Letter #45 from Russia

Hey, I don't have a ton of time, but I wanted to say that this week has been a good one. I feel like as soon as I moved areas, the Lord just blessed me a ton. Seriosuly, I've only been called a cultist once the enitre week. It's been really nice! I don't really understand what happened though, because I'm not doing anything different, but people here just want to meet with us. My companion says that this has happened to him his whole mission, even less than usual lately, so he was confused why I was so excited about it all. People will jst call us and say they want to meet, or I can just call someone and set up a meeting, and for one, they answer... which was rare in Penza. Second, they are down to meet AT A SPECIFIC TIME, which like... never happened in Penza. People were so capricious there. I'm super excited about this new area, it will be a good change. I loved Penza, it will always hold a place in my heart, but I was getting stale there and I'm really happy to be in a fresh situation. We had a lot of good meetings with really good people who sincerely want to know about the gospel, not because we're Americans either, they are just interested in changing their lives. How cool is that! My companion is a great elder with lots of success on his mission, really nice guy, but a lot of negative comments... so I'll have to talk to him about that... I'm in a city where we are the only missionaries, so we're completely alone. We have district meeting over the phone... yeah... all the other missionaries gather at a senior couples apartment and get fed awesome food while we sit at home and listen to them all have a blast... oh well, I'm fine with it... haha!

 

I really love you all! I have to go though!

 

Elder Skvortz!

Letter #44 from Russia

Hello everyone! 

So I'm getting transferred. Like right now. I'm in Samara and i'm at this super terrible internet place... thing. But whatevs. haha! So I'm pretty sad about leaving Penza again, but I feel good about where I'm going. I'm going to a place called Ulyanovsk. It's named after Vladimir Ulyanov, or for those of you who don't know his real name, Lenin. He grew up in this town. I'm going to go to his house too, missionaries always do. Supposedly this town is the prettiest in our mission, it's supposedly a bit better kept because of it's famousness... I'm excited about that. Elder Ross is my new companion. He's loud, and really energetic. I think I'll like him. I can't really concentrate right now... There are Russians yelling at each other behind me and freaking out calling each other idiots. Wow... This is fun. I'll miss this when I go home.

Stas is definitely NOT progressing right now. In fact, he's completely digressed. He was doing so well, but then his wife walked out on him and he went into a super depressive state. We called him the other day right as he was standing on top of a 9 story apartment building contemplating jumping. It was super sad to talk to him over the phone... and super scary because he was in a really sketchy situation.  His life really fell apart. We were able to help calm him down though thankfully and he didn't do anything. Man... if people just excepted and lived the gospel of Jesus Christ, there wouldn't have to be any of these terrible situations... I wonder what my mission would be like if I were travelling all over singing to people and signing autographs and still somehow getting baptisms even though I was gone all the time... Yeah... who needs that.

I felt personally that we really worked hard this week. We pushed ourselves and we worked with members a lot to help our investigators. This week seems like it's been a rollercoaster week. One with really high highs and low lows. I'm really frustrated though because it seems like everytime I find someone golden, they are crazy or the go crazy because satan is working so hard against them! I don't know how to protect them from the world because I can't make their choices for them! I feel like I always get so close to a baptism... and then everything falls. I really hope it isn't punishment of some sort. I really hope this is just how things are working out... but then I look at all of our leaders and they all are such successful missionaries! I need to sacrifice more to the Lord. I need to give him everything... I must be holding something back. And because of that, He's holding things back from me. I'll figure it out. If it takes me until the end of the mission, then so be it! If I come home from my missionary having become a disciple of Christ, then it is all worth it, right? 

Love you all! Got to go!

Elder Skvortz.

Letter #43 from Russia

Hello Family!

I love getting everyone's emails! I never fully appreciated communication with family... until I could't remember what they look like. Just kidding, obviously I remember... some of you.

So this week has been really nice in the fact that although it started off terrible because of the heat, it has gotten much better because of some rain. SO GRATEFUL!! I love rain now, even though it makes it harder for people to stop and talk to you, it feels so nice! The Russian habit of drinking hot tea when it's scorching hot outside is never going to be something I will adopt. They think it's good cuz it makes you sweat more , which cools you off... I think it's... ostrobogulous. 

So Laziz, one of the best members here in Penza is leaving back to Uzbekistan. I love the kid so much and he is so sad because he's really scared about loosing his faith. Pretty sure I'll be skyping with him a lot when I get home to help him keep strong. He's going to be learning Japanese so that he can move there after a few years in Uzbekistan. In fact, he wants to to live with him there, so I probably won't be coming back to America anytime soon. haha! Not really, but they got me a japanese dictionary so that I can learn Japanese through Russian when I get back home. The members here are so funny! And it's awesome because now I can ditch Russian and study Japanese! just kidding... I'll save it for when I get home. 

This week, we made cookies and gave them to our neighbors, well, we put them in front of their door. They didn't get touched for three days. We figured they were just at the dacha for the weekend, but then we came home from church and they had moved to cookies back in front of our door... Rejected. It was pretty awkard. haha! Also, fun fact! Russian windows are designed to open two ways. They they can swing open to the side for full wind coolage, or you can swing them down from the top a bit for partial wind breeze. I don't understand how it works, but I have no interest in finding out, I just thought I would tell you because there isn't really any other exciting news... it's frustrating. We would have had exciting news that Stas got baptized, but he didn't come to church again, and we can't let him get baptized if he doesn't have good church going habits. So sad! I'll probably get transferred before he get's baptized. We all feel like I am the one who'll get transferred because I've been here the longest. oh well. If he get's baptised, I'll know I helped him on that path! Which will be such a blessing! 

We don't really have any investigators that are doing to great right now in regards to preparing for baptism, other than stas. We are working hard, but it seems that the Lord is still trying us. We are definitely having more success than I had last cycle, but things still aren't really picking up. The fact that we had stas was a miracle, but since it looks like it's going to be a while before he can get baptised, the work suddenly seems so slow again. haha! I wish there was something I could do to shake things up so that we all got fired up again! It's just irritating because the government forbids like... everything here, so we can't do things that other missions can do for finding and stuff. Oh well, The Lord sent me here to work, not complain, so there's no point in getting irritated about something I can't change.  The mission is definitely the refiner's fire and theres no way you can come out of a mission like this and not be changed. Well, maybe someone has succeeded in doing it, but you've got to try pretty hard I would say. I'll definitely be different. 

Hey, I've got to go! I love you all! I'm so glad to be here, even though it seems like time is stopped at times, other times seems like it can't seem to slow down! I'm loving my mission!

Elder Skvortz!

Letter #42 from Russia

Hey Family!!

So this week has not been my favorite on the mission. It's fine, I'm still
happy and having fun with my companions, but Stas didn't show up to church,
and because of that he can't get baptized this cycle. So if I get
transferred, I won't get to be there for him. I'm really bummed about that.
He's one of my favorite people I've ever met and I'm frustrated at him for
being so unreliable! However, when I think about his life, I calm down.
He's going through a lot of changes and I can't expect him to come along
perfectly. That's actually the fun part about being a missionary. Each
investigator has their own specific challenges and concerns that can only
be resolved if YOU work hard and YOU work effectively.

Dad, thanks for your advice. I knew it all along, of course. But sometimes
you need someone to remind you of it. In my companionship we've really been
talking a lot about how we can be the most effective in our companionship.
As we kept digging to find the source of the problem, slash find the
solution, it went through a lot of things, ranging from poor circumstances,
personality traits, and desire. Honestly, we worked it down to simply
understanding the atonement. If you understand the atonement and it is real
to you in your heart, you won't be worried about if you are doing enough
because you will automatically be moving forward in the work in the best
way you can to help these people. The atonement is all about other people.
there was no thought in Christ's mind in regards to himself. He didn't try
to take the load off a bit because he felt tired. He didn't skip every
other hundredth person because he felt like "They probably won't accept
this anyway." He did it for every person, with out rest. That needs to be
our attitude as missionaries. We need to do everything we can in this work,
because if we don't then who will?  If you find yourself remembering
yourself too much, that's when you get lazy. You realize how tired you are.
You focus on how much you've already done and how you feel about what's all
happening. If you don't do that, then you'll keep going. It's a lot like a
headache. It's when you focus on it that it gets worse. Only when you
forget about it and move forward does it calm down a bit.

Sorry about the monologue... haha! So this week it has been about 42
Celcius. We are outside all day and my companions come home burned and I
come home whiter. I don't understand.  In our apartment it's been about 35
degrees on average. It's pretty satanic in our apartment. The Sartori's
were appalled at how hot it was. This is with our curtains drawn and a fan
on. We don't know what to do. Oh well, it's coolling down, so we'll live.
 I've got to go. I love you all I hope you are all doing well! Keep the
people of Russia in your prayers! Especially MY investigators because they
are the best! haha!

Love, Elder Skvortz!

Letter #41 from Russia

Hola!!

So... Pretty much... Thanks for all the recipes! I got on to email and had like, 17 new recipes for all these diferent kinds of pestos and tomato basil soups! I'm super excited to Try sister Pedersen's because it was always so good!! Please tell her hi for me, and Nikko! and the whole fam! I love them and I think about them all the time! They will always be a second family to me! 

So Tonight, I'm headed off to Samara... again... haha! As much as I love Samara, it's frustrating being pulled out of your area all the time, especially when it's so hard to get the ball rolling again each time. But whatevs, because right after that I'll be flying off to Kiev. We should be going to the temple, so that's always a blessing to be valued. 

Mary, Russia is extremely different. For example, we did our first real service project the other day, and it was picking up garbage. And we were only allowed to do that for two hours. The government is weird about sects or cults helping make the community into a better place, so it's hard to get permission to do stuff like that. Even then, our mission president doesn't allow more than 2 hours of service each week, or projects, so that would have never been allowed in my mission.  Knocking is typically ineffective in Russia... I can't really explain to you exactly why over email, so you'll have to ask about that when you get home. It involves a word that we don't have in English for some reason because it doesn't exist other than in Russia. There are rarely personal homes here, so honestly we are usually on the streets talking to people.  We rarely get contacts because any church other than Russian Orthodox is considered a sect or heretics. So most people have a hard time inviting people to meet with us because they don't want to loose their friends. I've never seen such prejudice when it comes to religion in my entire life. People who aren't from Russia all think it's pretty corrupt... but I won't go into that. We try to do activities, but the members haven't really been pulling their load on that, so we've decided that is our next project.  Here, I'll just tell you my average Key Indicators: 0,0,1,1-2,4,5,3,0,4,5,2 We usually drop someone if they aren't progressing spiritually after a few weeks, but we're always down to meet if they are ready to try again.

You should share with me how the work is there in Peru! 

This week I learned how to play the accordian at an investigators house. That was fun. Okay, not really, I just tried it for a second... and failed. I'll send you pictures.  So Sister Callister's parents came to Church last week and I gave them a coat that my hozaika (landlady) gave me. They should be bringing it by eventually... Hmmm... what else is new... We sang a sweet version of nearer my god to the in church... Seriously... it was awesome. The branch president stood and flipped out about how cool it was. I'm not trying to brag... but pretty much...nonetheless... it was classy. 

Last off Stas is super awesome!!! I love him! We had a sweet lesson with him and he always has these little proverbs slash moral tales that he tells to demonstrate points and they are always perfect for the gospel! He is super cool! He is a way better teacher than any missionary I've met! But he is so humble! If we tell him anything, he'll through out anything that contradicts it!  We're going over to his house tonight to teach him how to do family night. Pray that his baptism will go through in three weeks!

PS: Mother! It sounds like you're having a blast in Canada! I hope you are! Okay, so according to your explanations, I don't want earmuffs, I want ear warmers! The ones that are in a U shape. Not earmitts either, Russians think earmuffs look dumb enough. I'm just planning ahead. It gets terribly cold in the winter and I don't want to go through it again with out them. They do not come out in stores here during the winter. They don't exist here in Russia. The only place you can find them are in Moscow. I have no idea why, the Russian people are just wierd that way. They think the most important part is your neck. Your ears don't matter. It's totally the opposite for us Americans. So please send me the Ear warmers! Thanks for getting the teeth whitening stuff! My teeth have eroded here... Good thing my plans are to be a dentist. Thanks so much! I love you so much!

Letter #40 from Russia

So this week, I just got back from france singing with Carrie underwood and
Lead singer from the Killers, who actually is active in the church now. Our
mission president decided that I was a better singer than my sister and
that I deserved the absolute best. So their flying me to all the missions
in the world and perform with famous people, in about twenty different
languages obviously. It's pretty awesome. But man, travelling is a beast. I
bet Hermana Swartz is not even close to being as tired as me...

Okay, so that was my jealous rant.

So this week has been super fun though! My new comps are obsessed with
singing and area both really good, so we pretty much are a trio always...
singing. It's really odd, but it's been a drastic change from my last cycle
from it being silent all the time and my companion never wanting to talk to
me, so I'm welcoming this with open arms. We sing in church everyweek.

So also, I still haven't gotten that recipe for tomato basil soup... which
I need. NEED. Also, if anyone is sending me a package soon for whatever
reason... if you could fit a pair of conservative earmuffs in them that
would be really beautiful. Also, I want a recipe for Pesto still as well.
Please help me out.

So... Exciting news. I got my first baptismal date in three cycles!! It's a
guy named stanislav, but we call him stas. He's so wonderful! He's known
about our church for like ten years, but he didn't really do anything about
it until now. We've met with him a few times, and everytime, he ends up
teaching us a lesson instead of us teaching him, but even though he's super
spiritual, he's super humble and he feels that we are different. The other
day we had a meeting with him and before we even got started, he said "I
really love the feeling of this building. I love all the people here, they
are so different. I think it's because they actually have the Spirit. That
Why I want to join this church." All of our mouths just dropped and we
talked to him about what he would have to do to join and what would have to
happen for him to gain a testimony and he's so excited. He loves us and
loves the church already. He says his family isn't protiv... Is that
english? Against it... We have still yet to meet his wife, or his daughter,
but from what it seems, they are interested as well because of what Stas
has been telling them.  He also looked all this stuff up about joseph
smith, which usually scares people off... but he just said it made him want
to join even more. He told us that Jesus Christ had tons of people against
him because that's how Satan wanted it. He said that a good way to tell how
good a person really was is not only by their fruits, but also how many
people hate them and spread lies about them regardless of how good a person
they were. I really like him. The only problem is that sometimes he's
unreliable and doesn't show up to meetings or to church. We talked to him
aout that though and now he doesn't set up a meeting unless he can for sure
do it, so that's good. Essentially... he's awesome.

Also, German and Sergei are also looking pretty good right now! They have
been emailing president Sartori back and forth (they know english) and he's
really been helping their progress. If this continues and they keep their
commitments, there's no way that they won't get their answer.

I'm going back up to Samara this week to work with some leaders. It's fun
on one side because... well, it's always fun to go and work with other
missionaries and get advice and have fun together, but it's frustrating
because there's so much work that needs to be done in our area and I hate
leaving it! haha! But it's only for two days and then we come back and work
like crazy!! It's going to be awesome. Also, I hada Russian who knows
Englsih tell me that I speak with a Russian accent.... I'm pretty sure she
just doesn't know what she's talking about because you have to essentially
just give yourself an accent to get one. We speak way too much English to
have Russian Accents. Which, is actually not what I want.

Resolved. I will speak so much Russian that I will come home  with an
accent.

Also, I got this CD From the Assistants, AKA Elder Bresfkjl;fjsk;housen and
Elder Morris and it has some sweet folk arrangements of hymns, one of which
is Sufjan Stevens singing Come Thou Fount... So beautiful.

Hmmmm... Also... I don't know what to say anymore. I love you all, usually
I don't have this much time... I finished faster than usual with President.
I am excited to... uh... be a missionary still... haha!

Loves, Elder Skvortz!

Letter #39 from Russia

Hey family! Don't have a ton of time this week because of complications with transfers... haha! I'm in a threesome again. With Elder Stoddard, he's friends with Megan Mower. They were in soccer at SUU or something. My other Companion is Elder Elwood. He was actually in Evan and patricks and Spencer's BYU ward. He is good friends with Nate Garret. Still here in Penza, we also have a new sister coming in, so that will be exciting. Ouyr investgators are doing well, but they are unreliable at times, well, just some of them. Cergei and German are doing awesome, and they came to church last week, which made me so happy! I can't tell you how many times I have told him to come and he finally did! I really hope he finally realizes that the gospel will change his lafe if he just takes a leap of faith. I think most of the people here are afraid of being outcasts in society. It's a way bigger deal here than in America if you aren't the mainstream religion. Please, everyone pray for Cergei, German, Stas, and Tatiana! They are the people doing well in our area and with a little divine help, they would totally get baptized! I love Penza so much! I've been here 6 out of 8 cycles now. It is definitely my home here in Russia! I'm Already loving my new companions. It's going to be a party. A big, hardworking, productive, party. Mary, I'm so happy that thinkgs are awesome for you! I am excited for mission stories! And, you should expect a letter eventualy from me... I just need to send it... haha! 

So my teeth have like... died here in Russia... They've just gotten a lot yellower... sick. If some one wanted to send me crest whitening strips, you would be my best friend forever.  Serious. I need them. it's pretty bad. Also, we got hot water for the first time in a month! so Awesome!  I'm very happy about Christy having her Baby. I'm pretty sure that Boston is not more obsessed with Super powers than I am. and I love you all! 

Love, Elder Skvortz!

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID! I'm sorry you didn't here from me last week, I promise i didn't forget, I just forgot to say it on my email home!