Keep working ~ November 21, 2011

Hello Family!
Have a good Thanksgiving!!  This week was a little bit slower as I was getting over my sickness, and then we had Zone Conference (it was really early this transfer) and then you'll never believe it... but I got food poisoning again!! I have officially decided that I will not eat anything else in Russia until I finish my mission! haha :)  At least I got a lot of sleep!

This week we met with a member that we hadn't been able to meet with previously this week.  She is a young mother and we just never got over there.  I went up to her on Sunday and said, "Katya, I've been in Krasnodar almost 4 months and we have never met with you!! When can we see you!!" haha  We went over and had SUCH a good time!  To be honest, I felt like I was over at your house Erin!! Just chilling and talking with you!  It was SO great!  She is AMAZING!

We were meeting with a new member this week and talking about the Book of Mormon.  As we read Alma 32 I thought about how I had tried the "experiment" of reading the Book of Mormon and how the "seed" had grown and I had come to know that the BOM is true!  And I have come to love and cherish that book SO much!  I love the Book of Mormon.  If anyone has doubts whether that book is true, read it and find out for yourself.  God will tell anyone that truly wants to know if it is a book from Him or not.

This week we were able to meet with several of our less active members.  We had a meeting with Alona.  She joined the church several years ago and was very active for the first year.  We think that after that she got offended or something.  She seems to know quite a bit, but she just doesn't have the desire to make the needed changes.  How can we best help those that just don't have the desire, to help give them the desire?  It was a miracle though because her sister sat in with us on part of the lesson.  We invited them to come to church that Sunday and Alona said she would try.  Her sister, Tanya, has 2 young daughters that sometimes come with their grandma. When Tanya's oldest daughter heard us invite them to come to church she said to her mom something like, "Yes, it's so fun there."  At church on Sunday I saw the two little girls walk in and then Tanya came in after them!  It was a miracle that she had been there when we were talking with her sister Alona and then that she decided to come to church!

We were also contacting this week and saw this lady who was picking up trash around a business area.  We usually don't talk to people who are working, but there was something about this lady that made us both feel like we needed to talk with her.  We stopped and started talking with her.  She was really neat and wanted us to give her a Book of Mormon.  We prayed with her on the street and as we prayed she started crying.  We weren't able to meet with her to get her the Book of Mormon but are hoping that we can get in touch with her and this week and give it to her.

I had a good interview with President and he told me to make sure and carry lots of joy and happiness with me as we contact as now it has gotten colder and darker and people need to feel that joy of the gospel.  We had a great Zone Conference and talked a lot about goal setting, etc.  I realize that sometimes I just feel like I can just go through and be in an experience and that it will change me... That's not true though.  We need to be forever working and continually improving to reach our full potential.  Without goals we will never reach our full potential that we could reach.  We were able to go singing with the Elders after Z.C.  We just stood on Krasnaya and 4 people sang while 2 of us contacted.  I met this really awesome young girl and boy.  It was so fun because we just talked and laughed for about 20 minutes.  They were SO cool.  The boy asked if I had ever thought that maybe churches just use their "rules' to tie people down into submission for what they want.  I said that I had thought about it.  I said though that we all have the opportunity to try out those rules/commandments of God.  If it is of God we will feel peace and happiness when we do those things.  God gives us commandments not to make us miserable, but because He, as our Father, knows what we need to do to find the most happiness in this life.  And His commandments are the keys and steps we need to take in order to find this happiness.  So, as we try these things out and do them, we can know for ourselves if they are good or not.  He was all... ya... haha 

On Saturday morning we headed to the church and Natasha (our R.S. president) was there cleaning.  She was wearing the white Washington D.C. shirt with the blue writing on it that I got for you in Washington D.C. mom!   It was SO funny!  And like De ja voohaha It's so awesome to see the Lord's tender mercy and how His watchful eye has someone grab the wrong t-shirt so that all the way in Russia a little Sister missionary (me) who was feeling a little down that day can see the shirt that her mom wears at home and remember that she is loved!! :)

The AP's were in town for the weekend so I got to go on splits with them for a little bit.  We called it my AP date! haha  Elder Hodson and Ness are the BEST!!!  We have SO much fun together!  We went over to Vladamir and Tatyana's house.  They always feed us a TON!  And Vladamir for the first time kind of opened up during our small spiritual thought and asked some questions!  Besides getting food poisoning again... ya... it was GREAT! 

I love you all and hope that you have a FANTASTIC week!
Cectpa Cunningham