This week- Intermediate District
This has been a very interesting week. Because I had some Russian background and there were 5 or 6 other Missionaries that had some prior Russian knowledge, they created a new Intermediate Russian district for us. I love the faster pace but it can also be overwhelming at times. One of our teachers is a native Russian speaker and she speaks very quickly and almost toally in Russian. I know that I am going to be much more prepared when I get to Russian because of it. The new district is nice and I like the people that are in it quite a bit. I am the district leader which does not mean all that much except that I interview people in the district once a week and write a weekly district report-I am also the one that gets the mail for the district each day 
. As we moved into the new district we are also put into a different church branch and so I've been adjusting to that as well. One of the counslers in the Branch Presidency actually was a mission president in Novosibirsk and so I look forward to getting to talk to him more and find out more about my specific mission. Two of my teachers also served in my Mission so I've heard a lot of wonderful stories and so I am excited to get out there. Hearing them has encouraged me as I know that there are people in Russian that need to hear and will benefit from my message. I know that I am going to do some good once I get out there.
. As we moved into the new district we are also put into a different church branch and so I've been adjusting to that as well. One of the counslers in the Branch Presidency actually was a mission president in Novosibirsk and so I look forward to getting to talk to him more and find out more about my specific mission. Two of my teachers also served in my Mission so I've heard a lot of wonderful stories and so I am excited to get out there. Hearing them has encouraged me as I know that there are people in Russian that need to hear and will benefit from my message. I know that I am going to do some good once I get out there.The district that got here six weeks before we did left this week and saying goodbye to them was quite sad but also fun. We all took a lot of pictures in front of the Provo Temple and they had a queso/chips party which was also quite delicious. One of my good friends from Boston Sister Muhelstein was among the group that left and so I miss seeing her and others. There are a few from the group that are going to my Mission so I may see them again. Last tuesday we had a very interesting devotional speaker. He was the one that in the 90's basically opened up eastern europe for the church. He singlehandedly started missions in Russian, Ukraine, Poland etc. It was very interesting to hear him speak about his experiences and share his insight about missionary work. I have also continued to work on my Running/Jogging and yesterday jogged for 30 minutes without stop ( Between 2.5 and 3 miles) so that has also been exciting.
Aside from that, there isn't all that much to report. Time goes by pretty fast day by day. I will be leaving for Russia on the 22nd of November and so I am eagerly anticipating that day.
I don't know that I will be able to e-mail out photos so I am going to print out some and send it in letters that I write out to you.
Lots of love
Elder Daniel Ortner
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