What a week it has been! So
much has happened since last P-day. Tuesday we flew to Ekat to do
splits with the sister trainers and en route to the airport, President
Christensen called us. A lot of dumb laws have been created and (in
short) all the Ukrainians are leaving our mission to either serve in
Ukraine or in the Baltic states. It's really sad and Sister Fedas and I
were devastated. Our plane to Ekat ended up getting delayed 6 hours (Oh
Russia.....) so we went and got ice-cream to console ourselves. Of
course en route to ice-cream I slipped and fell hard in the middle of
the road (pretty embarrassing) and now I have a GIGANTIC bruise on my
hip. The size of a plate. But it's already been a week, and it's healing
up nicely so don't fret :)
Splits in Ekat was super fun. I've been
in Ufa for almost seven months, so it was cool to do splits in another
city. I was with Sister Sullivan and she's 6'1". We're the tallest
sisters in the mission, and I loved being with her. Sister Fedas is
about 5'10" and my mini-missionary companion now is 5'1" so it's kind of
a big change for me being with a short sister.
Well, we returned from Ekat and met
with a lot of people (we're always busy!) and Sister Fedas said goodbye
to everyone. Sister Smith's companion extended her mission 30 days (you
can't extend beyond that) and so she was going home. Sister Smith needed
a companion, so Sister Fedas is with Sister Smith and I got a mini
missionary for the rest of the transfer. At the end of the transfer (in
two weeks), Sister Fedas leaves Russia and she's so sad about it. I am
too, of course. I hate politics, and I especially hate dumb laws that
take my trainee away from me. We grew a lot together, and I was really
sad to see her go. But I know that Sister Smith will help her adjust and
find peace with her reassigned mission call.
I had a great birthday on Sunday. Some
members in the branch knew about it, so they brought me some gifts. The
elders "forgot" (they didn't really forget of course) and sang to me
before sacrament meeting-- Sister Fedas just kind of hummed along since
she doesn't know the birthday song. But Sunday was just like any other
day. Birthdays are pretty lame on a mission, and I'm glad I'm only going
to have one. We met with one of our investigators, and so that was
great. P-day last week I bought a new blouse for about $10 for my
birthday and I've been wearing that. The package from mom hasn't come
yet, BUT I got two packages from friends. Full of candy, of course. I
love you! I hope mom's package comes when I go back to Ekat for
transfers to get my new companion (whoever that will be!) I really hope
it's there by then because I'm super looking forward to that dress.
Monday we flew to Ekat (I feel like
I've been flying there a lot lately....). And there was a big party at
the Christensen's that night with both zones from Ekat to celebrate the
sister going home and the fact that President Christensen's son just
returned from a mission in Tennessee (he said he knows Taylor Smith).
I feel super isolated in Ufa because
the only people I knew at that party were my companion, Sister Smith,
and two other missionaries who had served in Ufa (of course I also knew
the assistants and sister trainers). Wow-- it was a weird experience to
get to know other missionaries serving in the same mission. One elder
said "how have you already been here seven months and we haven't met
each other?" Our zone conference is just Ufa and Chelyabinsk whereas the
other zone conference is the other six or so cities. So I know very few
of the other missionaries.
We
had a really good lesson this week with our investigator. We
taught her the Word of Wisdom and she easily accepted it. At the end of
the lesson she asked "is that all you have to teach me today?" and was
surprised we hadn't planned more. I was so grateful that she readily
accepted that lesson because (understandably) a lot of people have
issues with it.
One
miracle with planning this week was being in Dioma. Dioma is a great
little town, and I really wish that there were missionaries there
because there is so much work to do, and we don't spend as much time
there as needed. We had some appointments set up there on Saturday but
somehow they all fell through (unusual), so we resorted to doing
less-active stop-bys. We were able to meet a long-time member that I
have never met before! She never opens the door for us, but at that time
on that day, she decided to. We had a super short lesson with her, but
she promised to meet with us this week. I was so happy!
Miracles
with the Book of Mormon just keep on happening. We are working with a
less-active lady whose only problem is that she never comes to church. I
started meeting with her back in August and the progress she's made
since then is incredible. (Just have to get her to church now!) But it's
all thanks to the Book of Mormon. We have helped her to start reading
the Book of Mormon, and every time we meet with her she's happier and
happier and has more interesting questions to ask us instead of just
sitting there and listening. Of course the trick is to get her to church
again, but we're working on it!
Mom had questions about our food. The water here is disgustingly
dirty. The church pays for super duper nice water filters for our
apartments. I've seen how much they retail for-- and believe me-- we
have the best of the best. I never drank milk back home (did you forget
I'm lactose intolerant?) but I've started to kind of drink it here with
my lactase pills. I get the 0.5% fat but the "usual" milk people use is
3% or 4% fat. I finally found soy milk but it's soooo expensive. More
than $2 for a little juice box size. Fruit and vegetables are super
expensive because we live in the middle of a city, but they were pretty
cheap in August when I came because it was seasonal. Of course that was
forever ago, so I don't remember exactly, but the prices have about
doubled since August.
Life is great here. We're doing some
great work with less-actives. One lady has come to church three Sundays
in a row and promised to come next week as well! This last Sunday we had
a spiritual thought with her and her 10 year old daughter (not
baptized) about prayer. It was a really good lesson and her daughter
really needed to hear about it. Even though this lady has been a member
for a really long time, she has raised her daughter without religion,
and it's very sad. This member is really starting to realize what a
mistake she made and during the lesson she said "this is all my fault". I
think her daughter is really the reason that she's starting to become
active. It's amazing the difference in children when they've been raised
in the church or when they haven't (here the difference is startling).
Well this is going to be an interesting
rest of the transfer with a mini-missionary. Not really sure what to
expect, but I'm excited! Most importantly, the Lord is with us and
that's all that counts. I hope life is swell back in the US and thanks
for the Olympic medal count (heard that USA beat Russia in hockey on
Saturday....no one here took that real well).
Have a great week! I love all of you. :)
Lots of love,
Sister Brown
(who is now 20 years old.....how weird)
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