Hello to all our family and friends! We hope you all had a wonderful Easter and have taken just a moment to recognize our Savior, His life, and His Atonement. Because of His great sacrifice, we all have a chance to live our imperfect lives with the hope that we can one day return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for that knowledge and for this opportunity to share it with our friends here in Russia. I have attached a letter with pictures telling about our Easter experiences here and wanted to share it with all of you. We love you and miss you and are so thankful for this world off technology that allows us to have instant contact with each of you. Enjoy! Love, Sister Frost April 25, 2011 Dear friends and family, HAPPY EASTER! It’s always hard to be away from home at holiday time, but we had a wonderful week experiencing the holiday with our “missionary” family and learning about some of the culture here in Russia. Easter is such a beautiful time both physically and spiritually. The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last few days hovering around the 60’s. Flowers are starting to pop up, grass is growing, the streets are getting cleaned, the sun is shining, the kids are all out playing, people are happy and life is good. Is it any wonder that we celebrate Christ’s Atonement at such a beautiful time of year? It is a constant reminder that no matter what we do wrong there is always a way for a new beginning. After the long, dark, cold, dreary winter months, everything changes to beautiful, sunny and bright, and new life begins. That’s what the Gospel does for us. It gives us hope for a brighter life filled with forgiveness and love. We had our annual Family Easter Party with our missionary family. We decorated cookies, colored eggs, played games and had a great time. We do work hard at our play! To all our kids, don’t worry, they will never replace you. But luckily they have let us adopt them and have agreed to play our little games while we’re here so we don’t have to sit at home and do nothing. We really do have a great time together and they tell me they love my experimental cooking for them. I’ve made things I never knew I could make, some good, some not so good, but they graciously eat everything I put in front of them. It’s a win, win situation for all of us. Our Mission President suggested that all of the missionaries experience a Midnight Mass at one of our local Cathedrals while we are here in Russia, so we gathered up all our missionaries and at 11:00 at night we headed to this beautiful Orthodox Church. It was very dark, with no lights on, when we got there, so the pictures were hard to see. When it was over all the lights had been turned on, representing Christ’s Resurrection, and the building is beautiful. We went inside and stood in a crowd of thousands of people. I wasn’t tall enough to see over them so I missed all of the ceremonial things that the priests were doing, and of course everything was done in “old Russian” so I didn’t understand anything that was being said, but it was very interesting to be in the midst of it all. A beautiful choir was singing up in the balcony, candles were lit everywhere, the paintings on the walls are beautiful, the architecture is beautiful, and I did a lot of “people watching” while we were there. As each new priest began his chant the people would cross themselves and then bow. I don’t think most people could understand the chants but they all crossed and bowed at the same time. I almost felt a little uncomfortable not doing it too, but it was interesting to watch. Priests and alter boys would walk up and down the stairs and in and out of doors. At one point all the Priests went outside and did a traditional walk around the church with as many people as could following behind. I don’t really understand it all, but it all represents Christ’s death and resurrection. The best part for me was knowing that at least there are this many people here in Voronezh who believe in Jesus Christ. Whatever their knowledge and understanding is, they believe in and love our Savior. That was a nice feeling. After standing in that huge crowd for an hour and a half we caught a taxi and went home. We got in bed about 2:00, which is a very late night for missionaries – especially the old ones. The next day at Church we had our Easter Program. The choir sang three numbers and even if they can’t compete with our home Ward Choirs, they did a great job. Our Branch has the largest choir of all the Branches in our mission and they are quite proud of that. We had an extended Sacrament Meeting and program and then all met together in the foyer for a lunch after. That was a big surprise to me and Norm. We had no idea that was going to happen, but our Elders told us they knew because it was announced in Sacrament Meeting the week before. So much for our “translators” telling us what’s going on. We usually sit through three hours of meetings without understanding any of the words, but the spirit is so strong that we don’t mind doing it. I listen as hard as I can and can usually pick out a few familiar words, but not enough to follow. We love the members of our Branch so much that it’s all worth it. As hard as it is to be away from home, we have found our place here and love so much being a part of this great work and representing our Savior, Jesus Christ. We love you, we pray for you, and we wish you all the best. Have a wonderful week. Love, The Frosts

Busy Week

Hello everyone, We've had a busy week, and hope yours was also good and productive. Mondays are our District Meeting days which means cooking a big meal for all the missionaries. This last Monday we had the two Elders from Lipestk and the AP's visiting, so we had 12 of us total. It's a little squishy in the living room, but so much fun to have everyone here - we LOVE it! Then for FHE it was our turn for the lesson, so we talked about identifying and defining who we are. We gave everyone a blank copy of a family crest and had them fill in each square with pictures or words to describe different areas of their lives - education, hobbies, talents, jobs, family, values, life experiences, and positive qualities. It was very fun to watch them struggle to list positive things about themselves and then to finish standing up in front of the group and telling us out loud about their lives. So many people think they don't have any talents, or haven't done anything exciting in their lives, or have anything good to say about themselves. This was a great activity for recognizing that we are all children of our Heavenly Father and we are the same but different, and we all are blessed with talents. I posted some pictures of our Crests on facebook last week. Tuesday we went shopping to restock our cupboards with food for the next meal coming up. It was also the day of Shaleen's surgery and, after a little scare, we are so thankful that she is home and recovering. Wednesday we had a cute couple in our Branch and a single sister who is a new convert come over for dinner. Only one of them spoke a little English, so we had one set of missionaries here to translate for us. The couple are in their late 30's and met a few years ago at the Temple in Helsinki and got married. They told us their story and it was so fun to get to know them better. I've already mentioned before, but our goal is to have two "families" over for dinner each week so we can get to know the members of our Branch better. It's so fun. I love these members here. Thursday was P-day so again we have all the missionaries here for a meal - either lunch or dinner, depending on what our plans are. The weather hasn't been very good this past week, a lot of rain, so we stayed in and played games. That's my favorite anyway. I do wish we could get more board games here (in English) so we could have a little variety, but it's still fun. It can get kinda wild and crazy and the rule is, the more cheating the better. You probably have to be here to appreciate that. That night Norm went with a couple of Elders to give a blessing to one of the ILP teachers. She has been having terrible headaches and after having an MRI they discovered a cyst and spinal fluid in her brain, so she ended up going home early. It's a little scary to have serious medical problems here, I'm glad she was able to get home. After the blessing, the guys had a Priesthood Activity at the Branch and I went with the Sisters to a members home for FHE with her two children and her mother. The Sisters gave a short lesson, everyone colored pictures about the lesson, we sang songs, told stories about our lives and traditions, drank some lemon tea, had some kind of coffee cake and then came home. It was a very full and very wonderful day! Friday we had a Humanitarian visit with the Medical Director of a Hospital with several outlying clinics. We have been doing some projects for a few of the clinics and he wanted to meet us and find out about our Humanitarian program. We had our translator and Olga, who works for the Government and finds all our contacts, with us. In the past the Government workers have not been very willing to work with the missionaries, so this was a big milestone in creating a positive impression and getting the Medical Director to be excited about what we are doing. We had to provide some legal papers and "stamped" documents proving that we are legal here and explaining what we do, but it all turned out well and we had a great meeting. It was a success! That night we had English Club, Gospel English and volleyball. I am now the cheerleader for the volleyball games and quite happy with that responsibility. Gospel English is my favorite with a small group of people who read outloud in English and then we discuss the Gospel topic that we just read about. Most of them are not members, so it's our chance (me and Norm) to do a little teaching of our own. It is so very fun. We can get into some pretty interesting discussions on a very non-threatening basis and many of them don't even realize they just had a "discussion" with the missionaries. Saturday we had a city wide service project. Every spring the people all over Russia have a city clean-up day and volunteers go out and clean up the trash, rake the dead leaves and tree limbs, till up gardens, sweep the sidewalks and streets, and make the cities look beautiful. Our Branch members went to a part of town (where we were assigned) and picked up the trash along the sides of the streets. We filled up about 40 bags of garbage, in the cold and rain, and had a blast! We had a pretty good turnout, especially when 10 of us are missionaries, and made a difference in our little spot of the city. Great project! Sunday was Palm Sunday and we had a bunch of new people show up at Church. I guess people feel the need to go to Church that day and just stop in at the closest one they can find. Our missionaries had a hey day talking with everyone. We had a two-hour choir practice after church to get ready for Easter Sunday next week. Makes for a long day but a good Sunday activity. Our weeks are full and our lives are blessed. We love our missionary work and are thankful that we can share these blessings with you. We love each one of you and thank you for keeping in touch with us and letting us know about your lives. There is a time and a season for everyone and it's great to hear about it all. Have a wonderful week. Love, The Frosts

Dear family and friends,

I'm a little late in getting this letter out. I loved this last Conference weekend, but I was exhausted after two days of feeding people ALL day each day. I went to bed last night and crashed.

Back to Conference. I know we are a week behind you (we're actually ahead) but we didn't watch until this week. They set up a TV in the Branch for the members to come and watch both days. It was broadcast in Russian there, so we had people here in our home who wanted to watch it in English. There were so many talks that I loved that it's hard to choose a favorite. Elder Holland is ALWAYS one of my favorites. I love how he explained the way conference works, the process of choosing a subject that needs to apply to every different kind of person throughout the world. No pressure there! And always, there is something that is directed personally to each one of us. I loved Elder Bednar's explanation of the two different types of revelations. The light switch and the rising sun. What a perfect way to explain something that we sometimes don't recognize. I loved all the talks and emphasis on Welfare and Service. "Be kind to the poor". "Service to the poor exhalts the receiver and humbles the giver". My humanitarian trips and this mission have proved that to me over and over. How grateful I am for my life in Utah when I see so much suffering in the rest of the world. And how grateful I am that I am able to do a little something to help ease the burdens of someone else. I loved the reminder that, "Impressions and promptings are revelations from God. Act on them immediately." I'm so guilty of getting a prompting and then talking myself out of doing it before I even try. I very often regret not doing something that I was prompted to do, but my goal is to listen more closely and "do what I'm told". I loved Elder Christofferson's talk about being willing to accept and seek correction. Especially when he said, "Parents can and must correct their chidren's misdeeds". I just want my kids to know that every time I get on your case about something, I'm just following
the counsel of our leaders. Although half of the time I couldn't keep up with him, I loved the talk by Elder Robbins - "To do and to be." I loved when he said we can check off our "to do" lists but we are never done with our "to be" lists. And I just smiled all through President Monson's talk. What a cute, sweet man, and what a wonderful prophet he is. I loved reading his autobiography and getting to know about his life. Elder Holland was so great in his praise of President Monson, who deserved every word of it. He has dedicated and sacrificed so much of his life to this great church and the gospel and is a wonderful example for us all to look up to. There were so many more great talks, so many that were just for me. There are so many ways that I need to improve that I couldn't take it all in, so I'm looking forward to reading them in the Ensign when it comes out.

I feel so blessed to be here, serving a mission in Russia, and hope that my efforts here can earn me another rung on the ladder as I try to serve, and love, and teach people about life, the Gospel, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. What an honor and a privilege this is.

I love you! I miss you! I'm happy! I'm grateful to be here! And I thank you - my family, my friends, and especially my Heavenly Father. Have a great week.

Love,
Sister Frost

Dear family and friends, It's finally starting to feel like the time is going too fast. I can't believe we're finished with March and starting into April. That means it's been just about four months since we left home. March was a great month for us, very busy with lots of adventures. But that's just what we do here - have one adventure after another. We are adjusting to this life and we love what we are doing. Even through the tough times we feel so blessed to be working with the missionaries and serving in our humanitarian role. I'm attaching our monthly activity report with a few pictures so you can read and see some of the things we did during the month. We have been reading and learning more and more about the gathering of the lost ten tribes and continue to be amazed that it's happening right here, right now! Last month we had a Patriarch come from Salt Lake to give blessings and again he confirmed that the majority of the people he gave blessings to come from one of the lost ten tribes. For me it's always been something that was going to happen some day, but now that day is here. We're in the middle of it and it's really happening. These new converts are the pioneers who are establishing the Church here in this country and slowly, but surely, it continues to grow. These are very exciting times here. I hope you ALL are preparing your selves to serve a mission one day. It is the most amazing experience and worth all the effort of preparation and sacrifice. The blessings continue to pour in for us and our family and we are so thankful. We love you and pray for each of you every day. Have a wonderful week! Love, The Frosts MONTHLY ACTIVITY REPORT – MARCH 2011 Elder and Sister Frost – Voronezh HUMANITARIAN ACTIVITIES Our mission continues to be one big adventure after another, the best part of which is meeting so many wonderful new people. Our first big adventure was going to Kyiv for our first Visa trip. We combined that trip with Employment Training and were blessed to meet the Pincocks from Armenia and the Burrs from Kharkov, Ukraine. We spent five days in Kyiv learning all about the Employment Program and quickly caught on to the enthusiasm and excitement that they have for this program. We invited all of the Senior Couples from the Kyiv Mission, along with President Steinagel, and spent an entire day training with them. We served them lunch, they served us dinner, and we had a wonderful time. During our stay we were so fortunate to attend the Temple there and meet President and Sister Galbraith. What a thrill it was to be in that beautiful Temple and listen to a session in both Russian and English. That was a first for us. We enjoyed seeing some of the historical sites of the city and then flew back to Moscow. Because this was our first Visa trip we weren’t exactly sure of the procedure of switching passports, so we used the wrong one at the wrong time and had a little “hold-up” but we got through. We then stayed in Moscow for another four days and were finally able to meet the Pattersons. What a fun couple they are and doing a great job with this new “very big” job. We trained with them and Dima and spent a day visiting two wheelchair manufacturing companies hoping to find one that will be able to produce enough wheelchairs that we can get some Major Initiative Wheelchair Projects going in Russia. Lucky for us that Dima was there to translate and get first-hand information because he took that back to Salt Lake with him for approval. It was a long but extremely informative and exciting 10 days. Just as a little side note: We thought we did everything we needed to get registered in Moscow but after we returned home to Voronezh we were told that we weren’t registered and had to go back to Kyiv and then re-enter the country again. So we just got home from another two day trip where an ATM machine ate up our personal credit card and we had to have our taxi driver pay our bills for us. We gave him Rubles in exchange for Grivens (not sure about that spelling). Then on our flight home from Moscow, Elder Frost got bumped up to business class so while he sat in the front row and had dinner served to him, I sat in the back and had water. Oh, adventure, adventure! ECCLESIASTICAL This month was full of comings and goings with our missionaries. First we had a darling Sister from our Branch who, after waiting for over 6 months, was finally able to get her Visa and leave to serve her mission at Temple Square. It is so wonderful to see the strength and dedication of these members in our Branch. We love them! We lost one of our missionaries who needed to return home, so his companion – our favorite District Leader- was snatched up by President Woolley to be an office Elder. Then we had transfers and lost another of our Elders but we’re getting three new Elders to join our two Sisters and we will learn to love them quickly and just as much as the others. It’s pretty emotional getting attached to these missionaries and then having them leave every 6 weeks. We love them and we miss them, but if they can do it, so can we! During our training in Moscow we were able to attend a Zone Conference with many of our Districts and President and Sister Woolley. Those are so inspirational and rejuvenating and get us all excited and ready to come back and jump right back into the work. Our Sisters had their first baptism this month and what a thrill to see the smiles on their faces as their investigator was baptized and confirmed. We love this missionary work. We love our missionaries, we love our Branch members and we love working with our new investigators. We are so thankful to be a part of the literal gathering of these lost 10 tribes.