HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!
WOW can you believe that it is already Thanksgiving again?!!!!!! This last year has flown by! So tomorrow is actually thanksgiving and we will be spending part of the day at President's house to eat thanksgiving dinner and hang out for awhile. It will be fun ans ofcourse I am excited to EAT!!!!!! So I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. Today we sort of started our thanksgiving celebration. Today for pday we had a turkey bowl football game!! HAHA it was so fun. It was some of the missionaries and a couple members and we met and played football in the snow. It was really cold, but as we ran around we got a bit warmer. We had a lot of fun!! Also tomorrow after we go to president's we will have english club and we are going to celebrate with them there too. They are all really excited to celebrate this american holiday with us. We told them that they can bring food and then we all will eat together and then do some other celebrating with them. It will be fun!!
Well this week, actually today begins the new transfer...... But no new news for me. I am staying here in Novosibirsk and my companion is still Sister Schwab. I am very happy to stay here and with her. I just love her so much. We have become great friends and really enjoy being together. She is such an awesome missionary for only just beginning. She is already speaking russian very well, even though she thinks she doesnt. Russian is a hard language, but she is doing great.
So on the side of Thanksgiving. i want to tell you mom and dad how much I am thankful for you!! I love you both so much. You are the best. I am so thankful for all that you have done for me throughout my life and also I am thankful for the examples of righteous church members and just great people that you are to me. I tell people all the time about you and about how grateful i am for you!!! Also i am so thankful to you Rhiana, Scott, Amy, and Hollie.You are the best siblings ever!! We have had so many amazing, great, funny, and just awesome times together. Your examples to me always helped me in my life as I went through things that I saw you go through when I was younger. You all have taught me so much. Amy Joy and Cameron I also am so grateful for you and the great additions you are to our family. You have also been very loving and supporting always to me. Then little Trent, I dont know you yet, but Im thankful for all the cute pictures that are sent to me of you. I know that I will just love you soooo much when we finally meet. Then to all of my relatives and friends reading this. Im so thankful for you all as well and love you all so much. Thank you for all that you have done for me. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!! Thanksgiving is such a great time to remember all that we are thankful for.
So my most excited news happened yesterday. On our way to english club last night we saw a lady with a son struggling a little to get him and the other stuff she had with her out of the subway station and through the street where there was a lot of ice. So we helped her and then headed off to english. Well surprisingly she and her son came to english. Her son in 3 and knows russian and armenian and now she wants him to learn english. Well the english club isnt very effective for him because there is a lot of people and he was getting distracted. So afterward I offered that my companion and I could go to her house and do family english lessons with them. She was so excited about that and we are going to their house tonight. I think it will be a great way to share the gospel with them. She was a very nice lady. Right now in our mission we have a goal to teach more families so that we can bring whole families into the gospel that can help and strengthen one another. I really think this family will be interested. Please pray that we will be able to start teaching this family.
So thats crazy that you are having a really bad storm. I wish I could see it!! We have snow here too, but no blizzards really. It just gets really cold. The last couple days have been -12C and it felt really cold, but then I remembered that last winter it was in the -40sC. I have forgotten how cold it gets here. I hope to experience that again before i go home. Warm clothes make a big difference though. I am very thankful for my winter clothes.
Well in the end I just want to say how thankful I am for my Heavenly Father, his son Jesus Christ, and my knowledge/testimony of their true church. I dont understand why I was so lucky to have been born into a family who already knew about the true church and then to have been raised to have a strong testimony that it is true, but i am so thankful for that. All the joy and happiness that I have had, now have, and will have in life is because of this gospel. Its the biggest blessing to me in my life. This church is true and I know that with no doubts.
I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and dont forget how much I love each one of you!!!
love always,
Sister Mindy Gneiting
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
11.17.10
Hey Hey Hey its Fat Albert!!!!!!!
haha actually its not him, its me, Sister Gneiting, and Im not fat!! Which is a good thing!!! Im basically the same weight as ever. So that answers your question mom, Im the same size in clothes :) Well enough talking about how I havent gained any weight, lets talk about more important stuff!!!!
Well the mission and its work is continuing and I am just so thankful for this opportunity to serve. Its amazing how much someone can learn and grow on a mission. This was truly just been the most rewarding time of my life. A couple times in the last couple days we have been taught about sacrificing for the Lord. We talked about how when we sacrifice something we ultimately in the return receive much more blessing worth more then what we sacrificed. There is a story about a little girl whos parents gave a a pretty but fake pearl necklace. This little girl just loved this necklace and never took it off. Every night when her dad went to tuck her in to bed he would ask her if she loved him. She of course would respond and and say yes of course I love you dad. He then would say to her, well if you love me give me your necklace. She would always acted sad and didnt want to give it away but would offer one of her other toys. After many days one night when her dad went to tuck her in she was just sitting on her bed and before he could say anything she said,I love you dad so much so her i my necklace. The dad took it from her and then gave her a little box. She opened it and inside was a new and REAL pearl necklace. Every night we took the box with him and was just waiting for her to give him her old necklace. I just love this story and we can learn so much from it. The same thing happens with our Heavenly Father. As we sacrifice things for him, he in return will give us soooo many wonderful blessings. We each can think about how we can show our love to Heavenly Father and what we can sacrifice to him. I think about when I was trying to decided to come on a mission. There were many things that I thought I couldnt sacrifice to take the time to serve a mission, but now I see that I have received so many blessings from coming on the mission. Now I see that it really wasnt a sacrifice considering all that I have been given because of serving a mission.
I have also learned that in missionary work we must sacrifice much for the lord to bless us in our work. This last week was a hard week. I felt like EVERYTHING had crashed. Everything that we had been working for before that just seemed to come to a halt. People that we had been working with in the past seemed to just disappear and we were trying to find new people, but we werent successful. Many things happened last week in my life here in Russia that just weighed me down and I felt stressed. There was a part of me that was losing faith. I felt like I was doing so much to be diligent, obedient, and hard working but yet nothing last week seemed to go well. So at the end of the week I started thinking about it and what I could learn from this experience. Even though a part of me was losing faith and even felt like giving up, the other bigger part of me was saying that the Lord had given me this experience for a reason and i needed to find that reason. Well I actually now have come to realize that last week was a blessing for me. I was humbled and have realized the things the Lord want me to learn. I need to as that little girl, sacrifice my time, my talents,my everything to this time that i have left on the mission. Although I was working hard last week, I can be working harder. There is more I can be doing. I have already seen the blessing from this sacrifice already in this new week. The work here is already getting better.
Well what else has happened. Yesterday a cool thing happened. We were at a meeting with a member from the branch who is less active. She was telling us about her mom and that her mom is really sick. Ofcourse we always start our meetings with a prayer and she asked me to say it and pleaded for me to pray for her mom. she said, "i know god will listen to you." Well I offered the prayer and asked god to bless her mom with health. Then about 5 mins after that her phone rang and it was her mom on the other end. After this lady hung up the phone she was so amazed. She said, " I was just with my mom about 30 mins ago and she was too sick and weak to even get out of bed and could barely talk. She just called me and the phone is in a completely different room then were she was laying. I have no idea how she got to the phone. She also just sounded so alive, when before she sounded so sick. Your prayer worked, God answered it" I was actually so surprised. I have never seen a prayer work like that before. It was a huge testimony builder for me. Prayer is real and it does work.
So funny story. Yesterday we were contacting and talking to people about the gospel on the streets. I saw this lady selling milk on a little table. We decided to go and talk to her. Well to make the story short, we decided to buy some milk and cheese from her so that we could start a conversation about the gospel with her and that maybe she would like us more if we bought stuff from her, you know like build a friendship. Well my plane was to buy it and then start the conversation. So we payed for it and then this other lady came up and started asking her how much her milk and stuff was and then things got real awkward. WE were basically just standing there and they were looking at us funny cuz we already bought stuff and should have already walked away. So I just awkwardly said we were missionaries and then gave here a little p[pamphlet about out church. She looked at me and then the other lady and then me again and took the pamphlet and then started talking to the other lady about prices and stuff. SO then we turned and walked away and bursted into laughter. HAHA it was sooo funny!!!! The moral of the story it.... YOu shouldnt try to buy investigators!!!!! But in the long run, the milk was very good :) haha
Well my time is up :( i love you all so much!!! Have a another great week. Thanks for you love, prayers, and emails!
Sister Gneiting
haha actually its not him, its me, Sister Gneiting, and Im not fat!! Which is a good thing!!! Im basically the same weight as ever. So that answers your question mom, Im the same size in clothes :) Well enough talking about how I havent gained any weight, lets talk about more important stuff!!!!
Well the mission and its work is continuing and I am just so thankful for this opportunity to serve. Its amazing how much someone can learn and grow on a mission. This was truly just been the most rewarding time of my life. A couple times in the last couple days we have been taught about sacrificing for the Lord. We talked about how when we sacrifice something we ultimately in the return receive much more blessing worth more then what we sacrificed. There is a story about a little girl whos parents gave a a pretty but fake pearl necklace. This little girl just loved this necklace and never took it off. Every night when her dad went to tuck her in to bed he would ask her if she loved him. She of course would respond and and say yes of course I love you dad. He then would say to her, well if you love me give me your necklace. She would always acted sad and didnt want to give it away but would offer one of her other toys. After many days one night when her dad went to tuck her in she was just sitting on her bed and before he could say anything she said,I love you dad so much so her i my necklace. The dad took it from her and then gave her a little box. She opened it and inside was a new and REAL pearl necklace. Every night we took the box with him and was just waiting for her to give him her old necklace. I just love this story and we can learn so much from it. The same thing happens with our Heavenly Father. As we sacrifice things for him, he in return will give us soooo many wonderful blessings. We each can think about how we can show our love to Heavenly Father and what we can sacrifice to him. I think about when I was trying to decided to come on a mission. There were many things that I thought I couldnt sacrifice to take the time to serve a mission, but now I see that I have received so many blessings from coming on the mission. Now I see that it really wasnt a sacrifice considering all that I have been given because of serving a mission.
I have also learned that in missionary work we must sacrifice much for the lord to bless us in our work. This last week was a hard week. I felt like EVERYTHING had crashed. Everything that we had been working for before that just seemed to come to a halt. People that we had been working with in the past seemed to just disappear and we were trying to find new people, but we werent successful. Many things happened last week in my life here in Russia that just weighed me down and I felt stressed. There was a part of me that was losing faith. I felt like I was doing so much to be diligent, obedient, and hard working but yet nothing last week seemed to go well. So at the end of the week I started thinking about it and what I could learn from this experience. Even though a part of me was losing faith and even felt like giving up, the other bigger part of me was saying that the Lord had given me this experience for a reason and i needed to find that reason. Well I actually now have come to realize that last week was a blessing for me. I was humbled and have realized the things the Lord want me to learn. I need to as that little girl, sacrifice my time, my talents,my everything to this time that i have left on the mission. Although I was working hard last week, I can be working harder. There is more I can be doing. I have already seen the blessing from this sacrifice already in this new week. The work here is already getting better.
Well what else has happened. Yesterday a cool thing happened. We were at a meeting with a member from the branch who is less active. She was telling us about her mom and that her mom is really sick. Ofcourse we always start our meetings with a prayer and she asked me to say it and pleaded for me to pray for her mom. she said, "i know god will listen to you." Well I offered the prayer and asked god to bless her mom with health. Then about 5 mins after that her phone rang and it was her mom on the other end. After this lady hung up the phone she was so amazed. She said, " I was just with my mom about 30 mins ago and she was too sick and weak to even get out of bed and could barely talk. She just called me and the phone is in a completely different room then were she was laying. I have no idea how she got to the phone. She also just sounded so alive, when before she sounded so sick. Your prayer worked, God answered it" I was actually so surprised. I have never seen a prayer work like that before. It was a huge testimony builder for me. Prayer is real and it does work.
So funny story. Yesterday we were contacting and talking to people about the gospel on the streets. I saw this lady selling milk on a little table. We decided to go and talk to her. Well to make the story short, we decided to buy some milk and cheese from her so that we could start a conversation about the gospel with her and that maybe she would like us more if we bought stuff from her, you know like build a friendship. Well my plane was to buy it and then start the conversation. So we payed for it and then this other lady came up and started asking her how much her milk and stuff was and then things got real awkward. WE were basically just standing there and they were looking at us funny cuz we already bought stuff and should have already walked away. So I just awkwardly said we were missionaries and then gave here a little p[pamphlet about out church. She looked at me and then the other lady and then me again and took the pamphlet and then started talking to the other lady about prices and stuff. SO then we turned and walked away and bursted into laughter. HAHA it was sooo funny!!!! The moral of the story it.... YOu shouldnt try to buy investigators!!!!! But in the long run, the milk was very good :) haha
Well my time is up :( i love you all so much!!! Have a another great week. Thanks for you love, prayers, and emails!
Sister Gneiting
Monday, November 15, 2010
11.11.10
Hello again,
Well its been a great week! Last saturday Marina was baptized!!! It was such a beautiful ceremony. Many people were there to support her. She was so happy. Before the baptism she a little scared again about the water, but everything was great in the end. The whole ceremony was very spiritual. She and her mom were so happy after the ceremony. Then on sunday she was confirmed and received the gift of the holy ghost. Once again she was so happy!!!! So it was a great weekend.
So this morning i got back to Novosibirsk from my visa trip to Finland. It was a nice trip and no problems. It was just me and one other sister, so it was more relaxing then having a bunch of crazy elders with us haha!! This time we were able to go to the temple in Finland. It was the first think we did when we got off the plane, we went straight to the temple. It was so amazing to spend that time in the house of the lord. Ahhh i wish i could go everyday. The temple is just such an amazing place. The feelings and knowledge we receive inside is priceless. Im so thankful for the temple. After the temple to just hung around the temple hotel where we stayed. The next day we woke up early and headed to the airport and flew to Moscow. Then we had the about a 12 hr layover there. So we went to Red Square and walk around looking at things around there. Its was really fun. Then last night I had a red eye flight back home. Now Im back to mission work :) well right now im emailing but after this i will work :)
Well Im sorry this is a short email, but really i have no news. SInce i was gone on visa trip, that is basically all my news. And since this isnt pday we dont have as much time to email. Well i wanted to let you know im alive and doing great!
So as for the two days that are an option for me going home, i have decided on the 5th. So yeah thats the plan.
Im so sorry this is sooo short. Next week will be better I hope!! I love you all so much and hope you all the best.
Love you daughter, sister, friend, and whoever else,
Sister Mindy Gneiting
Well its been a great week! Last saturday Marina was baptized!!! It was such a beautiful ceremony. Many people were there to support her. She was so happy. Before the baptism she a little scared again about the water, but everything was great in the end. The whole ceremony was very spiritual. She and her mom were so happy after the ceremony. Then on sunday she was confirmed and received the gift of the holy ghost. Once again she was so happy!!!! So it was a great weekend.
So this morning i got back to Novosibirsk from my visa trip to Finland. It was a nice trip and no problems. It was just me and one other sister, so it was more relaxing then having a bunch of crazy elders with us haha!! This time we were able to go to the temple in Finland. It was the first think we did when we got off the plane, we went straight to the temple. It was so amazing to spend that time in the house of the lord. Ahhh i wish i could go everyday. The temple is just such an amazing place. The feelings and knowledge we receive inside is priceless. Im so thankful for the temple. After the temple to just hung around the temple hotel where we stayed. The next day we woke up early and headed to the airport and flew to Moscow. Then we had the about a 12 hr layover there. So we went to Red Square and walk around looking at things around there. Its was really fun. Then last night I had a red eye flight back home. Now Im back to mission work :) well right now im emailing but after this i will work :)
Well Im sorry this is a short email, but really i have no news. SInce i was gone on visa trip, that is basically all my news. And since this isnt pday we dont have as much time to email. Well i wanted to let you know im alive and doing great!
So as for the two days that are an option for me going home, i have decided on the 5th. So yeah thats the plan.
Im so sorry this is sooo short. Next week will be better I hope!! I love you all so much and hope you all the best.
Love you daughter, sister, friend, and whoever else,
Sister Mindy Gneiting
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
11.3.10
Hello everyone!!!
Every week is going by faster, i still cant believe it. Well this last week has been great!!. Well I dont have much time to email to day, but i will try to make this interesting. So last wednesday we had the fake baptism and it was GREAT!!! This girl Marina is 17 and she is getting baptized this saturday but she was very scared of the water and being dunked under. So last week we did a fake baptism and now she is so ready for her real baptism. It was really cool. She was in the white gown and the elder who will be baptizing her also was in white and then he showed her how it would work and then dunked her a couple times. She says she isnt scared anymore. She is really excited for her baptism, well we all are. So this saturday will be her baptism and i will tell you all about it next time.
So i have something to talk to you about that President Trejo has asked me to ask you. So my realise date is supposed to be on the 5th of January, but that is considered a national holiday in Russia. So they cant send the new missionaries from provo here because they first need to go to the embassy in moscow and it will be closed. So they wont get here until the 12th and so they want to keep us here til the 12th also. So president asked me if that would be a problem with starting so and i told him no and they he wanted me to ask you because maybe family members have planned to come at the 5th to see me. Anyway so think about it and let me know if it would be better for me to come home on the 5th. I can go home either the 5th or the 12th, so let me know what your thoughts are.
Well next week i go on visa trip again. Im going a month earlier then usual, so it was a surprise when I found out about it. Me and just one other sister will be going together, but for part of the trip i will be alone because she is serving in a different city. So anyway we are going to Finland again. This will be my last visa trip.
So yesterday the coolest thing happened. I went to english club and i heard a girl calling my name and i turned around and it was one of my old investigators from Irkutsk. It was a total surprise. She is living here now and so im totally excited about that and hopefully start working with her again. Also we have a new investigator named Galina so is a friend of a member. We have had one meeting with her and it was really good and tonight we have another one. She is really interested in learning more.
On Sunday was Danna's year anniversary since her baptism. It was a very speacial day and she was really happy. I cant believe it has been a whole year.
Well sorry i have to go and i might not get a email sent to you next wednesday because i will be in finland. so dont worry if that happens. Well i love you all!!
Sister Mindy Gneiting
Every week is going by faster, i still cant believe it. Well this last week has been great!!. Well I dont have much time to email to day, but i will try to make this interesting. So last wednesday we had the fake baptism and it was GREAT!!! This girl Marina is 17 and she is getting baptized this saturday but she was very scared of the water and being dunked under. So last week we did a fake baptism and now she is so ready for her real baptism. It was really cool. She was in the white gown and the elder who will be baptizing her also was in white and then he showed her how it would work and then dunked her a couple times. She says she isnt scared anymore. She is really excited for her baptism, well we all are. So this saturday will be her baptism and i will tell you all about it next time.
So i have something to talk to you about that President Trejo has asked me to ask you. So my realise date is supposed to be on the 5th of January, but that is considered a national holiday in Russia. So they cant send the new missionaries from provo here because they first need to go to the embassy in moscow and it will be closed. So they wont get here until the 12th and so they want to keep us here til the 12th also. So president asked me if that would be a problem with starting so and i told him no and they he wanted me to ask you because maybe family members have planned to come at the 5th to see me. Anyway so think about it and let me know if it would be better for me to come home on the 5th. I can go home either the 5th or the 12th, so let me know what your thoughts are.
Well next week i go on visa trip again. Im going a month earlier then usual, so it was a surprise when I found out about it. Me and just one other sister will be going together, but for part of the trip i will be alone because she is serving in a different city. So anyway we are going to Finland again. This will be my last visa trip.
So yesterday the coolest thing happened. I went to english club and i heard a girl calling my name and i turned around and it was one of my old investigators from Irkutsk. It was a total surprise. She is living here now and so im totally excited about that and hopefully start working with her again. Also we have a new investigator named Galina so is a friend of a member. We have had one meeting with her and it was really good and tonight we have another one. She is really interested in learning more.
On Sunday was Danna's year anniversary since her baptism. It was a very speacial day and she was really happy. I cant believe it has been a whole year.
Well sorry i have to go and i might not get a email sent to you next wednesday because i will be in finland. so dont worry if that happens. Well i love you all!!
Sister Mindy Gneiting
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