Cold Showers

Hi everyone, It seems like it was a short week and there's not too much to tell. Norm was gone for three days and I got to stay home alone. (It was nice) Sometimes 24/7 gets a little hard, even though we love each other and being here and doing what we're doing, it's still nice to be by myself once in a while. Norm went with our Branch Presidency and a few other men to Moscow for a Priesthood Leadership training. He said it was very good even though it was all in Russian and he didn't always get things translated to him. He went a day early and did some training with the Pattersons in Moscow and went over plans for the wheelchair project. He enjoyed a night out to dinner with them and then crashed on their couch. The next day, after his meetings, he rode the night train home with the rest of the men from our branch. They got home Sunday morning just in time to take a COLD shower and get right to early morning Church meetings. Long weekend for him. Now about the COLD shower thing. We are starting our second week of no hot water here. Every year they turn off the hot water for 2 - 4 weeks supposedly to clean the water pipes (or some weird reason). So everyday it takes me about 45 minutes to boil enough water to get about 3 inches in the tub. Then I take an extra bucket of hot water to pour over me when I'm through. It takes forever! Norm just showers in the freezing cold water and it takes him about 30 seconds. The water comes out of the tap like cold, melted snow temperature, water. It's great for drinking but a bit chilly for showering. What a lovely experience it is. Then they tell us that sometime this summer they will shut off ALL the water for about 3 days so we will need to use bottled water during that time. Can't wait! We might have to skip the bathing all together that week. Hum . . . sounds great! While Norm was gone I caught up on some reading, cleaning, and spent one whole day working on the grounds at the Church. You know me - I was in heaven. We have started the 40-day fast program in our Branch here. Already in the last week we have seen several miracles. All of a sudden we have three baptism dates scheduled for this month, we haven't had three baptisms in the last three months, so naturally we are all very excited. There's no question in my mind that when the Branch as a whole is united in prayer and fasting that many great miracles can and will take place. It's very exciting to see our missionaries respond to it and to see the snowball affect of their enthusiasm spread throughout the Branch. Our old Branch president is the new mission leader, and our new Branch president is wonderful so we are a happy little group. With as much rejection as our missionaries get each day, this is a real boost to their moral. It's very exciting. Keep us in your prayers. This next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Elder Nelson will be here to organize the first Stake in Russia. It will be in Moscow, they finally have enough members there to make a stake, so our missionaries don't get to attend the meetings. But still, it is a very historical and exciting event for Russia. It will be the beginning of many great things to happen here and it's exciting to see the Church growing here. Everywhere we go we hear the words "missionary" and "Mormons" in Russian as we walk past them. People at least know who the missionaries are. That's good news. Don't forget that good missionaries teach the gospel everyday and sometimes they even use words. (That was one of my favorite quotes from this last General Conference). Have a great week everyone. We love you all so much. Love, Mom, Michele or Sister Frost

Moscow

Dear Family and Friends,

The biggest part of our week was a three day trip to Moscow and back. We took the over-night train with our missionaries for a Mission Conference and then took an extra day and did some site-seeing around the city. I love Moscow! There is so much history and so many incredible things to see. We had all of our missionaries with us, so the ones who had been places before took us around and we had our own personal tour guides.

First of all, our Mission Conference was really great. President and Sister Woolley both spoke to us which is always a wonderful treat. They are both wonderful speakers and fill everyone up with a renewed energy to work harder. We love the Woolleys! Then President and Sister Switzer, the Area President of the Europe East Area, spoke to us. They were also wonderful and so warm and friendly. Sometimes you think of the "President" as this untouchable person who you can't relate to very well, but they are both just normal (extremely knowledgeable and spiritual) people. They each took time to talk to EVERYONE there, listened as we talked about ourselves, and quickly became good friends with each one of us. He is from Ogden, so he and Norm had lots of stories to share of people they both know. Then when it came time for President Switzer to "teach" us, we were excited to listen. It was a wonderful day.

We ended our Conference about 4:00 and quickly went over to Red Square to get into as many places as we could before they closed at 6:00. We went through St. Basil's Cathedral which is amazingly beautiful. According to legend, Ivan the Terrible had the cathedral's architect blinded to ensure that he would never again create anything to rival it's beauty. We watched the Changing of the Guards at the "Eternal Flame" and then ran to go through the Kremlin and got there just as they were closing the gates. Too bad! We'll have to see that next time. We walked around Red Square for about another hour, shopped in the little outdoor shops and then went to the famous "Arbatskaya" street and had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. By the time we got to the street it had started to rain and we got drenched in a downpour, but we still had a great time. The street is for pedestrians only and is full of shops selling souvenirs of the Soviet era. The buildings and the shops were beautiful and fascinating. The street reminded me a little of walking the streets in Park City. Very much an artist community. We stayed overnight and spent the whole next day touring more of the city.

We started back at Red Square and waited in line to walk through and see Lenin's body. Creepy! He died a little over 60 years ago and they have preserved his body in a glass case for people to see him and pay their respects. The rest of the Russian Leaders are buried at the foot of the Kremlin Wall, including the famous Russian Astronaut (the first man in space) Yuriy Gagarin, and an American named John Reed who wrote "Ten Days that Shook the World" a story of the October Revolution. Very interesting!

We spent a few hours in one of the biggest Renuks (outdoor markets) in Moscow where the missionaries bought many $3.00 ties. They had a hey day. I even bought a few to send to Eddie, along with a few Russian t-shirts, and a Matroiska (stacking) Doll and a few other souviners. After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon going through "Victory Park", an amazing museum of dioramas, models, maps and weapons from World War II. It was the most beautifully done war museum that we have been through so far. One of our missionaries, Elder Lenkersdorfer, is a history expert and he gave us information and answered every question we could think of about the war. So nice to have our own personal tour guide. We finished our day with another over-night train ride and got home on Saturday morning. It's so fun to spend time with our missionaries and be able to see the sites of this beautiful country we are in. It also helps us to understand more about the people and appreciate the hardships that they have had to endure. I can't believe how much suffering and loss of life there was during that time of war. Going through that museum really opened up my eyes.

Norm, being the good Humanitarian Missionary that he is, spent one morning going to the wheelchair factory to begin the process of having them make wheelchairs for us to distribute. Dima and the Pattersons were with him and I stayed with our missionaries seeing the sights. I felt a little bad about not going with him, but someone had to stay with the missionaries and since I like shopping more than he does, I got to do it! He joined us for the War Museum and was happy to see that. We are excited about the wheelchair project getting started here. That's a big important accomplishment for this area. Another major milestone for Russia is the formation of the First Stake in Russia. Elder Nelson will be here on June 4th and we get to go to Moscow and witness a very exciting moment in history. I'll tell you all about it in a few weeks.

Before I end, I just wanted to congratulate Eddie on his 1 year anniversary of serving in Ghana. The time is going by so fast. I love hearing about all that he is doing and seeing his growth and love for the Gospel and the people in Ghana. What an incredible blessing for him and our family. We love you Ed!

I hope you all have a wonderful week. I am posting pictures of our trip to Moscow on facebook, so you can look that up if you want. I love you all!

Love,
Sister Frost, Michele, and MOM

Off to Moscow

Dear family and friends, Another great week but not much to tell. We did have transfers last week so after losing two very special missionaries, we gained to new ones who will also be great missionaries. One is Sister Kusseling who is from Paris, France. She speaks French, English, and has a great french accent with her new language of Russian. 'Course I wouldn't know because I don't speak either, but that's what the other missionaries say. She's been in Russia for three months and Voronezh is her third city. She is a very cute girl with a great attitude and fits in perfect with our group of missionaries here. The other new one is Elder Eliason who just arrived from the MTC in Provo. He is from Laramie, Wyoming and comes from a family of nine children. When we get new ones who come from Provo it reminds us of how difficult our first few weeks here were. Exhaustion and culture shock take a few days for some and a few months for others. He was so tired when he got here that he kept falling asleep on our couch during dinner and feels a little lost with not understanding the language. But after almost a week, he is hard at it with his companion and has a big smile on his face every day. I'm constantly amazed at how quickly they adjust compared to the length of time it took me to adjust. Oh, to be young again! But we are all doing great and having a great time now. Tonight we are all headed to Moscow on the night train for a Mission Conference. Night trains aren't so bad, especially with a bunch of rowdy kids playing cards and eating junk food. The time goes by quickly. We got permission to stay an extra day and use our p-day for sight-seeing around Moscow the day after our conference so we're all excited for some fun. I love visiting all of the historical sites here. The more we learn about the culture of Russia, the more we love and understand these Russian people. The hardships and difficulties they have endured are not so different from the struggles our Pioneers suffered. Trials come in many different forms but the outcomes are much the same. Strength comes from the hardships we endure and we see that strength here. They may not embrace the Gospel yet, but they are fiercely loyal to their families, their country and their God. I love to see that. Now all we have to do is find those who are ready to receive the Gospel and keep the momentum going. Pray for the missionaries here that are working so hard and I know that the Lord will put us all in the same path. I heard from Eddie this week, as most of you did, and my heart goes out to him with his struggles of this new transfer. I've never been in a "white-wash" situation, but I can't imagine that it would be easy. Usually when a mission president replaces all of the old missionaries with a whole group of new ones it's because there is very little growth in the area and there needs to be a shake-up. I don't know if that's the case there, but having none of the missionaries know each other or any of the people in the area could be quite challenging. Even still, Ed's tough! He is the baby of the family and still needs to vent his frustrations to get a little sympathy, but he has the greatest attitude and he'll be just fine. I told him that this would probably end up to be his favorite area. We all know that the harder we work for something the more we appreciate it. This will be a great challenge for him but I'm sure will bring the most growth. He's grown up a lot in the past year (the 22nd is his hump day) and this will just keep pushing him. It makes me quite proud of him, as a Senior Missionary and as a mother. I have a much better understanding of what he's going through because of what we are experiencing. I'm living his pain and his joy, his successes and his failures, and our testimonies are growing together. I couldn't ask for anything better. Now, lest you think otherwise, I love ALL my kids! We feel all the joys and the sorrows of your every day lives, like any parent does, and we know that our Father in Heaven is mindful of all of us as we do our best to be keep His commandments and be the kind of people that He can be proud of. He has truly blessed our family since we have been gone, which is one of the greatest blessings of being a missionary. This experience has helped me realize how blessed I am to have the husband and children that I have. I am one very lucky lady. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Happy Hump Day to Eddie! Love, Mom/Michele

Missionaries and Mothers

Dear family and friends, We have just spent two of our best weeks here on our mission. I haven't written for two weeks because I haven't yet figured out a way to describe my feelings. We have hit the point in our mission where we have stopped wondering what we were thinking by coming here, to loving every minute of being here. Yesterday was "Victory Day" here, which is like our 4th of July, where the Russians celebrate their win over Germany in World War II. We spent the day with our missionaries watching parades of soldiers dressed in their old uniforms covered in medals, new soldiers just learning how to march, and a ton of very proud people who obviously love their country. The streets were full of people who were having fun buying food, candy, and souvenirs from street vendors, watching people perform on the streets, and enjoying a very beautiful day with their families. After several hours of walking the streets and buying a few souvenirs ourselves, we came back to our house for lunch and our District Meeting. Then at 10:00 we all went to watch a great fireworks display out over the river. Now here comes the part that I'm struggling with. I don't know how to explain how touched I was by the spirit of patriotism and pride that I felt during the whole day, but especially during the fireworks. With every burst of beautiful color there were shouts of joy and chants of "Russia, Russia, Russia". Without losing any of my loyalties or patriotism for my own country, I was overcome with a feeling of love for these people and their pride for their home land. In spite of the hardships and pain these people have had, and still do have, they Love their country. We couldn't help but get caught up in the joy of the celebration with our own clapping and cheering, and seeing our missionaries happier than I've ever seen them. It was a wonderful day! It reminded me that we are ALL our Heavenly Father's children with no one being better than another. Now having said that, I know the real happiness for our missionaries was the lingering effect of being able to talk with their families the day before. Sunday was Mother's Day, which typically isn't a mother's favorite day of the year, but this one was one of my best. It started out with my bouncing into Church wishing everyone here a Happy Mother's Day to quickly learn that it's NOT mother's day here in Russia. "Women's Day" was celebrated here a month ago. I don't know why that never registered in my brain, but I'm learning all kinds of things being here. Fortunately, they love me enough that they wished ME a happy mother's day without making me feel like too big of an idiot. As the day progressed, each or our missionaries came over to use our computer to skype home and talk to their mothers and families. We had the chance to meet their families and say hello and then listen to some of their conversations. And then we listened as our missionaries bore their testimonies to their families, some with tears streaming down their faces, of how much they love this Gospel and the opportunity of sharing it with these people here in Russia who they have come to love so much. We all shared those tears as our own feelings of love and gratitude came to the surface. Then I got to talk with Eddie and some of our other kids on a conference call. Unfortunately, Ed doesn't have access to skype so we couldn't see him while we were talking, but it was so fun to listen to his voice. He has a great big African accent that kept us all laughing for an hour. The greatest joy for me as the mom was listening to all the kids talk and interact with each other. We all miss each other and the feelings of love were very strong over the phone lines. Norm and I get to talk to our kids fairly often but the kids don't talk with each other as much now that we're gone, so those are very precious phone calls for us. And of course hearing Eddie's voice and his love and enthusiasm for his missionary work was the perfect ending to one of my favorite mother's day. Let there be no doubt that a mission COMPLETELY changes a person's life and in the case with us and with Eddie it is 100% for the better. We have seen incredible growth in maturity, knowledge, and testimony from Eddie and have experienced life-changing feelings and love for missionary work in our own lives. Everyone one of us are missionaries and it has very little to do with how knowledgeable we are about the Gospel and the scriptures and everything to do with how we love our neighbors. Get to know your neighbors, help your neighbors, love your neighbors - not just the ones who live next door, but wherever you are. Love the people who are around you. That is what being a missionary is. We represent Jesus Christ by loving and serving the people we come in contact with in our lives and then the Gospel speaks for itself. We can teach about Gospel principles but they fall on deaf ears until a loving and trusting relationship has been formed. And then we continue to love those people even when they don't want to hear about this amazing message we have to share with them. Our missionaries here get rejected time after time in their contacting but instead of getting discouraged they put more effort into loving and serving whoever will let them. We have encouraged them to keep calling those who have gone inactive or investigators who have changed their minds to just ask how they are and see if there is anything they need without any talk about the Gospel or commitments. It is amazing what a difference it has made in the reception they get from these people. Just showing love and concern is the biggest part of being a successful missionary. Numbers are not what's important, people are. We are losing two of our missionaries today. After the pain of the last transfer I thought I would get tougher and learn to love these kids a little less so it wouldn't hurt so much when they leave, but - not to be! I love them like they are my own children and I'm so proud of how hard they work. We watched them contact people on the bus one day and couldn't believe the rejections they got time after time. I couldn't do it! I was feeling sick for them and when we got off the bus I mentioned how awful I thought that was. They looked at me like I was crazy and said it didn't bother them at all. They love it! They love to watch people stare at their name tags trying to read them and then telling them that they are missionaries and asking if they want to hear about it? They say they don't get discouraged with the constant "No's" because the one "Yes" that they get makes it all worth it. They have amazing resiliency and spirits and I love being with them. I have lots more to say, but I think I'll wait for another letter. Just remember that we love you all so much. Our lives are so blessed by the wonderful people all around us. Thank you for you love, letters and prayers. Have a wonderful week! Love, The Frosts