Привет всем!
Guess what, y'all?! All our beloved contacts have been contacted and sorted!! I think it added up to a little over 300 calls!! Fun stuff, I tell you!! And now that we have organized them all, there turns out to be a lot of people interested in learning more! So, we're very excited to be doing more lessons this week!! Calls were very interesting! So, if I haven't explained yet, but people here really only shuffle between like 10 different names. So... that makes differentiating contacts a little bit more interesting, to say the least!!😂 For example! I called about 30 or so people with the name of Сергей (Sergei)! So, what missionaries do is put a little one word description by their name to try and differentiate them 😂. I attached a picture of just a few, give it a look 😂.
Other than that, this week as I was calling people, two of them wanted to talk more then and there! I had two conversations go from what were supposed to be short calls, to one being an hour and 45 minutes, and the other just under an hour. It was very fun stuff and actually really good conversations!! Haha. I also found a really cool Homer Simpson in a cool vyshyvanka, with a Ukrainian flag behind him (A Ukrainian shirt thing, Google it--they are sick) as somone's profile picture! That gave me a laugh haha.
This week, we also had splits with the Zone Leaders!! We were really confused in how this was gonna work 'cuz for sure, neither of us were about to drive three hours there and three hours back to meet up with each other for splits during this time haha. Instead, we did our splits over the phone! It was honestly AWESOME. I held my split with Elder Halls, one of our Zone Leaders. He is literally amazing. I love him. We conducted companionship study together as well as language study. He knows the Bible and Book of Mormon so well. I hope to be able to know the scriptures off the top of my head the way he does haha. We got into a big talk about prophesies along with the scattering of Israel as well as concepts related to the Gentiles. It was deep!! Way eye-opening and purely amazing. To finish our splits, I told them it was a real split until we had all konteeked together, It's a must lol. So, we went ahead and ended our split accordingly 😂.
(Explanation - this is the favorite cookie of the missionaries in Russia and Ukraine. They eat it with milk or put a small hole in each end and suck the milk up through the cookie.)
Also, we had Zone Conference this week (via. Zoom) and it was so awesome!! We all gathered and we discussed the second line of our mission motto - "Love of God and others is the motive." We all had the opportunity to go around and share a scripture related to the topic, followed by a personal experience or story. I shared a bunch of stories that I loved. One of which happened recently and that I'll share with you all.
So, sometimes we are called up by someone who loves to speak English with us on the phone and that just loves to talk with us!! Just about life!! The person speaks often very slowly and you can't make out every word said, so you just got to be patient and listen in. Sometimes it gets a little tedious and we let the phone ring and don't pick up. The other day I picked up my phone and saw that I had received a missed call not too long ago from the person! I initially thought, "Phew, okay! It's fine I didn't see." The day went on, and then day became night. I was sitting there looking at my phone and saw the missed call and just thought to myself... "She is the sweetest person who means nothing but good, I know she doesn't have a lot of people to talk to, especially during this time, why am I being so selfish like this? I'm a missionary, for crying out loud!" I quickly pick up the phone and call and there is a quick response on the other end. We sit and talk for 15-20 minute or so. By the end of the call, she says thank you and that she can't wait to see us at English practice when quarantine is over and that she is praying that it can end so she can come to English practice and talk with us. I tell her of course, and that I pray for that, too, and can't wait to meet her as well!! But then she added in another comment that she hasn't said before. "Thank you for calling, you gave me strength." My heart was warmed. Such a small gesture can mean so much. A simple call was all it was! Love truly motivates, strengthens, and helps people. I have made the decision that anytime I get that phone call, I will be there on the other end to answer it. And if I can't answer then and there, then I'll call back. I have seen what love for others can do in my life, and I testify that its powerful. Jesus taught, "Love one another, as I have loved you." It may sound like a weird invitation, but I invite you all to love, because love truly motivates.
This week we also had another Elders Quorum meeting via Zoom with all the missionaries!! The invitation given to us was to read Elder Holland's talk from the most recent general conference, "A Perfect Brightness of Hope," and then to come prepared to discuss it! I decided to listen to the audio playing while reading it, and wow it was amazing! Not to mention, Elder Holland is my favorite! I just want to reiterate a few thinks which he spoke. "To love God by keeping His counsel and to love our neighbors by showing kindness and compassion, patience, and forgiveness. These two divine directives are still - and forever will be - the only real hope we have for giving our children a better world than the one they now know." "Because the restoration reaffirmed the foundational truth that God does work in this world, we CAN hope, we SHOULD hope, even when facing the most insurmountable odds." "We all need to believe that what we desire in RIGHTEOUSNESS can someday, someway, somehow yet be ours." "Indeed, if we finally lose hope, we lose our last sustaining possession," (HOPE, which is linked to FAITH in God and Charity to others, then we have lost everything). And lastly, "We did not come this far, only to come this far."
These were just a couple quotes that stood out to me! I really love the ideas of hope portrayed here in front of us. The idea of unselfish hope. That the love of GOD and OTHERS is the only REAL HOPE we have for giving those who come after us in this life, a better one that they already know. I love my kids. And no, I don't have kids yet so nobody freak out okay!! I love my kids even though I don't yet have kids, and because I love them, I am going to exert my hope in God and for others, so that my kids, who I so deeply love, will have the best life they ever could. The second point I wanted to move towards, and Elder Holland made this point very clear. Brothers and Sisters, we have EVERY RIGHT TO HOPE. We CAN and SHOULD hope, and we CAN and SHOULD because the restoration DID happen. Instead of jumping ship during such a time of uncertainty, we should all be holding on, pressing forward with a PERFECT BRIGHTNESS OF HOPE (2 Nephi 31). To lose our faith that all is going to work out and that this isn't in the hands of God, is to lose hope. And because hope is linked to a love of God and to others, I might even be as bold to say that to not hope for better days is a selfish act, and most definitely not a faithful one. I plead with each and ever one of you to hold onto your hope, to strengthen it and then strengthen it again, and then a little more. Push it a little bit. Hope for something huge, and then a little bigger than that, and then just a little more on top of that! And then hold onto it!! And act in a manner that hope would portray. To lose hope, is to lose everything. And lastly, we did not come the last 200 years, to only come these 200 years. There Is so much more ahead of us, as long as we press forward. I know things are hard, and I'm not telling you all to buck up, but I most definitely am pushing you to strengthen your hope, more than ever before. If that's uncomfortable for you then good, work towards being comfortable with it.
There were a few more things from the week, but I think I have already exhausted all you. I didn't think this email would end up being so long!! AHHHH haha.
I love you all and hope the best for you)))
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Oh P.S. I am teaching my comp, Elder Olson, how to play звёздые. Been crushin' him big time lol.
