last week and will do it again this week. It was really WEIRD! Standing there watching missionaries say goodbyes to their families was REALLY hard! It brought back really weird memories of the day I came to the MTC- memories I didn't realyl want to remember- but all is well. The missionaries are so excited and you can tell they are just ready to start serving. I got put with a group of Mongolian sisters which was definitely intersting because I don't speak Mongolian. They had a translator with them so I walked them around and helped them move their stuff into their rooms and showed them what all of the buildings were. I guess that Mongolian and Russian have the same alphabet and a lot of words were the same and so it was intersting to hear them try to talk to me. When I listened to them speak I was so glad I didn't have to learn Mongolian- it is crazy! They were really cute and sweet and I enjoyed taking them aruond and am excited to do it again tomorrow. It really is amazing the comfort that Heavenly Father can bring you when you are following his will and choosing the right. The sisters all seemed to be so happy to be here and so ready to serve and preach the gospel. Wednesday night we had the TRC and it went really well. We taught the 2nd lesson again- the Plan of Salvation- and our investigator was really good. we also taught about tithing which I thought went really well.
Thursday was service and our Large group meeting day. Nothing too intersting happened though. The weekend was good. We have started teaching a "progressing investigator" who just acts like a real investigator. You teach them and schedule return appointments. It is going pretty well. we have taught him, Dima, to pray and that God loves him and have talked about the importance of religion in our life. We have another appointment with him tomorrow so I hope that goes well. It is so hard to answer questions and explain things in Russian but I know that as I keep studying and praying, Heavenly Father will help me. We also started teaching Bro. Kjar (the clarinetist with the Dixieland Band). He is a evaluating teacher here and we taught him last night and it was really interesting. He gave us some great feedback and I am excited to teach him again on Thursday.
Sunday was great as usual. We went to the temple and took some pictures as a district with one of teachers Bro. Fisher. I will have to try and send those before I leave. We get our flight plans this week which seems really weird but I am so excited to see where I will fly to and when etc. I think once I get those I will know when and where from I will be able to call you. All of the missionaries that came in with us and were here for 9 weeks have left and so it weird! We are officially the oldest missionaries here. I know mom it seems like the MTC would be the perfect mission and I agree that it is nice that we get to eat, go to the temple, have nice rooms, hot showers etc. but I am so excited to go to RUSSIA! I am so excited to start meeting people who need the Gospel and who I can hopefully share it with. The church is true and I am so grateful for it. It has blessed my life and know it has the power to bless so many other lives! YEA! Well I hope all is well and that everyone is doing well. I will write one more time from here and then...Russia! Love you all and thankyou so much for all you do for me.
Whitney