Здраво Породице! Zdravo Ponodice! Hello Family!
I'm writing after enduring the longest weekend of my life. I hate 3 day weekends, because I don’t even get a single break at all.....so lame. I'm doing all right so far. I don't think Serbski is going to be too hard. It's similar in theory to Slovene, but it's mostly different vocabulary with some of the same basic routes...which actually makes it kind of hard because the words get all mixed together.
Here's the story of how it went down: Elder S and I were in class with Brat J when a voice on the intercom in our room asked me to come to A104. I thought it was about my patriarchal blessing, so Elder S and I walked to the room in the main building. I got a little freaked out when I saw that A104 was the MTC President's office. The secretary sat us down and said that she was glad that we both came and that we weren't in trouble. So then we didn't know what was happening. 10 minutes later he called us into his office, told us to sit down, and said, “Don’t worry, you're not in trouble (I guess we looked scared/confused).” So we sat down and he said something to the effect of, "It's been passed down to me from the Brethren that you two elders are getting reassigned. How do you feel about Serbian?" I thought he was joking...but he wasn't. He went on to say, "I'm not quite sure why, but there is a sudden need for more Serbian speaking elders. You are being assigned to learn Serbian, but we don't know where you're going yet. You are officially in the Adriatic 'blank' mission." (so yeah....I’ll talk about this more further on) He also said that we would start Serbian that night. So then we went to the bookstore, got Serbian materials, and ordered Serbian nametags. Then I made the phone call to dad. We then found out that the teachers didn't even know about the switch. President Brown was the first to find out and then he told us, so no one still really knows what's going on. Brat J was gone by the time we got back, so we couldn't even tell him. Anyways, we went to Croatian/Serbian class Friday night and struggled our way through it. It was so frustrating for both of us. I think we were just angrier than anything else. Slovene was such a rough start, but it felt like we were finally getting the hang of it and we were starting to be able to teach and understand better, and now, out of the blue, we were getting switched and pushed back to square one. We saw Sister K the next morning and all she asked us was, "What the junk?! What's up with the switch? Now I'm out of a job!" We told her all that we knew and then our new and old teachers had a meeting later to figure out how they were going to deal with us. It's kind of funny: Most mornings we now have Sister C as a teacher and then we have Brat M (he went to Serbia and he seems pretty cool) teach the 3 of us Serbs on Monday and Wednesday night. We get to split off from the Croat sisters and just learn pure Serbian. I’m not sure what's going down the other nights though. Oh...we also still get to see Brat J and Sestra K because they play our investigators (Bostijan and Anica) and we are still go to teach the same investigators. They're trying to learn some Serbian so we can still teach them. I thought that was pretty cool. That's what I was saddest about. I really like the two of them and I wasn't too cool with having to switch teachers and ditch them. Sorry if this is too jumbled. It's just a lot of thoughts all coming to my mind and I don't have a whole lot of time for organization.
So anyways, Friday and Saturday were rough. Elder S and I were both not happy at all about the switch. I tried to have a good attitude, but it was hard so I gave up. I seriously felt like I was on the edge of sanity for a day a half. I was just so frustrated. I figured that I could learn Serbian, because I was picking up Slovene, but I honestly didn't want to. Learn Serbian, or go to a Serbian country. I wanted to go to Slovenia and speak Slovene. I felt like I had lost all control of everything and everything was out of my hands, which it totally is, but it hadn't felt that way up to that moment. So we fasted on Saturday that we might come to terms with the change and develop an appreciation for our new assignment. I think it worked. I'm more so excited about the new opportunity, although I'm still a little disappointed. I think Serbian will come all right. I'm doing fine with the idea now. I'm just really gonna have to push it for my next 3 weeks here.
So where I’m going: Yeah....no one has any idea yet. And if they do know, they're not telling Elder S or me. Yes, they speak Serbian in Serbia, but also a different dialect sort of thing/Serbian with a Latin alphabet in Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Macedonia. The last 3 are in the Adriatic South mission, which make them a possibility. Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Macedonia all just opened within the last little while, so they are all possibilities. They said that we should be finding out soon. I've heard that despite what the news says, they are all fairly safe, so don’t worry. (There’s a saying here that says that a cold in Bolivia is death in the US, so calm down Mom) I personally could see myself going to Serbia and then Bosnia, which would be kind of cool since Bosnia just opened a couple of weeks ago. Who knows though?
I got the package before Valentines Day. Sorry.... I forgot to mention it last week. I'm gonna find Little Debbie when I get home and marry her so she can make me her snack cakes forever. Thanks a bunch. There's still a bunch left too because I want it to last.
I can't think of a whole lot of other stuff. It's been all right here. I'm just starting to suffocate under the hold of the MTC. It really seems like they have some rules for the sake of having rules.... like we HAVE to have the bed spreads on our beds even though it doesn't get cold enough for them. And we aren't allowed to hang up flags (which is no longer an issue, but at the time I was frustrated) But oh well. It will only make me appreciate being on my own that much more. The food is getting old, but still, I don’t have to cook or clean, so it's all right.
There hasn’t been anything super funny lately. Just stress and learning. I should be getting my Cyrillic (sp?) name tags later today, so I’ll be sending pictures and stuff soon. By the time I leave I’ll have 6 tags (two Slovene, two Cyrillic/English, and two full Cyrillic). How many other people get that many? For the sake of other people, hopefully not that much.
How are things back home? Is everyone doing okay? I'm running out of things to say. If you have unanswered questions, just let me know and I’ll try to answer them.
Also, Time to think of a new title for the blog, huh? You can do whatever you want with it. I'm not too concerned about it. I trust you. I look forward to hearing from you. Off to the temple now.
Just to add a couple of things.... i saved a picture of the flag off of Google images as a picture and then I uploaded it to picknick or whatever it's called and then I put the text box on top of it. If that explains anything. I feel like there was other stuff to say, but I can’t remember anything. I am quite curious to know what you're sending me though.
I heard from Brett today in a few sentences cuz i told him I was getting reassigned. He sounds like he's doing all right. And Jake said that he's still partying in Portland. Make sure you get on Facebook and tell everyone to write me or else......please......it would probably make me the most popular person here.
Oh...I just went to the travel office. They still don't know where I’m going. Oh well. Another thing.... It's super funny when people see my tag and ask me where I’m going.....the look on their face is priceless when I tell them I have no idea. Mostly the old people at the temple. I get my new tags in half an hour!!!!!!!! I better get going. Lots of stuff to do all the time, even on pday.
I love y'all bunches!
Старешина Квин
Starešina Quinn (what it says above)
P.J.
P.S.: Cyrillic is a pain, but I can read it...but slowly. I feel like I’m 4 when it takes 35 minutes to read half of a Book of Mormon chapter and i still don't understand what it says.
Also, do you think you can send me the Greer's address? I'd like to write them, but I’m not sure where to send it to.
Serbia: СРБИЈА You gotta admit...it looks pretty sweet when you write it.
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