Last E-mail from the MTC!

Today was Andrew's last P-day in Provo. He got his flight plans and he will be flying to Russia beginning Monday morning! He sounds really really excited - we'll be sure to post when he get confirmation that he's landed safely.

Here's some of what he had to say:

So last Thursday a group of Elders including me went to try out to sing in a Fireside or Devotional. We sang How Firm A Foundation, and apparently they loved it because they put us in the program for MTC-wide Mission Conference the immediate next Sunday. I was really happy with how the arrangement turned out; the master mind behind it (CT. White) really knows his stuff. Anyway, the musical number on Sunday went really well. I love music. Brother McCleary said that every single one of us will give a musical number in church, at least once, guaranteed, regardless of how much experience we have with singing. He said as long as you can hold a tune, they'll think you're fantastic... haha. Funny stuff. The more I hear about Russia, the more I like it.

 

Also on Sunday, we watched the Testaments. I was hoping one of the three available languages they do every week would be Russian, but no such luck. I think they had Spanish, German, and Japanese. That's okay. I didn't realize before, but I'm pretty well convinced that the person who plays Kohor (the main bad guy) is Steve Perry. For serious. Go watch the movie and tell me it's not him. I kept expecting him to just bust out some Lights or something.

I'm SO grateful for my opportunity to serve. Russia seems more and more real every day. My Russian isn't super good, but it's good enough for right now. I feel confident that with the Lord's help, I can place both the English Book of Mormon and the Russian Book of Mormon that I bought before I arrive in Samara. All I need to do is open my mouth. Who's to say the Lord hasn't prepared someone to receive this message from me in SLC or Atlanta or Moscow? I believe our district is also having a competition to see who can place the most pass-along cards before arriving in Eastern Europe as well. I'm so excited.

 

Looking back over the last 2.5 months or so, I really can't believe how much I've learned. Russian aside (and I feel I've learned a truly miraculous amount of Russian... not that I'm not fully expecting to have my pride crushed as soon as I hit Moscow), I'm not even close to the same person I was 3 months ago. I really have gone through some extreme changes in personality. I've developed my Christlike attributes a lot (particularly Humility, if you didn't notice). I've started and finished the Book of Mormon, and now I'm reading the New Testament along with Jesus the Christ. I LOVE reading the scriptures. I'm hoping to finish at least the 4 Gospels while on various planes. I love the church in a much more active way than I ever have before. I know more and more every day that it's so true. So many people need to find this out, and I intend to find them. Christs love for all of us and God's role in our lives are so, so, so real. I know it. My appreciation for my family has grown exponentially. You guys really are the best.

Love you all. You're the best.

 

-Elder Andrew Broekhuijsen.