Dear EVERYONE!
This week was great! I will start off with...Monday. We had a family night with a lady named Guar and the branch president and his wife. Guar is the coolest. We learned a lot more about her--she has a really sad story, but she is super confident and you can tell she really just loves life. She is about 35 maybe and came to Krasnodar when she was 20--she had no where to live, so she lived on the streets for awhile, and has basically made a life for herself. She is super trendy and she runs a vintage shop sort of, and is kind of like a personal stylist. She fell in love with an African member of the church here, but he left, promised he would come back, and never did--she waited for him for like 15 years. And she found out a few years ago he got married a long time ago and has a family. And she has just been waiting. Guar is also a rapper. Her stage name is Big G and she actually prefers we call her that...it is REALLY hard to do with a straight face!!! I wanted her to call me Big Meggie and feature me in one of her raps but I figured on a mission that probably wasn't the best. She did give us some cool vintage jewelry and stuff--she is so generous, even though she really doesn't have very much. She is a really good example of not caring what others think. I really love Guar. I mean Big G.
We did a lot of work with members this week--we went out and saw one of my favorites, the babushka Raisa who is getting ready to go to the temple. We went out with a family from the branch, and we get there, and see a huge goat, standing right in front of her door....I felt like I was in a petting zoo. But then the member, Lidia, who was with us was like, "this is dangerous! It can get you with horns." So we just closed the gate then a bunch of other goats started coming out. We called Raisa but I was scared because she is blind, and wouldn't be able to see the goat coming if it was mean! So I tried to warn her over the phone but the word goat in Russian isn't one that is just fresh in my memory..anyways. It all worked out! And the lesson with Raisa was GREAT. We even sang Onward Christian Soliders for her--her very most favorite.
We had a kind of interesting first lesson with a girl this week--she was a referral from the elders, and her name is Marisabel. This is what she told us--that she was from Spain, that she lived like a princess there, that she met with missionaries, but then her parents died, she got in a car crash in Moscow, then she moved here and is in a wheelchair and has to beg for money for her and her brother. I honestly have no idea if this is completely, partially or not at all true...she kind of seemed to want our money. She also wouldn't speak Spanish to me........I was so excited to try to remember something! When we found out she was from Spain, I was like, "Oh, Hola!!!!" But she just stared at me and kept speaking Russian...awkward. Anyways, we are figuring that situation out.
The CUTEST thing happened at church yesterday!! So, on splits with Sister Wheeler we were working with a member and the member did not want to work on the street with us. She was like, "you can walk me to the bus stop, and I'll work with you until then." The bus stop is literally a 30 second walk away. So, I just prayed and said, "we need a lesson! In 30 seconds!" And then I remembered a potential investigator Valya who lived in that 30 seconds between the church and the bus stop. So we knocked, and for the first time (we had already tried probably 8 other times) she agreed to come see the church and have a lesson!!! Then she came on Sunday with her granddaughter Olesya! Oleysa is the cutest--she is 6, and she is always jumping all over us and hugging us and calling us her sisters. So right before church started I was playing prelude and she was up sitting on the front row watching. Then she starts dancing around, and like pretending to play the violin and stuff. Then she stands up and is dancing--and her dance is like crossing herself. EVERYONE is watching and Sis Houseman and I were dying!! Because after she dances around for awhile, a babushka
who is a little bit crazy starts dancing with her!!! And so this 70+ year old woman and Olesya are just dancing around to hymns at the front of the chapel. It was like slow mo ballet. As soon as babushka's daughter came back, she made her sit down, but it was the very most interesting start to sacrament meeting I've ever seen.
So a disappointment this week...our investigator Katya disappeared. She answers her phone then hangs up, she moved out of where she was living, and no one knows anything. It's really sad.
We went to see a recent convert family, Stanislav and Lada this week! They are really cool. They just had a baby so we went and visited, and got them getting ready to go to the temple in a year. We also saw GOOOD progress with a family that was struggling this week, and they are doing much better! We have a meeting set up with the mom this week with us and her visiting teacher. It is GREAT!
So, that was this week basically!
I have quite the abundance of quotes coming my way. Not that I mind! But it makes it hard to choose!!!!!
"Despite how difficult circumstances may look at the moment, those who have faith and move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out.”
―Gordon B. Hinckley
"It's curious that we spend more time congratulating those who have succeeded than encouraging those who have not."
-Neil deGrasse Tyson
"Keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain." Tom Hiddleton
"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." Michelangelo
"God's extraordinary work is most often done by ordinary people in the seeming obscurity of a home and family." Neal A. Maxwell
"If, in the end, you have not chosen Jesus Christ it will not matter what you have chosen." Neal A. Maxwell
Make it a good day!
Love
Sister McGhie
PS: I am accompanying the primary in their program, so we've been getting to go to Primary third hour. Here are some of my favorite quotes from prayers from the kids in Primary.
"Help no one to run away. Help me not to run away." (He ran away)
"Help my babushka be safe from gypsies."
Okay there were more but I can't remember them and I'm out of time!! Love you all!
And just for fun, because she sent them, a couple photos of two elders she is serving with.
This week was great! I will start off with...Monday. We had a family night with a lady named Guar and the branch president and his wife. Guar is the coolest. We learned a lot more about her--she has a really sad story, but she is super confident and you can tell she really just loves life. She is about 35 maybe and came to Krasnodar when she was 20--she had no where to live, so she lived on the streets for awhile, and has basically made a life for herself. She is super trendy and she runs a vintage shop sort of, and is kind of like a personal stylist. She fell in love with an African member of the church here, but he left, promised he would come back, and never did--she waited for him for like 15 years. And she found out a few years ago he got married a long time ago and has a family. And she has just been waiting. Guar is also a rapper. Her stage name is Big G and she actually prefers we call her that...it is REALLY hard to do with a straight face!!! I wanted her to call me Big Meggie and feature me in one of her raps but I figured on a mission that probably wasn't the best. She did give us some cool vintage jewelry and stuff--she is so generous, even though she really doesn't have very much. She is a really good example of not caring what others think. I really love Guar. I mean Big G.
We did a lot of work with members this week--we went out and saw one of my favorites, the babushka Raisa who is getting ready to go to the temple. We went out with a family from the branch, and we get there, and see a huge goat, standing right in front of her door....I felt like I was in a petting zoo. But then the member, Lidia, who was with us was like, "this is dangerous! It can get you with horns." So we just closed the gate then a bunch of other goats started coming out. We called Raisa but I was scared because she is blind, and wouldn't be able to see the goat coming if it was mean! So I tried to warn her over the phone but the word goat in Russian isn't one that is just fresh in my memory..anyways. It all worked out! And the lesson with Raisa was GREAT. We even sang Onward Christian Soliders for her--her very most favorite.
We had a kind of interesting first lesson with a girl this week--she was a referral from the elders, and her name is Marisabel. This is what she told us--that she was from Spain, that she lived like a princess there, that she met with missionaries, but then her parents died, she got in a car crash in Moscow, then she moved here and is in a wheelchair and has to beg for money for her and her brother. I honestly have no idea if this is completely, partially or not at all true...she kind of seemed to want our money. She also wouldn't speak Spanish to me........I was so excited to try to remember something! When we found out she was from Spain, I was like, "Oh, Hola!!!!" But she just stared at me and kept speaking Russian...awkward. Anyways, we are figuring that situation out.
The CUTEST thing happened at church yesterday!! So, on splits with Sister Wheeler we were working with a member and the member did not want to work on the street with us. She was like, "you can walk me to the bus stop, and I'll work with you until then." The bus stop is literally a 30 second walk away. So, I just prayed and said, "we need a lesson! In 30 seconds!" And then I remembered a potential investigator Valya who lived in that 30 seconds between the church and the bus stop. So we knocked, and for the first time (we had already tried probably 8 other times) she agreed to come see the church and have a lesson!!! Then she came on Sunday with her granddaughter Olesya! Oleysa is the cutest--she is 6, and she is always jumping all over us and hugging us and calling us her sisters. So right before church started I was playing prelude and she was up sitting on the front row watching. Then she starts dancing around, and like pretending to play the violin and stuff. Then she stands up and is dancing--and her dance is like crossing herself. EVERYONE is watching and Sis Houseman and I were dying!! Because after she dances around for awhile, a babushka
 |
| The babushka who danced |
So a disappointment this week...our investigator Katya disappeared. She answers her phone then hangs up, she moved out of where she was living, and no one knows anything. It's really sad.
We went to see a recent convert family, Stanislav and Lada this week! They are really cool. They just had a baby so we went and visited, and got them getting ready to go to the temple in a year. We also saw GOOOD progress with a family that was struggling this week, and they are doing much better! We have a meeting set up with the mom this week with us and her visiting teacher. It is GREAT!
So, that was this week basically!
I have quite the abundance of quotes coming my way. Not that I mind! But it makes it hard to choose!!!!!
"Despite how difficult circumstances may look at the moment, those who have faith and move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out.”
―Gordon B. Hinckley
"It's curious that we spend more time congratulating those who have succeeded than encouraging those who have not."
-Neil deGrasse Tyson
"Keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain." Tom Hiddleton
"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." Michelangelo
"God's extraordinary work is most often done by ordinary people in the seeming obscurity of a home and family." Neal A. Maxwell
"If, in the end, you have not chosen Jesus Christ it will not matter what you have chosen." Neal A. Maxwell
Make it a good day!
Love
Sister McGhie
 |
| On valentine's day |
"Help no one to run away. Help me not to run away." (He ran away)
"Help my babushka be safe from gypsies."
Okay there were more but I can't remember them and I'm out of time!! Love you all!
 |
| And...on valentine's day upside down :) |
And just for fun, because she sent them, a couple photos of two elders she is serving with.
 |
| Elders Dally and King |
 |
| Elders Dally and King |
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