Week 7 What?

WHAT? week 7? you mean to tell me i leave in 2 1/2 weeks? NO. I AM NOT READY TO LEAVE! I loooove the mtc. I love all my friends here and all my teachers. Ahhhhh, seriously what the heck where did the time go? 

dad or mom. can you double check at the bank to make sure that my card will be able to work in russia? an elder in my zone has to call his bank now because they apparently didn't process the papers even though he also went to talk to his bank about being in russia. If you could do that I would be so grateful. lemme know! 

papa dales bday party looks SO dang fun! happy bday again sweet papa D! I wish I was there. I hope you all hugged jan for me. Please forward these to her. I love you my sweet sweet cream puff jan. I pray for you! (and all you other preciouses too.)

I CAN'T BELIEVE MY CLAIRE IS FAMOUS! I can't watch the videos here. But friday I am going to ask my fav teacher sister gish to pull it up for me. AHHH CLAIRENCE I LOOVESSSYOU!

so..... everyone.. THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SWEET PACKAGES AND LETTERS THIS WEEK! 

MOM AND DAD! AHHHHH dad i can't believe you had a nice chat with dallin h oaks! i love that man. He is so great. Thanks for that package. I am wearing the socks right now.l cracked open the cheetos last night and i drank the juice and LOOOOOOOVE the lipstick! Thanks for your great letters. I can't believe you're my parents. i love you guys soooooo much. I am the most blessed chaaaald in the lands! Thanks for everything. I miss you my best friends!!

MIKE AND SPENC! I bawled when I looked at the photos you sent in that package, but especially the one of me and claire. Oh my heck I just love all the photos. I miss you all so much and I am so excited to eat all the candies and cadbury eggs. quick story: Hayd sent me a package for easter and it had the cadbury eggs in it that have cream inside. What me and Hayd like to do is we ALWAYS say puns for everything. He is so darling and wrote puns on all of the treats he sent. On the cadbury eggs he said "DON'T BE A CAD AND BURY THIS EGG IN YOUR BELLY." hahahahha I still lol. everytime I see cadbury eggs I will always think of that. Love that lad. I am so grateful to have you all as my fam. Mike and spenc thanks for those letters and all the fun decorations. XOXO

RUBY AND JOHN! OH my. thank you so much for the darling flowers! and for the nuts, and pudding and blanket. Everyone is so jealous when they see me with cute pacakges. they all say "your boyfriends mom & stepdad again?" yes. I am the luckiest! I have been snuggling with it every night. Thanks for that sweet letter too. I think of you always and pray for you always as well. Oh my heck I love you both! Thanks for being so sweet. It really makes my day hearing from you guys.

ZELLA, SWEET ZEL! Thank you so much for the COOKIES!!!!!! I DIED! I LOVE your cookies and I wanted to just run home really fast and give you a hug. You're such a beautiful friend. Thanks for thinking of me and for being so kind. I hope to be as giving as you are someday! I will bring you back a special something from russia. I love you! 

Okay sorry about this in advance but it's so funny. My comp gets so mad at me when I fart. PS I think that MAYBE I might be celiac because... i get so sick everyday from the food. and I think that explains the gas and sick belly.. So I am going to go get tested this week. I hope it's not that. Like you can get this gal to stop eating bread! puhhlease. haha. anyway back to the story: so my comp rarely ever toots. I have only heard it twice. Last night she tooted and I laughed out loud and was like "I'mma write about it in my journal!" because I said that last time she did it, and she laughed and it made me feel closer friends with her. Anyway last night she just got mad at me for saying that she said "YOU'RE. PSYCHO." and meant it. hahaha and she still hasn't really spoken to me today. Oops. Sorry that i'm trying to be your friend..

The highlight of my week was sunday.

Why? 

because they had CHICKEN CORDON BLEU!!! for lunch and...... I ate two plates. And then for dinner it was at the leftover line and I ate it again. HAHA ahhh obsessed. 

also.. what happened sunday night was INSANE!! my mind was BLOWN. Okay.

 So we went to the devotional, and we get there and it was really weird because MTC president nally said "we are going to do something a little bit different today. We are all going to watch the talk by president bednar called character of christ." Which was a bummer because I love to hear people speak in real life. I had watched that talk a couple weeks earlier and so I was bummed but it was okay because I love that talk so I was happy too. Anyway, so at the end of the video of him talking, I start talking to hermana mackey and cectpa kline, and then all of the sudden everybody starts to stand up FRANTICLY the way they do when an apostle enters the room. And guess what? DAVID A BEDNAR WALKED RIGHT UP TO THE PULPIT!!! UNREAL! Oh my heck. I couldn't even believe it. We all just watched him speak in a video. it was the most evil/ beautiful secret surprise! Anway, he basically said that he was there to have a question and answer session. It was SO AWESOME! An hour question/answer session with an APOSTLE!? ahhh so awesome huh?!?!?! anyway, holy cow. He knows a ton and he is so spiritual. 

One of the questions asked was by this sister. She asked "why don't women have the priesthood." and it was so awkward. like... "because that's how God wants it to be?" and so elder bednar started to give her a response and then she CUT HIM OFF and said "LIKKKKEE...... I need a scripture to prove that." WOOOOAHHHH awkward, And he was like "excuse me?" and she said "Is there a scripture that says that.?" and he responded so perfectly. he said, "THEY'RE LIVING." in reference to the scriptures. haha it was too good. Brothers and shishters search your scriptures! you WILL find answers. Anyway, the other questions were really really great. I got so much great insight from it.

Anyway. what happened next is the real highlight of my week because of what I am about to tell you. It was so spiritual. I got my witness that I am needed RIGHT now in samara Russia, and that my mission call is exactly right. It is exactly where Heavenly Father needs me. I was feeling the spirit while elder bednar spoke. While he spoke, I prayed that heavenly father would help me to know that president bednar IS an apostle, and that his message and words were true. He closed his talk, and the closing hymn was "love one another." Which I so happen to have memorized in russian. I was sitting with my cectpa mackey and with cectpa kline because of choir. and I sat in the middle of them. I asked them, " spyome po-russki?" (sing in russian?) and they said DA! (yeah!) so we all sang that hymn in russian with each other. I got so choked up. I started bawling. It was the most spiritual moment I have had at the mtc and probably one of the top ones I will ever have. I felt the holy ghost tell me that I am needed in russia right now. My call is exactly right. I was also impressed that elder bednar IS an apostle, that this church IS true, and i literally felt angels EVERYWHERE in the room. It was overwhelming, and it was so beautiful. It was so nice to finally know that it is no coincidence I am called to Russia. Heavenly Father needs me. It's no coincidence that I am at the mtc at the very moment where apostles come every week. I know that the lessons and impressions I learn from them need to be taught to the russian people. And you know what? I am SO ready. I am so excited to just share that with them. I can't communicate with the people nor will I be able to for a long time, but I know that heavenly father will help my words to make sense with the help of the spirit to bring his children back into the fold.

One other thing elder bednar  promised the missionaries was this: "If you are struggling with the language and pray everyday for the gift of tongues, he WILL bless you with that. If you ask your family to pray for you to receive the gift of tongues, that gift will come MORE readily to you." So.. I mean... If you could all pray that I can receive that gift so that I can help others find the joy this gospel brings.. I would really be so grateful. In return I promise to pray for all ya'll! thanks you guys... AH I love you so much.

I pray for you always. I thank heavenly father for sending me you all. I promise him that I will always work hard and try so hard to love all his children. ALLLLLl his children. OH tserkov eesteenah! the church is true. And you are all beautiful, and I love you. 

Thanks for making me laugh and be so happy everyone. ps guess what everyone (especially Geo) I think that I am going to put a whoopie cushion underneath cectpa g's pillow tonight. It's gonna be gooooooooood! 

I love you all! 

- love haileyjane

mom n dad's package 

Donuts with my roomies

show this photo from the temple to alyssa sorenson! that elder i am next to is her honey!

creeping on my hayd's mission presidents <3

 this vent in the room hisses and i hate it but it's fun for photos

 cute ruby and john packages!

 PRETTY FLOWERS HUH?!?!

 opening cute mike and spenc's package

me and cectpa kline eating those  DELICIOUS cookies from zella!

Week 6

I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

 MAMA MAMA!!!! hearing your angelic voice was a real treat. I bawled like a baby when I hung up. You're just so special. you know what they say... 30 minutes just flies by when you're talking to your mom on the phone. EVERYBODY. MY MOM IS THE BEST! She hikes her pants up to her neck and waddles around speaking in the funniest voice ever. AND she stayed up with me until 3 every night just to be in each others company. and she is the most kind claud baud you could ever meet. I hope you had a happy mothers day mummy dear! love ewe. miss ewe. you really are an ANGEL! 

RUBY darling! Thanks so much for those DIVINE muffins and chocolate lollies. I ate them so fast. I only have one left. What did you do to those lemon cranberry ones? SO good. I was in heaven. AH so tasty. Thank you so much for being so thoughtful. I'm so jealous you got to talk to my hayd! But that's okay because we can spend every day talking together in 16 months. Time flies, holy cow. It sounds like your day was relaxing and full of fun. I am happy you got to talk to hayd. That boy sure loves you. I am happy you had a happy mothers day too! 

Okay folks...I CAN'T BELIEVE I LEAVE THE MTC IN THREE 1/2  (give or take) WEEKS. I fly out on june ninth. The fact that I will be living in Russia makes me so scared because I can't speak this language and I won't have english to rely on. I'm not ready to say goodbye to the friend's i've made here either. EYE YEY EYE!!! But it's okay, I know that heavenly father will help me with the language and help me find friends in russia if I just ask. I know he will answer our prayers if we just ask, and if we have  a sincere heart.

To answer questions: I live on main campus. I live on the main floor which is nice because I don't have to climb stairs. But maybe I wish I did because I have gained 4.5 lbs that would've never existed had I just climbed stairs. haha jk that wouldn't have prevented it. I'm not worried about weight though. seriously i'm not. Especially because my teacher bpat froelich was telling me at lunch the other day that he gained 10 pounds in the MTC and lost it all within the first two months of his mission in the Baltics. Crazy! and scary. I'm so excited to smother all my food in mayonaise and sour cream. Talk about DELISH! They eat this stuff called hollidyet all the time, which is basically pig fat made into a jello with random surprise chunks of meat from strange places. SERVED COLD! GAGALICIOUS, am i right?

Well, I am having a difficult time with sister G again. We had to come up with questions in class the other day and we had to answer them. Her question was "why is christ so important?" and so i went off about how the savior atoned for not only our sins, but so that we could feel love and comfort. The spirit was really strong too. And then I tied in D&C 68:6 which is my favorite scripture. And then my teacher bpat holt was like "do you think sister twede did a good job answering your question?" and she said, "No." and I looked at bpat holt's face when she said no (I tell my teachers everything. They know the rough patches I've had with sis g) and he got THE most uncomfortable look on his face. like big eyed and scared HAHAHAH i won't lie it was hilarious. I started to lol. I've gotten to the point that when she is mean it's just funny to me. She has been going to counseling which helps her be open, and apparently she needs to talk to me tonight? BRACE YOURSELVES! I hope it goes okay. I hope I don't start laughing when she rants because it's so hard to hold back the LOL'S!

GUESS WHAT.. WE HAD ANOTHER. ANOTHER APOSTLE COME AND SPEAK TO US LAST NGIHT! Elder L. Tom Perry. It was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father does hear our prayers and he wants to help us. All yesterday, I had a prayer in my heart that I would receive inspiration as to how to learn to love sister G and how to better our companionship. When Perry started speaking about the importance of befriending your companions and just loving each other and trusting is one of the most important aspects of missionary work, i knew that my prayer was being answered. Without love there is no spirit. With no spirit, nobody can feel the love and joy this gospel brings. Anyway, It was cool. I just need to continue being kind even when I want to speak my mind. I just need to be christ-like, and just be patient the times she is mad, and know that heavenly father will bless me for my patience, and also work on her. Anyway, enough of that. Life is good! I promise. and you'll be proud to know that.... (drumroll)

I sang in the choir. ALTO BROTHERS AND SISTERS. We sang nearer my God to thee and boy oh boy it was so powerful! It's just so easy to feel the spirit when you are singing sweet sweet praises.

FAMILY. my bff teacher sister gish wanted to know if she could come visit you guys? She just loves to chat and be friends with her missionary friend's families. She wants to come visit you guys. The only way you can contact her though is if you add her on facebook and then just message her on there. I would love if you met with her because she's seriously the best. I have THE best teachers here. Add her on facebook mom! please I promise you won't be disappointed! her name is Kelsey Gish. AHHH I love her!!! I can't wait for you to meet her! 

ALSO.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR GRANDFATHER MY ANGEL PRECIOUS OH MY I WANNA SQWEEEEEEEUZE YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!! (on saturday) OH i can't believe you are 80! You could be 20. I can't wait to give you two birthday squeezes that I missed out on while I am gone! OH you're the cutes. I hope you have the best day. Thanks gma and gpa for the money and the card last week. I cried. I miss you and grandma so much. love you and pray for you both! 

Tell gma lee thanks for the card! that stationary was hilarious. I hope she's having a blast on her cruise! love her.

GEO THANKS FOR THE PACKAGE! I love the oreos and hot cheetos and mints and WHOOPIE CUSHIONS! I am putting them to good use. I love a good prank. Thanks for thinking of me. i can't believe agg gets home so soon. Love that cousin of mine. And all my other cousins of mine too!

I pray for you all always. I love you SO much. I can't wait to send you all russian postcards. and I can't wait to get oreos in the mail because bens job gets 80% off mailing packages!! wooooweeee!! haha Seriously.. You are all so thoughtful and kind. MY CLAIRE IS THE CUTES!!! i can't believe I am missing her teeth coming in! She cries at frozen songs. hahahah i do too. That movie isn't the best. I cried because I was let down. haha nah i didn't cry but i would with my claireance. She knows what's good in life. Give her a huge kiss and hug for me! miss that squish. 

I miss you all. I love you all. I pray for you all. And I feel your prayers for me! Thanks for keeping me uplifted. I feel so blessed to be here. MOM/DAD sometime soon could you maybe get some photos of our family printed? and some photos of my artwork. Apparently russians love to see your family and love art so I would love to share them the photos. 

Thanks you're all such angels. AH i love you all. I can't believe you're all my people. Love you forever, thanks for all you do! I will send photos in a little bit!

POKA! (bye) - cectpa hailey

eating oreos like fatty's 20 minutes before dinner time. I love sister kline.

 eating hot cheetos with sister kline. haha we are so nasty

 My precious! my hermana mackey came over for a visit on sunday!

  Opening ruby and jon's package!

 I RAN INTO MY DAMIEN LAST WEEK!!! I LOVES HER!

The day sister mackey left at the temple. love her and sister kline

In my 5th week

Can you believe how that sounds? I am officially HALFWAY DONE AT THE MTC! I will be living in the USSR in 34 days. WHAT?! I get so giddy and hyper when I think about this. i am scared sick, don't be fooled. I hope that I get more comfortable with this language before I leave in 4.5 weeks. I know Heavenly Father will help me though so it'll be okay.

ATTENTION CLAUD-BAUD. This is just for you. and this isn't a sick joke this is REAL LIFE!  this is the first year EVER that they are allowing.... THE MISSIONARIES TO CALL HOME FOR MOTHERS DAY!!!!!!! AHHHH so prepare for that! I will be calling home on sunday at 3pm. SO. Make sure your phone is charged, dad. I will probably just call your phone. SO ANSWER OKAY?! I am pretty sure it is a phonecall, but just in case it does end up being skype, could you send a dear elder like... tonight with dad's skype info? yknow, just in case.  I AM SO EXCITED TO TALK TO MY MUMMY!!!

If hayd were a baby, he would be born next month. HAPPY EIGHT MONTHS IN THE FIELD YOU BABY BAAABE! Ahh man I seriously can't believe how fast time has flown by/how slow it has flown by too. I got into the thought "oh my gosh. hayd will be out for a year in 5 MONTHS. and then, after that, just 12 more months." WHAAATTTT!!!!!?!?!?!? time is a craaazy thing brothers and shishterz. I love my hayden. I can't wait to be reunited with him AND with all you precious prizes.

THANKS FOR ALL THE PACKAGES AND LETTERS AND LOVE SENT THIS WEEK!!! OH BOY!!!!!!!

Zel! Thanks for your letter. I miss you so much. I write in that journal you gave me on the daily. Only the happy things, of course! Thanks for being such a loyal sweet friend. I love you! Joyce walker. thanks for you letter too! I really needed to hear that. Wendy, thanks for your letter. I read that the DAY i was realling struggling with the language. Thanks for all raising me up. I love you all!

Mama Ruby+santa Jon: AHHHHH!!!! XOXOXOXO times infinity. Thanks SO much for the flowers and for the chocolate covered strawberries! I devoured those so fast. That was such a treat, thanks for being SO thoughtful! You really are the cutes i just can't wait to squeeze you. I love you!!!!!! and tell hayley be safe and good luck. I pray for her.

Mum& Dad thanks for the letters! They truly do lift me up. i get so much happiness from one piece of paper with your words on it, you don't even know. Whit, thanks for the letter. I love claires kissy marks. She looks so big in those photos I just miss her! ps keep sending me snail mail. It is such a magical thing. And dear elders. spasibo.  Grandpa, you don't look big. Just the same cute grandfather i just miss so much! Your birthday is comnig up soon! I will send you a card. Whit write me more. Cami WRITE ME OKAY?! and mike and spenc don't give up hope on me. I haven't heard from either other lately! love you guys.

mom I have been eating my hot cheetos every night before bed. Go ahead and judge. I love them so much and theres nothing that helps you sleep more than cheetos in your belly. hahaha. i have been sleeping WAY well because I hung blankets up around my bed frame so it is really cozy and dark and delicious and I fall asleep so fast and stay asleep. yum. Can't wait to climb into bed tonight.

Ya'll  may think I'm a dork but... I make cectpa mackey take photos of my open my packages. haha i know, i know. But I want you all to see how much you all mean to me and how thoughtful you all are and how much joy is on my face because you are all so precious. GOODNESS i am just FULL of love today! this week has been SO fab. SOOOOO fab. We talked with Pres. Heaps on sunday. I love that man. He is so in tune with the spirit. He is so much like bishop egbert! His wife is a dream too.

 We all stayed up until 1130 just talking about life last night. Go ahead and call me a "disobedient" missionary but I will tell you I don't even feel bad because at this point I think that bonding is way more important than bed time. And it has been much needed. And things are picking up and it's getting better. Sister G still gets red hot sometimes, but I have learned to just go away and not even look at her or talk to her. HAha the other day she was mad because me and sister mackey were takling in japanese (not real because we really can't speak it obviously) and it was seriously the funniest thing I was laughing so hard, yknow my scary laugh? Anyway, she was SOOOo mad at us beacuse we were "being immature" haha uhghgh. at this point it is just funny the way she acts, but i love it anyway. I am learning to love her. Today is her birthdya and we bougth her mountain dew at the bookstore because it's her fav, and got her peanut m&m's and a bunch of other treats, and her smile was so big. It really is true that quote "when you are in the service of your fellowbeings, you are only in the service of your God." Amen I tell you what. I am grateful to see things steadily improving.

 guess WHAT.

I HAVE SEEN FIVE APOSTLES MY WHOLE STAY AT THE MTC!! unreal. Last night, Jeffery R Holland came and spoke to us last night. That man, is a character. His message was super uplifting and just struck your spirit like a bus. He spoke about what his mission meant to him, and he spoke about it with tears in his eyes. He told us that if we could make our missions mean as much to us and his meant to him, that we would be the happiest people in this life. Something he said that I loved was "You may be wondering if this is all worth it. To deal with the homesickness, with the heartache of rejection, with the pain of walking for 15 hours a day. YES, IT IS WORTH IT. This is the best decision you have EVER made in your life. I can promise you now that it's about to get harder than you ever imagined. But guess what? It was NEVER easy for the savior. Salvation wasn't a whimsical experience. It was painful. And you get to go out and feel the smallest fraction of that pain that the savior atoned for. Do NOT complain. Do NOT whine because you do NOT know what he went through for us. Turn to him. Be a desciple of Christ. Walk with him. Speak how he speaks, do what he does, act like he acts." It was amazing. And he just reitorized the importance of the holy ghost in conversion. He put it as "we often forget that when we have the holy ghost with us, we are LITERALLY walking with a member of the god head." what  a blessing huh? I love elder HOlland because he said "missions aren't about baptisms. Baptism is only a gateway to salvation. missions are about bringing others closer to christ. This is his church. Stop focusing your efforts on baptism, even though it's important, that's not our message. Focus on bringing others to christ, and the holy ghost will help guide you what to teach to that specific person you teach.

It was amazing! I even shed a couple tears. it was funny too. He said, if you ever fall away from the church after you have lived life as a missionary, after you have witnessed miracle upon miracle, and had the holy ghost with you, and you come home and fall away, I WILL haunt you. I WILL let the air out of your tires. I WILL scratch on your windows in the dark of the night. HAHAHAHAHAH ahhh I loved that. HE, is the perfect example of a missionary. He takes it seriously, yes. However, he also knows what it means to be able to laugh. How important that is. He knows the savior PERSONALLY. He knows how he acts, how he laughs, how he speaks, and I think that Holland resembles our savior in a lot of ways. Anyway, so yes. this isn't supposed to be so literal and serious. You have to love people and have them warm up to you. or else you will have a terrible time and people won't see the light of christ within us and within themselves.  I always teach my fake investigators the way that I would want to be taught, which is with love. And with being genuine, and with having a good few jokes here and there! Even though I can't really do that yet because i don't know the language but still. I laugh at my mistakes. Like the other day we taught vera and we tried to get her to pray on her knees with us and she refused and I said, "DAVAIYETE MOLITVA!" Meaning, COME ON LETS PRAY RIGHT NOW! and... she looked at me like i was pathetic and.....said no. So we did it anyway. And I was lol-ing the whole prayer because it was just so funny. Haha i mean... go bold or go home right?

I came to a realization the other day: I love it here. I was watching two of my teachers brat holt and cectpa oneil teach some of the missionaries as if they were missionaries themselves. And even though I could only understand like 58% of the conversation, I thought, "I freaking love this. This is so fun. I can't believe that I get to go and share this with Russians!" What did I do so right to deserve this life I live? ya ne znaioh (I don't know.) that's the spanglish russian.

 ALSO guess what else?! There is the Carl Blach's Sacred gifts art exhibit at the BYU art museum. And guess who gets to go? ALL the missionaries! I am SO stoked. I have seen this show before, and you really feel the spirit from the paintings. I love art so much. It's crazy how you can.. FEEEEEL while looking at art. AH i just love it so much. And guess what else? They said that we are allowed to stop at the BYU creamery on the way back to the MTC TOO! WHAT?! I know. It's so awesome. That is today so I will take photos and send some later!!

ps. i had to reapply for my visa last night so.. that's a mega bummer. But everyone else in my zone had to too so i'm not the only one. Hopefully I get into russia sooner than later but I know that it'll all work out.

I love you all so much! it's that time again. gotta jet. I think of you all EVERY day. And I pray for you all more than you know. Thanks for being so supportive. Thanks for buoying me up each time I get a letter/package. Mom, my only request for the package you said you were planning on sending me is that you hand write a letter to put inside of it. I would ask for you to put cora in it but she would die so don't do that. GIVE HER A KISS FOR ME! GIVE POACS AND MIKS A KISS TOO and my clairance too. I miss that baby gurrrrrrl. And I am so happy you are all happy. Keep your heads held high! And never forget that heavenly father is just one prayer away. Speak with him! molitva eta razgavor si bogum. (prayer is a conversation with god) he wants to hear from you! I guess that's my challenge. Anway, i love yo uall. Thanks for making me happy and proud!

LOVE BUZZZZZZLIGHTYEAR TO THE RESSSCUEEEE! (that's for you dadoo!)

 pretty flowers

 night time girl chat w/ sis mackey

 rainy temple day

Running home from the rain

 rose milk (dont mind the nasty wetness)

and the happiest package from my hayd!!!

some snaps from hayd's package extravaganza

 

thanks hayd I love you!

Week 3 in the MTC

HEH HEH HELLOOOO!

Oh my gosh today when I got online and saw all the emails my heart leapt! ahhh i love you all!

FAMILY. THANKS FOR ALL THE PACKAGES!!! OH MY GOSH TELL DANIEL THANKS FOR THE ROSE SYRUP! I am going to have some rosemilk later. That was really night. Give him and his indian family a hug for me. I will write a thank you note to send home soon with some other letters. mom i love you, you crafty cutes. I really am the luckiest daughter in all the lands. Thanks for the gasx and for the flossers too. Oh you're just heaven on earth. You are too dad! i know you help with the packages too. YA LOOBLOO TEBYA!!!!!! (i love you, in russian accent.) 

RUby and Jon thanks so oooooo much for your care packages! I really do love that parchment you sent me! If you haven't gotten my letter in the mail yet, then just know I go into depth about how much I love that package you sent! ahh you take such great care of me. also, thanks for sharing that story about the mtc. It is so true. we have to be really careful to make sure that we are diong things which allow angels to be around us! 

 I can say the most simple prayer, and I can bare the most simple testimony. My next project/goal is to translate MY testimony into russian. That way it'll sound a lot less scripted, and come from the heart more. My teachers tell me though that even though its the basic testimony from the language books, they really feel the spirit when I testify so that's good. I am falling in love with this language though, even though i despise it sometimes. I feel like I have plateaued so i prayed and asked heavenly father to help me absorb and retain all that i study and memorize. And just last night as i was planning for TRC lesson which is tonight, I was able to translate my english into russian! it is still really broken, and not formed correctly, but they are the same words and I really felt the spirit help me. Its so cool to pray for help and then recognize when we receive it! 

nothing too new here, I still love sister mackey so much. We really are so similar. She is such a spaz and it makes me so happy. We had a reeeeeeallllllly bad experience on monday. Like... really bad. Sis G NEVER helps us plan our lessons. She is so prideful because she is, as she puts it, "so much more mature and smarter than both of us (me n sis mackey.)." because she is 5 months older than me.... and she also studied french for 7 years. She really doesn't communicate and I am so scared of her. Because she has a temper like the beast from beauty and the beast. haha i'm being dead serious. She is just mean. Just plain ole mean. our lessons go like this: me and sister mackey plan out the whole thing IN RUSSIAN, ask for sister g's input, and she sits back, and stubbornly says "i already know what i'm saying. so plan the rest." ummm what? and she always says things that doesn't even relate to our lesson we plan and it makes me so frustrated but when we try to talk to her about it she gets SO ANGRY like it's our fault. The worst part is, is that we talk about it so lovingly. but she just gets mad. like, she shakes. and yells. anyway, I was sick of it so i told my teacher sister gish and brother holt that i am struggling and i don't know what to do because all i do is show love to her. And so sister gish told me that we were all going to sit down and have a talk as a companionship with her, so that she could hopefully help. so we did. 

 I adressed my concerns out in the open and said that there is a lack of communication and that we wanted to fix it so that we could feel the love in our companionship. OH MY GOSH WHAT HAPPENED NEXT WAS CRAZY. she had the most angry face on. she wouldn't look at us. she was huffing and puffing and red in the face and sister gish asked her why she wouldn't address her feelings, and sis gerristen said "I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT. NOBODY LISTENS TO ME" typical, she never wants to talk about it so how are we supposed to listen when she won't talk? which makes no sense because we want her help because she knows a lot about the gospel. Anyway, long story short, sister gish told her you can't be a good missionary if you don't communicate. And when she said that, sis G stood up and stormed out of the room. Then, she came back and SCREAMED at us and threw stuff and said really explicit things. It was way scary. And it made us shake in our boots. It was really scary. I am leaving out a lot of details because it's a way long story, one that I can't wait to tell you when I get home. 

So anyway, later that night one of the wives of our presidency was prompted to visit us, so she came over and talked to sister G. And then she finally apologized for all the mean things that she has said which was cool. I accepted her apology and I am hoping that things get better but I am really worried that it wont because after the apology, she still is being short and impatient and gets angry about stupid little things at me and sister mackey. Sister Gish, our teacher, is going to tell our branch president because she thinks that sis G needs medications or counseling. And I do too. Because the way she reacted and the things she said were unreal. It was almost like an evil spirit took over her. So Yeah, I really am concerned for her. I want her to be healthy, and I don't want to constantly have to be afraid to ask her to participate because she will just flip and be angry at us. I really hope that things go well because I am terrified of her. haha uhhhhhh 5 more weeks. I can do this. I will just pray for her. I have prayed for her because I feel like it's my fault she is is being mean, like i have done something even though I haven't, 

ANOTHER APOSTLE CAME TO THE MTC LAST NIGHT! D. Todd CHristofferson. That's four apostles I've seen the four weeks I have been here at the MTC. His message was amazing. He held up a box of cheerios. The back of the box said "Trusted." then he went on to talk about what we need to do to gain heavenly fathers trust and how we can gain his. It was a great perspective because you never really think about him trusting you, you usually just think about you trusting him and his will and his way. His testimony at the end really really hit my soul. He said something along the lines of, "I want you to hear from my witness, and from my mouth:This is Jesus Christ's church. He leads it. He presides over it. He has called YOU because he trusts you. He believes in you. He knows you. He loves you. You are his." It was really powerful. 

I am trying to keep that mindset as I deal with adjusting here at the MTC. I love the spirit here and I feel that I am growing so much, even though it is really hard because of my companion. I have faith and hope that over time it will get better.

To answer some questions, Pdays ARE on wednesdays now. They are relaxing. I just read emails and write emails and go to the temple and eat breakfast there which is yummy, and I get to just relaxx in my bed and read scriptures, study russian, do laundry, it's the life. The food is good here dad, but it's starting to get old really quick. But they have two salads here that are like zupas tasting salads! those days I go salad crazy. I love my salads. 

HAHA funny story real quick. SO I am way gassy right? and I fart like crazy. Apparently when I wasn't in the room, sister G told sister mackey that it bugs her when I fart. HAHAHAH I'MMM SORRRRY I'M HUMAN! 

 I had to say goodbye to my friend from the singles ward sarah coates last night. I love her! she is going to missouri! And I had to say goodbye to my shlynee baby! that was rough. I love her and her whole district. I am way closer to her district than my own. They are all so awesome I will miss them.  ESPECIALLY MY ASHY! but last night at the devotional where we heard christofferson, we got to sit together. It was a great last hoorah. I will miss seeing her here. 

I love yo uALL!!! thanks so much for all the love you send me, and show me. I really am so grateful for you all. Keep writing me dear elders! They truly do turn your day around. Thanks for all loving me. I am the luckiest missionary here at the MTC! I pray for you all individually, and I know that the lord is really aware of each of us. So aware that when i prayed to know what heavenly father thinks of me, he told me through D. todd christoffersons talk. And the same goes for all of you! Jesus christ love all of us. He wants us to come to him. And his arms are wide open! he loves you, and he knows you. YOU, are his!

I love you all so much. thanks for your prayers and for your support. Thanks for keeping me lifted! I will be better at writing letters. Mom, i am sorry that I can't skype or call home for mothers day. HOWEVER! you just have to wait a few more days and I will call you from the airport when I fly to russia on june ninth. time is flying! 

I love you! I hope you all have a great week. Thanks for letting me vent about that story that happened on monday. My pdays are on wednesdays now. I CAN'T BELIEVE CLAIRE IS GETTING ANOTHER TOOTH!!! I MISS HER! I LOVE YOU CLAIREANCE!!!!!!!!!! i love you all. Never forget it okay? 

love hayster, cectpa tweeeeeeeddddddde