притывег ргожщгыо лтекдяцт рекдлсит

Hello Everyone!!! Happy Holidays!!! Ok so that Russian doent mean anything or say anthing. The keyboard was just set to type in Russian when I started so I typed some letters. It takes me forever to find the right letters in russian though on the keyboard for me to actually type you something. My email time is precious and goes by fast so i wont, so thats all the Russian you get haha

Well everyone, yesterday was my 5 month mark as a missionary! Can you believe that, i cant! time goes by so fast. I am a week away from my 3rd transfer here in Russia, WOW!!! Only 13 months left, I dont feel like thats enough time!! Rhiana I remember you told me once that when you got to your mission right away you felt like you were running out i time, I agree with you I feel that way to. So I need to not waste anytime, besides it the Lords time not mine.

So I leave for Finland on friday morning!! I cant believe I am going to Finland haha Im on a mission but i get to do a little traveling across Europe while Im here haha pretty cool. I am so excited to go to the temple though!!! It will be great! I cant wait to tell you all about Finland.

OK so that gets me to my next point. I told you I would email you on the 19th to let you now forsure were i will be for christmas calls, well i will be in Finland on the 19th so that wont work. I will probably email you on the monday when i get back from findland. So make sure to check your email to find out my details. I CANT WAIT TO TALK TO YOU!!! ok so i can only recieve one call, but you could can do a conference call some how or just hold the phones together so Scott and Amy and Hollie and Cam can talk to me too. Also you can call me at 8am christmas morning for me, which would be the 7pm on christmas eve for you. So it will be christmas for me but not for you, but thats ok. Let me know if that works for everyone, if not email me so i can know by the time i email you about the exact detail on monday so we can figure it out. Or tell Danna to ask me! haha yeah having Danna around is way nice!!

Amy and Hollie HAPPY BIRTHDAY coming up!!!!! You guys are getting so old, haha jk I love ya!! I hope you both have great birthdays. Im sending you both a big hug through this email. I love you both so much!!

Mom and Dad totally awesome that you saw the Prophet!! WOW!!!! Im a little jealous :)

So one of our investigators named яна (Yeana is english) we had a miricle with this week. She has been very interested in the gospel and i feel she is getting close to baptism but for the last couple weeks she disapeared and we had to idea where she was. Her phone wasnt working so we couldnt call her and she didnt come to anything. So every sunday we have a fireside at one of the senior couples home and we had just left our apartment and i thought, lets call Yeana just to see if her phone works and invite her to the fireside. My comp got the phone and went to call her and said, pray that she will answer. SO i said a silent prayer as she called... we her phone still didnt work and so we didnt get ahold of her. So we headed to the Simmons home (senior couple). WE got to the simmons home early because we had 2 meetings the before the fireside. WEll our phone starts ringing and my comp answers it and guess who it is YEANA!!!!! She told us she had changed numbers and thats why her other phone wasnt working and she asked us if there was a fireside that night. We invited her to come and we had a meeting with her about the plan of salvation before the fireside too! I know that was a answer to my prayer. Prayer is real and it does work, but only on the Lords time. So her phone works now and she is able to come to all meetings and things and we are hoping she soon will except the invitation to baptism. I love being a missionary Well I love you all so much and I CANT WAIT TO TALK TO YOU!!!!!! Have a great week!

Love,Sister Gneiting

Hello Everyone!!

Happy Holidays!!!! I cant believe it is December! I have been a missionary here in Russia for almost 4 months, but when i think about it it feels longer than that. I feel like I have always been a missionary and that I have always been here in Russia, and I feel like I have known the people here forever.

Well everything is great, I am alive and well! :) Except it is really really cold here. The last few days it has been between -24 and -38 degrees C which is like -15 F and lower, so really cold. Mom you say it is cold in Idaho, how cold? But i bought a new coat that is really warm so that helps. So yes I bought my christmas presents with the money you gave me. I bought a coat and some gloves and socks!!!! ALL VERY WARM!!! Russian made winter stuff is very warm. The socks and gloves I bought from an old lady. All over the city usually around the metro (subway) or bus stops you can find old ladies selling gloves and socks and things they have made. So i am already for the winter.

So I just had an interview with Pres Trejo. We are having our Zone conference her in Novo tomorrow and at zone conference is when we have a once a transfer interview with president. It was a great interview. Its always great to having time to talk with president, he is awesome. He always helps me refocus on the reason I am here on a mission and what we talk about gets me pump up. He is so caring and loving and supportive of us. So tomorrow we have zone conference, which i am looking forward to. Two other zones are coming in from a couple other cities in the mission, so it will be fun having a lot of the missionaries in town.

So next week is transfer call already, i cant believe it is already that time again. Transfer calls is when president calls each one of us and tells us where and with whom we will be serving next transfer. Unfortunately I will be on my visa trip in Finland, so i am not sure when i will find out. I think they will have someone call us and tell us. So i will get back from my visa trip and then if i am transfered i will have like 2 days to pack and say goodbye to Novo and get on a train, plane, or bus and head somewhere. So we will see what happens.

So mom about the ring. We got permission from the Assistants to the President for you to send it to Elder Joseph Hansen who is at the mtc right now. I asked the office elders to email him and tell him what is going on. Just send it to the mtc addressed to him, i dont know his po box number, but you dont need it, just send it to the mtc and with his name and Novosibirsk mission and it will get to him. Also write on it the intructions to deliver it to the mission office in Novosibirsk when he get here. Tell him to give it to an Elder Byers who is a missionary who works in the office. I am having him give it to Elder Byers incase i am transfered out of Novo. If I am not here then it will be easier for Elder Byers to give it Ela. Ok hopefully that made sense. oh aqnd also Elder Hansen is leaving the MTC on Dec 21and so if you cant get it to him intime for him to have by like the 18th or 19th of december then dont send it to him. If you have any questions ask Ela or Danna to ask me.
Ok so next item of bussiness: CHRISTMAS CALLS!!!!!! i cant wait to talk to you!!!! I am copying the email i recieved from the office about xmas calls
with Christmas that means calls home. Because the transfer will be ending the 23rd of December, the process is going to be a little different. What we will do is have our parents be calling us on our home phone. So your parents will have to call like this…

1) -011- In order to dial out of the USA.

2) -7- Russia’s country code

3) -city area code- a four digit number (except in Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk)

4) -your home phone number- - a 6 digit number (expect in Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk)

So they will dial <<011-7-(10>>

Tell your parents your number and set up a time for a call, but let them know that there is going to be a transfer on Dec. 23, so it is possible you will be in a different area. Tell them that, if transferred, you will be given time on Saturday 19th to write home and inform them of your new number and set up a new time. All parents must check their e-mail on Saturday the 19th (or at least before Christmas) to find out about changes. Let them know!!

Ok so that is what will happen. I will let you know on the 19th where i will be. Cant wait!!!

OK so life is great. I am over my cold, but for a few days i was really pretty sick. I had a fever for a fews days that stunk. It was just a flu but i am better now!! We are having a christmas concert this friday and we are singing at it. We (all the missionaries in Novo) and some young adults from Novo are in a choir and we are singing 4 song, a couple in russian and then also in english. It is also an open house for the church. We hope to have a lot of nonmembers there and after the concert we will show them around the building while telling them about our church and the different organizations of the church. So we will be looking for new investigators there. its will be good.
Well I love you all and I am looking forward to talking to you. Have a wonderful day and week. Talk to you soon

Love always,
Sister Gneiting

Ps you asked about the culture here. Well i only have a couple mins left on the internet, but some stuff: everyone LOVES tea, so everywhere i go the give me teas (ofcourse we can only drink tea thats not against the WOW) all the members give us tea when we go to their houses, I started out not liking me but i beginning to like it. Russian sandwiches are only made with one piece of bread and a piece of meat and cheese, i like them. Um everyone smokes here which can be annoying. OK sorry i have to go but i will tell you more next week!!

Love ya love ya

Hello!!!!

Well it sound like you had a great thanksgiving from your emails and for the pictures. Everyone looks extremely happy!! GOOD!! Oh i love you all so much, and miss you tons. Mom and dad happy anniversary yesterday, 33 years wow that must mean I'm getting old!! haha actually funny story, when I read in your email mom when you said that it was you 33 anniversary, I thought "noway Rhiana is 34!!! thats crazy" but then i realized i wasnt right haha

Well Thanksgiving here in Russia was fabulous. The missionaries serving here in the city of Novosibirsk went to President Trejo's house and we had a full Russian dinner of Borse, fried beats, crapes filled with meat, and baked duck. haha just kinding it ofcourse was just a ordinary american dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and everything else. Everyone at thanksgiving was american except for 4 native missionaries. The food was delisious! It was a great day, we spent the whole day at presidents house playing games, watching 2 movies (a movie about the Book of mormon, and Incredibles), eating ofcourse, and just hanging out, and then we had a fireside that night to end the day and to get back into the mind set of being a missionary.

Mom I will talk to Ela about the ring and see what she wants to do. Also we are allowed to listen to EFY music and MoTab.

So about Finland to answer your questions. President isnt going with us, he went on his visa trip like 2 weeks ago. Everyone goes at different times because everones visas expire at different times. So you go every 3 months. There is i think 17 missionaries going in our group, all the missionaries which came in with me from the mtc and then some older ones too. The sisters usually stay at the housing at the temple and the elders stay at a hostile somewhere. So it will be fun.

So our baptism didnt go through last week. Our investigator's phone is not working and we have never been to her house, so we cant get ahold of her. We hope everything is ok with her. She might be having 2nd thought about baptism, but Im not sure if thats the case becasue she was very excited before, but satan can have a big affect on people.

So mom and amy you both have been sick, I am sick too! I stared feeling sick yesterday, I have sore throut. Im hoping it doesnt get anyworse. I hope you get feeling better too.

So it is so cold today. It is -20 C so convert that to F, but i think about -8 F. So pretty cold.

Well I wish i had more time to write you but i am out if time again. I love you all so so so so much and miss you. We are working hard here teaching the gospel. We have some investigators we hope will accept the invitation for baptism soon. Im thankful for all of you and your prayers and support.
Love,
Sister Gneiting

Happy almost Thanksgiving to everyone!!!!

So tomorrow is thanksgiving, except for all of you because I am a day ahead of you. So by the time you have thanksgiving dinner i would have already had my thanksgiving. So today is usually pday, but since tomorrow is thanksgiving we are only have 1/2 a pday today and then tomorrow we have the whole day off. So today we just have time to email to go grocery shopping. Then tomorrow we will go to Presidents house at 11 and be there all day. So Russians of course dont celebrate thanksgiving since it is an american holiday but AMERICANS THAT LIVE IN RUSSIA DO!!! So we are all soooooo excited to have a a really good thanksgiving dinner!!!!

So big news...in a couple a weeks I will be going to Finland! I am being transfered there. They decided my service is needed in Finland. haha just kidding, but really i am going to Finland. Its time for my first visa trip. For american missionaries serving in Russian every three months we have to go out of the country while our new visas are approved. So on the 17th of december a group of us are going to Finland. We will be gone for like 4 or 5 days. We will be going to Helsinki, and there is a Temple there, so we can go to the temple!!! so thats coming up soon.

So this saturday one of our investigators is supposed to be getting baptized, but the last couple of days we havent been able to get ahopd of her because her phone isnt working. So we arent sure if its happening this saturday, but she is super excited about baptism and she does want to get baptized to it will happen someday. We dont have any other baptismal dates right now but we have some good investigators that are progress towards baptism. The last 2 weeks has been kind of hard to find time to meet with some of our investigators mainly because alot of them have been sick. So hopefully they start feeling better soon so we can meet with them.

Oh so just so everyone knows, today is my half birthday! haha someone gave me a little friendship present the other day and i said " well thanks, its not even my birthday." but then i thought about it and realized that my half bday was in a couple days. Haha so thats exciting news for the day.

So at our english clubs lately we have been having less and less people come. SO yesterday and then we will do it again today, we have been as our whole zone doing english contacting. A couple people put in "free english" shirts and we can wear jeans and we just go out on the sidewalk and talk top be about english club and get there numbers so we can call and remind them. We also dont wear aour tags because when we do it with tags on it scares alot of poeple away. so this way we can get them more interesting in english and then when they come we can try to talk to them about gospel. English clud is a great way to do missionary work, so we are really wanting to get more people to come.

Well thanks for all your letters and emails, they help alot! I love you all so much. Everyone have a great thanksgiving and now that i am so thankful for all of you. Have fun at Hollie and Cams house.
Love you all so so so much
Сестра найдинг
Sister Gneiting

Hello again from your favorite russian missionary (i hope) haha

Well i want you all to know how much i love you, its ALOT. So everything is going great here in Novosibirsk. We just started our new tranfser, so that means i am no long a brand new missionary!! YAY There are now 7 new missionaries that just got here from the mtc, so i am now basically an old missionary :) My new companion Sister Bystrova is great. She is from a small town near Moscow and she has been serving for 10 months. So she is my new senior comp. The first little while with a new companion can been a little different because you dont know each other but you are with each other 24/7, but her and i are adjusting very well together.

So not much exciting has happened this last week, sorry. This last week unfortunately was a little slow with the work. With my companion Sister kiselyova leaving and getting her to the right place to leave to go home took almost a whole day and i wasnt able to have an meetings and then I had to wait 2 days for my new companion to come. So for two day I was either with sister boggs (She has been in the mission the same amount of time as me, which means we both dont speak much russian) or with Danna, who i was on an exchange with for half a day. So that was hard because first sister boggs and I are used to being the jr companion and having our senior companions basically planning what we would do. So haha sister boggs and I felt a little lost. And then when i was on the exchange with Danna all of the meetings i had set up with investigators and members fell through and they all had to cancel. Haha so then we had to scramble to get some new meetings. But it all worked out. Danna has only been a member for a few weeks but she did so great as my companion for the day. She taught and testified about the gospel in our meetings as if she had always been a member. She is awesome and has so much faith in the lord. The things I am seeing as a missionary are amazing. Growing up in rexburg can cause you to forget that not everyone in the world are members of the church. Here is Russian the only people who were born in the church are teenagers or little kids, everyone else are converts and when they tell their stories of how they became members its amazing to hear. Its amazing to personally see the revelations about how the gospel will be preached to every nation, kindred, and tounge be fullfilled. Its happening in Russia. Russia is new to the gospel, missionaries have only been here for a short time, but the Lord loves EVERYONE, here in Russian, in America, in Africa, England, Mecixo, EVERYWHERE!!! The Lord will provide a way for everyone to hear the Gospel, but he needs our help. The gospel will not penetrate the hearts of the poeple of the world if someone (members) doesnt first share it with them. There are people around us everyday that the Lord is placing in our path for us to help. They may be people who have never heard of the gospel or they may be inactive members who need a helping hand and a friend in the gospel. We are so blessed to have the knowledge of the gospel, we learn more and more about it every day as we study the scriptures, words of the prophets, attend church, ect. This is all preparation for us to be prepared to SHARE the gospel. Why gain a knowledge of the gospel and the truth of a message that is the way to salvation and not share it with all we now. I pray that you all will look for opportunities to help in this great work. There is no greater feeling then seeing someone you know and love accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and choose to follow him and either be baptized or change their lives in accordance with the gospel. REMEMBER the Lord needs OUR help!

So mom about that cereal you asked about, yes i know what your are talking about, and yes it is really good. I havent had any for awhile so thanks for reminding me. If you want i can try to send some home. Yeah its like Chex with creamy vanilla or chocolate inside.
So I do want a new coat, but i am not sure how much it will be. I will look around and see what the prices are let you know how much to put in my account. I also need some new glove because i left mine on a bus the other day, but i will prob get those soon. So basically only the coat for christmas.

Well i love you all so much and cant wait to get emails from every single person reading this email :) love ya love ya love ya

Sister Gneiting

Hello my wonderful family and friends,
Well it has been another great week in Novosibirsk Russia. Mom I will answer this questions you sent me and then try to write more so i can make dad happy haha. btw dad YAYYYYYYYYY THE YANKEES ROCK!!!! great time to be a yankees fan!!


Who is your new companion?
So we had transfers this week and my old companion finished her mission and flew home this morning. She was great and i will miss her. My new companion will be Sister Bystrova. I dont really know anything about her , she gets here tomorrow night.

Are you still in Novo?
YES IM IN NOVO!!!!! Im so happy cuz i am not ready to leave here yet. there is still to much work here and i have some great investiators.

Who else are you teaching and what do you spend most of your time doing?
We teach investigators, new converts, and member (so we can get them involved and excited about during missionary work and get referrals from them). Era is one of our investigators, she is 22 and is great. We found her in the area book which is a book that has info on old investigators. She was taught once by some sisters 2 years ago. We stared meeting with her almost two weeks ago. She is very interested in the church and learning more. She always has great questions. I think she will be baptized, but we arent puching her because she told us she didnt like how the last sisters tried to puch her into baptism. She is coming to alot of church actives and is making friends with the young single adults in Novo, which is great. So i am excited about her and rthe progress she is making. We also teaching Ula who has a baptismal date for later this month. she loves the church and knows it is true, but she smokes and we are working with her on that. Also we are teaching Looda, she is 22 and knows alot about the church, her sister is a member. She likes the church but we are helping her to see that the church is true. We havent been able to meet with her for about a week or so but we have a meeting with her tomorrow. There is also another girl named Ula who is 23 and we have taught althrough last transfer. She has ups and downs of he excitment about the church. But this last week we had a good meeting with her and she is thinking about baptism. So those a some of our many investigators. They are all great and I feel like they all will be baptized sometime, when im not sure, but they are great

Have you had any other baptisms?
Me and my companion personal no, but in our zone we have had 2 others. In our mission right now we have a goal of getting a total of 144 baptisms for the year. WE have 56 left to get. Now this goal is quit a stretch for a Russian mission, but all the missionaries in the mission are working really hard to get this goal. There was been some amazing stories of miracles that have happened has we have worked to accomplish this goal. We know the Lord is helping us and we wants us to get 144 baptism, and if we can faith in the lord and are obidient and work hard we will get our goal and miracles will and are already happening to bring Gods children unto baptism.

Do you go tracking?
I havent spent much time tracking. We have alot of meeting with investigators, new converts, less actives, and members through out the day that we dont track much. On our way to places though on buses, subways, and on the sidewalks we track.

What kind of food do you eat?
A really popular food in Russia is blini, which is like a crap rolled up like a burrito with stuff inside. My companion (well old companion) and i would eat those alot. We would buy frozen ones at the grocery store and cook them through out thr week. I have had borsh a few times, but i dont really like it. I am still searching for borsh i like because most poeple seem to say borsh is really good. Also there are these things called palmini which is kind of like ravioli, those are good. Inside them is different kinds of meet. We eat pretty normal stuff though. I dont like Russian salads though, which is a bummer cuz i love salad.

Is there McDonalds in Russia? hahaha
There are McDonalds, but none is Novo that i am aware of. When I was in Moscow i saw one though. Russia doesnt have any fast food place. In america there are fast food places on like every corner, but here there are like none, that why people are so skinny here probably. On every corner in Russia though there is a ice cream stand, like how in rexburg there are a bunch of snow shack, thats what it reminds me off. But seriously on ever corner you can get ice cream and they stay open all through winter.

Are you warm enough and have all of your winter clothes?
Yeah i am warm, come on Im from Rexburg. I think I will get a new coat maybe with the money for christmas. The coat i have when i wear it i feel like an old lady, but i havent decided for sure if i will get a new one.

Are you still able to open the pictures that I send in my emails?
Yes i have been able to open all of them, thank you thank you. Send more


OK so i answered all the questions, unfortunatly I am out of time haha sorry dad. But i think i went into detail about most of those questions and thats basically tells you alot about my life here haha. i did want to tell you one thing that happened this week. We were at a meeting at this ladies house who is inactive and as we were talking with her her son and a friend of his came into the kitchen where we were. They were probably abut 23 or 24. Well the friend started talking to me but i couldnt understand his Russian and waht he was saying, so the lady whos house it was told him, "she is american and she is learning russian" well then the kid starts talking to more and i have no idea what he is saying. I though he was telling me that i needed to go to school and learn russian so i could talk to him, haha so i say in russian " OK good" and then my companion say " NO sister No not good" and then I though AHHHHHHH What did i jsut say good too. Well i just stop talking and everyone is laughing and finally the boys leave. So i turn to my comp and ask what did i say and she told me " You said you would go on a date with him" haha I though oh my goodness!!! haha so that was way funny. So i am doing missionary work and getting dates, haha great life.

Well i have to go, but i love you all so much and thanks for all your love, support, and emails.

love,
Sister Gneiting

Hello from Russia!!
So today is a holiday, it is The Day of Unity, or something like that. I have asked a couple Russians what this holiday is all about and they dont really know haha. Danna said its not important, but i said important enough to get school off!! yeah
DANNA WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!! it was beatiful! She is such an amazing girl and so such a strong follower of christ. She is so knowledgable in the gospel too, she is very impressive. So on saturday she was baptized and then sunday confirmed! OH It was just amazing. There is no greater joy then seeing someone choice to follow Christ and then be baptized. Missionary work is amazing. So to answer your question mom about why Danna said she would need your prayers more then ever is because, well i am assuming she meant, her parents still dont agree with the church and they dont know she was baptized. She is an adult though so she decided for her self to be baptized. She is scared what they will do if they find out, she lives with them and they are her means of income. They had threatened her before that if she was baptized they would kick her out of the house. So that is why she needs all your prayers. That shows how amazing she is and how strong of a testimony she has in the Lord and the Gospel. She knows the Lord will take care of her, she has the faith.
So as we were walking to this internet cafe there was a celebration from the holiday today and there was a stage with some people singing Russian musica and bunch of people dancing. We started dancing with them and i took some picture. I will attach some. They are of my companion and I and Sister Boggs and Sister woodhouse (the one who feel into the hole at the simmons house haha she is the one that looks hawiian).
So the last few days all the snow melted, so that was sad. I thought I was in for the sibirian winter, but then it went away. But then this morning we woke up to more white snow. So we are in a winter wonderland again :) its not very cold yet though.
So transfers are next week. Transfer calls are on saturday, which is when Pres Trejo will call us and tell us where we will be going and who our new companions will be. My amazing companion Sister Kiseylova is leaving me :( she is done with her mission. So she is heading home to St. petersburg next week. I am pretty sure i am staying here in Novo, because i have heard through the grape vine. I will let you know next week though. Or maybe Danna will tell you on facebook sooner. Funny story, yesterday I called Danna to see if she would help us with a teaching appointment and as i was talking to her she told me she was on facebook looking at moms and amys facebooks haha yup funny so she read a few things that were on your pages. She knows more about you then I do.
Sorry this email isnt very long. I promise next week it will be longer. I only have a few mins so i am going to use it to attach pictures. So I love you all so so so much.

Love always,
Sister Gneiting

Zone Conference

Birthday party for Danna

Halloween Party

Mindy and Danna

Day of Danna's Baptism

HELLO HELLO HELLO!!! Its me again from Russia!!!!

So it has been another GREAT week here in Novosibirsk!!! Mom so you got Danna's facebook add, haha. The other day she wanted to look me up on facebook and so she did and then she added you and Amy I think, I am not sure which Amy Gneiting though haha. Get on my facebook and accept her invite for me so she can look at my page. So Danna is AWESOME and yes her baptism is in 3 days!! We are so excited. Oh and you pronouce her name Donna but In Russian it is spelled данна which in translation is Danna, haha i dont know if that made sence. Well yes she is amaxing and very strong in the church and has a great testimony and so very very ready for baptism. I will send you some pic of it next week, well I guess check her facebook and you will probably see them faster haha.

So mom i asked one of the other sister missionaries here about if she has recieved any packages with food in them and she said her packages always have food and she doesnt think that anything has ever been taken out, so if you still want to send that package i think it will be ok, because those hand warmers sound really nice!!!! So we have snow now. the last week it has been snowing every day. It isnt too cold yet so i havent started wearing my fur coat but i am wearing my fur lined boots. I am excited to see how cold it gets. Danna told me a couple years ago it got down to -50 C , so im not sure what that is in F, but usuallu it is gets around -30. So yeah really cold.

Thanks for all the pics of trent Amy and Mom, he is so cute and funny. I laughed when i saw the pictures. So he is getting to be a big boy, huh? Yeah he will be a sports star some day, train him well!!

Dad thanks for the Yankee update, I got really excited when i read they are in the world series!! Let me know how it goes.

Grandma and Grandpa thanks for the email! Sound like things are going well in Montana, stay warm!! I cant believe you are almost done with your mission. You are awesome, Love ya

Amy I just started reading the BOM and am going to read it all the way through before the end of the year too!! So yes we can totally do it together, I am in 2 Nephi 9, so you need to catch up haha

So i tried to upload some pic to send to you but i dont have the right cord. so i will try to figure that ok and then i will send you some pics!! Oh but the simmons have a blog that they do it is http://simmonsinsiberia.blogspot.com/ i think so you can get on there and they keep it updated.

So we have some other great investigators. Another one name Ula wants to be baptized and we set a date with her to be baptized, but she smokes but she wants to stop, so we need to work through that first before he can be baptized. We are also teaching Galena, Luda, and another Ula who all are very interested in the church. I just LOVE being a missionary and espeacially a missionary in Russian. This place is amazing. I know this is where I am supposed to be and there are people here that the Lord needs me to share the gospel with. The gospel is true and it is the most important thing we have on this world. It can save every single soul on this earth. I want to return to live with God again and I want my fam there too but I also want every child of God there and its only throught the gospel that can be done. The Lord love us so much. It interesting to see how there are so many people here in Russian with out the gospel, but the gospel is getting bigger and bigger here. The Russians are excepting the gospel and we as missionaries are working hard to get it to them. I want you all to know how much I love you and how thankful i am for your love and support. I wish i could sit here longer and type more to you, but there is work to be done. I love you i love you I love you!!!!!

Love,
Sister Mindy Gneiting

P.S Just to let everyone know, i can only write one email which is this one i write to mom. Anyone can email me though and i can include a reply to you in this email. SO i expect a lot of emails next week :) My email is: sistergneiting10@myldsmail.net

HELLOOOOOO FROM RUSSIA!!!!!!!!
Well today is actually thursday and my pday is wednesday but yesterday we werent able to email, so we are doing it today. Everything is still great! Today we had zone conference and it was really good. President Trejo and his wife spoke a few times, which were really good talks, and the assistants did some workshops. Yeah it was good.

Well today is Thursday which means we have english club tonight. We are meeting with one of our investigators Galena before club and then Donna after. By the way THANK YOU to all that prayed for Donna this last week. 2 days after I sent you that email asking you to pray for her, she came to me and said she wanted to be baptized!!!!! I am so excited and happy for her. She is an amazing girl. I need you to continue praying for her though because she has had baptism dates before and then she was to scared. Her parents dont like the church. She is very strong right now though and she has a strong testimony. Her baptism is this next saturday october 31, so please pray that she will have the comfort and confidence she needs to go through with the baptism.

Amy yeah I know Elder Taylor haha thats so crazy you know his brother and yes his aunt gave us pizza in Moscow. He is a great elder. Also I wanted to personally thank you for praying for Donna every night, you dont know how much that means to me and I know she felt yours and everyone elses prayers. It sounds like yo are having a fun time doing alot of fun stuff from you email!! Keep being amazing!! love ya

Mom, dad, and Rhiana thanks for your emails, i love you so much. Mom yes we can listen to music, well only MoTab, EFY, and classical music and as for garments i will let yo know what size i am next week because we are in an internet cafe and i dont think it would be good to look right now to see what size i am! Dad thanks for the Yankee update, that is so exciting. Let me know if they get to the world series. So Rhiana about the picture about the sidewalk, you are just going to have to ask Katie Checketts about that, but yes we did . . . haha . . . Katie, Rhiana has my old phone and she asked me about the pictures about what happened to us on the sidewalk after the clue game on campus. Yes remember it was really funny and we SAT there laughing for ALONG time!!! haha good times

Scott and Amy mom sent me pics of Craigos in Provo. It looks super nice!! I WANT SOME PIZZA!!!!! haha and she sent me a pic of Trent and he always looks different in evey pic i see of him but he is a cutie.

Hollie and Cam thankgiving at your place?! Fun!!!! Think of me while you all eat yummy food.

Well I 'm sorry this isnt very long, we only had 30 mins today cuz we have a meeting with Galena soon. Well i love you all so so so so much. Thanks for everything. Keep being amazing and doing what the Lord needs of you.

Love always
Sister Gneiting

Hello Family and Friends,

Everything is great here in Russia. HUH where to start? I love it here is Novo, I am getting to know all the member a lot better and they all are great. My companion and I serve in the 3rd branch here. We have only been able to attend sacarment meeting once at our branch because last week we watched conference. When we did go to the branch there was about 40 to 50 people there but there are a lot more members who are inactive.So along with working with our investigators we also have a big job with the inactive members. We have about 6 investigators right now that we are working with but acouple of them we havent meet yet because the other sisters in novo were working with them but those sisters arent assigned to 3 branch anymore.

Donna, our investigator that i told you about last week is awesome. She is soooooo close to being baptized but her parents dont believe in god and think that we are a cult or something. So it is hard for her and she is scared. I have no doubt though that will be baptized soon. I feel though that people here are giving up on her and it makes me really sad. For everyone that is reading this I need you to pray for her.PLEASE PLEASE. Pray that she will have the courage to be baptized and that she will know that the Lord will comfort her and help her with her family after she is baptized and pray that her parents hearts will be softened to the gospel. Thank you!

So I am trying to remember the questions you wanted me to answer. So Novosibirsk is a pretty big city. Between a million and 2 million people live here. Everyone lives in apartment building, there are no houses. Eveything is pretty old here, people still live in buildings that were made in like the 40s or 50s. We ride the subway and buses everyday, which is fun. I havent really eaten anything that is to weird yet but i am sure i will haha. Oh and it is so true that the Russian people are beautiful and the very fashionable. I was thinking yesterday that I think Hollie would like to live here because of the way the women here dress. There are alot of really cute boots here Hollie, you would like that, oh and coats!! haha And everyone is so skinny here, i think it is becuase there isnt fast food places here, which is good.

Mom I told President that you are from Tucson, he was excited about that and he said his uncle was a bishop and stake president there and that his uncle has a bunch of sons, so i think that is the one guy you thought was you bishop. Small world. I dont see President and his wife much because they are traveling alot to the other city which some take a few days to get to. This mission is the biggest mission or openned prosiliting area in the world and it is suppossed to be the coldest mission too. It is basically the BEST mission too!! haha

So yes I did get the money back for traveling over here, i actually only used $50 and then i changed some into russian money. Today we are going to go get the rest of the warm clothes I need. Oh and yes they have nice stores here too. I went into a mall once to go to the grocery store there and they had stores that we have in america like pac sun, adiddas, and i cant remember what else haha.

So yeah we got to watch conference this last weekend. In russia we watch it a week after you watch it in america. It was sooooo good. Love and the holy ghost were brought up alot, it was great. Mom I love how you put Elder Scotts quote in that email to me, that was one of my favorite talks, so good. So i was so excited for Elder Hollands talk after I read in you email last week that it was super good and OH MAN it was AMAZING. I was so into it that I couldnt get myself to write any notes because i was scared I would miss something. It really was a very good talk.

Scott and Amy I am excited about the new restaurant in Provo opening this weekened! UHHHHH i miss craigos pizza, send me a take and bake please haha. Little Trent is looking great, Mom sent me new picture of him. Oh and Hollie I really like your dark hair, very cute. Cam was is up, hows work going? Rhiana thanks for your email, I started laughing really hard in the library while i was reading it and my zone leader looked at me and was laughing at me! GREAT TIMES! Amy mom sent me me a couple pictures of you and you look really good and your hair is really cute and I think my pants i gave must me working pretty good for you. Mom and Dad I just love you SO much, thanks for being the best parents. You have done so much for me even though i probably dont deserve most of it. I love yo so much. Mom good job with school, thats totally awesome!!! Dad how are the Yankees doing? OH I just love you all so much. I have the best family ever!

I love being a missionary and I love being a missionary in Russia! The gospel is exploding here and its amazing to see a country new to the gospel fullfilling the prophecies that the gospel will go to every nation. i love that talk that was given in conference about Russia and how 20 or 30 years ago no one would have even though missionaries would be here. Well Russia is opened and the people are coming unto Christ its amazing to see the work going forth here. We need your prayers though. The gospel is true and the Lord lives and the time is coming when he will come again and we need to prepare the world and Gods children. I love you all and cant wait to hear from you all.

Love always,
Sister Gneiting

PS. you can send any mail to the mission home address or you can use the pouch, either one!

MINDYS POUCH MAIL ADDRESS TO RUSSIA
Sister Mindy L. Gneiting
Russia Novosibirsk Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT. 84130-0150
USA

IMPORTANT:
To prevent possible fines or discontinuation of pouch service to Russia, please only send postcards and letters that are single sheet, folded into three panels, and taped at the top only (no envelopes may be sent through the pouch.)
Thanks!!

MISSION HOME ADDRESS: (Packages and letters in envelopes need to be mailed here)
Sister Mindy L. Gneiting
Russia Novosibirsk Mission
46 Kirova Street
Novosibirsk
Novosibirskaya oblast', 630102
RUSSIA

YES I'M ALIVE AND I'M IN RUSSIA!!!!!!!

HELLO HELLO HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm in RUSSIA and loving every moment of it. It is different then i thought it would be. Oh man where to start. Well I am serving in Novosibirsk and my companion is Sister Kiselyova, she is Russian. She is from St petersburg. She speaks pretty good english so we are able to communicate, sometimes though we have to use a Russian/English dictionaries to look up words when we dont know what each other are saying. Well then ofcourse I dont even know what anyone is saying in the first place because they all are speaking Russian, huh who would of thought that. haha but i am studying Russian everyday and hopefully someday i will understand people better. Everyone is really nice though. The first few days i was here i didnt talk much to the Russians because i didnt know what anyone was saying and i did know how to say what i want to say, but then i just decided to jump in and get my feet wet. So know i try to talk to people sometimes i do a good job and sometimes we end up laughing at me because of what i say, ok nevermind usually they always laugh at me but i have learned to use that to my advantage. When we are on the street contracting i can talk to tons of people because I am american and am trying to hard to talk to them so they will stop and listen. My companion always laughs at me because when i go up to someone on the street and they at first dont want to talk to me and they start walking away i just walk with them and they cant get away and then i try to speak Russian and they start smiling and then they start talking to me. HAHA they love it. So Novosibirsk is great, i have fallen in love with the city and the people. It is a big city about 1.5 or so million people. We ride the subway everyday. The mission office and home are located here. The city its self is pretty dirty and everyone smokes, and it doesnt smell very good. Alot of weird smells but i think i am getting use to it. There a 4 branches here and i am serving in the 3rd branch. It is one of the biggest branches, on sunday there was about 40 people maybe. I am getting to know the members and they all are great and very nice, they love missionaries. We have some great investigators that we are working on to be baptized. One of them is name is Donna and she is 21 and her and I have become great friends. She has been an investigator for about a year and a half but she hasnt been baptized yet because of her parents and I think she is a little scared. So we are working with her, she is ready to be baptized but she just needs to make the decision and follow through with it. So every tuesday and thursday we have english class were we teach english, oh I LOVE THAT. WE had it yesterday and during the week we have cards about englidh classs that we pass out on the street, subway, buses, and whereever else and last night a lady i had talked with came, which is really good because we get alot of our investigators from english class. Anyway she came and then we set up a time to meet with her on thursday and teach her about the gospel. So english class it great, oh and there are people there that actually know english so i can talk to them and not have to worry about my russian not being very good. So my goal is to get as many new investigators as i can from english class.
Well it is not cold here yet, it is in th fall months. So i still wear my jacket but it will soon get colder. Oh by the way a got a free heavy winter coat from my companion, it use to be the old mission presidents wife coat and it is way nice with real fur and leather. So it will way warm and better yet now i dont have to pay $200 for a new coat.
Well I have to get going, my time was cut short for emailing this week because we have to go with the senior couples and the APs to do some shopping for our new apartment that we just moved into and it need alot of things. Anway next weds (my pday) I will have an hour to email. Well I love you all, oh any yes i was able to look at the pictures you attached, Trent is such a cutie. Ok I love you and eveything is great here and I love being a missionary.

Love Always,
Sister Gneiting

Well this is my last email from the MTC or the USA in that matter, and I am totally sooooooooo excited!!! One of my companions,Sister Gillmore, and I made a chain last week to count down the days till we leave, you know like what we always do for Christmas. So there is 6 links left ok well actually we have 7 up so we can take the lsat one down right as we leave. Oh which brings me to my next subject, my Flight Plans. I leave the MTC at 4 am and then fly out of SLC at 7 am to Atllanta. We have like a 3 1/2 hr layover there, so that is when i will call you. We arrive in Atlanta at 12:42 and leave at 4:15, so figure out the time change and be my your phones. This goes for all my siblings too, i am pretty sure i can call all of you too ( sorry friends I wish that I could call you all.) I will call home first ans talk to whoever is there and then start calling cellphone. Mom have everyones cells phone numbers ready to give to me. I think i will get a phone card, there are some here at the store. Ok so then we fly from Atlanta to Moscow and in Moscow we have a 12 hr layover. While there we go get a second passport and then i have heard that they might let us go to the Red Square (i think that is what it is called) to contact, thay will be interesting. So I am excited for the layover in Moscow. Then after that we fly to Novosibirsk, and then as of now i dont know anything what will happen at that point. Ok so get this, we will leave utah on sept 28 and we get to Novosibirsk on Sep 30th hahaha isnt that crazy!! 3 days!!! Well it may only be 2 with the big time change. Anyway so that is my flight plan. Also I am going to see if I can call you at the airport in Moscow, if i get the right type of phone card maybe i can call just to let you know i arrived to Russia. I will find out and let you know. I CANT WAIT TO TALK TO YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!

So i chopped off my hair!! I got it cut today. There is a hair salon here at the MTC. It is alot shorter than i wanted it to be but it is cut well and everyone says its cute, i just need to get use to short hair on me. It is a rule for the Novosibirsk mission that your hair has to be shorter then you shoulders. I will send pictures.

So Elder Holland came and spoke last tuesday, so I have had 2 apostles come while i have been here. Way cool! Tonight is my last devo here so I am hoping it will be another apostle. Keep your fingers crossed. Elder Holland's talk was really good. He talked about not missing out on our missions and coming home with regrets. It really hit me that i cant waste time, my mission isnt just affecting my life for the next 15 months but for the rest of my life. This is preparing me for my future. I am going to be a good missionary, i am not here for me, I am here for the Lord and for the people of Russia. I am just so thankful to be on a mission.

So Zenton, the guy that sister boggs and i comitted to baptism is still coming along, he still wants to be bazptized but he still has a ways to go before he can. We and he are sad that we cant call him once we leave, but hopefully the missionaries in his area will do their part. They were supposed to go and meet with him on sunday, they had set up an appontment but they never showed up. So that made sister bogs and i a little upset, cuz he already didnt like those missionaries and then they didnt show up. So we are going to write them a note and get it sent to them and tell them a little more about Zenton, because they just might not realize he wants to be baptized. Also last night i was at thr RC doing online chatting on mormon.org. People can ask questions through chat and then we can talk with them. Anyway I chatted with a young man, he is 21 and he is really interested in the church. he said he knows the church is true but he just has a lot of questions. he asked about polygamy ( everyone asks about that haha man its crazy), if the prophet actually sees and talks to god, temples, temple marriage (his girlfriend is a member and wants to get married in the temple). Anyway we had a great talk and then I asked him what he knew about baptism, he said he didnt really know anything. I told what baptism was ans then told him he needed to be baptized. He then told me he wanted to!!!!!!! I gave him the number to call to meet with the missionaries and told him to talk to his girlfriend about getting baptized. I hope it all works out for him, i wish i could keep in tounch with him to see what happens. Missionary work is GREAT!!! It brings me such great joy to see other people come unto Christ. The message of the gospel is so important and so many people dont know it. Every person on this world is a child of god and deserves just as much as we do to return to live with god again. We need to help them to be saved, its only through Jesus Christ!

Well i love you all so so so much!!! Thanks for being amazing. I cant wait to talk to you on Monday. I hope all is well for everyone, keep me informed on your lives. Dont forget your favorite child and younger sister (yes me)!!! haha you all know its true

Love Always
Mindy oops cectpa gneiting

Hello everyone,

Mom tells me the list of who she is forwarding my emails to is getting longer and longer. I hope all is going well for everyone, I love you all!!! Well eveything is still great great great here. Only 14 days left and i will be on my way to Russia, I cant wait!!!!! Mom and dad I should get my flight plans either this thursday and friday, and then next tuesday i will email you all the details about when i leave and what time i should be able to call you from the airport!!! Oh i cant wait to talk to you!!! I miss you all so much! Next tuesday will also be my last time to email before i leave.

So yesterday we started our SYL (speak your language). We are only allowed to speak Russian for the next 2 weeks except to people to dont speak Russian. Its hard, fun, and frustrating. I still have soooooo much more to learn. It is interesting to listen to us speak!! I am excited to talk to you in Russian when i call you! Mom I got the package yesterday, thank you thank you thank you!!!! Everything i needed was in there plus things i didnt even think of and i am happy you put them in. Everyone I have the best mom, im sure your moms are very great to though!!!

So a friend of mine from BYUI will come into the mtc tomorrow i think, and i am a host tomorrow. So I help the new missionaries find their rooms and help them around campus a little, hopefully i will be her host!

Sister Lent (i think that is her name) the general primary president spoke and relief society last sunday. So all we need is for Sister Beck to come this week and I would have had all the women who are general presidents come while i was here, and i have meet both the other two when they came. So i am keeping my fingers crossed for sister beck! haha

OK so we get to work in the call center here and my companion sister boggs and i have called a man named Zenton a few times and talked him about the restoration and book of mormon. Well we sent the missionaries to his house to give him a BOM, which they did but he said he didnt like them and so he just took the BOM and put it in his drawer. Well we started talking to him about the BOM and he said he wasnt really interested in reading it until we had him read the intro and after that he said, " i think i am interested in this book, it reminds me of the Bible." YAHOO He felt the spirit while we read with him and he had a change of heart. We prayed with him over the phone about if what we had told him was true and then we told him we would call him back in a few days to see how his reading was going. So we did call him back, he hadnt really done any of his reading, but he was interested in our message. As sister boggs began talking to him i had a feeling to open up to a scripture about baptism and then to tell him about baptism and maybe even committ him to be baptized. So i opened up and wait for the right time to talk to him about it. Siste boggs still was talking to him when he asked us if a something he was doing in his life was a sin, we told him it was but that through the Lord he could be forgiven. He then went on to say, "I think i might need to be baptized" AHHHHHHHHH, yeah thats what was going through my head and probably sister boggs too. Well as i looked at my Book of Mormon sitting infront of me, opened to a scripture about baptism i also noticed that just above it was 3 very good scripture about the atonement and how christ can save us from Satan and how he can relieve is of pains and sorrows, Perfect for talking about Zenton's sins in his life. So i read to him the 3 scrips about the atonement and told him christ has atoned for his sins and that through baptism you can be cleansed and then i read the scrip about baptism and told him that the only church who holds the true athority to baptize is the LDS church and i then asked him if he would be baptized...... he said YES!!!!! And the is where we are now, we need to call him back and get him set up with the missionaries in is area as well as give him the bishops number. So we have 2 weeks to help with his process of baptism.

Missionary work is amazing, i love seeing people come unto christ. I am so happy to be on a mission, this is the best thing i could be doing right now. This where the Lord needs me to be, helping him save the children of God. I hope all of you are following christ, he needs our help. There are people around us everyday, member and non members that need our help and need to see our testimonies. We are all missionaries

Well my time is up :( I love you all so so so so so much!!! Thank you for you love, support, and letters. I am still trying to write some of you back so if you havent gotten a letter from me in a while i will send you one when i can, i dont have much time to write. I pray for you all everyday and i pray that you all are following christ. Missionaries can only do so much and the members do the rest!! Pray and read you scriptures daily!!!

Love you,
Cectpa Gneiting

Well everything is going amazingly awesome!!! 3 WEEKS FROM TODAY AND I WILL BE IN RUSSIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so so so so so so excited. I still have so much more to learn. but i think i will learn so much more once i am there. So as for your question more if i can speak as well as the older group of missionares that were here when i got here, well I am doing pretty good. There are some missionaries here that are doing really really good, but it takes me a little longer to remeber words and phrases that i learn. it is coming though, give me a few months a i will have it down. When i call you at the airport i will talk to you in russian and then at christmas i will be alot better. We get our flight planes next week!!! I cant wait.

Ok so i have 2 weeks that i have to fill you all in on. Elder Scott came and spoke 2 tuesdays ago. It was amazing!! He spoke about the holy ghost, but my favorite part was when we go away from his written talk and talk from his heart. When he first started talking he ask us to raise ours hands if we were learning a different language. Then he said. " I know that it is hard.... but you can do it. So i am going to do something and use my authority as an Apostle of the Lord, I am going to bless you with the gift of tongues. Now i want you to know that i dont do this much, i dont go around throwing out blessings, but i love you all so much." and so then he personally and an Apostle of the Lord blessed us with the gift of tongue, later on in his talk he also blessed us with safety. I has so powerful, i am strieving so hard to be obidient and to work hard so that those blessings can be manifested on me. So i have the personal blessing of an apostle. He also bore his testimony of the Lord, which was AMAZING! I have never heard such a powerful witness of the savior jesus christ. before he started talking about the savior he said. " I want to tell you about someone very speacial to me, someone i know.... it is the savior jesus christ." I thought he was going to talk about like the prophet or a family memeber. he also said, " I know Jesus lives, because I know him." it was so powerful, we all need to try and develope as strong as a relationship with the savior and elder scott has. I want to be able to say " i know christ live because I know him!"

Also either that same day or the sunday after Sister Elaine Dalton, General young womens pres, came and spoke at relief society. She is awesome, afterwards we went and meet her and I started talking ot her and said thank for coming and that i felt like i had known her my whole life, she smiled and said " i know i do to i feel like i could be your mom.'" and then she gave me a big hug and she was holding onto my hand for the whole time we talked. She was so nice, she also told me that she is going to russian in november on assignment from the church and she thinks novosibirsk is one of the stops. So hopefully i will see here again, and maybe some apostles will come with here :) It is nice when women like that come and speak with us and afterwards we can meet them. They are so nice and it is a comfort, because we all mis our moms and having them come is a comfort cuz they treat us like daughters. Also of branch presidences wives are awesome to and come and she us at night during the week, i call them our other mom. so mom i am in good hand with people that really care about us and love us and who are here to comfort us.

So everyone keeps asking me if a still love the food. it is still good, some of it i am getting sick of cuz they make it alot. I still mainly eat salad and keeping my weight down, which you know i care about haha.

Scott and amy i am excited that you are blessing Trent here in utah. While you are in town drive past the mtc and maybe i will feel your near. Maybe just leave Trent outside on the sidewalk and i will maybe walk past him and look at him. haha ok dont do that that is bad.

Mom good luck with school, and the camera jeannie gave me will be fine i just need a memory card. i think it is an sd card for a kodak easy shot (i think).

well i have 2 minutes and i want to make sure i get it sent off today. I love you all SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!! SEND ME LETTERS AND PICTURES, i want to know whats going on in with you.

Love always
Cectpa Gneiting

PS Jenny, my old roommate if yo uare reading this send me another letter cuz i have a letter to send you but i lost the letter you sent to me

Hello family and friends,

Sorry you didn't get an email last week. I had it all typed up and was trying to finish a sentence real fast and I ran out of time. So sorry, it was my fault-I should've kept better track of the time. If you run out of time the email disappears and you cant sent it. So I will try to keep better track of my time in the future.

My estimated departure date from the MTC to head to Russia is Sept 28th. We will get our flight plans in 2 weeks. I should be able to call you when I'm in the airport. Yay!!! I'm looking forward to that. In my district there are 9 missionaries. Five are going to my mission and will be leaving with me. There are also more elders from my branch going to my mission too. I think there are about 10 going to my mission.

So last week Elder Scott was our devotional speaker. It was an amazing experience. He talked about the Holy Ghost, but what was the most spiritual part to me was his testimony of the Savior. He said he knows Christ lives because he knows him. His testimony was so strong and I could tell he has a close relationship with the Savior. I want a testimony like that too. He also used his apostolic authority to give us two blessings. He blessed us with the gift of tongues and with safety. It was so powerful to see his love for us and the strength of a blessing straight from a prophet. Then afterward we hurried outside to try and shake his hand. We were at the front of the line, but he said he couldnt shake our hands because of the flu. He did talk to us for a little while. He doesnt speak very loud so only the first few rows could hear him, and of course - I was in the front row. :) Then when he left he was driving himself - haha- it was funny and cool! I started singing "Called to Serve" when he was driving away and soon everyone, which was ALOT of people, started singing too. I'm such a trend setter!! haha

So last night one of the elders in my district surprised us all and decided to go home. I didn't see that one coming. He said that he had stuff from his past that he needed to take care of before his mission but that he is going to come back as soon as he can and continue his mission. I hope he does, he is a great elder. We will miss him. He left at 3:00am this morning and we went out to where he caught the bus so we could say goodbye to him. I hope everything goes well for him.

Sorry this is short - I need to get it sent. I love you all and hope everything is going great with you.
Love you always,
Cectpa Gneiting

Pictures in the MTC

Mindys aunt Jeannie and uncle Roger are serving a mission in Oklahoma. Mindy got to see them often while they were in the MTC. Jeannie sent me these pictures she took of Mindy. Sorry that they are so small but I couldn't figure out how to enlarge them.

This is Mindy pointing to Russia on the Map in the MTC.

These are Mindys companions in the MTC.

This is Mindy and her Aunt Jeannie

Mindy and Aunt Jeannie pointing at the map to their different missions.

HELLO HELLO HELLO,
So I have finally figured out how to get more time emailing. Still 30 mins but just today I figured out that if I print the emails off real fast and log off and then log back on when I am done reading the emails I will have like a lot more time to write!! WOW Im smart, it took me a few weeks to figure it out though :)

Well everything is still great! I was sad to see aunt jeannie and uncle roger leave. It was so fun having them here. A good friend of mine came into the mtc this week. His name is scott and I know him from school. Its fun seeing him around!

So we taught lesson 1 in Russian last weds, it went pretty good. I need a lot of improvement, but I know it will get easier. HARD WORK AND THE LORDS HELP!!!! The lord helps and guides us so much. I am realizing all the things in my life that the lord has helped me with, or things that have led to getting me on this mission. I know the Lord has something planned for me in Russia. I wouldn't pick to be anywhere else but here on this mission, I would really really love to actually be in russia, but that comes soon enough. I love the Lord and I love his gospel, I have recieved so many blessing from the Lord. I have an amazing family and the best friends ever! I love you all so much. I have an understanding of why I am here, where Im going, and where I came from. I have the atonement, which without, life isnt even worth living. Because of our Savior Jesus Christ, we have everything we could ever want and need. He loves us so much, and is so willing to help us. Will you all do something? I want you to read in 3 Nephi when the Lord appears to the Nephites and then keep reading the next few chapters while he ministers to them and while you are reading think about what it would be like to see Jesus and to hug him and bow before him and kiss his feet. I know the spirit will touch your heart and you will grow closer to Christ. I WANT to SEE HIM, I want to stand before him and know that he is pleased with me and what I am doing. I know He loves me and that His love for me will never die, but to know that he is pleased with me is a whole nothing story. Those chapters of 3 Nephi and so powerful. Pay close attention to what the Lord says and what he does, VERY POWERFUL!!

Well only 5 more weeks and I will be in Russia. OH I cant wait. I'm so excited. So the new group on russian missionaries come tomorrow. We are excited for them to come.

OK so yesterday the coolest thing happened. I got 22 letters in the mail!!! HAHA it was awesome!!! All of them were from Katie all the way from Hawaii! Everyone in my district was so jealous and so impressed. That set the record for the most letters recieved in one day in our district! haha it was a great day of my life!!

So i hope everything is going great for everyone. Mom and dad, i hope you had fun in cali, at disneyland, and with little Trent, and with scott and amy! Drive by the MTC on your way home and wave to the buildings, im sure i will sense when you drive by. Rhiana hows school, are you almost done with that class, Amy have you started school yet, Hollie and cam whats up with you, and scott and amy how is little trent and life as parents? ok now you all have to write me and answer those questions!!!!! and add in alot more info about your amazing lives.

well once again my time is up :( I love you all and mom i will send pictures soon, i am developing them today

Love always and forever
cectpa gneiting

Hello My wonderful family,

How are the lives of the Gneiting/Kuehnes? anyone else reading this? I'm doing supper supper good! Everyday is amazing as a missionary. I still like here, but am so ready to get to Russia. Im not ready to speak the languange though, so a few more week will be good. Only 5 more weeks and then I will be in Russia!!!! YAY!! I cant wait, obviously since I have a countdown. The older group of missionaries left for Russia yesterday and today. So now we are no longer the new russians! Yesterday I had a new companion, it was one of the native russian sisters. Her companion and all the other native sister had already left so she couldnt be alone. So she asked me to be her companion, her room is right next to ours. So we had a good time yesterday. It was nice having her around all day, she taught me alot about Russian. I became really good friends with all the native sister, she all loved me!! haha ofcourse right? One of them is going to my mission, well she probaly is already there cuz she left yesterday. She is awsome, so maybe we will be companions someday!

You will never believe what happened!! Someone stole my camera! On sunday I had it with me cuz as a district we went up to the temple to take picture. We went back to the class and I was looking at the pictures I had taken and then I left it in our classroom and went to the fireside. Well that night I couldnt find it anywhere, I thought I had misplaced it. So i looked in the classroom and my residence room. Well it was nowhere. My camera case was in the clasroom though, which i thought was weird since it didnt have my camera in it. Well after searching, I reached into my camera case and my card that stores the pictures was in it. So someone went inot my classroom and stole my camera, they were nice enough to leave the memory card though haha. I was mad at first when I thought I had lost all my pictures, but once I found the memory card I wasnt mad anymore. I thought maybe it was the elders playing a trick on me, but they said they didnt do it. So I probably need a new camera. haha My memory card fits into sister boggs camera so if I really need to take a picture I just use hers. Try to buy on online, you can probably find a good deal. Gary usually can find really good deals of things, so maybe ask him. Anyway I was so excited to tell you all that haha. Great story to tell that my camera was stolen at the MTC.

So mom guess who spoke at RS on sunday?! Sister Susan W. Tanner! She did a really good job, ofcourse. After RS we went and meet her. She was way nice. We have devo tonight, which is always a general authority, we havent had any apostles come since I have been here though. I think it will be an apostle tonight, but we dont find out until like 20 mins before devo start. Cross your fingers that it will be!!!

So I got to go to the temple yesterday and today. And yesterday I even got to do baptisems, which missionaries arent allowed to do. I have my connections! haha no since I was companions with the native russian sister, we were allowed to. Since there are no temples in Russia, the natives can do whatever they want! so i got lucky. Tomorrow we have to teach the First lesson in Russian, no english! Kind of scarey, but we will do fine.

Well I am almost out of time again. 30 mins is not enough time. I love you all so much. Still waiting for pictures of Trent! He sounds like a cutie, Im sure he is cuz it runs in the family!!!! Well I want you all to know how much I LOVE being a missionary, everyday i am so thankful. I am so excited to share this gospel with the people of russia. I pray for yo uall every day, you mean so much to me. Remeber the Lord always and how much he loves you. Never lose faith, faith blesses our lives. Through faith we dont every need to fear. God and Jesus christ love us so much and want us to be happy, allow them to do that for us.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU,
Cectpa Gneiting

Aug 4, 2009

(In my last email to Mindy (this is Mindy's mom) I asked her a bunch of Questions and then she just hit reply and answered them and sent it back. She doesn't have much time to read and write emals so i thought this might make it quicker for her. So here are her responses to my questions. I had to edit this a little but I left a few things and you can see in some places where her spelling and english are a little different. She says that the Russian is really doing a job on her and she is already forgetting her english.)

1. So tell me what your responsibilities are as senior companion.
I basically just led them haha. I'm just responsible for making sure we do things we are supposed to and helping us get things done. We all are in the small boat though, so we all help each other.

2. Have you had any general authorities come speak?
We had Elder Groberg, you know the "otherside of heaven" a couple weeks ago. Every sunday we have a fireside but it is just some one that works here at the mtc. Then on tuesday nights we have devo which is some general authority, elder groberg is the only one that I have actually known who he is. Maybe the prophet will come tonight, I will let you know!

3. What is your favorite part of the MTC so far?
I love the food! That answers alot of questions people have asked me. All I eat is salads though! I have lost 9 lbs since being here!! YAY!!! I WILL NOT GAIN WEIGHT!!!!!

4. Did any of your instructors go to your mission? Have they told you any cool stuff about Russia?
One of my teachers went to my mission and the other went to st petersburg I believe. Yeah they tell us stories!

5. Answer the CD question from the other email I sent?
Yeah that all sounds great! Send me Women of Destiny forsure, thats my favorite. Make sure its the one with Gladis Knight!

6. How do you like your companions? Tell me a little bit about them.
I love my companions!!! Sister Boggs you already know about her, she is from Pason Utah. Then Sister Gilmore is from Seatle. They both are great, they are both helping me so much!

7. Do you still see Emily much? Have you heard much from Sister Alli Burton?
Oh do I see Emily!!!!! HAHA yes all the time. I havent seen her yet today though. But that will change soon. Emily leaves next monday :( so I am going to miss her, her companion is way awesome too. She is a nurse, so we get along well! Yeah Alli is doing great as always. I got a letter from her last week. She is now seving in Kansas, which is still part of the Independance Mission. So now she is a full pros sister. I have no doubt that she is doing awesome!I

8. Can you print off your emails? Can you get pictures on email if I send a few attached?
I dont know if we can print them I was wondering that to cuz I dont have a ton of time to read them and then write one too. No the pictures dont show up, well at least they didnt on sister gilmores email.

9. Will you get to call us from the airport when you fly out to Russia?
I dont knoe, i will find out.

10. Do you get packages and mail on the day they arrive at the MTC or do you have to wait until P day?
for the most part, unless the mail comes on saturday night then we dont get them til monday. And dearelders usually come the same day or next day unless they are on sunday then they come on monday.

Thanks for your emial. Great Idea with the questions, that makes things easier. Oh so i have been meaning to tell you that my departer date is September 28 or at least around that date. so not exactly 12 weeks! Eveything is going great here still, I am still loving it. Time is flying by though, i cant believe I have almost been here a month. Russian is coming along, some days coming slow and other days fast. It is a hard language but the way they teach us it doesnt seem to be as hard as you would think it would be. The Lord makes up the difference if I let him! I love my savior so much. Everyday I grow closer and closer to him!! He loves us so much, beyond words. He loves us so much that he volunteered to atone for each one of us. He wasnt forced to do it, he just loves us so much that he did it! He is my strengh, I cant do this with out him. I am so excited to go to Russia and bring happiness to those people. The gospel changes lives and makes people happy.
So the holy ghost is amazing, I am relying so much on him. At times I dont even realize it but the holy ghost is leading me to do and say things. Every week we get to do a mock teaching leason and sometimes I dont even know what I am saying becuase its not me saying it, its the Lord through the holy ghost. Its amazing.

Well I am out of time I love you all so so so much. Thanks for the letters they help me so much. I need your love and support everyday!!

Love all of you always,
Cectpa Gneiting

PS mom can u buy some of the scripute master picture things that you can put in sciprutes for me and send them to me. A sister from russia wants some but they dont have them here. thanks

July 28, 2009

HELLO EVERYONE,

Well it's another great day as a missionary!!! Everything is just so amazing here, I love it love it love it here. I'm so glad that I am going to Russia cuz I stilll have 10 more weeks here :) well we will see how I feel about that later. I went to the Temple this morning, we get to go every pday! The Provo temple is so beautiful!
So I am going to try to answer all of your questions, but if I forget some I am sorry. I only have 17 mins left.
Thanks for your letters and emails, I love hearing for you all! They feel my day with sunshine! Well things are coming along very well. Its amazing to see how much Russian I have learned in two weeks, I can't wait to learn more though. There is not much new going on though, still I wake up, go to breakfast, go to class, go to lunch, go to class, do personal company and language study, go to dinner, go to gym sometime during the day, and then go to sleep. HAHA thats basically my schedule. Every day is GREAT! I really do love it here.
Mom I check my email around 12:45 when I start my laundrey. Oh by the way mom no one had said anything about my waist line haha!! Oh and yes my clothes are working just great! thankfully all the sidewalks are under covering so it doesnt get very hot since we are in the shade!! Food is great here too, well at least I love it. Some missionaries dont, but it's usually the Elders who just left their parents home and good home cooking. For those of us who have been at college for a while and had to cook our own food, which most of the time wasnt very good, then its great!! I love the salad, so that makes its easy to not gain weight!!
So I see Emily all the time, its awesome. It's so fun having her here! Oh Amy, I taught Emily the Hoedown Throwdown lastnight haha!! We have been able to sit by each other at some meetings, which we realized that it is good that we arent going to the same mission and arent companions cuz we get talking alot when we are with each other, we wouldnt get anything done as companions! Oh by the way she said she didnt get the email forward. her email is... oh nevermind i forgot it so i will send it to you in a letter :)
Scott and Amy, have your baby already???!!!!! Goodness your killing me here! Good luck with everything though, i pray for you daily that everything will go well. Let me know ASAP when it comes. I think it is going to be a girl!
Its been amazing feeling the power of the Lord here. The other day the 9 of us in my district all bore our testimonies, it was so powerfull. Missionary work it amazing and so important! I cant wait to get to Russia. The Lord love us so much! He wants us all to come closer to him. We all need to build our foundation upon him, he is our rock. We need not fear anything when we trust in him. He makes life. We cant forget him and what he has done for us. The gospel brings happiness to everyone and so many people dont have that joy, LETS FIND THEM AND SHARE IT WITH THEM!!!!! I hope you all are doing your part

I love you all so much. I have the best family ever. You all are my strength, I could not do this without you! Your support and love mean so much to me! I need your help though with this work, we full time missionaries cant do this alone. Look for every oppurtunity to share the gospel. The world need its. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!! Have an amazing week, and I can't wait to hear from you!!

Love Always,
Cectpa Gneiting

ps. if my spelling and english is not very good, please just dont pay attention to that. Russian is doing a number on me, i am already forgetting how to say and spell things in English. haha

July 21, 2009

HELLOOOOOOO my wonderful family!!!! I miss you all so much, but not enough to make me homesick and want to come home. haha sorry. Well it's amazing here, I have loved every moment being here. As soon as I walked in the front doors after saying goodbye to you, I just felt at home. Before arriving I thought I would be lost and not know what to do or where to go, oh was I wrong. This place is so organized. As soon as I walked in I was directed exactly where I needed to go, I never had to ask for help. Right after walking in I got my tag, it has Cectpa Gneiting (pronounced sestra) and then the church of jesus chirst of... and thats all in Russian. I would type how it is spelled, but I dont know how to type on the computer in Russian yet. I do know how to say it though!! Russian is coming along, actually very well. Its amazing how much we have learned in only 5 actually days of class. I know how to introduce myself, meet someone, share my testimony, pray, contact someone on the street about the gospel, and then just random words and things to say. So its coming along. There is a huge group of elder/sister going to Russia. There are 2 other sisters going to my mission, and then a bunch of elders going there too. There are missionaries going to Russia that have been here so 6 weeks and their Russian is so good, so I am looking forward to when I can talk like that!!!!
The spirit is amazing here, you feel it everywhere! We are in class basically all day long, and if I was anywhere else that would be the worst thing ever, but because the spirit is in class with us and because what we are learning is the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, every minute in class is amazing! So is is my schedule for every day except sunday and pday is: wake up, eat breakfast, go to class, eat lunch, go to class, eat dinner, go to class, go to bed!!!! haha yup thats basically it, but it great, I love it. We actually have gym time every day too, which oh man i love love love that! I am so determined not to gain ANY weight while being here, so I eat at the salad bar bascally every meal and I work out everyday! The only thing i dont like about gym is that they have this rediculous rule that in basketball only sisters can guard sisters and only elder can guard elders, and just my luck there are no other sister in my gym time that can play bball. I played one day and another sister agreed to play with me, she wasnt very good so I was able to score a lot of points. Soon though i felt like the elders were just using me to win haha cuz as long as i got the ball i usually scored. So I started passing the ball even if I had a wide open shot or drive, I will not be used haha. I just dont like that rule, but oh well.
well my time is almost up, so i love you all!! Please write me cuz first of all i love hearing from you and second of all one elder in my district get like 20 letters a day and packages!
Im so thankful for being a missionary and learning and growing so much! the gospel is so totally true. I would share more of my testimony but i have 50 seconds!!

love you sooooooo much
Cectpa Gneiting

July 18, 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

All is well on my first day here at the MTC. I only have 15 mins to write cuz its lights out at 10:30. So sorry if this isn’t very long. I love it here; it’s been amazing so far! Everyone is so nice and so helpful.

We had a lot of orientations today. We had a meeting about what to expect, & about the gym (which I am really excited for). We also met with the MTC Mission President and then with our Branch/District. Our branch has around 90 Elders/Sisters! That is huge; most branches have 20-30 members. There are tons of missionaries going to Russia. I have 2 companions, Sister Boggs (that is Tiana, the one I knew from before) and Sister Gilmore. They are both great! Sister Gilmore isn’t going to our mission.

Tomorrow we start our classes, so I’ll let you know how that goes. Oh, I am the senior companion, but then in 6 weeks we will switch. I miss you all so much.

I’m still a little nervous about my classes, but I know the Lord will help me. Well I only have a couple minutes left, but I want you to now how much I love and appreciate you. Thanks for all of your support. I know this is going to be an amazing experience. I know the church is true. I know that my Heavenly Father knows and loves me. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and I’m so thankful for His sacrifice for me. I’m so thankful to have this time to serve the Lord. I love you so much and I will write again soon, I’m not sure when that will be though. Haha! I’m still trying to get used to the rules and schedule.

Love always,

Sister Gneiting

PS I saw my friend Emily within 20 mins of being here. We ran into each other at the bookstore. We don’t have lunch or anything together, but our rooms are near each other, so we should see each other every day.