Best Week Yet...

Dear family and friends,

We just had our best week yet! Other than a bombing at the Domodedovo Airport, our week was wonderful. We arrived at the "D" airport on Monday at 1:30, we were picked up by the Mission President's driver and taken to President and Sister Woolley's home. We met with several other Senior Couples to begin our two day training. We went out to dinner with all the couples and then went to see Swan Lake, the ballet, at an absolutely gorgeous theater. The ballet was incredibly beautiful, even Norm loved it. Loved the dancing (loved the tights). Just before the ballet started we got a message that a bomb had exploded at the "D" airport at 4:30. 35 people were killed and 100's injured. We were quite shocked to hear that news, especially because that is the airport we flew into just a few hours earlier. We had no way to reach our families to let them know we were alright until later that night when we got home. President and Sister Woolley, however, spent a good portion of the ballet on their phones talking with many people. I was able to send out an email that night to reassure everyone that we were alright and that the Lord is most definitely watching over us. We had actually changed our flight from the 5:00 flight to the 1:30 flight just a few days before. Good for us for listening to the promptings.

Tuesday we spent the entire day in our couples conference which was extremely informative, spiritual, motivating, and emotional. As I'm sure many of you have guessed by now, I have had a very hard time adjusting this first month. This has been extremely hard for me and I've struggled with many things. But the love, support, and caring that we shared at the training reaffirmed my testimony of this gospel and reason why we are here. Don't get me wrong, I DO love being a missionary, it's everything else that I'm struggling with. I hate not being able to communicate and the language is coming very slow for me. I'm starting to be less afraid to venture out and we don't get lost near as much any more. I love, love, love our missionaries and this Branch. These people are so loving and welcoming. We have had dinner at someone's home about every other night, it's wonderful. And I love the food - it's different, but so good. I still can't do much of ANYTHING on the computer, except type, which doesn't help at all with our humanitarian work, but I'm just not going to worry about it any more. Either Norm can learn it, or it will just not get done. What are they going to do, fire us? I hate the computer, and I doubt that will ever change, but what little humanitarian work we have done has been very fun. The day after the couples training, we went to the Service Center for more humanitarian training. We met the new Welfare Manager, who will be over us, and learned a lot more about that part of our responsibilities. Covering the entire country of Russia is so overwhelming in my mind, but thank heavens we can do most of that coverage on the computer! hahaha We did call one of our couples who are serving in Vladivostock, and didn't stop to think about the time difference. They are seven time zones ahead of us. We are on the far West side of Russia and they are on the very farthest East and South side. Look it up on your map. SEVEN time zones! That's 2 1/2 times bigger than the US. Hopefully we won't have to fly there very often - it's about a 10 hour flight. But they are busy, busy doing lot's of humanitarian projects there. Fortunately, that couple will be here most of the time that we are here, so that area is well represented. This is a changing and learning year for humanitarian services in Russia, so there will be lots of new things taking place. We're excited to learn about all these changes and do all that we can to continue to serve the poor and the needy here and increase the presence of the Church. I will keep you posted on the things we do.

We flew back home on Wednesday from the "D" airport with no problems or delays. Life was back to normal quickly after Monday's attack. Just a few tarps covering the damaged area and everything else the same as usual. We were glad to get back home without any problems.

The rest of the week was filled with lots of teaching. Norm and I have been splitting up with the missionaries and going with them to their lessons. Some are in English, some in Russian, but they are all very fun. We love being a part of the teaching and bearing our testimonies. We have had three commitments to baptism just this week, which is a lot for here. Hopefully they will follow through. It's great to watch these missionaries struggle with disappointments and then watch them rejoice with their successes. It is very, very hard work, but eternally rewarding. I'm so grateful for the missionaries all over the world who are sacrificing so much of themselves to spread this Gospel. I have a whole new appreciation for how hard this life is, but how great the blessings are. That doesn't mean there aren't problems, it just means that the blessings are more intense. It really is an amazing thing. I hope each of you will make the decision to be a missionary somehow, sometime in your life. The lessons learned are invaluable in preparing for eternal life.

I love you, my family and friends! You are my life! I'm grateful you are part of it and so thankful for your love and support. We wouldn't be here without you. May you be blessed with safety and peace through this next week.

Love,
Elder and Sister Frost

Moscow airport terror attack kills 35, wounds 180 - ksl.com

From Mom:

Dear family and friends,

I'm sure that by now most of you have heard about the bombing at the Domodedovo Airport in Moscow. First of all, we are fine. We did land at that airport this morning for a Couples Training here in Moscow, but we had already arrived and were gone before the bomb went off. Remember that I just said in my last letter that this week had to get better. Oops! Never say things can't get worse, because they can ALWAYS get worse. Anyway, we were at the ballet, Swan Lake, which was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, when we heard about the bombing. It made me have a sick feeling in my stomach but we know the Lord is watching over us. We were actually scheduled for the afternoon flight, but changed it at the last minute. Good for us for listening to our promptings.

Well, it's very late here, but I wanted to let you all know that we are fine before anyone starts to worry. I'm not sure how we're getting back home, but I will keep you all informed on the happenings here. We love you all! Thanks for your prayers, they're working.

Love,
Michele and Norm



Moscow airport terror attack kills 35, wounds 180 - ksl.com

By NATALIYA VASILYEVA and IVAN SEKRETAREV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) - A suicide bomber carrying a suitcase walked into Moscow's busiest airport and set off a huge explosion Monday, killing 35 people and wounding 180.

The international arrivals terminal at Domodedovo Airport was engulfed by smoke and splattered with body parts after the mid-afternoon terror attack sprayed shrapnel, screws and ball bearings at passengers and workers. Hundreds of people were in the loosely guarded area at the time.

President Dmitry Medvedev immediately ordered authorities to beef up security at Moscow's two other commercial airports and other key transport facilities. He also canceled plans to fly out Tuesday to Davos, Switzerland, where he was going to promote Russia as a safe, profitable investment haven to world business leaders.

"Attempts were being made to identify" the suspected male suicide bomber, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said, adding that the attacker appeared to have been wearing the explosives in a belt.

The Interfax news agency said the head of the suspected bomber had been found.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, which occurred at 4:32 p.m. (1332GMT). But Chechen militants have claimed responsibility for previous terror attacks in Moscow, including a double suicide bombing on the subway in March 2010 that killed 40 people and wounded more than 100.

The latest attack on the Russian capital also called into question Russia's ability to safely host major international sports events like the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2018 World Cup. It was the second time in seven years that terrorists had hit the Domodedovo Airport: In 2004, suicide bombers penetrated the lax security there, killing 90 people as they blew up two planes.

Large-scale battles in Chechnya ended years ago, following two devastating wars between Russia and the republic's separatists, but Islamic militants have continued to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks. Most of the attacks have been in Chechnya and other predominantly Muslim provinces in the southern Caucasus region, but some have targeted Moscow, including its subways, buses and trains.

In Washington, President Barack Obama condemned the "outrageous act of terrorism" and offered any assistance Russia might want. Those comments were echoed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who spoke with Medvedev and assured him of his complete support.

The Emergencies Ministry said 35 people were killed, 86 hospitalized with injuries and 94 were given medical treatment. Two Britons were among the dead, Markin said.

Amateur video posted on YouTube showed a pile of bodies on the airport floor, and other bodies scattered around. Luggage lay strewn across the ground and several small fires burned. A dazed man in a suit pushed a baggage cart through the carnage.

Another man in blood-soaked clothes said he was just a few yards (meters) away from the explosion and saw a man who may have been the suicide bomber.

"I saw the suitcase, the suitcase was on fire," said Artyom Zhilenkov, a 35-year-old driver. "So either the man blew up something, or something went off on the man's body, or the suitcase went off."

Zhilenkov said he thought he himself had been injured but doctors said he was just coated in other victims' blood.

"The guy standing next to me was torn to pieces," he said.

Car rental agent Alexei Spiridonov, 25, was at his desk when the blast struck about 100 yards (meters) away.

"The explosion was so strong that it threw me against the wall," he said outside the airport. "People were panicking, rushing out of the hall or looking for their relatives. There were people just lying in blood."

Yelena Zatserkovnaya, a Lufthansa official, said airport workers used baggage trolleys to cart out the injured.

"There was lots of blood, severed legs flying around," she said.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered the health minister to make sure all victims received immediate attention, instructing her to send her deputies to clinics to check on treatment.

Russians still look to the tough-talking Putin as the leader they trust to guarantee their security, and Monday's attack was likely to strengthen the position of the security forces that form part of his base.

Sergei Lavochkin, who was waiting for a friend to arrive from Cuba, said passengers sprinted out of the terminal after the blast and emergency teams carried out those unable to walk.

"I heard a loud bang, saw plastic panels falling down from the ceiling and heard people screaming. Then people started running away," Lavochkin told Rossiya 24 television.

Aviation security experts have been warning since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that the crowds at many airports present tempting targets to suicide bombers. Arrivals halls are usually open to anyone.

"Airports are by their nature crowded places, with meeters, greeters, commercial businesses, and so on," said Philip Baum, the editor of Aviation Security International, a London-based publication dedicated to security issues.

Domodedovo was briefly closed to air traffic immediately after the blast, but soon reopened. Hours later, passengers arriving for their flights lined up outside waiting to pass through metal detectors that had been installed at all entrances.

Built in 1964, Domodedovo is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) southeast of Moscow and is the largest of the three major airports that serve the Russian capital, handling over 22 million people last year. It is generally regarded as Moscow's most up-to-date airport, but its security procedures have been called into question.

In 2004, two suicide bombers were able to board planes at Domodedovo by buying tickets illegally from airport personnel. The female bombers blew themselves up in mid-air, killing all 90 people aboard the two flights.

Some 77 airlines now offer regular flights to Domodedovo, serving 241 international and national routes, according to airport's website.

The airport insists that security is one of its top priorities, claiming on its website that its "cutting-edge operations technology guarantees the safety of passengers' and guests' lives."

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "deeply disturbed" by the terror attack.

"I strongly condemn it," he said on Twitter. "NATO and Russia stand together in the fight against terrorism."

It was not clear late Monday if Medvedev would still give the opening address Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter was in St. Petersburg over the weekend to formally award Russia the 2018 World Cup. Prior to the signing, Blatter told Putin that he was certain FIFA had made the right choice.

Week of Opposition

Dear family and friends,

This has been a week filled with obstacles and opposition. Last Friday our Zone Leader talked about setting goals and working on inactives and investigators. He told us that there would be opposition in the work but to have faith and keep working hard. I don't think any of us were prepared for this week of events.

Last Sunday night I sent off my email and went to bed about 10:30. At 11:30 we got a call from one of our missionaries telling us that they had just got beaten up by some drunk guys. They were on their way to our apartment when they called and a few minutes later were knocking on our door. We opened our door to three missionaries who were cold, scared, angry, bloody and beat up. Elder Guynn, our Zone leader, was hurt the worse and his face was bloody, bruised and swollen. He was covered in snow, his hands were freezing and when he got inside our door he collapsed to the floor. He didn't pass out but I think he felt so much relief at being alive and safe that he just collapsed. The three missionaries had just taken another missionary to the train station for his visa trip to Moscow, and they were on their way home. They came up on a group of drunk guys and tried to walk around them and ignore them, but the guys attacked them and wanted money. Even though they tried to give them their money, they were still beat up. Elder Guynn was thrown up against a tree and had his head slammed into the tree, then thrown to the ground and hit and kicked in the face and head. He fought back and tried to defend himself, but he was up against a guy who was very drunk and angry. Elder Erickson was wrestled to the ground and hit a few times in the face, but his injuries weren't quite as serious. Elder Nalemov was not hit or hurt. He just kind of stood there frozen during the fight and couldn't do anything. He was pretty traumatized by the whole thing. My nursing skills kicked in and I did all I could to help the boys with their cuts and bruises with ice packs and ibuprofin. I took pictures of their faces, checked for any other injuries, wrapped them in blankets, layed them on the couches and listened to their stories of what happened. Elder Guynn's bag was taken with his apartment keys, wallet, passport, registration, money, camera, books, and EVERYTHING! He was traumatized by the injuries, but sick about losing his passport and registration. That usually means you have to leave Russia and go someplace else until you can get a new passport. We called their landlord right then and he immediately went to their apartment and changed the locks on their doors. Then we called President Woolley and asked for his advice. He told us to call the police, which we did, and a half hour later the police were at our door. They questioned the boys and ended up taking them to the police station to file a report. President Woolley wanted the boys to press charges so that people won't think they can beat up the missionaries any time they want because they're not going to do anything about it. So, along with the Branch Mission Leader in our Branch who is Russian but served a mission in California and speaks perfect English, they went to the police station. They left here at about 1:00 in the morning and didn't get back until 7:00 in the morning. They slept for a few hours and then went back to the police station at 10:00 in the morning and were there until 7:00 that night. Then they made them go back again the third day for about 5 more hours. The whole time they were there they said they felt like they were the criminals. They were asked the same questions over and over again for hours. They repeated their stories day after day. They sat in a small room, didn't get food or water and we're miserable. Even Misha, the Mission Leader, was angry with the way they were handling everything. After three days and about 30 hours of interrogation, they were all sick of it. Misha has his own electric company and took three days off of work to be with the boys, but on the fourth day, when they wanted them to go back again, he said no. Wednesday, Elder Guynn left here to go to Moscow so they could figure out what to do about his visa problem. They sent another missionary here to take his place until they determined if he's coming back or not. He was afraid to leave our apartment, they stayed with us they whole time, to go to his own apartment to get his things. He had to have some big guy in our Branch go with them in case anything happened. He was able to talk with his parents on the phone and on skype to reassure them that he was alright. Elder Erickson also talked with his parents. Elder Erickson has rebounded quickly and has been eager to get back to work. Elder Guynn has had a much more difficult time. Just before he left for Moscow, we talked with all the missionaries and reminded them of Elder Guynn's lesson about doing the Lords work and overcoming the opposition that will be there. We asked them to write in their journals about this experience and how they could use the things that happened and the lessons learned for the good. What were the positive things that came from this experience and how can those things be used to move forward? What a hard lesson to learn. Elder Guynn has been in Moscow now for five days, is recovering well, has a new passport and is returning here tomorrow to continue his work. He is a great missionary and I hope that he will be able to overcome his fears and anger and not let those things keep him from succeeding as a missionary for his last 6 months.

This is much longer than I thought so I won't go into details about the rest of the week other than to say that we closed a humanitarian project this week but we don't know how to do the paper work on the computer and have been VERY frustrated about that (Imagine me being frustrated with the computer). The Sister Missionaries lost all three of their investigators this week for different reasons and they are discouraged. Then on Friday night after English club I played volleyball with the group and either cracked or seriously sprained my wrist. I keep forgetting that I'm not 20 anymore. Yesterday I found a hard splint to put on my wrist which helps a ton with the pain and tomorrow we go to Moscow for training so I'll have the doctor check it out.

So. . .that was our week. I know things like this happen to every missionary, so I'm hoping that our turn is over and it will be upward from here. That's probably wishful thinking too, but we're working on the positive side of things.

It's always fun to talk to our loved ones on skype and read all your emails and facebook entries. Thanks everyone. We love you and miss you. Have a great week, we're planning on it.

Love,
Elder and Sister Frost

Letter From Russia...

Dear Family and Friends,

We've had another busy week filled with all kinds of new adventures. Monday is our P-day and as a district we all went to lunch at Barack Omama's. It's a restaurant with American food. We had fajitas, hamburgers, fries, pasta, pork chops, salads and coke with ice. What a treat! The Russian food isn't bad here, but it's nice to have American food once in a while. After lunch we did some site seeing through the center of town. We started at Lenin Square, which has a big statue of Lenin, a huge Christmas Tree and a big outdoor ice skating rink. It's all very beautiful in the snow and still everything is all decorated for Christmas. Then we went to a gorgeous Orthodox Church (I don't know the name - everything is written in Russian, which I can't read yet). We took pictures of the outside, but inside no pictures are allowed. The men have to uncover their heads and the women have to cover theirs. The pictures, walls, ceilings, floors and architecture are exquisite. I'm just amazed at how beautiful the buildings are here. I love looking at everything. Even the old run-down buildings you can tell were once very ornate and beautiful. We then had our first FHE at the Branch with the new members and investigators. We had a lesson and played games that were very fun - even in Russian. We understood enough to sort of keep up. Everyone is so friendly and kind and patient with our not understanding anything.

Tuesday was our first experience teaching a discussion with an investigator. Norm and I both helped teach and bear our testimonies (in English). Luckily our investigator also speaks English. It was a great experience for me. Of course Norm has taught missionary discussions before, but it was a first for me and actually I was quite nervous. But it all turned out great and our investigator - Natalya - loves us. So we couldn't do much wrong. That night one of the Branch members, Marina and her daughter Natasha, came to our house and taught us how to make borscht. It's a vegetable soup that has grated beets added to it so it looks like red soup. We were a little hesitant at first, but when we ate it, it was delicious. We loved it! I had heard lots of rumors about beet soup but this one was really good. Later that night while I was checking facebook, we had our first skype session what Shaleen and the kids. Wow! How fun is that?! It is so fun to see everyone while you're talking to them. Love this skype thing!

Wednesday we got to skype with Lanae for her birthday. To our surprise, Kaia, Kylin, Pete, Kira and Kaleigh were also there. It felt like my birthday present instead of hers. As much as I struggle with computers, I love this aspect of it. Happy Birthday to my Lanae!

Thursday we spent the day with our interpreter, Irina. She's back from her vacation and ready for work. She ordered our computer lines with wifi - Yeah! We get that installed tomorrow and then we will have two computers to work from instead of just one. (It's hard to share). Then we planned our strategy for our projects (sounds serious). We have one project that the Lowrys left for us to close, which will be on Tuesday. I'll let you know how that goes next week. We've never done one so thankfully we have Irina to show us how. We have another project that she is going to help us try to start and then we have a wheel-chair project that we need to get going on in Moscow. So it looks like the humanitarian work is going to start now. Most of that work is done on the computer and that scares me because I don't know how to do that part, but eventually we'll learn it.

Friday we had our District meeting and we're going to start a Branch 40-day fast. The missionaries are really excited about this to help with referrals and also have the members help to reactivate inactive members. Our Voronezh Branch has the most members, the largest attendance of any Branch in Russia, and the most baptisms for 2010. We want to increase the membership here and keep things progressing. This is a wonderful Branch and the members are great at volunteering to go out with missionaries and helping to fellowship the new members. We are learning so much and love watching this young Branch flourish. We had another lesson with our investigator, Natalya, and she committed to be baptized. It was amazing. After putting off the missionaries for about 6 months, she all of a sudden said, "OK, I want to be baptized." It was hard to keep myself from "whooping" when she said that. But there were lots of hugs to go around. English Club that night was a lot of fun. We played "catch phrase" where they have to describe a word, without saying the word, and everyone has to guess the word. That was pretty hard with some of the words, but it was a great learning game for them. They really enjoyed it and asked to do it again. (Success!) After English Club we have a Gospel English reading class. Everyone takes turn reading from the Gospel Essentials book in English and then I get to explain what they are reading. Wow! I didn't realize I had to be a Sunday School teacher too. I just hope that I'm not teaching false doctrine. I'm not really an expert at teaching Gospel Principles so I'm going to enlist some help from the other missionaries next time. While I'm doing that, they are all in the gym playing volleyball. I think I'd rather do that. Oh well, I'm here to learn, right? I made my homemade salsa and guacamole for everyone to try that night. The Russian people don't really like spicy food so we didn't know if it would go over very well, but - THEY LOVED IT! I had to start writing down the recipe for everyone. Another new experience - Mexican Food at English club in Russia! What next?

We're getting so much better at getting ourselves around. Yesterday we went back to Lenin square, all by ourselves, and walked around the town for a few hours looking at the shops and buildings and outdoor markets (renuks) in the freezing and the snow. I figure if the people can work out in this kind of weather, we can walk around in it. We got ourselves back without getting lost and had a fun day.

I think I am the designated piano player for
Sacrament and Choir because I've done it every week since we've been here. But I don't mind, it's easy and fun (and I don't have to sing in Russian). The Branch Presidents wife invited us over for dinner next week, which will be great except that they don't speak English. The other missionaries will be with us, so it will be fine and very fun to get to know them. They are a young couple with no kids. He is a great Branch President and she is very cute and very well liked in the Branch. It's feeling more and more like home. Well, that's not really true, but we are adjusting better each week.

We do love you all. We love hearing from you and thank you always for your love and support. Have a wonderful week.

Love,
Elder and Sister Frost

Dear family and friends,

Hello from Voronezh, Russia! We've been here now for three weeks and it feels like it's been a year. I don't know if the time is flying by or dragging. We have done so much and been so busy and it's only been three weeks. It's amazing.

This week started out with the Mission Christmas party in Moscow. It was a wonderful time for us and I sent a letter to all the missionary moms whose sons are serving in the Russia Moscow West Mission telling them about the party and how much we loved meeting their sons. I've added that letter as an attachment to this email, you're welcome to read it if you'd like.

We flew there on Sunday night, spent the night with our new friends the Hatch's, who we met at the MTC. Dr. Hatch is the new Dr. for the Europe East area. They are very fun people, live in a beautiful apartment in Moscow and went with us to the Mission Party. We spent all day at the party and then flew home that night. The one hour flight is so nice compared to the 11 hour drive and 9 hour train ride.

Tuesday and Wednesday we shopped and decorated our new apartment. We are feeling very comfortable here in our tiny little home and are quite happy. The biggest adjustment for me has been getting used to the quiet. I don't know why that's so hard, but I don't like too much quiet. I need noise, or music, or someone talking to not feel lonely. Luckily we downloaded a few songs on our computer before we left. We've listened to the same songs a hundred times, but it's still pretty music. Our Russian tutor has been on vacation for the last two weeks, so we haven't been able to get our phone hooked up or add wifi to our computer. She does all that for us in her name, so when she gets back this week, we'll get that done and be able to download more things. I'm sure all you computer people can tell that I don't know what I'm talking about, but that's my understanding of why nothing works here yet. And. . .we've been too busy for me to try and learn how to put pictures on again, so you'll have to be patient with me for a while. Sorry! But I will tell you that the buildings in this country are amazing! The Stalin era was a time of billions of dollars and man power to build absolutely gorgeous buildings (while all the people suffered and starved). The architecture and designs are so beautiful and ornate. I love it! And everything that people say about the subways in Moscow are true. They are beautiful. They are filled with ornate architecture, statues, carvings, pictures and beautiful walkways. There's a lot of them and it's easy to get mixed up and lost, but there's a lot of beautiful things to look at while you're lost.

Wednesday the new Sister Missionaries arrived and we welcomed them here and helped them get settled. Sister Oakes is from Salt Lake and has been here for 18 months. She asked to extend for another transfer (6 weeks) so she is training the new missionary, Sister Owens, who just arrived from the MTC. Sister Owens is from St. George. Both girls are darling, excited and love missionary work. It's fun to see both extremes and see the commitment from both of them. Their first day they went out knocking on doors and singing Christmas Carols to people. Neither of them knew their way around but just went out and did it. I'm amazed.

On Thursday we spent the day with two of the Elders and one of their investigators (Max) at a Winter Camp that Max works at. The kids here are on vacation from school, so these kids were spending a week at this camp to practice their English. Max comes to our English Club on Friday nights, so he asked us if we would come and talk to the kids about life in America. It reminded me of an EFY or a youth conference. They lived in a dorm, had activities planned all day every day, ate in the dining hall and looked like they were having a great time. We talked about our "big"
family and they wanted to know why so many Americans have big families and how we raise them and afford them. We showed them our family pictures and talked about some of our family traditions and said we couldn't afford them, but our family is the most important thing to us and we wouldn't trade our children for a better job, house or car (some days). They were all amazed and thought it was pretty neat.

Friday night the Woolleys arrived for the weekend. Our apartment isn't big enough to house people, so they stayed in a hotel, but we spent the weekend together.

Saturday we had a Zone Conference with our 6 missionaries, 2 missionaries from another town about an hour and a half away (who are in our zone) us and the Woolleys. It was about three hours, I fixed lunch for all of us and then we had a choir practice with the Branch members. I play the piano for the choir, all of the missionaries make up most of the choir, and the Woolleys sang with us. We practiced for about an hour and then helped set up the Church for our Branch Christmas party. (Our second Branch Christmas Party). They had a nice Christmas program, dinner and lots of visiting. We had about 60 people there - which was a great turnout. It was nice to have President and Sister Woolley there. They love the Branch members and know almost all of them. The Woolleys really are wonderful people and we had a great weekend with them. They took us out to dinner Saturday night and told us more about our responsibilities here. They have big expectations for us here and there is a lot that they want us to do. They know we have humanitarian responsibilities too, so we'll have to figure out how to juggle both jobs. Should be interesting and a LOT of work.

Today is Sunday. The Woolley's came over for dinner after Church before their long 6-8 hour drive back to Moscow. I realized quickly that all the traveling and training and business that we have had the last three weeks is NOTHING compared to what they do every week. Their mission is so big that they are traveling almost every week. They don't have a home ward because they are somewhere different every weekend. I will take our job over theirs any time. Sundays are a nice relaxing day for us. Our young missionaries are out contacting and teaching all day, but we get to rest up for the coming week.

We're loving it here. I don't feel like we've really started yet, but we're getting into the groove a little more.

We love all of you and love hearing from you. Keep sending your emails and facebook updates. It's fun to see and hear about everything back home. Have a wonderful week, stay warm, and share the Gospel with someone you know.

Love,
Elder and Sister Frost

To all the moms of the Russia Moscow West Mission;

Elder Frost and I just spent the most wonderful day with your missionaries,
President and Sister Woolley and the other Senior Couples at our Mission
Christmas Party. What a treat! We have been here for just over two weeks
and feel like we have needed every minute just to recuperated from jet lag.
In two weeks we have made two trips back to Moscow, moved to a different
apartment, and been lost most of the time either on the metro in Moscow or
the buses here in Voronezh. But spending the day with all those
missionaries made it all worth it. What an amazing group of young people.
I don't know if I've ever been with a happier, healthier, creative,
talented, loving, or more beautiful group of kids. We have a son serving a
mission in Ghana, Africa right now and I can only hope that he is forming
life-long bonds with his missionary companions and enjoying his mission as
much as these missionaries are.

Everyone traveled by train to Moscow for an ALL-DAY party planned by Sister
Woolley (who is an incredibly beautiful, happy, loving Mission Mother). The
day started with muffins, hot chocolate, juice and a very roudy game of
dodge ball (with nerf balls) - girls included. Even some of the "old"
missionaries got involved in the game. There were card games, board games,
puzzles, and lots of visiting with old companions and friends. Then we had
a white elephant gift exchange with fun, crazy gifts. A few of the
missionaries had put together a video of all the missionaries with their
converts, or companions, or Branch members that everyone enjoyed watching
and cheering for each other. After that we had ham, potatoes, yams, green
beans, and rolls for dinner, along with a yummy hot wassail drink. (The
temperature dropped down to -10C today. Very COLD outside.)
After lunch we had a hilarious talent show. Some of the kids sang, played
the piano, violin, or guitar and performed very nice musical numbers. The
rest did crazy, hilarious skits. We laughed and laughed. They watched Toy
Story 3 and President and Sister Woolley each talked to the kids with very
encouraging loving words. We all truly love the Woolleys. I just want to
mention a few facts that President Woolley told the missionaries yesterday.
The mission has been very successful and he had great praise for the
missionaries.

There have been 17 mini-missionaries (local missionaries serving a few
months) in 2010
48 total missionaries (including sisters)
7 sisters today - 1 going home tomorrow
5 new sisters arriving tomorrow
3 more sisters arriving in February
2 more sisters arriving in March with one leaving
Total of 16 sisters by March - President Woolley loves the Sister
Missionaries and they have been very successful.
2009 - total of 47 baptisms
2010 - 47 baptisms just in December!
2010 - total of 72 baptisms
2011 - goal of 105 baptisms
The average Sacrament Meeting attendance in the mission has increased from
25 people to 500 people. That's an amazing increase.

President Woolley said they have two goals:
1. Prepare and teach for baptism
2. Strengthen and reactivate less active members
The statistics show how hard they have worked to achieve those goals. The
Lord is preparing these people to hear the Gospel. December was so
successful because people are asking the missionaries to teach them about
God. More than half of the missionaries raised their hands when they were
asked if they had a baptism as a result of someone approaching them. It is
very exciting. We love these Russian people. They are warm, friendly, love
to hug and smile. The language is a huge obstacle for us "older" people,
but these young missionaries are incredible with their language. It's a
miracle to watch how well they communicate and how much they are loved.
If you are like me, I don't ever hear much from my son, so I hope this will
"fill you up" with information about your sons and daughters. They are
well, happy, and loving each other and their missions. It is truly a
privilege to work and associate with them. You all have much to be proud of
and have done a wonderful job raising and teaching great young men and
women.

Happy New Year to all of you.
Love,
Sister Frost

News from Russia

We just got back from our mission Christmas party - it was all day in Moscow and was a blast but the reason I mention this is president Wooley spoke to us at the very end of the evening. His comments were similar to the quotes you have given us; First he said that the 14 baptisms we had in the Moscow west mission was the largest single month's baptisms we have ever had. The next question was really interesting; he asked by the raise of hands how many of the total year's baptisms (72) also a high, came from people asking to be taught? I wish you could have been there to see almost every Elder in the room raise their hands.

This work is so exciting. Its late.

Love, Norm

Still Christmas Here....

Dear family and friends, We just got home from church and have about an hour before we leave for the airport to go to Moscow. So this will be a short letter and probably no pictures - sorry! All week long I have heart burn just thinking about putting pictures on here. It's like taking a final exam every week. I have to re-teach myself how to do it and it takes hours. Hopefully someday I'll understand it all (but probably not). Anyway, this has been an eventful week. I'll start off with a little sad news first. One of the senior couples here who are serving as the country directors in Turkey, Elder Nicholaisen, died on Thursday of a heart attack. It was sudden and very sad. They had been serving here in Russia has a regular couple and just got changed to be the country directors three weeks ago. Another one of the senior couples will take his wife back home and then turn around and come back. It brings back sad days of when Ron died while serving his mission. It's always so surprising when missionaries die because I sometimes think that shouldn't happen when we are in full-time service to the Lord. But we all know that is not the case. We go when our time comes no matter where we are. Last Sunday we were supposed to fly to Moscow for some humanitarian training, but there was a severe ice storm that closed the Moscow airports so our plane couldn't leave Voronezh. We ended up taking the overnight train and got there Monday morning at 5:00. (I took some fun pictures of the train, I'll try to get those on sometime this week.) We were picked up by one of the humanitarian drivers and taken to our hotel. We got another hour of sleep before he came back to take us to the Service Center. There we had three days of training with Elder and Sister Holmes. Cheryl, they used to live in your ward (John and Frances Holmes) and know you, The Batemans, the McHenry's and everyone else in your neighborhood. That was a very fun coincidence. They we so much fun to be with and very helpful with the training. Unfortunately, they leave to go back home in six more weeks, so we won't have much time to work with them. The airports were still closed on Wednesday so we took the midnight train back home. It is COLD COLD COLD in Moscow. My face froze, head hurt and muscles hurt from being so tense. We have to concentrate so hard on not falling on the icy sidewalks that my body hurts when we finally get inside. It's about 10 degrees warmer in Voronezh, so we were glad to be back. We did ride the subway in Moscow and went to an incredibly beautiful Mall there. I haven't seen one like it in the US. It was amazing. The pictures I took don't do it justice, but it was all decorated for Christmas and so beautiful. We, of course, got lost on the subway AND the bus back to our hotel but we eventually made it and we're just fine. Thursday we got home at about 7:00 in the morning and had our District meeting here at 11:00 with lunch after. We didn't have much food in the house after being gone for 4 days, but we managed to scrounge up enough for everyone. We had two extra Elders here from Lipetsk. One of them, Elder Guinn, is going to replace Elder Tanner who is being transferred. Elder Tanner is the Elder who is from Carlsbad and has been here for 9 months. Needless to say, we are all going to miss him. He is the life of the party where ever he is. Very fun! The other three Elders are staying and the sister missionaries will be here next Tuesday. We'll have a full house with everyone here. Friday was New Years Eve. We went to the store to stock up on food thinking that we could just call our taxi driver to come pick us up. But nope! He was busy with other jobs so we walked back to the bus with our tons of heavy bags of groceries and then got on the wrong bus. We ended up getting totally lost and couldn't even tell the missionaries where we were and which bus to get on to take us back home. So we sat at a bus stop for over an hour, in the freezing cold, and waited for Zhenya, our taxi driver to find us and come pick us up. That was NOT fun! We had the Elders over for dinner, games and movies. Norm and I had a little harder time staying awake than the Elders did, but we stayed up to watch a pretty good fireworks show right in our playground at the apartment complex. That was a fun surprise. Saturday was New Years Day and the entire city was shut down. We had spent the last three days moving into the upstairs apartment and needed to get some things so we caught the bus for the store. We wondered why is was so easy to get on the bus - every store was closed. So we came back and finished working here at home. (It doesn't quite feel like home yet, but we're working on it). The missionaries had to stay in and clean their apartments so we had apartment checks (with treats) and then they came over again for dinner and more games. It's a lot of partying for one week, but there's really nothing else to do these next few weeks because Russia takes these two weeks off to celebrate New Years and their Christmas, which is next week. Today, Sunday, we started at 8:30 with meetings, had Church at 10:00 and then choir practice right after (I'm playing the piano for Choir). So we got home at 3:00, had a quick lunch and now we're off to Moscow. The mission president is having a mission Christmas party tomorrow and ALL the missionaries will take the train into Moscow from wherever they live for the day and then take the train back home tomorrow night. It's a long couple of days for some of the missionaries, but there is no place to put them up for the night so they have to come and go the same day. It's a two day train ride for some of the missionaries, that would be hard. For us it's a one hour plane ride - I hope the plane makes it this time. Well, that's it for our week. We're busy, exhausted, have sore legs from walking up and down the stairs a thousand times, and living in a little bit of chaos right now, but things are good. We really do love the people in our Branch. They are so friendly with lots of smiles and hugs. The people on the streets are not as friendly but we've made it a rule to smile and say hello (zdrastvuitye) to everyone anyway. This morning on the way to church we got three smiles and hello's back. That's a good day! We sure love you all and hope that this will be a wonderful New Year for everyone. We can feel your prayers for us and want you to know we're sending them right back your way. We are so grateful for this opportunity to serve and do our part in building the Church throughout the world. Thank you for all your love and support. Love, Elder and Sister Frost