I hope you freaked out reading the subject of this email just as much as i freaked out typing it. Exactly one week from today i will be flying across the world and show Ukraine something they have never seen before! I just received my flight plans the other day and im leaving this next Tuesday (July 9th) at 5:30 of the AM and my flight leaves Salt Lake City at 9:48, so that means....I WILL BE CALLING HOME!
So yes i will be able to call home, so family at home, are you listening? (hey that means you too mccall if you can be there) I will be calling home AROUND 8. maybe even 8:30. I have no idea how long it will take to get all my luggage checked in, but be there. None of this getting the answering machine business cause this is the last time you will hear this angelic voice until Christmas. From Salt Lake i will be taking a long long...long.....loooong flight to Amsterdam! From there it is only a 3 hour overlay until i fly strait to KYIV, UKRIANE! Rumor has it the mission president is waiting there with running shoes and he takes you on a run strait from the airport. I might follow this email with my will as it's most likely i may not survive.
 |
| Hey, we're still human... |
My Russian name tag showed up too! yes, it's a byute. All two letters of it..... "PO" i shall wear the Asian name with pride.
Ok, so what has happened this week.....well i hosted for the first time! It was so strange to be one of those missionaries with the huge "HOST" sticker on my chest greeting the newbies when it feels like it was only me a couple weeks ago clinging on to my dear sweet parents smiling through tears. Definitely brought back memories. The first girl i hosted actually had a little 5 year old sister with down syndrome who also came out, and after saying good bye to her sister, not even really knowing why, came over to me and gave me one of the sweetest tenderest hugs. My heart fell off. It made me really appreciate all the missionaries who make sacrifices to go on a mission. I only got lost once......maybe twice.....okay 3 times, but that's ok, its not like we were dragging around 130+ lbs of luggage under the hot sun.
The devotionals have been amazing lately. Just what i need to hear before going out, i can tell the Lord is trying to boost me up as much as He can before I set off. Believe me im doing everything i possibly can to have the Lords strength with me right now. Things are not easier, but i can feel strength from all of you, and the Lord. I even went to a counselor this morning! (thank you wendy for the dearelder! that dearelder just put all of my thoughts onto paper, it was EXACTLY what i needed to hear at the time) He took my stress "pressure" and said i was definitely over the level of "stress" and into "distress" but he is helping me. I even have one last meeting with him for Friday. It's just so nice to be able to openly talk to someone about my feelings, troubles, worries, fears, and just my life. My companion has kinda had enough of that to be honest. We have been struggling, probably my biggest struggle for a while, which is strange cause i thought we would be such great friends. I am trying so hard to not get hard hearted towards her, yesterday i even kneeled down onto a cold dirty tile bathroom floor (the only place to have solitude around here) and prayed that we could have Christ like love for each other. I didn't feel a huge wave of love come upon me, but somehow through out the day i had a desire to serve her. So im gonna use this last week to shove as much love down her throat as possible.
 |
| "I love you more than fat boys love cheesecake". -Brother Wells |
Ive been using this past week to memorize the 1st vision and my favorite scripture in Russian, i hope to show it off when i make my phone call, so prepare yourselves to be amazed. I also did my first lesson via Skype with a guy named Sasha. He is living in Russia right now and at the end of our lesson i gave him a challenge to pray out loud to feel God's love for him, and i told him i would do it as well. He actually asked for our emails, we asked if it was all right of course, and he emailed me! He said that he actually didn't pray out loud, but he did read a couple chapters of the scriptures which is a big step up for him seeing how he hasn't been reading them for a couple weeks. Ive also been trying really hard with what we call SYL-Speak Your Language, which my district has made a goal to speak nothing but Russian all week. It's tough, and im not perfect and half the time i dont understand everybody, but im trying, and that's all i can do.
While going down the list of cleaning requirements for our room, we decided to go above and beyond and clean our the air ducts, and found this little treasure hidden inside!
Some funny moments this week.....i was sitting listening to a speaker during a devotional when my nostril hairs starting to burn and i was like "what elder just crapped his pants?" i look around to see, 9 seats down to my right, an elder from my district looking at me with pleading apologies in his eyes. A 9 person fart radius people, it was impressive. Also during that same devotional while a lady was giving her talk, her husband came up right in the middle of it and gave her a sneak attack smooch! The whole crowd went into an uproar and all the elders stood to applaud! Welcome to the only action you will be getting for the next 2 years boys
 |
Girls night with MASH and a purpose to devour all our care packages in one night
|
Also my district stayed in past dinner to hear one of teachers tell a story, so for dinner our only options were the vending machines. With grumbling stomachs we made our way down to the machines to find.....they were broken! food....so close yet so far. We had no choice but to try to find a source of food else where, so me and my companion wandered the MTC campus, i was barefooted mind you, asking if anybody knew where some vending machines were. At long last we found the holy grail of food in the laundry room. And that is how i ate my hot pocket dinner, barefooted, in the dark of the night in the MTC laundry room.
 |
| Our last night with Brother Rutter! |
Mom i got your novel! I particularly liked the part about the dancing centipede, a story i never thought i would hear from you! I am now adding it to my collection of novels to read throughout the mission.
Im so excited for the 4th of July! It's so awesome that i get to spend one of my last days America celebrating it! They're even going to let us escape from the gates of the MTC to watch the fireworks and stay up a whole half hour longer! #missionarylife
 |
| The chain link countdown using old exercise booklets that previous missionaries left behind |
Gosh i wish i had more time, this happens every time where my fingers fly so fast that they're a blur. You have all been so great at making me feel loved and supported, like honestly.....good work!
Wow, this is it. Next time you hear from me i will be in Ukraine. Though i still feel unprepared in a way, i also feel like the Lord has prepared me as much as i can be. I feel like my battery is full and now it's just time to go. Words can't even describe how tough a mission is, and im not even in the field yet, but at the same time i know without a doubt it's all worth it. I trust that this is where i need to go. I have faith that if i let Him, the Lord will lead me to His lost sheep. The Lord knows how much my heart is in this, He knows that i want to give this mission my all. I can't wait for all the stories i can tell you. I'll be thinking of you all during my flight, if you have any last words you better DearElder them quick! Dasveedanya!
Love,
Cectpa Roe
Week 8
No comments:
Post a Comment