Well, it has been nearly a week here in the MTC. How are you handling life back in Salt Lake without me? I want you to know that I am loving life here. It is very difficult, but I have a great district full of eight spiritually minded and very intelligent Elders, as well as Sister Robinson, who definitely completes our district. It is also the only Ukrainian speaking district in the entire MTC, which makes it a very special group to be a part of. Our teacher, Sister Georgieva, has been absolutely wonderful so far. She is a native Ukrainian who speaks both Russian and Ukrainian fluently so we are very lucky to have her. We still have not met Brother Wells, our other teacher, but I have heard he is a great teacher (plus he is also as tall as me which means he must be awesome.)
My companion, Elder Hinkson, is from Smithfield, Utah. I don't remember how much I told you about him, so I will just say what I want to say. Elder Hinkson is an absolute blast to work with. He has an incredible knowledge of the gospel and a very strong testimony of our Savior and of His gospel. He is going to help me grow so much while we are here.
The language is coming very quickly although it certainly does not feel quick. Luckily, my slight background in Russian has helped me get a bit of a headstart which is good, because I am able to help Elder Hinkson. The Ukrainian language is definitely different from Russian though, moreso than I had expected. It is going to be a very long 11 weeks trying to get a grasp on the language, but it will be fun as well. We are also very lucky as we will most likely be learning a good deal of Russian too, while the Russian speaking Ukrainian missionaries are not going to learn as much Ukrainian.
Apart from spending about four or five hours a day on the language, we have at least 2 hours of personal and companion gospel study and 2 more hours of class gospel study. The days are very long and they require a lot of work and attention, but it has helped me grow so much and I am very excited to be able to learn a lot more and become closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.
The mission itself as you know is the Western portion of Ukraine, but what I have learned since getting here is that much of the eastern portion of the Kyiv mission is still Russian speaking. I will try to send a picture or drawing of where exactly I will be most likely to serve, but just for your knowledge, it is likely going to be the far Western part of the country with the possibility of being in areas in the middle as well. I am probably not going to serve on the Black Sea as much of that is still Russian speaking, and I will definitely not be serving near Chernobyl, so Mom, you don't need to worry.
The MTC is going to be a very interesting experience. We have our first real lesson with a possible investigator tomorrow in one of the teaching centers. The person we teach, may or may not be a member, so it will definitely be an intimidating experience. We also have to do the initial contacting in Ukrainian so the first 5 minutes are going to be an absolutely terrifying experience. Although it will be scary, I feel that we have enough knowledge that we can start with an ok lesson, and the Spirit will help us make it all the better.
So, just some things for you to know . . . my p-day is today, and each and every Tuesday until I leave. P-day is the only day that I will be able to read or write messages on the computer and we only have 30 minutes each week so if you have a lot of questions you want me to answer, I would prefer to get them through mail during the week and then I can answer them during my email time. Also, my planned departure date is March 16 so after that, it may be difficult for letters to get to me. If you want to send things, try to do it before that week.
My time is almost up so I just want to leave you with my love for you. Thanks for supporting me and for helping me get to this point in my life. Also, can you send me the girls' email addresses?
Thanks a ton! I love you all very much.
Elder Ryan Jones
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