Hailey in Russia: Hailey gets detained in Russia, part 2.

Alright, straight to the good stuff.

Wanna know a crazy story? I went to renew my visa in Kiev last week. Guess what happened? Everything was FINE! Kiev is the silliest place, and it was really weird because flying over Ukraine, you just felt the spirit of sadness everywhere. The people there really are sad, and it's definitely really sad what has been going on over there in the world. It was a way fun visa trip though.

Get this: we got back to moscow, and immediately went to passport security (like normal.) There were two lines of us, all got through the gates no problem. Well me, being Sissy Hailey, I automatically have the WORST luck. I just happened to choose the line with the meanest lady. She checked my passport, noticed that something wasn't quite making sense. Well, long story short, me and elder Tonn, this elder that was in my MTC district, get detained in Moscow because the people were just way confused about some of our passport stuff. Well, this freaky russian guy came and started yelling at us. So naturally, I'm sweating and freaking out! Well, I had no idea what to tell the guy so funny ELder Tonn says, "Wait.... are you speaking english right now? We can't understand you. We need to speak with someone that knows english way better than you do." HAHAHAHA I just laughed out loud. He stormed away, and locked us up in this back room. I'm not going to lie, I was freaking out.

But guess what? Heavenly Father just blessed me and reminded me that I had the phone in my purse! Sister Mckell and I take turns with the phones, and that day it was my turn. So I get the phone out, call my mission president, i'm on the phone the whole time with the AP's and zone leaders. When the guy comes back into the room, he has a HUGE stack of passports, that were all of the other missionaries who I was with. So I am just praying my heart out, and we are all praying our hearts out, and once these russians found out that we were perfectly legal, they just let us go without saying anything at all.

It was SOOO stressful, and way blown out of proportion, and I was so threatened by these people, and guess what? My mission president happens to be a lawyer so I'm pretty sure he's making a claim to the embassy that we were harrassed. It's pretty funny. But the moral of the story is.... While I was praying, I was so scared. I have never felt more afraid in my life. My mind kept going to places like "I wonder where I will get reassigned." But that was just depressing because I know that this is exactly where I need to be. I was just so scared and the russian airport guy was so intimidating and I didn't know if I would be able to finish my mission in Russia. Well, God answered all our prayers, he made it all happen, and we almost missed our flight. We all sprinted to our terminal, and made it all safely on our plane back to Samara.

That was the longest story, my bad. I have noticed that one of my weaknesses is that I get really carried away when I tell stories. :/ But I wanted to tell you all that story because I really gained a testimony that Heavenly Father DOES answer all of our prayers, and he is always around us to still our troubled hearts and to comfort us, and to ease our worries and fears. I know it was an experience that I needed, because the Lord is constantly teaching me to rely on Him, and that there is no other way in life rather than relying on Christ and our Heavenly Father. He is always teaching me that: "SISTER TWEDE. DON'T YOU SEE? YOU DO LOVE YOUR MISSION!" and "Oh silly sister Twede, you're just so silly. Don't stress, just rely on me."

We are nothing compared to God, but we are everything to Him. I know that he is always ready and willing to help us because WE are his love, his joy, His happiness, and his purpose. Isn't that CRAZY? We are EVERYTHING to God. The person that created the whole earth and heavens and everything between! We are why he created the earth, we are why he created the Heavens, we are why he sent his son to atone for us because he knew that we couldn't do it without Him. I am so grateful for our Savior, and I really am learning more and more to have faith in Him. I am constantly being taught that He IS the light and life of the world, and that He really did drink the bitter cup for all of us. I am so grateful for Him.

I love you all so much. Thanks for your love and prayers. We really need them at this time. We are trying to find people that are ready for baptism. Please send your prayers for our mission. We would all really appreciate them! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

Love, Sissy T