Letter #7 *~MTC~* March 1, 2011

Hello Family!!

Wow!! These weeks sure do fly by! I forgot to tell you about our teaching last week! We have now taught at the TRC twice in Russian! So, we go in and for the first 10-15 minutes we have a small task that we do. We have to buy clothes, order food, help pick up household items... all in russian! Then after meeting the person we will be teaching we have about 5-10 to revise our lesson plan and then we go in and teach them for about a half an hour. It has been hard, because I definitely CANNOT understand a very big chunk of what they are saying, but Cectpa LeBaron is great and we are able to keep the lesson rolling. We now also teach on Monday and Fridays in Russian. I know that my grammar is most likely HORRENDOUS, but I think that they can usually get the jist of what I'm trying to say... well... at least they act like it! :)

I forgot to mention last week that we had a bit of a scare. Cectpa Tunney woke up at about 6 with the words, what side is your appendix on... oh dear... well, no worries after a TON of pain and thinking that she might have a kidney stone, which we named Kirt, I think that they figured out that she had a urinary tract infection... so Kirt is no longer hurting her! Good news! This week I also came into my room and found a fantastic suprise on my desk!! Elder Johnson, an Elder in our zone had received a box of fruitleathers from his sister. He doesn't like them and so he had Cectrpa Bullough deliver the box to me because of my very evident love of them!! Cectpa LeBaron and I had a good time taking some pictures with the box. We also received our nametags that we will be taking into the field this week! Mine is pretty much AMAZING!! Super cool Russian letters in my last name! I took a picture but still need to develop it, so I will send it along soon.

This past tuesday devotional was really great!! IT was a member of the 70 and his wife. Elder Patrick KEaron. Sister Kearon talked about a question that she had heard asked at a mission conference. "If someone had been taking a video of your last 24 hours, what would it look like? Would they be proud of you? Would you be proud to show it to your parents?" During our district review, Cectpa tunney made the comment that our parents, our heavenly parents, can and do see what we've been doing the past 24 hours, and are we proud of that? Would they be disappointed in us? It made me really think about how I'm using my time! I don't want my Heavenly Father to be disappointed in how I use my time!

This past Sunday Elder Rodriques-Vargus and I did play a violin Duet in church, accompanied by Sister Bullough. It was wonderful to be able to play again, and to bear my testimony through music. It has such a powerful affect! I don't realize how much I miss it until I take the time to play, and then, suddenly, I feel better and healed! Music has such a great power of healing and peace! About 2 weeks ago a new counselor was called into our MTC branch presidency. His name is Brother Cranney,and he is the former mission president of the Moscow mission. He and his wife are STELLAR and we all already ,love them SO much! sister Cranney spoke on Sunday and quoted from one of their favorite Russian Novels, "The Brothers Karamazov." In the story there is a Christ figure. The way that he responded when a boy hit him and bit him, as he was trying to provoke him, was really powerful. The boy mearly kept asking what he had done to deserve this treatment, for surely he must have done something HORRIBLE to this boy for him to treat him like that. He never acted in anger or unkindness and simply wanted to know how he had hurt this boy because the punishment he was getting must have been deserved. I thought about that little story and how I want to be more Christlike. I hope that in my actions and the ways that I react to those around me, I can act in love and understanding, no matter how they hurt me.

Sister Dibbs came and spoke to our relief society on Sunday. She is the daughter of President Monson, and so it was fun to hear some stories about him and his life. His love of laughter and service! He is always joking and loving life. I want to be more like that! To love and enjoy everthing that i do! At the end of her talk she was talking about her dad and how he had been able to visit the holy land and walk where Jesus walked. He was talking of his experience bein there, but ended with something like this, "What means more in my life (than walking where the Savior walked while He was on the earth) is to walk where Jesus would walk today." I loved that! We all can do that in our own lives NOW!! Where are those that we can serve, lift, and love! Where would Jesus walk, what would He do, who would He serve if He were in my shoes and walking where I am walking today! Not just as a missionary, but throughout my whole life I hope to be able to live this principle and walk where the Savior would walk!

A quick kind of funny story! So.... in Russia the people are only allowed to be named certain names. They literally have a list of names that they are allowed to name there children. Brother Porter, my teacher, always tells us about the name Vladislov because it sounds like (What is love?) with a Russian Accent, so he always jokes that he would tell peope in russia that there name was in an American song and then he would commence to sing... "Vladislov---Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more!" hahaha. I don't think that he actually ever did it, but I think that when I meet my first Vlacislov in russia, I will ahve to try very hard not to laugh! :)

I hope that you all had a FANTASTIC week!! Things are going by CRAZY fast here! We will be leaving at the end of this month!! CRAZY!!

Love,
Cectpa Cunningham