Hailey in Russia: VICTORY DAY and a play at the drama theater

Can I just say... CLAIRE YOU ARE SO SMART I LOVE YOU MY LIL BOOBOONEENEE! YELLOW YELLOW YELLOW!

It was sooo good to see you all yesterday on skype. I miss you all so much and I just hope that you had the happiest mothers day mawmaw. You are the best.

I just got my 9th transfer call, and I will be staying in Samara with Sister McKell for another cycle!I LOVE THIS CITY AND ALL THE PEOPLE IN IT! it's going to be really great because now that her foot is healed it'll be so fun to just run all around town again, and have a normal cycle. Not that it wasn't a normal cycle the last cycle, because it was really really fun just calling people from the area books and seeing all the miracles, and finally deep cleaning the apartment. That apartment was SOOOO nasty but now it is fab. Anyway, I am just stoked to get back at it on the streets and have all the bad allergies that anyone could have.

The miracles. AHH okay. Tuesday before our english group, we met with “T”.We asked president Schwab for a list of things that really are different after baptism in Christ's church, and he gave us a list. It was sooo amazing I wish I remembered all the stuff of that list. Had to do with the Holy ghost etc. Anyway, we translated all those points. At the lesson, she told us that she has been reading, not really often, but all the same she has been reading. She actually was really late to the lesson, and it was getting time to go, so what we ended up doing was just reading with her. It was SOOO awesome because this member Brother “V” came with us, and he is just a treat. He befriended ”T” and invited her to go to a play with him at the opera house and told her to invite a friend. She was soooooo stoked! And she ended up going and loved it which was the best. Anyway, and we all read 1 Nephi chapter 3 since that is where she is in the Book of Mormon. After reading this chapter, we talked a little bit about faith. She was getting SOOO into the story, and wanted to know so bad what would happen to Nephi when he goes to get the plates from Laban. Following this really good discussion about faith, we were ALL out of time, but the Spirit told us that we needed to give her the paper with all the points on it. We addressed her concern "what will be different after I am baptized?" and then gave her the points. She smiled SO big, and just began reading them all. We told her to study those points out, to pray about them, and then next time we meet we will talk all about them. We asked her to say the closing prayer, and she did and it was SO great! She said "Heavenly Father, please help me receive an answer with my decision to be baptized into your church if it's what you want me to do." SHE IS JUST COMING ALONG! It was just the best. At english group we talked about the commandments, and specifically keeping the sabbath day holy. We invited everyone to come to church, and Tatyana's face was just so cute and sad. She had this big somber face as she said ".....I work on sunday. I really want to come." we told her that God knows her desires to come, and he will bless her with the opportunity to come even though she has a really busy work schedule. She is just the BEST! and the Lord is the best too! He is softening her heart soooooo soft. I LOVE HER!

This week, we had a couple of lessons with “DM”. YOU WILL LOVE “DM” WHEN YOU MEET HIM AHHH “DM” FOR LIFE! He is just the best kid. he is 26, and he is a sailor. He speaks perfecct english, and reads the bible in ancient greek. He is just so smart. The sisters met him last year, and he actually talked to them first because he heard them speaking english and wanted to practice with them. He is sooooo awesome, but he really is just tooooo hard on himself. He doesn't think anything of himself. He told us he kinda lost his relationship with God when he went out to sail 7 months ago, and that he really wants it to come back. It was so great to meet with him. Our lesson was planned to be about the plan of salvation, but it went a different route. We tried to talk about it, but then he addressed to us that he doesn't think that he is a son of God. He really doesn't understand the love that Heavenly Father has for all of us, and he isn't really too sure if God really is our Heavenly Father. We invited him to pray with a specific question to get a specific answer. He said that he would. We always bring up baptism with him, and he even told us that he doesn't feel the spirit at his baptist church, but at our church he feels the spirit, and how he really loves what Christ said to His apostles before He acsended to Heaven after his resurrection. He said "I ascend to my God, and your God, my Father, and your Father." Or however it goes, and he just told us that he really loves that because when Christ said that, he really showed us that we are all equals as God's children. “D” is just SOOOO hard on himself. He thinks that in order to be "christian" he needs to read the bible for hours and hours and hours, and then pray for hours and hours and hours in a day. We told him that God gave us our lives to live too, because without living we couldn't grow. We testified of the truths in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, and told him that he is WAY too hard on himself. It really actually is sad. He is just SO great and so wise and so kind, but he really doesn't see it. We keep him in our prayers. It was really great though, because he ended up coming to church and having a great time. In fact, he told us "It's my day off from work, if you sisters could meet with me that'd be cool." We ended up having a meeting at the Dunn's house after church (HE CAME TO CHURCH!), and it was really really spiritual. We read some "ingredients" to happiness found in 2 nephi 5. He really felt the Spirit. We again invited him to pray to Heavenly Father to receive an answer because he himself told us "I JUST WANT TO FIND THE TRUTH!" We tell him it's right in front of his face, he just has to find time to read the Book of Mormon and to really and sincerely pray. He really is the best pal anyone could have. Keep him in your prayers!

Had a meeting with “KR”. She is 17 and has had several baptismal dates. She is very eccentric. I love her though, she is just a wild child. But she really has true intentions to become better and to just be baptized. She expressed to us that she really wants to feel peace more in her life. She told us she still wants to be baptized, so we invited her to get baptized next Saturday, and she agreed to being baptized on sunday before church because she has school on saturday. We told her that she needed to come to church on sunday (yesterday) but she didn't come. We don't really know what to tell her, or what to do because she hasn't been to church for about a month and a half. We are having faith and hope that everything will go according to the Lord's will and that she will be baptized!

We also spent some time at the Volga having lessons last week. It is just so nice there. Also VICTORY DAY. Everyone just honks their horns and there is a huge parade and TONS OF FIREWORKS and people decorate their cars, and hang out of them as they drive holding huge soviet flags. I loved that day. Russians are the dang funniest.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I am all out of time... ahhh. Today we went to this play at the ballet theater. It was a play for kids, but it really was a fun story! It was about this princess, and she fell in love with this peasant, and ended up running away from home to be in this circus act with him, but then her dad, the king, found her, and made her stay at home always. She ended up throwing a masquerade, and then the peasant came with his animal friends all in disguise and it was just sooo great! They ended up together of course! It was so fun, I'll send you photos from the theater we took today.

I LOVE YOU ALL but i gotta jet. Pday just runs away from me every dang time.

I'll just share a quick testimony. I love this church and I know it's true, and I just know it is SO important to talk with everyone about the Gospel. It's just TRUE! The thought that helps me is "this too shall pass" so the times I feel intimidated i just think that and It makes it easier. I just love Christ and I am so grateful for His love and care. I know He loves me, and i know He loves you and is SOOOO PROUD OF YOU!!!! i love you allllll!!!

Happy happy week!

love Sissy Hayster