Hi everyone,
We had a great week! The weather is the coldest it's been, everyday below zero, but everyone's out and about and life marches on. We, of course, love our P-days here. It's always a day of fun, games, food, laughs, good times, and ends with FHE at the Branch with the investigators and new members. Norm and I don't usually, in fact never, get up early on Monday mornings to go play ball with the missionaries, but today was an exception. They keep telling us that we're lazy and don't follow the rules (senior missionaries don't have to get up as early as the young ones do) so we took them up on their challenge and surprised them this morning. Unfortunate for us! We now both need lots of pain medicine and possibly a doctor. We played kick ball and on Norms first kick he sprinted to the other side of the gym and pulled his calf muscle. He sat out the rest of the game and limped around trying to stretch out his muscle. I didn't pull any muscles, but I found out I have a few more than I realized. It's been a long (long) time since I've run sprints up and down the court and I am feeling it. Oh the sacrifices we make to be good missionaries. At least we managed to save face (a little).
We had a fun FHE with a woman in our branch who is divorced, has two kids and her mother who lives with them. We took stories and games and had the Elders translate for us. Her kids are both deaf but have had cochlear implants and they both can hear now. They are darling and we love them. The mother, Yulia, speaks pretty good English, is the choir director in the branch and very talented. She works hard to support her family and is always happy and smiling. Both she and her mother are divorced so they had a lot of questions for us about divorce, temple sealings, and how all that works. The saddest part about being Mormon here is that there are so few members to choose a spouse from. There are so many single people in our branch who are between the ages of 25 and 45, and there's no one for them to marry. Sister Woolley is trying hard to coordinate a huge older single adult conference in St. Petersburg for people to meet each other. We're hoping it works, but that's a lot of travel and expense for most people.
We continue to be busy with teaching, Branch activities, and humanitarian work. We love our friends here more and more every day and the sunny beautiful days give us hope for spring. We love you all. Thank you always for your letters, notes and love. Have a wonderful week.
Love,
The Frosts
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
It's Cold Here!
| Hello everyone, We've had a crazy week and it ended with a bang. It's COLD here! The temperatures have been below 0 every day this week and we have a flu epidemic here in Voronezh. Schools have been closed for a few weeks, some businesses have closed and people are staying home trying to stay healthy. Well, it hit our little group of missionaries and we have had someone sick almost every day this week. When a missionary gets sick they spend the day here with us and their companion joins the others for the day. So we have had the sick bay and now we are sick. Some have had the vomiting and diarrhea thing others just very bad headaches and body aches. We have the bad headaches and I have slept for the last two days with no energy. BUT, we got better real fast tonight. At about 9:00 we got a call from the Sister missionaries who were outside our building being harassed by some drunk guys. I don't know what it is about our missionaries that attracts them on Sunday nights, but we might not let them out on Sunday nights anymore. No harm done, but very scary. We had transfers this week, said goodbye to our wonderful missionaries and got three new ones. We're excited to have them - one elder from Arizona, one from Nebraska and a sister missionary from St. Petersburg, Russia. After tonight I hope they are still excited to be here. Even with a few problems, we still have the best area in our mission. We love it here, love our Branch and love all the contacts and activities that we have going on. Our English club on Friday nights has become one of our favorite activities. Norm and I lead the advanced class (the people who speak the best English) and we have so much fun. The same people come each week and we have become good friends and laugh and joke. We're sort of getting a little reputation and our group is getting bigger and bigger each week. We try to come up with something fun and different each week and we are having a great time. After English club, we have a short class of Gospel English where we read out of the Gospel Essentials book so they can practice reading in English. That was hard for me at first because I was by myself trying to explain Gospel principles to Russians, in English. Our communication was very difficult. But now we have more people coming (like Norm) and more who can help interpret and it's so much fun. We get into some pretty good discussions which makes us realize how much these new converts still have to learn. We are loving it. Then, after those two classes we go play volleyball. I've turned into a real wimp because twice now I've sprained my wrist hitting the ball, so I guess that's out for me. It's still fun to watch and just be with everyone. We've been on several discussions this week with the missionaries. Some that are very successful with investigators who seem very interested and willing to learn. Others with people who are struggling with personal problems and just aren't ready to have a huge change in their lives right now. It's a hard thing for some people. If they accept the Gospel and agree to be baptized, many of them are shunned by their families and friends and are alone. The Branch members become their families, but that is a very big sacrifice for many people. So even though they agree with what they are learning, they're not quite ready for the hard stuff. At least we are planting the seeds and leaving them with lots to think about. Many stop seeing the missionaries for a while and then call and want to come back. Some don't, but that's part of the process. What an exciting and yet humbling experience to be involved in all off this. We play hard and have lots of fun, and then we work hard with great rewards. After that, we sleep hard because it's freezing and we're sick. But. . . it's all in a days work. We've been able to talk on the phone and skype with lots of family members this week, so that has improved the week immensely. Even with the sickness, we've had a great week and we love what we're doing. Keep the letters and posts coming. I'm getting better at posting pictures so look either on facebook or our blog for those. We love you! You're in our thoughts and prayers everyday. Take care of yourselves and your families and pray for the missionaries. Love, The Frosts |
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Minute to Win It: February Game Night
"Face the Cookie" - Elder Tanner, Sister Owens
"Up in the Air" Elder Nalimov, Sister Owens
"Beans in the Bottle" - Elder Mellor, Sister Oaks
"Johnny Apple-Stack" Elder Nalimov, Norm
"You want us to do what?"
"Potato Nut" - Norm , Elder Bybee
"Coin Drop" - Elder Tanner, Sister Owens
"Penny-Hose" - Elder Borodin, Elder Bybee
"Face the Cookie" - Elder Tanner, Sister Owens
"Up in the Air" Elder Nalimov, Sister Owens
"Beans in the Bottle" - Elder Mellor, Sister Oaks
Domino Stack -Elder Mellor
"Johnny Apple-Stack" Elder Nalimov, Norm
"You want us to do what?"
"Candy Sucker" - Elder Erickson, Elder Bybee"
"Candy Elevator" - Elder Tanner, Elder Borodin, Sister Owens, Sister Oaks
"Picture It" - Elder Bybee, Elder Mellor
"Noodle the Noodle" - Elder Erickson, Elder Bybee
"Domino Stack" - Norm
"Potato Nut" - Norm , Elder Bybee
Writing Letters to the missionaries being transferred.
Elder Tanner's Birthday Party!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Missionary Reflections
Dear Family and Friends,
Today has been a day without much to do, so I have had a lot of time to think about this missionary experience we are having. The statement that, “You’re mission is what you make of it!” is exactly right. Senior Couples really create their own schedules and we have very few rules. I think the thing that has been asked of us more than anything else is to set a good example for these young missionaries. So the best way for us to do that is to follow their rules. It’s hard to expect people to do things when we are not willing to do them ourselves. I think about raising our children – how can we expect them to make their beds if we don’t make ours? How can we expect them to clean up after themselves, if we leave our messes all over the house? How can we expect them to read their scriptures if they never see us read ours? How can we expect them to love and serve others if we don’t do that ourselves? How else do we teach except by example? When these missionaries stop by our apartment at 10:00 in the morning, we need to be dressed with our bed made and our dishes done, our apartment clean and at least look like we are busy doing something productive, because that is what we expect from them. It’s very easy to sleep in until 10:00 because there is nothing on the agenda for the day, and stay in our pajamas because we don’t want to put on our “church clothes” to just sit around the house, and play games on our computer because we’re bored, but that’s not what we want them to see. And that’s not why we came here. We could be doing that at home, not freezing to death, not missing our families and friends, and not struggling with transportation and language. We chose to be here, and we choose each day how our day will be. Yes it is hard! Yes we get homesick! Yes we have had to sacrifice! YES we are spoiled! But to tell you the truth, this really is exactly where we want to be right now.
We have been challenged by our Mission President to read in the New Testament the first four Gospels before March. The New Testament is all about Christ’s three year ministry on the earth. The reason we are here as missionaries is first and foremost to bring people to Christ. How can we do that if we don’t know Him? How can we know Him if we don’t read about Him in the scriptures? How will we recognize Him when He comes again if we don’t know Him? How can we return to live with Him if we haven’t accepted His gospel into our lives? How can we live mundane lives and say we have accepted His gospel in our lives? How can we hope to be saved if we’re not committed to keeping all of the commandments? These are simple questions, yet in my 55 years I lose focus at times and swing back and forth on the pendulum. I know I’m not perfect and am amazed that Christ was willing to atone for some of my horrible mistakes, but I would like to try to be a better person each day and somehow make up for some of those mistakes. Being here with so much time to think has helped me to put some of those things into perspective. Don’t worry though, I’m still the same old me. I promise I won’t come home weird! Just, hopefully, a little better.
I’ve also been thinking about how this has affected the relationship between Norm and me. Being together 24/7 has it’s advantages and disadvantages. It’s too quiet here and Norm chews too loud. I need the window wide open to combat my hot flashes. He wants to discipline the missionaries. I want to mother them. He wants to do all the talking. I do all the interrupting. He constantly asks me how to spell words. I ignore the “dumb” questions. He’s always in the bathroom when I need to use it. I always have the ipad when he wants to use it. His coat is on my coat hook. My shoes are in the middle of the floor. He can’t remember which bus to take. I don’t know how to count the money. So many little things that we never noticed before. But how we’ve grown closer together is what is so wonderful. I cook, he cleans. I wash the clothes, he hangs them to dry. I hog the ipad, he lets me. We pray more often and more sincerely together. We discuss the scriptures and Gospel topics more together. We’re learning how to use the computer together (sort of). Our love of service has grown immensely. We go on a walk together everyday (not that we have a choice about that one). We teach together, instead of on our own. We’re learning to have more patience with each other. We only buy what we need at the store. We’re learning to be frugal. We’ve learned we don’t have to have all that “stuff” to be happy. We LOVE missionary work. We love visiting project sites and meeting new people. We both grieve for the poverty and hardship of life here. We are united in our feelings and hopes and prayers for the people of Russia. We are learning to NOT JUDGE! We love our missionaries. We don’t care about the Jazz! We still cheer for BYU. We’ve stopped counting the days. We look forward to going places and getting out. We love it when our kids call us on the phone. We LOVE our KIDS! The cold isn’t THAT cold. We have fun, we laugh, we tease, and we play. This is a continual process and we’re learning more each day. We’re happy that we’re progressing instead of digressing. We’re on our way to being successful missionaries and loving each other through the process. We’re happy!
Well, this is kind of a weird letter, but it has all been on my mind lately. Hope it wasn’t to hard for you to get through. This week is transfer week and we are losing three of our missionaries. Maybe that’s why I’m so thoughtful. I’m going to miss them but I know I’ll learn to love the new ones quickly. I think of Eddie every time there is a transfer and wonder how quickly he adjusts to new places with new companions. He always sounds so positive in his letters and I think he has matured quite a bit in the last 9 months. I love being here and being able to imagine him in all the same kinds of situations that we are in here. It makes his mission come alive for me. If you haven’t seen his pictures lately, get on facebook and look at his profile pictures. It looks like he’s lost 100 pounds. He’s so skinny and looks so good and so happy. I love it!
Well family, I love you all! And friends – you are the best! We can feel your love all the way over here. Keep us informed on your doings, we love hearing from you. Have a great week and Happy Valentines Day to everyone!
Love,
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
PDay Bowling: Elder Borodin, Elder Frost, Sister Oaks, Sister Owens, Elder Mellor, Sister Frost, Elder Erickson, Elder Guynn
Making Lunch: Elder Borodin, Sister Owens, Elder Mellor, Sister Oaks
Family Home Evening at Pres. Zolotov's (Branch President)
President and Sister Tanya Zolotov
District Meeting - Making Fajitas!2 Months Out...
Hi everyone,
This has been a super busy week and if I told you about everything it would be a very long letter. Sometimes these letters aren't as interesting to you as they are to me so always remember to use the delete button whenever you want.
I posted some pictures on face book (yeah for me) if you want to take a look. My next project is to re-learn how to post pictures on my blog. We have been out for 2 months now. I still can't decide if it's going fast or slow, but it does seem like we have been here for a lot longer than that.
Our p-day last week was very fun. We had lunch here with everyone pitching in to help cook and then went bowling together and had a blast. Having a little down time does wonders for everyone. We always have FHE at the branch on Monday nights for new members and investigators. Those are fun nights.
Tuesday night we had lunch with President Zolotov and his wife. President Zolotov is the Branch President and he doesn't speak very much English but he is a great Branch President. His wife speaks English very well and they are wonderful to the missionaries. We are very fortunate to have great Priesthood leadership in our Branch. A lot of the Branches in our mission have the Elders doing most of the leadership. They are very small, like with only 15-20 members, and very few Priesthood leaders who actually show up every week. The Church is still very new in Russia and baptisms are slower than we would like, but we have great goals and our missionaries are working hard.
Wednesday and Thursday we spent with our interpreter visiting places for humanitarian projects. It is very difficult to describe the devastating conditions these places are in. One was a medical clinic that was very far out in the country (2 hour drive). The equipment they have to use is so old that most of it doesn't even work. Most of the medical treatment they give is just for comfort because they don't have what they need to help the people. It's very sad. The other place we visited was a school for disabled children. Most of the kids come from alcoholic parents so they have many developmental problems. The kids live there from age 5 to 18. Some are orphans who don't have a family, some get occasional visits from family members and some go home on the weekends and back again during the week. Their living conditions are adequate but very sparse. They have beds, but no drawers or closets to put anything in. Their bathrooms are horrible and there are no floor coverings, just cold cement. There are so many things that could be done for them, but we can only do one. It breaks your heart to see these things, but it is very gratifying to know we can help in some small way.
Thursday night we took the night train with the six missionaries from Voronezh. We all gathered in our tiny room for treats and games. They like to stay up until two in the morning on their overnight trips, but we ended our fun at midnight. The old folks aren't as much fun as the young ones, but we actually had a great time. The train got into Moscow at 8:00 in the morning, we took the Metro to downtown Moscow and then walked a few blocks to the Central Building for our zone conference. It was a great day, with lots of information and encouragement from President and Sister Woolley. We had a big lunch and while I was walking around the building at lunch time I ran into Elder Jacob Trotter. That's my cousin's son who is serving his mission in the Moscow Mission (not our mission). Both missions use this central building and it was so fun to actually meet him for the first time. He looks exactly like his mother, so there's no way I could have missed him. We didn't get to talk very long, but how fun to run into family all the way over on the other side of the world. Our conference ended at about 5:00 and we had four hours before we had to catch the train for home, so we walked over to Red Square. Oh My! If you have never seen it, there are really no words to describe it. At night with all the lights and a light snow falling, I don't think I've ever seen anything more beautiful. We took some pictures but they don't do it justice. Because it was late, all the buildings were closed, so we are going to plan another trip to tour the buildings. It is fascinating with so much history. I'm learning a lot! I hear that St. Petersburg is even better, so we have lots to look forward to.
We took the night train back home, didn't stay up quite as late playing games, and arrived in Voronezh at 8:00. Our baptism was at 10:00 so we hurried home to shower and change our clothes (the same ones we had been in for 3 days) and let the young missionaries set up for the baptism. Natalya was the first to get baptized. The Russian names here are sometimes hard to pronounce, so the prayer before her baptism had to be repeated several times before he said it right. Then everytime he put her down in the water, she panicked and popped up before going all the way under. After the 5th dunk she finally made it all the way in and we all clapped and cheered. Then when the second person, Dima, had his turn he was SLAM DUNKED so hard that water splashed all over everywhere and we all just laughed and cheered again. I've never clapped and cheered at a baptism before, but it was very appropriate and a great experience. It's thrilling to see these people accept the gospel and be so excited for their own baptisms. The Branch members are very supportive and are wonderful at working with the new converts. Without their help, most of the new converts would fall away quickly. They aren't fully converted when they are baptized and the missionaries continue teaching them for a long time after, but we rely heavily on the branch members to fellowship them and get them involved in the branch activities. So - for all of you back home, when you have a new convert, investigator, or an inactive member trying to be reactivated, GET INVOLVED! Do what ever you can to love them. If nothing else, at least say hi to them and shake their hands. The members can make all the difference in the world.
This is a great work and we are honored and privileged to be here. We are getting more involved in the work of both our responsibilities and doing our best to make a difference. We love these people here, and they love us. They are so grateful for anything we do and are very free with their praise, hugs and love. We continue to work on the language and learn a little more each day. I bet in two years we will be able to complete a whole sentence. We all still get a good laugh hearing Norm trying to pronounce the words, but he's giving it a good try. And, of course, everyone loves him.
We love you too! We love hearing from you and about you, so keep writing. Have a wonderful week!
Love,
The Frosts
This has been a super busy week and if I told you about everything it would be a very long letter. Sometimes these letters aren't as interesting to you as they are to me so always remember to use the delete button whenever you want.
I posted some pictures on face book (yeah for me) if you want to take a look. My next project is to re-learn how to post pictures on my blog. We have been out for 2 months now. I still can't decide if it's going fast or slow, but it does seem like we have been here for a lot longer than that.
Our p-day last week was very fun. We had lunch here with everyone pitching in to help cook and then went bowling together and had a blast. Having a little down time does wonders for everyone. We always have FHE at the branch on Monday nights for new members and investigators. Those are fun nights.
Tuesday night we had lunch with President Zolotov and his wife. President Zolotov is the Branch President and he doesn't speak very much English but he is a great Branch President. His wife speaks English very well and they are wonderful to the missionaries. We are very fortunate to have great Priesthood leadership in our Branch. A lot of the Branches in our mission have the Elders doing most of the leadership. They are very small, like with only 15-20 members, and very few Priesthood leaders who actually show up every week. The Church is still very new in Russia and baptisms are slower than we would like, but we have great goals and our missionaries are working hard.
Wednesday and Thursday we spent with our interpreter visiting places for humanitarian projects. It is very difficult to describe the devastating conditions these places are in. One was a medical clinic that was very far out in the country (2 hour drive). The equipment they have to use is so old that most of it doesn't even work. Most of the medical treatment they give is just for comfort because they don't have what they need to help the people. It's very sad. The other place we visited was a school for disabled children. Most of the kids come from alcoholic parents so they have many developmental problems. The kids live there from age 5 to 18. Some are orphans who don't have a family, some get occasional visits from family members and some go home on the weekends and back again during the week. Their living conditions are adequate but very sparse. They have beds, but no drawers or closets to put anything in. Their bathrooms are horrible and there are no floor coverings, just cold cement. There are so many things that could be done for them, but we can only do one. It breaks your heart to see these things, but it is very gratifying to know we can help in some small way.
Thursday night we took the night train with the six missionaries from Voronezh. We all gathered in our tiny room for treats and games. They like to stay up until two in the morning on their overnight trips, but we ended our fun at midnight. The old folks aren't as much fun as the young ones, but we actually had a great time. The train got into Moscow at 8:00 in the morning, we took the Metro to downtown Moscow and then walked a few blocks to the Central Building for our zone conference. It was a great day, with lots of information and encouragement from President and Sister Woolley. We had a big lunch and while I was walking around the building at lunch time I ran into Elder Jacob Trotter. That's my cousin's son who is serving his mission in the Moscow Mission (not our mission). Both missions use this central building and it was so fun to actually meet him for the first time. He looks exactly like his mother, so there's no way I could have missed him. We didn't get to talk very long, but how fun to run into family all the way over on the other side of the world. Our conference ended at about 5:00 and we had four hours before we had to catch the train for home, so we walked over to Red Square. Oh My! If you have never seen it, there are really no words to describe it. At night with all the lights and a light snow falling, I don't think I've ever seen anything more beautiful. We took some pictures but they don't do it justice. Because it was late, all the buildings were closed, so we are going to plan another trip to tour the buildings. It is fascinating with so much history. I'm learning a lot! I hear that St. Petersburg is even better, so we have lots to look forward to.
We took the night train back home, didn't stay up quite as late playing games, and arrived in Voronezh at 8:00. Our baptism was at 10:00 so we hurried home to shower and change our clothes (the same ones we had been in for 3 days) and let the young missionaries set up for the baptism. Natalya was the first to get baptized. The Russian names here are sometimes hard to pronounce, so the prayer before her baptism had to be repeated several times before he said it right. Then everytime he put her down in the water, she panicked and popped up before going all the way under. After the 5th dunk she finally made it all the way in and we all clapped and cheered. Then when the second person, Dima, had his turn he was SLAM DUNKED so hard that water splashed all over everywhere and we all just laughed and cheered again. I've never clapped and cheered at a baptism before, but it was very appropriate and a great experience. It's thrilling to see these people accept the gospel and be so excited for their own baptisms. The Branch members are very supportive and are wonderful at working with the new converts. Without their help, most of the new converts would fall away quickly. They aren't fully converted when they are baptized and the missionaries continue teaching them for a long time after, but we rely heavily on the branch members to fellowship them and get them involved in the branch activities. So - for all of you back home, when you have a new convert, investigator, or an inactive member trying to be reactivated, GET INVOLVED! Do what ever you can to love them. If nothing else, at least say hi to them and shake their hands. The members can make all the difference in the world.
This is a great work and we are honored and privileged to be here. We are getting more involved in the work of both our responsibilities and doing our best to make a difference. We love these people here, and they love us. They are so grateful for anything we do and are very free with their praise, hugs and love. We continue to work on the language and learn a little more each day. I bet in two years we will be able to complete a whole sentence. We all still get a good laugh hearing Norm trying to pronounce the words, but he's giving it a good try. And, of course, everyone loves him.
We love you too! We love hearing from you and about you, so keep writing. Have a wonderful week!
Love,
The Frosts
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