Letter #61 - Have you heard of SOCHI??!!??!!

Dear Everyone,

So, transfer calls came and it turns out the next stop is.....
SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI

SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI SOCHI!

If you can't tell I am a LITTLE BIT EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It gets better.  I'M GOING WITH SISTER HOUSEMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reyna and the Primary in Krasnodar

We can't even control our excitement!!!!!  There haven't been sisters there in years and years!!!!!!!!  We were actually supposed to be in a three and training a new sister together but her visa didn't come yet which is really sad because we were so excited to meet her and to be with a new sister and everything because it is so much fun but I know that things work out like they are supposed to but we are still SOOOOOOOOO INCREDIBLY EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dreams come TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  OLYMPIC CITY HERE WE COOOME!!!!!!!!!!!

I will really miss Krasnodar though!  This branch is the coolest ever.  Our last Sunday yesterday was sad because we had to say bye to everyone, but the good thing was they were all super excited for us and telling us how great Sochi is!  We have heard really good things.  The branch there is small, and we are so excited to meet everyone.  There are 4 other elders down there already, so we will have 6 missionaries in a branch that has like 17 or so active members from what we've heard..haha! Sounds a little overwheming but I think it is going to be GREAT!  The two sisters coming in our place here are really awesome!  Sister Chuzhovka and a new sister, Sister Cook are coming and are going to do such a good job! Plus we found them a pretty adorable apartment--we call it the Candyland apartment because the walls are pastels and there are pictures of jellybeans as decoration, and the curtains look like cotton candy.  It really is cute!!!!!!

Sisters Wheeler, Kirkby, Houseman and McGhie on their last Sunday
together in Krasnodar.  March 16, 2014

We still had a really great week here in Krasnodar this past week--there were a couple really cool people we met and taught!  Near the end of the week we had to take off our tags and we weren't allowed to talk to people on the street, so that was kind of hard.  But it worked out okay because we kept member work up, and we actually had to do a ton of normal life stuff this week which was WEIRD, like move out of an old apartment into a new one, do all the paperwork stuff for everything, find the new apartment, clean a bunch, pack a bunch, make an Ikea run...etc.  So the last few days have been really strange to be honest, because we had to get a ton of stuff like that done, PLUS we couldn't talk to people as we went from place to place!  But we are back in business now, so we're all good. :)

Earlier in the week we met a woman walking named Olga and we only talked to her for a second but it was so cool--when she asked what we wanted, the first thing we told her was we wanted to give her a book and talk about how it can help her. It's not usually the very first thing we would say. We had no clue she was a librarian! But it was exactly what she needed, and the next day we met with her and she had another librarian friend in on the lesson as well! The Spirit really will put in our minds what we need to say. And it's not usually going to be anything crazy--but it will be just what that specific person needs to hear.  When we went to the lesson, we thought it was just going to be meeting on the street because on the phone she made it sound like that...but then she comes out, and is like, follow me.  So we go around the back of the building, and there is a doorway like an apartment building, and we go into what looks like an apartment but it is actually the back room of the library! We were really confused at first, but it all worked out great.

Another AMAZING part of this week was when Ludmila and Valeri (her husband) got baptized!  Ludmila was the miracle story who walked allllll down the street where the church is looking for it, and as the sisters kept teaching her, we saw more and more miracles!!! It inspires me.  You can see such a change in her and her husband.  The gospel blesses families!

One of her favorites

Speaking of families...one we have been working with a lot made some good progress this week!  They are members, going through something so hard.  But the Muirs, the senior couple here, went with us to see them and things are improving bit by bit.  We taught a lesson on the Atonement, and we had our commitment ready but it just wasn't right.  I left the lesson wondering if we hadn't done all we could, since we didn't even extend their commitment.  But then, it was great--we heard later that day that the mom had actually ended up doing exactly what we had planned to commit her to do, without us even asking.  Anyways, I hope that wasn't too confusing.  It was really great!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your prayers!  I feel very safe.  So don't worry if you are worrying!  Things are just fine.:)  The work is moving forward, and I am SO excited to help it move forward in Sochi!

“In darkness God's truth shines most clear.”
― Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place

LOVE
Sister McGhie

PS: And another, just because I love it.

“This is what the past is for!  Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.”
― Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place

Picture this week is flashback to me and Sister Kirkby!!