Week 7: Skyped a Babushka!

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!!
I can't believe that this is week 7 and we now have just 3 more weeks until we hit the mission field, that is so crazy and exciting and scary to me (but mostly exciting).

So last week our district had the opportunity to host the Mongolian head of immigration for part of our class and I am pleased to announce that he is now taking the missionary lessons. Haha kidding (that was one of the things we were definitely not allowed to do), but it did go really good! It was pretty short, only like 15 minutes. We introduced ourselves, did some grammar and then he talked to us a little about Russia and their culture, and then we got to take a picture with him and the MTC president and a member of the 70 (picture coming soon) that were also there. It was super low key and hopefully he was able to see that we are just normal people that want to share something good with others.

On Sunday we had a really awesome devotional by Brother and Sister Coslett (who I think are friends of President Martino), and they are both converts and told us their heart-wrenching/inspiring stories about how they came to find the church. Time flew by so quickly, I wanted them to just keep talking! Brother Coslett said something that I really liked, he said "Sometimes it's easier to believe in Christ than to believe Christ. That really resonated with me. I've found myself thinking sometimes about whether or not I can actually do this to the level that it needs to be done, and I know I need to be better at believing Christ because I know that He knows I can do this (if that makes any sense). I believe in Christ, but I doubt myself more than I care to admit, and doubting myself means that I am not believing Christ, and that is exactly what the adversary wants. But this week I have really been trying to put my faith in Jesus Christ because I know He believes in me. I am so grateful for that (otherwise there is no way that I would still be doing this)!

On Monday morning we had our first member Skype TRC, and I met my very first Russian babushka, Iryna. She showed us her Christmas tree, her cute granddaughter and a super awesome scarf that she had knitted. We taught her about charity and even though it was a little difficult to understand her sometimes (the connection was not always the best and whew understanding native Russian is waaaay harder than understanding Brother Griffiths!), it was so awesome to be able to talk to someone who was actually in Russia and share our testimonies with her and be able to hear hers. So cool. Monday was kind of a sad (but also happy) day because Sister Dixon left us for St. Petersburg, so we are now back to a trio. I miss her so much! But man she will do so so amazing in Russia. She is the best and we already have an epic trip planned when we both get back, and our goodbye wasn't super sad because she's going to Weber State and that's not even that far from BYU:)

Funny of the week: In one of our elders lessons they were teaching about the atonement and one of them forgot the word "to perform" and so he whispered to his companion "how do you say perform?" in Russian, but his companion told him "Ya zabweel" (I forgot) and so the elder turns to the investigator (aka Brother Griffiths) and tells him that Jesus Christ forgot the atonement hahaha so good. Apparently they had to take a little break because Brother Griffiths lost it. Language mistakes make the best stories.

Well, that is all for this week! I love and appreciate all of you and am so grateful for your example and friendship. Our district has decided to focus on gratitude, and we are trying to notice the other good things that people around us do, and tell them when we see them do something we appreciate. Having a heart of gratitude is one of the best ways to be happier and closer to our Heavenly Father. We have so much to be grateful for, and if everyone worked a little harder to see the good and point out the good, this world would be a whole lot happier  place. Compliment each other! Spread the love!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,

Cectpa Kropelnicki