Week 6: The Christmas of Davids

Hello everyone! I hope you had the merriest of Christmases wherever you are. We were hoping for a white Christmas here in Provo, which we kind of did have because we woke up this morning to snow! So, better late than never.

Last Thursday we met with the person in charge of giving foreign officials tours of the MTC to prep us for meeting the head of immigration in Mongolia. Coming out of it, I was even more nervous than before (there's just a lot we can't talk about, shouldn't talk about, and things to remember to talk about), but I know it will be fine because this is the Lord's work and as long as we do our best the Lord will take care of the rest. Still a lil nervous though. Next week I will give a full report, so stay tuned.

On Sunday, Sister Richter and I gave the Relief Society lesson on "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts" which, as we were planning it, seemed like a topic that everyone has talked about and we wanted to make it different and interactive. We ended up drawing a flow chart on the whiteboard, showing how everything in our missionary purpose is connected to one another, and also why we need to baptize converts and not just people. The sisters had really awesome comments and scriptures, and we asked them how they have seen the blessings of repentance and baptism in their lives, and Sister Maccabee (who was baptized when she was a teenager) talked about her conversion story and made us all cry, and then one of the wives of the MTC presidency that was visiting our RS also talked about an experience that she had had and the spirit was so strong and it just felt so right and good. The really cool part was that we didn't really follow a tight lesson plan, I felt like our lesson went where it needed to go and it was really great to be a part of it.

Monday was Christmas Eve and in the evening we watched little primary kids act out the nativity all dressed up as sheep and shepherds and it was adorable and made it feel like Christmastime. We watched A Christmas Carol and then had some free time before lights out. Sister Richter, Sister Dixon and Sister Thompson and I (and Sister Bowers and Gering because they don't have another companionship in their room so we invited them over) had our own little Christmas party. We drank hot cocoa, sang Christmas songs, read Luke 2, opened presents and talked about Christmas at home. It was really nice. Different from home but really great.

Christmas Day was jam packed with surprises and the spirit and it was definitely a Christmas I will never forget. Our general authority speaker was Elder Bednar (called it!) and it was such a good talk. He talked a lot more frankly and openly in his talk than he does in his conference talks, and I loved it. He talked about a few things, but my favorite was when he talked about personal revelation. We sometimes worry, especially as missionaries, when we will know when to do or say something. But as long as we are being good and trying our best, we will be directed to where we need to be. Sometimes we expect some huge revelatory experience to tell us what we should do, but that isn't usually how the Lord works. He talked about President Nelson, and how everyone thinks that the changes in the church have all come just in the past few years. But in reality, everything that has changed so far has been in the works for a long time, with different prophets receiving revelation line upon line like we all do, until the change is ready to be made. Elder Bednar also said to buckle up because they aren't done yet haha.

After the devotional we got to Skype our families and it was wonderful!! I cried when I saw their faces and it made my heart happy to finally be able to see them and talk to them. I bore my testimony to them about the atonement in Russian and it was great. I love them so much and goodness do I miss them like crazy.

In the evening we had a "special guest" which ended up being David Archuleta (hence the title of this, it was a Christmas of Davids haha)! He sang a bunch of his Christmas songs and Glorious and talked about his mission and it was SO GOOD. His voice is so beautiful. At the end, because he is the nicest person, he literally shook every missionary's hand. So yeah, I've met David Archuleta, nbd. It was a great way to end a great Christmas.

This week, as it is with all weeks, had its ups and downs. And as I went through them I've noticed that my prayers asking for comfort are almost always answered through other people giving me a hug or sharing a thought with me or just cracking a joke. I am so thankful for the sisters and elders in my branch that are there to help lift one another up. Sometimes this work is a little discouraging and hard, but I know that this is the Lord's work, and he knows each of us and loves us with an infinite love that is always there no matter what we do. It is through the hard and the discouraging that we see the true goodness of others and of our Savior.

I love you all and I urge you to look for ways that you can be an instrument in the Lord's hand to help lift and comfort others!

Happy almost New Year!
Love,

Cectpa Kropelnicki

My district ready to light the way

Christmas eve in our room

Week 5: The most wonderful time!

Hello all! I hope you are all getting pumped for Christmas!! There is definitely a feeling of excitement in the air here at the MTC because for one: Christmas and we get to hear an apostle speak (my bet is Elder Bednar or Elder Holland) AND Skype our families!! Christmas can not come soon enough, I can't wait.

Last week we got 4 new sisters and 5 new elders and it's been great, especially as an STL, to get to know them. Our sisters are from Alaska (but originally from Serbia/Germany), one is from Texas, one is from New Zealand and the other is from the Netherlands! They are all hilarious and really great missionaries and Sister Richer and I love them to death. Two Elders are from the UK, ones from Australia (he's from Melbourne, which is where my Dad served his mission and weird fact, the Elders name is Elder Phillips haha), ones from Sweden and the other is from Germany, so he and sister Richter have conversations in German during dinner and its great.

I gave my talk on Sunday and it wasn't too bad! They only have to be like 4 minutes so it was nice and short and mostly I'm just glad it's over! But I love speaking in Russian, and this week I really noticed for the first time that Russian is starting to come a little easier to me, which is such a relief! I can form my own sentences a lot faster and now that we know more grammar, I understand why words are declined the way that they are, which is really helpful for me. We teach like 2 lessons every day this week so I know my Russian will keep improving!

On Sunday, the MTC choir director spoke for the devotional and brought the Orem Institute Singers which he also directs and they were so good! They sang like angels and Brother Eggett spoke in between the songs and he talked about how important it is to not be a "socially motivated" member of the church. We should do things because we know this is His church and because we are truly converted to it. If Joseph or Mary were socially motivated when the angel visited them, they would've had a much different response. I love how Mary says, "Be it unto me according to Thy word." She was willing to be an outcast among her friends and family if it meant she was following the Lord's word. We should be(come) willing to give up everything to know Him.

Our Christmas tree has become so full of ornaments, every time I walk into our room and see it, I get a warm, happy feeling:) Thank you all so much for the words of encouragement and love, you have no idea what it means to me! You are the best. Also, our branch presidents wife came in and said it was beautiful but it needed a picture of Jesus and we felt guilty after that so now we have like 5 pictures taped to the wall of Jesus. It is now complete.

In other news, we found out yesterday that a Mongolian government official is coming to observe our class the day after Christmas and see how we learn languages so quickly at the MTC (haha if only he knew. #giftoftongues) and the church really wants it to go well because Mongolia hasn't been very open to missionary work in the past and they hope this will improve relations. So no pressure to our district but the future of missionary work in Mongolia rests on our shoulders. Brother Griffiths was SO excited when he got the email, he could not contain himself. He's hoping that this will be the start of his diplomatic career haha. Everyone is really excited, and we're planning on having Sister Thompson talk a lot (she is fluent) and act like she learned everything she knows at the MTC ha the Mongolian will be blown away. We're also planning to convert him because we will be role playing as missionaries that class and bearing our testimonies so pray for our Mongolian friend who has no idea what he is getting into:)

That is all for this week! I love you all and I urge you to look for ways to spread the joy of Jesus Christ's birth this Christmas. Think of someone in your life that could use a little extra love this season, and do something nice for them. We are all literal sons and daughters of Heavenly Father and we can thank Him for giving us His perfect son by loving those around us.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Love,
Cectpa Kropelnicki

Sister Dixon, Me, Sister Thompson, Sister Richter

Our beautiful tree with all the decorations!!

Week 4: Another Crazy Week

Hello everyone!
This week was kind of insane and A LOT has happened. I need to work on making these emails more manageable to read so I will briefly mention some of them.

On Sunday, Sister Richter and I were called as Sister Training Leaders, which means we are in charge of the sisters in our branch. We get to go around to their rooms every night and see how their days were and just love them and make them feel at home here. I was so surprised when we were called because we're so new and we have big shoes to fill but I know it will be such a blessing to get to know all the sisters in our branch better. Speaking of sisters, we get 4 new ones tonight!! I am so excited. Our branch started off really big (with like 7 languages being spoken in it), to what it is now with only 2 districts and only Russian speakers. But, today we get a new district of 5 Elders (who are all foreign) and 4 sisters (1 is foreign, the other three are from the states) so everyone is really excited for that.

Sister Richter, Sister Thompson and I got a new sister in our room and are no longer a trio. Her name is Sister Dixon and her companion left for Ukraine, Dnipro yesterday and Sister Dixon still has 3 weeks left at the MTC before she leaves for Russia, St. Petersburg.  So she is now Sister Thompson's companion and Sister Richter and I are companions. It's not really that different because we still do everything together and do companion study together, and Sister Dixon (she's from Bountiful, Utah is so awesome and is just happy all the time and her favorite show is Psych so we get along great:)

Thursday we had our TRC with returned missionaries and it was a lot better than our first one. They are so nice and give really great answers, and even though I can't understand everything they say, the spirit that I felt told me everything I needed to know.

On Friday night we sang some Christmas songs for the Branch Presidencies at the MTC and it was so wonderful. The spirit was so strong and there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Christmas is such a wonderful time to spread the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and there isn't a better way to do this than singing!

On Sunday the BYU Men's Chorus sang for the devotional and it was fantastic. It is a big choir and they are so good. It made me miss BYU!
We also had a devotional last night and sister Craven of the Young Womens Presidency spoke about how important it is to never be "casual" representatives of the Lord, and to instead be careful because we are literally called to represent Christ in everything we do, say and think. In our district discussion after, we talked about being the kind if missionary that, even if you weren't wearing your nametag (because for the people in our district going to Russia, they won't be wearing them), would people still be able to recognize you as different and apart from the world? It was really good and everyone had really great thoughts on it.

I was also asked by President yesterday if I would speak in sacrament meeting on Sunday, and I really have no idea why he asked me on my fourth week when sister Thompson and sister Dixon are so much better at Russian! Usually, they ask the most experienced to speak and I seriously think they mixed up our names haha. It's ok though, sister Thompson will help me so I don't look like a complete idiot;)

Tuesday was the best day because I got a package with the most adorable paper tree from my family and tons of the most wonderful paper ornaments to put on it from friends and family! Thank you so much to all that sent them! They made me cry and feel so so loved. I wish I could hug all of you and tell you how much they meant to me. I have the best family and friends! I will send a picture of it because our room (with Sister Dixon's decorations and some Santa hats and candy canes from my wonderful Aunt and Uncle in Provo) is now the talk of the floor with all our decorations:)

Russian update: It is getting better. This week I have really realized the importance of goal setting and pushing yourself even when there aren't any "tests" or ways to keep yourself accountable. It's easier than you would think to just sail through the day without really learning any new Russian. We are always either planning a lesson, practicing a lesson, or giving a lesson and sometimes it is really difficult to find time to actually study Russian! But as I plan what I want to learn and accomplish each day, I really notice a difference in the new things I'm able to learn. I also wish I could just bear my testimony in Russian all day because it is my favorite thing! Russian is really difficult and the cases and all the exceptions to all the rules are crazy, but I love Russian nonetheless.

Some funny stuff of the week:
When I was little I was borderline obsessed with a movie called Horse Crazy  (I realize now it is SO bad and cheesy but I probably watched it over 25 times as a kid and thought it was a cinematic legend), and we were talking in our district about movies we watched as kids, and when I mentioned that one, Elder Holt said his cousin was one of the kids in it (for those of you who have had the great privilege to watch it, his cousin was the fake cowboy, who also happens to be my first child crush ahahah)! And he now lives in Seattle with his family and is a chef so Elder Holt is going to introduce us and it's going to fulfill my childhood dream.
When we are really tired in our evening classes (which is all the time), we sometimes have the weirdest conversations. This week's was on turtles and some of the Elders are convinced that they shed their shells like hermit crabs (because how else do they fit in them?) and it was just a ridiculous conversation but also a much needed one.

I'm starting to notice a pattern here at the MTC because this week also flew by like the last 3 and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I love it here at the MTC, and everyday I learn so many new things about my purpose as a missionary and what it truly means to be Christlike. I know that this is His work and that if we do it His way, we will be blessed with the companionship of the Holy Ghost to help us find people that He has prepared. I also know that testimonies are precious, and it is often not the elaborate lesson, but the simple testimony that can soften a heart and bring others unto Christ. I am grateful to be a part of this great work.

I realize looking over it that this is definitely not shorter than previous emails and I apologize again.
I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week wherever you may be!
Merry Christmas!
Cectpa Kropelnicki

Sister Richter, Sister Dixon, Sister Kropelnicki, Sister Thompson

Provo temple Wednesday December 12

Week 3: Mack Wilberg Stole Our Thunder

Happy December everyone!

Winter is in full swing here in Provo and we had our first big snow on Sunday and it was magical. My companion from Germany has only seen snow a few times in her life and she was so happy when we stepped outside Sunday morning to a winter wonderland. 

This week seemed to go by so quickly--I can't believe it's Wednesday again. On Thursday we had our first member TRC where we teach two 20-minute lessons to Russian-speaking return missionaries and we were all a little nervous but it went pretty well. Our second lesson was much better than our first, and even though I couldn't understand much of what they said, I could understand a lot more than I could last week(!). 

We also taught a few lessons to Igor and Olga (our teachers Brother Griffiths and Sister Williams/fake investigators) this week. Igor is obsessed with hockey so in our lesson about prophets we compared a prophet to the team captain and all of us to the rest of the team and Jesus Christ as the coach. We asked him what would happen if there was no team captain on the team and he was very concerned and told us that that could never happen because the team would never win. No one would know what to do! We told him that that is why prophets are so important to us and he totally got it! Haha afterwards when Brother Griffiths was talking to us he told us that the analogy was way better for Igor than reading any scriptures or saying anything else so we were relieved! We also have memorized Joseph Smith's first vision and we recited it together in our lesson and it was so amazing to see how quickly it brought the spirit into the room. 

On Sunday we went to choir practice and started to learn the most beautiful arrangement of The First Noel by Mack Wilberg. My only regret was not being able to listen to it since I'll be singing it, BUT tender mercy because that night when we watched the Christmas Devotional, the choir sang the exact arrangement and it was so beautiful. We joked that Mack Wilberg stole our thunder because we were singing the song on Tuesday for our Tuesday devotional, but I will forgive him because theirs was angelic. 

During our choir practice Brother Egget talked about the story behind The First Noel and compared it to the message of the gospel. The angels were the missionaries to the shepherds, and the shepherds then took it to the world (and that is our job as missionaries--to take this message of hope and love to everyone!) and when they said "fear not" to them, they probably meant that the shepherds don't have to fear anymore because the Savior is born and with Him we never need to fear. 

If you haven't watched the Christmas Devotional please watch it! It was so good. I'll just share one thing I really liked from it. In Elder Stevenson's talk he talked about how years from now, we won't really remember what we got for Christmas, but what we gave. Christmas is such a wonderful time to spread the love of Christ to everyone around us. Service is the way to become like our Savior and I urge all of you to find ways to show your love for Him and those around you this Christmas season. Learning Russian, it's easy for me to focus on only myself and my own problems, but I've really been trying to use this experience to focus outward as much as I can. It hasn't been easy and I'm still working on it, but I know that I find true happiness and fulfillment when I do.

Something I am grateful for this week:

Most everyone in my zone has watched the Office so there is a good deal of references and quotes made throughout the day, and when we are all so exhausted and our brains can't hold any more Russian, The Office always lightens the mood. Also, Elder Wickham thinks I look like Pam?? So there's that.

Also, Brother Griffiths rewards us for working hard with awesome stories from his mission (he served in Yekaterinburg, Russia and has some great stories) and he told us about when he was a year into his mission all the missionaries' visas got renewed wrong one time and he was in charge of picking them up in Finland every 3 months and every time he came back into Russia he was flagged because of his bad visa and was interrogated for like 2 hours by Russian officers. The first time it happened he told the officer he didn't speak Russian (ha) but then the next time he told them he did (because it was super painful to try to explain in English why his visas was bad to a Russian who didn't speak English) but then the SAME officer that interrogated him the first time walked in the room, now knowing that brother Griffiths had lied to him the last time haha. So every 3 months for a year, when Brother Griffiths was flagged, the same officer would talk to him and he actually become friends with him and learned about his family and that he had been in charge of interviewing apostles and members of the 70 that came to Russia! It was a good story, but Brother Griffiths tells it way better. 

That is all for this week (well--all that I have time to write. I apologize again for the length)! Russian is getting better every day but is a long long ways from being easy. I am grateful for my Savior who I know is taking more than His fair share of my struggles here and I know I could not do it without Him. I love you all and am grateful for your prayers and all the amazing talks you have sent me!! Keep em' coming, they have helped me so much this week.

Have a wonderful week!!

Cectpa Kropelnicki