The Snow Keeps on Melting!

Dear Beloved Friends, Family, and Other People, 

Well, the weather here is great. I love how I always talk about the weather, but that's obviously the only noteworthy subject of conversation here in the land of snow and ice (other than Obama and Putin). 

This last week it was consistently between -2 and +2 C for the high, which means the snow is melting a little faster than usual. Sister Williams and I have even dared to go running outside in the mornings and believe me-- we get super duper strange looks from people since everyone is still dressed up like Eskimos in 100% fur coats or coats that look like sleeping bags. The fact that we aren't wearing hats is probably the biggest element of concern since not wearing a hat is against every kind of fashion/health code from about October to May here. But I love running, and it's fun to get outside of our little tiny apartment to exercise (we had been running stairs for a couple of weeks....but I hate that).

The coolest thing this week was a member referral a dear recent convert (found in September, baptized in November). She's an awesome lady and frequently tries to involve her friends and aquaintances with the church. The lady she referred us to this week is a colleague from work. Sister Williams and I were in the country side (read-- three hours outside of the city) visiting a less-active when she called. 

"SISTER BROWN," she begins (she has a louuuuud voice), "I AM AROUND THE CHURCH BUILDING RIGHT NOW AND MY FRIEND WOULD LIKE A LESSON. COME TEACH US." 

I explained that I wasn't anywhere near the church right then and said I'd find someone. So, I called up the elders (oh, how I love elders!) and they were free and close to the church and so they met with her. I ended up having a meeting with this lady the next day because she came to English Group. The Elders had taught her the Plan of Salvation, but as Irina explained "WE JUST DIDN'T UNDERSTAND IT. DO YOU HAVE YOUR LITTLE PICTURES?" Fortunately, I did happen to have my Plan of Salvation pictures in my purse, so we retaught the PoS and committed her to baptism! It was so cool because she accepted the date immediately and is totally prepared and willing to change her life. 

The next lesson we taught with her was the Restoration and we asked her "what prophets have you heard of?" and she reads right out of the brochure that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It was amazing to hear her answer that and totally believe it. So cool. :)

Another cool experience we had was sitting on a bus. I'm not going to go into the details of how much I hate talking on transport (I do)-- but I do it anyway. What I really love is when people start talking to us first because that usually means that they're actually interested and not just feeling obligated to talk to us. Sister Williams and I were sitting on a bus this week and the lady across the aisle started to talk to the lady taking money and said "these two girls are American!" (as if we can't understand her....) but then we strike up a conversation with her, do a street lesson (explain the Book of Mormon) and were able to get her number. Her reaction: "Well, I'm Muslim....but this is super interesting to me! I'll definitely read it."

We had an all-time record high for lessons taught to investigators with a member present, and I would definitely call that inspired planning. During weekly planning last week we very seriously debated/calculated/prayed about how many investigator meetings we could get and couldn't decide between nine and six, so we chose sevn and then received eight! It was awesome. And if two of our meetings hadn't fallen through, we would have had ten. Investigator work in this area is really picking up. We have one baptismal date right now and another couple dates that we're seriously working towards with people.

One of my more disappointing lessons this week was with a less-active and her daughter. I've been working with this lady for eight months trying to activate her, and it's been coming surely but slowly. People at church are now stopping asking her if she's an investigator, so I would say that's progress. We're working towards baptism with her daughter and we made some things very clear to them that they need to do (come to church [on time], pray, read) and our meeting with them Sunday was extremely disappointing. Sometimes I really just want to rip my hair out at times like this. Her daughter is 11 years old and doesn't know who God or Jesus Christ are and has never prayed. You know that section in the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C 68:25) where it says the sin will be upon the parents if they don't teach the Gospel to their children? Well, I firmly believe that, but this lady doesn't seem to understand the hurt that she is doing to her daughter. I feel like I am the mother of both of them when I explain basic things like this. The mother says "well, it's her choice to accept the Gospel/Jesus/God (insert any Gospel principle/lesson)." And my answer is, "you have to give her a choice and teach her about it, otherwise how is she supposed to know that it's an option to believe in God/Jesus/etc!!!!!!" It's extremely frustrating how thick some people are, but it's really just helping me develop my patience with them. 

Another cool story is about the mother and daughter (age 60 and 40) that were baptized years ago and are just now starting to want to come to church again. Anyway, the mother is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy right now, and in the last month has already read 50% of the Book of Mormon. The daughter at our lesson this week said "I'm just reading the Bible right now...if I start the Book of Mormon, it will be too confusing" and the mother turns to her (unprompted) and says, "You know, I used to just skim the Book of Mormon so I didn't really understand it at all, but now I'm reading it, I really see that it helps explain the principles in the Bible way clearer than the Bible was written. If you want to understand the Bible, you have to read the Book of Mormon." I was just flabbergasted because that was the perfect testimony that the daughter needed to hear, and she agreed to start reading the Book of Mormon again this week. It's awesome the work that we're doing with these people!

Ether 4:12

"And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me-- that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world."

Ether 4:15,16

"..when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind..then shall my revelations... be unfolded in the eyes of all the people"

The church is true. It really is.

Have a great week!

Love always,

Catie

Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

Dear All,

Well, the weather.... is improving, I guess. There have been a ton of random blizzards this week (unexpected, since it hasn't snowed in about a month here) but there are also days when the snow melts like crazy. It's hard to tell if it's just melting very fast or if the city night crews are just working more effectively every night to clear the snow piles off the sidewalks. 

This week has been a good one for Sister Williams and me. We have now been asking for referrals using the way that President told us to ("Who do you know who would be interested?" instead of "do you know anyone that would be interested?") and that has been remarkable. 

We had a lesson and then after, we talked to a less-active lady this last week about her family (all former investigators from 15 years ago). She's less-active because it's just hard and painful to go to church all by herself without her family. Well, we had a wonderful conversation with her, led by the Spirit, about how to help her husband become interested in the church and discover his real concerns under his iceberg of excuses. After we asked the question "Who do you know that would be interested in the church?" she brought up two ladies that she works with that she would be interested in talking to about the Gospel. We worked through ways that she can bring it up, and she's going to talk to them about it this week and give us their telephone numbers! She also knew someone interested in English group. It was a good use of our time as missionaries, and I know that she felt loved as we talked about how to bring her husband into the Church. 

We talked about some really great things in zone meeting this week and about how everyone has some kind of obstacle (excuse) in missionary work, but so what? It's your choice to get distracted by things and not live up to your potential as a missionary. It's your choice to be happy about things and open your mouth. 

We analyzed what the word consecration really means:

 Con= completely

 Secrare= to make sacred

 Consecration= to make completely sacred

"You must think about it when you don't have to think about it." --President Eyring's dad said this about being a true physicist and it applies to missionary work

We analyzed our dedication to consecration by these questions:

1. How do you use time when there is no time commitment?

2. What do I talk about with my companion (or others) when no third party is listening?

3. What do you think about when you have nothing to think about?

4. How do you dress when no critical observer is watching?

5. How neat and orderly are you with your things when no visitor is expected?

6. What do you say about other people when the other person isn't present?

7. What judgements or conclusions do you reach about others without perfect knowledge of the situation?

8. What level of sin or disobedience do you tolerate not to offend someone else's feelings?

I would invite all of you to take that questionnaire and honestly evaluate yourselves and ask "am I a consecrated member of the church? am I doing all that I can to help share the Gospel, be Christlike, and help others?" Your character is who you are when no one's looking-- if you don't like something about it, change it. 

We planned to teach a less-active mom and daughter in Dioma the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Right now, the mom has started to read the Book of Mormon again and is really enjoying it. Well, we opened up 2 Nephi 31 to read the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them, and that was right where she was about to start reading! We all kind of laughed at the "coincidence" but Sister Williams and I knew that it was a sign that they needed that lesson on the Gospel. It was a really good lesson, and they are making some very positive steps in coming back to church again.

Something really cool happened yesterday. Sister Williams and I were contacting because one of our meetings fell through, and we were explaining the Book of Mormon to two men on the street. Even though they really didn't want to listen to us (they just wanted to argue about how it's Satan's church/book and can we help them immigrate to America?), I had a realization as I was explaining all of this to them, "I really know that this Book is true." It was a really cool feeling to have as I'm bearing my testimony on a street in the middle of Russia to two men smoking (and smelled a little like alcohol). I didn't give them the Book of Mormon, but I left them a pamphlet, and I really hope they open their hearts and minds and are willing to read it. God is the same, yesterday, today and forever, and I know that's true. I know that He is a God of love, and He is a God of miracles. He only works miracles if we are willing to have faith. The Book of Mormon is part of a divine plan to find those who are prepared for the Gospel, and it really is the keystone of our religion. I am so glad that we are focusing on using it in our mission because my testimony has immensely increased because of that.

President Christensen was in town this week, and I had an interview with him. I really love and respect that man, and I know he's called of God. He always tells me wonderful things about myself, and this time he said some really interesting things about what I will do with my life and my Russian skills. I won't really talk about it, but I felt the Spirit really strongly, and I've been thinking a lot about that interview since Friday. I told him how much I miss Sister Fedas and that was the first time I've cried about her call being changed to Ukraine. I really miss her, and she really changed my life. 

 I am so glad for the opportunity that I have to be a missionary here in this mission, at this time, and in this city. Sister Williams and I are working miracles, and that is just the beginning. The people of Ufa aren't going to know what hit them. 

Helaman 6:5 "Yea, and many did preach with exceedingly great power and authority, unto the bringing down many of them into the depths of humility to be the humble followers of God and the Lamb'"

All the best,

Sister Brown

Katoosha

Dear Family,

What a week! As you know, transfer calls came and woot woot, I am STILL in Ufa. I feel like any day I'm going to get a transfer, but as for now, I'm happy where I am. I was trained here, I trained here, and....I am training again here! An American this time. After having two native companions, it will be weird to have an American companion. I'm so used to speaking Russian immediately at 6:30 in the morning that it now takes more energy to speak in English in the mornings. :) Also, speaking English in the apartment is now weird to me, and I find myself speaking in Russian when I really mean to be speaking in English!

My new companion is Sister Williams. She's fresh from the MTC, so this is going to be a fun transfer. It's been pretty nostalgic for me because it brings to memory MY first week in Russia. Life was a little overwhelming and it took some time getting used to it all. Being a missionary is hard. :)

This week was great. I flew to Ekat on Wednesday (the office elders bought my ticket for the wrong time, so I missed all of the training for trainers training), and I arrived Wednesday night. We dropped Sister K (my mini-missionary) off at her apartment on the way to President's (I was alone in the car with three elders and the mission driver....kinda scary!). The new missionaries had already landed and somehow were all still awake (it was 10 pm), so I was impressed by them a lot. Sister Williams is delightful, determined, and fearless. I'm so excited to be with her!

Thursday we had training all day at the mission office. I got my package from mom! The dress fit beautifully (and was much appreciated) and the candy was much appreciated by my zone. :) We were in the office all day doing training, and they ordered pizza for lunch. The pizza had pickles on it-- only in Russia! The pizza was good, but it really makes me miss American pizza....Little Caesar's especially! 

We flew back to Ufa on Friday morning and had a crazy day because we had to do winter shopping for Sister Williams. We hit up the sales, so she got her things pretty cheap. It's turning into spring here, but it's still cold enough (and enough snow/ice!) that a winter coat and heavy-duty boots are still needed for missionary work. We did weekly planning, and I introduced her to our area and how to weekly plan!

The weather is warming up here, and things are starting to melt. The only problem with the melting is that when it freezes back up at night, then there's ice everywhere until it thaws mid-afternoon. It's a little dangerous to walk around here. Also, snow is melting off the rooftops, and randomly falls on people as they walk. People have put caution tape around the sides of the building to warn people of falling snow and ice.

There are now six Elders in Ufa and only two sisters, so as a companionship, we'll now be swamped working with practically every woman in the branch and also our area. I'm training, another Elder is training an American, and then another Elder is training a Russian, and then there's the zone leader and his companion. We have a really smart and talented zone. With the exception of me and Elder Borget, everyone's new. Ufa has essentially been whitewashed! Sacrament meeting was comical because the brother in charge of announcements said, "Well, we received a bunch of new missionaries....you can come introduce yourselves and bear your testimonies" and pretty much our whole zone got up. The congregation was in awe at all the new missionaries. 

Also, miracle-- two investigators came to church on Sunday! That was awesome and totally unexpected. I attribute it to the fact that as a zone, we decided to fast for specific things every Sunday together. 

Other than those things, life is still going great! I really don't have a whole lot else to say other than, I love you, and I'm so glad to know all of you! I'm really grateful for your support, and it's crazy that my nine month mark was this last week. Nine months on a mission? That's crazy! I'm going to be home before I know it :)

The church is true, and the Book is blue. Most of all, I LOVE YOU!

All the best,

Sister Brown

Lots of Growing Up To Do!

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!!

Hello Springtime!

Well, the beginning of this week was good weather, it even hit +2 C, but unfortunately the end of the week was awful and has been around -26 C for a while. It's pretty cold (there's actually a blizzard outside right now...), but I'm super happy!

My new companion is AWESOME. As you can see by those pictures, she's definitely a "mini" missionary ;) but I think if you average our heights, you'd get a normal sized person. She's only small in height and not small in anything else. We haven't even been together a week, but I feel like we've been together a year. I love her! We laugh all the time and joke around. She speaks even less English than Sister Fedas did, so everything is Russian 100% of the time (as usual) but I don't have any headaches this time around because I'm used to it by now. I love being able to communicate in Russian 100% of the day because that means that I must know something! It's a shame Sister Kaigerodova is only going to be with me 2 weeks because I would have loved to have her for an entire transfer. She's great! She has the prettiest smile and testimony and she knows the scriptures like a boss. Her family came in contact with the church in the mid 90s, so she was baptized when she was 8. Her sister is serving a mission in Rostov right now, and Sister Kaigerodova is in the process of doing her own mission papers. She's awesome!

This week was not as eventful as I would have liked as far as meetings go but things are swell. 

Over the last month or so, I've had three meetings with these two less-active ladies, a mom and daughter who are in their 60s and 40s. I've never been able to get in contact with them until recently, but they're awesome. They were baptized about 10 years ago, but once the branch building got built (an hour and a half away) it was really hard for them to commute, so they stopped going. They started attending other churches, so they forgot a lot of our doctrine because of that. They remember random things (think: deep, deep doctrine....) but not other basic things like "Nephi restored the church in New York, right?" Teaching them feels like teaching investigators but even more challenging because I don't know how much they remember or how much they think they remember. They're very interested in coming back because they always loved our church and had good feelings there. Obviously, we're trying to help them get testimonies, and right now they're progressing towards it! They were able to find both their copies of the Book of Mormon, and the mom has even started reading everyday. We met with them this last week, and they were actually able to contribute to the lesson almost as if they were active members. 

I read a really cool verse in the Book of Mormon this week Mosiah 26:3 "And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened." I really liked that verse because if you take the opposite of that...... "and because of their belief, they could understand the word of God, and their hearts were softened" You can see by this that if you just have faith, you can understand the word of God easier, and then your heart gets softened. Some people are just so stubborn that they refuse to believe and because of their unbelief, they cannot understand the word of God or have a softened heart. That happens with members and non-members alike. It even applies to every situation. One of the reasons why I think my Russian has excelled so much is because I've always believedin myself and knew that I could do it.

It's just so cool to me because FAITH is the first principle and ordinance of the Gospel, and really it's the first principle of anything. I've really come to believe that on my mission, and it's cool to see that proof manifested in so many ways. If you just believe, then it can happen. Faith is an eternal principle. 

Also, another kind of random thought (I do lots of thinking on my mission, haha). I've always wondered why God allowed Satan to tempt us. Just because Satan rebelled against God, why does God allow temptation from Satan to happen to us? This may not be very profound, but the answer had never hit me before-- it's because agency is really a gift from God and He respects our agency. Satan chose to rebel and chose to tempt us, and God lets him have his agency. Agency is an eternal principle.

Also, another thing I've been wondering about besides the fact that "families can be together forever," why does the Gospel bless families? ("The Gospel Blesses Families" is a point of doctrine in the first lesson that we teach). I just have thought so much about it and had never figured it out until this week. We were teaching a lesson on Happiness and centered the story out of Mosiah 21 and 24 and how those people in slavery were happy because God was with them and supporting them in their trials. Well, it dawned on me during the lesson that the Gospel blesses families because if you look at the entire Book of Mormon, people were happy and NOT killing each other when they had the Gospel in their lives. I think that relates to families pretty dang well. There aren't any "secret combinations" when you live the Gospel, there aren't any wars, there aren't any contentions, there isn't anything bad because if you build your foundation on Christ, it's just not possible! Light always conquers darkness. The good will always triumph over evil (not just "win" but "triumph"). Evil cannot exist in the presence of good. And God will always love us no matter what. These are all eternal principles, and they're all true!

 Sometimes being out here seems a little hopeless, and I would say that about 90% of the time that it's a trial of my faith, but I remind myself that no matter how dark, evil, and cold the world seems, good will always triumph. God is real. Jesus Christ is actually alive-- He really lives. Miracles happen every day. I'm so blessed to be out on a mission right now, and I love every day of it. I just can't believe how fast the days fly by.

Have an awesome week. :)

All the best,

Sister Brown

Pictures!

What a week!

Dear Family,

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)