November 19, 2012

Hello family!!

Hello again! What a week. There are some weeks where you see the work moving forward. And some weeks where everything falls apart so the Lord can put it back together how he wants to. This week was one of those weeks. But we found some really great investigators. One of them is a daughter of a less active member who was baptized about a year ago. We have been stopping my all the less actives to update the ward lists here and stopped by their place. they let us in and told us how for a long time they couldn't go to church because her husband told her she couldn't go but he died a year ago. Her daughter is 17 years old. We don't really know where things are going to go but it felt like a miracle. It just feels like the right time for them. They came with us to district conference on Sunday and had a really great experience. The other is a mother daughter pair as well. The mother talked with missionaries a long time ago in English club but remembers how she felt when she watched the restoration video. They are very sincere so it should be fun to work with them.

District conference was really cool. The Sartori's were there and spoke so it was great to hear from them. As a part of conference they had a fireside on Friday and President Gushin, an area 70 from Novosibirsk came and spoke. He spoke about the importance of family history. It was pretty cool. Also, it was great to be amongst the members in Tolyatti. Usually we just see the members in our branch.

Well, I will try to answer some of your questions. I don't know how much money but they have really cute pea coats here so that is what I will be buying. It should be around 2000-4000 rubles. I can't do the math right now but I’ll figure it out.

It’s been kind of fun to hear about your lives being half way across the world. I thought about it and just in the last year all of you have moved, got married or gotten new jobs. That is a lot of blessings in only the span of a year. It’s weird not being there for all of it and just hearing about it but it is cool. I guess I know the lord is aware of our family. Our family is one of the biggest blessings we have. All being together in the celestial room last year before Todd and Marylyn’s wedding was kind of the frosting on the cake. (Except that I don't really like frosting. maybe the cherry on top. don't really like that too much either...you know what I mean) members here love the temple. They can only go about once a year but they always talk about how peaceful it feels. Anyway, I love you all so much!! You are the best.

Love, 

Cectpa Pearce

November 12, 2012

WHOA!! you bought a truck! Geez. Also, you have more snow than I do! It did snow here this week but just a little bit. It is starting to get cold though. So transfers! I am still here in Tolyatti! With Sister Sine. None of the sisters moved this transfer so that was interesting. But I am excited to be here for a little while longer. Currently we have 6 investigators that we feel like could be ready for baptism soon. They just have to decide that they want to make the commitment. They know everything else.  God has to love us to let us have agency. Sometimes that is the hardest part of your mission is watching others make wrong choices. The only transfer in our district was our district leader will be going to Penza and his companions will be our district leader. He has been out 2 cycles less than I have but he will be so great. I love watching these elders step into responsibility and watch them learn how to receive revelation for themselves and others. It is so cool!

Did I talk about Vladimir last week? If I did sorry but we had a lesson with him this week and talked about priorities and just had him list the things he does in order of time and then in order of importance. It was cool to watch him come to his own conclusion that something needed to change. He should be set for baptism in January we've got some commandments to work through.

On Thursday of this week was our culture activity. It was the coolest thing ever. I think I had a cheesy grin just plastered on my face the whole time but I LOVED it. It was native Russian dancing. They had real metal swords that they would hit together to and they would spark, I don't have time to rave about the whole thing but if you get bored I am sure YouTube has some you could watch. I will for sure be obsessed with it when I get home.

Well, that is about all of the news for this week. I love you all!!

Love,
Cectpa Pearce

November 5, 2012

Seriously where did October go?? Time is going so fast! The pictures you sent were fun! It looks like you had a good fall! Fall in Russia is beautiful. I saw snow yesterday for the first time. Right before church started there were big flakes falling. Usually it hangs around 4 degrees Celsius right now. I don't know what that is in Fahrenheit. Good news! Our washer is fixed! We don't have to wash our clothes by hand anymore. This week seems crazy long but I also feel like I was just here. This week we were able to meet with a lot of our investigators that we haven't been able to meet with for a while. A lot of them are progressing well right now so hopefully something will happen with them. Also, this is week 6 of the transfer so next week I will know where I am going to be. At the start of this cycle I wanted to leave but now I want to stay here for a couple more cycles. I feel like a lot of cool things are about to happen here. Sigh. We’ll see.

Yesterday we met with Vladimir. He investigated the church a year ago and really likes the Book of Mormon. He still reads it and prays every day and says he knows it's true. I asked him "If you know these things are true what do you need to do?” he said baptism and then he asked "what do I need to do to be baptized?" so I explained the commandments briefly and then explained that he would need to quit smoking. He said I will quit smoking in December and then get baptized in January. We’ll see what happens but it was a cool experience. He has a lot of things to work through so hopefully he will have enough faith to make it happen. Also, this week was sister's interviews. So we met with the elders and then worked with them a little. They always build my faith that the priesthood is god's power on earth. Mostly because these wonderful goobery Elders exercise their priesthood well and are still 19 year old boys. It is cool to watch them seek to do god's will.

This week we will have culture night and we will be going to this Siberian dance group. I am so excited! It should be a lot of fun. Also, while we were on the street this week we found a lady named Nina. She is around 75 and used to teach English and worked as a translator in America for a while. She is way cool. We met with her and she said that she doesn't want to change her religious beliefs but she wants to know what we believe. She has a friend that met with missionaries a long time ago and she wants to talk to us as well. Who knows what'll happen!

For the past little while I have been trying to become a better teacher in Russian. It’s hard! Anyway, I have really been studying the doctrines of the lessons so that I can explain them clearly in English and then learn how to say it in Russian. It has helped me really focus during all 3 hours of study. Anyway, wish me luck!

I love you all! I hope everything with moving goes well this week. Good luck dad! If I can learn Russian you can learn a new way to do things :)

Love, 

Cectpa Pearce

October 29, 2012

Hello!!
WHOA! You bought a house!! And it looks really pretty! What kind of changes will you be making? Will you be repainting the kitchen? Will there be a garden? It looks nice and spacious. By the time I get there you will be all settled in. I was also glad to hear that the temple was close.

Well...this week was the first week that we were in our area for the whole week so that was nice. For the most part it was a pretty normal week. On Saturday our branch had a picnic in the forest and that was fun. We came with a less active family and one of our investigators so it was pretty effective activity for us as well. Later that day we had an appointment with a less active and it was a miracle. She got baptized over 10 years ago and had gone to the temple. I had stopped by her house a couple times but she always said that she never talked to missionaries anymore. I called her the other day and her daughter was in town from St. Petersburg and she said that maybe it would be good to let us come over. We got there a little early and her daughter was leaving for the train station in 10 minutes but we were able to get to know her a little bit and then her mom was pretty distraught after we left. I don't think she would have let us come if we got there after her daughter left. Anyway, she has a lot of health problems but she l felt like us coming that day wasn't an accident. I felt the same way.

The weather this week has been a little crazy. We got a dusting of snow but then the next day it was warm. We did buy coats a couple weeks ago so that was good. We got a pretty good deal as well. Today we will be buying hats and scarves and stuff like that.

I also feel like with Russian you go through phases where you can speak and then phases when you feel like you can't. For the past couple of weeks I feel like I can't speak Russian. It just means you have to try harder to learn I guess. Sigh.

Also, I realized I haven't told you a lot about Sister Sine. She graduated from BYU-I in English and then worked as an intern in LA for a film studio. We have a lot of fun together and work hard. Also, can you believe this is week 5 of the cycle? I can't. Also can you believe that I have been in Russia for 5 months? Crazy right? I feel like I don't have enough time to be a missionary. It goes so fast!!

Well, I have a little more time but I want to look at the pictures a little more. Also, for Christmas I really don't want a package. I can only eat Russian food and candy for another year. So just some letters and pictures would be awesome.

I love you all!!
Cectpa Pearce

October 22, 2012

Hello family!!

So...visa trip. We weren't able to go to the temple because sessions didn't line up with the time we were going to be there. We had a 6 hour layover in Kiev. So mostly it was just a really long day of planes, little sleep and a sandwich and a juice box on every plane. We had a pretty fun group to go with so we got to know each other really well, but I am grateful to be back and have a normal week to work. There were 8 of us in the group. 6 Elders and 2 Sisters. Tuesday and Saturday were our only full days to work so the work was pretty slow this week. We finally have some members who want to help us regularly so that has really helped the work progress.

This morning has been a little crazy though. I tried to do some laundry but the washing machine in our apartment hates me. And no I am not being dramatic. It always works perfectly for everyone else. Here is the history of me and the washing matching. A couple weeks ago, it wouldn't unlock the door so it took my clothes hostage for a couple hours. After washing them again it let them go. The next time it decided not to drain and so when I opened the door water just came gushing out. That was a good time. Another time it didn't spin out the clothes so they were sopping wet. I decided to hang them out to dry (dryers don't exist here, just drying racks) and it took them 3 days to dry plus a lake in our kitchen. And then sometimes it shakes so hard it sounds like there is a jet airplane getting ready to take off. Anyway, today. Today as it was filling with water it just never stopped and then began leaking out of every crevice imaginable all over the floor. I moved it to the next cycle and it did it again. And then again. After the 3rd time, I decided to start it over and maybe it would work like normal. I was so wrong. This time it didn't fill up with any water and then started spinning. I figured that was fine but after a couple of minutes we began seeing little sparks and then a giant flame, I think my garments are unscathed they were still wet so they didn't light on fire.... so needless to say, I turned the washer off.  After some quaking, floods and now fire I think he is winning. Will see what we can do.

Speaking of fire, 2 weeks ago I finally decided to make borsch. In our apt. we don't have a very big pan so as I added ingredients it ended up in 2 pots. We only have 2 burners that work one low and one hot. In order for the 2 pans to cook evenly I decided to switch the pans. The back one to the front. I thought I could do them at the same time. I thought it might spill a little but we have an electric stove so the worst it just be borsch cooked on to the stove and I would clean it up later. Boy was I wrong. I began moving them and it was apparent that it was going to spill a little. I wasn't really worried. Anyway it spills and out of nowhere comes this flame like 2 feet high! Somehow I stayed calm and after both pans were on the burners I checked to see if my eyebrows were still intact. They are don't worry. Ha-ha, I laughed pretty hard/ and, the borsch was delicious. I loved it.

Well, I am about out of time and out of stories for now. I hoped you enjoyed them. I love you a lot and will pray for you as you look for a new home!! Good luck! Pick a good one!

Love,
Cectpa Pearce

October 15, 2012

I will start with answering your questions this week. My companion is great! We get along really well and we work hard. This is already the 3rd week of the transfer! HOW! I have no idea but time is going so fast. Food is cool nothing too exciting this week we will be eating some shaurma which is kind of like a euro and just plain delicious. The weather is definitely getting colder. People say it usually snows around the first week of November so that is coming quickly. We will be going to buy coats this today.

On Wednesday of this week we had some zone training and President and Sister Sartori came and talked about the training they had for mission presidents last month. He talked about "drag" being anything that holds us back and just being more obedient. It was so great. And a little humbling. In our mission there has been a huge focus on finding.  The standard of excellence is finding 1 new investigator a day. But at the training they shifted our focus to progressing investigators and really helping people becoming converted to the Lord. Anyway it was great. And then we had general conference on Saturday and Sunday. It was such a great conference! It did feel weird to sit and just listen all day. 2 days in a row.  But so great. I am excited to get back to work though. Although this week I have a visa trip. Thursday at 3 in the morning....gross. But we will be headed to Kiev and hopefully to the temple. We should have enough time. I hope so! So we will be out of area Wednesday to Friday.

We have met a lot of cool people this week. With the new focus on conversion and progressing investigators. I am excited to help them progress. Yurra (I don't know how to spell that in English) called us during general conference. Said he had a pamphlet from us and wanted a Book of Mormon. We went and gave it to him and he is just such a humble man. I asked him, "are you searching for something?" and he just looked me straight in the eyes and said yes. It was such a simple moment, but he just looked so... hungry. That sounds weird but that is the only way I can describe it. There are a couple others that are cool as well. But this week I talked with Faina on the phone and she doesn't really want to talk with us anymore. We have a meeting with her tonight so hopefully things go well. She understands that she needs to be baptized and has a solid testimony that it is from god. But right now isn't convenient. So I guess pray for her. This week I have come to serve with my heart here in Tolyatti. I love it. There are so many people who I love here, and when they decide not to investigate the church your heart breaks a little.

Well I am running out of time! But I love you all! Thank you for being the best parents in the world.

Love,
Cectpa Pearce

October 8, 2012

Hello family!!

What a week! I feel like every week goes faster than the last. So earlier this week I was in Samara to pick up my new companion. Her name is Sister Sine. She is from Washington DC and studied English at BYU-Idaho. She is really cool, and already speaks really well. She is also ready to work hard and willing to do anything. I am excited to work with her and get to know her better.  We didn't get to listen to conference but we will next week after it has been translated into Russian. I don't think we will be able to listen to it in English but I did know about the lowering of the ages. The senior couple here watched it and then told us about it. I can't wait to watch it. We will all go to the branch in Komcomolcki and watch it. It should be fun. I don't know when we will get to watch the relief society session. This week has been good though. We have seen a lot of miracles and I know that as we continue to work hard they will keep coming.

Sister Sine and I got back here on Wednesday afternoon and started working and now it is Monday...I don't really remember what happened this week. The other day there was a man named Sergei who had investigated the church before but is now a Baptist. He stopped and asked us a question. We began talking to him and then had an appointment with him the next day. It was on the street so we didn't know if he was going to show but he did. He also brought with him his Baptist pastor. Mostly they just kept telling us that the Book of Mormon is a lie and trying to convince us that Joseph Smith wasn't a prophet. I didn't want to argue, so I just bore a simple testimony and then walked away. I just felt so sad for them. They have great faith in Christ and are very religious but they were so unwilling to even think about asking God. They said we must worship a different god because their god doesn't work through prophets and modern day scripture. Ya that was a fun meeting. We were able to meet with a less active that I have been trying to meet with forever. Although, now she doesn't believe that Christ was the Son of God. And she doesn't think the Holy Ghost exists...but she said we could come back.

It sounds like you had quite the week! And like you got a lot done. I hope you are taking some before and after shots. I will want to see them. I also found out my next visa trip will be next week and that will be week 3 of our transfer. Time is going too fast! Are you getting ready to move soon? Like this month? Next month? I am glad you kept up the tradition of cinnamon biscuits and chocolate milk. Maybe I will attempt them on Saturday? Who knows.

I love you all so much!! Thinking about moving makes me sadder than I think it should. But it is just because of great parents who taught us how to work and how to play together. And created a home where we could learn from each other. Well, love you!

Love,
Cectpa Pearce