Hello Hello!!!!!

Well its that time again to email you!!! The weeks come and go soooooo fast. Well things here in Russia are great! Today was Pday and we spent the day at Lake Baikal, which his so beautiful!! The last time i went there the lake was all frozen and we could walk on it, but this time ice was gone which means i was able to drink the water!!! Lake Baikal is the worlds largest fresh water lake so you can drink right out from it and its as if you are drinking filtered water. Yeah its cool. It was a fun day! I will attack some pictures.
So yes it was my bday yesterday, thank you for all the bday wishes!! I cant believe i am 22, thats a little weird for me to think about and it just means the rest of you are even older then that haha. I still think of Hollie as abut 22 or 23 haha i guess i need to start thinking different. Mom i havent gotten that package yet because no one has come to irkutsk from Novosibirsk for a long time, but there will be some people coming soon. So i will just get to celebrate my birthday twice!!!! I had a great birthday though. In the morning right before my we started companionship study my companion said we need to take the garbage out, so i went and open the door to go out and as i walked out all the elders jumped up and suprised me with balloons and a poster and a gift! It was really cute of them. And then later in the day all us missionaries and the senior couple here had a little party with cake. It is Elder Southam's birthday today, so we celebrated together. Then that night some people from the branch and english club suprised me too with some flowers and a gifts and then when we went home I was suprised again. Diana the branch presidents daughter, who has become my very good friend surpised me with cake and some gifts and flowers. It was really cute what she did, she is just awesome. So it was a good day filled with alot of surprises. The people here are just great and have become like family.
So this week we will have Marina's baptism. It will be on Friday and she is soooooo ready for baptism. We met with her yesterday and she is so excited about getting baptised. Her uncle who she is living with right now is going to baptize her, so that will be special for both of them. So next week I will email you all the details about her baptism. Anya is also supposed to be getting baptised on saturday, but we are not sure that will happen. She is really busy with school right now and has alot of exams, so we will see what happens. We also have 2 new investigator who we found from english club. There names are Katya and Era. We have only taught them a little but they both are interested in learning more. Era has a lot of good questions about God and the gospel. I am really excited about these girls. Oh also i told you about that girl named Alex, well i think i dont you about her. Well she has been very inactive the last year or so. We we have had a couple meeting with her and she came to church on sunday and to some other activities. So I have been very excited to see here start to come back and i hope we can continue to help her strengthen her testimony.
So in a couple weeks Elder Scott is coming to our mission. He is having a confernece in Novosibirsk and all the missionaries that are serving near Novo will be able to go to it..... but Irkutsk is so far away that we cant go. Elder Scott have a rule that has long as the missionaries can get to the confernce and back and only miss one day of missionary work then they can come. Well since we travel on train from irkutsk to novo it takes almost 3 days... so we cant go :( but its right on transfer so if im tranfsred i might be able to go, but if not that is ok. I think they will broadcast it or something so we can see it, but it would be cool to see him. I did meet him while i was in the MTC though, so its ok if i dont make it to it. Its cool to know that he is coming to our mission though. He will give us some great advice and I know our mission will be strengthed by his visit.
Well onve again I love you all soooooooooooo much and miss you all to. Just know everything is great here in russia !!!!! I attached some pictures one with Diana, some of my bday, and some at Baikal. Enjoy!!!!!!

Love always,
Sister Mindy Gneiting

5.19.10

Hello everyone!!!!!
I hope you all are doing great. I love you all so much. Well first and most important thing is first HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well actually I think when you read this it will not be your birthday yet, but it russia it is your birthday today!!!!!!!!! So you can celebraty for a little longer than normal. Well iu hope you have a great birthday and that everyone does something nice for you. So hint hint everyone haha. I just love you so much mom, thanks for everything you do for me. You will be getting a package (who nows when though) and there will be some bday presents for you. I LOVE YOU SOOOOO MUCH MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well things are great here in Irkutsk. Two of our investigators we have set dates with for them to get baptized next week!!! Marina and Anya. They are two young girls and are just great!! Marina is the one that we met last week, she is just amazing and so ready for the gospel. She accepts everything we teach her and is so willing to follow the commandments we teach her about, even if they are new to her. She is a miricle. Anya is also great. We have been meeting with her for 2 transfers and she had progressed alot. There has been some things we have had to work through with her but she is ready know for baptism. So we are praying this baptisms happen next week and everything is great. We would appreciate your prayers aswell for this two girls. Prayer are mighty! We have another young girl named Natasha, who we think will be ready for baptism soon too, but its really hard to meet with her cuz she doesnt have a phone. She is really excited about the gospel and has been to church and really like it. So we are praying everything goes well with her. Also last night this girl, who is a member, came to english club. She hasnt been to church or english club for like a year. She is a great girl though and we are going to start meeting with her and try and help her stregthen her testimony and come back to church. I really feel we can help her. A big part of our work is the less actives here and its great when they start coming back to church after a long period of time. They just have to be reminded about the gospel and remember that it is true. Thats why it is so important that we go to church every week. If we miss only 1 or 2 sundays,. its easier to miss more. Satan really workd on us and tempts us and the longer we are away for church and for hearing and studying the gospel the more he is able to lead us away. Every sunday we are able to stregthen ourselves and each other. THe gospel is SOOOOOO important but sometimes its easy to forget parts of it. I am just so thankful for the gospel and im so greatful to be on a mission. I can see that i have changed a lot since last July 15th when i entered the MTC. The gospel changes us and makes us better. THe Lord is our example and when we strive to follow him and his commandment life is just so much better. We need to always keep the savior as the center of our lives.

Well i love you all so much. Thank you for everything. Keep being amazing!!!!! Sorry this email wasnt very long

Ok the picture are 1st: my companion and i with marina our investigator, 2nd: at a sevice project, 3rd: standing by the wall (its funny because every once in a while we find funny english words on the walls) 4th: with the branch president, his wife, and daughter, and the southams who are the senior couple here

love always,

Sister Mindy Gneiting

Pictures Pictures Pictures!!!!

5.13.10

Hello Hello Hello!!!!!!

It was so great to talk to you on Sunday and hear your voices. I feel like i have told you everything already, so i am trying to think whats new to write in this email. Well i guess i can start with the weather :) haha well it stinks right now, well not literally, but it is cold again. The good thing is that it is only raining and not snowing. We had some really nice warm days last week. Its really nice when i dont have to wear a coat!!!!!

So i have a new amazing person to tell you about. Well her name is Marina. She came to church on sunday and we didnt know who she was. Well we started talking to her and found out she is our elders quorum president's neice. She is not a member but is very interested in the church. We went later that day and taught her and then have been teacher her very day since. She is SOOOOOO ready for the gospel and to be baptised. She is only 18 and has battled with leukemia. At one point she was in stage 4 of cancer, but now is doing better. When you talk to her you can tell that because of her battle with cancer she has become a very strong person and has developed a strong testimony with the Lord. She told us that at one point the doctors has no hope for her, and she said that is when she turned her life over to god and started reading the bible and praying and soon received a miracle and was healed and recovered and know is doing great. After that she decided she wanted to find the truth church and through her uncle she found out about our church. She is amazing and is soaking everything up that we teach her. She is such a great example for all of us. Life is hard, we all have things that weigh us down, and we can choice how we will respond to this tribulations. We should all learn from Marina and always allow the Lord to led our lives. The gospel brings so much happiness to our lives, if we allow it to. We need to live everyday the way the Lord wants us to. Not only will he bless us as we follow him, but he will use us as instruments in his hand in bring others to this great happiness we acquire from the gospel. The gospel is true, so why not share it with all. I am so thankful for the gospel and to be serving a mission. Everyday my testimony is strengthened and i learn new things that i know i never would have learned if i wouldnt have gone on this mission. IF anyone has the opportunity to serve a mission, DO IT!!! You will never regret it. Oh and by the way for all you married older couples with grown children, my mission president has asked us to tell everyone that we know that our mission needs new senior couples. If any married couple are interested in serving a mission or if you know of any couples who are thinking about it, let me know because my mission president can request them and then most likely they will be called here. This is the best mission is the world to serve in and because our mission is bigger then the united states, its very hard for president to get around to all the cities and take care of everything, so senior couple are a HUGE blessing to our mission and to the missionaries here. So yeah let me know.
Mom thats way cool about your friend from your youth that was baptised and way cool that he lives in scotts ward. Oh by the way scott i gave mom that info about that lady who lives in costa mesa and is the daughter of Galina, a member in my branch here. You should try to get a hold of them. I hope they speak english. The next time i see Galina i will take a picture with her so you can show them. Anyway that would be cool if you could help them receive the gospel because they arent members. I expect a report from you on your effort.

Dad i am sorry the Jazz lost. There is always next year though and now you have baseball to watch!! GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People here dont no really anything about baseball, its really sad. Also they dont now how to play american football, its very funny to watch them try. But the are great at soccer!!!

Well im sorry i cant think of anything else to say. I should start keeping notes of things that happen through out the week so i can remember to tell you about them. Well maybe i will do that for next week!!! Well ofcourse i love you all and cant wait to hear from you next week!!!! Have a great week.

Love,

Sister Mindy Gneiting