Symphonyofdissent

New Elders Coming Soon

symphonyofdissent — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 23:17:44 +0000

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Daniel Ortner <daniel.ortner@myldsmail.net>
Date: Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 5:16 PM
Subject: This week
To: Aviva Ortner <aortner@aol.com>, Eyal Pratt <eyalprat@gmail.com>, Guy Dekel <surf1guy@gmail.com>, Leah Buriani <lottytn@gmail.com>, Marc Ortner <omortner@bellsouth.net>, Moshe Ortner <rentro26@aol.com>, Noam Pratt <pratnoam@gmail.com>, Ohad Himmer <hiohad@gmail.com>, Or Brand <or.brand.katan@gmail.com>, Orit Himmel <orith@p-h.co.il>, Sharon Dekel <bulu@inter.net.il>

Hello Everyone

This week has gone by incredibly fast. It feels like last tuesday was just yesterday. The routine at the MTC does not change too much but I still like it a lot. The new Russian class has been moving at a faster pace and we have been doing a TON of practice teaching. We have four different people to teach. They each are playing a progressive investigator looking into our church. Teaching is always the highlight of my week as I really can feel that skills that I am learning being put to use. Tomorrow new elders going to Russia and Ukraine come in and I am looking forward to getting to know a new group. This week has been nice though with no lines for things like the Gym or Showers. It's been quite relaxing. I like the new district and branch that I am in though I think I liked the older one a bit more. One of our teachers is a native Russian from Vladivostock and her story is fascinating. She found our church through English club and ended up joining. She is a nation wide champion at Japanese language and gave up an open full scholarship to any school in Japan in order to serve her mission. I am amazed by the sacrifices that people make in order to go on missions. It is still shocking to me that 19 year old would give up two years of their life for such a cause. Yet, I have also seen how going on a mission blesses those that serve. I know that I am going to be become much more mature by the time I leave. Little things that I've always not done especially well such as keeping my room etc will be much easier for me to do when I get back. I am learning a lot of structure and discipline which I long needed. One of the other things I am really enjoying is being around people that I did not choose and having to learn to get along with them and love them. There are times when people here get annoyed at each other, but its incredible how people can overcome their differences when they have a common cause. I still love the spiritual atmosphere here so much. Last tuesday we had a really great devotional speaker Bishop Edgely of the presiding Bishopric of the church ( Sort of an administrative head body). He spoke powerfully about the worth of the people we are teaching in the eyes of God and helped me to feel the importance of my mission so much more powerfully.

Love

Elder Daniel Ortner

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This week- Intermediate District

symphonyofdissent — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 23:17:02 +0000

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.

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

Week #4

symphonyofdissent — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:56:18 +0000

This has been a good week though at times frustrating. Twelve weeks is a LONG time to spend here and the schedule is a bit routine. At times it is frustrating to spend all day in class and not feel like much progress is being made. This feeling is compensated by moments when all we learn comes together and we are able to teach an incredible and uplifiting spiritual lesson. I have been making a good amount of progress in Russian though yesterday I taught my first lesson almost exclusively in Russian and I realize how much I am lacking in my language knowledge. Some days I feel like I make an enormous amount of progress while other days are much slower and more piecemeal. I look forward to being able to speak Russian fluently by the end of my time. I know that if I ever come back to live in Israel that it will be a very useful language to know. I am also trying to run more and more each time I go to gym. Yesterday I was able to jog two miles non-stop which was an enormous improvement over where I was when I started. There is a lot of food here and so loosing weight is not very easy, but I hope to be able to lose some and to get into far better shape. I already feel that I have far more energy and so that is very encouraging. General conference was a lot of fun to watch and very spiritually uplifting.

Life in the MTC

symphonyofdissent — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:17:26 +0000

Hello everyone

I wanted to write a little more generally about the life in the MTC. First of all, I have a companion whose name is Elder Windham. He is twenty years old and from Georgia/ Tenesse. We will be companions throughout my time in the training center although he is going to a different mission in Russia. We are in a class of 11 (The female/Sister missionaries are in a trio) which is called our District. Three districts make up my Branch which is the sunday congregation which we worship with. One of my good friends from Boston Sister Muhelstein is in one of the other districts in my Branch. Elder Windham is really nice and has a great sense of humor. We have very differenty personality styles which worried me at first, but we've actually worked really well together. He knows a bit of Russian from previous experience and so its really nice to have someone to practice language with together. We have class for about hours a day and also three hours of personal study time so there's a lot of work. We do a lot of practice teaching and discuss teaching skills. We are this week really learning how to begin teaching our lessons and sharing more in Russian.

We have an hour of Gym five days a week and so my Companion has gotten me and my other Roommates ( Elder Morris and Elder Bahr– We are four to a room) on a work out program. We do an upper body workout for three days a week and an abs work out two days a week. On the days when I do abs I also try to do some cardio and I am trying to start running more frequently. I am very eager to try to get in shape which I am here.

We have devotional speakers come in on Sunday night and on Tuesday Nights which are the highlights of the week. We will likely have at least one or two of the apostles of the church come and speak to us which is something I am eagerly awaiting. On tuesday we also go to the temple which is always a wonderful experience.

The food here is cafeteria style but there are a good amount of options every day and its pretty decent actually. People complain about little things like that, but I really think it's not at all bad. There's ice cream from the BYU creamery twice a week which is nice but makes the aforementioned getting in shape a bit more difficult.

If anyone has particular questions let me know and I will make sure to address them in my next e-mail as I don't know what else to write about.

Either next week or later today I am going to try to get some pictures send out to you.

Week #2

symphonyofdissent — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:17:03 +0000

My time here has been so inspiring for me so far. There is a powerful spirit of love here. A couple of days ago when both my companion and I were feeling a little bit down, we were out of the blue approach by two sisters ( Sister Rivet and Sister Rodriguez) and they shared a spiritual thought that was exactly what I needed to hear. They spoke about how God knows each of us personally and has a plan for us. I know that there are people in Russia that only I can help. There are people struggling with guilt, addiction and misery that the message I have can help transform. I felt the love of God so powerfully in that moment and every day that I have been here.

Today I went to the temple and did the endowment work for my Grandfather and my mother and while I was there I could feel the presence of my mother so strongly. I know that she loves and cares for me so much. I know that she lives and that I will be reunited with her. This knowledge is so empowering and it gives me the strength to do what I am doing even though it is difficult and I face a lot of opposition.

There is a lovely phrase that has been on my mind all week "A missionary is someone that leaves his family for a time so that others can be with their families forever!"

My first week at the MTC

symphonyofdissent — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:08:21 +0000

Hello Everyone (This is from a letter written to my family so it may be a bit rough)

I am writing to you on my free day to let you know about how life in the Missionary Training Center has been so far. As I am learning Russian we mostly focus on Russian language and spent about 6-8 hours a day on language study. It is very intense but I am happy that my background in Russian ( I took three semesters of it in school) helps quite a bit. My companion's name is Elder Windham and he is from Georgia and he also knows a little bit of Russian so that works very well. I am amazed at how much we have been taught in only one week. We also have a lot of time for person reflection, journal writing and scripture study which is wonderful.

The food here is quite good though I am trying to avoid gaining weight. It is cafeteria style food but there is a good variety. We have gym time for an hour every day though the gym is closed right now so we go outside and play sports such as volleyball or soccer.

I love the spiritual atmosphere here more than I expected. We pray before every meeting and sing hymns in Russian to invite the spirit. The focus of every meeting is to teach us to love the people that we will be going out to help and to teach. I know that everyone that I meet is beloved by God and that I need to share. I love that we focus on the individuals and their needs rather than a pre-packaged message to share. I don't think I have ever been more filled with love for those around me in the world. I have been literally moved to tears as some of those that have spoken to us of their stories. The mantle of a missionary is quite powerful and I feel the authority as a messanger of the God.

As you go around your day to day lives this upcoming week, I challange each of you to recognize the beauty and the potential divinity in each person you encounter. Even the driver that cuts you off in traffic or the waitress that takes too long to bring you an order. All of them are truly beautiful beyond comprehension. I think that there is no realization that will more fully improve our relationship with those around us than this one. Try to appreciate the potential in those around you this week and I promise that you will immediately see the benefit

я знао что бог жив и бог любите вас и я тоже люблю вас. ( I know that God lives and that he loves you and that I love you as well.)

Elder Ortner

Untitled

symphonyofdissent — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:48:13 +0000

Sent from my iPhone

Let me know on facebook if you got this

symphonyofdissent — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:53:48 +0000

This post is a test to see if my auto-poster is working. If it is, I will be able to update my facebook, blog and send out emails to anyone that wants to receive them.

Testing

symphonyofdissent — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:40:46 +0000

Testing

Responding to common mission objections

symphonyofdissent — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:11:24 +0000

(I am entering the MTC on Wed September 8th and so this will likely be my last in person post. I will try to have a friend perhaps update this blog when she receives letters from me but I don’t know how that will work since I don’t have supportive family etc. If this is my last post for two years I want to thank everyone that has ever read my
Blog, commented and all the great writers on the bloggernacle that I have yet to meet that have given me spiritual nourishment and guidance.)

Since I’ve received my mission call to Novosibirsk Russia I’ve had to go through the unenviable process of informing friends and relatives ( most of whom were not very supportive when I joined the church in the first place) of my mission call. I’ve heard many objections to my decision to go and I’ve noticed they typically are very similar in nature. I’m going to respond to the five most common objections I’ve heard though in no particular order.

1)You are pushing your religion on other people! That’s wrong!

I firmly believe that I cannot push my faith on anyone. No one will suddenly be swayed by my powers of reason or speech (In English let alone in Russian) to drop a faith that satisfies them and join another faith My goal as a missionary is to share something that has given me much meaning and purpose in my life with those that are seeking with an open heart. My words are but a conduit for the Holy Spirit to touch the lives of those around me.

People do not just stumble upon a religion on their own I know that I never would have considered this church had I not had a good friend that is Mormon and been exposed to its profound teachings. I take the Great Commission of Jesus Christ seriously as he commanded his disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18). For me, missionary work is an obligation. As someone that has been given much I must share those abundant blessings with those around me.

2) Russians already have had Jesus since the 11th century you should go to somewhere that does not.

I deeply revere and respect the Russian Orthodox tradition. I think that many of our theological views on Deification and Exaltation have beautiful analogues in Orthodox Tradition. I look forward to attending Orthodox services and to learning more about this veritable tradition. However, I do believe that our church is the true church of Jesus Christ or else I would not be going out as a missionary. More importantly, however, today so many people—Even if nominally Christian—are lacking purpose and meaning in life and so I think that our clear message of the atonement and plan of salvation can resonate. I believe that wherever a given person is spiritually, that his or her life can be enhanced by the power of the priesthood and the blessings on the temple. Moreover, in a country with an incredible amount of deaths to alcoholism and the effects of such substances I think that our Word of Wisdom is something that people need to hear.

3) Your crazy to be going to the middle of Siberia! If your call were to Hawaii or somewhere nice I could understand

Latter-day Saints believe that mission calls are given through inspired leadership and in the name of God. Therefore, I know that my mission is the one in which the lord sees me doing the most good. My faith in the inspired nature of the call is enhanced by three things

A) It now seems to me that my choice to study Russian in university rather than the far more practical Chinese or Arabic is a form of at the time unrecognized divine providence. At the time everyone told me to do one of those other languages and yet I ended up studying Russian for some reason.

B)) My father was actually conceived in or around Novosibirsk as his parents left a work camp in Siberia and proceeded back to europe. While my father was born in modern day Kazakhstan which is part of a different mission, the family history connections are striking.

C) I almost applied for a study abroad program that would have had me spend two months in St Petersburg and two months in Irkutsk near Lake Baikal which is in my mission territory. This program was cancelled due to lack of student interest so I ended up going to London instead. I was hesitant to do the program and leaned towards London anyways because I was a budding Investigator at the time and knew that the small church in Irkutsk would be a challenge to my tentative faith. How appropriate then that I should be called to that part of Russia to help the church grow!

4) You should be giving your time and money to stop world hunger instead! You are responsible for the death of starving African children

I think this criticism comes form a lack of perspective. For some, the possibility that spiritual nourishment can be more important than physical nourishment seems impossible. Yet, Jesus described himself as the Bread of Life and said “He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35) This argument implies that those that lack are necessarily more miserable than those that have much. It does not seem to me that all the worldly goods we possess in America make us happier than those living on far more modest means. I firmly believe in the transformative power of the atonement to bring peace and self confidence to the lives of individuals.

Moreover, individuals joining our church are taught practices of self-sustainability and live life styles that encourage honesty and integrity. These are the values that are needed in the countries that are most desperately gripped with poverty. These values rather than donations of money and food will be the force that transforms nations and helps to build Zion on the earth.

5) You Will be destroying families and creating tension and strife! I thought you believed in the importance of families!

I will admit that this criticism stings me the most strongly. My conversion has caused a lot of tension between my family and myself. Yet, I would join again in a heartbeat were I asked to do so. Jesus didn’t promise that joining his church would be easy or painless. Instead he said,

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10 34-37)

Ultimately, it is up to the individual to make decisions for themselves. The people I will be teaching have to make a choice to join and the families have to make a choice on how to respond. The message that we preach is one of pure love. I love my family deeply and yet also know of the importance of the gospel.

Moreover, as a Latter Day Saint I do not believe that family is a temporary thing. I believe that family is instead an eternal unity. Thus, though my actions may be temporarily hurtful in the long run they are necessary. The conversion of many begins with the conversion of one. I do not believe that those I love will be judged for their ignorance about the gospel or their lack of opportunity. Instead, I believe that may actions will in the short term or long term lay a foundation for growth and allow us to be an eternal family.My conversion may awaken down the line ( maybe after this life) in the minds of those I love the possibility of converting or looking into Jesus Christ with an open heart. Those I teach may likewise be called to be pioneers in a difficult and at times lonely enterprise. Yet, the rewards are great and the joy the gospel brings is immeasurable.