The Best 18 Months

Whitney's arrival at Bush Intercontinental Airport

2009-01-24T13:57:00.000-08:00

Whitney asked me to post some of the pictures and videos we took at the airport as a closing post to her mission blog. It's hard to believe that she has already been home for 10 days! The time has gone by so fast. It sounds like she had an amazing time in Russia, Estonia, Prague and Madrid. She will be speaking in church tomorrow so we are looking forward to hearing more about her experiences. It will be fun to have Sara and Justin here for the day too.

Welcome Home Whitney!!!

Whitney's younger brother Stephen waiting to say hello

It won't be long now!

(You know you are in Houston ...check out the cow in the space suit, waving the Texas flag -just to our right. LOL!!!)

The guys are getting restless ...looks like they are planning to rush the gate!

It's just a matter of time.

While we were waiting, a Russian passenger come up to us and grabbed the sign and turned it around to see what it said. She was really excited and started speaking to us in Russian. We could only smile and say, "Nyett!"

And ....here's Whit!

Rostov, to Moscow, then Atlanta, and on to Houston. Yeah! Her luggage made it without getting lost.

Home sweet home~

She'll be busy for the next few weeks catching up on all of the videos, books and letters that have been piling up on her desk while she was gone.

She said that she is going through culture shock in reverse. Her bedroom at home is bigger than most of the entire apartments she's lived in for the past 14 months in Russia! I was sad that we forgot to get pictures of the yard sign in the front yard and the heart decorations but take my word for it ...they were great!

Thanks for all of the letters, pictures, prayers and packages that you sent for Whitney. She really appreciated your love and support and so did I. Take care and keep in touch. This is:

Mama Richards logging out!

2009-01-21T21:20:00.000-08:00

no longer will write in this one-maybe mom will post the video of me meeting them in the airport but i have a new page now:
bitofwhit2.blogspot.com

I'm back

2009-01-19T22:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I hear that some don't believe that I'm actually back so.....
in order to prove that this is the real cecmpa Richards and not some imposter commie spy I will prove my identity by saying:
Theramin is the name of a keyboard that was created by Leon Theramin-not many know this fact but those who do remember a very hilarious evening full of red faces and tears.
Also, I happen to know the Million ways to be cruel dance and am infact doing it right now-you'll just have to take my word on that.
and finally....
"this is AAAAbviously HaaaaaaWHIT so you can F6 that!"
so yes, I am back and really tired and wanting to sleep so I will go do that now, but writing to say thank you-all of you even those who just prayed for me-it helped, it really did, I felt all of your support and it helped in the hard times-I of course have tons of stories, insights, and memories from the mission that I may blog about but it won't be here seeing as...well....this is my mission blog and I'm home now so I'll prolly either return to bitofwhit or....maybe make a fresh one for my fresh start etc....we'll see, but yea I don't have anyone's numbers because I have a new cell and my old one was wiped clean by a younger sibling so if you'd like you can email me your numbers 8)
I love you all and congrats to Carrie!!!!!
whit

From Russia with love

2009-01-13T07:01:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,

Just one quick note before I write president my "What I wish I would have known" email. I came in a bus from Volgograd and it was sooo long and uncomfortable but that's ok-lots of time to think. I am all over the place right now sheesh....so many thoughts and different emotions that it's too hard to explain but I guess I have the rest of my life to sort through them all 8)

I love you all and I love the opportunity the Lord gave me to serve His children here in Russia. Now I KNOW first hand that God is a God of miracles in that I survived and managed to do some effective service 8) I'm not sure if I lived up to His expectations of me but I tried and see this change as a great new beginning to a better and new life.

I know this church is true and that this gospel is perfect and I love the book of Mormon in a way I can't really express well. Can't wait to see you all.....I mean....ya'll 8)

Cectpa Richards

The final count down 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Next stop ...Houston!

2009-01-07T20:36:00.000-08:00

I have to do this fast cause today we only bought 30 minutes to write home cause we have a lot to do.

I can't believe this is the last time I'll write from Russia. (We won't write again before we leave). I'm taking a train Monday night and will get into Rostov Tuesday morning and then that day do whatever and will be in the mission home that night and fly out Wed morning. I was doing pretty good on keeping focused and not feeling trunky but it was way hard to read all the different emails from president telling me about my schedule etc. and then reading about who I'll be seeing in the next few days -yikes! I'm trying to fight it but it's hard. It's ok though cause we have a meeting with a GOLDEN girl that we contacted on the street and we'll go for the baptism date and that will get me back on track for sure.

I can't even express how thankful I am to my Heavenly Father for the many blessings he has poured out upon me on my last transfer here. It has been so crazy. We have 6 or so progressing investigators (coming to church/reading etc.) and 2 baptismal dates, but we'll try to make it 4 before I leave here. I guess it's how it always goes huh? The Lord tests you and if you endure it well he showers the blessings down on you. I don't know if I could say I endured perfectly but despite hardships/lack of success -we kept working and trying and now I can say it was ALL worth it = every heart-breaking, hard minute of it. I mean....even when it was so hard I knew it was worth it because I could feel the Lord refining me and making me stronger, but now my heart is just so full of appreciation for what He is doing for us and for the work here. Right now it's prolly the most success that the sisters have ever had here in Volgograd. Everyone talked about how it is such a hard city, etc. (YEA RIGHT!) Nothing is hard if the Lord is on your side and helping.

I love my mission so much and it's just hard to imagine leaving ...I'm trying not to think about it too much because I don't want to start crying ...that's what my night train ride is for-to get it all out of my system so I can be happy when I see you guys. For all those who are preparing for or thinking of serving on a mission I have two words of advice: DO IT! You will NEVER regret it -this I promise. I didn't exactly have the easiest mission and yet I loved every minute of it -it's worth it -I promise! We need all the help we can get in proclaiming this gospel.

I love my savior and appreciate all the help He gave me these past 18 months and the desire He has given me to continue to study and deepen my knowledge of this perfect plan that God has prepared for us. I love you all and just ignore any depressed moods I may be in when I'm home it's not cause I'm sad to be home just cause I'm sad to not be in Russia anymore and hearing this great language and trying to help her people, and feeling the love and support of the Lord everyday. I love you all! and promise I'll try to work my hardest these last few days -we're even giving up language study to get extra time to work.

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

"Snow-Bweem-Go-Dum" Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody!

So we are writing real quick before we buy our groceries and go home for the night since prolly won't be open tomorrow. I will now give a typical grandma (babushka) blessing: I desire for you: health, happiness, a handsome husband and many children, everything good, but most important health. Yea ...that's what they say every time 8) and it still gives me warm-fuzzies. Hey ...better than them yelling at us and calling us "sektantee" (a sect).

Anywho, this past year has been amazing with all that I have experienced and learned. It's crazy to think that this whole past year was spent in RUSSIA speaking and working with the Russian people in furthering this great work -crazy. Things that I (ok ...really God) has managed to accomplish this year: I now understand and can speak Russian. I am bold when I talk to people on the streets or at the doors and no longer fear them or their rejections. I have matured as far as my taste buds go; now liking most if not all vegetables (fresh and cooked) and nuts, and soups of all kinds. Mostly only my immediate family would understand how big this is.

Um... what else....I have learned how to read maps and find my way in a new area, learn names of a bunch of people quickly (a.k.a. branch members) and have learned the joy that comes when we give ourselves to a better cause and trust in the Lord and see the miracles that result. I'm so grateful for my time here in Russia. It has literally FLOWN by and I cannot believe how little remains but am excited to continue to develop the talents and qualities that I have gained here and never become complacent with where I am. I have also learned the amazing art and necessity of goal setting and reaching. It's amazing how much I could have already achieved if I had mastered this principle earlier but I'm glad that I've mastered it and appreciate the Lord's role in being able to do this.

I'm so grateful for all the letters, packages, and even prayers and good thoughts that have been offered in my behalf. They have not gone unanswered. I feel all of your love and support so strongly and know that the Lord has continually supported me thanks to your prayers and well wishes. I love you all so much and am trying really hard to finish strong and continue this great work any way I can in my every day life.

I hope you all have a great New Year and take time to remember all of the amazing blessings that you enjoy (the biggest being the knowledge of the restored gospel!) and how the Lord has helped you this past year and how we can make ourselves worthy to receive the same if not better blessings in this upcoming year and help others enjoy them as well.

Love,
Cectpa Richards

Have a very, merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Sorry -it'll be real quick since I'll talk to you all later on. MERRY CHRISTMAS! It's always SOOOO weird on the mish -especially since they don't celebrate the 25th, but it was good all the same. We went over to the senior couples house and had a great big breakfast and watched the polar express. Sister Maxfield gave me a new winter hat/beanie, and a green scarf since my packages hadn't come in (don't ask me, don't know but no biggie-) Zone conference is next week and if not then, shrug, my comp will love it all when it comes -I don't care) and now we'll prolly go look at some Cd's and work a few hours and then it's your call!

Thanks for all your love and letters etc. -I hope you all have a great Christmas and really strengthen your gratitude and love of the Savior. Also, hehe (as far as I'm planning on -I'll still be around Houston in April so that's a big YES! for the Les Mes tickets -it's only my dream come true!!!!!!!!!!)

I love you all, you can get the commentary rundown of our phone convo from mom I guess 8)

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

Working in a Winter-y Volgograd

2008-12-17T04:55:00.000-08:00

Well ...I thought I would be the only one experiencing a cold Christmas-everyone always asks me what winter is like in Texas and I always answer: it just isn't. haha, but I guess now I can actually tell them that it has snowed twice in my town-cool! (I'm sure Steve was happy)

Well yes, I just finished my first week and a half in Volgograd and.....judges....I LOVE IT HERE!!!!Seriously, I don't know WHAT people are talking about when they say that the work is super hard here and the people are mean etc....I was really intimidated at the beginning of my mission with this city but I couldn't be happier-what a GREAT way to end! It doesn't hurt that I'm back with Cectpa Fourtina whom I love!

So this city (I can't remember if I already said this) is one loooooooong street (longest city in the world) and everything is really nice because everything except one building was destroyed in the 2 world war-nothing was left so it's all new and nice compared to other cities I've been in. They have lots of statues and cool memorials etc. I'll have to take lots of pics to show you later.

This week it def. turned colder-yesterday (around -2 to -5 cel.) we had our first serious snow fall-only a couple of inches but it was really pretty....and so amAzingly cold! You don't really think how cold it is until you have to be out in it at 8 am for two hours contacting people who are rushing off to work-my hands hurt sooo bad by the end! I'm gonna try and find warmer mittens and maybe a hat today (i have a hat but I'll be on the look out for warmer things).

We have been finding some good people lately and there have been lots of people from the last transfer that we've been meeting with so we actually haven't' been knocking that much-but really....so far, the people are the same as rostov, even a lil nicer 8)our zone conference won't be til' Jan 2nd so I doubt that I'll get my packages before then so our Christmas will be a quiet one, but that's ok-at this point i don't really care-it doesn't really feel like Christmas on the mish-but the snow helps. We'll prolly get together with the other missionaries and the Maxfields (senior couple) and do a gift exchange, dinner etc.

Speaking of dates and holidays here's the schedule of my next few p-days (slight changes due to holidays)P-days:*DEC. 25TH (THURSDAY)this night is when y'all will call- PLEASE CALL AT 9 P.M. RUSSIAN TIME -Russia time and I don't know if President sent the same email to you with country code etc but here it is just in case:

1. Have your parents call between 8:00 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. on Christmas Day, Russia time. Be sure to email them your phone number this week. Please tell your parents that international calling cards can be purchased from the Internet for about 4-6 cents a minute.

2. Phone calls are limited to 40 minutes. If both sets of parents are calling, it is important that the first parents call right at 8:00 p.m. so both will have adequate time.

3. Organize with your companion so both of your parents' calls can be completed by 10:15 p.m.

4. Keep the calls appropriate. "Take care that these calls do not pull your thoughts away from your service..." (Handbook p.37)

5. Remember, this call is for your parents (and especially your mom). While it is not prohibited to speak with other family, it is not recommended. Girlfriends are not even on the list.

6. ANY exceptions should be cleared with us.
*P-DAY: Jan 1st NEW YEARS (THURSDAY)*P-DAY: JAN 7TH RUSSIAN X-MAS (REG. WED.)

So yea...did I read correctly that Eric will be home til the 29th of January?! or was it a typo and it's til the 29th of DEC. Either way I hope I can see him when I get back.

Well, we taught these great two women yesterday-they're really searching for truth-have went to all sorts of diff churches and we contacted them on the street and THEY called US to meet and were so excited about everything-so cool, they just talked about how they didn't feel peace/good feelings for a long time etc and how we looked just so happy and at peace etc-they're coming to an activity the relief society is throwing on Saturday so we're really excited for them!

We also have a baptismal date-he's 60, still thinks he's a rock star (has rainbow suspenders and crazy curly hair) he's soooo funny and so ready! he knows the bible really well and loves the church, book of Mormon, etc and is always asking us if we know: slipknot (but he pronounces the "k") slip "k" not. it's so funny but don't worry, we gave him so church music and we hope he gets hooked on that 8)

Other than that the work is going well here-we have a nice building here as well-and it's one minute from where we live (helpful) and the members are great! really no drama which is strange to me...a normal...branch....8) I'm not complaining! I think I'll be in utter shock when i step into the new stake center back home-it'll be culture shock all over again. (not looking forward to that-wasn't too fun the first time either but I guess it's ok to be in shock at how nice things are)

Thank you so much for all your letters, pictures, updates, and support-it's the highlight of my p-day (but not week, sorry-that would be finding new investigators 8)It's amazing the desire and love that I have for the work now this last transfer. It's like my love for the work has escalated 100x more the second I got here to Volgograd-I'm just so excited to talk to people on the streets, to knock on the door-it just gives me a lot of joy, more so than before this point on my mission and it's kinda weirding me out but it gives me so much enjoyment. Maybe it's cause I realize that my time is running out that I wont' get this type of opportunity again-to further the work in this way (even if I serve with my husband we won't work how I'm working now) and every last moment is precious to me-I only wish I had this amazing drive every minute of my mission. I guess I just fully understand the worth and the special-ness of what I'm doing now more so than ever before and I'm grateful for this realization-it's gonna be a great transfer 8)

I love you all and it's really weird to think I'll talk to you guys in a week or so-hopefully I can think of interesting things to talk about -come with questions, and you can say hey to Fourtina (Of course me saying hey to her family is a lil more complicated -I'll have to work on my french).

Luv ya!

Cectpa Richards

P.S. Hi to Andrea! good luck at the Y-see ya soon, and mom-good luck with the chocolate store-fight off those sugar hungry babushkas!

From the land of the North

2008-12-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings from....Volgograd!

That's right. Last night I made the not so fun, slightly smelly, 9 hour trip by bus to Vgrad. I got here around 5:30 in the morning (I was with another elder, not by myself) and was met at the station by good ol' Sister Fourtina! It's really great to be with her again. I missed her and think it won't take anytime at all to get back into the swing of things with her.

I haven't seen much but we are in a new, tiny, but good apartment -great location. We're near the supermarket, and the church is a two minute walk from us -it's very own building-specifically built for that purpose! And the internet club is just down the street 8) It's cold here,but not terribly so, prolly...6 degrees cel. The wind is what gets ya though. I will need to buy gloves and a good hat 8) Our zone conference will be on Jan 2nd so if we get any packages I won't get it til' after all the festivities but o well -what do ya do?

It sounds like the work is going great here and it's not the big, bad scary town that everyone makes it out to be so I can't wait to go have some success and work hard right til' the end. Man, I'm really tired and feel a lil throat thing coming on but hopefully that's just the traveling talking so I don't have to fight a cold while getting used to a new area etc.

President said he would send an email next week about times etc for the christmas call and rules but our home phone number is: (oops! sorry gang ...I can't post that here!) and if there needs to be any sort of area code etc. they'll prolly say in the letter. So it's hard to believe that the next time I'm traveling ...it'll be home -crazy! Though I'm really excited to get lost in the work with Sister Fourtina and be really united and have goals/help each other improve as teachers etc.

Nastia was confirmed yesterday which was good -what wasn't so good was that she apparently had an arguement with her mom (about the church) and decided to move out of her parents' house and now lives 2 hours away and we're not sure with who -obviously not welcome news considering the fact that we wanted to work with her family which now prolly has resentful feelings towards the church. Not the best of news to leave under especially when Sister Pico hadn't developed the strongest relationship with her yet but she promised to keep coming to church even tho it's so far...we'll see. Luckily she has good support from the members -she opens up with them etc. and they support her.

Apparently we have one person with a baptismal date here which is good and a few other investigators so that's great 8) I'm excited to see the sites and get to know the city -apparently the longest city....ever...along the Volga river and of course the biggest statue in the world, also there apparently is a museum -the only building that was left standing after World War 2. (Obviously the war had a big effect on this city and they have a lot of history that they're proud of.)

Well that's about it with the news from me. I love you all so much and am greatful for all the words of encouragement. Our next P-day will be not this coming wednesday but the next -the 17th? Anywho, keep me informed and I'll try not to freeze. Apparently this week is supposed to be warmer so that's good 8)

Cectpa Richards

Better late than never

2008-12-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

FINALLY I CAN WRITE YOU! The Internet cafe didn't have any power on earlier so we basically got no down time to rest today cause we were finding things to do while we waited for it to open up. It's weird that the tiny town of Tagonrog has two or three Internet places and the huge city of Rostov has one -go figure, but I'm not bitter.

So.... we should have already had transfers but President couldn't decide things and now we are having transfers when the elders are so that means on Monday. Today three sisters left for home -crazy!!! Sister King is with us tonight and leaves tomorrow morning with a mini-missionary and Friday we find out officially about transfers. I'm pretty sure that I'll be going to Volgograd to be with sister Fourtina but I guess we'll see ...things can always change last minute in this mission as I well know.

THANK YOU for all your prayers!!!!! Nastia got baptized last Sunday and even her Dad came out to see it and even asked what time church would be on Sunday! Seeds were definitely sown-let's just hope they're fast growing seeds 8) She talked about how she felt like she was flying after the baptism and that it was so great! We went and visited her this past week at her house while her kids had their naps and the spirit in that home was so different! She had some church music softly playing and talked about how she had been reading the book of Mormon more than before etc. We were so happy and not only for her but for those kids too.

We also found a woman (32) who lives really close to us who the missionaries had found 8 years ago and taught and she had fallen through the cracks during transfers or something and was saying to her husband a few months ago -it's really sad that the missionaries don't come around anymore and BAM, two months later we knocked on her door. We've taught her twice -she's keeping her commitments and talking about how it's different when she reads the Book of Mormon now -more interesting to her etc. and we found out through conversation that she loves Ireland as much as I do! She started showing me different stuff she had and I showed her my ring and necklace from grandma etc. and she took out this Irish soccer scarf and said, "I want to give this to you." I of course politely declined but then she said that she had another one .....well if you insist! I was so excited we took a picture 8) She's great and I'm sad that I'll prolly be leaving cause I know she'll go far.

On a sadder note ......my winter boots that had served me so well for almost all of my mission ...suddenly succumbed. I kept ignoring it -it just couldn't be true, they were ok ....but no. I'll take pictures of the huge hole etc. I prolly would have held off and just duct -taped it til the end but members saw it and started freaking out about the cold and what if there will be snow and all the remont people (repairs) said it was not fixable and if I'm going to Volgograd ....well .....they just wouldn't cut it. So ....I took out another 45 bucks and got new winter boots. 6 WEEKS BEFORE the END!!!!! ARGH! It's really hard to throw them away -I really grew attached ....sigh, o well ....I'll show you all pictures later I guess. They were so warm 8) but my new boots are cute and I would actually use them after the mish up in Utah so that's good right?

Anywho ...I can't believe Andrea is already home!!!! So weird!!! I can't really explain which emotions I'm feeling about the whole going home soon thing, so. ...I'll just not talk about it. I'm kinda sad that me and my comp didn't get to the comfortable level that my previous comps were at -don't' get me wrong, we love each other -have lots of fun together just ....the good rhythm together didn't really come -we have way different styles but it's ok. We still worked and loved each other and I'm grateful for what I learned with her, but am excited to be on to new things as well. I've kinda felt like I haven't been progressing as much as I had the transfers previously which ...is prolly more my fault than hers but a new place and new situations always seem to give the added energy and perspective to keep going.

I love you all so much and ...o my gosh CONGRATULATIONS AMANDA!!!!!!! If I had a car I'd be honking it like crazy for you in the middle of traffic on a Saturday (everyone/most get married on Saturday here and decorate their cars and drive through traffic honking -that's love I guess). I can't wait to help you out with plans/arrangements etc! YES! I will abe able to see one friend get married!!!!!!!!! Phew....thought I'd have to just rely on past comps' weddings.

Thanks for the great pics and news from home. Well anyways, I'm writing this late and we prolly gotta get going. I can't say it enough -I love you all and am so grateful for your love and support and praise -don't know if I'm worthy of it but I know it there is anything commendable it's thanks to all of you 8) Use the wonderful Christmas season to share your testimonies of the savior with your friends or even invite them to different Christmas programs/activities so they can feel the special spirit there. Brighten someone else's day with secret Santa service etc!

Luv,
Cectpa Rrichards

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T06:22:00.000-08:00

HAPPY TURKEY DAY ONE AND ALL!!!!!!!!!

It's sooooo crazy to think where I was a year ago- in Krasnodar feeling homesick not understanding anything that people said to me...and now look at me! In Rostov, not wanting to go home and understanding what people say to me 8) time is an amazing thing and seems to fix everything. So today is our turkey day even though tomorrow is the actual. I made the grandma Helen's pumpkin pie and, due to our over hot oven, burnt it a lil but it's ok- we're gonna put whipped cream on top so no one will see the picked-off burnt parts (hahaha, I'm such a screw up, but that's ok, luckily hungry elders aren't very hard to please). We're all getting together-the north and south zone in Rostov along with President and Sister Harrison at the branch building at one o'clock for the big meal. Everyone is bringing something so we should have a good feast on our hands. I'll be sure to take pictures.

The elders are playing football at 11:00 am and I want to go but we still have to make our desserts and the sisters from Taganrog are coming and using our kitchen to cook their veggies so it looks like we might just miss it. that's ok i guess....i don't' remember how to run 8) Note to self: work out once I get home.

This past week was great-we taught a lot of lessons and Nastia passed her baptismal interview!!! So we meet with her wed, sat, and Sunday is the baptism 8) 8) 8) I'm assuming I'll get transferred which will be on the 4th so it's a great way to leave the area.

Things are going good with my comp...it's just interesting cause we haven't managed to really find the rhythm that we've had with previous companions- not that there's a lot of contention etc. or anything just ....i dunno, our styles of doing things are way different but we're trying and we realize that we can't teach as much as we want if we can't find a way to teach together with unity. It's been an interesting experience since up until now, I've NEVER had a problem with comps/having good rhythm together/being united. I guess it was too good to be true-need to have something to work on.

What else what else....I know that in a few weeks we will have P-day on Dec 8th not on the 10th (shrug-email from president said so). I got the death letter....it's not fair....I'm supposed to get it at the beginning of next transfer but I guess we can get it 60 days before our departure date so it's official Jan 14 I fly out early (they said they would send you guys all the info when it's closer) and on the 13th I have exit interview, dinner, and testimony meeting at President's. It makes my stomach sick thinking about it so I won't 8)

I got your package/envelope with the Christmas folder with all the letters and pictures-thank you everyone!!!!!! It was so great to read all about what you're doing and feel your love and support. I am really blessed with great family and friends and know that all my successes in life can be contributed to the great support system I've had. I've learned from all of your great examples 8)and thanks for the shirt!!!! I love it! I wear it to bed every night and every time the theme song goes through my head it makes me happy 8) "When the evil shredder attacks, these ninja turtles don't cut em' no slack!"

That's exciting that Eric is back in the states-it means more letters right?! 8) Good work at See's, I have to say we were so excited when I saw the See's chocolate box in my package. We almost died and my comp was WAY happy. One time an Elder's parents came to Russia and they brought a box of See's and gave it to all in the office and there were missionaries who didn't even know what it was-how sad! But I'll never forget how dad would get a box for a special occasion and after dinner he'd pull it out and say: "Pick one, and you have to eat what you pick!" (I have since repented of not liking nuts you'll be happy to know dad!)

Since it is Thanksgiving I want to give thanks to my Heavenly Father for all of my many blessings- half of which I prolly don't' even realize He has given me. I'm grateful for my savior and his sacrifice, that he performed for me and every other spiritual brother and sister and for the plan that allows us to choose and learn through our experiences and perfect ourselves. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be in this great land and share the restored gospel and simple gospel truths that we take for granted but that the people have been spiritually starving for. I am so grateful for all the sacrifices that have been made the past 2-3,000 years that has brought forth the fullness of the gospel in the book of Mormon and how this book strengthens my relationship with the savior and helps me receive personal revelation from my Heavenly Father in how to deal with life's challenges and become more like Him. I am SO grateful for the knowledge that we have a prophet of God in our day that leads this church under the direction of Jesus Christ Himself and receives revelation and as long as we follow His council to a "t" everything will be alright and we will be protected and blessed and can be assured that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom with our families forever.

I love you all and I hope that you take time to remember all the blessings in your individual lives-even the minute details that we most often over look, and remember what a blessing the restored gospel is and share it with all those you love so that they can be grateful for it too. It's always worth opening your mouth and sharing the gospel-ALWAYS. Sharing the gospel and someone saying "no" is not failure, not opening your mouth is failure. I love you all. Have a great holiday season and stay safe 8)

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

"Chloe, we've got a "spitter" at 12 o'clock

2008-11-19T04:14:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

Wow, this week was great -pretty newsy emails, thanks! All the pics were great and the impossible happened: I got a letter.....ok well, email.....from Eric!!!! (haha, jk) But it was really great! It's funny how you can totally feel the different personalities in an email and it was totally him -I've missed ya!

Let's see where to start, where to start.....I guess with the news that you guys gave me: GO BYU! Way to go Gavin! (Not that he reads this anymore, too busy with the autographs and interviews on cougar cable. 8) Just remember your loyal fans who started your soon to be NBA nickname: Gavin Pants!!!!)

Um, Steve: way to go!!!!! You totally rocked it baby! Well, at least that's how good I did on the ACT ...or was I a little worse? I don't even remember....but don't worry if you get A's and B's in high school you can totally get in at Provo and how scary would that thought be! Yikes....seeing you in such a free and grown up environment would kill me sheesh.....Stephen...no limits.....scary. But yea, congrats! Russia congratulates you! Lenin gives you a thumbs up (it's true, I saw it).

Anyways, Eric, it's crazy to think you're already back in the states now-good times, good luck with your online classes and all your future plans. It'll be cool to see where you land (that is if we can know about where you land!). That's not a bad idea....If I got in the CIA that would definitely make our family the coolest. We're practically the makings of 24-even better! Haha, we'll see... There was a guy in the MTC in the next district who attended military schools all his life and wanted to go into the CIA etc. and in order to go to Russia on a mission they needed to totally wipe all his records clean so there was no record of him every being in those schools, etc. After the mish he will def. be an asset I guess.

Anywho, it was fun to see all of the pictures from Steve's marching band career. Wow....great memories that seems sooooo long ago! If you told me that in a few years I'd be in Russia-understanding and speaking Russian I would have laughed at you. Looking at my picture I was shocked at how much hair I had....I swear...I'm going to come back sporting the Gollum hair do.......sigh, water here is not kind. O well, I have a sweet spirit right?! (Hahaha)

What else, what else, Mom -I found one of the prettiest martroshka dolls ever and bought it (I'm even gonna go back and see if there's another one for me) and a few other odds and ends so if you could put 30ish in the account I'd be soooo grateful -or whatever. We can figure everything out when I get home I guess -no biggie.

Nastia is coming along great we have a meeting with her tonight and then Saturday and then Sunday is her interview for baptism. She's accepting everything and I'm just hoping that everything is sinking deep with her.

We had a cool experience this week. We had contacted a girl on the street -nothing special, the usual. Then on Monday all our investigators fell through and couldn't come to FHE which is always way fun. They have it at the senior couples apartment and we play games etc. I think I've been able to go maybe 6 times the whole mish. So anyway we were resigned to the fact we couldn't go (even though yes, we realize it's for the investigators and not for us, but knocking at night is the pits). So anyway, we head back to the building where we were knocking, get right in with the dome-a-phone, and the fifth door that opens is this girl that we had contacted. It was so crazy and we were like oh hey -we remember you, how's it goin' etc. She was just hanging out at home listening to music -no plans and we asked if we could come in but her landlady didn't like her having guests so I thought: FHE! So we totally invited her and made it sound amazing and she agreed. We waited while she got ready and went over there just in time as it started and she had a fun time. We might meet with her tonight if we can (she lives 5 seconds from the church, and 10 seconds from us) and she is way cool!

It was just another testimony to me that God is merciful and everything we do -every person we talk to is not a waste. God is able to use it all and make it all work together. He's definitely in control of this work and it's so cool to see all the coincidences that happen that aren't actually coincidences.

On a slightly different note....yesterday while we were knocking (half way done with a podyezd....forget what it's called in English -but where all the apartments are.) My comp jumps and moves away from the railing and said: "Someone just spit on me!" We looked up to the top floor where one guy had told us "No!" when we asked if we could talk to him. He didn't even open the door, and sure enough he had totally landed a loogie on my comp's head! Needless to say she was very angry and he continued to yell at us until we left etc but it was pretty crazy! It's not every day you get spit on. That one hasn't happened to me yet, though the attempt was made ...but the Lord and the wind were on my side that day 8) Anyways, it reminds me of that verse that talks about how I will suffer anything for the Lord, etc. (I think it's Paul...) but yea.

At first we were just so shocked at why someone would do that to two young girls. I mean he was a full grown adult! But then I'm grateful for these moments because I have that much more insight to Joseph Smith when he talked about how everyone was against him almost from his infancy and he too asked these questions: Why do they think I'm so important to persecute, I'm just a kid! etc. But we are official annoyers of the adversaries kingdom so I guess it makes sense.

On a lighter note, this Friday for our culture night we're going to see Rigoletto -the opera!!! Needless to say we are VERY excited about this because it's cultural and well if you know me you know why I'd be so excited! Anywho...what else what else....I can't believe that Andrea (er....sister Wiser) is coming home in a few weeks! O my gosh!!!! That is scary cause that means that I don't have much time left. Our transfers are in two weeks and there will be an odd amount of sisters so there might be a floating sister. She would just travel around and work with all the other sisters. There's one new sister coming in so it will be interesting to see where I end up.

I love the Lord and I love my mission and I suddenly feel the great urgency to just take tons of pictures of everything cause I don't know when I'll be back and I want you to be able to see what I've seen ....well, almost all of what I've seen 8) I love you all and echo the words of Grandpa when I say I am so thankful for my righteous and loving family who is always supporting me. It'll be sooo weird when we're all together again! When was the last time we were all together?!?

Anyway, I love you
Cectpa Richards

P.S. Eric, don't worry I'm soooo looking forward to it!

"Treek or Treet"

2008-11-12T04:45:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!!!

Thanks for all the GREAT letters 8) I'm not sure exactly why but I am in a great mood (not that that is a rare occurrence or anything). Maybe it's because we had a great meeting with Nastia last night (more on that later) or maybe cause I straightened my hair today and it hasn't gotten frizzy yet (I can count the number of times I've been able to do this in the past year and a half on one hand), or maybe cause we're gonna watch the greatest game every played today which always puts me in a good mood, or maybe cause it's just so great to see everyone I love so happy and successful in life and to know the gospel is true! Yes! (I think I set the record for a run-on sentence with that last one.)

Well anyway life is good here in Rostov. We got two of mom's packages this last week- the Halloween and one Thanksgiving and that put us in SUCH a great mood! (My comp is feeling very lucky that she'll be with me for Thanksgiving 8) but seriously it was amazing thank you!!!!

It was great cause we got the package the day of the Halloween party (yea we had it on the 8th- the Russians didn't know any better 8) and the candy was perfect cause we did trick or treating where they had to knock on the different doors of the branch and we gave them candy after they said: "treek or treet" in their cute accents. There were balloon animals and we had bobbing for apples, the game where you fish for treats over the divider, the game where you feel in the boxes and there's "brains, eyeballs, etc" bean bag toss, I painted a few faces, and an excellent toilet paper mummy race and we finished off the night with limbo. I have tons of pictures and film from it so I'll show it to ya some day. It was way fun and we had a decent turn out so there were plenty of bodies running around and participating -so much fun!

Me and my companion dressed up as the statue of liberty and mother Russia (tallest statue in the world up in Volgograd) and we were friends (hint, hint world) - I was the statue of liberty, our elders dressed up as Jedi knights which was pretty funny. They really enjoyed making the light saber sound as they pulled their broom sticks out of their holsters. It was way fun and Nastia came with her little brother and her son Stas (which is the cutest boy in the world by the way!) so yea it was a hit! And thank you, thank you, thank you, for the pumpkin pie filling and all the spices already to go in baggies -the smell was unbelievable! We can't wait! (and if our elders knew about it they wouldn't be able to either)

Um...what else....We had a meeting with Nastia last night and it went really well. We talked about baptism and the gospel of Jesus Christ and it was really good cause we used her son to help teach her about repentance: if you caught him stealing what would you want him to do, what would you say to him etc, and she really got the point we were making. She also told her mom about the baptism which she was worried she would be against it because Nastia was already baptized in a Baptist church, but apparently the mom said that they might come and see it-that's huge!

I want this family to come so bad and feel the spirit so strong so that they will really start seriously investigating the church, and then all join, and then get sealed in the temple and be an eternal family (the dad would be Elders quorum pres and the mom would be enrichment leader cause she's so crafty), and then Stas will grow up and serve a mission and baptize thousands, and lil Anna will grow up and marry a returned missionary and have an eternal family of her own and it will be a huge chain reaction! Ok ok....coming back down to earth, but please pray for her family that their hearts will be softened and that they will support her in this and come.

It was funny cause we were really stressing-wondering if she was ready etc. and then one of the elders said: "Let me say what I think President would say: did you know and understand everything when you were baptized at 8 -I mean, really know? They have the desire and the basic knowledge and that's enough -have to start somewhere" etc. After last night we both really felt the spirit while we were talking with Nastia and our worries have seemed to evaporate and we really feel that God wants her to be baptized and not sometime but now, and she wants it and that equals: 8)

So anywho, that's great about the proposition number 8 thing. An elder from California just mentioned it while he was reading his mail and was excited. I didn't know what it was proposing but that is great.

I can NOT (and if I could change the font on this and give it a dash of color I would) believe that Sabrina is 2!!!!!!!!!!!!! What?! Wasn't she just.....like.....BORN?! She looked so cute and grown up in her new bday dress-sheesh, the kid's got more style than me for crying out loud (which actually isn't a difficult feat at this point). But yea congrats to Brinee. ....um....so it's pretty cold here and we contact every morning from 8-10. What gets you here is the wind. Phew...it's just ridiculous when you get a good blast in the face. It's enough to give you brain freeze (only without the tasty ice cream.) Everyone looked great in their pics!

I heard from President that "mission hopping" won't be allowed (a few of us were wondering if there were uneven number of sisters in other Russian missions if we could go and fill in for a month or two), but it won't be allowed, sadly. It seems more and more that I'm mean't to go right home which is fine with me only I'm sort of leaving half of my heart here in Russia which might be slightly problematic. I love these people so much and will miss hearing this language everyday....I'm gonna find any Russian speaking people in Houston pretty quick -hello neighbors! 8) Though at the same time it's scary cause he'll prolly talk to me and be like....um....you can only speak this well with this many mistakes after a year and a half?! I'll just tell him (in Russian so you guys don't catch it) to tell you that I'm amazing 8)

Well anywho, congrats on the new jobs Mom and Steve-that's fun. 8) Are you only working until Christmas or more than that? It would be fun to go see you at the mall in your lil hat and apron (in my mind you're all wearing hats with open chocolate boxes taped to them).

I love you all and am so grateful for all the times here in Russia-the hard and the good and the opportunity I have had to strengthen my faith in Jesus Christ and hopefully help those around me do the same as well. Keep me informed on any new developments and Steve: I was not impressed by your letter.....o wait, that's because there WASN'T one....interesting how that works hmmmm?

Thank you for your prayers and positive thoughts -they are really working and making a difference, keep praying for Nastia. We'll get her in the water and on the path if it's the last thing I do. 8)

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

Shopkas and Martroshkas

2008-11-05T06:16:00.000-08:00

Well I was about to seriously scold mom cause I didn't get a letter from her when I first logged on but as I was reading all the other letters it popped up so everything is ok. (phew)

This past week was great. We were blessed with many opportunities to teach people and Nastia -long time friend/investigator prayed and found a new job that didn't require her to work on Sunday which means we have a baptismal date for the 16th! I'm so happy for her and just hope we can do everything in time. Maybe we'll need to push it back a bit -we'll see.

What else...this Monday was zone conference and a really good one! The North and South zone of Rostov came together for this one (not normal) and one of the General Authorities who was in the 3rd quorum of the seventy from Ukraine came and spoke. It was really good and fun to listen and think....I understand this! 8)

It's getting colder and colder by the day but still bearable -I guess, we'll see. I'll look at the jersey today for Eric and I'll let ya know on the boots. There's a cheap boots store across the street. So...if you wear the clothes once you don't have to claim it?? How do they know? Couldn't you just say -"I wore it?" Or something? But that's cool that you don't have to pay, etc. As far as the shopkas go I'm assuming one, if not all four of you will want one? (furry Russian hat) Let me know. They have really pretty shawls here. I got a red/black one it was....15 bucks I think, and I'll try find a good one for you mom and a martroshka doll.

Now back to the important stuff. I'm really loving working with sister Piko. It's funny but when we were first together I was way nervous cause she really takes control and I felt like I couldn't do the work how I liked if she always stepped in and steered everything. But like always, things have settled down and we're more and more used to each other. She's hilarious! I've never laughed more while knocking in my life. Though of course, sometimes we have to reign it in a bit. It's good to be with someone that is just happy.

I think I have a personal goal to testify and promise blessings more for the rest of my mission. We're even trying to testify more while we are contacting people on the streets. Doing better than just: ("Sorry I know you're hurrying but we're new here and trying to get to know people could we talk another time?") and getting a number. Which is bad for the obvious reasons: they don't know who we are or what we're doing. Even if we say we're missionaries most people don't understand this word or all that it entails.

But when we testify, when we say: ("Hi, we've come here for a year and a half as missionaries to talk to people about how they can strengthen their relationship with God through prayer. I know that God exists and that he hears and even wants to hear our prayers and loves us. We'd like to talk more with you another time about how you can strengthen your relationship with God. Could we write down your number and call, or ...we have time on this day, at this time can we meet?") Obviously this is better and no matter what they say we feel better cause we testified and maybe they felt something that opened up their heart just a lil bit more. So yea...testifying is easier and more gratifying in the end.

I love this work so much and I love the closeness I've been able to feel with Christ through this work. I'm grateful for the stronger conviction that I've gained while being out here and gaining the bravery to be bold with those around me. I'm also grateful for the ability I've gained to have meaningful study of the scriptures where I receive personal revelation and listen to what the spirit would have me learn and APPLY. I'm sooo grateful for a prophet in our day and that no matter what worldly leaders may do, we have a leader that we can trust in 100% and know that he will never lead us astray. I know that the only other time I feel the same amount of joy that doing missionary work gives me -is in the temple....and that's prolly cause it's the SAME WORK.

I love you all so much and hope that all is going well. Congrats Steve!!! Four successful years in the band -way to go! I know it's sad that it's over but don't worry you can show me the CD's of all your different shows and it will be fun for the both of us to reminisce.

It was funny, last night we were at a member's house and they were sooo great! All are members, sealed in the temple and it was just so visible, the happiness that the gospel gave them. They said "Oh just wait, in a few minutes we'll know who will be the next president" and we were like.....huh? They were so shocked that we didn't even know that it was happening yesterday but we were like....wow, that's interesting, but here look at this book! and held up preach my gospel and went right on with our spiritual thought. They thought it was pretty funny but yea, I think I have never cared less about what's going on back home.

A Russian sister in Taganrog called us this morning to tell us that "what's his name" won and said: "Hey, you guys have a black president." And my comp said: "um....great? We don't really care." Not to treat it lightly -of course it's important who is our leader and his opinions/plans etc. as much as I hate politics I recognize that it is somewhat important but it is just funny how little desire we have to hear about anything going on at home. No matter who is the leader it's not gonna change my resolve to live the gospel, follow the prophets' warnings/guidance and help others find the truth along the way so....yea. I guess that's that. Haha!

I love you all so much and thanks so much for the pictures! Those grand kids are so adorable it's ridiculous. They should do commercials or something: for baby Einstein videos! Perfect! Anywho, I haven't gotten the packages yet but I'm sure they're almost here. We just barely got over the month mark and sometimes it takes longer, so there ya go. Thanks for your prayers and constant good thoughts.

Cectpa Richards

P.S. As far as I'm concerned I will be home working/saving and maybe will make a few trips to see friends until the fall semester. 8)

Well, well ...interesting how things work out

2008-10-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

October 29. 2008

After I got the email from dad and thought about it and also felt impressed for you guys to not come out I talked with President the next day and found out that I can't extend! It turns out that they thought someone was coming in on January which would have made us uneven and thus would have called for a need for me to extend but just before they were going to send my passport to get a second passport (for quicker visa trips) they called Moscow to double check and it turns out there never was a record of someone coming out in January and there isn't. Needless to say I was pretty sad at the news but it was reconfirmed to me that that's why I felt impressed to tell you guys to not come -which apparently you had already been feeling for awhile, so everything works out in the end.

I'm just trying to not think about the looming death date (Jan 14) that is speeding towards me faster and faster. It'll be hard especially with all the holidays-always makes time go faster but I won't think about it and just lose myself in the work. Plus it'll be fun to go home with King and Taylor who I came out with. President was funny, he said that now he didn't know what to do with me cause he only had me stay in Rostov thinking that I still had some time to be sent elsewhere. I mentioned how I prolly won't see Volgograd now since sister Fourtina is out there and he said: "Why not? You would want to?" So we'll see....either way at the end of my mish there will be an odd amount for the last two weeks because a Russian sister is going home at the end of December so there will prolly be a "floating" sister that just travels around and works with the other sisters and that might possibly be how I get to see Volgograd, but then we have two newbies coming in next transfer so who knows. (Haha, like I said, I'm not thinking about it...)

Um....what else...So that's cool you got the utube from the Cameron's -we switched alto and soprano so one verse I'm singing soprano and one alto etc. My new companion is sister Piko. she's from Arizona (Mesa area) and came out two transfers after me. She's great! A real go-getter and not afraid to take charge. At first, I'll admit, I was nervous because she would just sort of do everything and wouldn't give me a chance to get some words in too, etc. I talked to her about it so she was aware of it but as I was thinking more and more about it....why should I want her to work less? I should just do more, push myself, and make myself heard and not wait for a clear window to speak etc. It was a great change of perspective and since then I've been a lot happier.

It's always interesting when we get new companions and we go through a kinda homesickness for our last companionship and finding a new rhythm with the new companion etc. but it always works out in the end, and she's a great missionary which is the most important thing. She's really happy, a funny person and I'm excited to see what this transfer will bring.

I don't know why mom is asking about that Joseph Smith fireside-it was back in July and it went great. People came and they all felt the spirit (us missionaries sang a lot and I bore my testimony). I need to know what size Eric would want for his football jersey (in European sizes that is) and will go take a look today at a local store for prices. Also in the next few months if anyone wants anything let me know (aka: shapka-Russian furry hat, or...martroshka dolls etc). I want to get a pretty Russian shawl and maybe some Russian boots before I go but I'll let ya know how much it costs (aka: Christmas presents for me).

Um...so the work is going pretty good. We've found a few good people lately-one gma in particular that is really sweet and starting to believe in God and she keeps all commitments we give her so we'll see how it goes. It's so exciting when they keep commitments! Nastia (a long time friend here) might finally be getting a job that doesn't require her to work on Sunday which would mean: baptism!

I LOVED the pic in front of the temple with everyone jumping!!!!!!!!! It was sooooo cool -especially CB's pose, very impressive: congrats guys! Um what else....I can sympathize with Steve about band ending. I remember how hard and weird that was and I'm sure he'll be watching his band DVDs all Christmas break and eating bon bons (sniff sniff) but you'll always have those memories and experiences and I'm sure learned a lot from it. You can show your kids something that you were a part of that's really cool -don't worry, I know it seems like all the fun is over but it's only just starting. College is soooo much fun! Seriously if you get a great group of friends, your experience in band will pale in comparison. That's exciting that Eric will be home for the holidays-yeah! I can't remember if I wrote it last time or if it was the time that my email didn't work but, happy bday Mike! (man you're old!) That's ok, we can't all stay a young kid like grandpa.

On the 8th of Nov we're having a big Halloween party for our district which should be fun and a hit if the delegating worked right and everyone did their jobs. It's hard being where the church is still young and not used to how things work especially when they don't want the missionaries planning everything because we should be out doing more missionary things but sometimes you know it'll be better if you just do it-oh well, we'll see.

Last Sunday all the district came in to center to watch the broadcast for the Europe east area-it was amazing! President Piper (our area president) spoke, a sister, Elder Cook from the twelve, and President Monson spoke. It was really good -all about being strong and how we have the foundation now for the church to grow here and we all need to be member missionaries to move on to a second stage of growth. Also about loving one another and not having contention in our branches etc. It was really good for the members to hear from him and his counsel for our corner of the world.

I know that he is a prophet of God and it makes me so happy to be able to say that -gives me such pleasure to have that witness and it gets me so excited to talk to people about how we have a prophet in our day and they can know for themselves too. I think I've realized something, well....re-realized something for the 10th time. If you want to be happy as a missionary: testify. Just bare your testimony. Whatever it is about, whatever you want, but bare it as much as you can every day and then, despite how many lessons you gave or numbers you got etc. you will feel happy and that you fulfilled your calling at the end of the day. Don't wait for a situation where you're sitting down on the couch in the living room with the t.v. off and the person staring at you. Of course these situations are great but let's face it, they don't happen every day. You bare it the second you see an opportunity no matter where you are or who you're with. I know I need to do better at this and I think it's a good way to be happy in general in life because I think we just don't realize how many opportunities we have everyday to bare our testimony's. You don't have to say: I would like to bare my testimony....or I know that ...etc. Just say something matter 'o' factly. Anywho, enough of that.

I love you all so much and am so grateful for all your help, love, and support. It is gonna be crazy meeting up in the airport but in a good way -how all good reunions should start after a long time apart. 8) I haven't gotten any packages yet but it'll be a miracle if I get any of them before November so no worries there.

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

P.S. Two words: Scotland and castles. (and of course if there's time -see London or Dublin etc.) Hey, a girl can dream can't she? 8)

God Be With You Too

2008-10-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

I just received an email from the Cameron's who used to work in the office of Whitney's mission in Rostov, Russia. They recently concluded their mission and as they were leaving to return to their home in Nevada, Whitney and her companion Cepta Fourtina sang "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again" as a way to say good bye before they left. They sing the song in Russian and in English so be sure to check out both. The Cameron's posted it on U-Tube and sent me the link so I could see it too. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtqeGkDetx8 (Russian)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kVxFnA6a7Y (English)

Back in Rostov Center

2008-10-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Well we returned back from Madrid and the beautiful Madrid temple earlier this week and today is transfers. I'm still going to be in Rostov center but I'm losing sister Fourtina to Volgograd which is sad for two reasons: I love working with her, and that prolly means I'll never make it up there because I would be serving with her again. People don't just go up to v-grad for a transfer but for a long haul. Anywho, but I'll be with sister Pico who came out a few transfers after I did and is also a product of Sister Malinina and a great worker. She's known for her success and work ethic so I'm way excited to be with her and lose myself in the work yet again and finish strong.

Speaking of finishing strong that brings me to Dad's email about extending/coming out here to pick me up. So far, this is what I know: yes my visa that I just got runs out on the 14th which would be a day before my scheduled official end date: Jan 15th, BUT I am pretty sure that I will be able to extend due to keeping the numbers of sisters even. So I would go on one last visa trip and just go til' March 1st -I think that's when the transfer ends, or if you guys don't come out, til the end of when my visa expires etc. The office elder said he asked president about it as far as planning on me going to renew my visa or not. He said that President said he was pretty sure the answer is yes. So basically I'm 99% sure that I'm extending, and if I extend there is the possibility that I'll have time left on my visa for you guys to come out here.

That brings me to the other questions you have. I'm now not sure what I want because I could see the possibility of you guys coming out being a source of distraction but maybe not....also, I would love for you guys to come out and see where I've been, what I've experienced, the culture etc. so you would understand a lil bit more. But then again as far as what we would see, where we'd go, and who I would introduce you to -well that's the tougher question. I don't want to sound terrible but there's no one in Krasnodar that I'm attached to -I barely remember anyone, Taganrog ...my friends are all youth there, not really adults etc, and here in Rostov....I just dunno how fun/interesting it would be for you guys. I dunno, I guess I'm undecided now. Or maybe cause dad mentioned a possible trip before school -being somewhere in the Uk/Europe....prolly a lot more to see there than here, and I've always wanted to go to Ireland/Scotland....I dunno! Man, I really don't know which I want now....especially if we could come back later for the Olympics and see where I was a few years later would be soooo much fun and would let me keep my experiences wrapped up in themselves here and a lil separated from showing to fam and friends.

There would be some satisfaction of coming off the plane home knowing that I did it all by myself and it was my personal experience and then come back later with you guys (always wanted to go to Sochi!) Hmm....so basically now I'm starting to wonder if I would want you guys to come out. I mean ...as long as we're together going somewhere it doesn't really matter to me if it's here in Russia or somewhere else, just that we're together. So through the course of this letter I've felt more and more the impression that it would probably be better for me if you guys didn't come out to meet me so there's nothing to distract me towards the end. I'm really sorry for any inconveniences I've caused -if you've already spent money trying to get visas or travel arrangements etc. If it would be too expensive to undo anything we could go ahead with it. I just think it would be easier for me to just come home and then we can plan something cool together and maybe even visit the Olympics in 2012? I feel really bad and I hope this doesn't dash any of your hopes. Let me know your thoughts on the matter -your honest thoughts.

Seeing some of the missionaries go home today that I've known for awhile and always looked up to is pretty crazy. Thinking that Sister King and Taylor only have two more transfers left-aaahhhh! Time really is flying by and I don't want to waste another minute of it. One of our long time investigators -found the first week I was in Rostov, finally might be getting her work schedule figured out. Which means she could come to church, which means she'll get baptized soon, which means I'm really happy cause it's not just her. She has two kids -future generations open to the gospel, and a mom, dad and younger brother who will be influenced by her decisions. It would give me so much joy if she would be the way of all of them coming into the church, oh man ....pray for them please.

I love my Savior and I love this work, The trick is not getting into ruts, mindless repetitions of what we do everyday which makes special things etc. become rote and insincere -that's the trick. Always finding a way to be sincere and feel what you're doing/saying, improving, then the work is enjoyable despite results. I love you all and I'm so glad that you are all supporting me and always showing your love etc. Man I love my mission so much and feel so privileged to be able to be here even. I can't believe that I'm able to go and do what I do everyday and see so much and experience so much. It's really deepened my appreciation and understanding of the gospel and the reality of God's plan and existence and the truly obvious attempts that Satan makes to cloud this from our view. Everything is that much clearer on the mission and things that gave me so much pleasure before my mission prolly won't give me pleasure to the same extent that it did because I've found a deeper, more pure source of pleasure through living the gospel in this way and I can't wait to find a good way to continue this in my regular life after the mission.

I love you all (can't say it enough) and please don't be too sad about my change of mind -but don't worry I'll show you Russia, just later. I want that plane ride home- to be left alone to my thoughts and all the emotions I'll prolly be feeling-to sort it all out in my mind etc. Well anywho, keep me updated, and hey -mom didn't write this week 8(

Cectpa Richards

Lost ...and then found

2008-10-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hola Familia!

Well it appears that I am in Madrid, Spain ...maybe because everyone around us is speaking very quickly in a language that I don´t understand, or maybe cause there is this stupid letter on the keyboard that I don´t remember from high school Spanish: ç or this one too ñ or maybe it´s just cause the Madrid temple is right outside our window!!!! So yes, we got in yesterday and just so ya know I spent a gruelling hour last week writing an amAzing letter and then the Internet cafe crashed and I couldn't send it and ran out of time on the computer, it really ruined my morning but all is well anywho.

So yes yesterday was all travel. We flew to Moscow in the morning and then we had a long lay over and then we flew straight to Madrid and got in around nine and by ten we wound our way through the metro and got in here to the MTC -REALLY pretty grounds: there´s the MTC, temple, and a stake center all on the block but it really just feels like you´re on the temple grounds everywhere -it´s so pretty. It was cool cause everyone was in bed and we got to go into the cafeteria -pretty small but they were like: if you can find it you can eat it, so we just got to open cupboards and and just eat whatever, pretty cool. It´s a pretty small MTC and quiet. We´ll be here til Friday morning and then fly back and then transfers (short transfer due to people going home) will be on Tuesday so that´s when I´ll write next and share all the great experiences and things that I saw here in Spain and if I got transferred or not (though I´m not counting on it)

Sorry Dad, and....Eric and....Mike, and....well Steve too cause you took some Spanish in high school, but I don´t remember ANYTHING! It is just sad but ok, I know a cool language 8) but yea...we've tried remembering different words and about the extent is a few numbers, simple greetings, and yo quiero pantalones or something etc. or random verbs. Oh well, we have enough Spanish speakers in our family.

So we watched Sundays sessions of gen. conf. and they were amAzing!!! We were fasting for extra spiritual boost and to prepare to go back to the temple as well and Elder Quentin L. Cook´s talk on Sunday evening´s session was JUST what I needed and we felt the spirit so strong and was just so good. I think I had started to loose some heart that I hadn´t accomplished anything yet on the mission, wondering where were the miracles that were mentioned when I was set apart. During conference the spirit gently reminded me or at least...warned me that I was short changing all the miracles that the Lord had blessed me with so far on the mission and that I wasn´t appreciating them like I should and how could He give me more if I didn´t recognize and appreciate what He had already given me etc. There have been miracles so far and just because they didn´t result in a baptismal statistic does not make them any less miraculous. It was a good reminder and humbling moment and I realize that I need to be humble and worthy enough to receive more so I´m gonna try.

I´m really excited to be back in the temple and feel that spirit and continue to learn and receive inspiration about myself, my mission, and about God´s plan for me in general. I´m so excited!!!!! You could even say... ¡yo loco! ok, I´ll stop with the Spanish. I love you all soooo much and am so thankful to be able to see the saints all over the world all working so hard and diligently to share the gospel and it´s cool to see, though I´ll always be excited to return back to Russia.

Cool to here about Eric and if he will get to come home sooner than he thought....hopefully that won´t be the case for me 8) Good luck to Steve on his marching band season final!!!!! Soak it in and really feel it -it´s good when it hurts so bad at the end, means it meant something to you and that you gave a lot of yourself for it.

Flying on the plane here, it was really weird to think that the next time I´m on a plane it could be going home with my family but I quickly stopped this thought process cause it started to bring on a tiny panic attack and the repeating thought: I don´t wanna go, I don´t wanna go, not yet, not yet. But it´s all ok, I just don´t look forward to the transitioning process but it´s a part of life right? So anywho, better go, we want to try and catch a session at 11 -it feels so weird to be going back to the MTC. It´s like I feel like I´m starting over, but with just a lot more knowledge 8)

Anywho love you all. Thanks for the info and cute pictures. Congrats Kathleen!

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

Missing in Action

2008-10-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

As you have probably guessed ...we didn't receive an email letter from Whitney this week. That's in spite of my checking several times through out the past 24 plus hours! You know the saying about watching and waiting for water to boil ...doesn't happen! That probably means that she has been a). extra busy, b). transferred to a new area or C). sent on a visa run ...which means she could be in Estonia, Prague, Madrid or even Stockholm! The joys of being a missionary in Russia!!!

Since you are checking in and there's not much to read right now (after all you are a captive audience!) let me send out a special request to all of you who read Whitney's blog. I am sending her last Christmas package tomorrow -Friday Oct 10th- and would love to be able to include some extra love from home in the form of letters and pictures from her family and friends. As soon as you finish reading this hurry and write an email letter for Whitney, add pics if you have them and send them to me at kartx98@yahoo.com I will print them out and include them in a special Christmas envelope that will go into her package. Thank you so much for helping me out with this little project. I know she will love hearing from all of you.

Whitney's older brother Eric left home yesterday to head back to Iraq. He was home on leave for a couple of weeks and it was great seeing him and spending time together. We are looking forward to having him back in the states about the time Whitney finishes up her mission. His big news was finding out that he has been promoted to Sergeant! We are so proud of him. If any of you are looking for a special service project for Christmas this year check out the comment I left last week concerning "Operation: Christmas in Iraq". I am hoping to get Christmas cards/letters to send to all of the soldiers in the military intelligence unit where my son works. If you would like to help out just email them to me at the same address. I want the troops to know that we still appreciate their sacrifice and haven't forgotten about them. I won't be sending those off until the end of November so you have some extra time to work on this. Thanks!

We hope that you are all doing well. Good luck with the up coming weddings, babies, school/finals, etc. etc. You are all so great and we wish you the very best. Keep in touch and let us know how you are all doing.

Love and hugs,
Mama Richards

Change is in the air

2008-10-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

Hey!

Well this past week brought some interesting turns of events. Namely being that Sister Fourtina (my comp) was asked to go to Taganrog to help the sisters there run English club because the elders that should be there are serving as place holders for companionships who have a companion stuck in Sweden due to visa problems. So she will be there for 1-2 weeks and Sister King who was in a threesome up in Volgograd came down to be with me. When Sister Fourtina comes back we'll finish up the transfer as a threesome. It should be interesting seeing as we have the tiniest apartment of all the sisters and basically the whole mission. Never a dull moment here in the mission.

So the temperatures have dropped quite a bit and in the day it tends to be really cool and nice but the second the sun starts going down which now is around six thirty/sevenish it gets down right nippy. But I hear that it's worse up in Volgograd -already wearing their winter coats ( 9 degrees cel.), sheesh....news is that Sister G (an old comp of mine who is up in Volgograd and supposed to go home in December) was asked to go home early ...1/2 for the sake of keeping numbers even among the sisters and 1/2 cause of obedience/work problems. So with that happening Sister King is convinced I will receive a transfer to Volgograd. But there are two other possible sisters that could receive transfers there: Fourtina will get a transfer either way -been here 6 months in Rostov, or Sister Pico (I realize that all of this is hard to follow for you, not knowing or caring about these people, but it's always fun to try and figure out what will happen -kinda like march madness on a small scale). So anyways we'll see.... I do and don't want to end the mission in Volgograd. I don't because it's going to be a harsh winter by the looks of it and it's known as a really hard area to work in, but then again I would enjoy being somewhere new and having that long bus ride back to Rostov at the end of it all to think/contemplate etc. and have some alone time... so I guess we'll see what happens.

It should also be interesting to see how extensions work out with all of this cause unless it's really necessary it seems that they will rarely happen etc. That's why I was curious if president said anything to dad through their emails back and forth.

The work is picking up a little bit now. We're off to a good start this week and have already found someone to teach. She's really great and listened when we talked and we made a point to testify more and start/end with prayer and it was a way good lesson. Afterwards she talked about how she felt so good with us/warm etc. and of course we pointed out that, that was the Holy Ghost. I just hope she reads and feels the same feelings and makes a connection. She wants to come to church and has Sundays off and lives nearby the church which are all GREAT signs. We have couple of other investigators right now that aren't as promising but it will be interesting to see the different feel that Sister King will add to the lessons/bringing her own experiences etc.

I love my mission. I really do and I want everyone who's reading this right now to know that. It's hard. It stretches me, most times to the point where it's not so comfortable but ALWAYS without fail I'm grateful for it after the fact. I've seen a lot, heard a lot, learned a lot and I realize that all these things have added to who I am and the knowledge that I'm gaining right now through these experiences makes me feel....deeper. Sometimes (ok so most of the times) it's hard to see my imperfections and inadequacies so glaringly apparent but I've also learned how that's no excuse to stop trying or continuing to progress baby step by baby step. I don't know....I just love this gospel so much and it's really hard to put into words how I feel about it, to articulate these feelings but I prolly still need to ponder on it and continue to let it soak in. Either way....I've gained deeper appreciation and realization of the patience and mercy of the Lord and the possibilities that are opened to us when we give all of ourselves, give what he asks. It really is real -and I love the frequent re-realizations I have of this.

Happy birthday again mom and dad -glad to hear that all had a great time. Sargent Richards?! Weird....what's left that's higher than that? I'm just thinking of the increasing authority that he's getting...scary....haha, jk. I'll salute you when I see you next ok? Keep it up! ...and hey, this lowly private would like to hear from you. Whenever you get back from the kids' drop me a line or 2 or 20 8)

Well I love you all and I can't believe that it's already October especially since the holidays FLY by on the mission and I know that I only have 2-3 transfers left after this one (aaaahhhh!) Just won't think about it I guess. For being in a mission full of crazy, unpredictable changes I still don't like the big ones.

Well, take care
Cectpa Richards

Snome rahshdehnyeh tebyeh!

2008-09-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all,

Wow-it was a great email from mom this week full of news, pictures and updates of everyone. It's always so cool to see everyone and remember the good times we had (it really feels like a loooong time ago, like another life).

Now for the most important announcement: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! (I'm singing happy birthday in Russian in my head just for you: "snome rahshdehnyeh tebyeh"). Sheesh.....how old are you now?? I don't even know....well, I never liked math so we'll round it off generously at 50ish k? (And yes, I know that's being very generous 8) So I hope you all have a great time with the festivities and you get some presents that you will most likely turn around and return to the store before the wrapping paper is cleaned up 8) O yea!

The other day it was "day of the city" (Rostov's birthday -259 years old) and somebody's parents came to pick them up at the end of their mission and they brought a box of See's chocolates and gave them to us in the office-I was sooo excited! I instantly thought of Dad and how he would get a box of See's chocolates for bday or fathers' day or something and after dinner he'd always pull out the box and let us pick one always warning us that we couldn't waste them. (We had a habit of biting into them and then realizing that we didn't like it) but it was always exciting trying to find the chocolate without nuts etc. -I know, I was crazy back then not liking nuts and all. So anywho, I hope you have a great day dad and that you know how much I love and appreciate you and think of you often and all your funny quirks that I miss.

And as far as that goes, happy birthday to mom on Sunday -of course she's nearing 45 now (I know again, very generous). I was talking with my companion yesterday about how we had our favorite movies -would snuggle together and how you could never make it through a movie without falling asleep, haha. She has the same relationship with her mom cause she didn't have sisters either and she said they always watch together too and her mom falls asleep too. So yea, I can't wait to come home and watch our favorites together again and try to keep you awake at least til the middle of the movie 8) I love you both so much and am so grateful for the great examples that you have given me in living the gospel and raising a family.

In less mushy news, the weather has really gotten colder here which I'm hoping won't continue to drop and give us a long cold winter but I guess we'll see. It seems we're hitting a bit of a dry spell when it comes to success and yet I'm still happy -prolly cause we're still trying to be obedient and working despite the results and that's really enough to stay happy while on the mission. We will have zone conference on the 6th and I'm really excited for it. We're already preparing for it in our studies and I feel like it will be the best one of my mission. Then prolly a week after that I will have my visa trip. Apparently right now, there are missionaries from our mission stuck in Stolkhom for 2 weeks because of troubles with visas etc. (How cool would it be to go to the land of my forefathers?! But I don't know ...we'll see where they send us. I would be happy just to go to the temple).

Anywho, next Monday we will have a culture night. It's an Irish Lord of the Dance type of concert (any of you who really know me realize how excited I am and how big this is for me). I can't believe that October is already starting-how?! I just barely said: Wow, it's already september and now next week it's October .....scary, really scary .....

I've really learned a lot about the work and how to work etc. in the summer, finding new techniques etc, but the winter is a WHOLE other ball game! Contacting becomes difficult because no one wants to stop and talk in the cold, it gets dark around 5/6 PM and we have to switch to big apartment buildings when knocking -which is way different than out in the country as far as responses we get- so basically what I'm saying is, I need to adapt and learn new techniques for the work in the winter and I need your prayers and support to try and make this winter just as successful and a learning experience as my summer was and go home with a bang/on a high note. I know all is possible with the Lord -it just depends on our worthiness and ability to receive and recognize revelation for ourselves, companionship, and area.

I love you all so much- have fun with Eric being there, be sure to take pictures 8) In my emails I've noticed emails about transactions etc. in my account but I haven't' done anything lately. Are you guys putting money in there etc? if so, please let me know (I need to get autumn boots prolly- $30). Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Cepta Richards

(P.S. what did you decide with president Harrison as far as coming out here?)

Attack of the tramvi

2008-09-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Wow...so some news this week it seems like. Go figure that it's when I leave we finally have a hurricane. Mom's right -I would have loved it! I'm glad to hear that everything is ok and we had minimal damage. The Lord is definitely blessing you all and prolly so you could have the time and energy to focus on those who are worse off and help our fellow brothers and sisters. That's cool that the missionaries stayed over -too bad they couldn't help Vlad out before they were done.

So it sounds like I need to apologize for my little comment last week, haha sheesh ...I didn't think it would get THAT big of a reaction since it was only a few sentences. I'm really sorry and please know that you don't need to call my mission president or email him, etc. Of course everyone who needed to know knows about it and I'm fine -seriously 30 minutes afterwards, we had already forgotten about it and carried on. Just a cool story to share someday. Please don't worry or go crazy with your imaginations, everything is fine. Seriously, us sisters rarely if ever get any serious flack for what we're doing. The poor elders though ...haha, just last Sunday there was another companionship who got beaten up (one had a black eye and they broke his glasses). They're the ones who prolly need the extra prayers 8) Anywho, stop worrying everything is fine and it didn't affect me or anything. Actually it was kinda cool how everything worked out and further testimony to me that the Lord knows where we are and will always bless/help us. So there ya go, and thanks for the words to that hymn mom. I've always loved it especially since being on the mish.

Today is the start of a new transfer and we're sooo excited because we're still together! Hurrah! Of course next transfers should be a big change because we have a new sister coming in and prolly a new area for the sisters since we'll have an extra companionship. We're not having to use the mini-missionaries anymore which I'm sure the office elders are happy about. It was always a headache to find someone especially since school has started now, nearly impossible.

Our English club will start up next week so we're really excited to help people feel more comfortable with our church and find through it as well. Um ...what else, what else ....there will be three elders in the office while they're waiting for a new senior couple to come in and take over the Cameron's jobs so our district will liven up a bit. I'm excited that in a few weeks we will have a culture night. It's an Irish dancing concert type thing like Lord of the dance (as you can imagine I'm very excited about this).

The work is going alright but as it always seems to happen we're trying to not get stuck in a rut or pattern and get comfortable with our efforts etc. So we are having new goals at the start of this transfer to be 100% obedient -every little single rule no matter how dumb we think it is, so that we can be worthy of the blessings the Lord has in store for us. I really feel like we need to prove ourselves and then the Lord will give us more and more opportunities.

That's so cool that you guys can see Eric! I hope you all have a great time and he can get some well deserved R&R. Tell him hi from me or if he reads this ....HI!

It's gotten colder here and soon I may need to buy my autumn boots (the old ones died in the spring due to an over full tramvi -tell ya about it later) so I may need....somewhere from 30-40 in my account for that, or I'll just pay -whatever. So yea...it's funny cause I'm not ready for the winter but at the same time it's funny cause my comp is like o man I hate knocking when it's cold etc, so hard and I'm thinking....it's not cold yet 8) But she is from Canada so I think she'll prolly deal with it better than I did my first winter -oh the joys of winter! Um ...I feel like I'm forgetting something ...hmmm.

Thanks for the email mike. It was great to hear how you all are doing. The kids are so grown-up! So crazy ...hey, when I get back if you want to take a weekend or something I'll be more than happy to stay with the kids and watch them etc 8) It'd be a great opportunity to remind them that they have an aunt on that side. Hope all is going well with you and your different undertakings. I hope all is well with Carrie and the pregnancy 8) I love you all sooo much and am just trying to hold on to the time that I've got left here in Russia. I'm not ready!! But am motivated to improve and do more. I guess the most important thing is that I leave on a high -leave better than when I came out then I'll feel like I accomplished something.

O yea! Sister Malinina sent me a pic of her and her now fiance from America who served in our mission with her. He came and visited her in Siberia and now she's just waiting for a visa to go to America then they can pick a date to get sealed in the San Diego temple -soooo cool!!!!!!! Anywho, I hope I'll meet a bunch of people from Russia. I hear there are a ton in Salt Lake from saints who have come over but at the same time ...we really need the strong members to stay here and straighten Zion out here etc. But I don't blame them for wanting to go where there are more young members their age etc. (Though they have tons of conferences for all the youth in the mission to get together at different locations. From what it sounds like -it's basically just an opportunity to find someone to date etc.)

Anywho, got off topic, I love you all and can't wait to see the pics from Eric's visit and maybe some damage around the house. Get a pic of all the missionaries if possible. I just think it's funny that a bunch of them slept over at my house 8)

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

Sister Harrison's note to the sisters

2008-09-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to tell you all how wonderful you are and what a great spirit I felt at our Sister's Session. As I listened to you sing in your beautiful voices and harmonies, it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for all you do. Since many of you took pictures when we were together as sisters only, I am attaching the picture of you with the assistants.

Sending love,
Sister Harrison

Cepta's Conference

2008-09-10T04:26:00.001-07:00

Hello once again,

I'm just sitting down after playing some Frisbee and soccer with about half of our zone. It was fun but man am I out of shape -I think I'll take up jogging again after the mish to reminisce about the mish and get to know my music again 8) The work is going well.

We have two baptismal dates right now but they are both kind of on the weak side. One is a girl who can't come to church on Sundays because of work -have to move it already, and the other is young and her parents are against religion in general and she's scared to talk to them. But both either way, they have had a good experience with the church and hopefully at some point will make the steps if not now.

The sisters' conference was great -was just us with the APs and President and sister Harrison . They covered steps on teaching better, controlling situations better, and we contacted for a couple hours switching up companions talking directly about baptism with people. It was cool and we'll really try to perfect our methods with this, and find something that works.

It'll be an interesting transfer this next week because there will be a threesome somewhere with the sisters until a girl from Ukraine will come out next transfer at the end of October and we'll be even again. Then the transfer after that four will go home leaving us still even and if I went home when the original date happens -Jan- three of us would leave leaving it odd again so I'm thinking -me extending is 99% sure thing just to keep things even. Yea for coming home in March! Um....but yea, so we'll have a three-some for a transfer and I'm pretty sure I'm staying in center (only here two transfers) and the apartment is too small for a 3 some. Right now I'm thinking the 3 some will be in either Volgograd or Tagonrog and we're both thinking that sister Fourtina (my comp) will get a transfer cause she's finishing her 3rd transfer here right now and it's only her first area. They normally move you out of your first area before too long. It's sad because we really love working together and we have more unity in teaching etc/on the same page more than any other companionship I've been in. I almost don't want to start at ground 0 again with someone, but o well...a part of the mission life. I'm feeling like more and more I'm gonna die in Volgograd because that's the only place I haven't been in the mission -either that or go back where I started in Krasnodar. O well, it will be cool...I mean FREEZING!

Well, this week did have one thing of note but it's one of those things that I won't be mentioning til after I get home (now I know you're all thinking: What?! Oh come on. what happened?!) Haha, but that's ok, just one of those things that needs to be told in person. But no need to worry all is well and I know that we are constantly being protected by all of your prayers and the Lord for our service -so keep em' coming.

Oh mom! I forgot almost, for the package please send me a good journal doesn't need to be huge in length/width but thick. It's soo hard to find a good journal here (go for unique if you can, all my journals are so different from each other and I like it)

Steve, thanks so much for the email! I'm not sure if I understand the part about Molly....but anywho I'm sure she's a ...molly Mormon- right? Anywho, keep up the good work at school and say hey to Agard for me (if he's still there, I don't even remember anymore with all the changes in that place). Dad, thanks for the updates -glad to hear that we're so far undefeated.

Amanda, sorry to hear about your grandfather -I know you were really close to him. The longer I've been out here the more clearly I've realized the true reality of life after death and it's almost ridiculous how short of time we have here on earth. Which on one side comforts when dealing with the temporary seperation of loved ones, but on the other side it's too much like my mission right now: racing by and the second we start to feel like we're really doing something and progressing, it's over. I guess what I'm saying is that I hope I can always be conscious and aware of every moment and make it count -I'm only 22 and yet I've let sooo many moments/opportunities fly by or at least let them fly by without really giving them the recognition they deserved. I wish I could be there to just listen to you and your feelings etc. -not that I can give that good of advice but I understand how helpful it is to just talk to someone.

I love you all so much. This mission is so hard -it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and I'm glad it's that hard cause it means the most to me. I'm learning so much and I hope I can continue to push myself, continue to pick myself back up and keep going despite tears, frustrations, or set backs. I know that God will never ask us to deal with more than He himself had to deal with and that we can deal with anything through His help -all is possible. If I could make a request of you: please don't take the knowledge you have for granted. I know it's hard when you've known it all your life -it's like breathing or sleeping, we just don't' think about it and the amazing restorative power it gives us. Just please try and find time each day to really think about and appreciate the knowledge you have. About God -who He is is/His identity. It's soooo simple and elementary to us but it's ALL important. We have a prophet of God a REAL prophet of God in our day....that's HUGE! Do you really realize how amazing that is and that we know it and can benefit from his counsel?! And yea...we know what man has been wondering about all of his existence. Where we're from and whether there is life after this one -where we go and even more so, that we can control where we go based on what we do here. Please remember to remember how great this is and let that drive you to share this knowledge when that tempting voice speaks in the back of your mind: He will think you're weird don't talk about that with him, or ...they're prolly already members-this is Utah after all.... It's better to ask first rather than regret later and hold someone back from getting to partake of the knowledge we have.

I love you and am so grateful for your prayers and have literally seen them being fulfilled in front of my eyes -please keep praying for us out here in Russia your brothers and sisters out here especially need it right now.

Love,

Cectpa Richards

Spitting in the wind

2008-09-03T04:22:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

Well it's a beautiful day in the great city of Rostov-na-Donu. As dad mentioned in his email -our heat has definitely broken with a nice cool breeze pretty much 24/7 and it's been an amazing change. The first day I'll admit I was a little chilled (after all I'm still a Southerner) but now I really like it and hope we get this great weather for awhile and a late winter 8)

So this past week some of the highlights were that our mission President came back (was out of town for visa/mission president conference) and our senior couples who were serving in the office went home this week-sad! They were so great-especially sister Cameron. One day she seemed a lil sad and we asked her if everything was ok and she said no and started to cry. Of course we sisters swarmed and gave her plenty of hugs -just having a stressful day in the office I guess.

She just talked about how great we were and how she has loved serving with all the young missionaries. She told a funny story about how she read an article in the ensign and a girl wrote about her experience on the mission in Atlanta, Georgia. How her first six months were great and then she started to get depressed because it was so hard and they didn't have a lot of success. But then she read in Alma 27 where it talks about the sons of Mosiah getting spit on, thrown in jail, beaten etc. and she realized that it could be worse and she felt better. Sister Cameron said: "I want to write to that girl in the ensign and say, You're serving in ATLANTA, GEORGIA! I know 100 young missionaries who go out and work everyday and they DO get spit on, beaten, and thrown into prison, and they keep working and keep smiling, not to mention the language barrier that they have to overcome -honey, your mission doesn't count as hard!" (Her words not mine -I recognize that every mission is hard regardless of location.) But it was just really moving to hear her love for us and how she got emotional about it. And just for the stats, no I have not been spit on -someone tried but it was a windy day 8) Anywho, they were great missionaries and I'll miss them. We have a few more pairs scheduled to come out soon.

Me and my comp have really been focusing on planning every hour of every day with goals etc. and it's been amazing the difference it has made in the work. (I know, duh!) But yea, and we've also started contacting in a very small circle around the church building and inviting people off the streets to come and see and learn more and it's been working. We found 7 new investigators this past week and half of them were from contacting which is not common. We really love this new bold way of contacting and have been getting many great new experiences in teaching and helping people have a good first experience with the church. If nothing else hopefully they'll remember the spirit they felt in that church one day.

The soccer game was great! I took some pics and videos from it -it was a big stadium but the turn out was kinda sad. They had a full section that I guess you could call "the front row fanatics". They had all these complicated cheers, etc. and they all did them together so we could hear them from where we were. We won (of course 1-0). We played some other town from the north -forgot the name. It was way fun but not too crazy, lots of words that I didn't' understand were being yelled and so I figured they were "motts" (means cuss words).

Today from 1-4 we are having another game day at the mission home which means: homemade cookies, popcorn, etc. and fun card games with the funny elders in our zone = 8) Then the sisters will be staying for the night and half of tomorrow for my first ever sisters' conference. I'm sooo excited because there are only 9 of us and we have never all been together at the same time before. Plus it will be great to learn from each other and hear specific counsel from our president and leaders.

Also, we will stop using mini missionaries -too hard with school starting so there will be a three some for one transfer so we will need to get that all figured out. I think I will stay here but I feel like Cectpa Fourtina will move on prolly -already been here 3 transfers and it's her first area on the mission. But we both want to stay together because we really have found a rhythm and I dunno ...I have really felt like we have both worked hard to improve ourselves as missionaries, teachers, etc. and I love setting goals with her and learning how to be better. At least the Lord knows what we need and where we need to be so we'll see.

One of the lessons from a referral we received from the elders went really well yesterday. She's really interested in religion and feels like none of her friends care so she can never talk about it with them. When I told her about the first vision etc. she had all this excitement in her eyes and said: "Class" (like classic -slang that they're using here) and wanted to meet with us today but we had no time so we're meeting on Friday -such a great girl! And sooo smart, talks about how she doesn't agree that people can just decide to become priests/have priesthood etc. Or that it's just dependant on how long they are in the monastery etc. -becomes a matter of time more than a matter of God. So yea..real great.

Sounds like everyone is doing great and it was great to hear about the latest news and see the pics. Good luck with all those tropical storms (luckies...) and Go Cougs! I was way excited to hear that we won. I love you all sooo much and am so excited to be here and do this work. The more I'm focusing on improving myself and do my part to improve teaching/etc. the happier I am and I know it's because God is happy with us and our imperfect efforts.

As far as a package mom....uh...I dunno, haha....maybe some type of Halloween decorations. If we decide to do a Halloween activity at the branch etc. -would be cool. I feel like I'm forgetting something but I dunno what else to say. Did you need any more specific info as far as when to come out here or did you talk to the office couple? If not you'll have to a wait a lil cause we'll just have the office elders in there for awhile and I don't know how helpful they're gonna be 8) I love you all!!! Think of ways you can share the gospel with those around you and support the missionaries.

Cectpa Richards.
P.S. tell our neighbor "preevyet" from me and that he has a great homeland here 8)
Oh and Steve ...write!

Sister Lubov's amazing story of love

2008-08-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

Sister Cameron and her husband work in the mission office in Rostov, Russia. They sent this beautiful story to us this morning about a member of the church who lived in their branch in Sochi.

Sister Love

When we lived in Sochi (claim to fame: home of the winter Olympics 2014, and favorite vacation spot for many Russians), we became acquainted with an angel by the name of Sister Lubov (or, Sister Love). She was 90 years old at the time. She was probably the sweetest lady in Russia; always had a smile, never a complaint, and carried the spirit of the gospel with her. Even though walking was not easy for her and she could only take small steps, she walked to church.

Born in 1916, she grew up in an LDS family in Siberia. However, before she was old enough to be baptized, the communists took over government, banned all religion, and her family had to worship in secret. Her family's farm and property were confiscated, and they eventually had to move. After her parents died, she continued her search to find the true church, but to no avail. With the fall of communism around 1989, churches were eventually allowed to function again in the country and LDS missionaries came in the early 1990's. Sister Lubov found the true church again through a friend, and after waiting her whole life to be baptized, was finally able to do this on November 24, 1996 at the age of 80 in Krasnodar, Russia. Later, for health reasons, she moved to the more temperate climate of Sochi to live out the final days of her life.

This is where we met her, in October 2006, while we served in Sochi for the first 7 months of our mission. While there, we heard that Sister Lubov had dictated her story to a friend several years previous. We asked around and found someone who had a worn out copy of the original. Sister Cameron then painstakingly typed this Russian document into our computer and started translating it into English. One of our Russian tutors, Elena, was also very helpful. We then had Sister Lubov proofread the (Russian) account and give her approval.

Her story, in her own words, is included below, and attached as a word doc. If you know anyone who would like it in Russian, let us know. We thought you might find it interesting, as it portrays what it was like to have a religious conviction during the communist era. We have submitted it to the Liahona magazine, Russian version, and have heard that they are waiting for an appropriate issue, and to verify the account.

Sister Lubov died in Sochi on November 21, 2007 at the age of 91. She was greatly loved by the local members of the branch, the missionaries, and all who became acquainted with her. She will live in our hearts forever, as someone who had the true light of Christ with her. I am sure she is enjoying a wonderful reunion with her parents and other family members who have preceded her to the spirit world.

The attached pictures were taken in Sochi, Russia.

Elder Cameron

"Early Siberian Mormons"
by Lubov Sergeevna Korol (Любовь Сергеевна Король)
(as told to Zina Popova, October 2002)

I was born on the 15th of August 1916 in Siberia, in the village of Korbushkino, in the region of Omsk, into the family of Sergei Markelovich Azaripin. My father, Sergei Markelovich, got married in 1904 to a Mormon, Anna Ivanovna, from the Mormon family of Dmitrievs. Soon he joined the Mormon church. My recollections begin at the age of eight. My family lived in the city of Omsk and was very prosperous. My father had a large expensive house, a large cattle stockyard, a poultry yard and a grocery store. We also had property in the taiga with a house and stockyard. My father worked very hard. The people he worked with, who he had hired, respected and loved him.
We had five children in our family. We all went to middle school and then continued our education in other academic institutions. Before 1924, I knew my parents believed in God and called themselves Mormons. They cared about us and watched over our spiritual upbringing. As an eight year old girl in the second grade, I loved to read the Bible. I loved this book immediately. I did not understand much, but I liked to read it as the story of Christianity and the ancient world. We did not have the Book of Mormon, but my parents knew about the dream of Lehi, the tree of life and about the rod leading to it. The Book of Mormon was translated into the Russian language in 1930, but at that time all religions were forbidden in Russia. Papa and Mama sang hymns and prayed together with us. Papa always prayed and blessed the food before meals. My parents often drove to the chapel in the village from where we had moved. My grandfather who lived in that village, also joined the church.
But in 1924, all religious communities were closed and forbidden and the members were persecuted by the authorities. Our chapel in the village was closed. My parents had a large house and a very large yard where we could put people and horse wagons. A very tall fence was around the house. On Sundays, members of the church came to our place in order to hold their meetings. This was a great secret. We closed the windows and doors tightly, and we watched that our neighbors did not suspect that we were holding meetings in our house. Christians were deprived of freedom, sent to camps and prisons, and their property was taken away by the authorities. I was present at these meetings which took place at our home, as were all the children. I remember these meetings well. Before starting a meeting, members of the church sang hymns, knelt in prayer, and asked forgiveness of each other. Even though much time has past, I still remember many members of the Church who came to us often. Many of them were our relatives. I can name some of the family names: the Lyubushkins, the Bodrovs, the Kudrins, the Sayapins, the Aistovs, the Kondrashovs, the Dmitrievs, the Chistyakovs, the Samoylovs, the Lonshakovs, the Mamontovs, the Bocharovs, and the Santalovs.
Mormons were friendly families with many children, hard-working and rich, strong in health and material well-being. They and their children received the best education.
After the chapel in the village was closed, persecution of the members continued. Many were arrested and they disappeared to unknown places. At best, they were sent to an unsettled place in another part of the country, but all their property was taken away from them. My Papa had told me that earlier 300 Siberian Mormon families had migrated to Canada with their Bishop, Ivan Philippovich, as Papa called him.
One night, someone knocked at the gate. This was one of my parents' acquaintances. He came secretly to warn us that Papa was to be arrested as a member of the Church. It was necessary for Papa to leave the city immediately that night.
After Papa left the city of Omsk secretly at night, he went to Kazakhstan, to the city of Semipalatinsk. Members of the Church who had been evicted earlier were living there. In this city, they began the construction project of the Turkestan-Siberian railroad. My father had to change his last name to Abramov in order to avoid arrest. After some time, Mama received a message from him, that she must immediately gather the children and prepare to go to him. She grabbed the children, a bucket of eggs, and a bag of dry bread, and that night we left the city. Most of all, we regretted not being able to take our large library. With difficulty we reached the place where Papa was. For our family's residence we were given a freight train wagon. In these freight train wagons, all the people who built the railroad, lived and moved on the laid tracks. This was only the prairie, so there was no school and we did not have the opportunity to continue our education during this time. Papa worked on constructing the railroad. Mama cared for us and was expecting a baby. And we, the children, also worked, laundering clothes for the workers.
After a year of living in this way, we reached the city of Alma-Ata, the capital of Kazakhstan. Papa worked there as a railroad switch man. Mama and the children earned money washing linens. We also continued our education. Papa worried very much about his friends who had stayed behind in the city of Omsk, but it was dangerous to go there.
I went to Omsk in order to study in the medical department at college. I worried very much. I was very afraid that I would be expelled from the college, because I bore my father's real last name. The whole time that I spent there, my stomach was clenched in fear that they would find out that my parents were Mormons. In this country, children of Mormons did not have the right to receive an education and all academic institutions were run by the government.
One time, a man I did not know came to me and gave me a passport for Papa in his real name. Papa wanted very much to have spiritual association and he wanted very much to return to his friends in Siberia. I put this passport in a wooden box, spread cedar nuts over it, nailed it shut, wrapped it with cloth, and mailed it to Papa. Soon Papa returned to Omsk with all the family. He was very happy to meet with his spiritual brothers and sisters. But we didn't live in Siberia long, because we had to escape. Now we moved further to the south of Russia, to Krasnodar. Papa was a farmer. He raised cattle and chickens, because it was dangerous for him to apply for government work. I entered the medical university, graduated from it, and found work as a doctor.
All this time, Papa didn't stop looking for the Mormon Church. He went to different villages and cities in Southern Russia in the hope of finding his favorite community, but he didn't find it. He tried to join another church which proclaimed Jesus Christ as their God and Savior, but he wasn't able to feel the Holy Spirit there. He tried to tell about the true and complete Gospel, but it didn't give any results. At home, Papa and Mama sang hymns, read the scriptures and prayed.
Years passed, but my loving parents did not join any Church. My friends asked me what was the name of my church, and I answered that it has the name of one of the ancient prophets – Mormon. I didn't know any other name of the church.
My parents died, but there are some of my father's words in my memory: "The Mormon Church is the only true Church of God on the earth. Only this Church has the fullness of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit." All his life he was trying to find a similar church, but he didn't find it.
One warm October day, I came back from the market and I saw my friend Irina, the daughter of a deceased friend. Irina told me that she needed my family's help. She had got acquainted with American missionaries and had a desire to listen to the discussions. But she could only listen to them in a family where there was a man, since she was a single woman. Then I wondered which church these missionaries represented. Irina said that they were Mormons. At that moment my legs got weak and I saw a bright light like lightning before my eyes. A great joy filled my whole mind. I thought about my parents who had not lived to be with me this happy day. On the next Sunday I was in the church meeting. The church was situated across the street near my home. I was very sick but I wanted to be baptized as soon as possible. In a month, I was baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost.
I am very grateful to God for his mercy to me. It is a great joy to be a member of the true church of God on the earth. I can't express it with words. Finally I am in the place I belong in the house of God. I still cannot believe that it happened in my life. I pray in the morning, in the afternoon and evening, and I thank God for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and for his Church. Jesus Christ is my older brother. Now I am 86 years old and I feel happiness, joy and hope, that I will have an opportunity to meet Him soon. The support of God and a loving church help me to live here on the earth.
I have been to the temple in far away Sweden twice. God blessed me with health, so that I could go this difficult way to do the necessary ordinances for myself and my parents and other relatives. It took me 2 nights and a day by train, then 2 days and a night by bus, then one night by ferry and several hours by bus to Stockholm. I am planning to go there for the third time and now I am praying about this blessing. And all this I say in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Editors note: On November 21, 2007, at the age of 91, Sister Lubov (translated literally "Sister Love") passed away in Sochi, Russia, where she had been living for the last several years of her life. She is fondly remembered by all who knew her or met her.

Gas Water

2008-08-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Another week has flown by in good ol' Rostov and as always I'm enjoying the sometimes hectic, roller coaster type ride, that is the mission. Last Monday one girl that we had been working with for awhile -just hard to pin her down because of work told us she wanted to be baptized. But we just heard from her yesterday that she prolly can't make it to church for the next few Sundays because of a girl at work being out of town. Which means we have to push her date back -sigh.....up and down, up and down. But anyway, everything is fine.

We talked with a less active girl who got baptized three years ago but has been in Moscow studying and living with grandparents that don't like the church so she hasn't gone. She was so cute and still had a testimony etc. and she brought her two younger sisters with her. So we talked about the church and showed the restoration video and gave them books of Mormon. They're way excited to come to church on Sunday and we're meeting with them tonight. So yea, the work is moving forward either way.

The weather has gotten a lil better yesterday and today -not as hot with less humidity so that has been very helpful seeing is all we do is knocking/contacting on the street which = very hot! The best is when we're knocking and we ask if someone could give us water to drink. They always do by the way, way nice - and they bring back room temperature, gas water.....yuck! But you take what you can get. I still don't love it (carbonated water that is) but I can drink it now.

We had Cectpa King (she was with me in the MTC) come and work with us for a few days cause they couldn't find a mini-missionary for her. It was fun but hard to orchestrate. Working effectively in a 3-some isn't exactly the easiest, but it was fine and we learned from each other. Today sisters from Taganrog are coming to stay with us til tomorrow to do splits with us so that will be interesting to learn from them etc.

The other thing of note I guess is this Friday we are planning on having our monthly culture night (by the way I've only done 2 of these while being here for almost 11 months, haha) and we're gonna get a bunch of us together from ours and the north zone to see a football (I mean soccer) match here in Rostov. This means we get to wear regular clothes (prolly what I'm most excited about) and it will be way fun since it's always a big deal here. Hopefully it happens 'cause we'll get to see the other sisters and Kristina (a girl from Taganrog -where I served last who is a mini-missionary right now).

Well I better close but I want all of you to know that I love you and that I'm so grateful for all your prayers and well wishes/happy thoughts. No matter if the work is going easy, or if it seems we've hit a wall -either way I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that he saw God and His son Jesus Christ on that Spring day and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. The only thing that can get in our way of knowing this, is our own selves/pride/lack of faith etc. I guess the one comforting thought is that God knows our hearts and our desires etc. He knows what we want to do and will always understand us.

I just remembered a joke/quote from someone that I heard while on the mission. It's something to the effect of: Missionaries who serve in the states/in their own languages come home really spiritual, etc. Those who serve in places that speak: Spanish, French, Italian etc. come back spiritual, and knowing their languages really well. Those who serve in Russia ...come back humbled. Hahaha, well, something like that. I love this work and in a way am thankful for the trying times because I know that a good time is just around the corner.

I love you all.
Cectpa Rchards

Letter from the Rostov Mission office

2008-08-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

Dear parents of the greatest missionaries in the world,

Some of you have asked about how the Russia/Georgia war has affected us. As you know, we are in the Russian mission closest to Georgia, but generally there has been very little disruption to missionary work in our mission. However, in the neighboring mission of Armenia which takes in Georgia, the missionaries were evacuated to Yerevan, Armenia. They may be returning within several weeks if things stabilize. This includes a missionary couple who were in our mission for about one year before being re-assigned to Georgia before the war broke out.

Right now, the only negatives for our missionaries are a few things President Bush said in support of Georgia that don't sit too well with some of the Russians. So far none or our missionaries have been harassed very much, except for a few isolated verbal threats. As a precaution, and at the advice of the US Embassy in Russia and our Area Presidency, we are temporarily pulling missionaries out of a city that is close to the conflict (Stavropol), even though they were not in any immediate danger, and there were no reported threats upon our missionaries working in that city. The missionaries serving there will be re-assigned to other areas in the mission.

It is different watching the news on TV here (the new stations are owned by the government). It is very one sided, and makes Georgia look like the total bad guy. Watching bits and pieces of the Olympics is also interesting. Russia is understandably highlighted, and there is very little coverage of any person or team unless they are in an event with Russia. We have seen several events that we didn't even know existed in the Olympics.

Speaking of Olympics, it will be interesting to see how this conflict will affect the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi.

Thank you for your continued support of your missionary.

Love,
Elder & Sister Cameron

PS, we will go home on Sept 2nd, and report to our home ward in Las Vegas on Sept 14th. We are going to miss working with these excellent missionaries, but look forward to seeing our family again, especially our granddaughter (only grandchild so far) who was born the day we got out of the MTC. (We got special permission to visit with her for a few days before we boarded the plane to Russia.)

I'm melting ...

2008-08-20T05:12:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
Sorry for the lateness in my writing but the Internet cafe crashed earlier -only had time to read but not write and now with less than an hour to be home and starting our comp study I'm here writing this to you. See how much I love ya! It is soooo hot here!!! I'm melting -the humidity etc. and we're always outside contacting or knocking.

Well this week started off great. We contacted two girls on the street who we invited on the spot to come look at the church and explain about it and they said yea (crazy huh?). So that was way cool and we taught one of the better lessons on the mission and all because we asked a lot of questions, really involving them and they seemed to really like it. So we'll see what happens 8) Then we met up with Nastia -we knocked into her family awhile ago and we thought we would have to drop her soon cause she wasn't progressing. But she said that she read in the book of Mormon at work and prayed to understand it better and that it worked and that she wants to be baptized! We were shocked of course but so happy so we will have to teach her everything and will hopefully be meeting with her as much as her work allows. She even said she knows that if she prays the Lord will help her.

I've really learned a lot about the importance of goals and planning this week. We've really taken a long look at how we plan our days and have really broken it down to every hour with goals and activities and it's amazing how much faster the day goes and how much easier it is to focus on the work rather than one big lump goal for the day. I know I know, duh! But I just figured this out. So yea, everything is going great with the work.

It was great to get all of your letters and pictures. It was fun to look down memory lane a little. Oh yea, and mom: of course I would love to watch the different football games! What else will I have to do when I'm home?! Haha, of course I don't know if I'll wanna watch the ones the ones we lost but we'll see 8) Steve- keep me updated with what's new etc, and how band is going etc.

Um ...Amanda and Devin -you are both putting up a very weak fight for most letters sent to me, the judges are not impressed 8) Write with any cool news! Carrie and Brett: Congratulations!!!! It was so great to see your pictures 8) Sara, I'm very proud to think that you are in Texas and going to honky tonks ....I can honestly say I've never been ....and I've lived there 10 years .....ahem!

I'm loving this work more and more and am so grateful to see the Lord's hand helping me become a better missionary. He has a lot to help me with 8) but I know it would be impossible without Him. It's crazy to think that Andrea is going home at Thanksgiving ....that's sooooo soon! I'm grateful that I will have a little longer out here, but seriously the time is flying and I'm not sure what to do about it except to not think about it and work. I love you all.

Cectpa Richards

P.S. No mom, I'm not too thin. I'm eating plenty and if anything I could stand to be a little thinner 8)

Update

2008-08-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

For those of you who might be concerned with the recent fighting in Georgia, I am posting the email I received this morning from the couple serving in the Rostov mission office.

Our mission and our missionaries are fine and safe. Our mission has not been affected by the fighting at this point. The missionaries from the Armenian mission who were serving in Georgia were all evacuated safely last Saturday evening and are currently serving in Armenia. None of our missionaries have been moved, nor is it felt that we are in any danger. We will certainly let you know if the situation changes. Our office processes visas on a weekly basis. There is always some group which is coming or going. We have not heard that Russia is refusing visas, so any rumors to the contrary are not true. If there comes a time when our missionaries must leave, they will finish their missions in another mission. Thank you for letting your wonderful daughter serve with us. She's a great missionary.

sister Cameron

I love mail!

2008-08-13T06:39:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Whitney and her companion Cepta Fourtina taken at a zone conference held on Monday August 11th. (Interesting food!)

Hello everyone!

Sorry to say this week prolly won't be as eventful but maybe that's a good thing seeing as the events last week weren't the most uplifting. So my companion left yesterday early (5:30 a.m.) for Prague and the temple visit in Germany (so jealous!) and won't be back til Friday at 3 a.m. I saw her off and was there for my package that was brought in right then. I was so happy! But...just one question....what was with the pink hat Steve???? I mean....it's cool and all but when in the world would I wear it?? It's not warm and it's not "missionary" but thanks for the thought-haha everyone was perplexed by it but elder Mendenhall tried it on and it looked alright so it was appreciated 8)

Um, yea, so I waited for a mini missionary that didn't come so I slept on the president's comfy couch in his office for an hour and then the office elders called Lena (a girl from Taganrog branch) to come be with me which was great because we know each other well and she always helped us missionaries on meetings so she has experience. Today we are prolly gonna get together with the sisters in the north zone and do something.

Yes of course I heard about the war that started in Georgia -always sad to hear about man's reasoning and ways of settling problems -and I mean that in a mankind sense and not a sexist sense 8) As you all know we are not receiving anymore missionaries from America which so far we haven't felt much impact from it but soon prolly will -every transfer when more and more come home but in October we are receiving two missionaries (one being a sister from Ukraine) so they are finding and trickling in for sure. I think it's actually great for the church in Russia because it's demanding more of the members to step it up on the missionary front and helping which is just what they need to gain strong testimonies and will lay a strong foundation for the church in the future here in raising great families etc. and really understand the doctrine and how to LIVE the gospel.

Anywho, thanks soooo much for all the great letters this week! I got emails from Eric and through mom -lots of great news. I'm so excited for Carrie and Brett!!!!!! congrats!!!!!! and happy birthday to Sara!!!!!! and hi to everyone else! (I have also received letters through dear elder from Sara, Amanda, Devin, Jacob, Russ, etc ) They're coming so keep em' coming -thanks so much! Sorry if I don't write much snail mail to you all but I don't have American stamps and no time too so it's hard but it really makes my day when I can hear how all my friends are doing and all is well with you!

There's been a lull in new investigators lately but that's prolly cause we're really trying to focus on the elect. I want those who are ready now and I'm tired of waisting time meeting with people and trying to convince them -if they're not ready, they will be later. I need those who have been prepared by the Lord so hopefully if we show our faith enough and determination he will choose to bless us. I love you all and thank you so much for all your support! I know I am who I am because of each of my friendships with you and the things I've learned from you all!

Cectpa Richards

What's important ...in life

2008-08-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well hello to everyone!

This letter is guaranteed to be a great tear-jerker, gut buster, and head scratcher because I owe you all that much from the embarrassment of last weeks letter 8) AND I'm on a well greased key board (no, it's really greasy) so no sticky keys to hold me up from my amazing blur of 65 words per minute.

So....as of last weeks experience....So we knocked into this girl who was about our age- she was way sweet and invited us in to chat and her mom was sitting at a table outside under the shade of their patio and we just chatted, explained who we were what we were doing and taught the restoration and gave her a book of Mormon. This girl who was 21 like us had been investigating different churches off and on but had seemed to grow tired of the different weird things in each of them etc. So she was interested to see if this church was different (cue the choir!) So yea, we had a return appointment set-up but because of a conflict with work it didn't pull through so a little time passed by. This girl was really cool and funny -she taught us Russian slang that's popular right now: ice= cool, and jest (with a soft j)= bad. Anyway, we really liked her and were excited for her to come and see all the cool young members etc here.

Finally we called her and set up an appointment for the next day to stop by. We stopped by after finally remembering where she lived and her younger brother answered the door and said come on in, why are you knocking?! Then we came in and sat down with her mom. Right away I knew something was off cause her mom seemed really out of it/upset. She said that her daughter wasn't there -had gone into work. It seemed like there had to be something more wrong if she was so sad so I asked what happened. She said that her daughter had gathered all her money and things and left the day before. Apparently this had happened periodically as she was growing up -would leave and live on the streets/be with friends and just recently her mom found out that she had been a prostitute and had prolly returned to this lifestyle. Needless to say we were stunned (well ...I was, my comp didn't catch the part about prostitution). It was as if I had heard she had died in some tragic accident. I could only think about how cool she was, how sweet and how much potential she had and STILL has. So yea....pretty solemn visit with the mom.

Her mom talked about how she was soooo hurt by this and so embarrassed for her daughter and ashamed. She talked about how she had no hope for her daughter, no hope that she would ever straighten up and change. She talked about how after our first visit her daughter looked at her and said: "Oh mama, they are such good girls, so beautiful, and clean/modest and happy." and then said that she was going to read in the Book of Mormon. (Her mom encouraged her thinking she could start hoping her daughter would find something here in this church to change her.) And then this happened.

Honestly sitting here right now it's hard not to cry just thinking about it and the situation. Everything becomes more sharper when you're a missionary. Your joys, your pains and your sadness. I've never been so saddened because of sin in others -and not because I'm thinking: sad, they sinned; but because I'm thinking of how UNBELIEVABLY EASY it is for them to turn around and come back into their Father's arms. And the huge lie that Satan tells us -probably the biggest lie in all of history: that we can't repent. We can't change, it's too hard, just give up, just keep on going like you are -it's not bad, we're all doing it etc. I really realized my unshakable hope and faith in the atonement on this day. Listening to her mom talk about how there is no hope for her daughter. There was a voice inside that just sat up and said: NO. That's not true! There is ALWAYS hope -ALWAYS! And I told her that. I told her how we can always come back no matter how far we've strayed in life, no matter how old we are, tired we are, undeserving we are -we can ALWAYS come back and God and Jesus are ALWAYS waiting for us with open arms -it is never too late and it's always possible and there is always hope.

I just marveled at this hope that I felt within me for her - she's had a good experience with the church, she's seen the results that can be had: clean happiness and she has our information and the book of Mormon -I just hope she realizes sooner than later that she can leave this troubled life on the streets and find a building with that beautiful plaque on it and come home -she can always come home, it's waiting for her, she's just in her own way right now. I love her and I don't hardly know her and yet I have all the hope in the world for her -I try to pray for her every night where ever she is. So yea....that was my experience.

Also while walking on the streets last week there was a crowd of people and we didn't know why but as we worked our way through we saw a body of an older woman (50-60s) just laying spread eagle. It took a minute to realize that she had died -I'm not sure how, had to have been natural cause she was on the sidewalk but the sadness of it really hit me - as I took in her nice outfit, well done nails which were now being buzzed around by flies -but it was strange because the sadness I felt was for a different reason ...it wasn't because she had died -of course I was sad for her family and the loss they would soon be experiencing but it was because she probably hadn't done everything she should have in life -prolly hadn't heard the restored gospel, been baptized, had that eternal vision of what was awaiting her, so that everything was in order.

I wanted so strongly to find her family and tell them where she was and how they could be together again. This life is so fleeting, so short, and so all important. Really understanding and seeing the eternal purposes behind everything is what gives it so much meaning -because, without it, without that understanding of who we are and why we are here, it's all really just....pointless....momentary pleasures and suffering, with empty fashions and just objects that we place all around us to make us feel like we did something, that we have purpose and meaning in our lives: No, life is great, I have a car ....I'm a car owner -like we use it all to give ourselves titles/identity but when you think of who we really are and how pale all of this stuff is in comparison it's pretty ridiculous.

That's what we're really doing here -just reminding people of who they are and why they're here, and how they can get back. Anywho ...sorry for the way long and deep stuff but just some stuff I've been coming to terms with and thinking about lately. We had transfers today-Monday, p-day and I'm hoping to get your package today mom! Um...we're still together which is great, still have so much to accomplish together. We have one girl who we want to help progress but her work schedule is always in the way -so hard to tell people to just have faith and find work that allows them to be there on Sunday, so hard ....but so worth it. The trick is helping them see that.

Well I love you all and sorry there wasn't as many laughs in this one -I forgot all the funny stuff that happened 8)

Luv ya,
Cectpa Richards

P.S. Steve- thanks for the mail! and don't worry -I'm always careful and nothing is going to happen, the Lord is looking out for us -luv ya! (I looked Russian in your dream? cool! What does that mean??)

P.S.S. O yea, and dad -I talked to president and he said that I'm prolly definitely staying an extra transfer so it will be around the middle of march when I'm done but if you REALLY need a date because you're using flyer miles or something and need to buy early let me know and I'll talk to him again but normally he said that if you wait a little longer the price always goes down before going back up right at the end. He also joked with me that I could go home with him and his wife in July -I was like: "Are you kidding me?!" with a big grin and then he said: "Yes, I am." I was so mad! I threatened to never bring him cookies again (Yea, I def learned the art of bribery while here in Russia 8) anywho, luv ya all!

ARRGGHH!!!

2008-07-30T01:07:00.000-07:00

Please tell me you got a long email from me!!! If not I'm gonna go cry-literally it was so long and full of funny details and an experience that I had yesterday. I have no time to write today and I put so much effort into that email! ARRGGHH! I HATE email here! Breathe, breathe....sigh, ok so everything is fine and I'll write on Monday I guess-geez! Dad- I don't know that guy-met him last week and heard he was going to Houston for work and gave ya'lls number.

Luv

Yacectpa Richards

The land of Prague

2008-07-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Well hello there....Wow, what a great week of letters! and great pics too which are always so fun!
So yes I was in Prague last week. We left early Tuesday morning and flew straight there. We got in at like 9 am Prague time and met our contact (well ok, travel agent) at the airport who showed us our hotel which seemed glorious to us and was nice enough to show us different spots that we might want to hit up. So we checked in and then went to old town Prague and the Charles bridge which is very famous for some reason. (People say you haven't been to Prague until you've been there so I can officially say I've been). We saw tons of old buildings/cathedrals which I took tons of pictures of. I swear I felt like I was in the slides of my humanities class! We got to see a chamber orchestra perform in an old cathedral with amazing acoustics. They performed classics like the Four Seasons, Cannon in D and Ave Maria, it was great!
Also of course it was way fun to see the ol' gang from the MTC. Everyone seems to be doing well though two of the elders are currently serving in the Baltics mission up in Estonia because they had trouble getting an invitation letter this go around so we hope they will all return soon. We thought we'd have more time there but as it turns out we flew back the next morning and got home by three so there ya have it.
Um, I'm not sure why you think I'm with a mini-missionary but it's understandable with my track record, but yea...I'm with Cectpa Fourtina who is a full time missionary. This is her second transfer and she's from Canada and speaks French but knows English too and is great! We love serving together and both have a real desire for the work which is nice. Um....what else, what else.....oh yea, I bought a shirt in Prague which I love and we had to pay for food out of our own pockets for some reason. Normally they give us MSF but this time it was up to us....and Prague is VERY expensive so....any replenishing of the funds would be VERY appreciated 8) (This is to the parents obviously)
Um....So Dad I got your email and don't worry it won't distract me -it still is an eternity away. (At least that's what I tell myself to help me sleep at night!) So I'll try and talk to President when I go to the office today but so you know ...we got an email that says the usual about how it's hard for families to come out, and they know they want to know info to buy tickets at the best prices etc. but because of visa requirements/trips etc. we won't know the end of our mission (if we'll extend or not etc.) until 2 or 3 months before the end of the mission. But like I said I'll try and talk to President today cause he knows I want to extend and with the lack of foreign missionaries coming in I would think it shouldn't be a problem so ...we'll see.
What else, what else....so yea, the family we found is great but they haven't really grasped on to the gospel like we'd have hoped and it's hard to meet with them -all different schedules. Their daughter who is 21 and is just going through a hard divorce has two kids -4 months and 1 1/2 is interested and even is open to baptism. But right now her schedule at work changed and she doesn't think she can make it out on Sundays in the near future. So we're praying really hard for her to be able to talk to someone or change with someone. So please pray for her! We found another mom and her daughter on Monday and a lady yesterday and we're going back to both later this week so we'll see how seriously interested they are.
I've been trying harder lately to have a focused mind throughout the entire day. One thing about the mission is that it is pretty easy to do the physical stuff -go knocking, talk to people around you etc. But the actual hard part is keeping your mind always focused and thinking of something productive whether reviewing memorized verses, vocab, investigators, or anything religious and not letting your mind wander to memories of fun times before the mission or movies coming out etc. But the more I've tried and we've prayed, the better our successes have been and I really see the Lord helping me grow in abilities necessary. But like Mike said -the key is to stay humble and teachable. Sometimes the Russian people definitely help me stay humble, haha! One person will comment on how well I can speak, the next will bluntly tell me that I speak terribly. Or more often than not they will ask why my companion has a clearer accent than me ? (Her native language is French so I guess it's easier to speak clearer to their ears.) So in a way it's a blessing cause it keeps me humble.
Apparently the 4th of August will be our P-day because of transfers (it's a Monday) just so you all know. Well I love you all! ...And I would write a fun story of me romping around the mother land like Russ requested but I'm afraid I'm running out of time so I'll save it for next time.
I love you all!
Cectpa Richards

Speaking of visas ...

2008-07-16T23:49:00.000-07:00

Whitney was busy traveling to Prague today to renew her visa so she hasn't been able to write yet this week. In the meantime I will post a recent email we received from the missionary couple serving in the mission home in Rostov Russia.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3765094

Dear Parents of Missionaries in the Russia Rostov Mission,

In case you missed the news about Russia and missionary work, I have included the link above. You might find it interesting. It says that the church has decided to not send any more N. American missionaries to Russia for the time being. Those we thought were coming here have been reassigned. [Couples are an exception. We will still get an occasional couple from America. We got a couple last month, and are expecting one in September or October to replace us--we go home the first week of September.] If your son or daughter is currently serving here, they will finish their mission here. The change applies only to future missionaries.

We are hopeful that things might change in the future, but for now maybe it is a good thing for the church in Russia--to help them be more independent. We have seen many more Russian youth step up to the plate and get themselves ready for a mission. Many of these were on the sidelines before the change in visa requirements, but since have had a change of heart and are now preparing to serve.
Since about October of last year, the new visa requirements say that foreigners need to exit Russia every 3 months to renew their visas. The article didn't say this, but my opinion as to why this is would be a deterrent is two fold: 1.--Too disruptive to missionary work, and 2.--Too expensive. It takes several days to renew a visa, and the cost to fly to a foreign country that will do this for us is becoming a major factor.

From your personal front line reporters:

Elder & Sister Cameron
Russia Rostov Mission

news article below:

LDS Church stops sending North American missionaries to Russia
July 14th, 2008 @ 7:29pm
(KSL News) Because of visa problems, missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from North America will no longer serve in Russia.
The Deseret News reports that North American missionaries already there will finish serving their missions. However, those currently in the Missionary Training Center who had been called to Russia will be assigned to other missions.
Last year, Russia began requiring foreigners on humanitarian visas, which includes missionaries, to leave the country every three months to renew their visas.

Rostov Central

2008-07-09T04:41:00.000-07:00

Well hello all!

Things are going great here in Rostov central. Last week we found 6 new investigators which is more than I've found in one week ever...I think. Not all quality but there is a family in there that we are really excited about so please pray for us! Today was a good p-day for many reasons: we now have food 8) and a clean apartment 8) 8) and we saw Sisters King and Taylor at the office (they're in Rostov North so I get to see them every now and then) and I got some great mail from you guys! I got the very long letter from dearelder updating me on friends and family which was way fun to read.

Today we were in a park that sells all sorts of Russian dolls and magnets and things. I only got a few things but I figure it will be a must see for mom when you guys come. Hmm....what else....I love my comp! We really help motivate each other and she is such a great example to me! I actually prefer working with younger missionaries -think I learn more from them. Technically I am in the same branch as President but he's barely ever there- always touring the mission for zone conferences etc.

So Next Tuesday we leave on our next visa trip and get back the next day so I'm not sure how much we'll get to see of Prague but I will be VERY upset if we miss the temple (apparently two hours away in Germany). I miss it sooooo much and it would be a real spiritual boost. It's pretty warm here but the other week we had some rain for a couple of hours and because of how the streets are, they turned into rivers. have some cool pics I'll show ya some time, but yea...mostly hot here. I'm really loving the work here and am learning how to give more and more of myself which of course means I feel better and better about my efforts-funny how that works.

Steve: Thanks for the story I loved it so much (if you couldn't tell I'm using my sarcastic font)!
Mom: I didn't get your pictures of copper and the garden yet and if you could put 40-50 in my account I'd love you even more! I'm gonna try and find some more short-sleeve shirts and maybe a new skirt at secondhand.
Everyone else: Thank you so much for all of your love and support. I love hearing about how everyone is growing and the new things you are tackling. I was way excited to hear about the new mission call in the fam- congrats! You'll do great, and I hear Colorado is gorgeous. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one freezing in the winters 8). Well I better go but thanks again for everything.

I have a challenge to all who are reading this- yes....even you!....talk with your Branch Pres/Bishop and ask if there is any less active family/person you could contact and work with for him. Since being on the mission it's definitely something that I have realized: no point in doing the work if we can't RETAIN them!!! Pres. Hinckley said new members need a calling, friends, and...something else (an assignment/responsibility) I think but the FRIENDS part is where the members can help!! Invite them over for family night or something more social if you think they won't come to church. Show them you care and let them see how you live the gospel in your everyday lives and it will make a difference!

I love you,
Cectpa Richards

Ground Zero

2008-06-30T07:19:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Well my first week in my new area has been a good one. I love my new companion! She is so cute and sweet and really has a desire to work hard and is willing to pull her own weight -will talk on phones etc. if I sit by her and help her understand etc. Her name is Cectpa Fourtina and is from Quebec Canada so she speaks French and English fluently -she's gonna teach me some cool french songs (she has a great voice so it's always fun to sing at the beginning of companion study).

So I'm still learning my way around but with a map it's not too bad. We're basically walking everywhere cause neither of us really knows where -what goes to where but today on the marshootka a nice gma helped us and told the driver where to stop for us. Also the price for marshootka is 15 rubles -ouch! It's only 10 in Taganrog but used to be 8 -and I thought 10 was expensive! So we have dropped some investigators that they had that were clearly not progressing and there were some men that they were teaching -never a good idea cause it's always hard to tell what their motives are (especially since one of them sent Cectpa F. a love note our last meeting yea....bye bye! He's gonna be at FHE tonight and the elders are picking him up or he's being dropped, creepy).

What else....so yea we're sort of starting at ground zero but I dunno....lately while we've been knocking people have been more willing to talk with us. Nothing major, and normally they're not interested in talking about the gospel but they're talking with us. They're always interested when they learn where we are from and I feel cool that I can follow the conversation and basically say what I want. I am starting to show my personality/joking more which is always welcoming to the people. I guess I just need to continue to hone my skills and keep people interested in talking with us and then really open up and be bold with the gospel too and hopefully we'll see some successes. Contacting is better here which surprises me cause...I thought everyone would just keep walking by and brush us off like a big city but it doesn't happen as often as I'd thought.

Our branch seems really cool and we're having a fireside on the restoration. It will be mainly musical numbers, scriptures read by missionaries, a slide show about the savior, and the restoration video. The three branches that meet in our building are invited and hopefully they will invite 2 friends like we asked them so we'll see how it goes.

This Wednesday is Zone Conference so today (Monday) was our P-day and we played ultimate frisbee with the elders which was fun. We're hoping to see a soccer match some time since prolly the biggest/funnest games we could see would be here in Rostov. All the Russians are pretty sad about Russia dropping out of the Euro-cup last week.

I'm really loving my area, and our teeny, tiny apartment, haha! It's our room with two beds and a table that we share to study and then a bathroom (but a good shower with water pressure and instantly hot water -just have to turn it on! It's soooo easy I can't believe it!) and a small kitchen but it's ok, gets the job done -I don't mind it.

Well I love you all and am so grateful for the opportunity to be here and speak to this people about the Book of Mormon and how they can find truth: Mormon 8:32 (or somewhere near there). It made me laugh cause it totally reminded me of the orthodox church here -it's just really apparent that we have the truth to me. And Mom, for the package -mascara would be appreciated.

Luv ya'll!
Cectpa Richards

P.S. Thanks for the pictures -they were great! Everyone looked so nice and it looks like Chelsea's wedding really turned out well.

Once again ...I've been transferred

2008-06-25T02:54:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all!

Well I am writing from Rostov-meaning I got a transfer to.....Rostov (central branch!) So yea I'm pretty excited/nervous-like every transfer when you have to recreate the feeling of "home" but it's all good. I will be with sister Fourtina (sp?). She is from Canada and speaks English/French and this is her second transfer on the mission total so yet another great experience to grow in responsibility and dependence on the Lord. It sounds like the branch here in center is pretty crazy and always changing-one week having a bunch of people and the next barely anyone. It'll be interesting to see the difference between quiet little Taganrog and the bustling main city of the mission.

My companion is really nice, funny, and willing and we'll learn the area together so it'll be fun! It'll be interesting to be with a non-Russian for the first time on the mish. In this area I've been lucky but now I realize I will have to really boost my own efforts with the language which I'm more than willing to do. It sounds like we have a baptismal date here and some investigators that need help progressing so we'll see what we can do.

Also FYI: Next Monday is our P-day since our Zone Conference will be on Wednesday-just so ya know! So get me all that great mail before Monday please 8) Also, being so near to everything here I will get your mail/packages etc. a lot faster. So for those of you who thought...eh, not worth it-takes too long ...you are out of excuses! Thanks for all the mail- I got the dear elder from Russ, and the great pictures from Mom, thanks they're great! And the guy that Amanda is dating that knows me- I think I know who it is- tell her good job- he IS cute 8)

Well it's funny but I'm way nervous-am always so nervous when you have a new place with all new people, comp, and you're the older one but I'm trying to not let that get in the way of my fun, happy self. I love you all and am so grateful to be here right now. It's really stretching me and I'm happy to grow even with the growing pains. I hear that the Sisters in Rostov (us along with Sisters King & Taylor-who were in the MTC with me) will put on some special fireside about Joseph Smith and the first vision soon. I don't know if it will be for people off the streets/members/or both but I'm excited for it!

Again I love you all, keep me updated on your latest news and know that I'm soooo grateful for all of your prayers and support. They are always needed in a missionary's life!

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I have absolutely no time today so um....sorry but it will be short and sweet. The work is going better and better all the time. My new comp is 22 from Krasnodar region down south and is AMAZING! She had gotten her call to Russia to serve a full mission but her non member parents freaked out last minute and so she stayed behind to keep the peace- needless to say she has a real desire for the work and talks with people left and right and I feel practically no weight as senior comp- she'll just do it, it's great! I can't believe there is only one week left of this transfer-absolutely crazy!!! My sinuses are starting to be annoying today and I had no energy yesterday so hopefully it won't turn into something big. Thanks so much mom for the great info-I hope I get some mail next week whether I get a transfer or my new comp brings me my mail from Rostov. Also thank you so much for the pictures! Sara was so gorgeous!!! She looked almost identical to Amy Oldroyd it was weird! I love you all and am sorry again for the short letter but I have a feeling this week will go by really fast. Happy Father's day to Dad, Mike, Grandpa R & A I'm so grateful that I'm surrounded by wonderful priesthood holders who love and honor their wives, families, and callings etc. Now I definitely know what to look for in a husband down the road 8)

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

Cectpa Toofanaba

2008-06-11T01:14:00.000-07:00

Well howdy ya'll!

So my new companion (drum roll please) is Cectpa "Toofanaba". She is from a suburb of Rostov, almost 17 years old. It has been really great working with her. At first I was nervous wondering if she would have the maturity to handle this sort of responsibility etc. but as it turns out she has such a strong desire to share the gospel and energy/happiness/positive attitude that is so common in her age group that it's been great!

I loved my last comp but it was really hard to stay positive and happy around her because she's just so naturally serious which often I mistook to mean she wasn't happy/didn't have desire for the work. It's been amazing the difference my comp's attitude has had on me and further teaches me how important our attitudes play in the lives of those around us. One of my favorite principles I've learned on the mission: The only thing that is more contagious than enthusiasm is the lack of enthusiasm -I think President Monson said that, and it is SOOOO true! Well we have really been showing our overall happiness and positive attitudes more while we contact etc. and the number of people who react in anger has really gone down. Maybe they still say no but they can't help but smile themselves, if for no other reason, because they're thinking: what's with these goofy smiley girls??

We set a baptismal date with one of our investigators yesterday and the only thing I could see getting in the way is the Word of Wisdom but we're praying for her to be able to quit smoking etc. It seems that it's VERY rare to find someone who won't have to overcome smoking or drinking here, but just one of the perks of the area/culture.

So it seems that we won't be needing mini missionaries as much soon but I'm not sure why-maybe the sister who left came back? We'll see....So yesterday we came home for our lunch break and the door wasn't locked. I opened it hearing people inside and there was our landlord with a bunch of workers-they've been doing work on something throughout the whole building and now it was our apartment's turn. So we lost a little time having to be home until they left but it was exciting. I was sitting on the couch reading the general conference edition (love it!) and this dirty worker walks in mumbling/singing to himself walks over and starts doing something to our heater or pipes or something-REALLY LOUD like at a dentist's office-the drill sound or something, and thousands of sparks just burst out everywhere: on our beds, where I was sitting, etc. and he proceeds to work doesn't say a word and I'm trying to move out of the way and head for cover. My comp laughed pretty hard-apparently my face was quite humorous. It was just so funny how calm and nonchalant he was about it. Anywho...everything is fine now and I think they only need to come back one more time or something like that. Never a dull moment in the Rostov mission!

So it seems in the middle of July we will have our next visa trip to Prague and it seems that there's a temple only two hours away in Germany that we can go visit so we'll prolly not need to go to Madrid 8( but I'm not complaining, it will be amazing!!!

What else, what else....thanks for all of your emails, and mom- it worked great (except my pic with my comp, shrug) but it was sooo great to see every one's pictures and how they're all progressing in life. Sara looks so grown up now with her short hair and they look so happy. Carrie and Brett's jumping picture was sooo perfect! I love you all and I just realized that the past little while I must have sounded really down cause now everyone is especially supportive and motivational etc. for which I'm very grateful, but please know that I do love this work. I am learning to really love this people and respect this culture which is so rich in tradition and has such a strong history-they've been through so much and they have much to be proud of.

I'm grateful for every opportunity I have to speak with them and try to share the greatest knowledge that we can obtain in this life and that is of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us, a love so great that He sent us His only son to create a way in which we could return to Him. I know that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ in that grove (I'm so jealous that Chelsea is there right now!) and that he was called of God to restore the ONE and ONLY TRUE church of Jesus Christ on the earth-the ONLY way to return to our Heavenly Father and really obtain the most happiness and joy in this life and the life to come.

I love my family so much and am SOOOO grateful for all they have taught me through the years and the foundation of faith that they have given me. I don't know what I'd do if we couldn't be together forever-prolly cry a lot 8)I know Prophet Thomas S. Monson is called of God to lead not only the church on the earth but help prepare us and the rest of the world for the second coming of the Savior and I have all the confidence in the world in him. I received my personal witness that he truly is a prophet of God when he first spoke in general conference and I'm so grateful for the personal revelation that each of us can receive if we open our hearts to it-the windows of heaven are open and God does talk to His children again.I love you all and am so grateful for your continual prayers and faith in me, I'm trying and am excited to try harder every day.

Cectpa Richards

One day at a time

2008-06-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm not frustrated at all.....but I just wrote a letter and it messed up when I tried to send it and I don't know if I sent it so if you got it then just disregard this short recap. Thanks for all the pictures-I want the one with me and my comp (latest one).

My comp goes home today and I get a new mini this evening sometime-she's 18 and only she could do it cause everyone else has exams. She can only do it for a week and half then I'll get another mini. Needless to say next transfer I should be with a regular comp prolly somewhere else. Yes it's been hard lately but I've been learning a lot if nothing else. Just having this experience is making me a more seasoned missionary who can deal with having no success etc. President told me about an elder who worked really hard and for a long time he had no success and it was because the Lord had something he wanted him to learn, had his own timetable for things etc. I trust He knows what's best for me so maybe not having success right now will be better for me than if I had a bunch. So I'm trying to stay positive and keeping my hope and faith levels higher than they've been. I'm grateful for all of your prayers, thoughts, and support.

Thanks for the info about the Cranes-there really will be no one left when I get back. Oh well, there's always Copper. The weather is continuing to be warm here but not unbearable-hopefully I will leave before it gets too bad 8) tho, prolly can't escape it fully here, it is the south after all. Well I love you all and am so grateful to be here, no matter how hard or slow-it's still the most important thing I could be doing in my life and I'm not alone in this work. I know the Savior is with me every step of the way and picking me up when I fall. I love you all and keep me posted.

Love,

Cectpa Richards

Life as a Trainer

2008-05-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all,

Thanks for all the great emails. Mom, the pictures didn't show up so I needed to click on the attachments but only two showed up-the slide show thing was weird, lots of random cartoony pictures and then one of Mike and Sabrina at the water park (shrug) but then again I am in a different internet cafe than normal today and am surrounded with little kids playing computer games so maybe it will work better in our regular place.

Well like you saw from our picture, zone conference was on Monday. It was a really great conference and I am renewed to the work as always. In my interview with President he said that I prolly won't be in Tagonrog much longer- either Rostov or Krasnodar which would be interesting since I've already been there, but we'll see-I don't especially want to leave.

Some other interesting news that I received is that Estonia is tired of doing all of our paper work etc-understandable, all missionaries in Russia are going there every three months, so now next trip looks like it will be Prague (sp?) and it will be flying all the way-woohoo! (ahem...by the way...which country is that? Chek?) The train was fun but after the first two times it kinda lost its luster. Apparently Moscow and St. Petersburg are going to Madrid for their visa trip and in a few months we will switch and we will get to go to Madrid so we can go to the temple there-isn't that amazing?!!! I was sooo excited when I heard that-it feels like sooo long ago when I was in the temple. So apparently I'm making up for the lack of world traveling pretty quickly.

Well the work has been pretty slow lately. I've decided that the only thing worse than little to no success on the mission is little to no success when you are the senior companion and you are trying to help your comp have a desire to serve their own mission someday and you feel 100% responsible. You begin to wonder if you are doing something wrong (of course no one is perfect) and so then your weaknesses and inadequacies jump out at you and the guilt/frustration grows. Needless to say I was a little down the past little while but after talking with President at Zone Conference on Monday I feel a lot better and am returning to my positive-I don't care, I'm gonna do my best, attitude.

In fact when we were walking home from the train station on Monday I was really tired and in the middle of telling a story to my comp I saw a girl coming our way. Nothing special but as always I felt like I needed to talk to her so we stopped her and explained who we were and why we were here. She was interested and when we tried to get her number to call her sometime she said, "Let's meet right now"....k....never happens. So we found a somewhat secluded park area with benches and sat, got to know each other a little bit and then taught her a first lesson and gave her a book of Mormon. She is a music student here (piano) and really sweet and open. I can't describe how greatful and happy I was that I decided to talk to her and was so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows how to motivate me to keep on working when its hard and you see no results-it seems that He always knows exactly when I reach the edge of my breaking point and then picks me up again and helps me to keep going. And yesterday we found some potential investigators so we'll see if any of them pan out.

Things are looking up and today we will watch the best two years with our district as our pday activity. I'm grateful for your love and support and mom, let them know that I got the letters from dearelder-(not sure how many 2-3?) something like that so no worries. I just realized I forgot to look if I had mail at conference but I will be in Rostov next Wednesday to switch up companions.

I think this is a good experience for me because....well, now if I ever train a real greenie it will seem easier because at least they will know the rules and the lessons-sort of so it will be that much easier to help them adjust to missionary work.

I love you all,

Cectpa Richards

Na ostanoevkee-eh

2008-05-21T01:46:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all!

Seriously where did the last week go?! I honestly had to sit for a second and wonder if I had already written about my birthday and what happened-was sooo long ago already!

Well you are prolly wondering about my companion. Her name is Cectpa "Razoomnaya" and she is from Rostov. On Wednesday we took an electreechka up to Rostov to drop off Cectpa G who is now serving in Krasnodar (my good ol' birth place) and there I got to say goodbye to Cectpa Malinina one last time 8(

As it turned out the new sister coming in was delayed in Germany for a few days so I worked with Cectpa Hesteranka (from Ukraine) for a few days in Rostov center. It was interesting experience and definitely made me happy for the slightly slower pace here in T-rog but at the same time people were still out on the streets etc. in the evening and about after 8 it's a ghost town here, so I guess there's perks on both sides.

I met up with Cectpa R. on Friday and we took a marshootka back here after she got set apart. We'll be together for about 2 weeks-til the end of May and then I will be with someone else. It has been good so far together. It's definitely made me grow in every way. I've had to really learn the city now and how to read our map and crazy marshootka/bus/tramvi map but now I feel confident in those abilities. I've had to even more so be an example in general-in the little things that I don't consider as especially missionary-like, but am reminded that she is more than just greenie, but in general doesn't know what to do-hasn't been in the MTC etc. so it's really teaching me patience and I've been trying to lead by example and encourage and compliment her for her efforts. She has a real desire for the work but it's cute cause sometimes she just doesn't know how to channel it but I feel like I will learn a lot from her energy and desire to be bold.

On the other hand I feel like I'll be really tired after this transfer cause just when I start to feel at home with someone and get in a groove with someone I'll be with someone else and have to re-tackle and relearn how to work with someone else cause really you can't teach different people in the same way....well, at least through example is always universal.

Mom and Grandparents and Eric, thank you so much for your birthday gifts/constant financial support and love. It's just further testimony to me that the Lord blesses us through one another which is just a further blessing because we learn in the process and continue to grow. Also thank you all for your well wishes etc. on my birthday and in general- I can't wait to get your letters etc and hear what is new with you.

Mom, I just realized that I didn't get an email from you listing what you got me and then I looked back and went further and saw the hiding P.S. (so sneaky) thanks so much they sound great. I'll prolly go to a second hand here sometime and find a new skirt or something-my grey one has a hole around where the zipper is and it's hard to zip it up which makes me very sad cause it's my favorite skirt but what can you do? It definitely won't last my mission that's for sure.

Anywho, I've had many humorous experiences so far in being the experienced one. For example, we were on a marshootka and I said: "on the stop" (na ostanoevkee-eh) and the driver said, what? I didn't hear and I repeated myself and then he said I didn't understand and then all the girls in the marshootka (maybe 5) all yelled "ON THE STOP!" at exactly the same time and I started to laugh and they did too. See? Lots of help all around 8) Today I asked a lady where a certain store was cause I forgot and right at that moment I found the store but the woman started talking to us because she heard my accent and she was an English teacher and gave us her address and told us to come over some time. Lots of little blessings that just make me so grateful for the Lord's help and support-It's amazing how much closer I feel to Him now that I'm in a leading role. Prolly because I'm praying every other minute in my head for help or guidance. I'm grateful for this opportunity and know it will help me become that much more of a tool in the Lord's hands.

I love you all and hope all is well with you! (ahem Steve, Eric, Mike)

Cectpa Richards

Senior companion!

2008-05-14T04:55:00.000-07:00

Well hello everyone from Rostov!

I love the computers here-faster, even though every word I write has a little red line under it as if I spelled it wrong-grr.

But everything is going great so far here 8) I'm here to either pick up my mini-missionary or to stay here in Rostov for a couple of days with Cectpa Malinina's companion that she's leaving. (Apparently they don’t know if the new sister will be here or not). Always a surprise on the Rostov mission -I really think all missionaries should have a pack of clothes for two days on them at all times, haha just kidding....but seriously.

Well the past few days have been really hard to feel like a missionary because in preparation for transfers it was kinda hard for my comp to focus on the work and she had to do things that took more time than I would have liked. Sigh, but the next transfer-our complete effectiveness and obedience is mainly dependent on me which I think will be a good thing -I'll just leave it as no question. I'm hoping that those I'll be with can understand basic English-always comforting to know that if I absolutely need to we can communicate fast, but we'll see. I have a feeling that I'll prolly be in T-rog for only one more transfer or maybe two. If it's only one than they are basically white-washing the area = sending two new sisters into the area since I'll be with non- missionaries this transfer, so it should be interesting to see what happens.

My birthday was great! For being on a mission I'd say it was up to R22 and F6 standards 8) So it was on a Monday so we went to district meeting at the branch and when we got there a little late and the door was locked I thought it a little strange and when we opened the door the lights were off and the elders were sitting in a semi circle around the door and sang happy birthday and gave me a candy bar that's called: Nestlé’s Just for Men but they scratched out men and wrote sisters. It was cute and nice that they remembered. Then later when we came home to eat something the apartment was completely toilet-papered, every room and on my bed were chocolates, a rose, and random stuff and a sign saying happy birthday. I videoed it so don't worry-you'll see it all eventually. Apparently my comp gave them access some how-tricky tricky. The cake was of course great and it was a great day.

The boy we found that got baptized was very emotional when Cectpa G left today-he cried and cried. It makes me worry for next transfer because Cepta Mozley who taught him all the lessons is going home and I might be leaving too-it'll be water works for sure! Of course I’m nervous about finding my way where we need to be but who knows...maybe the Holy Ghost will help me get lost to somewhere where we need to be 8)

I'll just try my hardest and trust in the Lord and the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Seriously it feels like riding a bike without training wheels for the first time-awkward and you can just feel a fall coming, but I know everything will be fine. I think it mostly feels weird (more lonely) just because they're not actual missionaries, haven’t had the same training etc, but it'll be a learning experience that's for sure.

Well I'll be sure to check at the office-I’m sure I have mail there and will take my last picture with Cectpa Malinina 8( It's so crazy...I wrote to President how I want to extend: jokingly (sort of) saying ya know, I can stay till March...or May....or June...you get the idea and he wrote back: June sounds good we'll talk later 8) So I think extending is definitely possible so I'd count on it (as far as getting visa stuff squared away) of course in this country-always good to get a start on this stuff early before another law changes or something 8)

Well I better go, but thank you all for the great phone call-these calls are always so weird for me cause I just want to be relaxed and chat=let the conversation flow naturally but everyone is trying to think of the important things that need to be said cause there is a time limit etc..."noo, shtoe dyelit?" that means, well what to do (phonetically spelled out for ya).

Well I love you all so much and will try extra hard this next transfer to do everything in my power to do what the Lord wants me to do and give all of my imperfect efforts and hope He makes something of them-it's prolly hard work for Him 8)

Love you all,
Cectpa Richards

Half way point

2008-05-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

Well today was a fun P-day. We met the Rostov missionaries in a town between Taganrog and Rostov where there are a bunch of ruins-basically holes in the ground with some stones layed on top of each other (and to think I wanted to be an archaeologist!) But it was fun to see how many of us could fit in one particular hole-pretty deep too. Cectpa Malinina is leaving next Wednesday and today she and her companion came back with us to T-rog to work with us tonight and tomorrow a bit as one last time together 8(

Um, hahaha it's funny cause I'm not sure who said I would be a trainer-if I mentioned anything it was prolly that it could happen but seriously no one knows anything yet-we'll hear on Saturday so you'll hear on Sunday I guess. To be honest I'd prolly welcome and dread the opportunity but we'll see. The work is going ok, we really need to find some solid new investigators though...right now there's just some semi-lukewarm people who have the habit of saying, "Um, call back after the 26th, I'm really busy." Not very promising, but as always I'm trying to keep my efforts concentrated and energized.

The weather is really nice here and lots of flowers are blooming-though it's almost ALWAYS windy which means dirt blowing around everywhere. Mom, the shoes were around 20 dollars (25ish rubles=1$ last time I heard). I just got letters from Sara and Heather today-it's always fun to hear from them and how they are doing. It seems the pouch gets here exactly one month later since they sent it on April 7th.

Steve-happy bday stud! Glad to hear you had a great day-as it should be. I still remember all the great bday fun we had with R22 and F6 -I must say we can throw a mean party. Send a picture of the cake in the face if you can 8)

It's so great to hear about all the different friends and cousins serving on missions-lots of them are going stateside I notice. I heard that because of all of the of the church publicity in the states right now more will be called stateside-cool huh?! Spread the good word one and all!

It's hard to believe that I'll be 22 soon-shrug, age really is meaning less and less to me-just seems like another day, and on the mission it will be except of course we'll have American cake 8)

Well I think I will still be here in Taganrog-I'll be really surprised if I move from here and I don't want to 8) The only other places that I'll most likely serve in will be the two areas in Rostov and Volgograd. Of course you never know it's always possible to return to Krasnodar or something which would be really interesting to see the difference time makes.

Speaking of time.....I can NOT believe how FAST it is going. I can't even explain how crazy it is that half of my mission is over especially when only now am I starting to feel really effective and fully functioning. It seemed that I was in culture shock/ survival mode-just trying to get through each day; and that it flew past. Now I'm trying to dig in my heals and slow it all down cause I feel like I haven't done anything yet. Time can't start counting yet but as always-it always counts whether we are using it or not. I DEF want to stay and leave in March rather than January-there's no choice about that one, I will!

Well I better go, thanks for your love and support as always and don't be offended if I'm really lethargic on the phone-I never was a morning person 8)

Love,
Cectpa Richards

Scary Marshootka

2008-04-30T19:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry but this is going to be the shortest email ever! We have to rush off to a meeting and there were a lot of emails this week that I had to fly through so sorry if I don't answer any of your questions etc. but most of them can be addressed in our call which will be on the 11th (ahem dad) which is not my birthday-glad to know that the day I graced this world with my presence and the day before that are so similar to you! Hahaha, just kiddin.

So the work is picking up here and I'm trying to remember everything as far as where everything is located and the scary act of telling the marshootka (taxi van) where to stop etc. cause I just know that my comp is leaving next transfer. I can feel, just feel it hanging over my head and the responsibility of knowing where to go and what to do is just hovering on my shoulders- I can feel the weight coming....ouch. But anywho, it'll be good too right?

Um.... Yes I am pretty sure that 6:30 A.M. will work since I am doing nothing but waking up at that time...sheesh...

I already got my birthday package-though it was like Easter candy, but it had the cake etc for my birthday so yes I got it-if that is the one you were talking about. If not then it's prolly in Rostov....who knows maybe we can go there to check or something?

Um....what else what else, I'm trying to be fast....Well sorry for the REALLY short and lame email but I gotta go-promise next week's will be AMAZING!

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

No news is good news

2008-04-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

We didn't hear from Whitney this morning which makes me wonder if there is a possible transfer in the works. She has been hinting that it might be a possibility for several weeks. We are hoping ...for her sake that she will be sent to Volgograd. Brutally cold during the winter but beautiful and cool for the summer.

For those of you who remember Whitney's cousin Andrea who is serving a mission in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin mission, I will give you an update on how she is doing as an alternate post! She was recently sent to serve near the mission office in Milwaukee and loves being in a bigger city with a lot more people to contact. She is especially excited to see signs of Spring in the air. It has been a cold, snowy Winter in Wisconsin and she is ready for a thaw! She is also a trainer now and is feeling a bit overwhelmed by the new responsibilities but I know that she will do a great job.

"I love April here in Wisconsin!! It's 60 outside- perfect weather. And it's fun because so many people are just out wandering about. We just got back from playing disc golf with some of the Elders in our district. A game a lot like golf but with Frisbees instead. It was really fun and there's just something about being able to be outside after such a long winter. It's really therapeutic (I don't know how you spell that) but everyone is just a lot happier!

Nate Rader, an investigator who is dating someone who is a member of the church got stuck in the airport in Dallas and he told us the coolest story about meeting a woman who was from Idaho and lived by lots of members but wasn't one herself and how she didn't think that they were very friendly neighbors. So what does Nate do? He whips out his Book of Mormon and says I'm a Mormon. And goes on to talk about how all the Mormons he has met have been so nice, etc. Anyways, he got to share the gospel with her for four hours while they were stuck in the airport and afterwards he said, "I know that God wanted me to be there so I could talk to her" and just how he was glad his plane was delayed so he had that opportunity. Then he said, "every member a missionary" :) He's already doing lots of missionary work even though he isn't baptized yet! I wish our members were that dedicated!!

So Sister Hafen (my companion) and I are pretty good at making small talk with people. And it’s really good to strike up random conversations with people. But it’s even better to invite them at the end of those conversations and it’s best to be able to teach them and then invite them. So that’s something that we’ve been working on this week. Saturday we decided we were just going to do it-teach every person that we saw, not just make small talk, or give lame invites but actually teach. And we did it! We only spent 30 minutes doing it (because we had to finish spring cleaning and then had appointments the rest of the day) so we just spent those 30 minutes doing it but we got to teach about 6 lessons and we got 3 new investigators out of it and another man said we could call him sometime and meet with him. It was just such a testimony builder to me that the Lord will put people in our path if we just try!! That is one of my biggest weaknesses as a missionary is being able to just teach people on the spot but I know it’s possible if we just let the Lord be our support. He really blesses us for our efforts!

I really want to stay another transfer with Sister Hafen. We really work well together and I still don't know the area as well as I would like!! I think we really push each other to work harder. All the Elders think I'll be training but I'm crossing my fingers we'll just stay together. There's only one new sister coming out (we haven't had any new sisters in awhile-Sister Hafen was the last sister to come out) but there are still sisters older than me that haven't trained so I'm hoping it will be one of them!

We have been playing tennis all week. Ever since we played football last week we have been on an exercise and health kick! We borrowed tennis rackets from our district leader and he even bought us pink tennis balls and matching pink sweat bands haha! At least we look like we know what we're doing when we play but we're not that great especially not when it's 6:15 in the morning!!

Anyways, I'm just loving it here!! Things are going so well. Thanks for your letters and prayers and support!! You are all loved!!!! I know that the gospel is truly the way to happiness. I think I have taken it for granted my whole life but I feel so privileged to know what I know!!

Love,

Sister Wiser"

As soon as we hear anything from Whitney I will add her letter but in the mean time a big CONGRATULATIONS!!! goes out to all of you who just graduated from BYU. We are so proud of you! Let us know what your future plans are and where you end up so Whitney won't lose track of you. Good luck to all of you and everyone have a fun and safe summer! If you happen to pass through Houston during your travels be sure to stop by and say hello.

Another day another letter

2008-04-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

Well, Hello everyone,

Hope all is well with you...things are going pretty well here. We're trying to get back up to speed from this last visa trip. Tallinn is still Tallinn-nothing special to write about, though we ate at TGIF Fridays which was a nice little taste of home and it was COLD. I dunno...I've been really tired ever since this trip though-I’m feeling a little more energetic every day but lately I have just wanted to sleep a whole lot more than usual, haha...I feel like a grandma (prolly because of my wardrobe, and level of energy, haha).

Well the weather has really become pretty here-all the trees are blooming-lots of pear and apricot trees so some streets are just full of white blossoms. I tried teaching my comp the”Popcorn Popping” song but I'm not sure it stuck 8) It makes for pleasant knocking in the chasnee domes though-I’ll polly need to start wearing sunscreen pretty soon since we're out in the sun every day-and our family's lovely history of skin cancer 8)

That's cool that you guys got a picture from zone conference-I have reason to believe that Cectpa G will move on to somewhere else and I will stay here so we will see what will happen. It really has been great working with her and it has definitely pushed and stretched me, I just hope she has gained a lasting love for the work that won't fluctuate depending on her companion's drive/motivation.

As far as my birthday...I mean mother's day, haha...um...I thought it (it being my birthday) was on a Monday this year, at least according to Russian calendars and mothers day is normally on Sunday yea? Maybe we have old calendars or....maybe because of the time difference? Or maybe I'm just confused-the latter being the most likely of the three, but yea it will be great to talk to you guys.

I didn't get an email from mom this time but I'm sure if there were some real exciting news (like where Chelsea will serve etc.) she would have written right? Well today we are going to play some soccer with the elders and the youth in our branch around one which should be really fun-it's been so long so I'm sure to be sore tomorrow 8)

Thanks so much for your constant prayers and support and even positive thoughts-it really does help and make a difference in a missionary's life. Wow Dad-sounds like you are definitely keeping busy and racking up the frequent flyer miles, and it was cool hearing from Eric. Where are my two other brothers hmmmmm? (I'm batting my eyes at you, you just can't see) Like Steve, how are finals looking, what plans are you gonna have in the summer and are you driving yet?! Mike, any funny anecdotes from the kids and/or pics, or how the job is going?Well I better go, still need to write President, love you all and keep me updated.

Love,Cectpa Richards

Bits of this and that

2008-04-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Whitney and her current companion Cepta Grechisnikova taken at their last zone conference on April 15, 2008.

I'm including a map so you can see where Whitney has to go each time she renews her visa. Keep in mind that she has to travel over 1,000 miles from the Southern tip of Russia to get to Estonia to the North.

We received this picture of three of the Russian sisters from Elder and Sister Cameron who are the Rostov Mission office couple from Las Vegas, Nevada. Whitney's current companion Cepta Grechishnikova is on the left and her first companion Cepta Malinina is on the right. The sister in the middle Cepta Kolodina recently completed her mission and is back home. All three sisters are from South Central Russia near the big lake Baikal.

Surprise!

2008-04-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Sorry I didn't write yesterday but we were busy leaving for Estonia again. Yep, you guessed it, I'm writing from Estonia again. But we are headed back again this afternoon so no biggie. Thanks for all of your emails, I'm not sure what happened but I'm gonna clear out a lot of my inbox so there is more room. Maybe that is what the problem was.

Um....what else...my back is pretty stiff cause I was on the floor of the sisters apartment, in the center, on Tuesday night. Last night I was on the oh so comfortable train-needless to say I'm excited to be going back to my bed in T-rog.

The work is going well, tho I'm feeling like this may be our last transfer together according to some hinting from President and my companion will probably be leaving. Which means the responsibility of where to go and knowing the way around falls on me---aaahhh! Those of you who are familiar with my sense of direction (or lack there of) see the potential problem this creates but I guess we will see. There is a greenie who is coming in May. I am hoping that I don't get the role of trainer...I dunno....of course the Lord knows what He is doing and if He wants it done it means that it is possible. Of course everything is possible with His help just....HUGE feelings of inadequacy. But I guess I just have to get used to those feelings and try my best-that is all we can do in the end right?

Anywho.... Thanks for all of your letters! Its crazy to hear about Chelsea cause I just got her letter mentioning about a possible mission yesterday and today I hear she will know in a week or two. I guess that is the great part of being so far away you don't really have to wait to find out stuff, its just highlights all the time. For example I was shocked to hear my best friend Lauren has a baby now! But I hope all is great with her. Um as for Chels....either Austria or somewhere German speaking or.....a church history site? I don't know where that came from but we will see.

Well I still need to write President so I better go. Thanks for all your love and support and news! I love you all and am excited for our upcoming phone call!

Love,
Cectpa Richards

Where in the world is Whiteroo?

2008-04-16T05:23:00.000-07:00

No word from Whitney today so I suspect she has been sent up to Estonia once again to renew her visa. That or she had so many emails to read this week that she didn't have time to write back! Hope you are all doing well. Good luck with your finals and safe travels for those of you heading home for the summer. Keep us up to date on all of your interesting adventures. We will happily pass them along to Whitney.

Luv,

Mom Richards

From Russia With Love

2008-04-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

I decided to post an email we received from a missionary couple from Whitney's mission. They sent pictures of Whitney's first and current companion. She has learned a lot from them and they have helped her grow and become a successful missionary.

"Hello Bro/Sis Richards,

We are the Camerons, the Rostov Mission office couple from Las Vegas, NV.
We have this picture of 3 of our Russian sister missionaries and realized that your daughter served with two of them, so you might enjoy it. (We had a daughter and 2 sons serve on missions and we got very few pictures of them or their companions, so we know what it is like.)

From left to right: Grechishnikova (Whitney's current companion), Kolodina (just went home), and Malinina (Whitney's first companion). They are all from the same general area in south central Russia near the big lake Baikal. We love these great sisters, and your daughter must feel lucky to be able to work with them.

Love,
Elder/Sister Cameron"

Internet malfunction

2008-04-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

Well hello there everyone,

Did we all forget something this week? Hmmmm? Maybe your favorite missionary out here in Russia, who only gets one chance every week to hear from those she loves??!!! Oh well, no sweat-there's always next week (my tone is reserved indignation here). It's kinda weird cause sometimes mom's computer gives her trouble or something happens in route but normally someone writes-whether Dad or even my Mission President-though he has an excuse. He's on the rode for zone conferences in a mission the size of Texas-lil' busy.

Well I guess I'll just comment on my life here (I hate one way conversations 8) Ok, ok, ok, enough of the guilt tripping-hope everyone is doing well. The work is going pretty good here-of course I'm continuing to learn and grow. I think we are getting better at teaching at the drop of a hat-thus we're getting more lessons because we just create opportunities to share the gospel in any conversation with someone. Maybe it's only five minutes-talking about God and prayer but hopefully that person will be even more receptive the next time for the next missionaries.

Well there was an interesting news segment here in Russia and I'm anxious to hear the real story-they said there were Mormons in Texas (though I think it was the fundamentalists or something) that either kidnapped or raped 50 young girls or something, basically the Russian news-which played for two days straight-told people that if they see "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" to run because we are the worst/scariest sect around and we want to kidnap/rape their children etc.

Yes, this story was run by the most popular/watched news station-very professional yeah? This is prolly one of the biggest things we try to correct when we talk to people-that we are not a sect but a church. Of course it's hard when the orthodox church views every church except theirs and the Catholics as a sect and instantly closes their ears/hearts to anything we say-basically we just bare our testimony and move on. It's frustrating but what can ya do? We even looked up the definition of a sect in the dictionary and it said: for example: Mormons. Sheesh... So anyway,
I was wondering if the story was big in America at all and the FACTS of what happened and if there were any statements made by the church over general conference-and how was General Conference?!

We get to see it this weekend once it's been translated....kinda sad about that just cause...I like to hear the power in their voices and understand 100% but I'll take what i can get. Um...haha, I don't really know what else to talk about-the new Ensign this month all about Christ is amAzing-truly inspired and full of good information and art. I especially enjoyed (I haven't finished it yet) Elder Holland's talk and the story about Orsen F. Whitney's dream about the atonement. I had never heard it before and it was really powerful. Thanks again Mike and Jess for the photos-I could open them this time and they were really cute! Especially the practically killing the horsey one.

Well prolly in a week or two I'll go to Estonia again but just for a day or two so no biggie. We have zone conference next week which I'm looking forward to and hopefully my birthday package will come otherwise I'll have to take a trip to Rostov sometime to check before then. I'll let ya know. Thanks for all of your love and support-I'm understanding more and more and am truly grateful for the Lord's help and constant support-I know I'm never alone and that He descended below us all so that we can never feel alone.

Hope all is well, maybe there was something wrong on my side with the emails-hopefully it will all work next week. I love you.

Cectpa Richards

P.S. I just remembered that President Harrison said that if our families want to come pick us up than we need to ask him for permission so he can send info about receiving Russian visas etc. to come here-just checking if you still are planning on it so I can let him know.

500 rubles for tennis shoes

2008-04-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Wow, thanks for all the great letters and news! By the time I got finished with learning what's new with everyone I only have 15 minutes to type something up for you (how I like it 8) Well my companion and I are learning how to be better missionaries one step at a time more and more each day. The work is going ok now-the second half of last week was a little slow but we seem to be picking up again. My goal today is to try and talk with people on the way everywhere-it's too easy to get in the mind set of P-day equals: we're not missionaries. Which of course is not true, so we'll see if we can't keep more focused today.

Today I bought some new running shoes so tomorrow will be exciting-maybe not the day after tomorrow though (ouch!) but I'm excited to start taking better care of myself. We went to a baptism in Rostov on Sunday-it was the boy that we knocked into and taught a first before we handed him over to the Elders-he's a great kid and we're happy for him.

What else....hmmm...interesting news- Cectpa Malinina only has one more transfer (this one) left in her mission and President sent her to Volgograd to be with Cectpa King for two weeks and then we don't' know where she'll be or who she'll be with-interesting since She told President she wants to be with me and in a place she's never been in before-I guess we'll see....though I'm really enjoying working with my companion Cectpa "Gracheeshneekova" or as I like to call her for obvious reasons: Cectpa G.

Um....what else....Mom's ten questions: oh sheesh, I don't remember them hold on...sigh, I have to go and open up her letter again-so hard! (just kiddin...)

1. Are you the senior companion now? Is that what they call it with sisters?
(We don't really know or care who the senior comp is but technically I'd say she is- been out longer and understands the language.)
2. Have you had anymore culture days?
(No more culture days-not yet.)
3. What things can you go to or see in your new city?
(Mmmm...there's a castle type place somewhere near here, and there's some really old stairs somewhere...I know, riveting, and the sea.)
4. When does your visa expire again?
(We'll prolly be going back to Estonia for 1 day in a few weeks.)
5. How long are they good for ...before they have to be renewed and you're off to Estonia again?
(The visa expires every 3 months-but there was a problem and this last time it only lasted two months.)
6. Did you give Sister Melanina the Christmas presents I sent? Did she like them/think they were wierd?
(I did and she liked them-tho let's be honest, we didn't break out the sewing kits!)
7. Have you been healthy, happy, cheerful, brave?!?
(Yes, yes, yes, and trying to be 8)
8. Are you eating any different foods in your new area?
(Um...there's this sweet -really, it's sweet- roll thing with eggs and onions in the center that we've been frequenting for quick lunches.)
9. Who does most of the cooking? You or your companion?
(My comp-I know, I know, I need to learn, but I help (but ya know I want the borsch to be good!)
10. What does your companion look like and how old is she?
(She is the same age as me-she is one of the first converts in Novasabeersk. She has blond hair, brown eyes, slightly on the bigger side.)

Thanks for all your letters and pictures-tho for some reason this computer isn't cooperating as far as the pictures go, but hopefully I will be able to see them one of these times. Sorry for the short non-informative email, but I still gotta write to the President.

Love you all!
Cectpa Richards

Miracles happen

2008-03-27T22:18:00.000-07:00

Howdy Ya'll!

Greetings from Rostov-no I didn't receive a transfer (at least not yet-we find out next week). Me and Cectpa G decided to come out to Rostov (2 hour "electreechka" or electric train-type-thing ride). We want to go with Cectpa M to the zoo here-apparently it's really big and nice but it's raining today so we'll see....we might just go back to T-rog and get our shopping done. Speaking of shopping 8) um....so somehow I lost my tennis shoes....not quite sure how you do that as a missionary seeing as we NEVER wear them, but yea...not to worry-I've had them since 9th grade and they've been through 4 years of marching band so I prolly needed new ones just....well....the thing about buying things is you sorta need money. Anywho, I was wondering if maybe I could tell you how much they were and you could put the money in my account-as sort of a bday present maybe? Don't worry-I'll go cheap, go to the reenok. I really wanna get them cause it's warming up as I'm sure you know and I want to start running in the mornings.

So the work is going really well-Cectpa G is really improving at opening her mouth, contacting and helping in teaching situations. I feel like we're both really growing and learning from one another and I'm excited to be working together-hopefully we will still be together at least one more transfer.

So a 16 year old boy that we knocked into months ago is getting baptized this Sunday here in Rostov (the elders taught him) and he's pretty golden (at every church meeting, FHE, English,etc). And we found out a really cool twist to the story that I will now share with all of you:

So apparently this kid (Deema-short for Vladeek I think) has been a really good kid his whole life-never drank, smoked, etc. (a big deal at age 16 in Russia) and as a result never had any friends because everyone else did that stuff. He was a believing person and prayed for help, for something to happen because it was too hard to be alone without any friends etc. He said that he heard a voice (whether out loud or in his head I don't know) that said two people will come to you.

Well I don't know how long this was before we knocked into him but I remember this day-prolly in the first week or so of me and Cectpa G being together. We must have knocked 200 doors that day (two big apartment buildings) and I had let the rejections start to get to me. I was definitely feeling discouraged and frustrated. We knocked on Deema's door and I said my shpeel (he later told us he didn't understand me) but I told him about our English classes and gave him an invitation and we moved on.

So we were sitting on a bench just outside his podezd taking a breather before our last podezd (stairwell). He said that he heard the voice saying: you missed them (like, that was them). So he came out and started talking to us and when he learned we were from church he asked how he could join. I'm ashamed to say that the whole time I really wondered about his sincerity-it's not every day a young boy is REALLY interested in our message for religious reasons. But we invited him to church-he called us a bunch of times to double check where and when and when he came the elders befriended him and the rest is history.

It's just sooo humbling when you have experiences like this. You can see that the Lord really is directing this work. I don't think we knew exactly where we'd be this day, but the Lord knew we'd be there and knew that we could help Him answer Deema's prayer. Just goes to show that God really does know us and what we are doing-sometimes it's easy to feel isolated or feel like it's just you out here cause you only see your feeble efforts and little result but then something like this happens and then it's a BIG reality check-oh yea, I'm not alone. He's totally directing this work and it's humbling to know that in this instance He knew that he could count on us to be there. I'm realizing more and more that 90% of the time we don't' even realize that we are being instruments in His hands-but in a way it's important because if we knew exactly why we were saying something, going some where, our faith wouldn't grow half as much, wouldn't be such a big test.

Well, anywho...I love you all and hope all is well with you-you'll have to write and tell me about how Oklahoma was and seeing the kids etc.

Luv, Cectpa Richards

Things are looking up

2008-03-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the land up north!

Well it sounds like everyone is doing great and keeping busy with all sorts of fun and interesting things which makes all your emails fun and interesting to read so thanks! Well we just got off of a great week-we had more lessons than we have ever had before and more new investigators than ever before, the Lord is definitely blessing us. Sadly Cectpa Malinina goes on today to Rostov to work with those sisters for the last two weeks of the transfer so it will be real interesting to see how her influence sticks with Cectpa G. Hopefully we'll only continue to improve and do more and more.

I have definitely noticed a correlation between how many people I talk to and the amount of success we have-not that our success necessarily comes from street contacting but it seems the Lord blesses us later through knocking into someone or by some other means. Though one story that really solidified my testimony of street contacting: we were walking along and I've really been trying hard to just talk to people at the drop of the hat if I feel the slightest inclination (not as easy as it sounds) and I stopped one woman and explained who I was, why I was here and if she would be interested to learn more etc. She was really sweet and gave me her number and then invited me right then and there to go with her to her house to talk-needless to say we found my companions and then all went over. They are members of some baptist type of church (with your typical hands in the air, amen type places) but the mom seems really nice and open. She even started crying while we were walking to her house saying how she is having such a hard time finding a job and living conditions aren't ideal for her right now, but she felt like she should have walked the way she was walking and sure enough met me.

It was really humbling because it wasn't like I felt anything earth shattering just saw someone that came into my path, wasn't walking super fast and decided to open my mouth. It's really humbling to know that the Lord uses us for His children and most of the time we don't even realize it-think of the many opportunities that pass us by without us ever realizing it! So now I'm definitely converted to talking to EVERYONE. I know it's sort of a "duh" thing in missionary work but after much rejection it's easy to doubt certain methods, wondering if it's just something you hear about in the ensign etc.

We knocked into one AMAZING girl who invited us in was excited to talk to us and wanted to meet again. We tried calling her last night but her boyfriend answered and after learning who we were wouldn't let us talk to her and said that he would decide because she was his etc (sounds like a real catch yea?) anyway, needless to say I was so mad afterwards and wanted to beat all boys (no offense boys) so I'm just praying that she'll some how be able to contact us.

Happy Birthday Benson!!! I can NOT believe you are 4!!!! of course I feel like you are older because you are such a smart boy and helping with your sisters. Seriously where is the time going?

It's really cool that mom and Steve get to spend sometime in good ol' OK. I hope you guys have a wicked-awesome storm there in honor of our OK days-they really were the best. take some pictures of the town if you can-at least, places that i would recognize.

Mom-thanks for all the great info on my friends! I can't believe Sara is already married....it was in March?! crazy, time seems to be super compressed here because by the time I get news of something it's already nearly happened-lil time to get used to the idea. Congrats SARA and JUSTIN!!!! That is soooo cool, you'll have to write me and tell me all about it and where you went for the honeymoon etc-later of course when everything calms down-it's a whirlwind I'm sure.

Amanda, I'm so excited that I got a heart CB shirt!!! you can send it on to me or wait-but seriously anything new received on a mission is exciting (sad but true-a new shirt to wear to bed/ p-days would be really exciting) you just get so tired of the same old same old things. I think after my mission I will have fun burning my clothes, haha...or....ya know....giving it to DI or something....

I have a letter for Heather to send in the pouch but I have to find some American stamps, but I'll try and get on that.

Well it was a great St. Patrick's day....not sure why....we didn't do anything for it-my companions didn't know much about it-heard of it but maybe just because of all the Americans they hang out with. It's funny, you'd think Russians would love a holiday that encourages drinking etc, but I guess they don't need a holiday to do that. As they say here: every day in Russia is a holiday (and it's really true, just people rarely remember which they are celebrating).

So apparently Cectpa Malinina helped the elders find an apartment yesterday which is really good because if she hadn't- President would have moved us to Rostov and given the elders our apartment so there would be four elders but no sisters here in T-rog (He doesn't' like 4 elders living together) but they have one now so we're here still. Also it seems Cectpa Malinina gets to choose where and with whom she will serve for the last transfer of her mission. She said she wants me and will try but neither of us are very hopeful just because we have now served with each other twice and I need to be with cectpa G (president said he doesn't' trust many people to be able to work effectively with her etc). But we'll see, we mainly just want to be together for my birthday (12th) and because it's her last week before she dies (goes home).

I'm so greatful for all of your love and support. Steve, that sounded really gross-what happened to your toe, but way to be a man...I'm sure you didn't cry....much 8) And glad to see you are continuing the tradition of werewolves-tho I'm sure it's not as fun or masterfully played as ol' F6 and R22. We're having a reunion when I get back and we're all playing k?(--this question mark is really only here for grammar's sake, it's not a question).

It's interesting to hear about all the snow in Salt Lake right now-it's pretty nice here and every now and then we get a gorgeous day without clouds (i can NOT wait for spring and summer!!! ) tho...I'm sure I will be retracting that statement when it's really hot and we're climbing all the stairwells to knock and apparently the smell gets really bad in the heat 8) Also great to hear about Hawaii-I'm sure it was gorgeous and humid, it would be really interesting to see all the historical sites there.

Speaking of army, hey Eric! How's the job, life, the base? It's always funny if when in conversation it comes up that you are in the army and in Iraq-everyone is always like: "No way!" and then aren't sure what to say (if I think it's a good thing or a bad thing, am worried etc. ) I just tell them not to worry-that you've got a cushy job listening to the soothing sounds of Arabic all day long-right?
Haha

Well I love you all and gotta hurry and write to President. Please keep praying for me and the work (more importantly the work) I expect some pictures in emails of family, weddings, and friends soon 8)

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

And the work goes on

2008-03-12T02:27:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all!

All is well here in team T-rog. Cectpa Malinina has been working with us for the past few weeks and will either go back this week or next but it's been great seeing her and reminiscing-(sp?)

It's been fun because she's been able to see how I've grown and gotten further in what I'm able to do-of course you never really notice how much you are improving etc but apparently there is a difference which is heartening 8) hmmm...it's hard to focus, I'm really hungry (fasting for an investigator who is golden to the core, we've taught everything, she accepts everything but isn't legally married to her husband because he doesn't have visa/documents-the government won't give it to him because if they do they have to pay him a bunch of money because he's a medaled war hero and they naturally don't want to pay him money and also want a bribe which they don't have the money for. So we're fasting for her to receive an answer of what to do-I'm hoping whatever it is it will lead to baptism quickly, tho I don't know if she'll be brave enough to just leave him-been together for a long time....we'll see)

Um, haha thanks for your approval of our lil joke dad-I thought mom would at least mention it but then again she was sick when she wrote the email and wasn't' prolly all there. So far there have been no repercussions (sp? seriously my English is suffering now) though for Women's' Day they came over and made us breakfast and gave us flowers and chocolates-we have a good bunch of elders here. I thought I'd at least get a comment of how cool our axe experience was while knocking-sheesh, tough crowd, haha I'll get a cooler story this week k?...though I may have to die in the process for it to be cooler...maybe a kidnapping...yea, that'll get a comment (haha joking of course)

It looks like in the beginning of April we'll go on another trip to Estonia for new visas-I swear heads in the office are going to roll soon, haha our president is pretty annoyed with all the red tape (understandably) but this time at least it will only be for a day, there and back so no big deal. It's fun cause all of us who were in the MTC and came out together in the field get a little reunion every couple of months 8)

Eric, thanks for the email!! it was way cool to hear about where you are. I dunno, I could prolly use an intensive "listening only" situation-it could really boost my listening comprehension which may be my weakest area right now, understandably. I liked the little comment about the victory over America palace-hahaha, talk about counting your chickens (or is it eggs?)before they've hatched. you'll have to take tons of pics and send them-they'll prolly get here faster than anything from home.

Speaking of things from home, if you haven't already sent my bday package: PEANUT BUTTER M&Ms!!! (it's impossible to get them here, simply not here) I mean, in Rostov you can find peanut butter which is pretty cool, but not this, also yellow cake and chocolate frosting 8) Cakes here, I'm learning, are really pleasing to the eye-they look great but just not very satisfying in the end, shrug. (I think it's cause they don't have the good liquid vanilla-this powdery stuff that's not as good and they don't have brown sugar). Also some batteries would be good-here half the time you get batteries and they're already used and not much juice left in them.

Well I hope mom is feeling better and that Steve hasn't caught whatever she's had cause then she'll catch it again- I know how the chain works. And what was the big news from Steve? you left me hanging buddy-sigh.
what else...

Thanks for the pictures Mike/Jess! they were sooo cute and soooo grown-up looking! wow...I cannot believe how big Gracie is. Poor kids, I understand their pain with all the ear stuff...looks like they are blessed with the same tiny ear canals like me-hopefully they won't have to get tubes like me, ugh but whatever helps right?

Well the work is going good here, we have a couple of potential investigators that we'll see if we can't kick into high gear in the upcoming week. Our English class is going great-our attendance was smaller this past week but we had more fun than we've had so hopefully they'll go tell their friends and get people coming back. We have two baptism dates right now- one a mom of a less active that we've been working towards baptism as well as re inactivating her son-they came to church last week so it's looking good. Also there is a 9 year old boy who's gma is an active member and his mom is inactive-hopefully we'll have the cooperation of the parents and the baptism will go through.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve here and feel so blessed that the Lord trusts me with this important work and responsibility of teaching his children in Russia-and it is DEFINITELY needed here. Satan really is doing a number on people here as far as traditions go-there are some really hardened hearts, and not because they are bad by any means just...have let their traditions become the very chains he uses to stop them from coming to the truth. Sometimes I feel like "the dog who saw a rainbow but none of the other dogs believe me" (who can name that movie? hmm?) But at the same time it's better than if they didn't' have any religious beliefs at all-there's definitely a foundation to work with there, just need to focus on our similarities and trust that the Holy Ghost will teach them the truthfulness of the differences. I love you all and pray for you every day as I know you are praying for me.

Please work with the missionaries wherever you are-give them referrals or at least ask them if they have investigators you can invite over for FHE one week, to teach a lesson or anything like that-it makes such a difference when the branch/ward you are serving in supports and is excited about the work and you know you can count on them. Plus it really increases the likely hood of them getting baptized because they have a real foundation of support in the ward-have friends etc. Seriously one thing I have definitely learned while serving on a mission is how I want to help the missionaries when I go back home-the kind of member I want to be cause I know how hard it is and what a difference it makes. So please do it! pick one Monday out of the month and ask the missionaries if you can offer your home for them to bring an investigator to simply fellowship etc-they'll be so happy I promise! especially since in the states everyone is kinda on their own for FHE-here they have an FHE at the branch for all the people without families-young people etc.

I love you tons!
Cectpa Richards

Grannies, swearing, and axes ...Oh My!

2008-03-05T05:37:00.000-08:00

Well hello there everyone!

Things here in T-rog are going pretty well 8) Weather has definitely been warmer which is always nice and Cectpa Malinina has come and joined us for a couple of weeks. She is kind of an unofficial AP for the sisters and will spend a few weeks with each of the sister companionships throughout the mission working with them etc. It has been good having her here because she is definitely more take charge etc than me as far as talking to sister G. Don't get me wrong, sister G is great and will work...just...isn't a leader at all and does NOT like street contacting and or talking to people outside of knocking situations which isn't very good since you can't be knocking all the time but we are missionaries all the time.

But sister M has been great and really just is blunt and lays down the law which I know sister G needs to hear. Its amazing how much easier and less scarier missionary work is, namely street contacting when your companion does it and acts like its not a big deal (cause it's not) so I've been really grateful to her.

My efforts as far as street contacting go have increased too. The other day I talked to a bob (bobooshka=gma) in the reenok the other day as we were walking and she asked me why I'm doing this and how much do I get payed and when she realized I didn't get payed etc, kept asking-then why do you do it etc? If people want faith or church they can find it, you dont need to bother us blah blah blah, haha. I was just happy that I understood her, and I reached where sister M and G were waiting as the gma walked passed, yelling at me still and sister M just looked at me with raised eyebrows and said, "She said you are shameless." I just laughed and she said, "I'm proud of you." Which made me feel really good to have her approval-no one is perfect but I really respect her work ethic and fearlessness.

Anywho....I have another fun story from yesterday but I wonder if all here will see the humor in it that I did....oh well, I'll go ahead and tell you. SO we were knocking and one lady came out and once she realized who we were started yelling-happens. I didn't really understand what she was saying and cectpa M said: WOW, she used some BAD words. So we went to the next door and she came out again and said you're still here?! and started yelling again telling us to leave etc. Cectpa G started to leave and I started to follow her, we only had one door left in the stairwell anyway, and cectpa M reluctantly followed (she doesn't like to be chased out of places etc-like I said, fearless) all of a sudden the lady comes back out of her apartment still yelling, this time she has an axe! Hahaha, she didn't do anything with it and I didn't even see her cause I was already out of the stairwell but cectpa m saw cause she was last and the lady was waving it around and yelling.

Now, before you start to worry unnecessarily-this is a VERY rare occurrence and if you saw this tiny lady you would not be worried for our lives, hahaha. It was just so funny because we rang on her door and said we are here as missionaries and talk with people about families etc, and this is how she reacted, hahaha just so extreme and over the top...anywho....now I have a cool little story to share about my mission. Mom, stop worrying, I know you-stop worrying, it was funny and the Lord is taking care of us so just laugh and don't worry.

Anywho, tomorrow is zone conference which I am REALLY excited about! I'm singing the special musical number for it so we will see how it goes-it has been a long time since I've had the chance to sing, it's kinda weird. um...what else...the 8th of March is Women's Day. A holiday where basically men give gifts to women for being women- yea! Way to be a woman! Shrug, I don't get it either but they have a Men's Day too so at least it's fair. We'll see if the elders do anything for us 8)

Well the work is going well and we have two baptismal dates-one 9 year old boy who's parents are inactive but his gma is active and a mother of a less active who we've been meeting with for awhile.

In response to mom's questions about T-rog, it is definitely smaller than Krasnodar and prolly less fancy looking buildings/public transportation. It's right next to a sea which is cool-though it's all frozen right now but hopefully I'll get to see it before I leave here. I really like it here and am excited to work hard and better all the time. Our English class is going well-it is always interesting because me and Elder Miller came out at the same time=we don't know Russian that well and the people in our class are in the middle group=they don't know English that well, but we have our trusted dictionary and get some laughs from it.

Thanks for all your love and support-it was crazy to hear about dad's run in with the racket, though I was impressed with how long he lasted before serious injury, and that's so cool that you guys get to hang with Mike/Jess and the kids-you'll have to take pictures of you guys while you're there and of our house and Central! and send them to me 8)It'll be fun to see my old haunts.

Well I better go, I'll be sure to write more of my adventures next week-hopefully they'll be a lil more quiet 8) Hahhaha.

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

Back in T-town

2008-02-27T05:17:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

All is well here in T-rog. Last night was our opening English night and it went really well. We introduced ourselves and then had three really funny skits-the funniest being two Elders acting as the head and Elders behind them as their arms feeding them breakfast etc. It doesn't really have anything to do with English other than they were speaking English but everyone was laughing and having a great time which=they'll come back which= possible future investigators which = 8)

Things are going pretty good with my companion. Right now her mom is apparently having heart problems though it's hard to say exactly with what even if the doctors say because well....it's Russia. So she has been thinking of home a lot so I'm trying to stay positive and help us get lost in the work. Um...she isn't very big on contacting but the AP's came and asked to do splits with us; two of us on each side of the street to show how to do contacting etc. My comp wasn't very happy at first but afterwards she seemed to have warmed a little to contacting-she just doesn't have a lot of self confidence, sometimes is too apologetic etc, so it's really good motivation for me to be confident and bold cause now I know how it looks...and I don't like it, haha. We're improving though 8)

Our apartment is fine (mom asked) though our water pressure is pretty much non-existent...like a spit shower, but it works so that's nice-man it will be really weird whenever I have a mounted shower head again, haha.

Dad, sorry to hear that you are just getting one thing after another-what is going on here?? I still remember when I came into ya'lls room one morning when I had broken my arm and showed you I had lil red dots and mom said: oh, she has chicken pox and dad said: just don't tell her. Hahahaha so...I wont' tell you you have chicken pox, though it would be really funny if you did.

That's really interesting about the satellite-was it just too old etc? or it had malfunctions etc...I don't know how long a life there are on those things 8)
um....my packages looked fine-not tampered with etc, thanks very much! It actually looks like Cectpa Malinina will come here for a couple of weeks (getting passed along the different companionships due to odd numbers) so I can give her the presents then.

As for my bday package....um...maybe new mascara-always good to have a supply....batteries.....peanut butter? hahaha...it's funny the things you miss. Maybe a new journal-real pretty/unique one (leather if possible?) I'm sure by some point I will need a new one by the way I'm writing 8)

I was way excited to hear about Robbie's mission call-so I'm guessing that's English speaking since it wasn't mentioned? cool.

Mom if you could send this to your Dutch relatives: Thanks so much for the nice card! It's so much fun to get mail from all around the world 8) I'm enjoying the work here. Sure, sometimes it is hard but I try to keep a positive attitude. Thanks for your support and well-wishes!
Cectpa Richards

Well I love you all and better go-still need to write President. Oh yea, Mike/Jess and Company-I would love an update, would also love one from Eric though, I understand he is super busy saving the world and all and without his computer hooked up etc, but send me a postcard or something 8)

I love you tons, o yea! Thanks Grandpa Adams and Richards for your continual emails etc. they always brighten my day with family news.

(And Grandpa A ...where have you been?? Those movies have been out for awhile and they are amazing! Enjoy 8) Think of me especially in the second one-it takes place in Russia a lot, just north of my mission in Moscow, though they do a terrible translating job 8)

Love,
Cectpa Richards

R 22 and F6

2008-02-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

Hey you wonderful friends!!!!!!!

I got your package and it was SOOOOOOOOOOOO amazing!!! My companion thought it was sooo funny with the big table cloth, I have a picture laying on it holding all the cool pictures and letters etc. you sent 8)

It was so great to see and hear from everyone! And Sara, it made my heart happy to see you standing outside my temple and at Brazos Bend park-I've totally been there!! Yea! You guys are adorable and your dress is gorgeous!

Amanda, I am expecting another amazing, huge letter from you...just because I love your run down of everything, very accurate, informative, and funny....you should be a journalist or something!

Also, Heather I got your two letters! Thank you sooo much! I wish I could be there for you to talk to someone while the guys gab but don't worry I will find you wherever you are after the mish...o my...that sounded a wee bit creepy....but hey, it's true. One thing the mission teaches you is how to find people with very little information and getting information from people ex: how Kyle found that one girl, and prolly why the FBI wants to recruit mormons too 8) man....I really can't remember that girl's name...I know it was different...with a c....or something like....chazelle.....something like that....darn!

Anywho, I love you all and am so greatful for your support and love-I miss ya'll tons!

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

P.S. No I haven't seen Jason Bourne lately (not that I'd be able to say if I had) and thanks for the lil leftovers on the tablecloth mmmm...."ffkoosnee" (tasty in russian)!

"Vote, eta ya"

2008-02-20T13:11:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone!!

Yes, yes, I am finally back in Russia 8) We all traveled back together (ten of us) and it was a lot funner than the trip out there. Yes, haha I had two packages waiting for me at the office and also the sweet package from all my friends at BYU!!! And also a VERY nice package from Diane and her family with some nice mint chocolates and a scarf (mom you'll have to pass along my thanks, it was sooo sweet and it's a nice scarf 8) Also I got some mail from Heather and some people from Holland....or...somewhere like that?? It was way nice. I also got a letter from an investigator back in Krasnodar-the one who was soo nice and gave me a Russian doll. Anywho everything was great with her and she invited me to her baptism that should have already happened by now which I was so excited for but then I heard that it might not have gone through...not sure what happened. It's sad though cause she was sooo amazing, so strong, so much faith (was already a very active Baptist).
Anywho, also I got my camera back-oorraaah! Though I should be getting lots of pictures from my companions in Tallin and Cectpa King who is in V-grod now.

So anyway, we were only in the mission office for a couple of hours an then we (being Cectpa. Miller and Goodfellow, me, Cectpa "Gracheeshneekofa") had to catch a marshootka to Taganrog. Yes, that means that the threesome we would have been in with me, Cectpa Burnett and Cectpa G. won't be since Cectpa Burnett got transferred to Rostov so it's just the two of us now. At first I was a little nervous I won't lie just because I had heard she had trouble really getting into the work, plus she doesn't speak English really but it has actually been real good. We've only been together for a couple of days but I can already tell a difference in my Russian, I'm automatically speaking Russian all the time (practically 100%) because well...there's no other choice, haha and it has helped so I'm excited to be serving with her. Her name is: Bepa ("vyera" -means faith) "Gracheeshneekova" with the emphasis on the first "ee". She is from the Novasobeersk mission and has a cool story-her mom was the first member in their branch and she was the first youth that grew up in the church in their branch-was prolly 10ish so it was them and the missionaries for awhile, haha. She is really sweet and funny. She doesn't have the most confidence in the world and is prolly too apologetic when we knock/talk to people but I think through time she will learn how to be confident and show a smile even when she doesn't feel confident.

I definitely need to lead more than I ever have before but she follows without a problem so far, so it has really been helping me to grow and take more control of situations which feels good. (don't worry mom, I'll send your lil christmas packages to Cectpa Malinina next zone conference 8)

So on the way back to Tagonrog all the elders were helping with my many packages and I had my duffle bag which was throwing off my weight/balance and I slipped and fell....of course I think I fell in the most muddy place possible and got mud all over my coat, skirt, bruised my knee a little etc. The elders looked back and quickly came to the rescue and of course i couldn't wipe off till we got home because...well...this is Russia, you have to A.) pay to go into a bathroom and they don't have paper towels/ tp etc. It was pretty comical though and I learned the word for dirt and dirty from it so that was good.

Lately while we've been knocking I've noticed we've been able to talk to people more rather than just getting the door slammed on us which has been interesting. Today a woman almost let us in, man she was sooo close I could feel it-something was holding her back from saying no but then a door before her's finally opened and she finally said no-darn! so close...would have been my first lesson in the door on my own.

Anywho, Taganrog's weather has been pretty snowy lately-last night it snowed pretty good and today there is prolly eh, 6 inches of snow on the ground. We had an activity with the branch where we ice skated in a lil rink that was right by the sea which was actually frozen for a good ways and people were skating there for free-too bad we didn't have our own skates etc. And no, I did not fall 8)

President Harrison is excited to hear how they do the work in Estonia and get ideas on how we can improve here so I'm happy to help. Well I still need to write the President so I better go. O yea! Steve tell me your cheesy joke you told in your talk 8)

Thanks for all your love and support-you're so great! Keep me updated on things!

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

Greetings from Estonia

2008-02-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-13T05:34:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

So my long email just got erased in my efforts to try and attach some pictures to send you guys so Im real sorry but you are gonna get a really short email now cause im frustrated 8)

Well I leave tomorrow morning with the rest of the rostovians and will be back in my mission on friday 8) I have loved my stay here in estonia and have learned lots regarding contacting and being bold which i will be forever greatful for but im still glad that i will get back to my mission where i should be 8)
Today we will be going to Old Town to take pictures and eat something. I want to wish everyone a happy Valentines Day! I hope cupid visits our house like always (it always makes me laugh to think of Dad leaving something on the porch and running around to the back after ringing the door bell trying not to seem out of breath)
Im including some pictures when we went to the castle a couple of weeks ago-and mom, i think it looks like a castle! there were only a few pictures of me in them, the rest are on cectpa kings camera so ill have her email them to me 8) There is also a picture of our branch building here in Tallin-there is a big and successful estonian branch and the russian branch which is quite a bit smaller but growing 8)

The castle was really cool but really um...not legit inside-they had sound effects and cheesy decorations etc up and we could put on armor and have fake sword fights, ride on a big fake horse with wheels with a lance etc. It was fun but cold.
Well anywho I love you all! and the next time I write it will be from Russia!

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

How Firm A Foundation

2008-02-06T05:27:00.000-08:00

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

Oy

2008-01-30T04:44:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all!

Well I'm not sure when I will be heading back to Russia but I think I will still be here through the week so we will see.

Wow....
A lot has happened this week. We found out Monday morning from our zone leaders that President Hinckley had passed away the day before. We of course were in shock because over here we don't really hear anything leading up to what happens, just when the big stuff happens but it sounds like it was a shock for everyone. It really doesn't feel real...its easy to feel so disconnected over here and it prolly won't feel real til I go home and not see him in conference like usual. I will miss his smile, humor and constant concern and love for the youth of the church-he is really the only prophet that I remember and have grown up with so he will always have a special place in my heart.

The work continues to move forward here despite one of my companions has gotten bronchitis from an investigator which we just found out had it when we taught her. No worries mom, its been over a week and I am fine-no symptoms etc. So I guess we will have a member come over to be with her and then we will go out to work (one of the blessings of a threesome). There is a doctor (well actually a brain surgeon) in the branch and he wouldn't give her antibiotics-they are very strong naturalists here, would rather take herbal supplements etc. because antibiotics aren't that good for your system etc. I'm just glad I already have my antibiotics with me in case something happens.

We have a really hard lesson coming up with an investigator today-we learned a big issue-concern that she has yesterday so please be praying for us that we can help her and she can have the desire, faith, and strength to overcome it-she really is amazing but for all intents and purposes her baptismal date is postponed for sure. I hate feeling so helpless-like I want to fix everything for people and just do it for them but in the end it is up to them and there is nothing we can do but testify and sit back and watch if they will walk away from the most important message they will ever here. We will see though.

Also through talking to people sometimes I feel so inexperienced. I'm starting to realize just how much of an amazing and easy life I have led. Sure I've had my struggles like everyone else but really...when it comes down to it-nothing really earth-shattering or hard as far as mistakes-sins-etc. which is good....but I'm sure people just think: what does she know? She's never experienced this, just a blessed girl from America etc...that's why I'm so glad that I can testify of Christ who HAS felt and experienced everything that we have and if anyone is important to have on our side it's Him.

Anywho...on a little lighter side, apparently I've been mumbling in my sleep lately. And last night sister Whitehead said that I was saying (Oy) which is just a filler in Russian a lot and then sister Hansen asked something in Russian and I responded in Russian and then said oy again-she doesn't remember what we said exactly but she was really confused and tried asking us (pocheemoo mwee gavareem parooskee?) (why are we speaking Russian). I thought it was pretty funny and I want to know what I said....I can't speak Russian well while I'm awake but apparently I can when I'm asleep, haha.

Today we are going to old town which is a cool part of the city that is really old fashioned-cobblestone streets and a lil tower-castle type thing with lots of stores and even a McDonald's (guess their old town was very advanced for the time). I need to buy a new journal-I really need to write smaller and less or all I'll have room for is my journals.

I'm grateful to be here and to be around such great examples and will be sure to let you know when I head back to Russia etc.

I love you all and hope that all is well with you and your busy schedules. Thank you for all your letters and news from home. (Hopefully when I go back I will have a bunch of packages from home waiting).

I just have to say what a comfort it is that this is Christ's church and that our leader never will change, only the earthly representative.

Love,
Cectpa Richards

Tehray (spelled phonetically in Estonian)

2008-01-23T12:14:00.000-08:00

Hey family!

Well my first week here in Estonia has brought a lot of good. The companionship I am in is amazing and they are such good examples to me. We do a lot more street contacting which I had not done a lot of before with my trainer etc, and am really trying to use every minute.

I am trying to think of mom’s questions....our apartment is really nice, they even have a real washer and I have my own bed...it will be hard to go back, haha. Um, the ride over in the train had four bunk beds in a lil compartment, two on each side-thus the crampedness. The food here is def more Americanized...Europeanized....esp. since I have two American companions so we aren’t exactly eating borsht a whole ton. Um...it got a lil colder here and started snowing the past few days but really it just doesn’t seem that bad to me...don’t know...I haven’t hurt yet from the cold like I would in Russia. It is definitely more Europeanized than Russia and is WAY clean-it is kinda crazy to get used to. Did I already write about our falk experience? If not let me know and I will tell you, haha. I am duffle bagging it right now-def not traveling with all my stuff. I am mostly over my cold thing-didn’t effect my ears (woohoo!)

Today was our culture day. We went to Rokvere castle-def check it out on google or something. It was really cool and we got some pictures but all of them are on others cameras- mine is still in the mission office I think...pretty sure it is. But yea, it was really exciting for me tho they had added cheesy type things to it-not exactly in its pure ruined state. They had a scary lil ride thing to walk through and in one room there was cheesy torture chamber type things, but still cool, though it was all in Russian-didn’t really understand the cool history stuff. Hmmm what else...

I am honestly really grateful for this experience to be here and see how other missions work. In the future every three months I should have to come here but it should only be for a couple days at most, and in response to dads inquiry-I am already hoping and planning on extending so no worries-it seems our president is open to sisters extending (he asked if my trainer would extend).
Anywho...its funny cause we actually heard about Heath Ledger today, because some of the missionaries already emailed and heard from their families. It is so sad what happens to all of the young rich celebrities-what a waste, and I remember he was doing a movie-wonder if he finished it or not.

We also heard from someone that America is having an economical crisis? Something about inflation or small businesses or something? Hopefully it won’t be too bad...also we randomly heard that Mitt Romney had the most votes or something for the Republican Party candidate? Anywho...Life is good here and I’m glad to be serving the Lord wherever it happens to be for the week.

Eric, I am so excited that you are sort of coming over to my part of the world-come on over the water is fine 8) I am sure you are way excited and nervous but know you will do great and hope that you will keep in touch better once you get over here-I’ll be really interested to hear how the work is going-however much you can tell me about it that is.

Steve, so the movie almost made you throw up?? Why, was it really gross???? or crazy dizzying chase scenes or something?

Mike Jess and kids, hope all is going well with you guys and that you are enjoying good ol Oklahoma. Send me some pics of the kids! I am sure they already are bigger from the last pictures I got from Christmas 8)

Well I love you all and am so grateful for this amazing opportunity that I have been given to work with amazing missionaries and see a new part of the world all while serving the Lord. O by the way, tell our neighbors that I say `preevet´ (phonetic of course)

Cectpa Richards

For my lil bloggers:

CONGRATS to KYLE and BECCA!!!!!!!! I was SOOOO happy and excited to hear the great news!!!!!!!! You just make me all happy and warm inside 8) Also, of course congrats to my Sara and Justin-woohoo!!!!! Man...you are just droppin like flies, look at ya! It is only a matter of time before I hear about Chels and Amanda...tho to be perfectly honest I secretly hope not 8)
Well I luv ya all, can you believe I’m in Estonia?! ...and I saw a cool castle?! Anywho.....keep on keepin´on

From Krasnodar to Taganrog then on to Estonia ...what???

2008-01-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS WHITEROO!!!

Haha, bet you would want to know that huh? Well as it turns out my transfer was to Taganrog, a smaller town on the Aziak...something sea. For the first week it was me and Cectpa Burnett and even though it is naturally challenging with two fresh greenies together-it has been good and we were learning a lot. The branch is amazing and has a lot of cool strong youth. we taught a golden investigator that came to church all on her own and apparently they had taught her the first lesson before I came and then we taught her the second lesson and got a baptismal date by the end of it! It was really cool though we have since learned that her husband is not really her husband, just have lived together for a long time but we are confident that she will make the appropriate changes-prolly get married so we will see!

Though....I have sort of gotten a new transfer since last writing that happened just a few days ago. Hahha.....yea....so I am sort of in Tallin, Estonia right now. As it turns out our visas ran out and they were late with our paper work so a bunch of us got sent to the Baltics (in the case of the sisters) or Ukraine-mainly elders for the next couple of weeks.

So a few days ago we took a bus to Rostov where I met up with Cectpa King and Taylor from the MTC! and then the mission president drove us to the airport and we flew to Moscow and from there somehow (honestly thanks to Cectpa Taylor) we found our way through the metro under Moscow-honestly sooo cool and complex! we got to our train station and me and Cectpa King went to Estonia and Cectpa Taylor went to Latvia. our train ride was pretty cool- like Harry Potter only with bunkbeds and it was very squished. It was us and two other ladies and was obviously over night and they didn't feed us! but of course they offered tea and coffee, oh well.

We arrived in Tallinn, Estonia eight o'clock yesterday morning and were met by the mission president, his wife and Cectpa Witehead and Hanson-Witehead was in the MTC with us so we were really excited to see her. We went straight to their branch building which was very nice for their zone conference-cool timing huh?

Honestly, me and Cectpa King both feel like we came here for a reason-not just because of our visas but because we needed to learn from these missionaries in the Baltics and get the real training we needed and come back and whip the sisters into shape. I am REALLY excited to be here. Naturally the city is far more western-European and is right on the black sea. It is pretty cool. Most people speak Estonian, some Russian, and generally the Estonian youth know English so it is always fun to figure out if you can communicate with them or not. I am here in Tallin and Cectpa King is east in Narva. I am in a threesome with Cectpa Whitehead and Hanson-seriously they are amazing sister missionaries! They really are great examples to me. They have great goals in their mission- 20 contacts a day, 140 a week, 20 lessons a week etc, really impressive. And just before we came to the Internet cafe I talked with a girl on the bus in English cause she was Estonian and got her number-they make it so easy, how it should be.

Yesterday after zone conference we were on the bus-it works a bit differently here, there is not a conductor who goes to each person and makes them pay. You buy a ticket or have a pass and then randomly without warning little rent-a-cops called falks come on and check everyone and if you did not pay they pull you off into a van and apparently if you do not have a good excuse you go to jail-crazy huh?!

Um....what else...so hard to remember cause so much has happened....

So we think we will be here for 3 weeks or so but who knows...maybe more. On p-day we will have culture day and go see a castle. THAT IS RIGHT, A CASTLE!!!! I am SOOO excited! Also, they have what they call old town which is like a fairytale-hundreds of years old that we can see while I am here. It is a really clean city and feels a bit different from Russia. I am excited for our time here and can feel I will learn a lot and will have to bring all I learned back to Russia-I am tired of making excuses for myself (oh, it is Russia, that is why it is hard to contact etc-the people are cold etc- why should that affect me right?)

I was way excited to hear about all that is going on in your lives. I was excited to hear about Kyle and Becca-congrats!!! and also Chelsea Burkinshaw congrats!

I do not know anything about our branch here because i have not been to church but I am sure it will be great too. I just can not describe how great this mission feels-not that ours feels bad but I just can tell I will learn so much that can help us improve our mission in Rostov so I am taking notes and will now write my mission president a letter about what I have seen.

I love you all and will write next Wednesday-we have the same p-day here in Estonia, and I should be able to send pictures next week cause my comps have a chord and we will take pictures at the castle etc 8)

Also, congrats to Eric-I am sure you are excited to finish your training and finally do what you have been training so hard for. I will pray for you as I know you are praying for me- love ya, you will do great! I am proud to tell people what you are doing and the service you are giving.

Well I love you all and I am sure you will write with a million questions next week, but I am sure you will get on Google and look up stuff about this town-please do it is really cool looking!

Luv
Cectpa Richards

Where in the world is Whiteroo?

2008-01-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

We didn't get an email from Whitney today like we usually do. There's a chance we might hear something from her tomorrow. Looking at her last email she was sick last week so hopefully things haven't gotten worse and she's down in bed and unable to go out. I will post something as soon as we hear from her. Let's all keep her in our prayers.

From Krasnodar to Taganrog

2008-01-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

Whitney's first area was in Krasnadar which is the 3rd largest city in her mission with a population exceeding 750 thousand people. It is located on the Kubar river where all of the best fruits, vegetables and dairy products come from. It has two branches and they also enjoy attending meetings in the most beautiful branch building in the entire mission.

Whitney is now in her second area Taganrog which is located a couple of hours west of Rostov. It is on the sea of Azole. It has a population of 300 thousand people. The Branch membership in Taganrog exceeds 150 members. They also enjoy having the most active Branch in the mission with 60% attendance.

I've been transferred

2008-01-09T03:46:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

Yea, that's right I'm in Rostov right now. I got a transfer to Tagonrog (no idea how to spell that) and I'll be in a companionship with two other sisters. One is a girl who was in the older group just before ours. The other is a native who's been out since summer. It should be interesting since they said that she's had a bit of a problem functioning as a missionary but had been companions with Sister Taylor-one of my roommates in the MTC and as straight an arrow as you can get- I think she helped her a lot so hopefully it won't be soo hard getting her back on track.

Though the native sister Grachishneekoff (phonetically of course) won't be coming for two weeks so it will be me and Sister Burnett. I'm excited though, I think it will really push me with the language etc. I loved my trainer but I'm excited for this change and the opportunity to really step it up.

Also, I got mom's package today with the skorper and pepparkakor (which everyone in the office loved) thanks so much! I was so excited and hopefully the others will make it through too-nothin' like a Christmas tree for valentines! 8) Thanks so much mom for all the gifts waiting for me, sigh, I feel loved. Thank you all for your help and support-seriously it means so much and I'm so glad to have all your prayers. On the slightly down side I have a cold. Nothing too major just a sore throat and sinuses acting up-woohoo, but o well shall work through it of course and reap the blessings for it-I've been promised health in multiple blessings so I have the faith nothing of real significance will happen, the Lord is preserving me.

So we got in last night by train-we rode third class which wasn't exactly ideal but it was cool-never ridden on a train before and some members of the branch and our old comps saw us off at the platform and ran along the train waving and holding a sign saying: We're happy now! hahaha, it was pretty funny.

Haha, it's funny about your reactions to the movies we watched-yea I know...I thought it was pretty weird too. We've only seen Hoodwinked and the Bourne movie-though if you have a t.v. etc and it's approved you can see one movie every P-day if you want. Every once in awhile it will be fun but I dunno...I don't' think I wanna make a habit of it-easier to just be fully in the work, hard to put your foot back and forth here and home. Eh, they were good though.

I was excited to hear about how everyone's doing and hope you had great holidays. Well I better go-I love you all!

Cectpa Richards

p.s. of course I'm not mad at Heather-I know it takes an eternity for stuff to make its way to us out here plus I can understand being busy etc with her new hubby-heck I was never good at writing Mike or Eric, just ask them 8)

o yea, I forgot to mention we saw the nutcracker and it was soooo cool! The music, dancing, gorgeous/ornate theatre, it was amazing! Hopefully I can get a few more in before leaving.

luv ya
Cectpa Richards

Health, happiness and stuff like that

2008-01-01T07:04:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year one and all!

2008 looks like it'll be a great year for me and I hope it will be for you too! I have to say Russians really know how to do the New Years-it's the one holiday that they really celebrate and go all out for (not really big on Christmas like us).

So yesterday we met with a few referrals and sang them a christmas song and gave them a gift of a book of Mormon and some pictures of Christ etc. and got a return appointment. It was cool cause you could tell the lady really appreciated it because she got a lil' emotional-always happy to cheer someone for the holidays. Then we tried to buy some food etc. for our night since we got to stay up til 12:30 am and it was like a natural disaster had occurred. The reenok was a mess, people buying everything that wasn't tied down-mass chaos. Then we went home, changed into street clothes and tagless (for obvious reasons) and went over to the Elders. We had pizza, cookies and got to watch a movie. We saw the Bourne Ultimatum which I was REALLY excited for since I hadn't gotten to see it before I left and it was approved so we watched that. It was pretty cool though I'm not sure if I liked the style they shot it in as much. I think the elders found my excitement and enthusiasm for it funny: "Most girls aren't like that..." What can I say, I like action.

Then at 8:30 pm me and my companion had to go home. We ate, and watched finding Nemo and.....colored my hair 8) (I know-you're all freaking out now and worrying, what color?! why?!) It's a dark-chocolate brown- type color and it turned out really well. Who knows, if I like it enough maybe you'll see it when you come to get me. I'd show you a picture but I didn't bring my chord to my camera so you'll just have to use your wild imaginations.

Then five minutes to midnight Putin did his traditional five minute speech to the Russian people. I didn't really understand what he said but he did say "Dear friends.....Happy New Years....health....happiness...." stuff like that. Then they showed the Russian equivalent of Big Ben in Moscow chime midnight and started singing the Russian hymn and we went out on our balcony. It's pretty cool here because there aren't laws about fireworks so EVERYONE buys them and not just lil' sissy kinds that go off in the streets but the big kinds too. I think every rooftop in the city was shooting them off so it was like the whole horizon and everywhere around you was fireworks-pretty cool. I guess traditionally at midnight you shake in your hand or have whatever you want to happen the following year for ex: it's common for people to shake coins/money in their hands meaning they'll get money in the coming year or...whatever you want. They also think of a wish/desire and then at midnight toast and it will come true.

Walking to the Internet cafe was interesting today-it's like a ghost town practically. Today is our P-day and by 5:00 pm we need to be in our apartments but then it's back to work tomorrow. I'm excited for this week because me and my companion decided it's consecration week meaning we follow every single rule exactly-regarding times, speak your language etc, and we leave every morning a lil' early and don't come back til 9:00- so we work ALL day and just bring something we can snack on throughout the day etc. I'm really excited for this because I know it will help me become a better missionary and we can do it every week. Also, this Friday for our culture night which we haven't done yet since coming (we get one a month if we want) all of the missionaries in Krasnodar are going to see the Nutcracker ballet. I'm REALLY excited because if you go to Russia, you HAVE to see a ballet and I haven't seen this ballet since I was 10 when the Bartlesville community center put it on.

Hey mom, where was your email to me huh?? and I STILL haven't "opened" the supposed gift that you got me for Christmas. Still no packages but hey, what can ya do.

Something kinda funny just happened. A drunk guy came up to me and asked me something but I didn't understand and my comp is on the next computer and she let him start using her computer for something.

Anywho, possible things of note that could be happening in the near future for me: It turns out that there was a new visa law made right when we came. If we had come a day earlier into Russia our visas would have been good for a year, but now they're only good for 3 months so sometime in January all of us who came in October will have to go to Histonia for a short lil' trip to renew our visas. It's a hassle and gets in the way of the flow of the work but it will be interesting to see I'm sure.

You'll have to write me and tell me what all Santa brought you for Christmas-anything exciting etc. Also, to Sara: congratulations on your engagement!!!! That's so CRAZY that Karin sat right by you on the plane and you both realized that you knew me-yup that's me, touching lives everywhere, haha. I'm so excited for you, especially since we're more connected through Houston 8)

Well I love you all and know that as we make resolutions to become better and improve ourselves and how we are living our lives, the Lord will bless and consecrate our efforts and help us find more happiness and a stronger resolve to live His gospel and continue enduring to the end. I want to challenge you all to make it a family goal to pray for, look for, and accomplish at least one missionary-type experience each week and then report to each other for family night. It could be as simple as sharing what you believe through natural conversation to a stranger, friend, inviting people to some type of function, or giving referrals to the elders in the area,pass-along cards, but something. I know the Lord needs as many instruments as he can find and will be more than happy to bless you with opportunities and the sensitivity and courage to meet them.

I love you all soooooooooooooooooo much! And am grateful for your prayers and continual thoughts and well wishing. Keep me informed in all of the developments in your lives and have a Happy New Year!

Love,
Cectpa Richards

Frozen Old Guy

2007-12-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope today finds everything great with you and yours. I won't write much because we don't have a lot of time today plus half of you will be calling me in 8 hours anyway. Today is our p-day since, of course, it's Christmas. So I won't get your emails til next week if you haven't already written. I'm sad that I didn't get to "see" and "open" the present mom said she would email pictures of but hopefully they'll just tell me tonight when they call.

I haven't gotten any of the packages but that's because no one has come down this way from Rostov. Though President Harrison should prolly be coming soon to change up the branch presidency here so hopefully he'll bring anything that's there. In a couple of hours we'll meet up with the elders in our area and eat somewhere...maybe Subway...not sure, watch a movie, and exchange secret Santa gifts, and we might possibly play football-I mean soccer just so we can have a reason to wear jeans sigh...aww...jeans...it's been so long 8)

Our branch had a Christmas party and it was really great- many investigators and less-actives came out for it and I of course sang in the branch choir-which was the bulk of the festivities. The choir consisted of more missionaries than branch members, haha-I think the director was happy to have a full choir and people that could read music 8)

It was a really fun night, and after the choir sang, and the lil primary kids acted out the manger scene, they brought out "ded ma-rose" their Santa clause and each of the kids had to come up and recite some kind of verse/poetry/talent/something and then he gave them a brightly colored cardboard gift box with candy and lil' toys in it. it was really fun and interesting to see their traditions and the richness that is in their culture- such an emphasis on poetry! The room where we had it was well decorated with streamers and a tree. It was lots of fun 8)

Grandpa Adams, I think I forgot to mention in my last letter, thank you soooo much for your consistent financial support and help-I know it's a great blessing for our family. I'm so lucky to be surrounded by loving and supportive family and friends.

You will all have to email me pictures of you wherever this Christmas finds you! (that goes for R22 and F6 too) just email them to mom and she can forward them on to me 8)

I love you all and can't believe it's Christmas-really feels weird but I'm so grateful to be here and know that eventually being home for Christmas will be all the more sweet if I give my all here and now. I now I already said it but I love you all and more importantly I know the Lord loves you all- give him a present on his birthday, consecrate something more to Him whether it's omitting something you're doing now or recommitting to do something better. Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Luv
Cectpa Richards

How do you spell Borsh?

2007-12-19T04:16:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL!

This will be my Christmas email since this time next week it will be long gone...that is of course until my second Christmas on the 7th-score!

Well this week has gone well and we're starting to get back into our normal routine which feels good. We had our second zone conference on Friday which was our Christmas zone conference. It was a lot of fun and always charges me up and gets me excited for the work.

We had a talent show of sorts put on by the different districts of missionaries. One district performed Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem on bottles-was very impressive, another companionship tried to do the Rubik's cube blindfolded racing against each other-one finally peeked to end it, our district which is us and the ZLs put on a skit titled appropriately: "Borscht". Where we act out a scene where I make borscht, one ZL comes in and eats it, dies, and the other comes and pronounces him dead, and my comp was the "director" and kept making us redo the scene in different ways for example: opera, ballet, and my favorite: mafia. Basically he came in talking with a new york accent, I gave him borscht, and as he stood eating it I shot him in the back, then when the other ZL came I payed him off-ta dah, mafia style! Everyone laughed pretty hard at it. Another companionship-one of which was Russian did an American rap about missionary work, it was pretty funny, and the last act (the funniest of all) a district put on a shadow puppet show explaining why there wasn't unicorns or dragons on the earth today-the unicorns left the ark, sacrificing themselves, to hold off the dragons long enough for Noah and the ark to get away. They recorded the story on a tape player and had a projector and cardboard cutouts of the ark, unicorns, dragons, etc and two elders put baking soda in their mouths and with lighters tried to breathe fire like dragons...it didn't work that great but it was sure funny to watch.

We had a white elephant gift exchange which pretty much consisted of ties for elders and us sisters got girly things of course. We got a CD of Christmas music from Sister Harrison and a jar of peanut butter and nutella-the first of these gave me much joy 8)

Sadly I didn't get any of your packages at the zone conference. If anyone comes down to Krasnodar and the packages have arrived at the office I'm sure they'll bring them with them, but it's not a sure thing so I may not get them til next transfer-that is if they make it through the postal system (yea for Russia!) haha, o well...it would have been nice to have whatever crazy decorations were in there but we found an old small Christmas tree in our apartment and put it out on the table and taped up paper snowflakes so it's all good anyway. We can just have a third Christmas whenever we get those packages. I mailed a package last week so hopefully you will get it sooner than later. Man was it a nightmare though! We had to refill out all these little forms saying exactly what was in the package-just a big envelope really, and they wouldn't let me send mom's gift 8( it was these cool looking candles, but they said that if it gets to America and when they open it to check it, if it's broken they'll send it back to Russia and not on to it's destination in America-crazy I know...oh well, and there's a letter that I had to send separately so hopefully that will get there around the same time.

Thank you for all your letters this week-it sounds like everyone is doing great and it was especially cool to read the comments from my mission blog! It's so crazy to think about what everyone is doing and the many changes that are going on in their lives-I still can't believe Heather is married, I don't think it will feel real til I go home and have a lil kid yelling "Aunt Whit" at me...haha, just kidding...or am I? 8)

I'm so excited that Eric can be there for the phone call and I'm sure it will be great to have a 9 day break and enjoy all the Christmas festivities at the house. I'm excited to read about these so-called presents that have apparently already been bought for me and are waiting at home. Though I must point out that I should be seeing them today because next Wednesday Christmas will be over-ahem.

The work is going better here, we have gotten a few investigators that the elders knocked into -met with one yesterday, who had MANY questions and was really interested in religion in general. Another seems really cool and interested but will work a lot until after the holidays but she works at the store that we buy our groceries at every week and said she'd come say hi so that was cool.

It looks like New Years eve we have to be home by dark and can stay up til 12:30 to see fire works, though they said fire works will be goin on all night-we get to sleep in til 8:00 8) So it should be fun and interesting.

Grandpa and Grandma Richards, thanks so much for the Christmas present! I bought warmer winter boots with fur inside and a turtleneck-both were really needed, so thanks for helping me stay warm out here.

The weather has really turned colder the past few days and yesterday or the day before-can't remember it snowed. It was really pretty-I want it to snow, otherwise it's just grey and boring, if I'm gonna be cold I at least want something pretty to look at 8)

I love you all and thanks for your continued support and love! be sure to give your gift to the savior for His birthday this upcoming week whether it's improving something about yourself, service to those around you, or something like that! Oh, and Eric, thanks so much for the advice-consider it noted 8)

Merry Christmas!

luv
Cectpa Richards

Crazy Week

2007-12-13T04:48:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all!
Wow, a great bunch of emails this week-thanks everyone for writing 8)

Well the past week has been kind of crazy because my companion's back was really hurting her. For some reason there was a doctor who was staying with a member's family in the branch so we are now going over there once a day for her to get a massage and she says it's doing a lot better. Yesterday we had two girls from the branch come over one to stay with my comp and the other to go knocking with me. It was really weird to not be with my companion, it was really humbling because I realized how much I rely on her. I really need to start opening my eyes and learning the things around me better because next transfer she could leave and someone else will come expecting me to be able to teach them about the area etc. It's hard cause it all looks the same to me but I will try harder. With all of the crazy illness of my comp, our finding abilities have suffered so we're in a sort of rut right now with no new investigators and few progressing. It's hard because well...it's frustrating when you feel like you're not doing enough, your part, but now that she is on the mend hopefully we'll be able to up our work efforts and get back into the swing of things.

The language is really hard but this next week I'm gonna really prayerfully re- evaluate and set up how I use my hour of language study and just work hard, study hard, and pray hard...though it's frustrating when you're not able to really share with people your personality/who you are because of language barriers-it's easy to feel isolated from the world, but that's just part of the process and I know when I start working harder and studying harder, trying more and really show my faith that the Lord will help me, gotta do my part.

Um....what else....it's been raining and cold for the past couple of days-I kinda wish that it would just snow, I think it would be warmer and you can just brush it off anyway, but my coat continues to be great and I'm staying dry and warm.

Ok, now for the number you should call to talk to me on Christmas-and actually you can call me whenever you want within the time I sent you since my companion's family will call a different day all together so let me know what will be best for you; hopefully Eric will be able to be there for it, that would be really cool.

Friday is our Christmas zone conference so I'll see if any of your packages make it to me by Christmas (fingers crossed!) It was almost torture to hear about all the Christmas baking going on at home and decorations but good too, I'll just get re-lost in the work and not dwell.

Steve, it's cool to hear about all of your plans for the future. I realized too that that would be the one time that I would ever be in the same school with one of my siblings-crazy cool! You sound so old from your emails, where's my lil brother?? you're like...full-fledged teenager or something....weird...haha, stay strong in your studies (I won't say to have fun because I know you already will for sure 8)

Mike, Jess, and fam, how do you like your new home? Has everyone adjusted back into a normal routine again? I bet the kids are getting way excited for Christmas, you'll have to tell me how they like sitting on Santa's lap: fun or terrifying. It was so fun to hear you are back in Broken Arrow-tho I don't remember that house particularly well, but a little and mom mentioned that you are near the mall that had Mr.Bulkies-how could I forget that wondrous place! haha, it must be a fun trip down memory lane.

Well, I better go. Please continue to pray for our success and the strength needed to carry out this great work, I know that this gospel is the true church of Jesus Christ with only Him at its head leading and guiding us today through a prophet. I'm so thankful for the knowledge that this gospel gives me, and the importance of this life and our goals after this life. I know God loves each of us and is aware of us in every state that we are in (happy and sad) and knows what we need the most; what a comfort. I love you all and pray for you daily, be sure to use this great time of year as an opening to share the gospel with those around you (hey, you guys should invite our neighbors who are from Russia over for your Christmas party! And tell them I say "preevyet"

Luv
Cectpa Richards

P.S. And of course: hey F6 and R22!!! Be sure to leave comments chronicling any cool developments or just email to my mom if you don't want everyone to see it on the blog (hmmm...mysterious...) cause I wanna know what's up with everyone.

Your thought for this week: getting yelled at by an angry Russian when you don't understand the language, is a lot like getting yelled at by Taz the looney tunes character. It sounds like a lot of nonsense and occasionally there's some spit. Thankfully though, Alan has helped prepare me for the experience of getting yelled at while not laughing (of course I'm referring to our spy movie and the interrogation scene, by the way how did it turn out?)

Oh yea! Real, quick sorry this is so long, but last Wednesday I went into an orthodox church- the inside was covered with gorgeous gold leaf paintings and there was this heavenly choir singing old medieval type music because it was their sacrament and people just stood around in a large room with vaulted ceilings (no chairs) crossing themselves while the priest read in chant from something, and there were hundreds of candles lit everywhere-the only lighting, because that's how they repent sort of...the bigger the sin, the bigger the candle (they pay for the candles from the church). Interesting huh?? Man it was really pretty though....too bad they don't have the fullness though-def could feel a difference.

Hello everyone!

2007-12-05T01:02:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for your GREAT letters-it's amazing what a boost they bring to read something and feel something so familiar again. This week has been...good. I dunno, it's been kind of a crazy week cause my companion has been needing to go to the dentist and finally got referred to one. (It's actually a pretty nice office and seems as good as American dental care). So Monday we went there and were waiting in the office FOREVER though afterwards it was pretty funny because he had given her the shot that numbs your mouth/face etc and she had never had that before. (Don't ask me what she has had-no idea) But anywho...so all night long she was poking at her face and saying, "He killed my face!", etc. Watching her eat dinner was pretty funny too cause she didn't hear him say: wait two hours, and so it was like watching a baby eat, haha. I kept telling her it was normal and it will wear off but we needed to go knocking cause our whole day had been wasted by this appointment and she couldn't really talk good. That's right, I stepped up to the plate. It was pretty comical cause it always registers on people's faces pretty quickly that you're not Russian and sometimes (especially with old people) they ask: "shto-shto?" which means: "what, what-didn't understand you" etc.

It was good though because I can't learn how to speak comfortably without speaking as much as possible. This one door though, Cectpa Malinina pointed out a big spider web in the corner and I was happy to see that it was unoccupied. Then I rang the bell and just as I did this, a huge spider came flying down onto the web from who knows where-I guess one of his strings was attached to the bell as a trigger. It took everything in me not to scream though I backed up three big steps really quickly and Cectpa M tried to mess with it/ play with it laughing at me. (shudder)

Not much came from knocking that night, though one man after saying something that sounded like "you speak real bad" I said I know, I'm from Texas which peaked his interest and we got a number to give to the elders to contact him so hopefully something will come from that. There was another woman who said we could come back but I think she might have thought we were Jehovah's witnesses-we get that a lot here. "Oh, we already talked to your people and got your literature" and we keep trying to say: "No! That's not us, we're different etc" sigh...it's like they're following us and getting to our areas first, oh well.

Yesterday Cectpa M's tooth still hurt and the dentist called us and had us come back so there went another day-though we taught the lesson at English club last night which went ok I guess. We taught about making verbs past tense and had them play a game and give candy and then they asked questions about America, what I like about my city etc. And afterwards one girl who we had taught the first lesson to and she has avoided us came up to us and asked if we could meet tomorrow.....um....YES! It's rare when they ask you to meet, haha. We'll show her Testaments and talk about the Book of Mormon some more-I'll have seen this movie 3 times this week (ugh) but it's a powerful tool and really invites the spirit.

For P-day today we're going to go visit an orthodox church-it's really big and beautiful, I'll be sure to take some pictures-from a distance of course. I'm excited to see the architecture etc. and something that is so old and rich in culture-it really caters to my love of humanities etc.

I sent to Dad the instructions we received about Christmas calls and will email my number and exactly what time (have to coordinate with my comp) to call etc. We'll have zone conference on the 14th so hopefully I'll get at least one of my packages 8) I have Steve for Christmas but I think I can send something from here for not that much-the only expensive thing will be the actual sending of it and if I think it's a lot maybe mom can put 20 odd bucks into my account or something, but it shouldn't be bad. He may have to wait til after Christmas but it's ok-Christmas is Jan 7 here anyway.

As to Mom's questions: We have lots of interactions with the branch members here-at least the younger ones and like I said there's quite a few RM sisters in our branch who are really cool. Every week there's prolly 30-40 in attendance. We don't eat meals with members-mission rule, tho every time we visit with this one LA lady she tries to feed us (was a chef) and let's just say her restaurant wouldn't be my fav, we'll prolly do a Christmas party with the missionaries in our area and I'm sure our branch will have some sort of Christmas/New Years party. I speak mostly English with my companion-she's pretty good at it but not perfect so we still have funny lost-in-translation moments. (Though I'm gonna ask her to only speak to me in Russian outside of our apartment from now on to help me learn faster). I gave a talk in sacrament a couple weeks ago-was short but everyone afterwards complimented me and was amazed at how much I could say (yea right 8) , um...I think they have a McDonald's in Rostov but I haven't seen one here in Krasnodar and we haven't been to any restaurants-just vendors on the streets for bakery type items- pear-O-shkee- my fav thing here right now: basically bread and inside is mashed potatoes, or meat or cabbage or cheese etc-kind of like a glorified hotpocket only that description doesn't do it justice...like a celestial hotpocket more like it! Don't' worry, you will taste them some day 8)

As far as in my next package- could use some Q-tips, mascara, um...fluoride rinse? haha that's about it...exciting huh?! Would it be possible to send skorper and some type of hot chocolate mix that only takes hot water like Stephens? That reminds me- it's not too bad weather wise here, though we've had a couple of crazy days that had warm weather, wind, cold rain and snow all in the same day-pretty wild.

Well I better go-still need to write the mission president, but know that I love all of you soooo much and love hearing from you and how every one's lives are going. I'm grateful for your prayers and support-I know it makes a difference and that God is preserving me out here every day.

Love,
Cectpa Richards

I've been crossed

2007-11-28T04:25:00.000-08:00

Greetings one and all!

Thanks for your continual support and letters,they are a huge highlight to my week! Speaking of sending correspondence: All packages need to be sent to the mission office if you didn't already know, thank you 8)

So another week has come and gone. Our lil' Thanksgiving was great last week. We all met up at the elders' apartment-it is a huge apartment, I'm so jealous
8( We all went out to a cement court out back and played some football which was fun. I'm not sure which was more fun playing or watching people's interest and expressions as they passed seeing real Americans playing real American football. Pretty funny. Then we went back to the apartment. We watched the "Emperor's New Groove" in Russian which was pretty comical because I remembered all that was being said and then learning what it was in Russian-not exactly an exact translation but still hilarious. The part when they go over the water fall and he says bring it on was pretty funny. There's a word: "Feegnah" which just means that something is worthless, not important, or our slang word: crap. And that's all he said before they went over the waterfall- we were laughing pretty hard.

Our meal was amazing even for American standards-everyone brought something and we had about ten of us together. We had chicken marinated in this barbecue/pineapple sauce stuff-really good, pumpkin bread (so good!). Fruit salad, jello, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing casserole, and more but I can't remember at the moment...then we had these lil personal pumpkin pies which were ok-just add water on the back of package type of thing, but then we had our apple pies and ice cream. I think I'm still working off all that I ate and haven't really been that hungry since.

Um...what else happened this week...we got this one lady from the elders who had knocked into her (not literally of course) and she's really amazing. She has already come to church and brought her 6 year old son, came to FHE at the branch, and came to English last night and we taught her the plan of salvation which I think went well...only she had a problem with pre-earth life-thought that our spirits were just created once God created our bodies with His breath or something. We'll find some good scriptures though and address it next time-she's really great and a sincere lady. Our knocking hasn't found as much success as normal this past while-a bit of doubt with lots of interesting, old, Russian-orthodox people (always a good combination with a couple young Mormon missionaries 8)

One man we knocked into was trying to convince my companion that she should be orthodox and how can she not be orthodox because she's Russian-she gets this a lot and hates it (understandably). Here it's really interesting because people are way strong Russian Orthodox because they are Russian and they think that that's enough of a reason to be orthodox-never mind the religious aspects of it, you're Russian so therefore you should be orthodox. Anywho, this man and Cectpa Malinina hashed it out for a good 20-30 minutes on the doorstep with me just standing there and wanting to say something but thought better of it when I started hearing him say "amerakanskee" a lot. Let the bashing begin! Hahaha, he went on and on about how Americans were fat and lazy and only want to invade lands, eat all the food and then move to the next land etc. My comp wanted to point out that I was American and not fat and he was the fat one but thought better of it 8) She tried to point out that all people are the same and Russia has bad leaders too- what about Stalin and Lenin etc and he actually was ok with them and thought they were good people (never mind that they killed millions of their own people) def. interesting....

I feel bad for people who have been so brainwashed by politics and what the media tells them-you just can't believe everything you hear, and because of it they have such a skewed and small view/understanding of the world. Everyone Everywhere wants the same things- to be happy, successful, have a good life, and I think too often politics and media cause more problems then they're fixing-turning people against each other. But anywho...enough of that, afterwards we were able to laugh about it.

We were walking down the street and one old man passed by and asked who we were/what we were doing and we told him and the second he realized we were a different church than orthodox he started yelling how A.) we should be orthodox and B.) we were possessed.

Yesterday we knocked and an old "babushka" came out and after explaining we wanted to talk about Jesus Christ's gospel etc. she crossed US! (you know when people cross themselves etc? She did it to us!) Hahaha we just stood there awkwardly looking at her like...um....is something supposed to happen, what now?

It's really interesting because we say we want to talk about Christ and God and the gospel and people say-I don't want to talk about that I'm orthodox etc and we're thinking.....what, you don't believe in God, Jesus Christ and study his gospel in your church?? It's the same person isn't it and if not...what kind of church is the orthodox church? Haha

I hope you all don't think I'm sounding discouraged or depressed cause I'm fine-these experiences are mere musings at the end of the day, a dime a dozen if you will, haha. But at the end of the day I feel good cause I tried to open my mouth and speak and invite others to come unto Christ- nowhere does it say we have to pick them up and force them into the font, in the end it's up to them.

It has been a bit colder here but when I'm all done up in my winter coat, wool beenie, scarf, etc I'm pretty comfortable-but those warm socks will be a great addition. I think we'll have zone conference in two weeks or so, so if you could get them here in time for me to get them that would be great! (I have no idea how long it takes to send 8)

Well I made it through my first transfer. I'm still here with my companion and I'm glad-I'm starting to get settled and used to everything, it really is starting to feel like home now and I don't want to leave yet-I want to be with Cectpa Malinina through Christmas 8)

Though one elder in our zone is leaving and an elder who came out with me from the MTC is coming so it will be fun to see how his experiences have been/how he's doing etc. I can't wait to work with Cectpa King or Taylor who I roomed with in the MTC-it'll be like working with family 8)

Well I better go but first I'd just like to say thanks for all of your support and love. Eric,Grandpa Richards and Grandpa Adams, thank you so much for your help and support-it really means a lot. I remember when Dad told me that you (Eric) wanted to help pay for my mission and I was so touched cause I know it's not exactly convenient or easy for you but just shows how much you love me and the gospel and you know how important this great work is. I love you all and am excited to hear about your holiday plans and experiences. The nursery sounds like it's one happenin' place thanks to mom and dad 8) Hey Steve, you don't have to write an epistle or anything, just a quick note-come on man, it's email, not even hard! 8)

Luv you guys
Cectpa Richards

Happy Thanksgiving! (sort of...)

2007-11-21T05:18:00.000-08:00

Well hello from Krasnadar!

Man I had a lot of emails to read today-don't worry, not too much from fam, just a lot from our mission president etc. It's ok though, I'm a fast typer and I still have thirty minutes.

Well today is our "Thanksgiving" even though it's tomorrow (and the next day for you guys) because today is P-day 8) So basically we're gonna get to meet up with the other ten elders in about an hour and have a turkey bowl (even though we can't touch each other...should be interesting, not sure how we'll "stop" each other) and then we'll have our Thanksgiving feast as it were... Well, they don't have turkeys here like at home, but we'll have some sort of meat product which is always good and some different salads, maybe potatoes, bread/rolls, and drum roll please: apple pie and pumpkin pie. An elder's mom sent him pumpkin pie mix cause they don't have that here that I could find so he made that and I made two apple pies. I'm not gonna lie I was a lil' worried how it would turn out but it seems to appear and smell good which I think are good signs. So I guess we'll see how they turned out-hopefully good for the elders' sakes, I'm sure it's hard for them to think about mom's cooking back home etc.

Um....what else....we went to a store yesterday to get our weeks groceries since we didn't have time today and it's called "Ok" (spelled in Russian, but it sounds the same). I felt like I was home-it was just like Wal-mart, huge, shopping carts, appeared clean, had music playing-sigh...heaven. It was def cool. anywho...we have three investigators that look promising right now, one is taking forever but we encouraged her to pray specifically about the Book of Mormon and she said she would, the other two are getting closer.

Um...in answer to Mom's questions:
We live in an apartment building it's about 6 stories high, and there's three different stairwells, and on each landing there's three apartments. We're on the fourth? floor...haha I've never stopped to count how many floors we're climbing but it's not that tall of a building so it's not bad. I can't remember if I told you but one day we were coming home and all of these huge flower wreath things were outside the bottom stairwell and my comp said: oh...that means someone died. I was like: what?! We climbed the stairs and we could hear the orthodox priest sing/chanting like you hear in old Latin/medieval songs etc. We got to our landing and sure enough the apartment next door to us directly across from the landing where we came up-there was a priest in his robes with the tall hat etc waving that gold ball with the smoke and chanting. There was a coffin and a bunch of people standing around holding candles and they all turned and were watching us. I felt very aware of my name tag at this point 8) but felt it wasn't the best time to explain the plan of salvation. It was an old woman who had passed away but it was def interesting to see...

Anywho...I've bought a hat and scarf, but those long socks to your knees sound nice-doesn't really matter about color, maybe a blue of some kind. Anywho...the work is going good in that we're working, haha.

Yesterday we were out knocking-so far it seems the best way to find people, that and English. An old man passed by and asked us who we were and then he started yelling at us about how could we be in this sect and why we weren't in the orthodox church and how we were possessed etc. I didn't understand what he was saying of course but I understood "orthodox" and when he yelled "Satana" over and over at us....yea, pretty much got the jist of what he was saying at that point 8) Eh, it doesn't really bother me, they don't know any better...they've just had such strong tradition ingrained in them, they haven't known anything different and change is scary-especially to old people who have been through everything they have been through. For most people the orthodox church was the one constant thing through all the communism, wars, etc it's understandable that they'd feel loyal to it.

Um...yes we have a light that we use when it gets dark (which is at five/six here) Our rent has been payed for the next month or so from the last sisters so we haven't' had to deal with that yet. We get about 5600 rubles every month for groceries etc which is really all we ever use our money for.

Well it was great to hear about your new job mom-it sounds really cool/easy money/ and nice people, always a plus. I'll try not to think too much about our house done up in Christmas decorations or all the great cooking going on in the kitchen-it'll only be torture 8) But it's easy to get lost in the work. I can tell it will be a struggle to keep my mind here in the mission during the holiday season but we'll just have to keep ourselves busy.

Steve, congrats! Way to give it your all at Nationals-pretty cool competition huh? I was thinking back on our competition when we went-it was sooo fun and I loved the band that won, they were so cool and nice-our bands were friends/were staying at the same hotel etc. anywho....I think it's funny that there's controversy about the mocking flag thing- Oh well, I guess our band will always rattle the cages, haha.

I hope you all will have a great holiday, it was funny to try and explain Thanksgiving to my companion. I was like....well....really we just.....eat.....a whole lot....and there's a parade (also hard to explain floats) but it should be fun today. Anywho, I better go since I still need to write the Pres.

O yea, um... you can email Sister Harrison and ask but I think to send packages you would either do it to the mission home or the mission office-both in Rostov obviously but yea...and we'll get them soon cause the transfer is in a week or so and then we'll have another zone conference so it should work out nicely. I'll be sure to ask about the Christmas call home- not sure if we do it on the 25th (prolly, even tho it's on the 7th of Jan here)

Well, I love you all and thanks for the pics! They were soooo cute 8) Steve, you'll have to write me about your thoughts/experience at nationals etc. Eric, congrats at doing so great! You're just a lil' smarty pants. O yea! the other day we visited a potential investigator and he was a man from Afghanistan with a family and he's trying to get refugee status in America and he's been through a lot-got captured by an army (can't remember which) because he was here in Russia and his father had fought against this army so they saw him as an enemy and he was in prison and tortured for 20 years etc. Now he's married has kids and they're hoping to get to America cause the army is still looking for them-pretty wild, he's devout Islamic but really cool and open to Christianity and religion in general. I'll keep you updated but I think he speaks Farsi, anywho..

luv ya!
cectpa Richards

"Preevyet"

2007-11-14T04:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all of your great emails this week-it was great to hear how the kids liked Halloween and what everyone has been doing lately.

This week has flown by and I'm trying to remember things of note that happened that I could mention...We have two who are close to baptism but again, one wants to finish the Book of Mormon and the other's mother is against it so we'll see what will happen this next week. I don't know if I have already mentioned it or not but our District has about I dunno...50? in attendance every week-could be more or less not sure...but it feels small to me. Our building is really nice though-has white pillars out front, it's sandwiched between other dirtier/shabbier buildings of course so it kinda sticks out. It's pretty narrow inside but has three floors to it and has really nice accommodations, font etc. The members work hard to keep it clean and nice-really showing their love for the church and the place they are allowed to worship. The other night me and Sister Malinina stood outside the building and asked people that were passing by if they knew about the church/new what this building was, and one actually said that she had wondered what this building was cause it used to be a fabric store, and that maybe she would come on Sunday with her granddaughter-who knows, we'll see.

In answer to Mike, I haven't gotten any mail yet (snail mail that is) though I think we only get mail/packages every zone conference when the president and his wife come from the mission office-they bring it all, so that's every transfer (six weeks).

Our members are really great and many have served missions and are great resources to use with investigators. We have quite a few investigators right now but not many are progressing investigators. We're trying to meet with the three that we taught first lessons to last week but they seem to be really busy-hopefully we can meet with them because two of them have real promise.

Yesterday was an interesting day of weather. It started out sunny, warm, then became REALLY windy, then it got colder and was raining all late morning/early afternoon (really fun to knock in let me tell ya! haha people that we were crazy for being out in it) and then later in the day it snowed (none of it stuck) but yea....interesting, it was good-i like a lil' variety.

Um...what else...It gets dark around five here and light around seven. It makes it hard to contact/ knock because people don't like it when you're knocking in the dark (it does get really dark in the streets because there are very few streetlights/lamp posts). Every other door they say something about it being too late, then we look at our watches and it's only six....frustrating, but I guess we need to try and schedule all our meetings etc. at night so we can contact during the day...though many are at work...not exactly the perfect system-can't wait for summer when it's light til late.

I was telling my companion about Thanksgiving last night and the different foods we eat. I don't think we do anything special, but maybe we'll have some sort of zone party for Christmas/New years...not sure. Christmas here is Jan 7th after New Years, but church members celebrate the American date I think. My comp was like: "Hey we can make your mom's pie", but I'm not sure if they have the canned pumpkin filling here-prolly not, but I guess we can look. Maybe you can email me the recipe mom just in case. Well I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season in the next lil' bit.

Steve-knock 'em dead at nationals! play with all the passion and fire that you've got, but don't go so crazy that all your technique and practice goes out the window-there's definitely a balance to be found. I know you'll do great! I was trying to explain to my comp about marching band but I don't think she really grasps the full picture-prolly thinks it's like a parade, marching and playing in lil' lines in one direction. O well, it'll be real fun to hear how everything goes-I'll try to remember and keep you in my prayers on Friday-Sat.

Eric, have fun with the fam! let me know what your next bit of plans will be- I guess you're going to Kentucky and then Iraq? Let me know about dates/what you can say about what you are doing etc. It's exciting to think that you'll be sort of close to me 8) at least the closest to me out of our family.

Mike, that's so exciting about Brina walking! I know when I get back I won't even recognize them and even more so they won't know me, but it'll be fun to see how they've grown up and who knows, maybe another lil one. Keep up the good work at the job-way to be.

The work is hard but it makes you appreciate the little things a whole lot more. I continue to try to be patient with myself and my lack of Russian skills. I'm trying to really study the language every day-at first wasn't so good at it. It's hard to discipline yourself and study for yourself, hard to know where to begin-need to know everything. It's going good though and I know if we keep trying to do our best the Lord will help us find those that are willing to hear the message.

I love you all and o yea, I wrote mom/dad/Steve and Route 22 and F6 a letter-coming to you through pouch. There was an elder who was going to the mission office and we sent them on with him so hopefully you'll get a physical letter soon. And hey, R22 and F6, if there's any news you want to update me with you can comment on the blog and tell my mom to email me the comments etc. or use pouch, though it's one page, one side and I won't get it for awhile-but whatever you want 8)

love you all, keep the prayers and letters coming!
Cectpa Richards

"Pal-menie" - Yummmm!

2007-11-07T04:13:00.000-08:00

OK, so let's hope this email fares better than the last! 8) I'll try to not push any buttons.

So my first full week in Russia is done. I'm already really getting used to the cultural differences and feeling a little more comfortable in my very American skin in this different environment.

So my companion, yes she's from Siberia and soo funny. She's a lil' spit fire that's for sure which is good because it's hard to be bold at this point for me. Just yesterday we were knocking at "ch-a (as in apple)-sties" which is where you're on the street/sidewalk and there's fences either wood or metal-normally metal, with numbers of the houses on the fence. We knock on the door and the person comes out of their house and to the gate and normally says " ka-toe tom" (phonetically spelled of course) and we say missionaries through the fence and normally they open the door to see what we want etc. Anywho, yesterday we were knocking and one man came out and I couldn't tell all that was said obviously but I could tell enough to know that he didn't think much of us and my companion who normally just says, sorry to bother, goodbye actually started arguing right back with him about, well what did Christ do when he was on the earth-I guess he was calling us foolish for walking around and sharing a message about Christ. Anywho, she did it in good taste but it's amazing how fast the Russian language gets when they're mad, haha. Though right after we were walking down the sidewalk and a man came up to us and asked if we talked about God etc. and how his wife and him were interested and to come back later-so the Lord does bless us for defending him. 8)

Actually it has gotten pretty cold here-even my companion is just as cold as I am. She keeps saying, I don't know how I will return to live in Siberia if I'm cold now-she told me stories how sometimes it's so cold that every fifteen minutes you need to move your face around/rub it or your cheeks will turn white and then after the skin will peel off and bleed. I guess it could be worse right?

Well our apartment was pretty humble, but we're working hard to clean it and it really does feel like home now. It's an apartment-just us, it's basically a living room off to the right of the door, a room right in front of the door that's our bedroom and the kitchen to the left, as well as a shower and toilet to the left. The shower has it's lil quirks I suppose. It's a tub and there's a box on the wall. The following is how I take a hot shower: first turn on the water, then turn on the gas in the box and then light a match and then increase the flame depending on how hot you want the water. Also the shower head isn't really mounted so one hand holds the shower head and the other scrubs but it works. 8)

The food isn't bad here, in fact because of all the warm, filling, starchy foods that we eat every day I won't be surprised if I have to watch my weight before long. A lot of soups, potatoes, vegetables, their dairy is really good and fattening-yogurts etc, their juice selection is most excellent-every combination of fruits you can think of. They even have watermelon juice though I haven't tried it. There's this stuff called "pal-menie" which is noodle with meat stuffed in them that you fry or boil which is really good and yesterday we had these things that I can't remember how you say it but it was so good- kind of like a crescent type bread but with mashed potatoes inside or cabbage or whatever you want-really good, espec. on a cold day.

Um...a funny moment from yesterday: we got on the tramvi (streetcar type public transportation-like tracks in salt lake only a few cars and much dirtier/older etc). Anyways it was sooo full of people that we couldn't even hold on to the rail things up above and we didn't need to cause everyone formed this mass organism that moved together. The conductor worked his way through this crowd somehow-I don't know how- and it was just so funny. For some reason me and my comp couldn't stop giggling which was even more funny cause in public it's not a very giggly/smiley place esp. in a streetcar crammed full of grumpy Russians. It was great.

Yesterday we taught two different people the second lesson and I actually participated more though it was kind of rusty but it was good to open my mouth and show that I can speak. One of them is really golden-already read through first Nephi from our last visit on Sunday and is really accepting. Next time we will teach the third lesson and hopefully get a baptismal date. We heard yesterday from our ZLs that President Harrison said that we were the most successful sister companionship in the mission as far as working hard and finding people to teach. I can't take much credit since I can't really communicate effectively but my comp says that I really make her want to work hard and be better which I guess has helped us work hard. Basically we knock a lot-every day, which is hard and cold but you just have to get out there and do it, otherwise what else is there to do?

Thanks for all your emails-I'm really excited to hear about every one's news. As far as packages for Christmas etc-it seems that lots of people get packages. At this last zone conference they had packages and mail for lots of missionaries so it seems doable-obviously don't send super valuable things but I wouldn't mind some warm socks, big scarf, something along those lines. We get mail/packages every zone conference so we'll prolly have another one just before Christmas.

The work is hard but it's good. I've bought my first pair of Russian boots-quite fashionable, not really 8) and I will buy a winter coat today and some odds and ends. I love you all and hope that all is going well in your lives. I've really learned the importance of faith while out here-to have faith that you are here for a purpose and that God is able to do what he says even if you can't see how it will be done. All we can do is work hard and trust that it will happen somehow and it will-all he needs is a willing vessel and he will take care of the rest.

I love you all!
Cectpa Richards

ARGH!!! and ...Ummmm!

2007-11-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I think I'm going to cry....I just spent forty minutes writing this huge long email that was interesting and full of lil' experiences and it was funny and somehow I accidentally deleted it-I don't even know how....

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sigh, there's no way I can recompose that masterpiece in twenty minutes and I have to still write my mission president. MAN!

Ok....I don't know where to begin. I'll try to share the important stuff and...sorry. Man that's annoying.

After I wrote last week it was crazy. We were late for our train (me and my comp and two other elders) with the help of other elders we ran through the streets with our luggage in the rain onto a stuffed bus and to the train station only to not make it so we ran to a bus station and waited there for a bus ride of 6 hours that got us to Krasnodar. The ZLs (zone leaders) picked us up and took us to our "home" I use that term lightly. 8)

Um...it's not bad, I'm used to it now and it's actually inviting at the end of the day. The shower is a lil quirky- the shower head isn't mounted so you hold it in one hand and scrub with the other, but other than that it works great and we get hot water by turning on the gas, lighting a match in this lil box mounted on the wall that somehow heats the water.

Um...the mission home was really nice, 3 to 4 levels and the food was great. We're excited for zone conference this Friday because it will be spiritually great and we'll get good food! 8)

Um....we have 3 investigators right now through knocking which all seem generally open and nice so we'll see (fingers crossed). One is an older gentlemen that is really sweet and likes me-says I'm a good girl. Then another woman is an English teacher (yes!) and another is a really amazing woman who went to jail because her daughter stole something and the mom (our investigator) told them it was her so her daughter wouldn't have to go and while she was gone all of her things were stolen out of the apartment. She prays and reads the bible and seems really warm. 8)

Um....we had English club last night which went really well-our class seems eager to learn and is happy to be there.

Today I will buy some boots for winter-it's not that cold here yet, a lil' chilly and cloudy/rainy mostly but not down-right cold (shrug) hopefully it stays that way.

I'm feeling more comfortable all the time with my surroundings and can't wait for the time when I understand what people around me are saying and I can communicate clearly and show them my personality and really be able to gain personal relationships with people etc. I love my companion-she's really sweet and she knows enough English to where we can adequately communicate so no worries there.

I love you all and am grateful for all your support, and sorry again for not getting the amazing letter that I was working on so hard....sigh, o well-you don't know what you're missing so I guess it'll be ok.

Oh yea....hahha, happy Halloween? I was looking at my journal today when I wrote the date and was like....the 31st....I know that sounds like a date of some kind that matters....what's today? Oh yea, Halloween! Crazy! There's actually some posters up for a Halloween party but let's just say it's an adult holiday here, not kid friendly. 8(

Oh well, I love you and have a great week one and all!

cectpa Richards

Hello from Russa!

2007-10-26T04:14:00.000-07:00

Wow ...what a past couple of days! My head is till reeling but it will be ok. All of our flights went relatively smoothly, though to Germany we had some turbulence that made me lose my appetite.

We spent the first night in the mission home. I'm not too tired yet but I'm kinda goin on adrenaline right now. Though I did wake up at three a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep so me and Cectra King stayed up and chatted. Today we had some talks on the mission, expectations, and how we do missionary work here. A lot of it is done through contacting because there are so few members that they get hit up for contacts a lot and it can be tiring for them. I also found out where I am going to be serving: Krasnadar (sp?) which is S of Rostov.

My companion is Cectpa "meeleeleena" I think I that's how you pronounce it. She's from Siberia and turns 24 in the next couple of months. She seems real energetic and sure of herself which is good, she speaks English I think, but everyone is trying to speak Russian so it's hard to tell-though I think we'll be just fine. I'm sitting in an Internet cafe-it was def interesting getting here, the little twists and turns and sometimes going under the street where there's lots of lil shops and the smell of smoke everywhere-hopefully less in Krasnadar but we'll see I guess. Ten feet to the left is an opening into a bar with music playing. Definitely different after the MTC.

I'm sure it will take a little time for me to get used to everything and over the culture shock but I'm excited to be here and get to work. Luckily my ears held up good for all of the flights and seem to be ok and will hopefully stay that way-pray for me (which I know you are 8)

The traffic is absolutely insane here-not that it's that busy but lets just say the lines in the middle of the road are a waste of paint 8) interesting.....

I can tell I'm going to learn a lot from this experience, I don't know if anything will quite scare me again-not that this is scary but if I can adapt and live here in this different environment then anything else will seem easy to do, at least easy to do with confidence.

Well I'm trying to remember the lil info that you wanted to know but my head is kinda crammed full of stuff at the moment...um...me and my companion are the only ones going to Krasnadar this transfer. Cectpa King is going to Volgragad up north and Cectpa Taylor is staying in Rostov-south part of it I think. Everyone else is spread to the winds.

Well I love you all and hope this week is going well for you, and I hope it goes well for me too 8) I love you all and am grateful for your support.

Luv,
Cectpa Richards

Some where over the Atlantic

2007-10-25T03:35:00.001-07:00

Whitney called us from Denver at about 4:30 pm yesterday. She said that she and 3 other missionaries were in line at Burger King after getting off the plane and a man in line ahead of them paid for all of their lunches! Awwhhh! The kindness of strangers.

She also told us about her random encounter with Amanda at the eye doctor the other day. That is so cool! What a great send off for her. It's amazing to think of all the little pieces that had to fall in place for that to have happened.

I asked her about the suitcase Heather mentioned in one of the letters she had sent home. Heather said something about Whit leaving it behind at their old apartment and ...did she mean for Heather to have it? Whit didn't know what she meant other than it was probably the suitcase that she borrowed from Sara when she came home for a few days before her mission. Heather said she would hang on to it so Sara ...heads up, better go retrieve your suitcase from Heather's apartment before it disappears!

I did find out why her phone card minutes got devoured so quickly ... every time you use a pay phone it automatically charges 10 minutes. Then for calls to or from certain states like Texas, Colorado, etc. instead of charging 1 minute for every minute you use, they charge 5 minutes! What a rip off!!! Anyway we were able to hook Whit up on a 3 way toll free conference call from her pay phone to us so that was sweet! It came in very handy because her dad was out of town and could hook up with us from Kansas. Nothing like some last minute updates from dad on all things "BYU sports" before sending her on her way!

She told us she'd heard a random conversation between an RM from Rostov and some missionaries at the MTC the other day and they were saying that the mission home in Rostov looks like a castle with big gates out front. Awesome!

Also there are a total of 20 missionaries arriving in Rostov today. That's a pretty big number considering there are only 80 missionaries in the whole mission. Some are from a previous group who didn't get their visas a month or so ago and have been waiting it out in Montana. Can't imagine many Russians are up there but the climate may be closer to the real thing.

She was still super excited and I can't wait for her first email though I'm not sure if it will still be on Tuesdays or if the day will change. I'll keep you posted.

Luv you all,

Mom Richards

Snail Mail

2007-10-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have been writing to Whitney I thought I would post some info on where to send your letters now that she is on her way to Russia. (Or will be as of Wed the 24th at 11:25 am!) Of course you can continue to send your letters through dearelder.com. They charge a fee to type your letters and send them to Salt Lake to go in the pouch mail. Or you can mail your letters directly to Salt Lake to to be included in the pouch. I'm not sure which system is faster or less expensive.

Be sure that when sending letters through the pouch you send letters only, (no photos) may be sent to Russia, but color copies of photos are allowed. Missionaries may send a few photos back to the United States occasionally in letters.

Letters should be sent through the pouch in Salt Lake City. The address follows:

Sister Whitney Richards
Russia Rostov Mission
P.O. Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

Packages to Russia must be sent through the regular postal service. Airmail deliveries generally arrive in 4-6 weeks. Surface mail is cheaper, but can take from 2-3 months to arrive. We ask that packages contain small, inexpensive and incidental items. WE DO NOT WANT CUSTOM PROBLEMS and expensive or very desirable items might never reach the missionary. If the value of the package is over $50, you will likely pay custom fees. Also, please consider your missionary’s companion when packages are sent. Some missionaries do not receive many packages from home and feel badly when his or her companion receives them regularly. The address for parcel delivery is:

Rostov Russia Mission
Bolshaya Sadovya 39/4
344082 Rostov-na-Donu, Russia

Here are some interesting bits of information about Whitney’s mission that we received from the current mission president. President Harrison is an attorney from Utah and a former Bishop of one of the BYU student wards. “The Russia Rostov Mission" covers the southern part of Russia and our weather is more temperate than the rest of the country. We have some hot weather in the summer and some snow and rain in winter. The countryside is varied and diverse, ranging from rocky beaches on the Black Sea to farmland to large cities. This is a “pioneering mission” where many of the units are still small. We have 18 branches at present. There are about 2000 members of the church in our mission. Currently we have about 80-85 missionaries including elders, sister missionaries and couples.

We will continue to post Whitney’s emails so you can receive weekly updates on her experiences in Russia. We are very excited for her and know that she will be an excellent missionary and will continue to serve the Lord faithfully. Please remember her in your prayers, especially as she begins her travels to Russia tomorrow. Thanks everyone!

Next stop ...Russia!

2007-10-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

So this is a little frustrating-the email speed is terrible today and it already ate ten of my minutes just waiting for it to open. Also, the speed is so bad I don't know if I'll have time to wait and open your emails I've received which makes me really mad, but what can you do? I figured I'd better hurry and write this cause who knows how long it will take to send out to you.

Thank you all for your letters-I got letters from mom, dad, Eric, and Steve which really made my day-they were great letters. I'm really excited for you Eric-and jealous, you get to see grand nationals 8( haha, you'll love it I know. Um...why Jafar? a nickname I'm guessing? I guess that's not a bad one for the army. Um, I'm gonna try to type in Russian: эрик would be your name in Russian-sorry it was taking too long to find the right keys for our last name but it's pretty cool.

Well we're pretty sure that we are going tomorrow-we know they have our visas and invitation letters etc. I will prolly be able to call sometime today if we get our flight plans so I can tell you more detail about that.

I'm really excited for this trip and am really glad that I've had this extra week in the MTC- it was great. We heard from Gerald R. Lund, and Sheri Dew and hopefully someone just as great tonight since it's a genral authority night.

Today will be a busy day of washing, packing, and getting things in order as well as going to get my new lenses put into my glasses. The doctor said my eye looks fine and I will prolly wear my glasses for most of the time and save my contacts for special occasions. I love you all and am sorry this is so scattered and not as good as normal but I don't know how many minutes I have left and I want to try and read your emails.

I love you all and will prolly be calling you later today! Thanks for all the support and hopefully the next email will be from Russia!!

Luv
Cectpa Richards

I'm still here

2007-10-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Andrea-I’ll write you first cause time is brief I know. I'm so excited that she got the letter! hopefully she could understand what I was saying-haha spelling/writing in Russian is a bit harder for me than just speaking it 8) Keep me updated-I can def keep sending letters the more fluent I get! It sounds like you're doing amazing-can't wait to join in the work.

Well, for all those who don't know-our visas weren't here in time. So they told us that they were pretty confident they could get our visas in time for us to leave by the 24th of October-so an extra week and a half at the MTC. It's just four of us in our room (3 elders and me) We find out tomorrow if they have the required things to get our visas or not so we'll see. I had a dream that we met with our branch president who told us that we were leaving in 24 hours and to be ready-let's hope it was a revelation 8) I called mom and dad to let them know and it was pretty funny-I said hello in Russian and mom said: what, who? I laughed and said it's me, she said: oh, it sounded weird, I said: yea, it's because it was in Russian, haha "oh, that's why". It was pretty comical and it was good to talk to them for the 5 minutes that we had.

So yesterday I said goodbye to my first companion as she and the rest of our district left. I won't lie it was hard and I received a "solo" sister sticker on my badge which means that while I’m in class I’m the only sister with three other elders and I have to be with at least two other elders in my district at all times or with my roommates at all times. It's definitely an adjustment and it's surprising the difference having one other sister in the room with you makes-and you realize that difference when she's gone. We're trying to keep our spirits high though and have faith that our visas will come through. On the bright side we get to hear a few more devotionals and we're due for an apostle I think, and we get to go to the temple more often throughout the week-not just on Tuesday (because our teachers aren't here for their normal full times since this should be the week they get to have a break,) so we have a lot of MDT and study on our own most of the day. I'm excited for the extra sessions in the temple to soak it up even more before we leave-which I'm determined we will do 8)

In some exciting news: in our "departure devotional" they announced that starting on Nov 1st there will be a new mission opening up: New Delhi, India. It was very exciting and further proof that we will be able to preach and go into every nation, the stone is rolling forth and it's only a matter of time before we're everywhere!

I hope all is well with you at home. I'm not sure if I'll get to call you or just write you when I find out about if we have visas and our new tentative flight plans. Keep us Rostov missionaries in your prayers and that the city that we're having troubles getting an invitation letter from will finally approve of our papers and give us the invitation letter that we need to get our visas.
Luckily, I won't be a solo sister forever. There's a girl in a different zone who was going to Moscow but they spelled something wrong on her visa so she is like us-waiting til the 24th to go to Moscow so I think her comp leaves tomorrow for Moscow and she'll move in our room with us and we'll be companions for the rest of the time which I’m thankful for-it's really different teaching/planning with an elder-bit of an awkwardness there as you can imagine.

I'm excited for what lies ahead and know that I will make it to Russia because that's where the Lord wants and needs me to be. I'm excited for Steve's upcoming band schedule and know that he'll do great and am way excited for dad and mom to get the grand nationals experience in Indy-I loved it, nothing else quite like it!
Thanks for all your support and love-keep using dearelder this last week, even if I leave before I get it, because they will mail it on through the pouch to where ever I am. mail will def. be needed this week, it helps when there's things to look forward to throughout the day of studying 8)

Mike, Jess, and kids-hope everything is going well with you, what's new?? are in your own house yet? I'm sure the kids are loving the extra time with family.
I love you all and hope I will soon be writing to you from Russia 8)

Have a great day and keep the letters coming!
Luv Cectpa Richards

p.s. o yea! And if you don't have the new movie: Joseph Smith: prophet of the restoration (the newest that the church has made), I strongly encourage you to get it-its sooo good! I've seen it at least 3 or 4 times after Sunday devotional and every time it just charges me up and I feel ready to go and share our unique message! (the soundtrack is gorgeous too 8) also the mountain of the lord is excellent-they're my two favorites 8) Anywho, just some good movies to have in the home etc.

love you!

My Last P-day

2007-10-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all!

Hopefully this side of general conference is finding you well, rested, and spiritually charged. I was so excited for general conference and was not let down by any means though I wish I could have heard more from President Hinckley 8) I was deeply touched by Elder Worthlin's talk and will remember it for the rest of my life-I felt the spirit so strongly.

I guess the exciting news around here is that today is my last p-day, if all goes according to plan; the next time I write will be from an internet cafe in Russia! As far as my plans go (I mailed mom and dad this info in more detail) but my flight leaves Monday around one o'clock and arrives in Denver, then after a few hours we take off to Frankfurt, Germany and then on to Rostov-skipping the expensive Moscow. 8)

We don't know if we have our visas. An elder in our group (there's nine of us traveling to rostov-3 sisters) asked the travel office about our visas and they said that they hadn't heard from Salt Lake yet, they said either way we would find out Thursday or Friday but that if we heard before then-it will mean that we don't have our visas, so we don't want to hear from them till Thur or Fri. Hopefully everything will be on schedule and we won't have to play the guessing game while living out of a suitcase.

The temple was amazing today, sad to think it could quite possibly be the last time for awhile but really special. Cectpa Kelemen and I stayed after and did some sealings which was special since my companion hadn't done them before. The first sealing I did had a very special spirit about it and afterwards the "wife" leaned over and said: "that was a baby", it was really neat. The temple was great, though we were late for an appointment we had made where a sister comes in and talks about looking our best and (the reason we did it) gives us a free bag of nice makeup. We didn't realize that when you do sealings you stay for the hour, so we missed it, but luckily the sister had left the makeup for us and after apologizing we got it.
I received the vests mom-thanks they'll work great!

O yea, the elder also said to tell you that if our visas were delayed we would get to buy a phone card and call you on Saturday to let you know of our plans and what was going to happen-wait in the MTC etc, but if you don't hear from me then that probably means that we will be leaving on Monday. We haven't heard any instructions from our branch president as to calling you or when but I assume we can and will. In the letter I sent it has the exact time of my flight leaving and arriving-I know we leave for the airport around ten, so I think we'll either call you before our Salt Lake flight or Denver flight since we have a bit of a layover there. Anywho, lots of ifs but that's all they really tell us here.

Steve- Congratulations!!!!! That is soooo exciting! I was sad that I was in the MTC and surrounded by a bunch of people who really don't understand the depth that is that experience and the energy and excitement of it all, so I had a quiet victory to myself-but inside I was jumping up and down and screaming. It's about time you got a medal of your own-I guess the band was just so injured and incomplete once the class of 2004 left-it's to be expected....ahem.

Well congrats, and continue to have the same drive, work ethic, and fire-just cause you won one thing, doesn’t' mean the rest will be handed to you on a silver platter. In fact, now the bar is raised and you have to work even harder to impress them more each time cause people expect it of you-cool huh?

Good luck at BOA, have a great time (I love the area, and hopefully you'll be able to see Dean Westman who I think lives in the area-I know I loved it when we went to Chicago, lots of fun) just, in the words of Pres. Hinckley to an advice-seeking elder: "don't be stupid". Wise council I think, especially when surrounded by teenage boys who seem to lose all rational sense when put on a vehicle or into a hotel room with lots of other boys. Don't be afraid to be the voice of reason and say: "Hey guys that's stupid!"

Anywho, random band advice. Hope all is going well with the rest of the family!
Thanks so much for the letters Mike, Jess, and kids! I'm so excited to get back and play with Benson, Grace, and Breenie and who knows...maybe someone else. 8) Be sure to listen to your mom and dad ok guys? Always CTR! And feel free to send some more pictures through the pouch ok? 8)

Oh, and in answer mom-yes I guess you could say I've "passed off" the discussions even though we don't pass them off because they're not memorized, but I have studied and am able to teach (it's never the same twice) about the different principles in the first and second lesson along with most of the third lesson (which is most of the same vocab) and we've gone over the word of wisdom and tithing though I don't feel like I would know enough to teach it effectively-always much to study.

Thanks for the continued support and prayers! The next few days will drag as I'm waiting hopefully for my visa, not that I don't love it here but I wasn't called to serve in the MTC but Russia. 8)

Oh yea! Sorry, my thoughts are sporadic, but dad: in the temple a sealing was done for a Oimet (a French first name as well) who knows, maybe an ancestor of the famous golfer? It made me smile and think of you, and I felt proud that I knew a golfer's name other than Tiger Woods.

I can't think of anything else that I was going to tell you about, but hopefully tonight's speaker will be great to send us off to Russia and I can really live this last P-day up and get everything prepared. I love you all and love this gospel and that we have the power of God on the earth again so that we can be sealed together for all eternity and continue to grow and learn together. I love you all and hope that the holidays will be fun for you-be sure to send me pictures of the kids' costumes, I know they'll be adorable!

Hopefully next time in Russia,
Cectpa Richards

Start the count down

2007-10-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all of your letters and support this week. 8) This week has been really positive and uneventful as well. Though I suppose it did snow a little bit which surprised everyone. I think it's good though, so I won't be shocked if when I get to Russia it's cold. The TRC went well this week-we taught a native Russian that we had gotten before, but this time was a lot better because we knew how to say: We'll talk about that later, but first...

The temple has been great this morning, and I'm excited for our fireside tonight. We are all looking forward to general conference, to able to spiritually charge up and receive some strength before heading out, plus having a little break-since no class on Saturday. 8)

I think this upcoming Friday we get flight plans, which is in no relation to whether we have visas or not, so I think either this Friday or next Monday I can go to the travel office and ask them our situation with our visas because they don't know until a week before we leave-then Salt Lake tells them, so we'll see. Hopefully they redid our visas when they redid the older missionary’s visas so we won't have to wait. 8)

On a far more important note: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MOM and DAD! and I thought it was hard keeping track of dates out in the real world, it's next to impossible in here-I honestly don't know how we're into October already. With all of the Russian crammed into my head certain important little facts of information have been squeezed out, and then when I realized my forgetfulness, I wasn't able to do anything cause we can only write letters today, and only email for thirty minutes on today, so I’m sorry. BUT you can expect a little something from me will be in the mail and on its way by the end of the day. I only wish I were in Russia so I could send something cool-o well, plenty of time for that later.

O yea, and mom I was wondering if you could send me some of those threading/flossing things from the dentist, and if you have made the order with sister missionary mall yet...just because time is running down. I'm glad to hear the TV is fixed-you'll have to enjoy some of my favorites for me. 8)

Steve, good luck with BOA! As Westman always said: Do you want to win BOA or be remembered? (you're supposed to say be remembered) and leave it all out on the field. you'll do great and I can't wait to hear about some of your competition and how everyone else did.

Eric, how ya doin? As your commanding sister I order you to write me an email-a couple lines will suffice! 8)

We have started SYL (speak your language) a couple days ago and it's 100% Russian from here on out-at least every word that we say (and not type) it's hard and you don't realize some of the habits you have when things just pop out especially "like" and "ok" though apparently they say ok sometimes too so I guess that's not so bad. It's good though and it really pushes us to use what we know and we're always glued to a Russian dictionary looking up what we're trying to say. Hard but good. I'm excited for what lies ahead and will keep you informed of my future travel plans. 8)

It's dragged by so fast here. 8) I know this gospel is the true restored gospel of Jesus Christ through his prophet Joseph Smith and that through the Book of Mormon we can learn all that we need to know in order to return to our Heavenly Father. It is able to answer all questions that we may have in this life. I'm grateful for the priesthood-the blessing it's been in my life, and for temples and that through the sacred work there I'm able to be sealed to my family for time and all eternity. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

O yea, and Mike-don't worry, no drama is good drama, and thanks for sharing that thought on service. It's so true, and through study I’ve really begun to feel the importance of service-people may not want to listen to the gospel, but we can still teach and share with them through our actions. Give the kids a hug, tickle, and a kiss from me!

Love you all,
Cectpa Richards

It won't be long now

2007-09-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, hope you are all having a great week so far.

This week has been a good one; it gets harder and harder to believe that I only have three weeks left. No word on visas-they don't tell us anything until we leave or not....but I'll stop by the travel office to see if they have any idea on the situation.

Well, we weren't spoken to by Pres Hinckley, but we listened to Elder Ballard of the twelve-not bad huh? It was really good and stressing how important it is to make sure people understand what we really are in the church, our beliefs, etc because for some reason it can be hard to ignore all the rumors etc. He stressed teaching simply and clearly and making sure that they are coming along with you in their understanding. It was really good and we had a spiritual district meeting afterwards.

Well this Saturday we start SYL and it's Russian from here on out-scary to think, it's so draining to try and say everything in Russian but I know it helps us learn faster or realize what we need to learn 8)

I'm not sure why you haven't gotten my letter with pictures-my friends in Provo received it, so it's not a weight issue and I know your address...keep me posted on that.

I go back today in an hour to have them look at my ears etc and get my last shot. My hearing is pretty much back to normal and the doctor will give me some medicine to take with me so that's good.

The temple was amazing as usual. We were able to help one of our roommates get some names done that she has so that was special. I haven't seen Jason around but maybe one of these days, who knows. I'm excited for conference and it's hard to believe that this Sunday is our last fast Sunday here-wow!

Thanks for all of your support and love- oh yea, and mom my debit card works so don't worry 8)

I'm not that worried about glasses, too much work, it'll be fine. Thanks for Heather's address-tell her to call Sara cause I sent Sara a letter for heather since I didn't know her new address.

I love you all and hope that all is well! Eric gets email capabilities doesn't he? maybe not...if he does-write me!

Love, Cectpa Richards

Thank You!

2007-09-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

September 18, 2007

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for all of your wonderful letters! It is amazing how happy they made me. Thank you so much for all the pictures Mike and Jess-they were so adorable and seeing you all together and how big and cute the kids are getting, it almost made me cry (in a good way) especially the pick with Benson on top of Steve's shoulders-adorable!

This week has been amazing, and it's funny because I can't find a specific thing that made it that way-just everything combined. We got to hear from Pres. Hinckley's son which was amazing with some of the insights they gave us into his life, and the spirit was really strong. We're working on the second lesson in Russian now and will teach it Wednesday. It is so humbling to be learning this language but at the same time feel so much joy when you can share a simple testimony and know that they understand. An elder in our district gave a powerful testimony with a few tears about how he finally felt the spirit in Russian when someone bore a simple testimony in response to a question he had asked (when we teach each other) and said that it really is great that we have this language and that it forces us to stay simple and pure-def not relying on our own knowledge or wisdom to teach but the spirit.

Well, some possibly big news is that we think we may hear from Pres. Hinckley tonight-we hear he is speaking at BYU today so he is in the area and it would make sense if they scheduled it at the same time for convenience-I so hope that we can hear from the prophet while we are here-how fortunate and how wonderful, especially when many of the missionaries here have never heard from him in person being from all over the world.

Well, my cold is doing better, but I had a minor setback when I ran out of decongestants-wasn't diligent in getting more right away and it has affected my ears (as my sinuses always seem to do). I woke up in the middle of the night the other night with an aching ear so I took one of the pills I had and said a prayer that it would work. I went to the health center the next morning, the doctor looked at it and said that the eardrum was fine, but he could tell there was some pressure-it was pulsing (gross!) and thus my hearing is a little muffled, but he set me up with some new medicine which makes me feel like I'm sucking on a tin can all day, but I'm stocked in tic-tacs and breath mints. He also said that the medicine I had was expired, to throw it away and then he said he would get me a good supply to have that would last longer than my mission in case it happens there seeing as medical isn’t great over there-so some great blessings 8). I'll go for a check up next Tuesday.

A funny story I thought I'd share: We were teaching some elders in our district for practice and then they taught us. They told us of a scripture in the D&C and we continued to read it in Russian-of course not understanding any of it, so opening our scriptures we read it in English so we could understand how to answer their questions about it. They had told us to read D&C 130:11-12 (we barely started reading it when we bust out laughing-read it and you'll see why. Not exactly a great scripture for brand new investigators or even brand new members of the church for that matter). We all laughed really hard, we were crying we were laughing so hard, then they realized the scripture they wanted was 20-21 about keeping commandments. It was just so funny because we had no idea what it said and were all like- yea great, I get it in Russian. It shows the importance of knowing what you're asking them to read 8).

Another story that I heard last night from my roommate’s teacher: He was in Russia and saw a family waiting for a bus. The dad was yelling at his son to come here-the son was barely able to walk (really young) and he said that he could see such utter fear and confusion from the son. He talked about how there are wars and terrorists all over the world and that we send armies to fight them and protect us, but there was no army coming to protect that boy who was feeling true fear-and living with it everyday in his home. Then he realized that he was the "army" that could come and help this family-the gospel is so important, it is the only thing that really saves people-despite circumstances in this life, wars, etc. It is so important, it's eternal and would be able to save that little boy and that father so that they could be a family unit in the way that God intended, and how important families are.

Satan is so unhappy because he doesn't have a body and thus cannot have a real family-will never have a mother, father, brothers and sisters, but is the true meaning of loneliness and forced to be a single individual with no attachments or connections with others-how sad and horrible that is, and how important is it that we can have bodies. We can have families and through the gospel. We are able to be sealed to them and will be able to progress and learn together. We are intelligences that need that family relationship and contact with others to truly grow and progress to our full potential. It just hit me so hard the utter gravity of the responsibility that I have to share this gospel, the ONLY thing that can truly save people in this unsure world. How could we feel timid about sharing that, or be uncertain? They don't know the importance of it, but we do and because of that understanding we should be sharing it with every single person that we can-it means everything. I dunno, I just really received an eternal perspective and understanding of the importance of this great work and am so grateful for that boost in my testimony. We are heroes because we are able to save people; help the Savior save people and be able to live together forever and with God forever. That is why we go through everything that we do and I know that it is the only way to accomplish this.

I love you all and hope that you have received some of the pictures I sent home so you can see what life is like here.

Andrea, thank you for the letter! I would love to help, it may take me a little bit, but I will try my best at writing a letter in Russian and bearing my testimony of the gospel and the message that you missionaries have. (and I'll try to send some pictures)

Eric, congratulations on graduating! I'm so impressed and proud of your diligence in learning Arabic and serving your country. Every week when we pray for the servicemen in the temple I think of you and how much I appreciate what you are doing and love you.

Steve, hope band is going well - keep up the hard work and let me know how the season is going-games, funny stories, competitions

Sorry to hear about the BYU game, I couldn't believe it but I’m glad it wasn't a complete shut out. We'll get them when I'm back that's for sure!

I love you all, and thank you for your love and support. Please let the knowledge of the importance of the gospel strengthen your resolve to share it

Cectpa Richards