July 23, 2012

Sounds like you have had another fun week. I am glad the bike ride went well; I can't believe the last one was that long ago. Ha-ha, also the 24th of July is usually my time to talk in church. I had forgotten about that.

This week has been pretty low key.  On Friday, we had a district activity that the senior couple here planned. It was minute to win it. First of all it was so much fun, and also it was pretty well attended as well. There were a lot of investigators and non-members. Not very many members though. Tonya will be going back to Moscow this week, but she said she would write us and send us pictures of her baptism so I am looking forward to that. We found a lady on the street this week and she is really nice. She loves to read and is extremely introverted. She doesn't say much but I can tell she thinks a lot about the things we say. We have only had one lesson with her but it was so great. Like I said she didn't say much so I didn't really know what she was thinking, but the spirit definitely guided that lesson. I said things I have never said before and taught differently than I have ever before. But I could tell that that is what she needed to hear. As soon as we gave her the Book of Mormon she instantly opened it and began reading. We had to stop her so we could pray and then say good bye. As we walked away she was just continuing to read so we will see how far she gets by our next lesson.  We have also been working with a recent convert Arceny. He is awesome. He hasn't figured out how the holy ghost feels for him and how to recognize answers. He is very smart and thinks a lot, teaching has been fun because he directs the lesson and we just answer his questions. But always, my personal study prepares me for his lessons. It is cool how that works. Even if I am not specifically studying for him.


The weather here has been really nice. Well, on Wednesday there was a "hurricane" a lot of rain and wind. And then it has rained during the night a couple times but apart from being humid it has been cool. Even on hot days in Tolyatti I think it is nice because Saratov was so hot. Also, happy 24th of July!!! I hope you guys have fun!

I love you all!! Keep writing I love hearing from you!!

Love
Cectpa Pearce

July 16, 2012

HELLO!
Well, Talyatti is great. IT actually feels kind of like Salt Lake. All the streets are straight and wide which weirds me out because Saratov was not like that. It makes it easy to find an address which is nice. The weather here is way nice. It is hot, but not near as hot as Saratov. I have been enjoying it. Pres. called and told us that we will probably be training next cycle and that I will probably be back in Saratov.

Mom, Dad, it sounds like you had a busy week! It sounds fun though!! The sleep over with Brayden and Felicity sounds fun. Way to be good grandparents! Also, it sounds like the yard is keeping you busy.

Today, I am excited for a regular p-day where I am not moving. It should be relaxing. The work here is great we have 3 progressing investigators and 2 with dates. Tonya however won't be baptized here because she will be returning to Moscow soon, but she is so cool. The missionaries in Moscow gave her a Book of Mormon before she came here and she looked up the church when she got here and has been to church the past 3 weeks. It’s cool because she just recognized that it was true instantly and knows she just wants to continue learning. Also, something cool happened when I got to Taliyatti. I can understand people!! And I can talk pretty well, all things considered. Apparently heavenly father knew I was going to need help. I am grateful. We are also teaching an almost 9 year old who is sweet. The branch here feels very independent, which is great. The members are all so nice, and they have a lot of youth in this area which is great.  We had a sports night at the coolest soccer field I have ever seen in my life. We walked through a forest for a while behind a McDonalds (cool right) and then all the sudden there was a clearing and some goals. These TALL trees all around, no grass just dirt but it was awesome. We just played ultimate but it was fun.

Working with Sister Upshaw has been awesome. I finally feel like a missionary. We come home tired at the end of the day. We might not have had a ton of experience but we are willing to work and I feel like the lord is blessing us. It should be an exciting cycle.

Oh! Greg, the weirdest thing have eaten was some sort of organ meat in pasta. It wasn't too bad though. Although eventually I am looking forward to hollidiets, or meat jello. Mmmm....

although, there are a lot of new things I don't remember...we just wake up, study, and then go to work every day. I am learning better how to teach in Russian and I am really starting to notice improvement so that is good. Well. I love you all!! I hope everything goes well!!!

Cectpa Pearce

July 9, 2012

Wow! It sounds like you have been busy!! So guess who forgot that the Fourth of July was a holiday. That’s right, this girl. It was pretty uneventful, it was sports night so we played volleyball and that was fun. This week has been crazy. So last Monday we moved. It was a nice apartment but since Elders lived in it before us... well, it needed some cleaning. We did as much as we could but we were only there for a week. Friday night we got on a train to Samara and then Saturday morning we’re in Avrova (area in Samara). I worked with Sister Mo for Friday which meant we went to sports day where we threw a Frisbee and someone had a soccer ball so I was able to pass that around for a little while. Man, it felt so good. And then in the afternoon the Elders here had a baptism. This man was like 80 years old, and found a copy of the Book of Mormon and began reading. He read like a 100 pages a day and has read it about 10 times now. The spirit was so strong there. It was great. Working with Sister Mo, was so great! I hope we have a cycle where we work together. Right now there are 8 sisters (3 that came with us have gone home.) by the end of August there will be 14. Also the oldest sister in our mission after next cycle has been here for 3 more cycles than I have. Our mission is really young.

After I email I will be getting in a van for two hours to go to Taliati, a new city. It should be fun. I am looking forward to next p-day being normal and relaxing. For the past couple of days there have been 8 sisters in the apartment in Avrova. The mornings get slightly crazy...

Dad, thanks for the pictures! The backyard does look great! And Todd on a bull.... Tell Marylynn to squeeze harder. Maybe then he will stop. I can wish right?

The weather in Samara isn't as hot as Saratov so for the past couple of days I have been enjoying that. It is humid but not unbearable.

Well I don't know how much time I have left because the computer was being weird. I love you all so much!! Next week I will tell you more about our new area.

Ceuta Pearce

July 2, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad

It sounds like things are going well back home. Mom, I will answer your questions first.  Hair dryer and everything work just fine. At least, I haven't had any problems.  My new companion..., funny you should ask. Normally I wouldn't know by now. I assumed that because both my companions were going home that I would for sure be in Saratov but, nope. I will be in a new city. I am not entirely sure what that means but I will be serving with Sister Upshaw. We were in the MTC together so it is both of our 2nd cycles. I should be a little nervous about it but I am stoked. I know she will work hard. And Dad the first part of the Book of Mormon is awesome. I finished a couple weeks ago and restarted and yesterday I finished 2nd Nephi.  It's cool that his last words are "I must obey". That pretty much sums Nephi up. Also, Brother Bashford’s story was cool. I hope someday I will be able to express myself in Russian. Currently I can't really express myself in either language. I feel like I just think a lot. Also, sometimes I feel like a have turned into this shy person because I never really do a lot of the talking. I leave that to Sister Braginets. Anyway, eventually I will able to be myself. I hope. Also, tell Jane thank you for making her kids watch the match against Canada. Hopefully someone enjoyed it.

I really don't have much to say..., this week we were getting our apartment ready to move. We had to take everything because no one is moving in behind us. They might close it we don't know. Any who, yesterday at church I was talking to a lady named Vera. She is sweet last week I talked with her and she said her favorite color is purple. This week she asked me what sports I liked and I told her soccer. She said, "You know the Europa urea cup is on TV". And then she went on to talk about Ronaldo and she got really animated as she talked about some cool goals. IT was Sweet! Keep in mind she is at least 70-75 years old. She invited me to watch with her. Man, if only. I also talked with a man named Aleksai in our branch. He was talking about temples. I told him the salt lake temple was only 20 minutes away from my house, and he couldn't imagine it. And then I told him that there were actually 3 temples that were closer than that. I thought his brain was going to explode. Haha. He asked if we have sacrament meeting in the temples, I explained that there are a lot of church buildings in Utah as well. He asked how many stakes were in the Salt Lake valley and I didn't know, so if you could find that out for me that would be cool. He guessed 100. I am sure it is more than that.

Today we moved and that was kind of stressful. Usually we email earlier in the day but because today was crazy we are using our last hour of p day to email. And we still don't have food..., I guess we will figure that out later.

I have been meaning to tell Todd about the dairy section here. He would love it. Yogurt goes up to like 12% fat. Skim milk is unheard of here. We buy 2.5% and that is the lowest I have seen. They have like 5% and 6% they also have all sorts of different things. Kefir... I don't know but I am still trying things out.

Friday we will be headed to samara and then I will probably be headed to a new city. 2nd train ride!! 

Well, I love you!!

Love,

Cectpa Pearce