Greetings to all!!!!
Wow, I had a LOT of emails today and they were full of good information,news,laughs,pictures, and warm-fuzzy feelings from home.
Well I am STILL in Tallin but it seems that I will be traveling back to Russia on the 15th. They had sent some elders to the Ukraine and they are now, spread out between the baltic states here also and I guess we will all go back together. I'm glad that I've been here the whole time and not traveling here and there like crazy so I've had the chance to really work like normal.
Well I think I wrote about the death of President Hinckley last week but we did get to watch the broadcast of his funeral. It was such a spritual boost and was wonderful to hear from the different leaders of the church and feel the spirit of President Hinckley's life. We will actually watch the biography that they showed after the funeral today for our P-day I think, so that should be really amazing to see all of his accomplishments. I was so excited to hear of our new first presidency and that I can testify that we have a prophet today to people on the street again. I have ALWAYS loved President Monson and his wonderful stories and his natural affinity for literature and poems etc, and I was SO excited to hear about President Uchtdorf!!! Ever since he came into the quorem of the apostles I have loved his talks which always seemed to hit me so strongly and resonate so well with me.
That reminds me, when I first got here I heard the following story from a missionary who was in the younger group after us in the MTC. There was an elder in our branch who had hurt his shoulder playing sports or something and it was lucky he did because through the process of the doctors checking it out they discovered a lump. There had been a history in this elders family of cancer and I think his mom and brother had died from it. So while we were there we knew that he was delayed from leaving until they took tests, cat scans, etc. and when we left he still hadn't heard. Well an elder here in Tallin told us what happened after we left. So it turns out that he got the results back and it was cancer-the same type as his mom and brother (can you imagine?!) so they gave him the option of staying one more night since Elder Uchtdorf was scheduled to speak in the fireside that night so of course he opted to stay.
During his opening remarks Elder Uchtdorf said something to the affect that, "I have a message for a young man here, know that you can do it, it will be hard but you can do it." Then towards the end of his talk he paused again and then looking right at this elder said, "You can do it, it will be hard but you will do this and you will serve russian speaking." (or something along those lines). When the elder told me about it I got goosebumps so bad and couldn't help but tear-up. It just hit me so hard that the Lord is aware of each and every one of us and what we need, when we need it.
Well anywho, the work is going well here. Cectpa Whitehead has been in Riga, Latvia (mission home) but will come back tomorrow and has been getting lots of R&R so hopefully she will be ready to get back in the swing of things. I have been continued to be blessed with good health and know the Lord is preserving me. The weather has been cloudy and raining-snowing off and on for the duration I have been here.
I can't wait to get back to where I was originally called to serve though I will be forever greatful for the experience and opportunity to come here and serve in Estonia-it really is what I needed 8) I'm excited to see if I will have any packages from home when I go back through the mission office-I should!
Well I love you all and I am so excited to hear from all of you! Keep looking for opportunities to share the gospel, in fact better yet-just create opportunities, that makes it much easier.
I love you thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!
Cectpa Richards
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3 comments:
Hey, just wanted to say thank you so much for the random threads you guys are keeping up-it was soooo funny, and I'm happy to see that no one has changed. It is still the good ol F6 R22 humor and fun that is going on. I can't wait to get back to my field and I'm sure I'll have tons of letters and or packages from home so I'll let ya know how much I laughed.
Sara, good luck in the coming months!!! I still remember the dream you had where you saw the kid of Justin and you thought he was sooo cute with curly hair etc-obviously it's his and your kid, and what curly hair they will all have! There is NO chance for straight hair, you're gonna have cute lil hobbits! 8)
Everyone else, I love you heaps and bushels and don't worry Alan, I like your form letter...it's a good one, informative and creative 8)
Luv,
Cectpa Richards
The above comment really was from Whitney! She emailed it as part of her letter to the family and asked me to post it on her blog.
Also as a follow up to a comment I made last week. Whit's big brother Eric left Kuwait and arrived in Baghdad last Monday where he will serve for the next year. He will finish his tour of deployment just about the time Whitney completes her mission and is hoping to meet up with us in Russia when we go to pick her up.
In the meantime he said that Iraq is warmer than Kuwait and he is on a huge base that actually has a subway restaurant! (He's heard rumors that there may even be a McDonalds!) He's only been there a couple of days but says the food is good and they are excited to have him and another translator finally there. They will share a trailer (for living quarters) and will work alternate 12 hour shifts so they won't see much of each other. He is ready to get to work and do his part. If any of you are interested in hearing more about his time in Iraq let me know and I can either post his email address
or make comments here. I am trying to convince him to create his own blog once he gets his lap top up and running so his friends can keep up with him.
We're interested in hearing more about Eric's time in Iraq!!!! Please let us know how we can stay updated!!
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