Hey everyone!
Week two in Russia! I feel like I've been on my mission forever (in a good way). This past week has been crazy. We started the week with a prettybig teaching pool, then we saw it slowly get whittled down to a few so-so investigators. Last Monday we had a lesson with a young mother named Shenya (one day I'll find the cyrillic button on this keyboard). Anywho, she was absolutely golden. The spirit was so strong and she started talking about how she felt so impatient as a mother and how she felt that meeting with us was a small light into how she could be a better mother and create a better family. At one point she was pretty near tears. We both felt that she was ready to hear more about the church, then when we met with her two days later, she told us that she wasn't interested, that we "had our church and that was great," but that she couldn't go against family tradition, etc., etc. It was hard to hear, but we're not giving up on her. She's just a piece of gold that doesn't know how great she is yet.
We've also found a few new investigators this week, all in random ways. First of all, I am a babooskha machine! For some reason, these women love me. They yell at me for not dressing warm enough, look at me funny when they see "Sine" on my nametag, and then they love me for no reason at all! Haha. I don't get it. Anywho, I placed about 5 Book of Mormons this past week, all with babooshkas. One of then, Tatyana, we saw the day after we gave it to her (and read Moroni's promise with her) and she couldn't stop thanking me for it. She cluched it against her chest and keep saying, "spaciba-vam!" (thank you). It turns out she'd erad all the way to 2nd Nephi the night before and her daughter was interested in reading it too. It was nuts! Then there's Eura, who called us during general conference yesterday (Yes! we got to watch it. More on that later) and told us that he found our number on an invite that he'd been given months and months ago and that he wanted to meet with us and learn about the Book of Mormon. We thought, "Well, sure. We can do that." So we met with him later last night and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. He's the greatest. He's 60/70 years old and lives all by himself. He told us he's been searching for 'something' for a long time; my companion promised he'd find it in the Book of Mormon and there was just this moment where the spirit sort of shocked us. It was really, really powerful. I can't wait to meet with him again.
Other than that, everything's peachy. I love this place. I love that life moves slower here, I love the food, I love the clothes that people pile on even when it's 60 degrees outside, I love the language, I love the weather. It's exactly where I'm meant to be. OH! we also made borsche this past week. Sister Pierce almost lost a few eyebrows in the process due to a few huge flames. It was hilarious. We laugh non-stop. She reminds me a lot of Elizabeth Brady. A lot! It's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Now, conference. Who noticed the theme of becoming converted? Because I DID. Holy cow. The announcement about missionary work was incredible, then everything after that just expanded on it. Testimonies aren't enough anymore. It reminded me a lot of a lesson we had with Brat. Burdis and Brat Hofman in the MTC. (Hi, Brat Hofman!) He directed us to Matthew 5:48, which says that we are to be perfected like our Heavenly Father. THEN we went to 3 Nephi 13:48 (I hope that's the right chapter), where it says that we are to be perfect, "like Heavenly Father AND Jesus Christ." Christ was perfect while he was on the Earth, but he wasn't complete until he completed the resurrection and the atonement. WE might have testimonies, but we are not complete until we've been converted to the point where our will and the Lord's will are indentical. I love it.
Anywho, I'm running out of time. I love you all! I miss you all everyday. I heard Bon Jovi on the bus the other day and REALLY missed singing in the car with Mary Alice. And LARK is thinking about a mission!!! That's the best news in the world! She's going to be the best missionary. Tell her I'm so, so, so proud of her. She'll never regret it. Anywho, thanks for all you guys do for me. Keep praying for the missionaries and their investigators. And work on that conversion, everyone :)
Love, Sister Sine
Last note: I've been having the craziest dreams since coming to Russia. The other night I dreamt that I was dating Bigfoot against Dad's wishes and last night I dreamt that I was Cinderella and my prince was Alec Baldwin. I have no idea what they mean, but I think it's something good...?
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Tolyatti!
Hello from Russia!
I still can't believe I'm here. It's nuts. A week ago I was in Utah. Crazy.
I'm in a city called Tolyatti in an area called New City. I already love it here. Apparently it's one of the more peaceful cities in Russia. Our apartment is one of the only apartments int he mission with beds AND a toaster, so we got that going for us. It's the coolest place. I've met so many crazy, cool people already. My trainer's name is Sister (Elizabeth) Pierce from Utah. She's only been out 6 months, but there are only about 12 sisters in our mission, so trainers start training real early. I love her already. We work really well together and we're both just ready to work. I have high hopes :)
Traveling was insane. I'm sorry both calls were so short, but our layovers were impossible and we were all SO tired. By the time we got to moscow we were all dead. My flight ot Moscow was an interestng one. I sat next to a man named Joe who was texting another man named "Bald Eagle" on his phone. They were talking about how Bald Eagle was flirting up a bisexual Phillipino woman and how Joe was meeting a man named Sergei who was going to hook up him with two Russian woman on Wendesday night. I couldn't believe my eyes. Haha. Sister Moffatt and Elder McClure were already handing their neighbor a Book of Mormon and I was stuck with the foul-mouthed adulterer. Haha. SO I asked him why he was going to Moscow and talked about his family, etc., etc. Eventually we started talking about the church a little bit and I LAID into him about families. At one point he started talking about how he'd seen so many of his coworkers cheat on their wives during business trips and how disappointing he was. I kind of wanted to smack him. Haha. But we talked about families for a loooonnnng time. It was so hard not to just blurt out, "Don't cheat on your wife this Wednesday!" Oh, well. Joe and I became real good buds. I hope I gave him something to think about.
Anywho, mission stuff.
We got to Samara on Tuesday night aroun midnight and got picked up by the Sartoris and the APs. We went back to the mission home and slept until the next morning where we had breakfast and said our goodbyes after some interviews. It was really sad. I love the district. I hope they're doing well. THEN I went backt to Tolyatti with Sister Pierce and got to work. That night we found a family that we have an appointment with tonight. Exciting! We also had a couple other interesting meetings. We talked with a man named Sergei who asked us to meet him the next night at his church. We didn't think he would show but he did! We talked to him for a while until his pastor came out and started going OFF on the Book of Mormon. Of course, I could only understand about 20% of what he was saying, but I knew he wasn't interested. Haha. I think Sergei was my first heartbreak. He had the best, most honest, sincere face! I still have hope for him.
Then there's Nikolai. We met with him yesterday and talked a lot about faith. (Oh! Brat Sorenson! You have to tell Brat Hofman that I used "Koe-shto! I thought about it as I said it and you're RIGHT! He was impressed! Thanks, Brat Hofman!) We also had some lessons with less active members this past week, which turned out to be pretty interesting. I wish I had more tme to write about them. BUT I don't. Lessons still feel weird out in the real world. The second you realize that your investigator isn't actually a reaturned missionary, the whole game changes. There are people here who have no idea who God is or how He feels about them. Sometimes it's hard to wrap your head around. I love these people, though. I just want to hug them and help them and love them and teach them all. Haha. Also, I just heard Selena Gomez for the first time since July about 5 seconds ago. It was the ringtone on a 50-year old man's phone. Haha. Not judging...
The rest of this letter's gonna be one big "thank you." I really am blessed to be here and to have all the support I've had from all of you. Brat Sorenson and Brat Hofman (and Brat Duffy), THANK YOU. I couldn't have asked for better teachers. Tell all your students to listen to you because you guys are the best. And tell them to learn their verbs of motion! All of them! Tell them not to waste any time because the second you get our here all you want to do is help people, and you won't be able to if you're not prepared. And thank you, family, for everything you've done. Thanks for teaching me the gospel and for being my examples. I love you guys a whole lot.
Alright, that's all I got this week. I promise next week will be more spiritual/uplifting/better in general. My brain's just so frazzled right now. Until then, know that I know I'm here for a reason and I wouldn't be here if I didn't know ALL of this gospel was true. I love Russia. I love the people. I love the mission. I love you all!
LOVE YOU!
-Sister Sine
I still can't believe I'm here. It's nuts. A week ago I was in Utah. Crazy.
I'm in a city called Tolyatti in an area called New City. I already love it here. Apparently it's one of the more peaceful cities in Russia. Our apartment is one of the only apartments int he mission with beds AND a toaster, so we got that going for us. It's the coolest place. I've met so many crazy, cool people already. My trainer's name is Sister (Elizabeth) Pierce from Utah. She's only been out 6 months, but there are only about 12 sisters in our mission, so trainers start training real early. I love her already. We work really well together and we're both just ready to work. I have high hopes :)
Traveling was insane. I'm sorry both calls were so short, but our layovers were impossible and we were all SO tired. By the time we got to moscow we were all dead. My flight ot Moscow was an interestng one. I sat next to a man named Joe who was texting another man named "Bald Eagle" on his phone. They were talking about how Bald Eagle was flirting up a bisexual Phillipino woman and how Joe was meeting a man named Sergei who was going to hook up him with two Russian woman on Wendesday night. I couldn't believe my eyes. Haha. Sister Moffatt and Elder McClure were already handing their neighbor a Book of Mormon and I was stuck with the foul-mouthed adulterer. Haha. SO I asked him why he was going to Moscow and talked about his family, etc., etc. Eventually we started talking about the church a little bit and I LAID into him about families. At one point he started talking about how he'd seen so many of his coworkers cheat on their wives during business trips and how disappointing he was. I kind of wanted to smack him. Haha. But we talked about families for a loooonnnng time. It was so hard not to just blurt out, "Don't cheat on your wife this Wednesday!" Oh, well. Joe and I became real good buds. I hope I gave him something to think about.
Anywho, mission stuff.
We got to Samara on Tuesday night aroun midnight and got picked up by the Sartoris and the APs. We went back to the mission home and slept until the next morning where we had breakfast and said our goodbyes after some interviews. It was really sad. I love the district. I hope they're doing well. THEN I went backt to Tolyatti with Sister Pierce and got to work. That night we found a family that we have an appointment with tonight. Exciting! We also had a couple other interesting meetings. We talked with a man named Sergei who asked us to meet him the next night at his church. We didn't think he would show but he did! We talked to him for a while until his pastor came out and started going OFF on the Book of Mormon. Of course, I could only understand about 20% of what he was saying, but I knew he wasn't interested. Haha. I think Sergei was my first heartbreak. He had the best, most honest, sincere face! I still have hope for him.
Then there's Nikolai. We met with him yesterday and talked a lot about faith. (Oh! Brat Sorenson! You have to tell Brat Hofman that I used "Koe-shto! I thought about it as I said it and you're RIGHT! He was impressed! Thanks, Brat Hofman!) We also had some lessons with less active members this past week, which turned out to be pretty interesting. I wish I had more tme to write about them. BUT I don't. Lessons still feel weird out in the real world. The second you realize that your investigator isn't actually a reaturned missionary, the whole game changes. There are people here who have no idea who God is or how He feels about them. Sometimes it's hard to wrap your head around. I love these people, though. I just want to hug them and help them and love them and teach them all. Haha. Also, I just heard Selena Gomez for the first time since July about 5 seconds ago. It was the ringtone on a 50-year old man's phone. Haha. Not judging...
The rest of this letter's gonna be one big "thank you." I really am blessed to be here and to have all the support I've had from all of you. Brat Sorenson and Brat Hofman (and Brat Duffy), THANK YOU. I couldn't have asked for better teachers. Tell all your students to listen to you because you guys are the best. And tell them to learn their verbs of motion! All of them! Tell them not to waste any time because the second you get our here all you want to do is help people, and you won't be able to if you're not prepared. And thank you, family, for everything you've done. Thanks for teaching me the gospel and for being my examples. I love you guys a whole lot.
Alright, that's all I got this week. I promise next week will be more spiritual/uplifting/better in general. My brain's just so frazzled right now. Until then, know that I know I'm here for a reason and I wouldn't be here if I didn't know ALL of this gospel was true. I love Russia. I love the people. I love the mission. I love you all!
LOVE YOU!
-Sister Sine
MTC week 10
Hey, hey, hey!
This week is the biggest blur. It feels like all the other weeks, except more stressful. The "this is our last...." sentences have started. Only 5 more days. It's absolutely crazy. I don't think it'll hit me until we're IN Moscow. I can't wait to see it and feel it and smell it and touch it. I have no idea how I'm going to adjust to it, though. I know I've lived on my own before, but living with a companion in Samara, Russia's a beast of a different color. Is that even a phrase? I don't know anything anymore. Russian's really starting to mess me up. The other day I said, "At me there is a question."
ANYWHO! I saw James Pacheco this week! I was walking out of our building and heard, "Sister SIIIIIIiiiiiiiiine!" I didn't even recognize him for a few seconds. I was SO shocked. I knew he was at the MTC, but I never thought I'd see him since there are over 300 Spanish teachers here. We talked about the fam, about Isaac, about Nate (who is going to be a FATHER? WHAT?). It was so nice to see him. It felt like my mission was real after that. Haha. I don't know why.
There ARE a few highlights from the week. Last night we had a devotional from a member of the Seventy. I don't remember his name. Christofell something... Anyway, we sang Lead, Kindly Light as a choir for the opening number and the whole time I just kept picturing Russia. I almost started tearing up a little bit. I just got this overwhelming feeling of helplessness, but in a good way. Does that make sense? I know I'll be needing a lot of help in the months to come, a lot of which will only be able to come from Heavenly Father. This week's been filled with a lot of awesome lessons on focusing and obedience and how exactly to do missionary work. I'm starting to feel a little nervous, but I know it'll be aight. The other night, my roommates were talking about how exactly they'd be freaking out this upcoming week. Apparently I can expect a massive panic attack from Sister Moffatt this week. All I could say was, "I mean, I might, maybe cry? A little bit? To myself?" Sometimes I feel like the anti-girl.
Our district has started a prank war during meals. The other day I sat down and took a drink of my water and almost gagged it all up because SOMEone had put a bunch of salt in it. Since then, we've become merciless. Bagels, cereal, milk, water, salads, ice cream...nothing's safe anymore. Elder Bickley continues to scare me every chance he gets, which drives me nuts. I've become so paranoid, to the point where I can NOT stand with someone behind me. I'm ridiculous. BUT, I have a plan to get him back. I hope he likes salt as much as our district does.
Also! Good news! There are now TWO STAKES IN RUSSIA. Elder Nelson spoke on Sunday about how much work he's been doing in Russia lately, and he just set up the second of the two. All the teachers in the Russian missions think that Samara's next. They're sooo close. And that means a temple's super close too. I can't wait. I want that country to have a temple so badly. I've learned so much from the temple these past 10 weeks; I want everyone to have that. This morning we had our last session as a district in the Provo temple. It was pretty sad. I mean, it would've been if I didn't keep falling asleep. We all sat in the Celestial room together and all I could think about was how much Russia needs a temple.
Now for the cool stuff-we got our travel plans this week! I'll be leaving Monday morning. We leave from Salt Lake around 8:30 am, I think, then fly to JFK, then to Moscow, then to a place called Smarack. I don't know when I'll have time to call. Our layover at JFK is only 50 minutes long, and I don't know if we'll have time to call before we board in Salt Lake. I'll take a look at the travel plans and get back to you. If you don't hear anything, just expect me to call you in the morning. Also, do you want me to call the home phone or your cell phone? You might have to dearelder me the details. Quick!
Anywho, I love you all! I miss you all so much. I can't wait to talk to you on Monday. The next letter will be from Russia! Woohoo!
This week is the biggest blur. It feels like all the other weeks, except more stressful. The "this is our last...." sentences have started. Only 5 more days. It's absolutely crazy. I don't think it'll hit me until we're IN Moscow. I can't wait to see it and feel it and smell it and touch it. I have no idea how I'm going to adjust to it, though. I know I've lived on my own before, but living with a companion in Samara, Russia's a beast of a different color. Is that even a phrase? I don't know anything anymore. Russian's really starting to mess me up. The other day I said, "At me there is a question."
ANYWHO! I saw James Pacheco this week! I was walking out of our building and heard, "Sister SIIIIIIiiiiiiiiine!" I didn't even recognize him for a few seconds. I was SO shocked. I knew he was at the MTC, but I never thought I'd see him since there are over 300 Spanish teachers here. We talked about the fam, about Isaac, about Nate (who is going to be a FATHER? WHAT?). It was so nice to see him. It felt like my mission was real after that. Haha. I don't know why.
There ARE a few highlights from the week. Last night we had a devotional from a member of the Seventy. I don't remember his name. Christofell something... Anyway, we sang Lead, Kindly Light as a choir for the opening number and the whole time I just kept picturing Russia. I almost started tearing up a little bit. I just got this overwhelming feeling of helplessness, but in a good way. Does that make sense? I know I'll be needing a lot of help in the months to come, a lot of which will only be able to come from Heavenly Father. This week's been filled with a lot of awesome lessons on focusing and obedience and how exactly to do missionary work. I'm starting to feel a little nervous, but I know it'll be aight. The other night, my roommates were talking about how exactly they'd be freaking out this upcoming week. Apparently I can expect a massive panic attack from Sister Moffatt this week. All I could say was, "I mean, I might, maybe cry? A little bit? To myself?" Sometimes I feel like the anti-girl.
Our district has started a prank war during meals. The other day I sat down and took a drink of my water and almost gagged it all up because SOMEone had put a bunch of salt in it. Since then, we've become merciless. Bagels, cereal, milk, water, salads, ice cream...nothing's safe anymore. Elder Bickley continues to scare me every chance he gets, which drives me nuts. I've become so paranoid, to the point where I can NOT stand with someone behind me. I'm ridiculous. BUT, I have a plan to get him back. I hope he likes salt as much as our district does.
Also! Good news! There are now TWO STAKES IN RUSSIA. Elder Nelson spoke on Sunday about how much work he's been doing in Russia lately, and he just set up the second of the two. All the teachers in the Russian missions think that Samara's next. They're sooo close. And that means a temple's super close too. I can't wait. I want that country to have a temple so badly. I've learned so much from the temple these past 10 weeks; I want everyone to have that. This morning we had our last session as a district in the Provo temple. It was pretty sad. I mean, it would've been if I didn't keep falling asleep. We all sat in the Celestial room together and all I could think about was how much Russia needs a temple.
Now for the cool stuff-we got our travel plans this week! I'll be leaving Monday morning. We leave from Salt Lake around 8:30 am, I think, then fly to JFK, then to Moscow, then to a place called Smarack. I don't know when I'll have time to call. Our layover at JFK is only 50 minutes long, and I don't know if we'll have time to call before we board in Salt Lake. I'll take a look at the travel plans and get back to you. If you don't hear anything, just expect me to call you in the morning. Also, do you want me to call the home phone or your cell phone? You might have to dearelder me the details. Quick!
Anywho, I love you all! I miss you all so much. I can't wait to talk to you on Monday. The next letter will be from Russia! Woohoo!
MTC Week 8
I'm 23!
As of yesterday at 6:00 pm, I'm officially 23. It feels real weird. Actually, it feels the same as 22, but it's weird having to tell people I'm 23 now. I loved 22.
Anyway, yesterday was probably one of the best days of my life, definitely the best birthday I've ever had. MTC birthdays are the BEST. Thanks so much to everyone that wrote and sent stuff. I've got enough food to feed my district until we leave for Russia. But seriously, I felt sooo incredibly loved yesterday. It was great. We woke up, went for our morning run, then ate breakfast. After we finished, Sister Moffatt said she had to go back to the room to get something. It turns out she was stalling for our district, because when I we entered our classroom, it was decked out in all things 'birthday.' There were signs everywhere, stickers, the chalkboard was covered in birthday messages, and they got me a real big birthday hat and glittery sunglasses, which they made me wear almost all day. I think Elder Astle got some pictures with them; I'm sure he'll post them sometime in the future. They're probably super embarassing. After all that, we had personal study and then class, where we talked about commitments with our investigators. I had to sit and role play with two elders asking me how I was doing with the word of wisdom looking like I just came back from Mardi Gras with all my birthday stuff hanging off me. I couldn't keep a straight face.
THEN, at lunch. Oh, gosh. Alright, so I may have already told you that the elders in my district found out that I'm super ticklish and jump anytime someone pokes me in the sides. They do it ALLL the time. ALL THE TIME. To the point where I've actually started developing anxiety. Well, there's this new elder named Elder Bickley that thinks this is the funniest thing ever. Kind of like Dad, actually. He'll sneak up behind me and blurt something into my ear and poke my sides and watch me flip out. He's done it at least once a day since he's been here. So yesterday, I sat down to lunch and said my prayer, and right as I opened my eyes he poked my sides and yelled, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" in my ear. I didn't see my face, but Elder Astle and Elder Martineau said it was the most terrified look they've ever seen. I started laughing/hyperventilating uncontrollably. I couldn't breathe or eat or do anyting but laugh and cover my face for a good 5 minutes. Meanwhile, Elder Bickley was having the time of his life. Since then, he's offered to let me punch him in the stomach to make up for it, which has been trained by the Marine Corps, so it probably wouldn't even hurt him. I'm real tempted.
After all that, we had an awesome lesson with Aleksander about his daughter, Oksana, who he's been trying to get to meet with the missionaries for a long time now; we also set up his baptismal date. That night after dinner, I got TONS of mail. (Thanks again!), then we went to devotional. Elder Bruce Carlson of the Seventy spoke, which was absolutely perfect. He lived in the Dulles area for a while, he's a four star (I think) General, and he was actually in the Pentagon when the planes hit, so I felt right at home. haha. His talk was fantastic. He definitely sounded like a military man. He talked about commiting ourselves to our missions like a war and serving to be "the missionaries our mothers think we are." I loved it. Afterwards, Sister Moffatt and I went up and talked to him and President Brown (the MTC president). I also got to hug Sister Brown. Twice. Happy birthday, me :) And THEN, when we went back to the classroom for district review, I found out that the district had planned a party for me. Elder Martineau's mother sent in cupcakes for me. CUPCAKES. Banana and peanut butter cupcakes! It was the best. The whole zone wished me happy birthday, gave me presents, made me a huge card, (this, on top of the 1,000 birthday wishes I got walking around the MTC), and sang "happy birthday" to me. I loved every minute of it. I don't usually like celebrating my birthday, but having everyone else want to celebrate it for me was awesome. Haha. I love these people.
Now for the rest of the week. Not a lot happened, actually. More classes, more lessons. Our lessons all went really well this week. One of our investigators, Anton, asked us a really great question in our last lesson. He asked why we needed a Savior if God is God and has the power to bring us back to Him anyway. It was really hard trying to come up with the Russian vocabulary to answer him, so we said we'd study it and answer him next time. Since then, it's been all I've studied. I've read and re-read 2nd Nephi 2 about 20 times in the past 2 days. If you have time, you should read it. It explains everything so clearly. The purpose of the creation was for us to receive bodies and have agency, thereby leading us back to Heavenly Father. BECAUSE we have agency, a Savior/sacrifice is required. Were there no agency, the plan would be pointless. (Verses 12-16 explain this better than I can.) I've also been working on translating Elder Anderson's talk called, "You Know Enough." It's been one of my favorites for a long time now, but let me tell you, the Russian translation is so much cooler. Haha. Russian makes everything so speific. Through cases and declinations, it's literally impossible to be misunderstood (if you can understand Russian). He quotes a scripture from Nephi in the talk that says, basically, "I might not understand the meaning of all things, but I know that God loveth his children." That's sort of a motto at the MTC. You might not know why the language is so hard, or why you're tired all the time, or why you want to cry every time you have to go to another workshop, but know that God loves you. For all you back home, you might not know why you're not making enough money, or why your friends seem like jerks, or why your children misbehave, or why life is so HARD, but know that God loves you, and that it's all for your benefit. (*Steps off soapbox*).
We've heard a lot of cool things about Russia from the older district that just left. Apparently there are a ton of gypsies in Samara, and they love playing sports with the missionaries. A group of elders that just left has started teaching four or five of them. This past week I've started realizing that I'll be talking with actual Russians in less than 3 weeks. It's coming up so quickly. I don't feel prepared at all, at least as far as my Russian goes. I mean, I don't mean to brag, but my Russian is pretty solid. But when I think about teaching it to an actualy Russian human being, with actual Russian bluntness, I get really nervous. BUT, I know it'll be fine. Better than fine. It's gonna be great. This past week we've focused on talking to people and getting to know them. It was my favorite lesson so far. We just roamed around the MTC, talking to random people for an hour. We met an Elder Greer during our last couple of minutes, and let me tell you, Elder Greer is the man. He's a TERRIBLE missionary, but he's the man. He's hacked the MTC security so that he can translate on Google, he takes naps underneath the stairs on almost a daily basis, and so much more. He's like what John Cusack would be if he became a missionary. Anyway, it was great, and it made me really excited to meet people in Russia.
Welp. That's all I got for today. Thanks again to everyone that sent me things or wished me a happy birthday. Twenty-three's gonna be a great year- my Russian year. Woohoo! I love you all so much. I miss you all the time. I can't wait to talk to you guys on October 1st (2nd?)! Be good. I love you!
-Sister Sine
MTC Week 7
Hiya everybody!
First of all, I'm glad everything's working out in Kansas. I've been praying a whole lot for you guys, and it looks like everything is working out. I'm glad Lark and Mary Alice and Kate are doing well. They're just growing up s'dern fast. Tell them I love them a whole lot, and I pray for them to get boyfriends all the time. And I hope, hope, hope you can bring doTERRA to Kansas. I have a few doTERRA stories. More on that later. And tell Dad to be careful! He needs to stay alive so that you can come visit Russia in 2014!
Okay, so this week's letter is called, "My Body Hates My Mission."
This past week has been ridiculous. Last, last Monday, I went to the doctors and got diagnosed with a virus; you all know that part. WELL, not 30 minutes after I finished the email home last Wednesday, I started feeling a lot of pressure/pain in my ear. I couldn't believe it. You all know how much I HATE ear infections. I could feel it getting worse and I actually started to get really angry. Haha. The last thing in the WORLD that I wanted was an ear infection. I went to the doctor to get it taken care of the next day, and she decided to clean out my ears (same thing that happened back in high school). I knew I was doomed. The pain went away for a bit, then that night I woke up at about 1:30 am with a really bad pounding in my ear. I stayed up for the next 4 hours, sitting in the hall, reading Preach My Gospel, and crying. It finally happened. I broke. My MTC no-crying streak is gone. I think only an ear infection could've done it, too. haha. I called the doctor once everyone woke up, but he wasn't in until 8:00 am (it's 5:45 at this point), so I got a blessing from Elder Astle (his first ever!), which helped. I went back to bed for another 3 hours, then went to the doctor (again), who gave my medicine. The ear's better now. I still can't hear out of it, but there's no pain. THEN, two days ago, the first time I went outside for gym in over a week because of all the sicknesses, I got stung by a bee. I didn't think anything of it. I pulled the stinger out and that was about it. Then the area started getting really red and swollen (seriously, swo-llen), and really hot, and I got a tiny bit of a fever last night. I took some Benadryl, but it hasn't helped a whole lot. I might have to go back to the doctor again this week. I also counted this morning, and I take about 12 pills every morning now. My body hates my mission.
Anywho, I learned a lot from being sick. It was a cool experience overall. I got to go off-campus and watch the news in the doctor's waiting room (WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME ABOUT NEIL ARMSTRONG?!) Haha. And it was really humbling. I've been the person to look out for everyone else for the past couple of weeks, and being sick definitely changed that. I'm really grateful for everyone here, though. Everyone from my teachers to my roommates to my district to my branch presidency took super good care of me.
AND I used some of the oils, Mom! Thanks for packing them :)
Speaking of packing, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the package. It was like Christmas. Thanks so much for the watch and the shoes. And the cookies and the mango. And the patriarchal blessing and the letters. Special thanks for Larky's letter. I read part of her letter to my roommates, now they want to meet her really badly.
Things are pretty much the same on the class front. All of our classes sort of meld together over the course of the week. The Russians still coming. It feels a lot more fluid than it did a month ago. The teaching's getting better too. Sister Moffatt and I have decided to skim down our "notes" to just a few bullet points per lesson and let the Spirit do the rest, and it's worked out SO well. We actually committed one of our "investigators" to baptism last week. This was a particularly great moment since this investigator is a pretty surly old man. No one's been able to get through to him. I'm convinced it's because of Sister Moffatt. She can melt old men's hearts like it's her job. We also got a new teacher/investigator named Anton/Brother Hofman. He's a really great guy, except he looks exactly like Rod Stewart/Barry Manillow! It's uncanny! Every time he walks into the room I want to sing a Rod Stewart song that missionaries should not sing. 10 points to whoever can guess which one I'm thinking about.
We also got new missionaries last week, which was a trip. We were SO excited to see them. A few of us actually got a "talking to" for not having "quiet dignity" while greeting them. They're all so cool. We've got a few military men in there too, which is awesome, especially in the cafeteria. There have been a lot of juice-drinking competitions since their arrival.
I saved the best for last. I've been dying to tell you ever since Sunday. I don't know if you know this, but there's a picture of Christ in the main building of the MTC. That's not the cool part. I was walking by it this past Sunday and I noticed it was the same one we used to have in our living room. I glanced at it for a split second and I saw the word "Cannon" on the frame. I looked at the plaque on the bottom of the frame and it said, "In Memory of Layne W. Cannon" and then it said something about his devotion to missionary service. I don't quite remember. I took a picture of it. I was so excited! And if you DO deliver something to the MTC, you can walk into 1M, go past the front desk towards your right, and right across from the big row of telephones (actually it might only be 3 or 4) is the picture. It's so cool! I never knew about it before now. Go Cannons!
Anywho, I'll close this with a quick spiritual thought. We had a devotional about repentance last night from Elder Kapischke of the Seventy. I wasn't too excited about it, to be honest. I was pretty tired, and an hour-long talk about repentance didn't sound all that fun. BUT, it was great. Afterwards, I thought a lot about repentance, and it really is the biggest testament of how much Heavenly Father wants us to come back to him. I mean, he's given us the Plan of Salvation , which brings us back to him in the end, and if we mess that up, we have repentance (which, by it's very natures, brings us closer to God through our relience on him); then, after repentance, we're closer to God than when we started. Even our "punishment" for sinning brings us closer to Him. It's nuts. Alma 26 is a pretty great chapter too, if you have time to look at it. Verse 22 in particular, is awesome. The whole thing talks about the circle of faith/repentance/missionary work. I read it in my personal study yesterday morning, which is another reason the repentance devotional was so cool. We also talked about teaching the Law of Chastity in our afternoon class yesterday, which is apparently a pretty big "thing" in Russia. About 99% of people there lose their virginity by about age 12 or 13, and it's all downhill from there. My teacher said that he didn't conduct one baptismal interview where the interviewee (either male or female) hadn't either had an abortion or participated in one. It's pretty crazy. We've got our work cut out for us. And it's coming up so quickly! Less than a month! Less than a month before I get to call you guys! Less than a month til we're all in Russia. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, ACK! (That one's for Caitie).
I love you all so much. You're all in my prayers. Be good. Love everyone. Keep praying. Write me. I love you!
-Sister Sine
MTC Week 6
This week has been the best, most bittersweet week ever. So much has happened. I'll start with this past weekend.
SO, on Friday night, our teacher, Brother Kofoed, announced at the end of class that he was leaving us. He'd been getting the feeling like he should quit the MTC for a while now (but didn't know why) and that Friday night was his last night. It was a huge blow to the whole district. He's the best teacher in the world. He's SO intense, to the point where you kind of just have to laugh at some of the things he does, but he's SO sincere about everything. He doesn't just bear his testimony, he embodies his testimony. It's great. Anywho, the next day, we taught his "character" their last lesson (and "committed" them to baptism) and then we had a goodbye pow-wow with Brother Kofoed. He almost broke my no-crying streak. Almost. Now, whenever anyone says anything about Brother Kofoed, we all start fake crying. BUT, the good news is that our regular teacher, Brother Sorenson, is back from his eternal vacation. It's great having him back. He's like the father of the district. Brother Kofoed is like Nephi, Brother Sorenson is like Jesus. It would make total sense if you met them. Just trust me.
Next highlight: I SAW CAITIE AT THE TEMPLE! I was sitting with my district on the edge of the temple grounds and I hear, "Sister Sine....SISTER SINE!" whispered from the bushes. I looked over and saw heads peeking through some leaves, and it was CAITIE AND SCOTT METTS! I couldn't believe it. We ended up talking for about 20 minutes about everything, which is much longer than I should have, but whatever. It kind of felt like a prison visit, since we were meeting through the bars. It was amazing, though. It made my heart 98340292349723984 times happier and lighter. I made her send some teaxt to Lark and Mary Alice. I loved how Mary Alice sent paragraphs back, and all I heard form Lark was, "Wait. What?" Haha. I was so happy. And I can't wait to maybe see her on a completely random day that I have no clue about sometime before I leave the MTC, maybe.
Also on Sunday, I was the first person from the younger zone to give a talk in Russian in sacrament meeting. The first! Woohoo! Everyone prepares a talk every week, and the presidency announces who will speak about 10 minuts into sacrament. It's such a rush. I met with President Harrison that morning and we talked about how the mission was going, yada yada, then he asked what the district was working on back in the room. I told him we were all translating our talks for sacrament. Then he said, "Well, I guess that means one of you will be speking, doesn't it!" From that moment on, I knew. The talk went really well. I had to read the scriptures in Russian, though, which I'm terrible at, so that slowed things down. But everyone said I sounded like I was a native Russian, though, so good things, good things all around.
And now to today. Wednesdays are the best days of the week in general because of P-day. BUT today we get to have P-day, we got to go to the temple, AND we get new Russian missonaries today. We've been SO excited for them to get here ever since the older district left.They should be getting here right about now, actually. We have 12 new sisters moving into our zone, all living next-door to us on our floor. It's so crazy to think that I've been here long enough to be part of the "older district." We only have about a month left here before we ship out, which is nuts. I think we're all pretty ready, though.
This morning, as we were getting breakfast at the temple, a member of the temple presidency stopped us and asked if we'd like to eat breakfast with him in a seperate room. I don't know how often that happens, but the room was decorated REALLY nicely, so I'm guessing not a lot of missionaries get to eat in there. Anywho, we ate breakfast and he told us we could ask him any question about the temple, ANY question. I asked him about a few of the symbols and he gave us the coolest explanation of temple ordinances I've ever heard. He made things sooo clear. The spirit was probably the strongest I'd ever felt it; I even started tearing up a little bit. At one point, I asked him about a temple in Russia, and all he said was, "It'll come. Very soon. It'll come." It was so special. SO special. I'll never go to the temple the same way ever again. One of these days, I'll tell you guys more about it. Gah! It was just the best. It's been the best day ever.
Now to the low part of the week. I got super sick on Monday. I woke up and my throat felt like it was closing in on itself. It kept getting worse throughout the day, to the point where I just slept during every free moment we had. My body was freezing, my throat hurt like it used to when I would get strep all the time, and my head was in a lot of pain. I felt like the biggest baby; I just couldn't do anything. BUT. I did take some oils, Mom, and they did help (I'm assuming) because the nurse I met with said I'd probably be sick for the next 5-6 days, but I woke up the next morning feeling fine. There it is, your DoTerra testimony for the day.
And now for the actual testimony. This week's been the greatest. I've learned so, so, so much.We've been focusing on teaching through the Holy Ghost in class this week, which, if you didn't alread know, is on the most crucial thing ever to missionary work. haha. I used to get so hung up on having to know whether or not "promptings" I got were from me or from the spirit, and this week I learned that it doesn't matter. You would think I would've that figured out sometime before my last month of being 22, but whatever. The point is, if you're doing the things you're supposed to- keeping the commandments (that includes the the big one, "love one another"), remembering your covenants, and trying to be a good boy/girl (according to Elder Bednar in his story about the "20 Mark Note," which you shoudl all look up on YouTube or something), then it won't matter who it's "from," because you'll have the Holy Ghost as your constant companion. It seems like such a simple concept, but it's SO important. That's why exact obedience is stressed so much. The rules we have in the church aren't to put us in a cage, they're there to enable us to make better choices in the future, to be worthy to make more covenants and more good choices. So remember (this goes double for Lark, Mary Alice, and Kate, since you have more time to practice this) to love each other. If you're not loving everyone, and I mean everyone, then you're missingsomething. And it's up to you to find out what that something is. There's a story we heard last night about an Elder in Japan who, almost single-handedly, baptized enough members to form 3 whole wards in his area. The only thing that set him apart from everyone else, according to his mission president, was his ability to love. And the last thing you have to remember is that part of that commandment to love is "love your neighbor as thyself." That means that you have to love yourself. It's a commandment. Straight from the man himself. He loves you, He created you, and there's no reason any of his creations would be unworthy of love.
So, there you go. This thing is super long. I love you all! I miss you every day. I'm still waiting to hear from you, Mary Alice. If I don't get someting from you in the next 7 days, you're not my sister anymore! I mean it! AND you, Sister Morgan. (Just kidding. But seriously.)
You're all in my prayers. Every night. I hope you can feel them. Keep reading, keep praying, keep doing the little things. I wasted so much time not doing them and I regret is so much now that I'm here.
Ya lyooblyoo vac mnohguh!
MTC Week 5
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PACKAGE! It was perfect. My companion says "thank you" for the bread, as does the rest of my district. They all loved it. Thanks, Mama Bear. You're the best!
I have so many random stories, but no time to organize them, so this letter will be completely random. Try and keep up.
I did sealings for the first time today! Woohoo. Missionaries aren't allowed to do couple sealings, so my companion and I acted as daughters. It was so cool. It really made me see her, and our whole goal as missionaries, in a different light. The temple's becoming one of my favorite parts of the week. ALSO one of my favorite parts of the week is Saturday nights. The Russian missionaries all get together and sing hymns in Russian after classes on Saturdays. This past Saturday, we sang "Nearer, My God To Thee." It was soooo powerful. Singing it in Russian with all the people who've been called to serve there and bring people "nearer to God" was an awesome experience. I was pretty close to crying the entire time. There were actually a few Polynesian sisters next to us who were balling even though they couldn't understand it. Oh, and Elder Astle cried.
On sunday night, we watched Legacy as a district in the gym with a bunch of other missioanries. It was the most pathetic thing. It's not even that great of a movie, but since we've been so starved for entertainment, it was like the greatest thing since sliced bread. I've never been more excited to see a kissing scene in my life. haha. It was bad...
Oh, and more on Elder Astle, he's taken to trying to make me laugh during the prayer. Every time we pray, he makes these faces the whole time that crack me up. Even when I don't open my eyes, I KNOW he's making faces, and I start laughing. The other night it took me like 2 minutes to compose myself before I had to pray in Russian. the whole district started laughing, then our teacher. It was great. I love my district. I know I say that all the time, but I do. I hate knowing that we all have to say goodbye in 2 months. Holy jeez, 2 months. It's gone by so fast. I'll be 23 in 1 month! What the what!
The biggest development, though, is that we now have a FRIDGE in our room. We've had it since our first day here, but we never plugged it in. We finally did this past week, and its' changed our lives. It's the most beautiful thing. We store soda and milk and...milk...in it. It's perfect.
We had a really great lesson this past week on teaching people how to pray. It was a really powerful lesson, partially because it came 2 minutes after we taught one of our investigators how to pray (or tried to). I'd never thought about having to teach someone how to talk to their Heavenly Father. It's crazy. He's trusted us to teach his children how to have a relationship with him. Anyways, it was a really great lesson. And it completely changed my outlook on prayer as a whole. So, my challenge to you this week (all of the Sines/readers who are reading this) is to think about how you would teach someone how to pray. How would you tell them to do it. I promise it'll make you think about prayer differently.
Anyways, I'm out of time. I love you all. I pray for you all the time, especially about the move. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help. I'm glad everything's working out, though. I'll keep praying and keep you guys in my thoughts. I love you all!
Also, Russian lesson for the week: the word for "focus" is "sos-red-uh-TAH-chee-vie-uh-
-Sister Sine.
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