Mon Cœur!

Friday April 8 2016

I'm doing very well! I do try to make sure I'm eating vegetables every meal, though I wish they knew how to really make grilled vegetables. Still, the wraps are good and so are the salads. I also got to meet one of the new Area Seventies since he is over our mission. Elder Christensen got a call and they told us he was visiting us in class in a few minutes. We hurriedly cleaned up and did a short activity. His name is Elder Christophe Kawaya and he was so cool. He spoke very little English so he mostly spoke to us in French, though his accent was a little hard to understand since he is from Africa (I believe DRC). Before he was called to be a Seventy he was a primary teacher or something similar and that was the only calling he had had... had.

I loved conference** too. I think this might have been the only one where I was awake all the time during all sessions. Obviously I loved Elder Holland's talk. I started this thing that when a teacher, Priesthood leader or the like says that they love us we say, "Mon Cœur!" and put our hands over our hearts so that was how we described his talk when discussing conference. I also loved the talk about rescuing. I also agree with the identification first and foremost as a child of God.

I totally forgot to tell you that we were visited by the Ambassador to the US from the European Union last week. It was cool but it was only for ten minutes, he seemed nice though. Oh, and tell Stacey I love her and to keep working hard at the violin! Thank you so much for all the support!

J'taime

I fear NO MAN!

Elder Russell

A picture of our picture with Elder Christophe Kawaya and his wife (mid front), one of the temple presidency people and his wife (mid mid), and one of our teachers, Frère Vanderholm (right behind me). Also the picture is balanced on whiteboard markers.

Good people going out to serve

Friday April 1 2016

Happy belated birthday! I see I'm still forgetting it. I hope you all had a great trip! Tell (everyone) I'm having a great time in the MTC and that I'm excited to go to the Republic of the Congo (also Cameroon and Gabon). 

Right then, Elder ZoBell is also going to the Republic of the Congo, Brazzaville mission. Also the entire zone except our district and another left this week. It was sad but exciting and I'm so glad there are so many good people going out to serve. That left only seven people in the Zone until Wednesday where we received eleven new missionaries: eight new Elders and three new Sœurs. I haven't got to know many of them yet but they seem like excellent people.

During the Tuesday devotional I had a tender mercy. I was super tired and thought I would fall asleep during it. They announced who the speaker was (Elder Vinson) and he was someone that Sœur Mitchell knew from Sydney because her seminary teacher had been good friends with him and his wife. He is also the 70 over the West Africa area, which is right next the area I'm serving (Africa Southeast). I most definitely did not fall asleep. I also got to meet him briefly because they wanted to take a picture with Sœur Mitchell and she was the only Sœur in our zone at the time.

I did initiatories* this morning and it was cool to hear that again since I had only done it once. It was also amazing to think about what it meant to those I was doing them for.

I have been using the "I fear no man!" more also, though I still haven't translated it to French. Speaking of which, the coolest thing I learned in French this week was using the conditional, even though I did that on my own time instead of in class. We also practiced asking questions to find the needs of our investigators, which was really cool.

L'escouade

Friday March 25 2016
I am doing awesome this week! The language is going great! The lessons are going great also. I try to remember in every prayer to ask for charity for my companion, my district, my zone, those I am/will be serving... and everyone.

I'm doing well with French and my teachers are quite funny. Yesterday one showed us "Santa Claus" in the scriptures (Zech 1:7-10, 2:6) which was hilarious. My companion and I did well in our lessons; Though often we don't invite the investigator to do everything we want to invite them to do we have always invited them to pray.

One cool new thing I learned in French was using the conditional. We didn't go over it in class but I started making flash cards for grammar and words. We also memorized James 1:5 in French. Part of that was translating the meaning into English and that helped a lot. We also went over a review system and decided to recite memorized scriptures (and invitations and the missionary purpose) at the start of companionship study. Elder ZoBell is progressing in the language quickly. He came here knowing no French except "Bonjour" and now he is saying a lot during lessons. He still struggles with conjugations but I know he will be able to learn the language trés vite.

My toes are doing very well. I can run unhindered by them now so that is nice... plus I can play volleyball without worrying about them too much. I'm not really sick anymore but I have this very persistent cough. I'm not entirely sure but I think it has to do with how dry it is here. I've been drinking lots of water too. The cough is particularly annoying because it often come up when I'm singing, and as you know, I love singing. Nevertheless I am still doing very well.

We got to see the Provo City Center Temple dedicated on Sunday and that was... so awesome. It was beautiful and the spirit was so strong... words cannot describe. I do remember Elder Oaks inviting two kids to put on some ceremonial mortar on and that was very cute.

Don't worry about the sports. If I had wanted to learn more I had plenty of opportunity to do so. I'm very content knowing about Lord of the Rings, Tolkien and all that stuff.

And now I guess it is time for pictures since I'm running out of things to say!

​"L'escouade" or "The Squad" or "The District". L'escouade actually is a police squad but ce n'est pas grave.

Here is a picture of the whole zone!

Je t'aime and I FEAR NO MAN!
Elder Russell

Lots of Learning

Friday March 18 2016
Mon Francais deveni tres bon! The coolest new word I have learned is reconnaissant which means, "thankful, grateful." I have also learned a few Tahitian words because Elder Crandell, Elder Christensen and Sœur Mitchell are going to Tahiti. I've learned ia maramarama (ya maramarama) which is "to know" in Tahitian. Everyone else in my district knows more about sports than me. Oh, Elder Crandell and Elder ZoBell are both from Utah, Elder Christensen is from California and Sœur Mitchell is from Australia. I'm 99% sure that I'm here for six weeks (that is, five more weeks)

I've been learning a lot about the atonement and restoration because that is what we have taught our investigator, Johnatton. He doesn't have a gold tag so he isn't an actual investigator, he is just playing the role. We just taught him about repentance and baptism and we will be teaching him about the sacrament next. It was funny because when I asked him if he wanted to be baptized he said yes. So I asked, "When?" and he said that he wanted to be baptized on his birthday. I asked when that was and he told us it was in October. I was going to say, "How about next week?" but I felt prompted to ask him to pray about it and he said he would.

Je vous aime et "FEAR NO MAN!"

Elder Russell

Email to Stacey

Friday March 18 2016
Hi Stacey! My companion is pretty funny I guess. Sometimes he has a hard time waking up but we're all pretty good at waking up on time. I am having fun learning Francais parce que j'aime apprendre les langues (I love learning languages).

Je t'aime!

Elder Russell

MTC - Provo

Friday March 11 2016
I went to the temple this morning and it was awesome. It has been fun talking in French during class and learning new words in the language. I have a very fun district, but also a pretty small one. There are (is? Are is? Is are?) just five of us: Elder Zobell, my companion; Elder Crandel, our district leader; Elder Christansen; Sister Mitchell; and me. I think my companion and I are going to get along just fine. We are going to teach our first MTC investigator today. I'm a bit nervous, mostly because there are a bunch of words I wish I knew how to say in French. Tell everyone thanks for all the support and that I love them! I'm excited to get out into the mission field and I hope you are having a wonderful time!

(Guess you didn't get a "book" this time!)

Love, Elder Russell

Also, I FEAR NO MAN!

1st Email!

Wednesday March 9 2016

I'm having a great day at the MTC! I love you so much and will be excited to see you again! P-day is Friday and I'll e-mail you back soon!