This is the kind of revelation you receive when you accidentally go to the wrong scripture after finding a secret note from one of your sister training leaders. "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may BE A NEW LUMP..."Now i can't really tell you what leaven is, but when reading this i thought, "is this some kind of sick fat joke?" and just laughed when i saw that it was 2 Corinthians 5:7 i was to read, NOT 1 Corinthians 5:7. "For we walk by faith, not by sight :)" (who would have thought that even the scriptures is into icon faces!and who says the church isn't hip?) Well, i guess that scripture is good too.
Well coming across this unintended scripture it just so happens to fit into what has become my new obsession of the mission!The life and example of JESUS CHRIST. And i do say it's about time!I think it really started as i was preparing my thought to go with my weekly email that i have begun to send out to any member or non-member who desires! I even sent around a sign up sheet from our English class and am now spiritually nourishing over 50 people from English! With me needing to work on my Russian, and my companion needing to work on her English we came up with the idea to each send an email in the language we are trying to learn and give everyone the chance to practice English and/or each get their own weekly "Sundae" and I'm including my blog in this too so each week you get a sweet som'n som'n too.
This week i started off with my favorite video of all time BECAUSE OF HIM and good gosh after watching it 20+ times I'm still obsessed. Everybody will admit that most of the time people really only dive deep into something if they know they are going to be tested on the subject or teach about it, and this was the case for me. So instead of just watching with bulbous eyes i got in deep with pen and paper writing down thoughts that came to my head about the life of Jesus Christ and all that He did, and something became more clear to me. We don't just believe in Jesus Christ, we believe in FOLLOWING Jesus Christ. Christ did not just spend 30 years of His life on Earth just to get to his last hours to suffer and die for us, He spent 30 years of His life being the perfect example we can follow.
I feel like this is an often forgotten concept, as so much, if not too much, focus is put on His death and suffering, that many of His teachings and examples are forgotten and unfollowed. Oh how many times have i heard, "I have faith, God is one" as hands go up to touch the crosses on their necks, and they feel that that is enough for them, and that they feel content with it almost shocks me. Acknowledging the life and goodness of another does not make us better people, it's what we choose to do with that example. I think that's one of the most prominent things that sets this church apart from others. This is a church that not only believes in Christ,but strives in following His perfect example. Jesus Christ did not just live to die! He gave us 30 years of example, so study up and follow! Me personally? Well, I'm making a daily reading of Jesus the Christ and the New Testament to better know his life and example. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." aka....BE A NEW LUMP! How do ya like that for spiritual nourishment, eh?
Last Monday for family home evening we had a little testing of the brain with a member of the ward and played some Book of Mormon trivia! You would think having my nose in a book for 16 months i would know it quite decently by now, but i hereby testify that Book of Mormon trivia will humble you down to the dust, but that it will also spark a desire to know the facts! So for all you hunting for a fhe idea, just type in Book of Mormon trivia into Google, and whala! Now all you got to worry about is what's for dessert.
This transfer is already going by super fast, I swear just yesterday i said i have 4 months left...now 2 1/2! There's definent mixed feelings about it, but you can always count on a mother to make you feel closer to home even when you're on the other side of the world. From laughing like an old heaving man reading about the pug back home and her reaction to an obnoxious fly outside when she's trying to snooze, and their reaction while watching the dogs watch a bumblebee repeatedly crashing into the window, and her sick satisfaction, and Finally murdering the "sticky fly" that landed on the head or arms of anyone who sat down to use the laptop. Or how she caught that same pug's face planted in a litter box and being approached with cat litter decored jowls. How dad pre-soaked then divide a pig's ear for the dogs and finding out he's also buying cat treats for a stray black cat at work down on campus. Or that fact that my mother grabbed a free pen and travel toothpaste from an office when no one is looking, how she stummbled upon a YouTube soundtrack of "10 hrs. of rain on a tin roof", of large ambling scorpions, and a very disturbing story of your dog having a bowel movement. It got to the point i was laughing and heaving so hard i actually had to leave the room to let my companion sleep! (Do not worry, she only went to bed early, 10:30pm and im out)
This week we had a chess night at the church with a full 7 people there! Ok, so it was a failure, but i saw the most adorable old man that immdiatly had me smiling making me think of the Pixar short film when that old man was playing chess with himself!
You know, sometimes serving alongside the Assistants to the president, the zone and district leader, and the sister training leaders you can sometimes ask youself, "Am i a missionary or a drowing clownfish?" (drowing fish, i know i know i know, ironic, but this is the only way i feel to explain at the current moment) but i seriously love each and every missionary in the district! We had the a little party during our lunch hour in celebration of Sister Hardy's birthday!
With the help of a mystery missionaries christmas package and a leftover box of Betty Crocker cake mix (ya done good Betty) the birthday cake was not forgotten. And thank you balloon store located directly next door! But ill tell you it was quite an adventure traveling with those on the metro. While waiting for the metro and the drafts coming for the tunnel all of a sudden what was once a pleasent mass of floating colors was suddenly a raging mob of rainbow punching balls! I could do nothing but hide inside the balloon mass as the 10+ people around me were trying recover from the beating and fix their static hair.
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| The birthday sister. In my opinion 22 is the age of manhood, and so it would only be appropriate.... |
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| Perchersky Transfer 11 district (minus the Elder right behind me, the Elders we're on exchanges and our zone leader was absent. And i would just like to take your attention to the sister missionary calves on the far left, uhhh huh, i swear our calves are going to explode if they are ever put into heels above 2") |
The party came to an end and while out contacting i popped the question to my companion Sister Litvinova, "Hey, when's YOUR birthday?" Her reply, "tomorrow".......?!?!
So with the help of pig latin texts and phone calls while your comp is in the shower we manage to think something up...
Suprise ballons, exploding ice cream (no seriously, our ceilings still hold the proof. They should put warning label on their air sealed rolls of ice cream saying "WARNING: Exploding dairy. Keep away from children), and a heart attacked door later i would say a Happy Birthday was given. Happy 20th companion!
Speaking of doors...here's some Ukrainian site seeing beauty i found while out contacting for 5 1/2 hours. Yeah, when buildings dont have numbers, and streets dont have signs it tends to make things a little more difficult.
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| Coffee bob, ciggarette bob, and fruit boy. Yup, im in Ukraine all right. Ok about the ciggarette bob, you can find one at almost every metro, and it's like a taste testing for ciggarettes! |
At long last fruits are beginning to be seen! These past two weeks we have been able to meet with 4 different girls who were all contacted over 2 months ago, but with stubborn follow up, we were able to meet! Including one of my favorite girls of all time! I talked with her on the metro and we really have become such good friends. The first thing she said to me when she saw me the other day was, "Oof, you look tired." Ya think?!
Oh, aaaaand more contacting pics. Yeah, this week wasn't the best for getting lessons.
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| Yes, that is a big mass of meat (not too sure what kind...) on a hot pipe. This glorious invention is what we call Sharma, the most delicious burrito Ukraine has ever seen, but Ukrainians would say otherwise |
It kinda defeated the whole purpose of our whole plan to get it done and printed in one day, but i guess forgetting your flashdrive in the computer doesn't help too much. *ring ring ring* "Hey Elder Rich? Are you still at the church? Is my flashdrive in the computer?" Elder Rich, ".......yup." The entire conversation in my head went a lot like the scene from Emporers New Groove right before the went over the waterfall....Naya, you know what i mean. I love how i feel you are the only one who understands me in these things.
After wards we were so starving we say the vending machine with the last snickers in it like it was sent from heaven, but soon realized the machine didn't accept big bills, and so hunkered in a corner we managed up enough scrap change for a snickers to split for dinner. Sorry mom.
Have a great week! And remember.....be a new lump!
Last night was spent on a birthday goose chase for a dome that i swear to this day does not exist. Sister Litvinova and Bob the balloon and I had some good bonding time. I seriously love this sister! She is a timid speaker but she always suprises me with.....well see for youself....
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| P-Day Borsh with Sister Litvinova! |
Have a great week! And remember.....be a new lump!
XOXOXOXO
-Сестра Ро
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