21 in Russia

Thanks for all the bday wishes. It was a treat to read emails from all my best family and best friends and to just feel your LOVE!!! Can I tell you about my birthday? Okay! Alright... soooooooooo..... fate just happened so that we had weekly planning on my birthday..... whoooooop. It was WAYYYY exciting! haha but really it was. 

So, I woke up, opened the bday package from mom and dad which was the best. I ate all four packages of reeses so.... i guess you can say i have no shame. I ate at McDonalds for lunch....(no shame again).. and it was soooo tasty! I then ate at the tastiest pizza place called "Yes, Pizza for Dinner". I tell you what, russian pizza is soooo spicy and so tasty. Every pepperoni pizza comes with mushrooms on top. so yummy! Our investigator "A" has the same birthday, so we ate with her. she gave me a gift! it is a jewelery box with a way sweet russian snow painting on it. I'll attach a photo... but don't look too closely because there is pizza in my mouth. haha anyway, it was great. Then We had a meeting with a less active and his name is "V" and.... he bought me two cakes. I would normally be stoked about that but.... russian cakes are really really sickly sweet and i was so full from dinner that I almost passed out. Some of my best friends from the branch were there.. which consists of "AP" and his wife "T" and their baby "M" and then crazy "AG". and of course "V" and sissy M. they all sang happy birthday to me which was funny because when russians say happy birthday in english, it sounds something like "heppy bwessdei" it was great. Then.... on the 17th of october (friday) it's technically my birthday in america so sister mckell and I went to Cinnabon for dinner.... and it was soooo tasty. #fatgirllife

Something pretty funny happened on friday night.  We received a text from "L" after not talking with her for a week, which said "the j-dubs witnesses are coming to our house tonight." I think she did it to get under our skin, and it worked. Haha silly, but true. We wanted to respond in a number of ways 1) "We hope THEY can buy you the wireless keyboard that you told us to buy you." or 2)"You know, the jehovah's witnesses don't have the priesthood." but intstead, we went with number 3 because we wanted to be christlike "We hope that you find the happiness you are looking for, but we just want you to know that we love you, and that we are always here for you." THAT was a tought thing to do, but I can tell you that it feels good have done the christ-like thing, and I know that he was proud of us for putting off the natural man, or the natural brat in this case.  I know it's all part of god's plan though, so I feel at peace knowing that all things happen according to his timing.

Okay, so HERES a crazy story. We go to baba "K"'s house once a week to read with her, and to help her clean. We had time to spend contacting before going to her house last tuesday. Lately I really haven't had any desire to contact, I don't know why. But, despite this fact, we scheduled specific time to contact prior to going to this babushka's home. We had just given a Book of Mormon to a really kind lady who worked at a bank. We saw this older woman in a red coat, who we felt we needed to talk to. We got to know her, and she really opened up to us. She showed us her family photos which she had with her, and told us all about her life. Her name is "N", she is from Maldova and was on her way to a court case which she had to settle with her sister who "wanted to hurt her." We testified to her about how she can find comfort and peace from the book of mormon and she was SO happy that we had given it to her. She promised to read it. Well, she asked us where we were going, and told her the street where we were headed, and she said "Let's go!" She started walking with us and it was a miracle what happened next...

 We started walking with her, and talking with her to the street that we needed. She was SO funny and such a light and had us all laughing. Well, other women saw this, and would stop in their tracks and ask us why we were all so happy! We told them that we have a message about happiness and gave them all brochures since we were out of books of mormon at the time. Well, there was a specific time were THREE women stopped in their tracks to talk to us. Cute "N" told them that she was our translator and that we were representatives of Jesus Christ. So dang funny. It was such a miracle and I know that all these women saw the light that we have which is the light of christ. The blood of israel is really curious and they're definitely here in Penza. One of the women that stopped us was like "come to my mom's work she works at a museum!" We told her we didn't have time, but she said she just wanted us to meet her mom. So we go ... and it was a drama theater a really small one. It used to be the house of this REALLY famous play writer/actor in russia. It was way cool because they gave us a quick tour for free! we know that it helped "N" a ton because she was on her way to court but she ended up hanging out and contacting people with us for an hour and she really had so much fun and just laughed all along the way. Apparently she was into drama when she was young which makes sense because she is LITERALLY one of the kookiest people I have ever met in my whole life. 

Things are going reeeeeally slow with "A", so slow in fact that every lesson we have we invite her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, but she just isn't keeping her comitments. I don't really understand what to do because her dad is islam, and her mom is prvoslovni. She really wants to read the book of mormon but tells us every time we call her after work that she's too tired to read. We explain even just five minutes, and she says that she will, but she still hasn't. So we will pray and hope that she will keep her commitment, and if not we will read with her. She believes that every religion is true because "whatever people believe in must be true." She believes the Book of Mormon is true even though she hasn't read it so we will pray that the spirit can help her recognize the truth and help her receive a desire to find out all of these things are true for herself. 

-THAT'S ALL FOLKS! I love you all and I miss you all. Thanks for caring about me and sending me your love! I miss you all and love you more than you will ever know. You're the best around. And don't you forget to read your scriptures and say your prayers because you'll receive so much help and strength! alright, LOVE YOU ALL BYE!

 bday package

 bday cakes

 gbye fall

 cool musem

 PERVWEE SNEG haha i am too lazy to type russian. first snow

jewelry box

Helloooo chocolate! reunited and it feels so goooood! But not.

WELCOME HOME TO MY ERIN (miriam) BERG! I LOVE YOU MY PRECIOUS! I can't wait to see you soon! in almost 11 months! 

Wasn't conference just the biggest dream? I LOVED IT! One of my favorite talks was by Jorg..... I don't remember his last name, but he's the guy from the 70 who is german and he sounds really feminine but he's really just german. Well, I loved how his talk was centered on how we can become spiritually confident and the steps we need to take to become spiritually confident. some of the steps included taking care of our bodies... eating healthy and exercising not because we want to, but because our bodies need it. haha when me and sister mckell heard him say that, we turned to each other and said... "well... here we go..." haha it's just a bummer because we love pastries! But lately i have been feeling the worst i have ever felt... just super slow and pudgy and just gross and I also feel like I haven't been able to teach the gospel very well. Well, come to find out it's because i have a very big lack of spiritual confidence! So... we will be running stairs in our apartment.... and attempting to eat healthy. Nothing can keep me away from my sweets though! Also how we need to repent daily to become spiritually confident, and forgive immediately. It was all just really refreshing to hear. I also loved Richard G Scott's. Hes just the funniest when he was like, "We come to life to be tested.... tried.... and STRETTTTTCHED!!!" It's true. I feel so stretched so basically i will have the saggiest skin when i come home. helooooooooo oldies!

We had something really heart breaking and devastating happen this past week. We had planned a lesson for our investigators "L" and "M" to talk about tithing. Well, they have been having big problems with money lately. This isn't the first time either. The first month that we met them back in July is the first time they asked us for money. We kindly told them that we don't do that, and then they went on their way. Months later, and after many meetings with them where they have felt the spirit, where they have decided to be baptized, the issue of not having enough money came up again. Long story short, "L" was really uncomfortable with the idea of tithing (even though we hadn't explained it in deeper detail) because they barely have enough money to "get by". We went to their house to teach them tithing, but the lesson ended up falling through. The next morning, "L" texted us and said; " last night I had a dream. I dreamed that you and your church can't help us with our money problem. Thanks for everything, but I don't need your church. All I need is God. He is the only one that can help us." We had a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally long cry after that text. We really felt like we didn't need to say anything to them after that, so what did we decide to do? Buy chocolate. We got a phone call from "M" later that night, after eating lots of chocolate. He said "Where are you? It's my birthday!" So we bought him a candy bar, wrote a note saying happy birthday and that we are always here for him and his family and more importantly god is here for him and his family and that he is making the right steps in his life. Well, we went over, wished him a happy birthday, and it was as if "L" never sent us that text earlier. It was all really confusing. Long story short, he asked us if we were still not eating chocolate, but somehow we avoided the question. (fewwf dodged a bullet there!) 

We decided that we were going to stop eating chocolate again because we really needed to sort everything out with them. We invited them to conference and they said that they wanted to come but had no money for the bus because "M" doesn't have a job. Saturday came, and we had arranged a ride for them. We called "L" and she said she wasn't home, but was at her sister's house which was really far from where she lived, so she obviously took a bus there. We asked her if "M" wanted to come, and she replied telling us that he was at work.It's really confusing and we really didn't know what to do so we just went to conference and everything felt great after being spiritually uplifted. Yesterday we were eating dinner after church, and "L" texted us. The text read, "Buy "M" a wireless keyboard. He needs it for his work." we replied telling her "We can't, sorry." and then she said "Thanks for everything, I thought that the giving hands (me and sister mckel) would give. But no, your hands are just greedy." Basically, we are really hurt and really don't understand what went wrong. I feel like I have been blind to it this whole time. It just really hurts because we have shown nothing but love toward them, and we thought that they really truly desired to be baptized but now we just aren't sure. The members have been telling us too, that they are just sneaky people and that we shouldn't meet with them for a long time. I just don't want to give up hope because all people need the opportunity to be baptized, it's really sad and difficult. But both sister Mckell and I feel that we just need to take a break with them for a while. 

But on a happier note... we can eat chocolate now! Right? We may or may not have spent 15 dollars on chocolate and eaten it all within three days... But that's a different story. 

We have a miracle though. Her name is "A". She is really prepared! We gave her a book of mormon last week, and she has been reading it. She told us that she had a lot of questions. We answered her questions which were about our heritage and if we are lamanites or nephites. Our conversation led to the word of wisdom somehow, and we told her that we don't drink black or green tea or coffee. I said to her "some people think it's weird, but once you understand that it is a commandment from God then it's really not weird at all." Her response was priceless; "Well, now I know not to drink those anymore! I don't think it's weird at all. The people that think it's weird just aren't the elect." I repeat........... "the people that think it's weird just aren't the elect." "A"! DO YOU EVEN KNOW THAT YOU'RE AN ELECT DAUGHTER OF GOD!?  So basically we have a meeting with her this week and we'll invite her to be baptized.

All out of time here..... i love you all and i love my mission and i love the lord and i encourage you all to watch some conference videos online! they're the greatest!

love hayster sissy

 creepy panorama

 having a good day

 the fall ball.. they dressed me up like fall.

bye elder glad and meredith! good district... probably the best.

I ate caviar that was imported..... from Moscow.

It was the tastiest caviar and it was also insane. It was at "K's" house! the one with the tattoo and the nice nice house, remember? Well basically she is a milionairre and it was nuts. Sister Mckell hated it and i kinda did too because it was A LOT. Super rich and fishy. But hey, now I have a cool story to tell when I'm home!

Transfers are coming next week and I don't know if i will be staying in penza :( i really hope so though because there is so much work for sister mckell and i here! I love her too much and I love our investigators too much.

A wayyyyyyy cool miracle happened this past week.. "L" and "M" FINALLY answered their phones! "L" called us and asked us to go over to their house the other night, and told us that she really needed our help. We went over, and our member help just talked and talked and it was really a frustrating moment, and I was so frustrated because we hadn't spoken with "L" and "M" for 2 weeks and when we asked them what happened, they acted like everything was fine, but it wasn't beacuse last week "L" called us, clearly she was out drinking at a bar, and said some things that only drunk people say like... "YOU'RE NEVER THERE FOR ME WHEN TIMES ARE HARD!"  Well, anyway it was a crazy lesson we had with them. "M" and "L" told us that they have the desire to stop drinking and smoking, but they don't have the will power. They then told us that they had been talking with a hypnotist who said that he could cure them of their addictions and desires to drink and smoke. For one of the first times in my life the spirit literally welled up within me, and i just started bawling. I don't really remember what I said because it was the spirit working through me, but I do remember telling them, "you are NOT going to find a cure to this through a hypnotist, or from anyone or ANYTHING else. The only one that can help you through this is Jesus Christ." The room went silent, and the spirit was really strong. Even their crazy 2 year old just stopped and stared. At the end of the lesson, "L" begged us to come back to their house the next day, which we did. We talked with them about repentance when we went back to them, and reset their baptismal date to november 8th. I really hope that they will committ to this, and see that baptism is a lifelong committment. 

Creepy story of the week.The other night, evil spirits followed us home. It was really creepy. We started our planning with prayer, and guess what? sister mckell couldn't even speak and she was just shaking and it was really scary. I started to rebuke the spirits and I almost couldn't speak either. I offered a fast prayer and just asked God with his priesthood to rebuke the spirits that followed us home that night. It's really cool because we sisters don't have the priesthood, and president Schwab told me once before that we sisters have the power to call down the blessings of heaven. I know it's true because I have called for those blessings many times here on my mission. Anyway, the priesthood is REAL, It was way cool too because we just felt angels fill the room and we felt really safe. It was really scary for a little bit though. Satan definitely has power, but God's power is FAR more powerful and he will ALWAYS overpower the adversary.

One more really cool miracle happened on Wednesday. We were on splits working with the sister training leaders. Sister Johnson (i loooove this gal) and I had an appointment with a less active named "V". He's so kind and nobody gives him the time of day because he's kinda strange, but he really just comes off that way. He's actually a very smart man!  It really was an incredible experience because as we were doing personal study, I thought of these little photos that I have of temples. We had planned the night before to talk about the word of wisdom, due to the fact that sister Mckell and I saw him smoking on the streets a week prior. We also wanted to encorporate temples, and how our bodies are temples from god. Well, during companionship study, we were sharing our insights we received, and both sister johnson and I felt strongly to bring those little temple photos with us to our meeting with "V". We listened to that prompting, and brought them with us to our lesson. It was really great because when we got there, our member help "I" just bluntly asked "so are you going to prepare to go to the temple!?" "I"! SPOILER!!!  THAT WAS OUR COMMITTMENT! 

      Anyway, it was perfect because he said, "yes that is definitely where I want to go." We started our lesson by showing "V" the temple photos and asked him what words came to his mind. He said clean, holy, the place where god lives and where I want to be too. It was weird because he told us that it wasn't hard for him to quit smoking, and that he really only smokes 1 cigarette a day. I asked why he even smoked then if it wasn't hard to quit. He then told us that it was Satan tempting him, and we assured him that yes, it was Satan, and that he didn't want "V" to go to the temple. We asked "will you quit smoking in two months?" he said "No." .........................................."I will quit in 2 WEEKS!" How great is that!? He doesn't hold the priesthood either, so we are going to be doing a lot of work to help him be ready for everything. It's great because the branch wants to plan a temple trip soon and we know that he will be ready by the time that trip comes. He asked us at the end if he could keep the little photos of the temples so that "I can look at them each day to remind me that the temple is my goal!" and of course we said yes. At church yesterday, he says, "SISTER TWEDE, LOOK!" and shows me his screen saver, which was a picture of the temple. It's such a blessing and a miracle to see these people feel the holy ghost and strive to do better, I know that with faith and prayers he will be ready to go to the temple. I LOVE THE TEMPLE!

We found a gal named "E".  She's way rad! she told us "I think it's so cool that you dress modest.? and "i don't drink or smoke either!" basically she's super prepared and she jumped up and down when we gave her the book of mormon after our lesson. 

Anway that's all for the week. I love you all and keep you all in my prayers always~!!!! love you!!!!

WE JUST GOT TRANSFER CALLS AND WE ARE STAYING TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

love sissy T

fur hat... getting ready for winter.

baby fur hats

 beautimous sister mckell

sister training leaders

 the paper factory at night

 chastnee domes

"J".... IS A MORMON!?

In other news.... CLAIRE STARTED WALKING!!!!! Can you believe it?! She's going to be running around all over the place when I get home! CLAIREY YOU'RE THE BEST AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND THE SMARTEST!! And you keep reading that russian book so that when I get home, we can talk to each other and nobody can understand :)

So, bummer nation..our investigator 'L' hasn't answered our phonecalls for about a couple of weeks now. We got the thought "call 'L'!" so we did, for about the hundreth time. We called, and to our surprise, SHE ANSWERED! It was such a miracle. She talked with us as if we had been talking for the two weeks that we hadn't spoken. She was just her same self and told us that she missed us and loves us. Well, then she said "I'm at work right now, and my colleague LOVES the bible and her whole family loves it too. Well, we talked to her and set up a time to go over to their house this week and it was a big miracle. "L" said she would come to church the next day, and we were really excited! We told her that we would be at her house before church so that we could go together and she agreed to that idea. Well, Sunday morning came and we went over to her house to pick her up, and to our surprise, she didn't answer. She wouldn't answer our phonecalls, and it seemed to us that nobody was home. We waited, and knocked, and made a lot of noise to try and wake them up in case they were sleeping, but nothing happened. like.. we were throwing rocks by their windows. hahaha luckily none of them broke!

Anway, we said a prayer, and walked away with our heads hung low. She didn't end up coming at all to church. We called her later that night, and she was clearly drunk on the phone which really was sad because she hasn't drank for a whole month and realllly was trying to live the word of wisdom to a T, but then she was drinking again. It really was such a sad thing. We called her again this morning, and guess what? She's in the hospital now. Apparently she fell (because she was drunk) and broke her hand and hit her head really hard and apparently will be in the hospital for two weeks. It really broke my heart. I hope she remembers the terrible feeling she feels after she drank, and how clean and wonderful she feels when she meets with us. (her own words not mine!) haha I'm not cocky, I swear. I want to believe that she will be ready for baptism soon, but all these things that have been going on just push her away from baptism. There was a glimpse of hope, however, when she told us on the phone today that she is going to ask "M" to bring her her book of mormon so that she can read it while she heals at the hospital. Maybe this experience was needed to really show her that party lifestyle is not a good one and that true joy only comes in and through christ and his gospel. I know that baptism is the first step toward christ and it's one of the most important ones. I just want all these dang russians to feel the JOY!

A crazy miracle we had: We were on a marshrytka (tiny van) last monday. There was a boy, who looked like he was from south america, on the same marshrytka as us, and he just was looking at us and our nametags for quite some time. He then said, "Where is your church?" to sister Mckell. She told him, and then he went on to explain that he really wants to come to our church and we told him we would be happy to see him there. Well, the next day, he called! His name is "J", and he is 21. We set up a meeting for Sunday (yesterday). He couldn't come to church, but we met with him after church in the center of the city. He brought his friend, "N". We learned that they are from Nicaragua and are studying here and have been studying here for 2 years. "J" was telling us how he has been looking for our church for the two years that he has lived here, but hasn't been able to find it. We expressed to him how stoked we were that the lord put us into each others paths, and THEN he says the unthinkable. "I saw your churches all over in Nicaragua. My parents and siblings are baptized into your church." And then the awkward question from me and sister Mckell: "Well.. are you baptized?" and he said.. "YEAH! I was baptized when I was 10!" WHAT! Okay, miracle. Then the next miracle is that his friend "N", also from Nicaragua, told us how he is protestant and how his uncle is mormon, and talked to him about the book of mormon years ago. "N" said that he has always been interested in the gospel, but had never asked his uncle about it. We asked them if they wanted books of mormon in spanish, and they said yes, and were SOOOO excited to hear that was a possibility. We asked "N" if he was interested in meeting with us to learn more, and he said yes! What is this world?!?!! SO COOL!  What the heck, right? What is a nicaraguan doing in Penza? Stuyding engineering of course! 

2nd miracle: less active named "L". We had just finished doing service at a babyshka's house when we had the thought to call "L", which was wierd because she is always too busy to meet with us. We called her anyway, and she told us she had just gotten off work and wanted us to go over. We had planned to meet with her during the week to talk about prayer. We went over, and to our surprise, she told us her friend was coming over. We asked if we could wait for her friend to do our lesson, and she said no let's just get started. We got started, read all the scriptures, and right as we were about to share the experiences, her friend came over. I turned around and.. SURPRISE! It's "T", a woman that we had given a book of mormon to months ago. Then the coooolest thing happend. "L" said, "they just finished talking about prayer and we want to talk to YOU about prayer!" so then we re-read the scriptures and it was SO spiritual as we shared experiences we have all had with prayer. "T" was in tears, and we were all in tears as we talked about how big of a blessing it us. It was amazing to see the less active, "L", teach her friend "T" about prayer and why it's important. I know that this work is just about to explode as the members, and less actives invite their friends and loved ones over to lessons with the missionaries. Then, after our lesson, "T" BEGGED us to go over to her house and talk to her sons about the gospel, and we did so. We have been meeting with them lately and "T" is practically mormon already, so we will just be teaching her and her sons! (side story. Her one son "t" who is 24 wants to know english, and already knows a little bit. He asked us to teach him a phrase. What phrase was that you ask? "I LOVE TO POP ZITS!" hahahahaha hearing him say it with his russian accent was literally the funniest thing I almost peed.) ANYWAY, "T". She's the funniest human being. She's not even real, I swear.  She said a 10 minute prayer too at the end of our lesson and it was literally the most hilarious prayer I have ever heard. "HEAVENLY FATHER THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME THESE BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL GIRLS FROM AMERICA WHO LOVE JESUS! GOD, WE ARE STUPID BECAUSE WE DON'T READ THE BIBLE BUT YOU, YOU LOVE US AND SENT US THESE AMERICAN GIRLS TO TEACH US TO BE SMART AND TO READ THE BIBLE AND THE BOOK OF MORMON!" -along those lines. Literally I couldn't hold in the laughs and both sissy mckkell and i had tears streaming down our faces. 

Weeks like this one make me love being a missionary. It's literally the HARDEST thing I have ever decided to do, but it's the most fulfilling and most worth it. So much heart ache, so much joy, so much laughter, and so much lack of sleep. I have never been so tired in my life, but that's a good thing. It's so boring sometimes, and sometimes the days just drag on, but it's also the most fun and some other times the days FLLLYYYYY by. Either way, I really love it and especially love Russia. These are definitely my people. I know I am exactly where I need to be at this time.

Well, I love you all so much. I just want to say, never forget how much the Lord loves you. he is aware of YOU. He wants you to turn to him, and you can do that through prayer. Even if it's a crazy prayer like crazy "T". AHHH seriously that was the funniest moment. But really, Christ is always around you. I challenge ALL of you, to get on LDS.org right now and watch "because of him" the video from easter. Me and sister mckell are literally in heaven because we got a dvd with mormon.org clips and all other sorts of videos, and we have been watching that one every single day.... like... probably 6 times a day. I love the savior and I know because of him we can do ALL things! Turn to him!

I love you all. OVER AND OUT

сестра твид

 scary cigarette packaging, just in time for halloween.

 i love my sissy M!

IT"S FALL!

hahaha she'd kill me if she saw this