P-day is Saturday this week, so check back then. In the mean time Mitchell would like me to post the lyrics to the Passion Pit song "Better Things" for you all to read. Seeing as it was his only request, I will honor it and make the elder happy: )
Better Things
By: Passion Pit
that was our fifth song,
and i hope you enjoyed it,
now this would be our best song you have ever heard,
the dirt bikes going on stage. thank you.
you're gonna drive me crazy
you're gonna drive me mad
you got an angel on your shoulder
makin hairpins outta glass
i believe in believing
the things that we don't see
and the skin violin is where the neighbors wont read meals
and the family heirloom jewelery
with sets and heaps of thieves
will cast down things
that you've never even
seen like the gods
like the glory like the stories
that your fathers set before you
ride the tiger round the kingdom
oh no oh no
oh no there's a meeting in the canyons
oh no this is rising to the clouds
you're gonna drive me crazy
you're gonna drive me mad
you got an angel on your shoulder
makin hairpins outta glass
baby don't be unhappy
baby don't be sad
better things are coming
i swear there's truth in that
i'm shooting off the cannons
of the clouds begin to flow
and the baskets weave ???????? but the ones we'll never keep
just pretend that things are mobile and will never stay put
and the way we were the day we climbed to the top of the
steeple with its people spewing angels out their mouths and letting tables turn to charcoal in the lipstick and the lipstick in the evening(oh no)
oh no we were waving like the trees
oh no then they moved us to the sky
you're gonna drive me crazy
you're gonna drive me mad
you got an angel on your shoulder
makin hairpins outta glass
baby don't be unhappy
baby don't be sad
better things are coming
i swear there's truth in that
two or three times the bell will ring but when when we look for the better things we search for this we have not build i feel it crash upon your skin
i find it hard to believe there more
of these things behind the door
do you miss me like i miss you
do i miss you like you miss me
you're gonna drive me crazy
you're gonna drive me mad
you got an angel on your shoulder
makin hairpins outta glass
baby don't be unhappy
baby don't be sad
better things are coming
i swear there's truth in that
x2
Check back Saturday for his weekly e-mail, Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Pictures for Chritmas! Enjoy!
Alla's Baptism!
This interpreted says "russian mean sober" Mitch found this ironic : )
Oh Mitchell...
I'm on a mission in Russia and lifes good!
I'm guessing this is them at the Nutcracker which they got to go see as a cultural activity.
The Holidays in Russia
Well, Happy new year everyone, and a happy Christmas to you too. As far as Christmas goes here, well, it doesnt really. Everyone celebrates New year and You see trees decorated outside, but not in houses, and there is santa everywhere, but he is a symbol of the new year for some reason and well, Christmas just isnt Christmas here...but they do kinda maybe celebrate it on the 7th of january as part of their 2 week holiday starting at new years. we cant go outside for most of new years eve cuz its gonna be psycho nuts, but no worries.
So right now all is well. We cant wear our tags cuz theres some war going on between the russians and the stanis, but all i see is an excess of police officers. apparently there have been riots and lots of people have been put in jail, but i havent really seen anything, i dont think its that big of a deal.
The work is going well, there is one Vecheslav alekseyavich who is this awesome old man who we hope to eventually baptise, so thats awesome. Vitaly is going to talk to the branch president about serving a mission on sunday, and the contacting is going great! You smell a lot of alcohol on guys breath, but its awesome to just talk to people and stuff and stuff. That picture with the graffiti on it says "russian means sober" i thought it was funny.
We went to culture night to the Nutcracker Ballet and i fell in love with the ballet. The music more than anything was incredible.
We played love is spoken here in parts on harmonicas yesterday to Bab alla and The donosovie, so all is well. I am out of time and i still have to write peside4nt, so have fun we will talk to you on Christmas morning for you, Christmas night for me.
Merrie Christmas
Elder Pal
Thank-you to all of those who are supporting Mitchell on his mission! We can't wait to talk to him in just a few days!!!
- The Pauls
So right now all is well. We cant wear our tags cuz theres some war going on between the russians and the stanis, but all i see is an excess of police officers. apparently there have been riots and lots of people have been put in jail, but i havent really seen anything, i dont think its that big of a deal.
The work is going well, there is one Vecheslav alekseyavich who is this awesome old man who we hope to eventually baptise, so thats awesome. Vitaly is going to talk to the branch president about serving a mission on sunday, and the contacting is going great! You smell a lot of alcohol on guys breath, but its awesome to just talk to people and stuff and stuff. That picture with the graffiti on it says "russian means sober" i thought it was funny.
We went to culture night to the Nutcracker Ballet and i fell in love with the ballet. The music more than anything was incredible.
We played love is spoken here in parts on harmonicas yesterday to Bab alla and The donosovie, so all is well. I am out of time and i still have to write peside4nt, so have fun we will talk to you on Christmas morning for you, Christmas night for me.
Merrie Christmas
Elder Pal
Thank-you to all of those who are supporting Mitchell on his mission! We can't wait to talk to him in just a few days!!!
- The Pauls
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Starting the Second Lap!
Dear all,
So glad to here that the world wide postal system is still up and running. as far as the cd player goes It might be better if i just buy one here so no worries then. I got you a little something special and i will try and send it to you today, if not, then next week.
Here's the deal. I just went on a split with Elder Morgan-the elder in one of the pictures i sent you-football player. So he's a total stud and not to mention hes my grandpa on the mission cuz he trained elder nielson. Anyways he is pretty much one of the guys that got this mission going again and he got me stoked beyond words about doing the work. I realized that i can be such a better missionary. I can work so much harder than i am working. Its like whenever i ran a race in high school, although i ran a great race and maybe i got first place, i wasnt tired afterwards. I wasnt completely dead from exhaustion. I ran very few races that I was 100 percent satisfied with. Right now I am starting the second lap of my mission. I have to run even faster and even better this lap. And from what i see in other missionaries, the third lap is the hardest. My mindset has changed a lot already on my mission and I know that my mission should be so much harder and so much more rewarding.
Anyways. As far as new investigators go, we have very few. That is one thing that I am determined to fix about my mission right now. I will contact no matter where I am. Every single missionary sets up barriers in their head that prevent him/her from doing the work. Little things that stop us from talking to people, like the thought that they might get off at the next metro stop or that they are probably not interested, or that they have headphones in or whatever it may be, satan is building up barriers in missionaries, and really everyones heads that prevent them from proclaiming the Gospel to others. Oh how cunning the plan of the Devil. So pretty much im stoked about being a better missionary and proclaiming this great message to the people of Russia.
So thats my thought for the week. get out of your confort zone and do what you know you need to.
Love always,
Elder Paul.
So glad to here that the world wide postal system is still up and running. as far as the cd player goes It might be better if i just buy one here so no worries then. I got you a little something special and i will try and send it to you today, if not, then next week.
Here's the deal. I just went on a split with Elder Morgan-the elder in one of the pictures i sent you-football player. So he's a total stud and not to mention hes my grandpa on the mission cuz he trained elder nielson. Anyways he is pretty much one of the guys that got this mission going again and he got me stoked beyond words about doing the work. I realized that i can be such a better missionary. I can work so much harder than i am working. Its like whenever i ran a race in high school, although i ran a great race and maybe i got first place, i wasnt tired afterwards. I wasnt completely dead from exhaustion. I ran very few races that I was 100 percent satisfied with. Right now I am starting the second lap of my mission. I have to run even faster and even better this lap. And from what i see in other missionaries, the third lap is the hardest. My mindset has changed a lot already on my mission and I know that my mission should be so much harder and so much more rewarding.
Anyways. As far as new investigators go, we have very few. That is one thing that I am determined to fix about my mission right now. I will contact no matter where I am. Every single missionary sets up barriers in their head that prevent him/her from doing the work. Little things that stop us from talking to people, like the thought that they might get off at the next metro stop or that they are probably not interested, or that they have headphones in or whatever it may be, satan is building up barriers in missionaries, and really everyones heads that prevent them from proclaiming the Gospel to others. Oh how cunning the plan of the Devil. So pretty much im stoked about being a better missionary and proclaiming this great message to the people of Russia.
So thats my thought for the week. get out of your confort zone and do what you know you need to.
Love always,
Elder Paul.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
I'd say it's officially winter!!!
Well here's the deal. I dont need boots in moscow because people are paid to sweep the sidewalks, so my shoes will do just fine. and also i do not have my camera cord with me right now, so i am afraid i can not send home any pictures, but to tell you the truth i havent been taking many pictures, but i will take more.
As far as the Baptism goes, it went great and everything was swell. (He is refering to a lady and her son who were baptized on Saurday. She had been attnding chuch for 4-5 months, but was cautious about taking that next step because of persecution from her mother who she lives with) Elder Rudd baptised her and then confirmed her in the Universitet Branch on sunday. She will be a strong member, and she is very receptive to the Spirit. It is very exciting to see people being baptised and taking that first step towards eternal life. It is still hard for me to comprehend how important that simple act is in the whole scheme of things.
Also we met with Vitaly Donosov who is 23 years old, and he went from being inactive for 2 years to being completely active and wanting to serve a mission after just one meeting that we had with him and his Mom. We will be meeting with him twice a week to help him get ready for the mission. Im stoked for him...he is what we need more of in Russia. He is a young good looking stud of a kid who is stoked about serving a mission and growing his testimony.
Well I'd say its officially winter here...you cant leave the house without a scarf, gloves, jacket hat, and most importantly, long johns. It has really been 6 months now since i left...thats just about half a year. a quarter of my mission. Bust i feel like i havent accomplished anything! this language is still pretty much wailing on me, but im sure its getting significantly better, at least i dont sound like a total american when i speak, thats really important.
Yesterday we went to a russian hospital to give a member a blessing. There was no place to give the blessing so we just gave it in the hall with a bunch of sick people watching. She had a continuos bloody nose and a thing strapped around her head to keep the blood in...I felt really bad for her. but at least we did what we could.
Well it sounds like all is well and fine. Keep doing what your doing!
I Love you all, And i love the work!
Love Elder Paul
As far as the Baptism goes, it went great and everything was swell. (He is refering to a lady and her son who were baptized on Saurday. She had been attnding chuch for 4-5 months, but was cautious about taking that next step because of persecution from her mother who she lives with) Elder Rudd baptised her and then confirmed her in the Universitet Branch on sunday. She will be a strong member, and she is very receptive to the Spirit. It is very exciting to see people being baptised and taking that first step towards eternal life. It is still hard for me to comprehend how important that simple act is in the whole scheme of things.
Also we met with Vitaly Donosov who is 23 years old, and he went from being inactive for 2 years to being completely active and wanting to serve a mission after just one meeting that we had with him and his Mom. We will be meeting with him twice a week to help him get ready for the mission. Im stoked for him...he is what we need more of in Russia. He is a young good looking stud of a kid who is stoked about serving a mission and growing his testimony.
Well I'd say its officially winter here...you cant leave the house without a scarf, gloves, jacket hat, and most importantly, long johns. It has really been 6 months now since i left...thats just about half a year. a quarter of my mission. Bust i feel like i havent accomplished anything! this language is still pretty much wailing on me, but im sure its getting significantly better, at least i dont sound like a total american when i speak, thats really important.
Yesterday we went to a russian hospital to give a member a blessing. There was no place to give the blessing so we just gave it in the hall with a bunch of sick people watching. She had a continuos bloody nose and a thing strapped around her head to keep the blood in...I felt really bad for her. but at least we did what we could.
Well it sounds like all is well and fine. Keep doing what your doing!
I Love you all, And i love the work!
Love Elder Paul
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Baby It's Cold Outside
Dear Family and others,
First things first. I have never experienced having to live in such cold weather. today is negative 20 celcius! (that is -4 Fahrenheit) luckily I have good clothing to keep me warm, but some nice thick winter socks would be good idea to get ahold of...if you want to send me some, I can probably hold off or buy a pair I dont really know.
But yeah so I'm super excited because we have been visiting a family in our branch and the son is way inactive, but just yesterday he said that he wants to serve a mission!!!! such cool stuff happens here every day and I wish i could tell you about everything, but its just too much to write.
Armand came back from Benine, he was visiting his family and now hes back and he is an awesome member, doing home teaching. By the way, Home teaching here pretty much doesnt exist...another thing we need to work on in the church here.
about the letters I may have sent...they sometimes take 3 months, and thats actually normal, so no worries, maybe it will get there for Christmas.
I will try and send some pictures next week. Oh, ummm
I am doing well still havent gotten sick for a half a year now, I suppose thats a miracle in and of itself.
I'm loving the language its hard.
I went on my visa trip with an elder from the west mission and I was a tad bit bummed cuz we didn’t get to go to the temple because Moscow west mission just go to kiev and turn right around, it took like a day. But next time I will be with elder Ablett and we will get to go to the Temple...it will just make when i do go even better, the fact that I didn’t go this time. structure of my sentences is terrible.
Some guy is sitting next to me playing world of warcraft or something foney like that...total goofball him and his friends are so stoked...
Anyways I have to go. Thank you for your support, your fasting, your prayers. I will keep you updated. This is the greatest work I can be doing rightnow and I hope that others do not miss this experience. I wouldnt change it for the world, because serving the Lord is the most important thing that any of us can be doing. ever.
Love Elder Popsicle
First things first. I have never experienced having to live in such cold weather. today is negative 20 celcius! (that is -4 Fahrenheit) luckily I have good clothing to keep me warm, but some nice thick winter socks would be good idea to get ahold of...if you want to send me some, I can probably hold off or buy a pair I dont really know.
But yeah so I'm super excited because we have been visiting a family in our branch and the son is way inactive, but just yesterday he said that he wants to serve a mission!!!! such cool stuff happens here every day and I wish i could tell you about everything, but its just too much to write.
Armand came back from Benine, he was visiting his family and now hes back and he is an awesome member, doing home teaching. By the way, Home teaching here pretty much doesnt exist...another thing we need to work on in the church here.
about the letters I may have sent...they sometimes take 3 months, and thats actually normal, so no worries, maybe it will get there for Christmas.
I will try and send some pictures next week. Oh, ummm
I am doing well still havent gotten sick for a half a year now, I suppose thats a miracle in and of itself.
I'm loving the language its hard.
I went on my visa trip with an elder from the west mission and I was a tad bit bummed cuz we didn’t get to go to the temple because Moscow west mission just go to kiev and turn right around, it took like a day. But next time I will be with elder Ablett and we will get to go to the Temple...it will just make when i do go even better, the fact that I didn’t go this time. structure of my sentences is terrible.
Some guy is sitting next to me playing world of warcraft or something foney like that...total goofball him and his friends are so stoked...
Anyways I have to go. Thank you for your support, your fasting, your prayers. I will keep you updated. This is the greatest work I can be doing rightnow and I hope that others do not miss this experience. I wouldnt change it for the world, because serving the Lord is the most important thing that any of us can be doing. ever.
Love Elder Popsicle
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thanksgiving in Russia? Yes, of course!
Mitch with his Thanksgiving Dinner, being well taken care of!
Mitchell's District - Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Turkey Day!
Happy thanksgiving,
Perhaps a list of things that I am grateful for would be appropriate on such a day:
I am thankful for: parents who reared me
A Living Prophet and Holy Writings
My Mission
My friends on Missions
My Brothers and Sisters
The wonders of Email
people who smile back on the metro
a complex tounge (language)
Russian Hairstyles
Prayer and Fasting
Babushkie with died purple and blue and red hair
Sister Watterson and the Watterson Family
The Donosovie family
Star dogs and its tasty hot dog treats after a long day
Parents, Grandparent and family who love me
And Most Importantly our Shepherd, The Savior, and His Infinite Atonement
Transfers are coming up tomorrow actually, dang! And I will be staying in a companionship with Elder Rudd. This next transfer is going to be awesome; I’m so excited about the work. And Elder Rudd is an awesome companion.
The work here seems to be picking up. English cl;ub last night was awesome and I got a guys phone number who is going to be an awesome member his name is artur and he is wicked tall and looks half african, but hes from ukraine. I haven’t met with him yet, but hopefully will in a week.
We met with Babushka Alla again this week and I feel so bad for her but she is so positive about life. One of the only Sane Babs in Russia. And we sat and listened to her talk about the most random things for about an hour and I loved it, cuz she just loves to have someone to talk to because she lives all alone and she never goes out because she has really bad arthritis. She’s awesome.
There is a man names Oleg from English club who I am stoked to meet with. We invited him to church last week but he didnt make it. I hope to meet with him this week. He is about 50 years old and he is divorced and now living with a "sort of" wife and he has two daughters and he is the nicest man. There are so many great people here, I’m stoked for all of them.
My Russian is progressing and I am so grateful for that.
I love you all and such love cannot be tamed.
Elder Paul
Thank you to all of those who are supporting Mitchell on his mission! We, his family, are truly grateful! Happy Thanksgiving!
Perhaps a list of things that I am grateful for would be appropriate on such a day:
I am thankful for: parents who reared me
A Living Prophet and Holy Writings
My Mission
My friends on Missions
My Brothers and Sisters
The wonders of Email
people who smile back on the metro
a complex tounge (language)
Russian Hairstyles
Prayer and Fasting
Babushkie with died purple and blue and red hair
Sister Watterson and the Watterson Family
The Donosovie family
Star dogs and its tasty hot dog treats after a long day
Parents, Grandparent and family who love me
And Most Importantly our Shepherd, The Savior, and His Infinite Atonement
Transfers are coming up tomorrow actually, dang! And I will be staying in a companionship with Elder Rudd. This next transfer is going to be awesome; I’m so excited about the work. And Elder Rudd is an awesome companion.
The work here seems to be picking up. English cl;ub last night was awesome and I got a guys phone number who is going to be an awesome member his name is artur and he is wicked tall and looks half african, but hes from ukraine. I haven’t met with him yet, but hopefully will in a week.
We met with Babushka Alla again this week and I feel so bad for her but she is so positive about life. One of the only Sane Babs in Russia. And we sat and listened to her talk about the most random things for about an hour and I loved it, cuz she just loves to have someone to talk to because she lives all alone and she never goes out because she has really bad arthritis. She’s awesome.
There is a man names Oleg from English club who I am stoked to meet with. We invited him to church last week but he didnt make it. I hope to meet with him this week. He is about 50 years old and he is divorced and now living with a "sort of" wife and he has two daughters and he is the nicest man. There are so many great people here, I’m stoked for all of them.
My Russian is progressing and I am so grateful for that.
I love you all and such love cannot be tamed.
Elder Paul
Thank you to all of those who are supporting Mitchell on his mission! We, his family, are truly grateful! Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Short and Sweet
So Things are going very well. The Book of Mormon is rocking my world. Its a shame i didnt read it at least 50 times before the mission, cuz now i wish i had.
Im stoked to be here and be doing this wonderful work. Im sorry this week is going to be a little short, im running low on time and such and there is work to be done. If there is any words of wisdom that i could give you this week, it would be to ask people questions and learn from them. Just talking to a Bab on the train ride for 20 min. you can learn so much. People are more interesting than books, and they are worth a whole lot more too, so if there is anything you can to to increase brain power, it would be to make a new friend and pick their brain. thats just something ive been thinking about lately...so yeah...ladna
happy thanks giving...or is that next week? no idea i have no concept of time anymore. so if its your birthday, then congratulations, go do something with the rest of your life...like missionary work.
Well love you all,Stay classy.
Love From Elder Paul and co.
Im stoked to be here and be doing this wonderful work. Im sorry this week is going to be a little short, im running low on time and such and there is work to be done. If there is any words of wisdom that i could give you this week, it would be to ask people questions and learn from them. Just talking to a Bab on the train ride for 20 min. you can learn so much. People are more interesting than books, and they are worth a whole lot more too, so if there is anything you can to to increase brain power, it would be to make a new friend and pick their brain. thats just something ive been thinking about lately...so yeah...ladna
happy thanks giving...or is that next week? no idea i have no concept of time anymore. so if its your birthday, then congratulations, go do something with the rest of your life...like missionary work.
Well love you all,Stay classy.
Love From Elder Paul and co.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
He's missing jury duty, but serving the Lord!
Dearly Beloved,
Of all the times to get called to do Jury Duty in my young youthful life it had to be when I was 10,000 miles away darn it all.
Well here I am in this internet cafe and I am thinking about what happened this past week. well perhaps too much to remember. Or too little to forget...either way I am at a loss of words.
We met with 2 new investigators this week and we are going to have to pass them because they do not live in our area...but we are getting passed someone with a baptismal date, so that will be great to be able to work with and teach someone so prepared to hear the good news.
It’s hard to believe that I have been on my mission for almost 5 months...and I still don’t know the daggum mother tounge. There are a bajillion words and they all conjugate differently and it’s blowing my brains out the back of my skull! But I love it so much and I can’t wait till I can freely gavareet c loodyamie.
oh yeah, visa trip is coming up in a few weeks. It only takes about a day and if I get to Kieve at the right time then I can do a session in the Temple!!! I can’t wait to go to the Lord's House.
I got a new tie for about a dollar at the second hand store cuz it looks like picasso sneezed all over it.
I also went on a split with the international Elders while my Comp and one of them was in a training meeting. Oh yeah, Elder Rudd is our district leader, I don’t know if I told you that...but anyways we chilled with these awesome guys from Nigeria, one of them is named Clement and we had a lesson and challenged two of them to baptism and they were totally stoked. The difference between teaching Russians and Africans is about 100 to 1. Probably something to do with the Africans humble circumstances, I don’t know. I sure do love the Russian people though, there are no other people like them.
We were in a meeting the other day with Babushka Alla...she was the very first meeting I had in Russia, and we have probably visited her about 5 or 6 times...anyways she talked for an hour straight about anything under the sun and one of the things she said is if there is one thing that you can gain from talking with Russians and one thing that Russians give for free, its advice. Russians are all about giving advice, and sometimes its right on the mark but other times its just totally awesome....like if you are ever sick they will tell you to eat honey and sniff an onion or do something crazy like sleep with garlic in you socks...anyways, bab alla is awesome and she gave me and Elder Rudd ties, and mine is an awesome soviet tie...and a soviet sweater too.
It’s hard to stay stoked and positive about missionary work all the time, sometimes you just have to step back and think about how much you love it...it’s hard to have that broad perspective when you are living second by second.
I went to a japanese restaurant and now I like sushi.
I got a haircut today and it looks way rooskie (russian) Short on the sides and a bit longer than normal on the top and a little longer in the front. dont worry, its можна.
darn jury duty.
well, until next time, have a wonderful winter.
oh its not too cold here yet, i went and got my haircut in shorts today and it wasn’t even cold...but apparently this winter is supposed to make record lows, we're talking -40C (about -40 F)_
well happy thanksgiving. I’m thankful for 10 cent loaves of bread.
Your Friend in Time,
Elder митчелл джонсон пал
Of all the times to get called to do Jury Duty in my young youthful life it had to be when I was 10,000 miles away darn it all.
Well here I am in this internet cafe and I am thinking about what happened this past week. well perhaps too much to remember. Or too little to forget...either way I am at a loss of words.
We met with 2 new investigators this week and we are going to have to pass them because they do not live in our area...but we are getting passed someone with a baptismal date, so that will be great to be able to work with and teach someone so prepared to hear the good news.
It’s hard to believe that I have been on my mission for almost 5 months...and I still don’t know the daggum mother tounge. There are a bajillion words and they all conjugate differently and it’s blowing my brains out the back of my skull! But I love it so much and I can’t wait till I can freely gavareet c loodyamie.
oh yeah, visa trip is coming up in a few weeks. It only takes about a day and if I get to Kieve at the right time then I can do a session in the Temple!!! I can’t wait to go to the Lord's House.
I got a new tie for about a dollar at the second hand store cuz it looks like picasso sneezed all over it.
I also went on a split with the international Elders while my Comp and one of them was in a training meeting. Oh yeah, Elder Rudd is our district leader, I don’t know if I told you that...but anyways we chilled with these awesome guys from Nigeria, one of them is named Clement and we had a lesson and challenged two of them to baptism and they were totally stoked. The difference between teaching Russians and Africans is about 100 to 1. Probably something to do with the Africans humble circumstances, I don’t know. I sure do love the Russian people though, there are no other people like them.
We were in a meeting the other day with Babushka Alla...she was the very first meeting I had in Russia, and we have probably visited her about 5 or 6 times...anyways she talked for an hour straight about anything under the sun and one of the things she said is if there is one thing that you can gain from talking with Russians and one thing that Russians give for free, its advice. Russians are all about giving advice, and sometimes its right on the mark but other times its just totally awesome....like if you are ever sick they will tell you to eat honey and sniff an onion or do something crazy like sleep with garlic in you socks...anyways, bab alla is awesome and she gave me and Elder Rudd ties, and mine is an awesome soviet tie...and a soviet sweater too.
It’s hard to stay stoked and positive about missionary work all the time, sometimes you just have to step back and think about how much you love it...it’s hard to have that broad perspective when you are living second by second.
I went to a japanese restaurant and now I like sushi.
I got a haircut today and it looks way rooskie (russian) Short on the sides and a bit longer than normal on the top and a little longer in the front. dont worry, its можна.
darn jury duty.
well, until next time, have a wonderful winter.
oh its not too cold here yet, i went and got my haircut in shorts today and it wasn’t even cold...but apparently this winter is supposed to make record lows, we're talking -40C (about -40 F)_
well happy thanksgiving. I’m thankful for 10 cent loaves of bread.
Your Friend in Time,
Elder митчелл джонсон пал
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Half way through second transfer, and this is what Mitch is up to:
Dear family members and aquaintances alike:
I cant really remember what happened this week, all the weeks are blending together into one.
I have a confession. I bought Back to the future in russian today. It cost 50 rubles-about a dollar 50. Now i will just have to let the sight of it haunt me until the end of my mission. haha
Please pray for me so that i can have the courage to find new investigators. im not gonna lie, its dang hard. Pray for the people here in Moscow to be receptive to our message. We are just some punk american teenagers that nobody cares about except for the fact that we speak english.
I have been on a split for the past couple of days because elder rudd had a visa trip. one of the highlight of the split is me and elder owen went to Dima's PE class thing at university and we got kicked out not because we werent students, but because we were wearing dress shoes! Dima is in another are, but he is an awesome kid with way long hair in a ponytail and an earing. He is reading and praying and he is totally gonna get baptized.
To answer your questions mother:
We do english club every other week. we trade off with Elder Rex Morgan and Elder Scott Owen...great elders. There are usually about 30-35 people in our group soit gets kinda crazy sometimes.
As far as service goes, we kinda just do it if it comes up. We havent actually planned any actual service activities because its very hard to get permission. Sometimes we go to peoples flats and help them with english or carry stuff like groceries for the old babs.
There are about 8 church building locations here in moscow all part of the moscow mission. The central building where i go is just one of the meeting places-one of the more popular ones though because of its convenient location.
I have not met Elder Lawrence yet.
I saw general conference in english a week after the one in US.
I bought the double breasted Suit on my second P-day at the renik and it was probably my bast purchase yet. 80 dollars...im not spending any more money though i assure you.
The crystal in the kinder shelves is the landlords along with a lot of other things in the apartment, like a bookshelf full of books including Pambo 1-3 in russian
Those hats we got at red square and that is me and Elder lex from austria...I hope to serve with him sometime.
I ate at Mak Dak today and i had rostix (KFC) yesterday
Russia is the best. I love my mission. and Kenny G with thirteen albums cost me about a dollar 50.
You all are great I have one min. left!!!
From Russia with Loobov
Elder Paul
I cant really remember what happened this week, all the weeks are blending together into one.
I have a confession. I bought Back to the future in russian today. It cost 50 rubles-about a dollar 50. Now i will just have to let the sight of it haunt me until the end of my mission. haha
Please pray for me so that i can have the courage to find new investigators. im not gonna lie, its dang hard. Pray for the people here in Moscow to be receptive to our message. We are just some punk american teenagers that nobody cares about except for the fact that we speak english.
I have been on a split for the past couple of days because elder rudd had a visa trip. one of the highlight of the split is me and elder owen went to Dima's PE class thing at university and we got kicked out not because we werent students, but because we were wearing dress shoes! Dima is in another are, but he is an awesome kid with way long hair in a ponytail and an earing. He is reading and praying and he is totally gonna get baptized.
To answer your questions mother:
We do english club every other week. we trade off with Elder Rex Morgan and Elder Scott Owen...great elders. There are usually about 30-35 people in our group soit gets kinda crazy sometimes.
As far as service goes, we kinda just do it if it comes up. We havent actually planned any actual service activities because its very hard to get permission. Sometimes we go to peoples flats and help them with english or carry stuff like groceries for the old babs.
There are about 8 church building locations here in moscow all part of the moscow mission. The central building where i go is just one of the meeting places-one of the more popular ones though because of its convenient location.
I have not met Elder Lawrence yet.
I saw general conference in english a week after the one in US.
I bought the double breasted Suit on my second P-day at the renik and it was probably my bast purchase yet. 80 dollars...im not spending any more money though i assure you.
The crystal in the kinder shelves is the landlords along with a lot of other things in the apartment, like a bookshelf full of books including Pambo 1-3 in russian
Those hats we got at red square and that is me and Elder lex from austria...I hope to serve with him sometime.
I ate at Mak Dak today and i had rostix (KFC) yesterday
Russia is the best. I love my mission. and Kenny G with thirteen albums cost me about a dollar 50.
You all are great I have one min. left!!!
From Russia with Loobov
Elder Paul
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Making good brownies and washing bums clothes - Life's good : )
Armand is the first member in the entire country of Benine! i found this out and was so stoked that i had the incredible opportunity to teach him the first lesson along with elder nielson and then commit him to baptism. Hes the greatest! Also we found a new investigator this week and he is an evangalist...He believes alot of the same things we do with exception of course of the main big things and all. He is going to read and we will meet with him in a day or two! stoked.
I am getting significantly better at the language. My pronunciation is pretty darn good and I am undeerstanding more and more. The hard part is speaking and making it gramatically correct.
Oh we met an armenian family that is listed as members but they havent been to church in 8 years so we are going to reactivate them. It actually a miracle that we even met with them, remind me to tell you that story sometime. Apparently i make pretty good brownies. so i make a batch of 50 brownies every so often intendiing to give them to members when we do drop bys or meetings, but we always end up eating more than half of them ourselves! ha
So everything is just pluggin along over there huh, well thats just dandy.
iTS getting colder and Im all set for the cold months ahead... i think
anyways I have to get going now P-days are always Nuts!
oh i washed a bums clothes yesterday. His name is constantine and he is a bum and his clothes smelled like a two month old dead raccoon and they stunk up our bathroom and flat for quite some time. antways thats that. I love this work and I love it all! Every second i love it. I love you all too so dont you forget it
Love From The Motherland,
Elder Paul
I am getting significantly better at the language. My pronunciation is pretty darn good and I am undeerstanding more and more. The hard part is speaking and making it gramatically correct.
Oh we met an armenian family that is listed as members but they havent been to church in 8 years so we are going to reactivate them. It actually a miracle that we even met with them, remind me to tell you that story sometime. Apparently i make pretty good brownies. so i make a batch of 50 brownies every so often intendiing to give them to members when we do drop bys or meetings, but we always end up eating more than half of them ourselves! ha
So everything is just pluggin along over there huh, well thats just dandy.
iTS getting colder and Im all set for the cold months ahead... i think
anyways I have to get going now P-days are always Nuts!
oh i washed a bums clothes yesterday. His name is constantine and he is a bum and his clothes smelled like a two month old dead raccoon and they stunk up our bathroom and flat for quite some time. antways thats that. I love this work and I love it all! Every second i love it. I love you all too so dont you forget it
Love From The Motherland,
Elder Paul
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
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New Companion, New Goals, More Pictures!
This week has been very eventful. New companion, New Mission Goals, and New Bible...There is a Lot going on here. First of all, let me describe Elder Rudd. You have a picture of him. He is a wizard at the Piano, has been on his mission for a year and a half. He, like Elder Nielson, wrestled in High School. He speaks Russian very well, and he is very nice. He also likes the apartment to be clean, so our living quarters might be a little nicer this transfer. We are excited about the work! a couple new goals this transfer:
1 baptism a transfer per companionship
SYL outside of the apartment
3 new investigators a week
...among others. Investigators are progressing, but we need more of them. Also this transfer we want to get out and visit every member in our area, because as we all know, the most effective way to do missionary work is through the members.
It is getting a little bit colder now and my coat is great. I also got Sister Watterson's Scarf in the mail the other day, so I’m stoked about that. It’s the perfect scarf and I love it. Tell Michael Watterson "Barev" for me.
If you can send some state quarters in the mail, along with the presidential dollar coins that would be awesome, especially new jersey...just put them in masking tape and they should make it here alright.
Armand got baptized and the next day Elder Nielson and i went on a split to participate in his confirmation, it was awesome! I love that guy! I sent a picture of him at the baptism.
I cant think of much else to say except if anyone wants to write me, you can email me at this email....mitchell.paul@myldsmail.net and leave your address and i will try and write you while i am on my mission. Thanks for all of your love and support and kind words of encouragement. I have nothing more to say than, dang this is hard work.
If you do not hear from me in another weeks time then I have most likely been incapacitated.
Greetings From the Windy City,
Moscow
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1 baptism a transfer per companionship
SYL outside of the apartment
3 new investigators a week
...among others. Investigators are progressing, but we need more of them. Also this transfer we want to get out and visit every member in our area, because as we all know, the most effective way to do missionary work is through the members.
It is getting a little bit colder now and my coat is great. I also got Sister Watterson's Scarf in the mail the other day, so I’m stoked about that. It’s the perfect scarf and I love it. Tell Michael Watterson "Barev" for me.
If you can send some state quarters in the mail, along with the presidential dollar coins that would be awesome, especially new jersey...just put them in masking tape and they should make it here alright.
Armand got baptized and the next day Elder Nielson and i went on a split to participate in his confirmation, it was awesome! I love that guy! I sent a picture of him at the baptism.
I cant think of much else to say except if anyone wants to write me, you can email me at this email....mitchell.paul@myldsmail.net and leave your address and i will try and write you while i am on my mission. Thanks for all of your love and support and kind words of encouragement. I have nothing more to say than, dang this is hard work.
If you do not hear from me in another weeks time then I have most likely been incapacitated.
Greetings From the Windy City,
Moscow
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Wednesday, October 13, 2010
It snowed for the first time, and transfers!
So we had culture night the other night, we went to a comedy play about...something,,,im not sure what it was about, but i understood a lot...I am at the point where people can say a sentence and i might understand most of the words in the sentence but i cant translate it in my head fast enough, so although i understand the words i hear, i still have no idea what they are sayng...but that will soon change. oh so this play was pretty funny. the actors smoked cigars and the smoke wafted into the audience, totally awesome. and there were a bunch of young groups of kids there out for a night at the play. i wish there were more live theatres in the US.
As you know already, we have transfrers thursday and i will be serving with Elder Rudd in the same place I am now. He is coming to me and Elder Nielson is going to Lobnya. Its sad to end this transfer, but i think it will make me learn a lot very fast, because i have to know everything about my area and all of our investigators and members now...crazy stuff!
We did a little remont (remodel?) and now i have a bed and so does Elder Nielson, too bad it was so late in the tranfer, no its all good.
Sounds like all is going well there, listen to some Passion Pit for me!
It snowed for the first time today!
WE, me elder neilson, Lex, and Miller went to the red square today and went through the cathedral and got some good pics that i will send next week cuz i forgot my cord today.
I'm loving my mission, Im loving the people and I am loving the Lord. We are reading the Blue Book as a mission and its so full of great stuff! I cant believe Juan is heading out and everyone is in the MTC right now, its nuts!
Love,
Elder Paul
As you know already, we have transfrers thursday and i will be serving with Elder Rudd in the same place I am now. He is coming to me and Elder Nielson is going to Lobnya. Its sad to end this transfer, but i think it will make me learn a lot very fast, because i have to know everything about my area and all of our investigators and members now...crazy stuff!
We did a little remont (remodel?) and now i have a bed and so does Elder Nielson, too bad it was so late in the tranfer, no its all good.
Sounds like all is going well there, listen to some Passion Pit for me!
It snowed for the first time today!
WE, me elder neilson, Lex, and Miller went to the red square today and went through the cathedral and got some good pics that i will send next week cuz i forgot my cord today.
I'm loving my mission, Im loving the people and I am loving the Lord. We are reading the Blue Book as a mission and its so full of great stuff! I cant believe Juan is heading out and everyone is in the MTC right now, its nuts!
Love,
Elder Paul
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
A Pictures Worth a Thousand Words - so there are not too many words this week.
okay, so this week was way awesome, we have a new investigator named Uri who is so ready to be baptized, but he lives in the Ukraine so we are going to pass him after teaching him for a few weeks while he is here on some sort of vacation thing. Also this one goof ball guy named vitaly who we never thought would be a legit investigator shows up to a meeting saying how he was researching our church and he found out that we dont drink green tea and we explained it and in the end he prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for these new truths in his life...way good!
Tell Juan that he is going to be an excellent missionary, he just has to get the language down as soon as possible.
it appears as if we have some birthdays comin up?
how old is everyone turning again?
happy birthday to:
Katrina
Alex Breighner
Bryan Morrison
Juancho
Delaney
Zanna
I cant think of who else...
And of course my dear mother who birthed and raised me.
Also, IMPORTANT QUESTION! how many people die on the moscow metro each year?
ummm what else? transfers are coming up soon and something crazy is probably going to happen, i will know what is going to happen by next p day and then transfers is the day after that.
and i only have 5 min now, hope you enjoy the pictures and i hope i answered at least some of you ridiculous questions...im having the time of my life, and i love to love the people! The language is coming
Love yours truly,
Elder Paul
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Elder Paul in Russia!!!
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Yum...
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Some photography by Elder Paul
Thank you to all of those who are supporting Mitchell on his mission!!! We truly appreciate the love and support that you have for our brother and son!
- The Paul Family
Tell Juan that he is going to be an excellent missionary, he just has to get the language down as soon as possible.
it appears as if we have some birthdays comin up?
how old is everyone turning again?
happy birthday to:
Katrina
Alex Breighner
Bryan Morrison
Juancho
Delaney
Zanna
I cant think of who else...
And of course my dear mother who birthed and raised me.
Also, IMPORTANT QUESTION! how many people die on the moscow metro each year?
ummm what else? transfers are coming up soon and something crazy is probably going to happen, i will know what is going to happen by next p day and then transfers is the day after that.
and i only have 5 min now, hope you enjoy the pictures and i hope i answered at least some of you ridiculous questions...im having the time of my life, and i love to love the people! The language is coming
Love yours truly,
Elder Paul
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Elder Paul in Russia!!!
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Yum...
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Some photography by Elder Paul
Thank you to all of those who are supporting Mitchell on his mission!!! We truly appreciate the love and support that you have for our brother and son!
- The Paul Family
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Dang, It's been a month already!!!
Dang, Its been a month already, what the heck is going on? I think that no matter what I am going to have to buy a coat today because everyone says its going to be cold very soon. Dang Sister Watterson, you are the best! I can’t wait to get the scarf!
I'm eating very well and I feel great...ummm I probably eat too much chocolate. we have an entire cupboard full of kinder egg toys (50 or so), oh and my shirts turned way blue because there was a sock that I left in the washer, so I got some bleach today and hopefully they will come out white...I don’t know how many colors those shirts have been..
I got a haircut this morning...all I really knew how to say is that I wanted it shorter...so I got it shorter, much shorter...let’s just say the scar in the back of my head is fully visible...I will take a picture and next week find a computer that I can upload my photos onto and send them to you, hopefully...
Right after sacrament meeting on Sunday I went on a split with Elder Wight up to Padolsk, this little city about an hour south of Moscow. We had some good meetings the night before, but the next day all of our meetings fell through and we ended up walking across the entire city of padolsk and then street contacting for English club, which went very well. And then we went back and one of the ward members at he central building had made a meal for us and it was good spaghetti and meatballs. And that’s about it for my split. Oh and I realized that I have never been tracting. Weird huh? A month on my mission and 0 tracting. Thats like what I had always thought missionary work would be like, but it’s totally not, because there are way more effective ways to do the work. For example meeting with members and asking for referrals and English club and such...English club is tonight and I’m way excited. My goal is to invite three people to either church or to meet with us after the meeting.
Oh so quick story:
We went to a bob's dome (babushka's house) and gave her a short lesson and then she offered us some raisin looking things that were sitting on her window sill. I should have known not to eat it, after pulling off a wad of human hair, but I ate it and it had a nasty pit in it, it was like eating a bone and it had a way strong nasty taste...haha and after I ate that, the tea tasted really good...oh yeah they drink tea with everything...
anyways, gots ta go, I love it here i love you all!
Love Elder Paul
I'm eating very well and I feel great...ummm I probably eat too much chocolate. we have an entire cupboard full of kinder egg toys (50 or so), oh and my shirts turned way blue because there was a sock that I left in the washer, so I got some bleach today and hopefully they will come out white...I don’t know how many colors those shirts have been..
I got a haircut this morning...all I really knew how to say is that I wanted it shorter...so I got it shorter, much shorter...let’s just say the scar in the back of my head is fully visible...I will take a picture and next week find a computer that I can upload my photos onto and send them to you, hopefully...
Right after sacrament meeting on Sunday I went on a split with Elder Wight up to Padolsk, this little city about an hour south of Moscow. We had some good meetings the night before, but the next day all of our meetings fell through and we ended up walking across the entire city of padolsk and then street contacting for English club, which went very well. And then we went back and one of the ward members at he central building had made a meal for us and it was good spaghetti and meatballs. And that’s about it for my split. Oh and I realized that I have never been tracting. Weird huh? A month on my mission and 0 tracting. Thats like what I had always thought missionary work would be like, but it’s totally not, because there are way more effective ways to do the work. For example meeting with members and asking for referrals and English club and such...English club is tonight and I’m way excited. My goal is to invite three people to either church or to meet with us after the meeting.
Oh so quick story:
We went to a bob's dome (babushka's house) and gave her a short lesson and then she offered us some raisin looking things that were sitting on her window sill. I should have known not to eat it, after pulling off a wad of human hair, but I ate it and it had a nasty pit in it, it was like eating a bone and it had a way strong nasty taste...haha and after I ate that, the tea tasted really good...oh yeah they drink tea with everything...
anyways, gots ta go, I love it here i love you all!
Love Elder Paul
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Baptismal Dates and a Sick (literally) Companion
Mailing Information from Mitch:
Okay, here is the mission address:
Russia Moscow Mission
Glavpochtmant a/ai257
Moscow 101000
Russia
That should be good for packages, but as far as sending regular mail you might want to use pouch mail, its much faster. Pouch mail takes about two weeks to get here, and regular mail takes at least twice as long. It might be another month before i get your letter. Elder Nielson got a package yesterday that was sent in june, six days before i even went into the MTC!
Pouch Mail address(in case you dont have it)
Elder Mitchell Paul
Russia Moscow Mission
PO Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT
84130-0150
Pouch mail requirements are something like no envelopes and you fold it three ways (one paper) taped. a good thing to do is to print out a bunch of pictures on a paper and send that in pouch mail. Russians Love Pictures.
Mitch's Letter:
Okay...so you might want to send me my christmas presents now so that they arrive around Christmas time...just sayin. This last few days has been nuts! Elder Nielson got deathly ill (probably from all the pears that we have been eating off the street) and that lasted until this morning, he is feeling a lot better now, so we should be back on our game by tomorrow. Too much time in the apartment is never a good thing, but i got a lot of work done, which is good.
We got two baptisimal dates last week, which was awesome. One of them is Our man Arman...this way cool African guy from Benine who is here studying to be a doctor for 10 years. We gave him the first Lesson in English and we miraculously had a BOM in french at our apartyment that we gave to him because his native language is french. Why in the world did we have a French BOM in our flat? Just a little miracle, no big deal. He agreed to be baptized in the first lesson!
So we have been working a lot outside of moscow in some cities called Lobnia and Dolga Prudnie, and we have been seeing lots of good stuff there, and President decided to open a new area there, which is totally awesome! I hope that i get to serve there cuz i already know lots of great members and investigators out there. We call it Miracle City.
The language is kickin my butt pretty hard...elder ablett still isnt here yet, so im the only missionary in the whole mission who can’t speak Russian! I think I am going to do SYL with elder Nielson pretty soon, and that will help. Besides that I just need to talk with everyone.
Well that’s all I can really think of this week,if you could send me a package with some classical musick CD's that would be superb!
Maybe i will buy a coat today...
Until Next Time,
Love you all!
Elder Paul
Okay, here is the mission address:
Russia Moscow Mission
Glavpochtmant a/ai257
Moscow 101000
Russia
That should be good for packages, but as far as sending regular mail you might want to use pouch mail, its much faster. Pouch mail takes about two weeks to get here, and regular mail takes at least twice as long. It might be another month before i get your letter. Elder Nielson got a package yesterday that was sent in june, six days before i even went into the MTC!
Pouch Mail address(in case you dont have it)
Elder Mitchell Paul
Russia Moscow Mission
PO Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT
84130-0150
Pouch mail requirements are something like no envelopes and you fold it three ways (one paper) taped. a good thing to do is to print out a bunch of pictures on a paper and send that in pouch mail. Russians Love Pictures.
Mitch's Letter:
Okay...so you might want to send me my christmas presents now so that they arrive around Christmas time...just sayin. This last few days has been nuts! Elder Nielson got deathly ill (probably from all the pears that we have been eating off the street) and that lasted until this morning, he is feeling a lot better now, so we should be back on our game by tomorrow. Too much time in the apartment is never a good thing, but i got a lot of work done, which is good.
We got two baptisimal dates last week, which was awesome. One of them is Our man Arman...this way cool African guy from Benine who is here studying to be a doctor for 10 years. We gave him the first Lesson in English and we miraculously had a BOM in french at our apartyment that we gave to him because his native language is french. Why in the world did we have a French BOM in our flat? Just a little miracle, no big deal. He agreed to be baptized in the first lesson!
So we have been working a lot outside of moscow in some cities called Lobnia and Dolga Prudnie, and we have been seeing lots of good stuff there, and President decided to open a new area there, which is totally awesome! I hope that i get to serve there cuz i already know lots of great members and investigators out there. We call it Miracle City.
The language is kickin my butt pretty hard...elder ablett still isnt here yet, so im the only missionary in the whole mission who can’t speak Russian! I think I am going to do SYL with elder Nielson pretty soon, and that will help. Besides that I just need to talk with everyone.
Well that’s all I can really think of this week,if you could send me a package with some classical musick CD's that would be superb!
Maybe i will buy a coat today...
Until Next Time,
Love you all!
Elder Paul
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
A Kiss from the Babushka and a Death Threat from the Man in Black
This week went by fast, but it still feels like i have been here for two months. Still no baptismal commitments this week, but our goal is three for next week. I'm excited because this area is really taking off right now.
I don’t know when the first snow is but it doesn’t start to stay on the ground until November i think. But for right now the weather is perfect. We went to the Reenik both P-days now and it’s an outdoor market. I got a little leather bag for my kneega mormona. I guess that’s the popular thing over here is like a purse-like bag for the guys. I think the fashion here is actually a lot better than that in the US. No big deal.
JUANCHO! I'm so STOKED for you! You are going to be an awesome missionary! Love you man.
...dang, Honduras...
ummmmm...oh yeah. I was on the metro and this guy dressed all in black with pretty much only sideburns and not much other hair on his head stared me down. when i walked by he stopped me and checked out my tag and then motioned for me to walk away. I looked back at him and he pointed at me and then moved his finger across his neck, threatening to kill me. he got out of the metro at our stop and stood in front of the door and motioned for us to go fight him or something. we just stayed on the metro and laughed as the doors closed. the guy was such a joker and no real threat, and we didn’t see him again, but I can’t help but think what would have happened if we got out...but other than that one guy, everyone is very nice. A Babushka (accent on the first A) saw that I was serving a church, and it doesn’t matter what church it is, she grabbed me and gave me a big kiss.
Elder Nielson is a stud and we are on a roll right now. I made blanc mange and it was great, but we had to substitute root beer flavoring for the vanilla extract. If there is anything you can send me once i get the address to you, it would have to be vanilla extract.
The food is great and I am getting plenty of it. Sharma is probably my favorite. It’s like a Russian burrito that they sell on the street and its way good. Some people say not to eat from the vendors off the street, but I think it’s a bunch of balogna.
I think I am going to buy a coat next week, and i cant think of what else to say.
The work is hard, and right now, for me the language is harder than anything, but I know it will come.
I love the work and I love the Lord, and it’s incredible to see people and be a part of people coming closer to Christ. I Love you all, and thank you for all of your love and support.
Until next time,
From Moscow with love
Elder Paul
I don’t know when the first snow is but it doesn’t start to stay on the ground until November i think. But for right now the weather is perfect. We went to the Reenik both P-days now and it’s an outdoor market. I got a little leather bag for my kneega mormona. I guess that’s the popular thing over here is like a purse-like bag for the guys. I think the fashion here is actually a lot better than that in the US. No big deal.
JUANCHO! I'm so STOKED for you! You are going to be an awesome missionary! Love you man.
...dang, Honduras...
ummmmm...oh yeah. I was on the metro and this guy dressed all in black with pretty much only sideburns and not much other hair on his head stared me down. when i walked by he stopped me and checked out my tag and then motioned for me to walk away. I looked back at him and he pointed at me and then moved his finger across his neck, threatening to kill me. he got out of the metro at our stop and stood in front of the door and motioned for us to go fight him or something. we just stayed on the metro and laughed as the doors closed. the guy was such a joker and no real threat, and we didn’t see him again, but I can’t help but think what would have happened if we got out...but other than that one guy, everyone is very nice. A Babushka (accent on the first A) saw that I was serving a church, and it doesn’t matter what church it is, she grabbed me and gave me a big kiss.
Elder Nielson is a stud and we are on a roll right now. I made blanc mange and it was great, but we had to substitute root beer flavoring for the vanilla extract. If there is anything you can send me once i get the address to you, it would have to be vanilla extract.
The food is great and I am getting plenty of it. Sharma is probably my favorite. It’s like a Russian burrito that they sell on the street and its way good. Some people say not to eat from the vendors off the street, but I think it’s a bunch of balogna.
I think I am going to buy a coat next week, and i cant think of what else to say.
The work is hard, and right now, for me the language is harder than anything, but I know it will come.
I love the work and I love the Lord, and it’s incredible to see people and be a part of people coming closer to Christ. I Love you all, and thank you for all of your love and support.
Until next time,
From Moscow with love
Elder Paul
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Missionary work is great, and so are kinder eggs and 4% milk!
So my trainer's name is Elder Nielsen and he's totally great. He is from Georgia and he has been on the mish for about a year now. He is one of the best elders in the mission, is what everyone says. Our apartment number is, of course, 13. I am serving in the Rechnoy district and there are 6 elders and 2 sisters in my district. Our apartment is great, we have AC and a nice little kitchen with a few roaches and a good shower. Elder Nielson sleeps on the couch and I have a nice mattress on the floor. We ride the metro everywhere and travel time kind bites, but it’s a good way to meet people and share our message. My first day with a companion we had English club which is a really effective way to get new investigators. This first week has been really exciting. We have met several new potential investigators just in the past couple of days. I'm so stoked about this work. Everyone says that people here don’t smile, but that’s totally just stereotype. Everyone is way nice, you just have to break the ice. The food is great, especially chooda, which is a yogurt drink. Also, Elder Nielson and I have had about 20 kinder eggs in the past 5 days. 4% milk is really good, I can’t wait to try 6%.
As far as the language goes, I’m not very good. But it is getting significantly easier to understand. Elder Nielson is a pro at the language and some people even thought he was Russian.
Right now I am in an internet cafe somewhere near our branch building which is called the central building. Everyone freaks out when I tell them that I am from Las Vegas, it’s pretty funny. We were handing out English fliers the other day outside of our metro station and we got to know a couple of the people that sit there with a sign on their chest looking for work. Marina and Michael. She is from Ukraine and he is from Armenia. We taught them about the gospel and then we were talking about food, and we told them we would bring them American food. So next day we brought them grilled cheese sandwiches. We are planning on inviting them both to church next time we see them. Also..yesterday we went all the way out to Lobnia to have a lesson, and we knew it was for a reason, that the Lord had someone for us to meet. On our way back after having a lesson with a crazy baptist preacher and the nicest Lady Loobov, which means love, we bumped into Valeria. He is an old man about 60 with a50 year old girlfriend and he has a huge WOW problem. He walked up to us and said something in broken english and then said he had to go and walked away. It was weird. Elder Neilson and I looked at each other and said "What would Bednar do?" we ran after him and talked to him and he invited us to his place and we set up another appointment with him. So much is happening in the mission right now, it’s a great time to serve in Moscow. Got to go now I only have an hour on the computer.
Keep me updated on whats goin on, i love to hear from you.
Love you all!
Elder Paul
As far as the language goes, I’m not very good. But it is getting significantly easier to understand. Elder Nielson is a pro at the language and some people even thought he was Russian.
Right now I am in an internet cafe somewhere near our branch building which is called the central building. Everyone freaks out when I tell them that I am from Las Vegas, it’s pretty funny. We were handing out English fliers the other day outside of our metro station and we got to know a couple of the people that sit there with a sign on their chest looking for work. Marina and Michael. She is from Ukraine and he is from Armenia. We taught them about the gospel and then we were talking about food, and we told them we would bring them American food. So next day we brought them grilled cheese sandwiches. We are planning on inviting them both to church next time we see them. Also..yesterday we went all the way out to Lobnia to have a lesson, and we knew it was for a reason, that the Lord had someone for us to meet. On our way back after having a lesson with a crazy baptist preacher and the nicest Lady Loobov, which means love, we bumped into Valeria. He is an old man about 60 with a50 year old girlfriend and he has a huge WOW problem. He walked up to us and said something in broken english and then said he had to go and walked away. It was weird. Elder Neilson and I looked at each other and said "What would Bednar do?" we ran after him and talked to him and he invited us to his place and we set up another appointment with him. So much is happening in the mission right now, it’s a great time to serve in Moscow. Got to go now I only have an hour on the computer.
Keep me updated on whats goin on, i love to hear from you.
Love you all!
Elder Paul
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
An Exciting Week for Mitch!
It has been an exciting week for Elder Paul! He left the Provo MTC on Monday, and was able to call us from the airport!!! He spoke some Russian for us, it sounded good, but then again we don't know Russian. haha. Mitchell is now in Russia!!! He recieved a short e-mail from him today, his new p-day will be Wenesday.
From Elder Paul:
I'm doing great, and I caught up on a little sleep last night. Yesterday I went and saw red square and we did some contacting. The schedule this week was changed, but normally, P-day is going to be on Wednesday, which is today. I am going to be finding out who my new companion is today. Elder Ablett should be coming in sometime this week. The metro is awesome and the city is great! I cant wait to experience more of it. I will email you next week and I will have plenty to tell you. Have a great week!
Can't wait to hear from him next week!!!
From Elder Paul:
I'm doing great, and I caught up on a little sleep last night. Yesterday I went and saw red square and we did some contacting. The schedule this week was changed, but normally, P-day is going to be on Wednesday, which is today. I am going to be finding out who my new companion is today. Elder Ablett should be coming in sometime this week. The metro is awesome and the city is great! I cant wait to experience more of it. I will email you next week and I will have plenty to tell you. Have a great week!
Can't wait to hear from him next week!!!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
How to Write Mitch
Mitchell's mission is a pouch mission, therefore if you wish to write him a letter, write to the address on the right hand side bar of the blog.
Pouch Mail Instructions:
To prevent possible fines, only postcards and letters that are single sheet, folded into three-panels, and taped at the top only (no envelopes)may be sent trough the pouch. Packages cannot be sent trough pouch mail.
If you do not want to deal with these specifications, write a dearelder! It is free to Mitchell's mission!(therefore you do not have to set up an account)
Dear Elder Directions:
- go to www.dearelder.com
- Click "Write a letter"
- Select Russia Moscow from the drop down menu
- Enter your return address
- Enter Elder Mitchell Paul
- Enter your e-mail address (they will send a copy of the letter to you)
- Type your letter
- Press send letter
It's as easy as that! They print your letter in Salt Lake and send it in the pouch to Mitch!
I hope this information is helpful! Just comment, and let me know if you have any further questions : )
Thank-you to all of those who are writing to and supporting Mitchell! We truly appreciate all you are doing for our brother, and son!
Pouch Mail Instructions:
To prevent possible fines, only postcards and letters that are single sheet, folded into three-panels, and taped at the top only (no envelopes)may be sent trough the pouch. Packages cannot be sent trough pouch mail.
If you do not want to deal with these specifications, write a dearelder! It is free to Mitchell's mission!(therefore you do not have to set up an account)
Dear Elder Directions:
- go to www.dearelder.com
- Click "Write a letter"
- Select Russia Moscow from the drop down menu
- Enter your return address
- Enter Elder Mitchell Paul
- Enter your e-mail address (they will send a copy of the letter to you)
- Type your letter
- Press send letter
It's as easy as that! They print your letter in Salt Lake and send it in the pouch to Mitch!
I hope this information is helpful! Just comment, and let me know if you have any further questions : )
Thank-you to all of those who are writing to and supporting Mitchell! We truly appreciate all you are doing for our brother, and son!
Last E-mail Sent from the Great State of America!
Dear Children,
This will be the last email I will send from the great state of America. My travel plans have arrived and my life has officially begun. I leave on Monday, the 30th of August at 840 am on Delta Airlines headed to John F Kennedy airport in NY. I have an hour layover and then I'm off to Moskva. I will be arriving in Moscow at 1010 am on the 31st. It's about time I leave, cuz I’m sick and tired of American food. Which is one reason why i loved so dearly Papa's package-24 crunchie bars...I only have two left. So we did the anchovies for a while, but I don’t think we are doing that anymore, but we are still syling erry day, and i ate a few anchovies and I also tried out the black fungus-really disgusting. Elder Rosell left Monday and now I’m in a tripanionship. Also, thanks for the letter Delaney, it was great! and along those lines, you will never guess who was in our sacrament meeting this Sunday. John Heder's twin brother. Yeah, napoleon dynamite's twin brother. No big deal. He is actually the first counselor in the branch presidency's son in law. And yeah. Also, I’m going to be in Russia in less than a week. I will be sending home a package of junk I’m sure. And yeah...we hosted new missionaries and it rained once or twice, and my buddy artiom, who lives in Moscow, is down here in Provo visiting, and he told me all about the mission. And the senior companionship that I met in the bookstore that one time are named Elder and Sister Gronning. I know this because I was selected to give them a special delivery of passports. And I’m flying alone because elder Ablett has to go back to London to get his visa. He could serve in London for a few weeks before coming to Moscow. And I'm beginning to pack today. And we are just reviewing this whole week, and it’s hard to stay concentrated on boring class work that you already kinda know when you know you’re heading out to Russia in less than a week. But I will do my best. And I’m totally stoked. And yeah, so I can’t wait to let you all know how the motherland is. I’m sure my next letter will be much more entertaining/interesting, and hopefully much less grammatically correct.
Write to you from Russia next week!
Elder Paul
I apologize to those who wanted to see how grammatically incorrect this letter actually was, I try to edit Mitch's letters a little bit grammatically before I put them up :)
This will be the last email I will send from the great state of America. My travel plans have arrived and my life has officially begun. I leave on Monday, the 30th of August at 840 am on Delta Airlines headed to John F Kennedy airport in NY. I have an hour layover and then I'm off to Moskva. I will be arriving in Moscow at 1010 am on the 31st. It's about time I leave, cuz I’m sick and tired of American food. Which is one reason why i loved so dearly Papa's package-24 crunchie bars...I only have two left. So we did the anchovies for a while, but I don’t think we are doing that anymore, but we are still syling erry day, and i ate a few anchovies and I also tried out the black fungus-really disgusting. Elder Rosell left Monday and now I’m in a tripanionship. Also, thanks for the letter Delaney, it was great! and along those lines, you will never guess who was in our sacrament meeting this Sunday. John Heder's twin brother. Yeah, napoleon dynamite's twin brother. No big deal. He is actually the first counselor in the branch presidency's son in law. And yeah. Also, I’m going to be in Russia in less than a week. I will be sending home a package of junk I’m sure. And yeah...we hosted new missionaries and it rained once or twice, and my buddy artiom, who lives in Moscow, is down here in Provo visiting, and he told me all about the mission. And the senior companionship that I met in the bookstore that one time are named Elder and Sister Gronning. I know this because I was selected to give them a special delivery of passports. And I’m flying alone because elder Ablett has to go back to London to get his visa. He could serve in London for a few weeks before coming to Moscow. And I'm beginning to pack today. And we are just reviewing this whole week, and it’s hard to stay concentrated on boring class work that you already kinda know when you know you’re heading out to Russia in less than a week. But I will do my best. And I’m totally stoked. And yeah, so I can’t wait to let you all know how the motherland is. I’m sure my next letter will be much more entertaining/interesting, and hopefully much less grammatically correct.
Write to you from Russia next week!
Elder Paul
I apologize to those who wanted to see how grammatically incorrect this letter actually was, I try to edit Mitch's letters a little bit grammatically before I put them up :)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
"Englih is stupid, it not makes sense."
Dearly Beloved,
We are gathered here today in the computer lab in a race against the clock....
Alright, so here's the deal. We are officially doing 100% SYL, and so far everyone is participating 100%. You might ask me "how is that possible? I’m sure not everyone is speaking 100% in Russian!" I would reply with two words: "Capital Punishment"....well, almost. So remember how I have a bag of dried anchovies? Well, I'm actually using it. The rule is, the first time someone slips and says something in English, nothing happens, but the second time they speak in English, they have to eat a dried anchovy (by the way, i tried one of them, and they are terrible, I almost threw up). The next time the person speaks in English, and for every time after that, their companion must eat an anchovy. So far only two people have had to eat an anchovy. Today i accidently said something in English, so I hope I don’t mess up again.
Also, Elder Rusell got his travel plans a few days ago. He is going to Samara, and for some reason, elders going to Samara leave a week earlier than everyone else. I should get my travel plans by next Tuesday and there should be no problems with the visa.
I have seen Elder Andrew Taylor quite a bit, and now he's gone to the MTC in Guatemala. If only...
All the weeks are mashing together, and I don’t remember...
Thanks for the Shopka Papa, I totally dig it! and the octopus anatomy chart is great. Octo-pies are just giant organ sacks...way cool!
...what i was saying...
sounds like all is well in the outside world...not so much in the motherland though...hope that...clears up.
Dear sterling. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed the dried anchovies.
well. That’s that. I think I’m going to go buy an Armenian shirt today. and so...yeah
English is stupid, it not makes sense.
Love and such,
Elder пал
We are gathered here today in the computer lab in a race against the clock....
Alright, so here's the deal. We are officially doing 100% SYL, and so far everyone is participating 100%. You might ask me "how is that possible? I’m sure not everyone is speaking 100% in Russian!" I would reply with two words: "Capital Punishment"....well, almost. So remember how I have a bag of dried anchovies? Well, I'm actually using it. The rule is, the first time someone slips and says something in English, nothing happens, but the second time they speak in English, they have to eat a dried anchovy (by the way, i tried one of them, and they are terrible, I almost threw up). The next time the person speaks in English, and for every time after that, their companion must eat an anchovy. So far only two people have had to eat an anchovy. Today i accidently said something in English, so I hope I don’t mess up again.
Also, Elder Rusell got his travel plans a few days ago. He is going to Samara, and for some reason, elders going to Samara leave a week earlier than everyone else. I should get my travel plans by next Tuesday and there should be no problems with the visa.
I have seen Elder Andrew Taylor quite a bit, and now he's gone to the MTC in Guatemala. If only...
All the weeks are mashing together, and I don’t remember...
Thanks for the Shopka Papa, I totally dig it! and the octopus anatomy chart is great. Octo-pies are just giant organ sacks...way cool!
...what i was saying...
sounds like all is well in the outside world...not so much in the motherland though...hope that...clears up.
Dear sterling. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed the dried anchovies.
well. That’s that. I think I’m going to go buy an Armenian shirt today. and so...yeah
English is stupid, it not makes sense.
Love and such,
Elder пал
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
News from Elder Fell
Dear Outside World,
I am well, and all is well. Hoping all is well out there too. Well, this past week went well. I love the Russian CTR ring, it brings me much joy. The highlight of this week was when elder Ablett told me that he heard me talking in my sleep...In Russian! Totally awesome. Ummm, so we taught the second lesson this past week and tomorrow we teach it again in Russian, and we get to talk about medical illnesses that our fake branch president has. I learned how to say "he is a leper", but I mostly learned useful things related to the gospel, so no worries there. I got my Russian name tags this week and my name, phonetically is spelt "PAL" it looks very weird to the Russian natives because it is so short, they all have very long and almost impossible to pronounce names. In Russian, my new name means FELL. so now i am officially Elder Fell...its pretty awesome! I have about 3 weeks left and we still haven’t cracked open the pigs feet...even though they are expired we plan on breaking them out before everyone leaves. Also, thank you so much for the dried black fungus and the dried anchovies...I haven’t eaten them yet, but we probably will when we open the pigs feet. We are doing three SYL days this week, we did one yesterday and we have one tomorrow and then another on Saturday. I wish i could leave the MTC early, cuz I just want to get out there and get goin!
Also, Papa, Thank you infinitely for the biographies, they might just save my life.
I am writing this email before going to the temple today. 7 of the Natives are going through the temple today and we get to go through with them! I’m so stoked!
I am still mentally and emotionally stable, and I am getting plenty of physical exercise at gym where we play a game that we made up called Super Smash Ball. its awesome.
Also I want to personally thank Sterling for the flies that he sent me. they were not still alive when I received them, but i loved them as if they were.
and if someone could send me an octopus anatomy chart, it would be much appreciated, because we have been trying to figure out how big an octopus' brain is and what that stuff is that makes its head so big...
Love you all!
шдфвакуе!!!
Elder Fell
p.s. that Russian word is not really a word...yeah
Thank you to all of those who are supportng Mitchell on his mission! He truly appreciates your packages, letters, and prayers!
I am well, and all is well. Hoping all is well out there too. Well, this past week went well. I love the Russian CTR ring, it brings me much joy. The highlight of this week was when elder Ablett told me that he heard me talking in my sleep...In Russian! Totally awesome. Ummm, so we taught the second lesson this past week and tomorrow we teach it again in Russian, and we get to talk about medical illnesses that our fake branch president has. I learned how to say "he is a leper", but I mostly learned useful things related to the gospel, so no worries there. I got my Russian name tags this week and my name, phonetically is spelt "PAL" it looks very weird to the Russian natives because it is so short, they all have very long and almost impossible to pronounce names. In Russian, my new name means FELL. so now i am officially Elder Fell...its pretty awesome! I have about 3 weeks left and we still haven’t cracked open the pigs feet...even though they are expired we plan on breaking them out before everyone leaves. Also, thank you so much for the dried black fungus and the dried anchovies...I haven’t eaten them yet, but we probably will when we open the pigs feet. We are doing three SYL days this week, we did one yesterday and we have one tomorrow and then another on Saturday. I wish i could leave the MTC early, cuz I just want to get out there and get goin!
Also, Papa, Thank you infinitely for the biographies, they might just save my life.
I am writing this email before going to the temple today. 7 of the Natives are going through the temple today and we get to go through with them! I’m so stoked!
I am still mentally and emotionally stable, and I am getting plenty of physical exercise at gym where we play a game that we made up called Super Smash Ball. its awesome.
Also I want to personally thank Sterling for the flies that he sent me. they were not still alive when I received them, but i loved them as if they were.
and if someone could send me an octopus anatomy chart, it would be much appreciated, because we have been trying to figure out how big an octopus' brain is and what that stuff is that makes its head so big...
Love you all!
шдфвакуе!!!
Elder Fell
p.s. that Russian word is not really a word...yeah
Thank you to all of those who are supportng Mitchell on his mission! He truly appreciates your packages, letters, and prayers!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Pictures from the MTC!!!
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Mitch with his cousin Alex in front of the Provo Temple
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Mitch in front of the Mt. Timpinogos Temple
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Mitch being Mitch on P-Day :)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The Latest from Elder Paul : )
Dear John,
Wow, this week has been totally crazy and this next week will be even more so. We did SYL (speak your language) all day on saturday and all day yesterday. Im starting to really get a good grasp on the language and I'm loving it. I want to leave the MTC right NOW! only about four more weeks left...in less than a month i will be on my way to the Motherland. Apparently Elder Uchdorf was hanging out at the MTC yesterday and elder Ablett and i just barely missed him. There are two new districts in our zone and the new native russian district just came in today...so sundays from now on are not going to be nearly as small. I taught a lesson for district meeting last sunday...it was about finding people to teach, but i put a big emphasis on shepherding.
The more I learn and read the scriptures, and the more i find out about Russian culture, the more excited i am to go to Moscow and to be a shepherd.
Thanks for all of your love and support,
Elder Paul
Wow, this week has been totally crazy and this next week will be even more so. We did SYL (speak your language) all day on saturday and all day yesterday. Im starting to really get a good grasp on the language and I'm loving it. I want to leave the MTC right NOW! only about four more weeks left...in less than a month i will be on my way to the Motherland. Apparently Elder Uchdorf was hanging out at the MTC yesterday and elder Ablett and i just barely missed him. There are two new districts in our zone and the new native russian district just came in today...so sundays from now on are not going to be nearly as small. I taught a lesson for district meeting last sunday...it was about finding people to teach, but i put a big emphasis on shepherding.
The more I learn and read the scriptures, and the more i find out about Russian culture, the more excited i am to go to Moscow and to be a shepherd.
Thanks for all of your love and support,
Elder Paul
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Mitch is a DL!
Dear Diary,
There are two new districts coming in tomorrow that will be in our zone. 9 missionaries in each district. Its going to be weird being the old ones now. Also, thank you Papa for the Astronaut Ice Cream! we had an ice cream party last night...well not really, but i have already eaten 6 or 7 of the astronaut ice creams...they're out of this world. This Sunday i was extended the call of District Leader, and it is my job to rookavadeet nash kroog...to guide our district. we are now writing talks in russian for sundays, and the branch presidency picks two people each week to give their prepared talk. Sundays are very busy, just as busy as any other day. We have several meetings, and the temple walk is always super fun, and now that i am DL i will have more meetings to attend. I bumped into David Olson on Sunday, I didnt remember him at first, but he was my friend in the fourth grade when we lived in South Korea. The only thing i remember about that ward was that i broke a glass window in one of the doors in it...ummm we start learning how to teach the 2nd lesson in russian on thursday. Elder Ablett and i are getting significantly better at teaching the first lesson Parooskee...As far as a list of the difficulties of the languages, im afrid no such list exists any more, however, i think russian is in the top ten. Finish, Korean, Cantonese and Mandarin are definitely up there. The Provo temple has now opened and i was able to attend this morning- absolutely love it. I also got my hair cut today and from what everyone tells me, the bald spot on the back of my head is clearly visible- absolutely love it.
Its become almost a competition here in our district to see what kind of crazy stuff we can get in our packages. so feel free to send me a venus fly trap or a dolphin fin or something awesome like that. oh and please dont send me any more gum, because missionaries dont chew gum...and im out of time, so thanks for everything
LOVEly bones, Elder Paul
There are two new districts coming in tomorrow that will be in our zone. 9 missionaries in each district. Its going to be weird being the old ones now. Also, thank you Papa for the Astronaut Ice Cream! we had an ice cream party last night...well not really, but i have already eaten 6 or 7 of the astronaut ice creams...they're out of this world. This Sunday i was extended the call of District Leader, and it is my job to rookavadeet nash kroog...to guide our district. we are now writing talks in russian for sundays, and the branch presidency picks two people each week to give their prepared talk. Sundays are very busy, just as busy as any other day. We have several meetings, and the temple walk is always super fun, and now that i am DL i will have more meetings to attend. I bumped into David Olson on Sunday, I didnt remember him at first, but he was my friend in the fourth grade when we lived in South Korea. The only thing i remember about that ward was that i broke a glass window in one of the doors in it...ummm we start learning how to teach the 2nd lesson in russian on thursday. Elder Ablett and i are getting significantly better at teaching the first lesson Parooskee...As far as a list of the difficulties of the languages, im afrid no such list exists any more, however, i think russian is in the top ten. Finish, Korean, Cantonese and Mandarin are definitely up there. The Provo temple has now opened and i was able to attend this morning- absolutely love it. I also got my hair cut today and from what everyone tells me, the bald spot on the back of my head is clearly visible- absolutely love it.
Its become almost a competition here in our district to see what kind of crazy stuff we can get in our packages. so feel free to send me a venus fly trap or a dolphin fin or something awesome like that. oh and please dont send me any more gum, because missionaries dont chew gum...and im out of time, so thanks for everything
LOVEly bones, Elder Paul
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Lifes Good in the MTC!
Dear All,
Because I forgot to choose a scripture for my plaque, i will choose one now: Isaiah 40:11...it says "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." I like this scripture because it expresses the true nature of how missionary work should be done. Rather than simply baptizing people, i will be lovingly leading and guiding people toward Christ. This past week I had the opportunity to go with my branch to the Mount Timpanogos Temple because the Provo temple is currently closed. I love every chance I get to go to the temple, and i can't wait until next P-day when the Provo Temple will be back in business. Tomorrow i will be going to the TRC (Teaching Resource Center) and I will be teaching the first discussion, or at least certain principals in it that pertain to the needs of the investigator, entirely in Russian. The Russian tongue is really starting to come together, right now, over me. I’m scared out of my mind! even though it is only a fake investigator. Yesterday, elder Ablett and I ran into A senior Missionary Couple going to our mission. They were very nice, but I forgot their names. I told the Sister that I can’t wait to have some of her home cooked meals. She asked if we could be her temporary children while she was away from her own...so sorry Mom, but it looks like I now have a temporary Mom for two years...you can still send me packages though! just kidding...but seriously. The Natives and the older district has left and District 10C is now the big cheese. Oh, someone complimented my tie yesterday in Russian, and instead of saying thank you in russian, I accidentally said "Savior" Oops! So thats whats goin on in the MTC. If anybody wants to send me mail I would love it...also if someone could send me Pokemon cards, it would be much appreciated. and I still havent gotten any astronaut ice cream yet...ummm that’s all i need really, now that I have an ample supply of underwear. oh, and i bought chopsticks today...just sayin.
Thank you all for whatever!
Much love and happiness comin your way,
from Elder Paul
Thank you to all thse who are reading this and who are supporting Mitch! It means the wrld to us as his family!
Because I forgot to choose a scripture for my plaque, i will choose one now: Isaiah 40:11...it says "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." I like this scripture because it expresses the true nature of how missionary work should be done. Rather than simply baptizing people, i will be lovingly leading and guiding people toward Christ. This past week I had the opportunity to go with my branch to the Mount Timpanogos Temple because the Provo temple is currently closed. I love every chance I get to go to the temple, and i can't wait until next P-day when the Provo Temple will be back in business. Tomorrow i will be going to the TRC (Teaching Resource Center) and I will be teaching the first discussion, or at least certain principals in it that pertain to the needs of the investigator, entirely in Russian. The Russian tongue is really starting to come together, right now, over me. I’m scared out of my mind! even though it is only a fake investigator. Yesterday, elder Ablett and I ran into A senior Missionary Couple going to our mission. They were very nice, but I forgot their names. I told the Sister that I can’t wait to have some of her home cooked meals. She asked if we could be her temporary children while she was away from her own...so sorry Mom, but it looks like I now have a temporary Mom for two years...you can still send me packages though! just kidding...but seriously. The Natives and the older district has left and District 10C is now the big cheese. Oh, someone complimented my tie yesterday in Russian, and instead of saying thank you in russian, I accidentally said "Savior" Oops! So thats whats goin on in the MTC. If anybody wants to send me mail I would love it...also if someone could send me Pokemon cards, it would be much appreciated. and I still havent gotten any astronaut ice cream yet...ummm that’s all i need really, now that I have an ample supply of underwear. oh, and i bought chopsticks today...just sayin.
Thank you all for whatever!
Much love and happiness comin your way,
from Elder Paul
Thank you to all thse who are reading this and who are supporting Mitch! It means the wrld to us as his family!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Almost a Big Kid
Dear all,
As far as the Empty Sea goes, everything is still the same, except in another week the older districts will leave and my district will be the big kids on the block. I have seen Elder Poulsen and we took a picture in front of the temple that i will send to you in due time. Elder Whittle is doing swell, I bump into him all the time. What more can i say about the spirit prison? ummmm. i bought a new shirt, this ones from Austria- the land of the mountains. well thanks for all your letters and i want to specifically thank Sterling Gregory Adams for his wonderful artwork that he sent me. CONGRATS to Brian on his mission call! Until next time!
Love, Elder Paul
As far as the Empty Sea goes, everything is still the same, except in another week the older districts will leave and my district will be the big kids on the block. I have seen Elder Poulsen and we took a picture in front of the temple that i will send to you in due time. Elder Whittle is doing swell, I bump into him all the time. What more can i say about the spirit prison? ummmm. i bought a new shirt, this ones from Austria- the land of the mountains. well thanks for all your letters and i want to specifically thank Sterling Gregory Adams for his wonderful artwork that he sent me. CONGRATS to Brian on his mission call! Until next time!
Love, Elder Paul
Thursday, July 8, 2010
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Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Same Old Mitch
Here are some excerpts from this weeks e-mail. He may be in the MTC and learning Russian but it is the same old Mitch we all know and love : )
The days are long and the weeks are short here in the MTC. My nights are entirely consumed by sleep...not to mention pain. Just kidding...The language is hard and the desk is harder...needless to say, I havent gained much weight. O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people.
ummmm
to whomever: please send me a package consisting of these things:
-astronaut ice cream
-home baked brownies
-a list of famous russian authors complete with brief biographies
-recent photographs of people laughing
-a picture of a horse drinking a beer
-a cadbury crunchie
That is all I ask for. Thank you for all of your support.
Your's Truly, Elder Paul
The days are long and the weeks are short here in the MTC. My nights are entirely consumed by sleep...not to mention pain. Just kidding...The language is hard and the desk is harder...needless to say, I havent gained much weight. O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people.
ummmm
to whomever: please send me a package consisting of these things:
-astronaut ice cream
-home baked brownies
-a list of famous russian authors complete with brief biographies
-recent photographs of people laughing
-a picture of a horse drinking a beer
-a cadbury crunchie
That is all I ask for. Thank you for all of your support.
Your's Truly, Elder Paul
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Week Two and Doing Well!!
The second week in the MTC goes a lot faster than the first. Its hard to imagine it has already been two weeks. This week we had a fireside where I think 7 of the apostles were present, and Elder Oaks spoke. After the fireside, Elder Ablett and I went to meet our new mission president. President and Sister Sorenson are great! They too are learning the Russian language and are heading to Russia the first of July. Church is mostly in Russian, but sometimes talks are in English. The Elders and Sisters in my zone are going to other places in Russia, as well as Ukraine. Chances are that when i go to renew my visa it will be to the Ukraine- probably Kiev, which is great because in a couple months, they are dedicating a temple there.
The language is steadily progressing. Tomorrow we are required to get to know someone, ask about their family, tell about our family, relate family to the gospel, ask about hobbies, ask about work, and set up an appointment with a posing investigator...all in Russian! and then we have to teach them the first discussion in English. We dont start teaching the first discussion in Russian for a few more weeks.
In the MTC bookstore you can buy shirts with the flag and name of your mission on it. I thought that was too boring and predictable to get one for Russia, so I ordered a shirt with the Virginia flag on it. Speaking of strange behavior, Elder Andrews came in last week. He is in the MTC for 9 weeks learning tagolog. I have the same lunch time as him, and although i dont eat with him, i talk to him a bit, and we exchange humorous phrases that we have learned in our languages.
I am going to develop some of the photos i have taken and send them home in a week from now.
There are 5 native Elders that are in the MTC right now learning the discussions for a few weeks until they go back to Russia to their various missions. One of the Elders is going to the Moscow mission, so I might have a chance to serve with him. He speaks no English, and i can hardly understand any of the Russian he speaks! I have a long way to go.
My time is just about out- I only have 30 minutes to email before it logs me off. Its good to hear from you, thanks for all the information of events. Hasta Luego!
Love,
Elder Paul
The language is steadily progressing. Tomorrow we are required to get to know someone, ask about their family, tell about our family, relate family to the gospel, ask about hobbies, ask about work, and set up an appointment with a posing investigator...all in Russian! and then we have to teach them the first discussion in English. We dont start teaching the first discussion in Russian for a few more weeks.
In the MTC bookstore you can buy shirts with the flag and name of your mission on it. I thought that was too boring and predictable to get one for Russia, so I ordered a shirt with the Virginia flag on it. Speaking of strange behavior, Elder Andrews came in last week. He is in the MTC for 9 weeks learning tagolog. I have the same lunch time as him, and although i dont eat with him, i talk to him a bit, and we exchange humorous phrases that we have learned in our languages.
I am going to develop some of the photos i have taken and send them home in a week from now.
There are 5 native Elders that are in the MTC right now learning the discussions for a few weeks until they go back to Russia to their various missions. One of the Elders is going to the Moscow mission, so I might have a chance to serve with him. He speaks no English, and i can hardly understand any of the Russian he speaks! I have a long way to go.
My time is just about out- I only have 30 minutes to email before it logs me off. Its good to hear from you, thanks for all the information of events. Hasta Luego!
Love,
Elder Paul
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
We got Mitchell's first e-mail!!!
We got Mitchell's first E-mail! Here are some excerpts of it for you!
Its been about a week in the MTC and i have already learned more than i have learned in 4 years of High School.. I am now saying simple prayers and bearing a simple testimony in Russian. We learned the alphabet in about an hour or two on the second day. This first week has felt like at least 3 or 4 weeks. My companion is Elder Ablett, from Cambridge, and our district consists of 8 elders and 2 sisters...My zone consists of two districts, the other district only has 5 missionaries, so church on Sunday had about 20 people. I conducted and attempted to sing the Russian hymn at the same time.. I am learning so much and having a great time.. My companion and i get along very well, which is good because we have to spend every minute together....we even have to go to the loo together..
PS.. some interesting things about my mission: we will have cell phones, the moscow mission is now almost entirely in the city of moscow, so chances are, thats where i will be for my whole mission.. I still dont know who the new mission president is, but they come in for training tomorrow along with the twelve apostles, so i might get to meet him, and we might even get a visit from an apostle! there are something like 14 branches in my mission, but i can't quite remember......well my time is out now, so talk to you again in a week!
Its been about a week in the MTC and i have already learned more than i have learned in 4 years of High School.. I am now saying simple prayers and bearing a simple testimony in Russian. We learned the alphabet in about an hour or two on the second day. This first week has felt like at least 3 or 4 weeks. My companion is Elder Ablett, from Cambridge, and our district consists of 8 elders and 2 sisters...My zone consists of two districts, the other district only has 5 missionaries, so church on Sunday had about 20 people. I conducted and attempted to sing the Russian hymn at the same time.. I am learning so much and having a great time.. My companion and i get along very well, which is good because we have to spend every minute together....we even have to go to the loo together..
PS.. some interesting things about my mission: we will have cell phones, the moscow mission is now almost entirely in the city of moscow, so chances are, thats where i will be for my whole mission.. I still dont know who the new mission president is, but they come in for training tomorrow along with the twelve apostles, so i might get to meet him, and we might even get a visit from an apostle! there are something like 14 branches in my mission, but i can't quite remember......well my time is out now, so talk to you again in a week!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
6-16-10 Today Was The Day!
Well, today was the day! After a life time of knowing he would serve a mission, and months of preparation, today was the day! We left just after 5 this morning, and headed to Provo. We got there around 11:30, just in time to run one last errand and to have lunch before Mitch checked in. Many of you can probably guess where we ate lunch - In-N-Out it was for Mitchell's last meal before entering the MTC. The pace was full of other Missionaries and their families who were also checking in to the MTC.
When we got to the MTC we found two of Mitchell's friends camped out on the corner all dressed up in heir suits, holding signs with Elder Paul written on them.
When we got to the parking lot at the MTC they told us that Mitchell was one of 478 missionaries checking into the MTC today! We parked and walked over to take the typical Missionary pictures next to the MTC sign.
(this one was Mitchell's favorite!)
After some pictures and a walk up around the temple we got back in the car and drove up to the curb of the MTC where we dropped Mitchell off. You used to go in and see the missionaries off, but since the swine flu this last fall you just drop off at the curb and go. He was excited to go, and walked off with a smile! We can't wait to hear from him and learn all about his newest adventure! When we hear from him, we will be sure to post updates here on this blog so that everybody can know how he is doing.
When we got to the MTC we found two of Mitchell's friends camped out on the corner all dressed up in heir suits, holding signs with Elder Paul written on them.
When we got to the parking lot at the MTC they told us that Mitchell was one of 478 missionaries checking into the MTC today! We parked and walked over to take the typical Missionary pictures next to the MTC sign.
(this one was Mitchell's favorite!)
After some pictures and a walk up around the temple we got back in the car and drove up to the curb of the MTC where we dropped Mitchell off. You used to go in and see the missionaries off, but since the swine flu this last fall you just drop off at the curb and go. He was excited to go, and walked off with a smile! We can't wait to hear from him and learn all about his newest adventure! When we hear from him, we will be sure to post updates here on this blog so that everybody can know how he is doing.
Monday, June 14, 2010
MTC ADDRESS & Dear Elder
Well, the count down is on, 2 more days until Mitch checks into the MTC (Mission Training Center)where he will be for about 3 months. We will be leaving early Wednesday morning to drive him up there.
Mitch received his address for the MTC. You can send him letters at the following address:
Elder Mitchell Johnson Paul
MTC Mailbox #208
RUS-MOS 0831
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
Dear Elder:
dearelder.com is another way to send a letter to Mitchell, it is free to the Provo MTC and will continue to be free when he goes to Russia (since he is in a Pouch mission).
With dearelder, you simply write your letter on the website and submit it. It is then printed and sent to Mitchell. If you submit your letter before 12:00 p.m. (provo time) 11:00 a.m.(vegas time), he will receive it the same day you write it, if not, he will receive it the next day.
On the website simply click on the write a letter tab at the top, select Provo MTC from the drop down menu (once he goes to Russia you will select Moscow Russia)enter the address information, write your letter, and submit!
Thank - you all for your support! Mitch looks forward to receiving mail from you!
Mitch received his address for the MTC. You can send him letters at the following address:
Elder Mitchell Johnson Paul
MTC Mailbox #208
RUS-MOS 0831
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
Dear Elder:
dearelder.com is another way to send a letter to Mitchell, it is free to the Provo MTC and will continue to be free when he goes to Russia (since he is in a Pouch mission).
With dearelder, you simply write your letter on the website and submit it. It is then printed and sent to Mitchell. If you submit your letter before 12:00 p.m. (provo time) 11:00 a.m.(vegas time), he will receive it the same day you write it, if not, he will receive it the next day.
On the website simply click on the write a letter tab at the top, select Provo MTC from the drop down menu (once he goes to Russia you will select Moscow Russia)enter the address information, write your letter, and submit!
Thank - you all for your support! Mitch looks forward to receiving mail from you!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Farewell Elder Paul
Mitchell will not be leaving for Russia for 2 1/2 weeks, however he had his farewell yesterday (Sunday the 30th). He gave an amazing talk and church and then in the evening we had an Open house for him. Thank you to all of the family and friends who came and showed their support!!! Thank-you to all of those who were unable to make it who have showed their support in other ways as well!!! Here are some pics from the event...
Mitchell will not have his room number (which is needed for his address) until he checks into the MTC on June 16th. As soon as we know his address we will post it so that you can write him!!!
Mitchell will not have his room number (which is needed for his address) until he checks into the MTC on June 16th. As soon as we know his address we will post it so that you can write him!!!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
He's Going to Russia!!!!
After all the papers had been sent in, on a Wednesday in early May, the much anticipated envelope arrived in the mail! His call! Elder Paul was called to serve in the Moscow Russia Mission! He enters the MTC on June 16th!
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