Dear Family,
Well, this was the last week of the transfer, and President Christensen called very late into the week. I found out that I will be training (again!) in this same area (again!). This means that by the time I finish training Sister Williams, I will have served in this area seven transfers. That is a looooooong time. But I love it here, and there's a lot of work to do. I've learned a lot of things on my mission and especially a lot of things from Ufa. Obviously there are still more things to learn and more work to do or I wouldn't be here another two transfers. :)
This week was great. Sister Kaigerodova made borscht, and that turned out really well. I made brownies and banana bread, and hey-- those turned out pretty good too!
We had a really miraculous meeting this week. I have been in this area for SEVEN MONTHS, and I'm still surprised that I meet new less-actives on a weekly basis (less actives that I've been trying to meet with my entire time here, mind you). And it happened! This lovely lady in her late 20s finally picked up her phone and didn't cancel the meeting as usual. She was baptized 10 years ago and had a solid testimony but due to world traveling, work traveling, and such, she's been inactive for a long time. It's so interesting to see the ways she was brought to the Gospel and now the reasons why she's coming back to the Gospel. Her live-in boyfriend is Muslim and wanted to get married, but for her to do that, she'd have to accept Islam (thereby rejecting Christianity). She said no because she just knew that wasn't the right thing, thereby leading to a lot of religious discussons between the two of them. Well, she forgot a lot of the things she once believed in, so she's willing to learn again. We had a really simple lesson on Jesus and the importance of reading the Book of Mormon-- and how it truly testifies of Him. It was a great lesson and we even made plans for a second lesson with her. I'm really excited to work with her!
Another miracle this week was a woman we met on a bus (she's the lady that collects money). She is busy and works all day long for 10 days, then has three free days. We were able to meet, give her a tour of the church, and give her a Book of Mormon and talk about it. She said she reads the Bible everyday, and I really believed her when she said that. She has a wonderful light about her, and immediately accepted the fact that the Book of Mormon is scripture. At the end of the lesson, she promised to come to church without us even asking her.
Another great meeting we had this week was with one of my favorite families. They're an Armenian family and either less-active, active, or non-members. They are really sweet people, and this week we were able to have an FHE with them where all the members of the family were there for at least part of the lesson, and all of them were there for the closing prayer. We talked about the Holy Ghost and why He's such a key guide to us throughout life. I'm awful at object-lessons, but that's Sister Kaigerodova's strength! We demonstrated the Holy Ghost with mandarins-- with the skin on (Holy Ghost) you float! Without the skin, you sink. It was a cool lesson, and I really learned a lot of things in my studies preparing for it. The Holy Ghost only leads you if you let Him. :)
Saturday was a baptism, but I'm having an Elder in my zone email those pictures to dad because they didn't turn out too great on my camera. It was a really great day, followed by a fireside, and then we helped the members clean the church. After the cleaning, we had a lesson with a really great active 23-yr old girl about faith. That is probably one of the most spiritual lessons I've had on my mission, I'm just gonna quote from my journal:
"It's amazing how the whole spirit and atmosphere of a room can change when the Spirit is there. Yesterday we were at an investigator's apartment, she's 23 years old, and we were all joking and talking as normal but as the lesson started, the entire atmosphere of the room changed. And that small, dirty apartment became the Celestial Room in the temple for just a few short minutes. We talked about faith and why God requires us to have it. It was truly a deeply spiritual lesson. I love those kinds of lessons-- when the Spirit's there and things just flow. I love when I recognize that He's there. :)"
I was perusing my journal this morning (it's a big journal, and I can't believe I haven't completely filled it yet), and I enjoyed reading it so much that I started highlighting things that I wrote. Believe me, I've come a long way on my mission. I have learned so much about myself, so much about God, so much about other people....I could probably write a novel about it, but instead I'll just write a little letter. :) Every question, every doubt that I have ever written about (practically) has been resolved throughout the course of my mission so far. I'm learning to rely on God. I'm learning to rely on other people. I'm learning to love myself. I'm learning that really, truly the Atonement of Jesus Christ exists. And it works.
Here are some journal gems:
President Christensen in the MTC said "Be clean. Pray for love. Work Hard."I knew wearing the badge would be hard, but I don't want to necessarily give up who I am. Ido want to be molded and refined, but do I have to destroy myself to do it? Throw myself completely away and start anew? What kind of missionary do I want to be? What kind of person does the Lord want me to be? What kind of person do I want to be? How do I not let little things bother me? How do I not get annoyed? How do I have patience with everyone and the things they do? How do I let go of the little bit of evil (natural man) that seems to live inside of me?How can I change who I am without losing myself?I have so much to work on for myself.It has been a good experience [in the MTC], and I truly have been refined. It's just a matter of figuring out how to be a mature person and learning to deal with situations that I don't necessarily agree with. Planning my life is stressful. I should let God handle it, and I should focus on my mission, huh?Change and move on.
It's so interesting to see how much I've grown up since just January [2013].
I literally have no control over my future, but I do have control over my happiness.I am determined to make happiness a habit.Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it at all. Focus on the mission.
It's just interesting to see all the things that I did/do worry about and how they're all being resolved by my time here. I am not as superficial person as I was before my mission, and I am more accepting of change. My journal entries are deeper and more significant. I read about the person who I was back in the MTC, and I see that I have changed. My thought patterns have changed. My ways of looking at problems and finding solutions have changed-- and all for the better of course. It's amazing what my mission has done for me.
Why has this all of this been possible? The Atonement. It's amazing what kind of peace you feel when you accept the fact that somebody understands you perfectly, 100%. That's Jesus. Just the fact that He understands makes my burdens about 70% easier.
I love the Russian people, and I'm so glad that I got called to serve here. Missions calls are really inspired. Companionships are really inspired. Mission presidents are really inspired. I'm so blessed to be able to serve a mission right now at this time and in this place. I know that I'm really helping to make the world a better place, and I'm so thankful for this experience.
I love all of you, and I hope you have a fantastic, super-duper week.
With all the love in the world (and even more!),
Sister Brown
p.s. Also, did Eric go to Tucanos? How was it? I want pictures of my birthday meal!!
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