Seventh Email: July 21st, 2009

hyelo moya semya!

So golly, everyone made fun of my last letter. Day in the life of my brain. It drives my companion nuts, so I'm really working on being more organized and knowing where I'm going and all that. I can focus...I just focus in a chaotic fashion. That and I'm a terrible writer. It's hard to tell you all how I really feel without using the words "awesome!" and "amazing!"...just look up in a thesaurus under awesome and amazing and pretend thats what I said. I'm like Nephi and I'm not mighty in writing...so apparently I am mighty in speaking! Actually 2 Nephi 33 has been a huge help to me. I think I'm a fairly simple person. I like chemistry and biology because it makes sense...it can all be narrowed down to a simple principle or theory (sometimes a lot of theories, but at least they're compartmentalized into simple ones) I'm the same way in the gospel. I look for the basic principle or doctrine so I can understand it better. Nephi says in verse 6 "I glory in plainness, I glory in truth, I glory in my Jesus". I love that. I'm a simple person.
My roommates and companion are ridiculously educated and knowledgable in the gospel. I'm grateful that I have the Lord who knows me...he knows that I know this...and he knows I'm committed to share that. Some good advice before the mission was to "be an observer" and let other people have their say. I'm trying hard to keep to that because at least for me, when I put in my two cents, the discussion gets deeper and more heated and I feel the spirit step out of the room. Again, the Lord knows, and thats enough for me!
But yeah, 2 Nephi 33 is just incredible. And I know I wrote a little bit about how basically i wanted to switch my mission call to fiji...with the happy islanders...and happy language...ha, well then i reread Alma 26. oh. The lord threw a buffalo to my face. "now my brethren" (should've just said now cectpa jones...in a fatherly/kind-of annoyed slash patient way) we see that God is mindful of every people whatsoever land they may be in"...I know that...I'm on the Lord's errand and I'm endowed with his power to DO this...and suceed! I feel it, I believe it, I know it. Most of all I get it! My will is given up to the Lord!

welp 4 minutos....i love you all...mom ... YOU ARE AMAZING. I bragged and bragged about how i have the coolest/most hilarious 50 year old skydiving granny mom in the universe...everyone wants to meet you! and you know me so well...mangoes and lemons and toys! hahah....that package was perfect! and everyone loves their face flossers! I'm a flosser every day! (get it papa bear :)

I'm so happy and loving life...pray pray pray!

love cectpa jones

and! we have 100 new russian missionaries! they're taking over the mtc! me and cec. shaefer are coordinating sisters for our zone...these sisters give me life and someone to be better for...this calling is 100% more for me than them...the russians and ukrainians are coming today...wowwowow....

happy as a clam :)

and thanks d and taryn and roy boy.... i have the cutest nephew!!!!!!!

Sixth Email: July 14th

hyelo family -

My brain for some reason shuts off right when i sign onto the computer... so while it's still fresh...Thanks for the package Gretch! (you're my favorite...and my roommates favorite...) mom, i need a tape player/recorder to play grandpas tape (i thought they sold them at the book store but FALSE)...Hello Romneys! my mom said you were a new addition to my scatterbrained emails... oorah! (thats russian for hoorah... its a tough one)

hmmm...this week was amazing as always. We break new ground in Russian every day! We're teaching the 2nd Lesson in Russian this week, but we should be fine. We've been practicing a lot in the teaching evaluation place (where lizzie works...did you know she made me muffins? cute huh...) EVERY DAY i look down at my notes or look up at the board, I think to myself, I'm learning Russian. Why does the "D" look like a space ship? "Who-spit-on-ya" oh yeah thats how you say trial..."oo-sah-ver-shen-sta-vat-syah" oh yeah, that's "to progress"...i really want a carrot right now...in ukraine they have really good vegetables, but don't eat the radioactive ones affected by chernobyl!...oh Elder Dibb just fell out of his desk again...I just fell out of my desk again! i still get battle wounds when i SIT all day!...focus russian..."apple-seen" means orange?...who speaks russian anyway..."chornee-shnorkee! chornee-shnorkee!" (black shoelaces)...Brat Pearce just said "i dunno" 18 times..."vo-syem-nat-sit" is 18..."po-roos-ski" (in russian!) or push-ups! actually wall sits for girls...whatever...i could smoke anyone here...humilty...ahh!...brat olsen is dancing again...oh no...i love being a missionary! Elder Punderson and I started singing "gangster's paradise"...ahh babylon! punishment shopka! (everytime we bring up "babylon" we have to draw a punishment out of the 'punishment shopka'...one of those massive fur hats...so it's kind-of like Curses...or Quelf) who turned my desk upside down!! Elder slaeker......lets humm a hymn...i need thee every hour...ok...focus...

haha...that was fun...seriously, that happens to me EVERY DAY! my times up...but i love this SO much! I'm growing and learning so much and most importanting, i'm coming closer to my savior every day. I'm learning to better represent him. I'm developing a love for the ukrainians...i don't know how or why...but i am. I'm working hard, praying for help, and getting it! I AM SO BLESSED TO BE A MISSIONARY! LOVE YOU ALL!

love cectpa jones

ps.... have fun at the cabin...whoever finds my fort out in the woods by the canal wins...i'm serious it exists...ask richie!

Lizzie's reaction to Kathy's email this week: ..............? What a random girl.

Kathy's room

I went to visit.

She came to visit again.

And scared me when she sneaked up on me and took this picture.
I had to finish some work so she patiently waited until I was done so we could to to lunch at the cafeteria.

We both had the chicken salad, chocolate milk, and a cookie. She also had some soup. We talked about her "investigators" (i.e. the teachers who speak Russian that she teaches a few times a week and pretend to be investigators) and I tried to give her some ideas of how to open them up more and help them to see the importance of the message. I shared a little news from home. She told me funny stories and made me laugh. She taught me more Russian (that I promptly forgot) and she laughed because apparently when I speak Russian, I do so with an Italian accent. She told me she was nervous because she was just asked to be the coordinating sister (kind of like a district leader for all the Russian-speaking sisters in her zone) and I told her she'd do fine. We finished lunch and walked back to her classroom. And then I took this picture of her. She's so cuuute. Look at the crazy Russian stuff on the board behind her. She wrote most of it. She's MART. So mart.
This is her desk.
This is part of her district. I love them. They love me back and have learned things in Italian to yell at me when I walk in. They speak Italian with Russian accents. Fer fun.
This is her room. Her bed was made. I was shocked.
It is so fun to see her every day! She's doing REALLY well. She's happy and excited and working hard! It is so incredible to see my younger sister being an amazing example for everyone around her. She's doing some great things, learning a lot, growing even more, and, as she likes to say, "I'm just busy preparing for my people!" She is already a fabulous and capable missionary and I am so proud of her. She told me today, "I can see why you say this work means everything to you... it's becoming that way for me."

6 more weeks!

Fifth Email: July 7th, 2009

hyelo mama -

thanks for your story!  I remember her...probabaly just cause she had
one arm, but i remember her...and as for repentance, well I think the
Spirit is getting to me.  In letters from friends, a common topic has
been repentance and how it's affected their lives.  At a Group Meeting
this week, the teacher shared a story about an area from his mission. 
It was the "Armpit" of Mexico (meaning only 3 baptisms a
month...haha...missions are so different).  But their mission president
set up an optional "sacrifice week" to make the work progress.  They'd
wake up at 5 and do personal study for an hour.  They were out the door
by 6 so they could catch the men going to work.  They worked tirelessly
throughout the day, only stopping to pick up a sandwhich from the
members around noon.  They were in by 10 and were asleep by 11...and
they saw success!  He said they had 10 people planning to come to
church as of saturday night!  He told us how earlier that week, his
zone leader gave him some advice, "Elder Chalk, if you really want to
see the work grow, then you've got to repent."  He said he blew off the
statement...he was a good, worthy, hard-working leader in the mission! 
As he went to sleep that saturday night of "sacrifice week", (they
slept on the roof because if was so hot...maybe i'll try to scale the
residence hall tonight with my mattress...hmm...) he could not get that
out of his mind.  He tried to think of anything this past week that he
needed to repent of.  He remembered that throughout the week he had
been humming "babylon" songs...not bad songs, just distracting ones. 
He decided to ask for repentance.  He described how he was on his knees
for a long time...about an hour...just asking for forgiveness.  He
compared it to Enos "wrestling with God" to be forgiven.  But it came. 
He humbled himself, was forgiven, and sank into bed.  The next day at
church, 20 people came instead of 10 and by the end of the month, those
20 people were baptized.  This really really hit me.  Repentance is not
something that i've ever thought to be a daily thing...i had this
conception of using the atonement for the big things.  The more often
we can be cleansed, the more pure we are, the more the spirit can hang
out with us, the more God can perform miracles before our eyes.  So I
spent a couple hours today studying repentance...how to repent, why we
repent, the joy of repentance (alma 36!)...and it's changed my prayers,
my relationship with heavenly father.  Repentance includes ABANDONing
your sin...leave it alone in the rain with no mommy... and because of
your love for the Savior, you don't do it anymore.  We are endowed with
more power everytime we turn away from our silly little sins....i love
it...and now you ask me to read about repentance in the Bible
Dictionary!  I didn't even get around to that resource...i'll do it
tonight!  The spirit is telling me this and i'm listening.  The purer I
am, the better teacher God can make me. :)
oh man, well that was long.  4th of july was hilarious...we stayed up
till 10:30 to watch fireworks...rebels.... and we got to sing in
English!
Russian is like a bug scary dark tunnel and right now I can't even see
the end, but, like Romans 8 something says, if you see it you can't
hope for it...or something...look it up its stupendous
Cec. Schaefer is a hoot and holler...i wish you could spend just 2
hours with her and get a taste of what I taste 24/7...words cannot
express why i love her, but i do!  She's amazing to teach with and to
learn from...and she spins around and around and around in circles when
she gets really happy or excited...i get dizzy :)
We're the big kids now!  the older district is flying to russian and
ukraine...weird!  We just barely got here...

my favorite russian word is "free-ka-del-kee" (i'll send home how to
spell it) it means meatballs!  another ditrict favorite is "chore-nee
shnork-ee"  which means black shoelaces...the distric is amazing as
usual...everyone uses us as an example of unity, but we use them as an
example of dillegence...we learn together.
I'm working so hard.  I had a special experience with a member of my
branch presidency...basically he told me that the Lord is pleased with
what i'm doing...that he knows and loves me and is smiling down at my
actions.  I needed to hear that.
love you...love the mtc...love life...i'll send home some pictures this
week, tay?

oh and mon, can you write before like 9 on tuesdays?  i like to got
print them off after we go to the temple, so i don't get cut off while
we write...i know the trick about how to get around the timer, but i
don't want to use it ...hahaha...love you!!!!!let me know if i can do
anythings! keep on keepin on...stay strong...

love cectpa rella chile

dad -
i've been praying and fasting for you and your job stuff...i just hear
stuff from lizzie, but things will be grrr-eat.  i know it.  love you
and THANKYOU for you story.  i love it and i've already shared it in
class...it'll be nice to fill in the details.  And i've added two
things to it...so i can be a "FLOSSER" every day...enthusiasm, and
surprise surprise, repentance.  because this is the funnest most
exciting work EVER and i can be a more worthy vessel for the lord to
work through if i repent...love you...give those inmates a squeeze for
me... and don't kill obama.  my scooter...my scooter obama, not the
president...oh no...

Fourth Email: June 30th 2009

hI mon - it's me rel.

Thanks for your letters and stories and thanks dad for those scriptures. I've been looking for a way to make my scrpiture study more concise and simple...perfect! I think one of the blessing of having a missionary is being forced to write uplifting letters once a week...seriously! It helps me and I hope you too!

This week was SO great...all the brethern were here training the Mission Presidents! Most of them came to our devotional that Elder Holland spoke at and we saw random ones in the halls and what not...ya know...just walking out of sacrament and gave a little holla to President Monson. Just walking past the front desk and gave a little wireless bones to Elder Bednar... just ya know...normal like that. It was amazing to feel the spirit of them just being there. We were blocked off like lepers for the most part because of the swine flu, but we could sneak little glances. Elder Holland's talk was incredible...he talked about the importance of having the spirit with us...that we go down the streets 3 by 3 with a member of the godhead or we don't teach...straight up. I love his bluntness. He said "This is the work of ANGELS!" It reminds me of the song "ohhh i believe there are, angels among us" and as cheesy as that is, i love it.

Yesterday we were singing our closing song as a district (praise to the man) and the russian was really fast so we all just dropped our books and started doing sign language like the ASL missionaries. oh man...another day in the life of district 10-D...and more tears streaming down my face...more of ct. Ku's elmo laugh...more instances of having to leave the room. Special we are. Speaking of Yoda talk, thats how Russians talk... "At me there is heat and thirsty am I" ...oh russian grammar is the death of me....

Language is coming...slowly slowly coming. I'm hard on myself and I've got to be more patient... I'm a lot different than most of the Russian speaking missionaries...especially the sisters. Every sister is extremely intellectual, I'd say 80% are fluent in at least one other language, high high high achievers, sure of themselves...just very smart and put together and aren't afraid to tell you about it. I get strange looks when I talk about my life and the things that I have and haven't done. So consequentially I've become more of a listner instead of my outgoing talkative self...at least with the russian sisters. I love talking to the hermanas...especially because I can talk back to them! And I met a sister who is serving in fiji...FIJI! I could not even believe my ears...but yes there is a mission there. After I talked to her I got really... confused and sad I guess... I have been blessed to love those people already so much, but I'm serving somewhere where I'm not comfortable with the people or the language. I hear the hermanas in the hall and sometimes find myself longing to speak spanish... and on top of that I'm not around people that are like me...and a lot of people that I have talked to had some kind of experience with loving the russian people or learning russian or seeing a russian flag on their toast...NEVERTHELESS! I'm a missionary. I've been called to serve in Ukraine. I will be speaking Russian. My calling is from the Lord...and right now I'm not sure exactly why, but I have FULL faith and hope that I will. I went in the linen closet to pray to my heavenly father to know that i'm going where i need to...to be as excited for myself as i was for the sister going to fiji...and to love the people with the same love as i do the islanders... and i wish i could say it just came....what did come was a knowledge that it WILL come. Work hard, be optimistic, have faith and hope, and I'll understand once I get there. There is a scripture in Romans 3:3-5 that says something like trial brings about experiences and experiences bring hope. This is so comforting to me right now...understanding hope and it's significance in the 3 legged stool of faith hope and charity. I think that faith is your light, and optimistic path towards the savior and towards happiness...charity is how you act and what people see in you and outward expression of Christ through you...and hope is more personal...it's inside of yourself, the drive and motivation that keeps you going. In 2 Nephi 31 it says that "ye must always press forward in faith with a perfect brightness of hope". Without hope in the savior, and in ourselves, we have no motivation to keep pressing forward. So I'm praying for hope. I've got it, I'm just seeking more. Don't you even dare think that I'm down or depressed or whatever...I'm happier than I have ever been in my life. The Savior is pouring blessing on me by the bucket... but realizing this and acting on it will make me a better vessel and representative of the Savior. Theres an amazing article on Hope in the Ensign this month...read it!

So I'm growing...it's been a month and i'm a different person...and i love it! I'm so stoked to start serving...we see people come and go...come and go...but every minute here is a minute better prepared. I'm doing great. And all the muddies are gone...everyone loved them...send more when you can! and some bran muffins! I need fiber so i don't get constipated...hahaha you laugh but it's true... mom you make really good ones...

I'm SO happy you liked you're birthday present...i only wish i could go with you...and don't ask richie about sky-diving...we went in heber or something...i went in HAWAII. my stories are better....you'll LOVE it...have lizzie record the video and bring it on her camera or something

and ROY! i need NEW pictures! and oh...i bought these weird sandals at the bookstore but every time i walk the blow out air and cectpa schaefer gets bugged by them...can you send lizzie with some of my flip flops? I might have some black old navy ones in my room if sadie hasn't eaten them.

umm.... i love you all ocheen ocheen bolshoy! thats not russian, but it sounds like it! stay strong and happy! let me know if i can do anything...

love cectpa rel

ps happy fourth! have fun in richfield...save me some chicken and pavlova...just put it in a to go box in the fridge with my name on it...and don't eat it.