Hi everyone,
What a wonderful life we have here in Ulan-Ude right now. We found out that Sister Cavaness and I get to stay together until the end of her mission, and we are more than excited. We're going to have the best time together. We also learned that our district, like many throughout our mission, is going to be cut down from six missionaries to four (two elders - Bodily and Crabb, and two sisters). The reason we don't have as many is because high school is just barely ending, and that's when students start leaving on missions. Because the MTC time for Russia missionaries in two months, that means we'll have to wait for a little bit before some new missionaries come in. That's okay though, because it just means we're super busy!
Sister Cavaness and I wrote a song based on the Phineas and Ferb theme song to kick off this new (and her last) transfer. We call each other Phineas (Sister Cavaness) and Ferb (Sister Springer) because it just fits. Her version that she's sending home has a slightly different beginning that correlates more to her going home.
There's 45 days of our Siberian summer before home comes 'long just to end it
So now the big problem for us as companions is finding the best way to spend it... LIKE MAYBE
A whole lot of walkin', workin' off that new tummy even through the summer showers
Discovering golden investigators and teaching with that Spirit power
Members who catch the wave, still wearing tights and socks, and clogging our kitchen sink's drain (not again!)
Preaching the Gospel word, teaching the continent, and driving the elders insane (Sisters!)
As you can see there's a whole lot of stuff to do before next transfer call.
So stick with us 'cause Cavaness and Springer are gonna' do it all!
So stick with us 'cause Cavaness and Springer are gonna' do it all!
(PRESIDENT! The sisters are making a title sequence!)
So as you can tell, we've got a whole lot to do this transfer. We're still working with the Name Tag Family, and it's easy to see that we've got to keep pressing forward even when it gets tough. The dad didn't come to church yesterday, but the mom stayed for all three hours. We see them about once a week, and we love meeting with them. We think the mom is ready for baptism and the only thing holding her back is her respect for her husband. He may have some pride in him, but we just want to help him see that this message is for him and his family (not for us to receive recognition or a check mark).
We also met a girl on the street who told us that she had been thinking about religion and about what church is true. We met with her (nickname will be Flip) three times, and she is awesome. She's about our age, and we had the recent convert who was baptized in May help on lessons. When Flip prayed for the first time on a lesson, she told us she felt something in her heart, a good feeling. Unfortunately, we got a call from her yesterday, and she said that she feels like this isn't for her. We are going to meet with her again to talk more and understand her feelings, but we know that if she will just keep reading the Book of Mormon and praying, she will find the answers she needs.
Whisper's been busy, and we haven't met with him and some of our other investigators for a while. It's hard when phones stop working or when people go to their dachas (summer cottages) which happens a lot when school gets out. However, we are still very busy and loving every day and every miracle. We have wonderful members who are getting ready to "catch the wave." We had a meeting with the ward mission leader, and he had great ideas and offered his help any time. We also sent around a list for members to sign-up for times when they can help, and they are all anxious to offer their help.
Our little recent convert finally got the priesthood and is now a deacon! We've been waiting for this for weeks.
We had zone training on Thursday, and the zone leaders came down from Angarsk and Irkutsk. They shared a wonderful new Mormon message called "Lift." It was absolutely touching, especially because it reminded me of a wonderful neighbor I have. If you have the opportunity to watch it, I recommend it.
I hope you all have a great week 'cause I know we will!
Сестра Спрингер
What a wonderful life we have here in Ulan-Ude right now. We found out that Sister Cavaness and I get to stay together until the end of her mission, and we are more than excited. We're going to have the best time together. We also learned that our district, like many throughout our mission, is going to be cut down from six missionaries to four (two elders - Bodily and Crabb, and two sisters). The reason we don't have as many is because high school is just barely ending, and that's when students start leaving on missions. Because the MTC time for Russia missionaries in two months, that means we'll have to wait for a little bit before some new missionaries come in. That's okay though, because it just means we're super busy!
Sister Cavaness and I wrote a song based on the Phineas and Ferb theme song to kick off this new (and her last) transfer. We call each other Phineas (Sister Cavaness) and Ferb (Sister Springer) because it just fits. Her version that she's sending home has a slightly different beginning that correlates more to her going home.
There's 45 days of our Siberian summer before home comes 'long just to end it
So now the big problem for us as companions is finding the best way to spend it... LIKE MAYBE
A whole lot of walkin', workin' off that new tummy even through the summer showers
Discovering golden investigators and teaching with that Spirit power
Members who catch the wave, still wearing tights and socks, and clogging our kitchen sink's drain (not again!)
Preaching the Gospel word, teaching the continent, and driving the elders insane (Sisters!)
As you can see there's a whole lot of stuff to do before next transfer call.
So stick with us 'cause Cavaness and Springer are gonna' do it all!
So stick with us 'cause Cavaness and Springer are gonna' do it all!
(PRESIDENT! The sisters are making a title sequence!)
So as you can tell, we've got a whole lot to do this transfer. We're still working with the Name Tag Family, and it's easy to see that we've got to keep pressing forward even when it gets tough. The dad didn't come to church yesterday, but the mom stayed for all three hours. We see them about once a week, and we love meeting with them. We think the mom is ready for baptism and the only thing holding her back is her respect for her husband. He may have some pride in him, but we just want to help him see that this message is for him and his family (not for us to receive recognition or a check mark).
We also met a girl on the street who told us that she had been thinking about religion and about what church is true. We met with her (nickname will be Flip) three times, and she is awesome. She's about our age, and we had the recent convert who was baptized in May help on lessons. When Flip prayed for the first time on a lesson, she told us she felt something in her heart, a good feeling. Unfortunately, we got a call from her yesterday, and she said that she feels like this isn't for her. We are going to meet with her again to talk more and understand her feelings, but we know that if she will just keep reading the Book of Mormon and praying, she will find the answers she needs.
Whisper's been busy, and we haven't met with him and some of our other investigators for a while. It's hard when phones stop working or when people go to their dachas (summer cottages) which happens a lot when school gets out. However, we are still very busy and loving every day and every miracle. We have wonderful members who are getting ready to "catch the wave." We had a meeting with the ward mission leader, and he had great ideas and offered his help any time. We also sent around a list for members to sign-up for times when they can help, and they are all anxious to offer their help.
Our little recent convert finally got the priesthood and is now a deacon! We've been waiting for this for weeks.
We had zone training on Thursday, and the zone leaders came down from Angarsk and Irkutsk. They shared a wonderful new Mormon message called "Lift." It was absolutely touching, especially because it reminded me of a wonderful neighbor I have. If you have the opportunity to watch it, I recommend it.
I hope you all have a great week 'cause I know we will!
Сестра Спрингер