Lovin' It.

I don't know what it is, but the past few days especially, at the end of the day and throughout I just feel so happy to be here. I love the MTC. This is such a unique experience. I feel the Spirit every single day I am here. It's not always easy either, which I love because it gives me opportunities to grow.

 

Last week my companion and I taught our first lesson in Russian. It went quite well I think. Really well for the first time. We didn't speak and English. I'm learning more and more Russian and having native Russians here is so great. It's just hard to convince my companion to sit with them at meals for some reason. We have to sit together and he never wants to. I learn so much more when I talk with them. They are super awesome. One of them, Elder Vargin, is 6'8" from Moscow, I call him my gigantic friend, in Russian, and he calls me his Canadian friend. They all have such a great spirit. They will be the future leaders of the Church in Russia and Ukraine. I am so grateful for the missionaries who have gone before and brought the Gospel to the Russian people. Most of them are converts within the last 5 years or less. There are 8 of them. 4 Sisters and 4 Elders.

 

So, I learned last week that the day before we arrived all the Elders filled out a survey so they could choose who would be in the MTC Priesthood choir which will sing at General Conference. I was pretty disappointed to learn that I don't have any chance in being in it. But my voice wasn't 100% anyway the day they started the rehearsals and I am doing a pretty good job at accepting it. It's just a bummer because opportunities to sing the the Conference Centre are very rare. I feel better knowing that because I am not in it some other missionary has a chance to be. They just refinished the gym here so there hasn't been an MTC choir for devotionals yet, but the first time should be today. I'm planning on being in it with the German in my District, Elder Dannenberg.

 

I'm training to try to beat the push-up record here at the MTC. It's 142 for men. I think I will probably be able to do it before I leave. Everybody in my room (2 companionships) are working on the 100 push-up challenge. I also play volleyball quite a bit in gym time these days but my elbows and shoulders ache a lot. It occurred to me the other day that maybe it's arthritis. I wonder what that feels like.

 

Everyday is very busy here, but I feel like I've learned to live in the moment pretty well and I'm just trying to soak it all up. We learn so much everyday. We have amazing teachers and great devotionals, firesides, and large group meeting. Our Branch Presidency rock, 2 of them were mission presidents in Russia before. I feel true joy here.

 

I know that we are literal children of our Father in Heaven. I love Him and I know He loves me. Thanks to everybody who has helped me to get here. I am full of love.

 

I really like something I heard yesterday about faith. One of our teachers said, "I prayed not hoping that something would happen, but expecting it." I hope we can all do that.

 

Love,

Старейшина Махони

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Striples of Panama

Alright, the end of week 2. So much happens here that when I sit down to write about it my mind goes blank. I mean, since the last time I wrote here I have had seven 16 hour days. What I can say though is that a person can grow here more than anywhere else I know of. I can't imagine that there is another place more structured and disciplined where you work so much. At the same time there are quite a few blocks where we direct our own time. These periods are what really set one missionary apart from another. There is so much to learn about using time and studying effectively.

 

Since I know a bit of Russian already and my companion studied Russian at BYU, sometimes we get pulled out to do more advanced things. We'll also be spending more time with the native Russians who arrived last week. There's one other sister who studied Russian in our district so we'll be teaching the first lesson with her in Russian tomorrow. Normally we wouldn't have to teach in Russian until the 6th week. I have My Purpose and the First Vision memorized in Russian now. Last night I was out to do a little advanced grammar and as I review the verb conjugations I had a very exciting experience. I just realized that Russian verb conjugations are simpler than any other language I speak! I thought that I just looked at some of the beginner stuff and the harder tense would come later, but that was it. Past and future tenses are so easy! There are really only like 5 different tenses. Anyway, I'm sure that's not as exciting for some, but the language is starting to unfold better for me.

 

There's an awesome German Elder in my district named Elder Dannenberg. I love him. He's so funny. We have a good time together. Sometimes his English is funny too. Yesterday it sounded like he said "We are the modern Striples of Panama." instead of Stripling Warriors of Helaman. I had a good laugh about that. Our whole district is awesome really. And we have the best teachers!

 

I wish I had a lot more to say this week, but it's really just been a continuation of the same rigorous schedule. I love it here. The MTC is really what you make it. I plan to enjoy it the whole time I'm here. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

 

It's amazing to be a part of such a marvelous work. On Sunday we had a devotional in the gym for the first time since it was just refinished. They let the Elders take off their suit jackets since the AC wasn't working right and it was pretty awesome to see hundreds of black jackets change to white shirts. Afterward I walked up along a balcony and stood there for a minute looking down at ~1000 missionaries. That's less than half of the amount here. Every single one of them was called to serve by a true prophet of God and set apart as disciples of Jesus Christ w/ the authority to preach his Gospel. Wow.

 

I just learned a couple days ago why the book is Preach My Gospel and not "teach." The citation is on the cover, but basically the scripture says that we are to preach the gospel and the Spirit does the teaching. I'm so excited to be here. I know that I am in the right place. I feel the Spirit everyday. There's know way I can deny that this work is ordained of God.

 

With love,

Старейшина Махони

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First Week @ MTC!

Well, here I am. I was set apart on Sunday Sept. 5th and arrived in Utah on Monday the 6th. I had a great time w/ Jess Cooper and his family. They were so helpful! I did a few last minute errands, saw temple square and did an endowment session in the Salt Lake Temple. A lot of people were pretty confused when I told them my name is Elder Mahoney. They wondered where my name tag is. Haha.

 

I arrived at the MTC on Wednesday, Sept. 8th. This place is so awesome! The schedule is pretty intense. The schedule is different everyday, but for most of the time I'm here (12 weeks) we have a repeating weekly schedule. There are some days that start w/ 45 minutes of gym time and are then classes from like 08:20-21:00 w/ only breaks for 2 45 minute meals. It's hard to imagine any place in the world so regimented and disciplined. I love it though! I'm in a district w/ 10 missionaries. 6 Elders and 4 Sisters. There are 4 districts in our zone and the zone is our branch. Above the zone leaders we have a branch presidency who are older men called from outside the MTC. I do all the classes w/ my district. We have the best district! Unfortunely, I'm the only Russian-speaker going to Kiev from this group, but that probably the only downside. (There is a district of 10 Ukrainian speakers in another zone all going to Kiev.) The are 9 languages spoken by people in our district: English, Russian, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Arabic! My companion is great. =) His name is Elder Takagi. He's half Japanese and half-American. He lived in Japan a lot of his life, but most recently was at BYU and studied there. Everybody else in my district is mostly American except for Elder Dannenberg who is from Germany (and hilarious and awesome) and Elder Peterson who was adopted from Russia when he was 10. Our teachers are so great. We have 3 and they come throughout the week at different times and teach us Russian and about how to be missionaries.

 

The schedule is so intense here that at the end of the day when I go to write in my journal I can hardly think of where to start and it seems like what we did at 07:00 was days ago! It's so sweet though, it really makes us stretch and grow into the instruments the Lord would have us be. One sweet aspect of being here is meet people from all over the place! Yesterday I spoke English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and I'm learn a little German and a few words in Arabic. =P I've bumped into a couple people I know so far and am expecting another one tomorrow. Elder Christian Drage was called as zone leader his 3rd day here! That's a pretty big responsibility. I'm fine w/ just being a regular missionary for the time being. Haha.

 

The language is coming along well and the native Russians just arrive today, so I'm really excited about that. It'll be sweet to practice talking with them and get to know them.

 

I did a session at the Provo temple this morning. We do one every week here. The Spirit here is so great. I feel the Spirit again and again as I learn, hear stories and testify. I feel the hand of the Lord in this work everyday. I know that I am here because this is were God would have me be. This is a great and marvelous work. I am so happy to be here! I would really not rather be any place else. They said there are 2000-2500 missionaries here and ~5000 people working to support us. That's so incredible. I can really feel it.

 

My time's up. I'm praying for you all. Godspeed.

 

- Старейшина Махони

 

P.S. I love eating here. So much food. =D I'm getting good at eating quickly and going back for more! =D

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This is it!

I'm being set apart tomorrow at 18:30 in Halifax and I'm flying out to Utah on Monday morning.

I'm super pumped. =D