2.17.10

Hello everyone!!!

I can't believe it has been another week!!! Time is flying by soooooo fast! I feel like i just emailed you so i am trying to think what has happened since last wednesday. Well Im still trying to get to know everyone here in the branch, but the people here are very busy and its hard to meet with them. This last week was kind of hard for us. We got a lot less meeting for the week then what we set as a goal to get. We both dont know alot of people here so we are trying to meet with everyone, but it seems like right know no one can meet. There are alot of inactive members in this branch. President Trejo has asked all the missionaries in the mission to work alot with the inactives. So Sister Reed and I are trying to find them. we have meet with some of them and we are hoping to help them get back to church. They are all great though. This last week our strong investigator who was progressing and very interested in the church moved back to Mongolia for a few months. It was sad for her to go but hopefully when she comes back we or whatever sisters are here will start meeting with her again.

So our branch building is being painted on the inside so it is closed for almost a month which means we cant have english club, which is a bummer. Twice a week we have english club and we get alot of investigators for it. There are a couple girls from english that we are wanting to start meeting with. We have a meeting with one tomorrow and we hope that goes well and the others will be going to an activity that we have on saturday. We hope the will feel the spirit and want to continue meeting with us. We are really needing new investigator. When i got her the companionship that was already here didnt have many investigator, mainly because they all got baptized last transfer, which is awesome. So we are searching for new investogators.

My Russian I think has gotten tons better in the last 2 weeks since i left Novosibirsk. I dont have my russian companion anymore to rely on when i dont understand or dont know how to say something. This is my first time having an american companion and she is a transfer younger than me, so we both have a lot to learn in the russian language. So we have really had to rely on the lord for help to say what we want and to understand. The Lord is helping us though and we are speaking Russian. I know as we keep working hard and even though things are a little tough right now as we show the Lord we are willing to work and fight throught the hard times, he will bless us.

So mom all of your facts about the area are fun to read and they are all true. So you sent me info about lake baikal. Well next week we are going there!!! Everyone needs to look up lake baikal on the internet, because i dont have enough time to tell you about it. But it is like the worlds biggest fresh water lake and a bunch of other stuff. So we are way excited to go there.

Well i love you all so much and love reading you emails. Have a great week!

Sister Gneiting

2.10.10

Hello everybody!!

Well life has changed a little for me this last week. I am now in a new city called Irkutsk. This is a great city, i already love it here. The people are great and the city is great. I miss Novosibirsk and the people there horribly though and so i am trying to get over my homesickness for Novo. I dont know when i will go back to Novo, of course i will because the mission office and stuff is there, but we dont go all the way to novo for conferences so it might be a while until i get there.

So i traveled on the train here for over 30 hours. There was 4 missionaries on the train, 2 elders and another sister and 1. Sister Colderwood and I shared a cabin. The cabina are these small little rooms with 4 beds and a little table. THe beds are like bunk bed style. It was fun. There were a bunch of other russians in our car and most of them were drunk haha and it was pretty funny. They all wanted to talk to us because we were americans, and actually we were able to talk to alot of them about the gospel and some of them were very interested. Hopefully when they recover from being drunk they will remember. It was an eye opener for us though to remember that everyone is a child of god and deserves to hear the gospel, even if they are drunk. Of course we need to be careful but its something to think about. Well funny story from the train. When on the train sisters and elders arent allowed to go in each others cabins, so sister calderwood and i were standing outside the elders cabin talking to them and one of the drunk guys (maybe in his 40) came over right between Sis C and I, he started talking to all of us and was asking us if we wanted some vodka. Of course we told him no and we didnt drink, but he kept asking and was like "no dont worry its on me and its on russia, just have some...) well we kept telling him no. So anyway sis C and i decided to go back into our cabin to get away from the drunk man, so i started walkin to our cabin and then i stopped to turn around to wait for her and this man he was walking the same direction as me and when i stopped he put he arm on my back and started to lean into kiss me,and i thought "OH NOOOOOO" i was quick though and turned my head right in time and he only kissed my cheek/ear!!! I was like "OH MY GOODNESS" and then just kind of stood there for a second shocked and then hurried into my cabin with sis C right behing me and slammed the door shut and locked it as fast as we could. Then we laughed and laughed and laugh! It was so funny! So i have had my first kiss with a russian!! haha

Well now to the more important info. So Irkutsk is a new city to the gospel. It has only been open for 7 years to missionaries. There is only 1 branch but good amount of active members but also of course a lot of inactives. We have 3 investigators. One of them is Mongolian and she is pregnant and later this week she is leaving for Mongolia to have her baby, and she wont be back til may. So thats sad to see her leave because she is close to baptism, she just has a couple things to work past first. So hopefully she will continue investigating the church either when she gets back or in mongolia. Another invest. is also mongolian but i havent met her yet, so i dont know much about her. There is a group of mongolian girls living here and going to school and 4 of them have been baptized in the last few months and the other friends are our investigators. So thats really cool because they are all supportive of each other. The third invest. is a young girl who wants to be baptised but her dad is very against it, so he are not sure what will happen with that.

We are searching for new investigators right now. I feel the work here is going to be great. Its hard coming to a new city and trying to adjust, but i feel i am basically adjusted and now i can get to work. This work is the most amazing thing ever. This is the lords work and he is putting his trust in us, not just fulltime missionaries but all member. He needs our help. We are so blessed to know that we have a loving heavenly father who has prepared a plan for us to return to him and to recieve eternal joy and happiness. This is all REAL!! God LIVES, his son Jesus Christ LIVES, Christ IS our savior and he DID atone for us. Turn to the Lord and allow him to guide your life, without the Lord there is no point to life!

I love you all so so so much. I hope all is well for all of you and i miss you all!!

Sister Gneiting

2.3.10

Hello again everybody!!! It has been another great week. Well i actually have news this week. I am being transfered. I am actually going to see what the rest of russia looks like, and when i say i rest of russia, i really mean the REST well almost, but i will get back to that. So i am being transferred to Irkutsk and will be serving with sis read. Do you remember how i meet that other girl right before I went into the mtc who was going to the Novo mission too through one of my friends.... well thats her!! haha she is a transfer younger than me and I will be senior companion. I have mixed feelings about everything, but i know everything will be ok.

My russian is ok, but i still have a long ways to go and its hard to understand people at times. im sure her russian isnt much different then then mine so it might be challenging at times with russian, but I know the Lord will help us. This is what the Lord wants so we will work as hard as we can and he will make up the difference. I know this is going to be a huge learning experience and i know my russian is going to get alot better this transfer. The only other companions i have had have been russia, which means they know russian perfectly, and so when i dont understand what is being said i could always rely on them for help but know it will be a little different with have a younger american as a companion. So yes i am a little nervous but i know everything will be ok, the Lord always provides a way for this servants.

So anyway I leave Novo tonight, weds night at 11:30 on the train and ride all night and then all day tomorrow and then all night tomorrow and then get to Irkutsk at 9 or 10 am. So when i said I will see the rest of russia i wasnt joking. It will be cool to be on the train. I will be with a couple other missionaries too, so dont worry about me being on a train all by myself. I am sad though to leave Novo, i love it here and will miss it. I have been here for four month and so i have gotten to know the people here very well. I will miss them alot, but i will see them again. Alot of missionaries have to come through Novo when they are being transferred.

Well mom i still havent gotten that package, but dont worry that normal. it taked about a month to get here. I will eventually get it. They will just keep it at the office until someone go to Irkutsk and can bring it with them. So one day i will be very very happy!!!

So the work here in Novo is going well, i am leaving my area in good hands with the sisters here. We have some great investigators who will hopefully be baptized soon, I will be sad not to be here to see that. Also i had told you how there is alot of inactive members in our branch and how we have been visiting alot of them and trying to bring the spirit back into their lives so that they will want to return to church. Well alot of them have started coming back!!! This last sunday we have a lot of people at church and it was great, i hope that continues.

Well I cant really think of anything else to say. I love you all though so much, thanks for being the best family and friends ever.

Well I love you all so so so much. Keep being amazing!

Mindy - Sister Gneiting

Update on Sister Mindy (long post)

Well Mindy has been serving on her mission now for 7 months. She is doing great. She loves Russia and the people. She has been in Novosibirsk since she arrived in Russia 5 months ago. It is Russias 3rd largest city, after Moscow and St. Petersburg, and is the largest city of Siberia. This is where the Mission home is located. She loves this city and has enjoyed serving there.

Novosibirsk Skyline

Mindy with a couple other sister missionaries

(picture retreived from Bro and Sister Simmons blog - thanks!)

She was transferred this past week. She is now serving in Irkutsk. She had quite a journey getting there. Irkutsk is approximately about 1800 miles from Novosibirsk. She took a train to get there and traveled for 35 hours. She crossed two times zones. On the Russian map below (sorry its not bigger) Novosibirk is right in the middle of the map toward the southern border. Irkutsk is east of Novo (about an inch) next to a long sliver, crescent shaped lake (Lake Baikal - more pictures below). Considering that this is almost 2000 miles apart on this map it kind of gives you an idea of just how big Russia really is.

She is now the Senior Companion with another american sister that has been out about one month less than Mindy. Mindys other companions have all been Russian and they have been able to help her with the language and understanding the culture, etc. So now she is going to have to rely much much more on the Lord to help her with her understanding and speaking the language. She has great faith - I know she will do awesome!!

I have been studying about Irkutsk and its history and surrounding area and it is very interesting. I am learning alot about Russia. So I thought that I would give you a some interesting tidbits on this new area that she is serving in.

FACTS:

It is one of the largest cities in Siberia with a population of 593,604.

In the early 19th century, many Russian artists, officers and nobles were sent into exile to this part of Siberia for their part in the Decembrist revolt (Because this happened in December the rebels were called Decembrists) against Tsar Nicholas 1. (Hence the saying when someone does something wrong, "You are going to get sent to outer Siberia!")

Irkutsk became the major center of intellectual and social life for these exiles, and much of the citys cultural heritage comes from them. Many of their wooden houses, adorned with ornate, hand carved decorations ( see picture below), are still standing there today.

It has the nickname ~ The Paris of Siberia.

It is a very prosperous cultural and educational center for eastern Siberia with many museums and universities. The architectural design of many of the buildings and churches is very beautiful and ornate.

Kazansky Church in Irkutsk

Epiphany Minster (built in 1718-1746)

Irkutsk railway station on the Trans-Siberian Railway

(This is probably where Mindy arrived in this city)

A Decembrist house with distinctive hand-carved trim

Irkutsk sits near Lake Baikal. It is called "The Pearl of Siberia". It is the deepest lake in the world (about 2,442 ft) and it contains a total of about 20% of the worlds surface fresh water. It has a surface area of 12,248 square miles and is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, 2/3 of which can be found nowhere else in the world.

The lake is completely surrounded by mountains, contains 27 islands (the largest is 45 miles long and is the 4th largest lake-bound island in the world. The lake is fed by as many as 330 inflowing rivers.

Irkutsk is toward the bottom of the lake on the left side.

Sorry that this post is so long but I thought that you might be interested in seeing and hearing about the new area that Mindy is in. I hope that you enjoyed learning something new about a country that most of us know nothing about.

Well hello again to my wonder family and friends,

Well life is great and the work here is great, EVERYTHING is great.

So here in Novosibirsk there is alot of less/inactive members and we have been spending alot of time visiting and teaching them and we are seeing our effort with them payoff. The last couple sundays we have had alot come back to church! They are needing to be reminded of the importance of the church and reminded of the reasons why they joined the church. The amount of people at sacrament meeting in increasing very week lately and hopefully more and more will continue coming.

Then our invstigators are doing great to. One 19 year old girl named Marina started reading the book of mormon this last week and she also prayed for the first time like EVER in our meeting with her. We are seeing a great change of heart with her and she is progressing great. I think she will soon have a baptismal date set. Also we are teaching a man named nickoli, he is a husband to a lady from our branch. We ask him to read the BOM last week, which he did, but he was confused by alot of thing. We told his wife to read with him and help him understand it, and she hasnt done it much but we taught him yesterday and they said they would read together and also pray together. The wife very much wants him to accept the gospel, which he has accepted what we have taught him and he is progressing. Its wonderful to see the gospel bring a fam together. Many of our other investigators we havent been able to meet with lately, either they are sick or working or something, so that has been a roadblock.

So also great news, we have a meeting with Danna's sister Victoria tomorrow. She is 21 and Danna has realy wanted her to come to church activities but Victoria is scared what their mom will do if she finds out. I have only meet her once, so we are excited to meet with her tomorrow and teach her.

So yes it is very cold here, the last few days have been very cold. The coat and boats i have are really warm though and so i dont get to cold when i go outside. If we are outside for a long time it is usually only my toes that get cold.

So tranfers are next week!! I cant believe it. Time is flying by. We find out friday night where we will be next transfer. I have been here is Novo for 3 transfer, so i could very likely be transfered somewhere else, but where the Lord needs me I will go. If i do get transfered it will be hard to leave Novo, I love it here and the people here are great.

So i finally got the chistmas package from the Ward. It took over a month to get here! haha crazy. I loved it though. A lot of people had put letters in it. Tell the ward thank you sooooo much for that. Reading what everone wrote was a great blessing. Everyones love, support, and advice is helping me be a better missionary. I love the Newdale Ward.

Mom I cant believe you graduate soon!! Thats so awesome, you are amazing and the best mom ever (yes everyone it is true). So Mom for the college class you are helping teach, some good questions that an investigator might ask the missionaries could be: Why do I need to be apart of an organized church, why do i have to go to church when i can worship how i want at home, How can you believe Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus, he could have just been a crazy man gone mad (someone asked me that this last week), I have already been baptized in a different church, I believe god is a energy and not a real person. Anyway those sould help.

Well i love you all so much,
Sister Gneiting

Well you havent heard from me for awhile, because i think my last two email didnt get to you. So sorry about that. I am alive and well though. So i think in those emails i wrote about christmas and new years, so you havent heard about my holidays here in russia. Well everything was great. Both christmas and new years we spent at presidents house. We spent those two days just relaxing and playing games, watching some movies, and eating ofcourse. Also on new years eve we had to be home at 4 pm for the night. New years is a huge holiday here in Russia and very much celebrated and people can get very crazy and drunk, so we stay inside away from the partying. New years eve for all the missionaries in the mission is deep cleaning day, so when we got home at 4 we cleaned. So while everyone else was out partying and celebrating new years, we were cleaning! haha Missionary Life is GREAT!!!!!!

So in the last email, which i dont think you got, I told you about this lady in our branch that died last week. She wasnt married and lived with her parents.we would go and see her every week. It was a surprise that she died, everyone was shocked. Her mom is a member and also in our branch but no one else in her fam is. We went to their house the day after she died and the mom was said of course, but her knowledge of the gospel helped her alot. But her dad, who is not a member, was taking it very bad. He was drinking out his sorrows and pains. When we were at their house I felt so bad for him. I felt like we need to teach him and get him baptized and get this family sealed. He would just pace the house mumbling thing (of course drunk) and it was really sad. At the funeral he was just sitting next to her casket crying and crying and not really looking at anything else. Elder Miller (he and his wife are here on a mission) spoke about the Plan of Salvation, and during his talk the dad looked away from the casket and just starred and Elder Miller. I thought again,we need to teach him. I prayed that we would be able to help him and teach him. Well prayers are answered and heaven father loves all his children and........this last sunday the mom told us that the dad wants to start coming to church with her and that he wants to be taught about the church!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited, i couldnt stop smiling. I just kept thinking, THIS FAMILY AND BE TOGETHER FOREVER!! So we taught him a couple days ago about the restoration and the lesson was great. He said he would start reading the book of mormon and come to church and his was very happy and of course his wife is happy. I am very excited about teaching him. The Lord works in mysterious ways but he will provide a way for all the children of god to hear the about the gospel.

We have 3 other investigators who are progressing and getting closer to being baptized. They accept what we teach and understand. Hopefully soon we will have some baptismal dates.

So today we are going to the Ice City!!!! I guess its like a city carved out of ice, so that will be cool. I will send pictures.

So this week is Zone conference! I am way excited. Zone conference is always amazing and i learn so much from president trejo and his wife and the other leaders of the mission. I always feel a bust of energy after zone conference.

I havent gotten the packages but it is just probably taking forever. Thats ok though, it will be a surprise when i get them

Mom you said in you email that we are the same temperature right now and that it is really cold for you!!! Haha i was think that it feels really warm, i wasnt even wearing my gloves today!!! haha it has been so cold here lately. like -30 F so -5 F is great!!! HAHA I LOVE SIBERIA!!!!!!!! Oh and dad guess what, the tip of my nose did get frostbite, haha it was probably like 1st degree (idont know if that applies to frostbite) but yeah something happened to the tip, but it is better now.

So the pic Danna put on facebook, well i am not sure what pics they are. She had my camera for awhile, so maybe she put some one from my camera. Thats probably what they were. Oh I love that girl, she is amazing. I hope you can meet her someday. She is really wanting her sister to come to church things so right now we are working on that. Her sister is scared what their mom might do, but Danna is a great example and very strong is the gospel and has a great testimony. She is such a pioneer for her family.

Well things are great and i love Russia and I love being a missionary. The gospel is true and Jesus Christ is our savior and this is his true chruch. I love you all so so so so much!!!! Have a great week!!!

Love ya all

Sister Gneiting

Merry Christmas to everyone all the way from Russia!!!!!!!

Being away from home and a missionary makes me realize what christmas is about. Its not about the girft we recieve, but about celebrating the birth and life of our Savior Jesus Christ, and what makes christmas even better is we can celebrate this wonderful holiday with our families! I am so glad i will be able to talk to you on the phone, because you mean everything to me. I thank you for being the best family i could ever have, God placed us together in a family for a reason and I'm thankful he has given us a way to be together forever, yup you guys are stuck with me forever :) I love you sooo much!!
I want everyone reading this to know how much I love you and am thankful for you! I also want you to know how much the Savior loves you. Stay faithful to the Lord and as you do so he will take care of you and lead you to happiness. Only with the Lord at our side do we receive eternal joy and happiness. Jesus Christ came into this world selflessly and gave us the most important gift we could ever receive, he gave us the atonement. Please take time to remember the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us. Dont become distracted by the worldly meaning of christmas.
So Finland was great! We flew from Novosibirsk to Moscow then to Helsinki. We had a 4 hour layover in Moscow and then when we went to board our flight to Finland we were told that we were trying to get on the wrong flight and that our real plane didnt leave for 4 more hours. so we had a 8 hour layover in moscow, which we were all a little sad about because if we would have known we would be there that long we would have been able to go see the Red Square. So then we got to Finland and went to the temple because we stayed at the temple hotel. While in Helsinki we went to through a session at the temple and then went to this place called the fortress, which we dont really know what it was because we went at night and there was no one there to tell us anything or give us a tour. Well it was like an old war fort or castle or something. it was really old and cool. Maybe you can look it up on the internet and then tell me what it was haha - the Fortress in Helsinki. So the temple was beautiful, it is a small temple. It is actually the exact design of the Newport beach temple, well the outside isnt really but the inside was. So i sort of felt like i was in cali!
So I am getting the feel of the Siberian winters. Today -35 C today which is -31 F. YES THATS RIGHT -31 F cold cold cold but its ok because i get to wear fur to stay warm! haha
So I loved the pictures you sent me of Trent, he is soooooo cute! Does he wiggle around alot because in some of the pictures you sent he was blurry in them but everyone else wasnt blurry haha i thought that was funny. Also i like the picture by the tv you have up of me in that fur hat haha old ladies wear those here but i want to buy one but everyone says they will make fun of me, but i am ok with them making fun of me.

Well I love you all and I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas and a great 2010!!