Wednesday, December 16, 2009

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

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

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



Wednesday, December 2, 2009

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