Hey!

I can officially say that in Russia, it was snowing like cray-cray (crazy) this morning. Oh.my.gosh. I have never heard the wind howl compared with what I heard. I turned to Sister Galli and said "I don't want to go anywhere today." she then said, "hm...what do we even have planned?" opened her planner and said, "oh my gosh! It's P-day, and you don't want to do INTERNET?!!?" 

Ha. Well, needless to say, I am now here. I am also the proud owner of the fluffiest, poofiest coat in the entire world (maybe not the entirrrrre world). I wore it today and even though I looked like a well-dressed homeless person (gigantic hat, glasses, huuuuuuge coat, gigantic side bag), I at least knew that I looked like a very warm, well-dressed homeless person. 

Speaking of my sense of style (of which I have a lot!), at conference yesterday I was wearing my Scottish kilt skirt, a pink t-shirt, a pink flower scarf, and a grey sweater. I thought it looked fine, but the sisters in the other area came up to me and said something like, "we don't know how you do it but you wear stuff that we never thought would 'go' together and it looks so good!!!" Apparently they talk about my sense of style a lot? Ha. Either way, apparently I'm an eccentric dresser-- thought I toned that down for the mission though-- but I'm flattered! :)

This week was interesting. I'm not going to lie, but I was kind of in a downer mood Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It's honestly just probably my personality combined with the weather here. It has rained every.single.day. and lemme tell you, my white coat looks a little muddy.It's also gotten considerably darker here too, but that's just part of Russia! I started getting really excited towards the end of the week because we had Zone Conference on Friday with just our zone (not combined with other zones as is the usual). The President and his wife and the Assistants came, and it was a great day! It was a little stressful because the night before we were told to be at the church at 9 am on Friday but then on Friday morning at 7:15 am, we were texted by our zone leader and told me needed to be at the church in an hour. Talk about stressful since Sister Galli had just taken a shower (luckily, I had taken one the night before) and it takes an hour to get to the church. Yay hectic mornings!

Zone conference was great and President really emphasized using Preach My Gospel in everything we do, including language study. He wants us to memorize every "medium lesson plan" at the end of the lessons and also every single follow up question in Russian as well as any other "zinger sentences".  He said the speaking profiency for Russian has steadily gone downhill since they got rid of memorized lessons, and he promised us that if we memorize these things and get all of our vocab out of Preach My Gospel, we will be incredible missionaries. Russian is so hard that memorizing these sentence patterns and case patterns will definitely be beneficial. We have the best mission president. He's a genius. In his setting apart blessing, he was promised that any promise that he gives us, the Lord will fulfill, so he's really careful in giving out promises. His promise to us was: "

By so doing, you will become master finders and teachers who consistently teach powerfully with the Spirit. You will receive clear spiritual guidance every day. You will feel overwhelming love for your mission and each other and for the Russian people. You will lose your appetite for anything that might distract you from your purpose. "

Also in zone conference we talked about what it means to be absolutely consecrated and not just obedient. To be consecrated means: there are no loopholes in the rules, the rules are a part of who you are, you are dedicated, there is total surrender of yourself, and your Divine Nature has triumphed over your natural man.

"Consecration is the only surrender that is an actual victory." --Neal A. Maxwell

Anyway, life here is dandy. I LOVED general conference. Every talk was amazing. Inbetween sessions on Saturday and Sunday we had a lunch with ward members. On Saturday we made American pancakes (an Elder had maple leaf extract, so we made syrup-- the members went nuts over it!! they started putting it in their tea and just plain drinking it....I'm not kidding.) Sunday we made chili and scones with honey-butter. The Russians also went nuts over the honey-butter. They'd never had that before either, but they loved it!! 

I loved Elder Cook's talk on Bondage and also....well, everything. It was all great. These were the main subjects that I noticed were hit upon: 
tithing
Don't set your heart upon the things of the world.
CHASTITY
Missionary Work is a Member's Work too
God will ALWAYS love you and will always take you back.
ATONEMENT
Keeping covenants and how important that is
Live what we believe.
Conversion-- what is true conversion and why it's important
TAKING ON THE SAVIOR'S YOKE
Women/Family Proclamation/Gender Roles
The Apostle Paul
Search the scriptures diligently. 
Good, better, best.
Legalized sin is still sin.
I know that's a lot but every talk in the 12 hours of conference fit into that somehow. Oh! Also, I saw Amy McGreevy singing in the sister missionary choir at the Relief Society Session. I'm so proud of her!

Being an obedient missionary has been great because as Sister Galli and I have prayerfully set goals, we always have opportunities for those goals to be fulfilled (such as a street-lesson), so that even if we start teaching a street-lesson and the person rejects us, we know that we still planned for that opportunity but ultimately it was that person's free agency that kept our goal from being completed. That did happen to us this week when we were street-teaching people. We planned for one street-lesson, but hadn't had any success. There was one man that was willing to start talking with us, but he wasn't willing to meet with us so we parted ways. Even though we didn't fulfill our goal that day of street-lessons, we superseded our goal of invitations given out, and I know that the Lord blessed us. 

Sister Galli and I always try to teach from the Book of Mormon in every lesson we give, whether it's an investigator, a less-active, or an active-member (and of course, a street-lesson). We're hoping that as we ask the questions "What do we want them to feel?" and "What do we want them to do?" that we can continue to help bless people's lives through the Book of Mormon. I think as I continue to memorize killer lines from Preach My Gospel that I will be able to talk about the Book of Mormon much better and participate more in street lessons. 

Basically, I love Russia. I love it here. I'm so excited every day that I get to help build up Zion in this beautiful country. I know the church is true, and I really loved conference this year. Don't forget the messages you learned there. I really felt the Spirit as the apostles testified about the importance of women making time for their children. I know they're prophecying the future where we won't be able to "juggle three balls" anymore-- one of them is bound to drop.

I love you all! Have a great week in America. I dreamed I went skiing with the family last night, so tell Eric to have fun for me this season. :)

Love,
cecmpa Brown

Hello!

Well, once again I'm wondering to myself, "how is it p-day already?" It's nuts. I was thinking about ALL of you this last weekend enjoying conference...haha. Well, I'm just excited to watch it this upcoming weekend! I've heard some great things happened, so we'll see! It's steadily been getting colder and colder and darker and darker every day here. My cashmere-lined leather gloves  have definitely come in handy. Phew. I use dad's reusable handwarmers on the REALLY cold days when we're outside for a long time (Saturday morning soccer in negative weather anyone?) We've been wearing tights for a couple of weeks but no long underwear yet! I've heard from one of our investigators that it's supposed to be a "warm winter"....whatever that means for Russia! ha. 

What I've been reading this week: lots of things! If you haven't read the talk "the Fourth Missionary," you should probably read it. It's written by a mission president in 2002, and it's really good. I think it really can be applied to just normal people in terms of the plan of salvation instead of just missionaries. It's made me think about what kind of missionary and what kind of person I want to be. I've been studying up on the Attributes of Christ (Preach My Gospel, Chapter 6), and well---He was perfect! But this life is all about perfecting ourselves to become like Him. It's hard, but salvation was never meant to be easy. The way we respond to trials really shows what kind of person we are. Are you just going to give up and sulk? Or are we going to buckle down, suck up our pride, and do what needs to be done? It's all about the eternal perspective. I lose sight of that sometimes, but it's important to remember. :)

This was a fantastic week for our investigator. She came to church last week but was 2 hours late (missed sacrament meeting), but she was ON TIME for church yesterday (and by on time, I mean only 20 minutes late-- but for her that's realllllllly good). I just love her to death. She's an amazing woman who has had a really hard life. Our Sunday school lesson was law of chastity (always an interesting one), but she responded really well to it and didn't have too "feminist" of a stance, if you get my drift. Our lesson after church went well. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ (she had lots of Law of Chastity questions), and we talked about her upcoming baptism. She remembered it was for the 12th, and said she was working that day. So we successfully moved to the 26th. She's not very diligent at praying, but we send her scripture texts every day so that she reads. She said "I feel like I'm reading truth." It's really hard not to start clapping when people say things like that. Using the Book of Mormon as her primary source of learning has been really great because she's able to get the answers straight from the source instead of a pamphlet or something. She's a really smart lady, and I love her. She always tells me to stop cracking my knuckles, and I told her she reminds me of mom. She laughed and said she'll be my mom over here. If everything keeps going smoothly, she'll get baptized in just a few weeks!

Another investigator got better this week, and we were able to meet with her. She's really receptive, and really enjoys reading the Book of Mormon. Nothing super spectacular happened in her lesson, but both she and her friend came to English on Thursday and after (instead of having a lesson like Sister Galli and I planned) we ended up just talking about American pop culture. It was cool to kind of bond with them as friends though because sometimes they think we're a little strange ;) They've invited us to the movies SEVERAL times, to restaurants (twice) on Sunday, to a Halloween themed dance, among other things. And we always have to tell them no. It's kind of funny, but I do feel a little bad that we have a "serious" relationship sometimes, so it felt good to just talk about horror movies, Justin Bieber, and McDonald's like a bunch of girls. 

Setting goals is just great. Sister Galli and I are doing our best to do all we can to be the best missionaries we can be. Sometimes it's hard because I'm so tired all the time (the investigator told me that she felt really bad at our meeting last week because I just looked "absolutely exhausted"--she's a gem). I take naps during lunch sometimes. But I am so-so-so grateful that we don't have to bike everywhere. Can you imagine? At our departure devotional at the MTC, the speaker told about her mission in one of the north missions in Japan and how they had to bike everywhere in several feet of snow. We're the lucky ones I guess! (But I'm sure some people wouldn't think getting sent to Russia is lucky, but I sure do! :) )  

Our meeting with our investigator was a little stressful to prepare for. We had a goal of one member-present lesson, but everyone we called was just really busy that day or would cancel on us. We prayed about it and felt like we shouldn't worry anymore about trying to get a member (an hour before the lesson started). When we got to the church, there happened to be a member there who was more than happy to sit in on the lesson with us! It was amazing and a huge answer to several prayers. Having members at lessons is a fantabulous idea because: 1) they speak Russian fluently (of course) so they understand more clearly than we do and, 2) they've been in the investigator's place before so they can relate really well. I love the members here.

I really feel the Spirit when we teach lessons here. I feel the Spirit when we teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel the Spirit when we teach about the Plan of Salvation. I feel the Spirit when we teach about Joseph Smith being called of God. I know all of these are true because it's testified to me again and again. I love how being here on a mission has strengthened these basic aspects of my testimony so much. Can you believe that I've only been gone four months? It seems just yesterday that I was dropped off at the MTC on that day in June. This growing up business is pretty strange, but I know that after my time spent in the service of the Lord, I don't think I'll ever be the same again. Being here is hard sometimes, especially as I think about my family and how much I really do love you all. You have all taught my lessons that have shaped me into who I am today. And who I am today is a missionary. Isn't that cool? You've helped shape me into a missionary. And now I'm here (in Russia!) helping other people come unto Christ, and it's all because of you. I love you all so much. Have an amazing week!

As always, love,
(from your very favorite)
Sister Brown

Pictures!

Well hey!

I can't believe another week has flown by since my last p-day. Time here flies by so quickly. The weather here is getting chillier everyday, and lemme tell you-- everyone here has cranked out the fur. The snow hasn't even begun to fly, but everyone is....dressed like your stereotypical Russian, I guess you could say. I'm excited to see how everyone dresses when it's -40. Sister Galli says everyone looks like marshmallows (still haven't gotten around to buying me a puffy coat yet, but any day now).

Dad, I'm so grateful you bought me those reusable handwarmers! They're been immensely useful already. I'm excited to use them for when it's super-duper cold!

The Sister leaders came this week to do splits this week, and I went with Sister Robbins. She's a really great girl, and she's actually from Orem! Right by Cascade. (Her dad is a doctor, so if dad knows him, tell him hi!)Anyway, we had a lot of fun. It's always a little stressful to do splits because I actually have to know my way around our area instead of always relying on Sister Galli and her awesome navigation skills. Sister Robbins and I got turned around a little bit (I had never been in that area at dark before), but we were able to have a lesson with a potential investigator that Sister Galli and I had taught a first lesson to a while ago. We've tried to get ahold of her, but she's always busy. Sister Robbins and I stopped by, and she was there! We taught her a little bit about the Book of Mormon and why it's important to read everyday and committed her to read every day. We said "one verse is better than none" so she agreed.

Basically, the miracle this week has been our investigator Alice. Her name is a strange Russian/Bashkirian name). She's AMAZING. Her friend has been sick and in the hospital (apparently everyone goes to the hospital whenever they're sick here, so I don't know how serious it is), but the first girl has been dutifully meeting with us. She absolutely loves the Book of Mormon. She said "when I read it, I feel like it's written for me. Like, I can really apply what I read to my life." She does every  reading assignment and comes with questions. She bookmarks every other scripture reference we make during lessons. We taught her the plan of salvation yesterday, and I think we kind of blew her mind, but she agreed to pray about it. It's hard to hear all of that the first time, I would imagine. It's a strange concept, but hey! It's true, so pray about it. :) We're hoping that as she continues to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, she'll agree to get baptized for a set date. She said when she reads she feels like she's finding out truth. She even brought one of her friends to a lesson with us who is now one of our new investigators.

After prayerfully setting goals last week for this week, we did our very best this week to accomplish every goal. We planned on one new investigator, and (seemingly) out of nowhere we got one. Our zone has really been focusing on member present lessons, but this week was a tricky one. We got the correct number of lessons for investigators by Sunday, but the numbers for member present and other were switched. But for the most part, we accomplished our goals. We had plans every day on how to add to our key indicators. We had enough lessons planned to accomplish everything, but as humans are, things fell through. But I felt really blessed because even though every goal wasn't 100% completed, we still had an amazing week with all of our investigators. 

I'm just so extremely blessed to have been born into the Gospel. It's so interesting to see the people here who have never had it. As we teach people more and more, it's so easy to see an increasing light grow within them. I've never experienced anything like this before where you can physically see the Gospel improving someone's life. And the people who have chosen to go inactive (there are a lot of those here too)? Well, it's interesting seeing how truly sad their lives are. They have sinned against the greater light they had, and that's just really sad. It's sometimes hard to be a member of the church, but it's always been worth it to me. This church is true, and if you follow its teachings and principles EXACTLY, then you'll be happy. The happiness that the church gives us isn't the happiness that the world gives us. It's so much better and so much more worth it. I truly feel like my testimony has grown leaps and bounds since coming on my mission. My whole life before my mission was insignificant because all the work I'm helping with here is life-changing. I'm truly helping change people's lives, and I'm so grateful to have been blessed with this opportunity. The church is true, the book is blue, see you in two (minus 8 months).

Love always,
Sister Brown
cecmpa Brown
cectpa Brown
                      Catie Brown :)

p.s. after the fast Sunday for October, only 14 more left until I'm back. Isn't that strange? It makes me feel like there's not time at all here. So much to do, so little time!

What a week!

Well, what a week it has been in Ufa! It's been raining like crazy. Because it's a city, there's nowhere for the rain to go but flooding down the roads. The puddles in some places are a foot deep! We get splashed by cars frequently as we walk. :) But it's an adventure!

So, I got some new running shoes last week (let's be honest mom, we both know my last ones were on their last leg-- no pun intended), and so it's been great to run every single morning this week! I've convinced Sister Galli that waking up at 6:15 is a good idea. We're always right and ready to go out the door at 6:28, so I get a full half-hour in. Then, at the end, I run up the stairs to the 11th floor where we live. It's pretty hot and I get breathless. But the pain is worth the gain! Pain is just weakness leaving the body!!! (also, I now have an excuse to eat more delicious food ;))

Also, as I just emailed mom and dad, I bought a lovely trench coat and a lovely wool/cashmere coat. They're awesome, and I got them ridiculous on sale. Like ridiculous. It's great. They're so classy, so now I fit in just swell. :)

Sister Galli and I have been trying to be more obedient at being home at 9 pm (or 9:30 if we have a lesson) and this last week we have been! Every day we've been home right on time (or even earlier to make phone calls). It's great.

We had an investigator who was an internet referral from the office and he had no idea who we were when we showed up. Remember him? Well a couple weeks ago he told us he wouldn't read and hung up the phone. Well, rather than be devastated (which we were -- he was our only investigator....), we consciously decided to not let it bother us. Better things were in store, and we knew it. And we've gotten so many blessings now! We now have a BAJILLION investigators-- or at least it feels like it sometimes. 

The lady we contacted on the street is progressing wonderfully and still intending on baptism. Apparently she was REALLY involved with Scientology for a long time. She even moved to Moscow for it. It seems kind of painful/weird for her to talk about, so we're pretty certain that something happened that pushed her away from it. 

We have another investigator that the other sisters taught. She's about 22 years old. We finally were able to meet her when we stopped by her apartment randomly (apparently her phone has been broken-- which explains a lot), but we set up a meeting with her. She seems really nice!

We also have two investigators who are both doctors (they're bffs) and in their 60s. they also were taught by the other sisters. They both KNOW the Book of Mormon is true (woah!!!) and because of that "if the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith must be a prophet" (DOUBLE WOAH), but they're hesitant to be baptized because they might move to India or Turkey. We told them the church is there too. :) We're not sure they realize that the church isn't just the one congregation here in Ufa, it's global. 

Two girls that came to the open house at the branch are SUPER interested in the church and do the reading assignments we give them and everything. We met with one of them after work yesterday (the other has been sick), and the first one told us that all her friends/classmates in college told her that we're a sect-- but she stood up for the "Mormon Religion" and said we're not a sect. (Apparently "sect" in Russia means that people participate in human sacrifice. That's what she told us.) She said "I used to think there were only three main religions in the world, but now I know there's a fourth. The Mormon religion." How sweet is that? She's awesome. She's now decided to write a report on the Mormon Religion for one of her classes. She has really good questions for us in general. We had her read Alma 7, and one of her questions was "who is the lamb of God?". She's really doing her reading. Awesome, huh? We're meeting with her and Ana later this week.

So, basically, we're really busy!!! Between those investigators (and planning lessons!) and visiting less active members and active members, we're super busy! There's not ever enough time in a day to think. I wish I could sleep more :) I wish I could study Russian more :) I wish I could study the Gospel more :) But there's not enough time. 

I started reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning about three weeks ago, and I finished it this morning! It's my first time finishing it on my mission. I can't wait to finish reading it in Russian :) I've now started (for the second time!) Jesus the Christ. I LOVE that book. Man. It's so good. If you haven't read it (or haven't read it in a while), I would definitely recommend reading it. I'm also simultaneously reading Teachings of Lorenzo Snow and Teachings of Joseph Smith. Those books are also really good. I've always been somewhat of a book worm. :) Which is why I'm SO EXCITED for the Russian Roots book that mom is sending me. Yay! haha. 

I mean, I don't have a whole lot else to say. Life is great. I'm really not that homesick at all. I do miss home, and I do miss you guys.... but if I came home right now none of us would be happy. :) Just another....15 months? Wow. Fifteen months left. Sometimes that feels like forever, and sometimes that feels like nothing. Right now it feels like nothing. So much work to do and so little time to do it! I hope everything's great with everyone. I know that there have been some birthdays and some birthdays are coming up, so happy birthday!

I love Russia. I can't remember not living here. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's true. 

Love you!
love,
Cecmpa Brown

First Month in Russia

Well, my "one month in country" date was this last week, so to celebrate, Sister Galli and I ate a lot of really good food. Yum, yum. My favorite thing to get is at Lido's and it's like a cherry pastry thing. I don't ever usually like cherries, but when I eat it, it reminds me of mom (since she eats cherry-flavored ANYTHING), and they're also just REALLY good. They also have something that's basically "pain au chocolat" but the Russian twist. Each of these is the US equivalent of like fifty cents. It's ridiculous how good and cheap they are. I swear I'm not getting fat. :) And if I do, the winter is coming up anyway, right? haha. But I figure since this might be my only time in Ufa, I'd better eat up at Lido's while I have the chance.

In the MTC, they always told us not to serve a mission and have regrets about it. We find out transfers this week and since I'm in training, I doubt I'll get switched or anything. I've heard of trainers getting transferred mid-training, but I really doubt that will happen. Sister Galli and I have a good routine together, and we get along great. We share a love of good food, and we also share a love of just sitting and staring blankly at the wall at 6:30am when we're supposed to be exercising. (It's IMPOSSIBLE to exercise from 6:30-7:00 in the morning when in that time you have to wake up, pray, go to the bathroom, change into exercise clothes, etc. It will never be enough time. Also, I've always preferred to exercise at night anyway. I know i need to be more motivated...hahaha).

Anyway, life is good. I'm getting a little nervous for winter already. There is so much fog here every morning, and we can't even see the apartment buildings right next to us. When I originally arrived in Russia, we would go to bed and it wasn't even dark yet. Now, it gets dark way earlier. It's pitch black when we go to bed. Sister Galli assured me that yes, in the winter, there are like five hours of sunlight every day. It's so strange, and since I'm not used to it, I'm a little nervous to be honest. It's also going to get really cold. We went coat shopping last week, but no luck. We're going to a "Chinese market" today to see if there are any really good deals. I'll let you know how that goes!

Last Monday night, we were contacting on the street (in the rain), and Sister Galli and I were just kind of burned out. A cold was spread around at zone conference, and we were still recovering from the effects of that. We were doing our best to contact people, but it's hard when you don't feel good, it's raining, etc, etc. Anyway, we were literally walking to the bus stop when I thought, "I'm going to contact one more person!" and I walked up to this lady and handed her a church invitation. She actually stopped walking (most people just walk by like they don't see us), and she engaged in conversation with me. Sister Galli and I taught her a street lesson about the Book of Mormon (she asked if we were German-- everyone always thinks our accent is German). She seemed pretty interested. She came to our branch FHE on Saturday night (not Church Sunday, she slept in), but we met with her Sunday night, and we have another meeting today. She's officially an investigator! She has a 10-year-old daughter, and we're 99% sure she's a widow (she wears a male and female wedding ring) and always mentions her husband in past tense. She's really fun-loving (she tried to take us bowling yesterday...), but we like her fine. Her name is I. We really want to commit her to baptism sometime this week. Wish us luck!

Food for thought: You know how Eric had that awesome save at the pool this last summer? Well, remember how I saved him when he was drowning at Grandma's condo pool when he was like two? Everybody else had already exited, but I was the one that turned around and noticed that he had jumped back into the pool without water-wings (moral: never use water-wings with your children. EVER.) Well, because I saved him, he could save that guy this last summer. And missionary work is definitely like that. Somebody helps us, so we've got to pay it forward and help somebody else. Eric didn't realize how dangerous it was to jump into the pool without water-wings, just like some people don't realize they're sinning (and drowning) until someone pulls them out of it. Cool, huh?

I forgot to mention something cool that Sister Hatch (sister leader) had said when we did splits together. She said that my transfer (and the transfer 6 weeks ahead) are very critical transfers in the mission. The last missionaries to come into the mission are all about to hit their year-in-country marks (or they already have...). Anyway, so in six months, we will be the oldest transfers in the mission. It's four sisters and I think five or six Elders total. She was talking about how we are going to be the leaders of this mission for approximately a year-- which is two-thirds of my mission. Isn't that nuts? It's a lot of pressure, but good thing I have six months to prepare for it!

Also, another thing that's really cool is how long this mission age change has been in the works for. If you look back in time, it's pretty easy to see that something big was going to happen. When I was in Primary, the Primary program changed (I got a gold neckalce with the old program-- which I forgot the name of), but right at the end of my Primary time they changed the program to "Faith in God". Then, also when I was in Young Women's with about a year left, they changed the Young Women's program completely (and also added Virtue). All these things have prepared the youth my age and younger to work harder and smarter to be able to serve missions younger. Interesting, huh? I've been having a lot of deep thoughts over here in Siberia.

Actually, technically this city is in Europe, but the Siberian border is in my mission. They're opening up a new area for sisters over there this next transfer. Pray hard. ;)

I don't really have too much more to say, but I love all of you! Keep praying hard for me, and I'll keep praying hard for you.

Alma 31:34-35

O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.
Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.

Love,
cecmpa Brown

Russia!

Well, I think I spoke too soon 2 weeks ago when I said it was really hot here. It has been SO cold the last week. SO COLD. Wow. It's been raining and crazy, and I'm freezing. haha. Fortunately, mom and I bought cashmere lined leather gloves (Nordstrom rack, $10), and those have been a life-saver. Who knew that I'd be wearing them in August though? haha. 

Well, I left my planner at my apartment by accident and that's where I plan my letters throughout the week, but I will do my best to remember my life! This last week was spent doing our usual bus contacting, etc. and preparing for ZONE CONFERENCE. (cue dramatic music)

It was awesome! Elder Malm, an area authority, came and he spoke to us a lot. He's from Sweden, so it was cool to hear his sweet accent and also hear his inspired words. They were 100% inspired. We went over all the numbers for our mission and discussed how they could be improved in specific areas (in the key indicators column). I did a musical number on the flute (How Great Thou Art) while Elder Schneider played the piano and Elder Coppinger and Sister Whitney sang. We arranged it really cool, and it sounded awesome. Everyone complimented us after. Lunch was catered by "Lido" the bakery/restaurant next to the church. Sister Galli and I frequently stop by there as much as possible, and lunch was amazing. They have really good home-cooked Russian food, and it's awesome. I had my first "blini" (Russian pancake/crepe thing) this last week, and it was REALLY good. I bet with Nutella, it would taste exactly like a crepe-- they're just gigantic sized. The diameter is probably 12 inches and then they fold it like a....I don't know anything about Mexican food, but it's how you fold...a chimichanga maybe? each side folds into the center, and it becomes square-shaped. Anyway....haha.

Zone conference really motivated to try REALLY hard on my language. I try so hard already, but I'm really timid in speaking in front of Russian speakers on the street. I've gotten more comfortable with members, but I am so embarrassed to talk to strangers. But, I've changed my ways. On the marshutka (it's basically a "Mormon bus", painted yellow, and they cram like 20 people inside) home from zone conference, I talked to some people and handed out English cards and church invitations with information on them to people. It made me feel happy inside, and I know I need to do it more. It's hard enough to talk to random strangers in ENGLISH about the Gospel (which I feel like would be OK....) but then to talk to RUSSIAN people in RUSSIAN about the Gospel? I would say that ups the hardness by about 5,000%. Wouldn't you? Anyway, I've made a bunch of goals that I just need to be motivated enough to keep in regards to street-contacting. 

Friday, Sister Christensen (Mission President's Wife) went out with me and Sister Galli, and we had a great time. We went to some active members houses and had some lessons and discussions with them (Sister Galli was translating for Sister Christensen). It was awesome hearing both the English and the Russian because I could immediately figure out what I missed in the conversation (no duh), but I also realized how much I actually could understand. It was awesome! We talked to one lady about how involving her non-member daughter in family history work could bring her to the Gospel and how you should never give up on non-members in your family, no matter how long you've been trying to work on them. Which brings me to my next point, Uncle Patrick has exactly 18 months to get baptized and get endowed so that he can see his daughter get married when she gets back from her mission. If he loves Aunt Cathy, he'll want to be with her and their family for time and all eternity. The problems in their family stem from the fact that there is not a priesthood holder leading their family. One of our speakers (I wish I had the notes) in the MTC talked to us about this and how he actually said all of this to the non-member father. Within 2 weeks, the guy was baptized. Uncle Patrick needs to get baptized to set an example for EVERYONE in that family. Make it happen, please. 

Back to my life, Sister Christensen kept complimenting my Russian (not that she knows any more than me! haha) but said she's really impressed with my progress and how everything's going. We had a really good day on Friday in regards to contacting, so yeah, it sure looked that way to her! I really need to be "on" all the time. I taught a street lesson on the Book of Mormon all by myself (if I didn't know a word, I would elbow Sister Galli, and she'd say it). We've been trying to contact in this way for a while because I REALLY need to practice speaking with natives, so she just lets me talk and talk and talk until I can't talk, then she'll talk. It's awesome. I definitely think my Russian is improving every day. So many members have talked to me about how great my language is, and they all asked if I studied before my mission. I say yes, and tell them that it was basically a semester in a month (Spring Term...haha) and how I left 2 weeks early for the MTC. Taking Russian before I came was the best idea that I've ever had. I definitely feel that it was a blessing to take it, and it's a blessing to have that basic foundation here. I learned a lot in the MTC, and that's probably where most of my vocabulary came from. I'm blessed with an incredible memory too (thank you Dad!) so that's helped a lot as well. 

One of the Assistants is a native Russian, and he's awesome! His name is Elder Gladkov, and he's basically the most humble and kind person I've ever met. And he speaks Russian fluently! I was speaking to him Sunday after church (the presidency was still in town from Zone Conference), and he said "Sister Brown, how are you liking Russia? It's, what, your 2 or 3 transfer?" and I said, " I really like Russia! It's not America, but it's great. And no, it's my first transfer." then he remembered that I've only been here 3 weeks, and he sat there for a little bit (mind-blown), and then he started talking to me in super fast Russian basically saying how amazing my Russian is for only being here 3 weeks. Sometimes, I wonder if people are lying to me.... but I trust him. I don't let those compliments get to my head though because I am well-aware that in NO WAY am I good enough by my standards. I still need to learn as much as I can.

We've been doing a lot of area-book work either, whether it's visiting less-actives, in-actives, or potential investigators. It's kind of complicated because the area book isn't updated and hasn't been updated for a long time. The things that have been updated (on people's information sheets, for example) are vague, inaccurate, or illegible. We've gone to apartment buildings, attempting to find somebody only to discover (by asking) that the apartment building was blown up 5 years ago. Or that the people moved 3 years ago. This happens again and again and again. It's a little frustrating, but Sister Galli and I know that this work needs to be done, so every day we go on many adventures. It's nice to clean out the area book and set up other missionaries for success. 

The saddest thing this week was finding out that one of our investigators with a baptismal date, Y., actually has no intention of being baptized. We heart attacked her apartment door (we've been doing that to quite a few people actually) and left a note saying that we're sad we haven't been able to meet with her since we came (she never shows up to appointments and never answers her phone anymore), and she texted us that night and said "I think the other sisters must have misunderstood (the ones here before us). I don't have any intention on getting baptized anytime soon." which means, for a LONG time. So, that was an awkward text to get, especially because her baptism is supposed to be next week.... so we're going to leave her alone for a while and see how it goes.

One of our other investigators with a baptismal date, K., never can meet either. She works a TON (at Lido, actually), but whenever we're there, she never is. It's complicated. But she LOVES the Book of Mormon, and is so anxious to get baptized, but she has to go to church first and has never been able to make it because she gets called in to work last minute. It's really sad to see how much (actually, we've still never met with her but our Zone leader knows her really well and tells us these things) she really wants to get baptized. But she's gotta pay the rent. It's a tough situation!

Life is great, and today Sister Galli and I are going coat shopping. She knows a really good "swap-meet" type thing in Ufa (she was trained here last October!) and her coat was about $84, but she said it's really ugly and for just a little more money you can get a cute one. Boots (fur lined and super heavy duty) are about $60. Looks like I'm in luck! yay! Mom, I'd like to remind you that any sister missionary that I could inherit their coat (who would be going home soon or now) would have gotten rid of it the second the snow melted so they didn't have to lug it around anymore. But I feel good about those prices, so I'll be withdrawing cash from my debit account. Everything is cash only here.

Anyway, I can't really think of anything else to say.... life is great! Oh, I decided to try my hair straightener out yesterday. I used Sister Galli's plug adapter (I left mine at home because dad said I would need a power adapter too), but it worked fine! I only turned it up part of the possible power level, but it worked! My hair would have looked better if it had been hotter, but it worked out great! I was happy to look like "myself" again (although now, "myself" is a frizzy braid. hahahaha). 

The church is true, the book is blue!

Mosiah 24:11-15
1 Nephi 17:50-51
The Lord knows exactly what trials we need to learn, and he could turn our "water into earth" but he knows what's best for us to help us grow. He doesn't promise to take our burdens away but to give us so much strength that our burdens become light. Trust in the Lord. Don't just say you'll trust in Him. He can see so much more than we can, and something that we may view as a problem actually may help someone else later on down the road. Eternal perspective. With God, all things are possible.

I love you!
cecmpa Brown