Hey family!
I feel like I say this every time, but it was the best week so far. Definitely harder than the ones before--more on that later, but I have learned a ton and almost died from lack of oxygen (from da laughz). So, to start off, I think I forgot to tell you that last week or something like that, we met a bunch of Baltic missionaries who came to the main campus for P-day. They are staying on the west campus. There were the Latvian, Estonian, and Lithuanian speakers that we met and it was awesome because we all seem to get along really well. It made me even more pumped to fly to Riga with them.
Sort of sad, but Brat Williams left this week. We really sent him off with a bang though because it was потом day! Remember how I said that our district motto is "потом, потом"? That means, "later, later". We say it all the time because we'll ask Brat Williams a question and his answer will be потом, потом. He promised us that his last day here, he would talk about all of the потом's. So E. Graf has been keeping record of all the stories that he hasn't told us and he brought 'em out and Brat Williams told us a bunch of them. He brought artifacts from his mission and he showed us his planners, PMG, pictures, and a bunch of other stuff. It was the best. He's seriously been such an awesome teacher and we're all really close to him so it was sad to see him go, but the whole thing just made me so excited. He told us this story of an investigator he had who had schizophrenia (sp?) and one time it was fast Sunday. So the guy got up to bear his testimony but he just tells a few really sad stories from his life and then walks off. Then he runs back to the pulpit and starts looking through his bag, saying that he forgot something. He pulls out a bottle of prescription meds and holds them up, asking if anybody wants them because he doesn't want to take them anymore. Haha so insane, but a member in the back just raises his hand and walks up to the pulpit and takes the pills. Haha I guess the missionaries were laughing so hard. Only in Eastern Europe would the members not even blink an eye.
You will never guess what I did this week. Or maybe you will, since I wasn't totally surprised. But I'll preface the story: I was having a hard day. I hadn't gotten any mail for like three days (which shouldn't matter but it does), I was having a hard time with patience, and also I ate some chicken fried misteak. It was rough. So my companion and I were walking back to class from our residence hall and those blasted stairs got me again. I fell so hard on my butt and slid down a few steps. I don't even know how this happens. I black out or something. Haha so I have a gigantic bruise on my butt. It's funny because I still can't kneel and I can't really sit down. I know that sounds awful and it sort of is but it has also been a great source of joy in my district.
Since Brat Williams left, that means that we're done teaching Vechaslav. And Nadyezhda. We got a new investigator, Yana. She was baptized a year ago but stopped going to church as soon as her sister missionaries left. We've only had one lesson with her and S. Wrigley warned us that she wouldn't be friendly at all. I wasn't super concerned because I figure that I'm a reasonably charming person and my testimony is reasonably touching and then I realized that none of that mattered. Haha seriously, it was sad. I even did what S. Kuznetsova suggested and picked her a flower--totally against the rules, btw. Thank heavens the Spirit told me not to say the line, "Anya, I don't like singing but for you, I will," and then follow through with the plan to sing a hymn. Pretty sure that S. Coombs and I would have driven away the Spirit if we sang because neither of us can carry a tune. The whole lesson I was trying really hard to make sure she knew that she was loved, though. I may be absolutely awful at Russian, but I think that I'm pretty alright at focusing on people's needs just because it's a weakness that I've had to rely on the Lord for ever since I've been here. She refused to pray and I was even trying to be bold with her, trying to figure out why. She wouldn't answer our questions or if she did, they were only a few syllables. It was a little frustrating just because all she needs is to understand how to communicate with Heavenly Father and how to build a relationship with him and the Savior.
Since Brat Williams left, we have another teacher. His name is Brat Bush but we haven't met him yet. He'll be our other investigator. Brat Williams kept telling us that we won't even miss him because Brat Bush is so amazing. We're excited to meet him tomorrow.
So, quote of the week that just killed me: We were eating breakfast and E. Graf was talking about how sick he is with the cold and how he has a bunch of nasty stuff in his throat. I was already getting angry because, I mean, we were eating. And then he said this gem: "I literally gave birth out of my throat this morning." I vomited right then and there. Haha seriously though, so gross. He was saying how he was hacking up a bunch of mucus and likening it to a live birth. He's the worst and also he's the best.
Companionship highlight: Sister Roy and Sister McDiarmid are the bomb. They really struggled at the beginning of the MTC because S. McD is super open and proactive in communicating what she wants and S. Roy is the total opposite. S. Roy is the nicest person I've ever met, and I mean that. She does anything for anyone but she never really thinks about herself. As a result, she wasn't communicating with S. McD what she was thinking or feeling, so they struggled to be on the same page. They're a miracle companionship, though. They've worked through a lot of things and are so solid now. S. Roy is hilarious because she's a huge gamer--she loves Assassin's Creed or whatever that game is. And a bunch of other video games. Haha she listens to great music, too. She's the blonde one with super long hair. She's from West Jordan, UT recently but she was born in Illinois.
S. McD is way fun, too. She's a lot like me in the fact that we joke around a lot but she's also great at being focused when she needs to be. She does the best E. Pyne impression. She's from California and she's the oldest. It'll be her 22nd birthday on the flight over to Latvia.
Today we cleaned the temple for service, which was a really cool experience. The sisters get to clean the crystal chandeliers while the elders do the vacuuming and washing windows and all that. We spent our time in a sealing room cleaning the chandelier, and the whole time we were talking to two of the temple custodians. One of them is a descendent of the Reynolds and Dixons in Ashton, if Grams and Gramps know them. We talked all about Ashton and she actually knew exactly where G&G live and I could figure out where her parents live now. It sounds like they're in G&G's ward. It was sort of a tender mercy to have her there because it made me feel like I was at home.
After we finished taking off all the crystals, cleaning them and then putting them back on, we were able to go on a tour. We walked into the celestial room with the lights off and it was awesome to see it light up. I can't wait for it to open next week! I have a feeling it's gonna be a good one.
My favorite part of every day is at night when I herd all of the new sisters into one of the rooms and we go around and share our miracles for the day. After, I tell them something that was on my mind during the day and usually challenge them to do something. I didn't think that it was that big of a deal--I actually thought it might be annoying to them because it takes away from their time to get ready for bed. But today was really cool because one of the sisters, S. Johnson (going to Russia) gave me a card. She said some really nice things but the part that really got me was, "You have made the difference to me." If that is just a glimpse of the difference that I am capable of making when I am being led by the Spirit, then I can't wait to be able to serve the people in the Baltics. Nothing has ever meant more to me than to know that my efforts aren't unnoticed and that it actually does help other people when I take the time to do what the Spirit tells me to. I love all of the new sisters--they are super funny and I think they're all doing pretty well.
Have I mentioned that Sister Wrigley is like my soul sister? She's the type of person who makes you feel like a million bucks whenever she's in the room. And she's hilarious. You should add her on Facebook for me so I don't forget her. Amanda Wrigley. Please and thank you.
I said goodbye to Ashlyn this week too! She's going to be awesome. It's weird that both her and Becca have come and gone while I've stayed here. It finally hit me this week that I'm leaving so soon. We get our flight plans on Thursday, apparently. Jared, you might understand how behind in Russian if I tell you that I literally do not know cases (except for how to decline masculine nouns), I don't know to-shto (I don't have time to spell that in Russian), kotorie, or verbs of motion. I'm dying here. Haha but honestly, I'm not feeling too panicked. It's not like people join the church because of excellent Russian speaking missionaries; they join it because of the way that they feel. I'm focusing on being able to bring the Spirit in lessons and I figure that the Lord will make up the difference.
I've had a lot of cool experiences this week that you'll get letters about. I hope that you are all doing great and OH MY GOSH ASHTON IS CRAWLING? I don't know whether I want to cry about that or not. Give him a hug and kiss for me and squeeze his chubby lil legs. And also, I'm super sorry for forgetting Cal's birthday. I hope it was real fun, my friend. And Jared's wedding is so soon! And Nicole's baby after that?! I better be receiving pics up the wazoo.
I love you all!
Love,
Cecpta Gooch
P.S. Please send me McCall's, Lindsi's, Uncle Mike's, and Sadie's address. And yes, an address book would be GREAT. Love you!
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