It's not easy but it's worth us!

I honestly cannot even remember what happened this last week. Time is just the weirdest. You'll probably hear me say that (or read me say that? I don't know.) at least 5969 more times. Because truly, it's bizarre. I'm doing well though! I had a pretty tough day on Wednesday, I don't even know why. It was just really hard and I felt really down. But I got a blessing and that helped a ton. I also found this article, "The Fourth Missionary" which legit changed my mission. Everyone should read it. Maybe you can google it or something because it is out of this world fantastic. We continued teaching our investigator's, Sasha and Anton. We comitted Anton to baptism and it was THE coolest thing. Seriously. So we committed him to baptism on Friday and we say everything and extend the commitment and then he says, "What is baptism?" And we're like, ".........." Hahaha. Oh dear. It was bad. And we tried our best to explain it but we ran out of time. So we told him we would talk about it more in the next lesson. So our next lesson we focused only on baptism and what the covenant means. It was really cool because we had to super simplify it because, hello, Russian. However, I'm always amazed at how simple the Gospel really is. It's so easy to understand, we just overcomplicate it. Thanks to Russian, I won't have that problem anymore. Haha. So after our lesson about baptism we asked him if he would be baptized when he's ready. And he said, "When I recieve an answer of the truth I will be baptized." AH. It was the coolest. The Spirit was so strong and we were so happy. Pretty sure Sister Parker and I had the biggest idiot grins on our faces and we were trying so hard to express our enthusiasm in Russian. Basically I just said, "MbI ochen chastye!" which means we are very happy. We definitely did a happy dance in the hall afterwards. Even though these are pretend investigators, I'm learning so much and I can tell how cool it will be to teach an actual investigator and get to know them and love them.

 

One of our teachers, Brother Doroshkin left this week. He and his family are moving to Idaho. We were all super sad because we spend so much time with our teachers and they become our best friends. We have all learned so much from him, about the Gospel and Russian. It was so cool because during our last class with him we got to walk up to the Temple and take a picture as a district. He's actually not very much older than us, I think he's 25. So he has a wife and this darling baby we get to see pictures of all the time but he surprised us on the way to the temple and we got to meet his wife and baby. They were so, so darling. He speaks Russian to his baby and she just doesn't even put up with it. Haha. It's great. Sister Mecham and I get to have little chats every night because we live on the same floor. It's seriously the biggest blessing. We always get ready for bed together and then give a little review of our day. The MTC is so busy and so full. It makes it so exciting though. You can hear so many different languages and discussions going on all the time. The work is moving forward.

 

 Sunday was Misison Conference because it was Fast Sunday so that was cool because everyone in the MTC meets together for a two hour block. For the musical number a sister sang, "I Believe in Christ." It was so pretty. The line that really stuck out to me was, "From Him I'll gain my fondest dream." And I sat there thinking, what is my fondest dream? And then I realized: my fondest dream is to be a mom and a wife; to raise a family, nurture my children, and be able to spend eternity with them. I can think of nothing better. And when I started thinking about that then I connected that to my purpose as a missionary. I want the people of Russia to be able to attain their fondest dreams. I want them to know they can be with their families forever. It's just so cool. I love being a missionary. Even if I do have to wear a skirt all the time and shave my legs like everyday which is quickly becoming one of my least favorite things to do.

 

 Anyways, we had Fast and Testimony too which is so good. This Sister stood up and was talking about when she was taking notes how she meant to write, "It's not easy, but it's worth it." But instead she wrote, "It's not easy but it's worth us." And then she talked about how that was so real, the work we have been called to isn't easy and sometimes we'll have hard days. But the joy we feel from the Atonement is worth our effort. Sharing eternal life with our fellow men is worth us. It was so cool. I've been here for 41 days. Craaaazzzyyy town. Seriously, that's nuts. I only have 20 more days to go. PRAISES BE. Do not get me wrong, I love the MTC but I'm so ready to be in Russia already. OH. Also, I'm in the choir. On June 23rd there will be this broadcast about missionary work. It's from the Marriot Center at BYU. The First Presidency and many of the 12 will be there and the MTC Choir will be singing at it! It will be so cool. So if for some reason you see it, look for me! It's open to the public and I'm pretty sure it will be broadcast at Stake Centers. There's more info on LDS.org under Upcoming Events. We're all so excited. And there couldn't be a better way to spend my last day at the MTC. I actually should be getting my travel plans next week so I'll be sure to let everyone know about that! Pretty much my brain goes like this, "Russia Russia Russia. Mail." And that's about it. I love you all so much and am so grateful for you! Thank you for writing me and making my day. I couldn't be more happy to know you and to love you. I hope you have a most splendid week!

 

Love,

 

Cectpa Harris