April 14th, 2013

Hey everyone! 

Mary, I forgot to say, last week, I really enjoyed the picture you sent. We think alike... I tried taking the exact same one, but my companion thought it was disrespectful and refused to take it... haha! I showed the sisters in my district. They said that you'd be the kind of girl they would judge and hate because you were so pretty. Then I said I had no idea what they were talking about and they flipped out at me because I obviously had no taste in women or something(I know you're pretty, but It's hard to judge when it's your sister). They said you looked like, model material or something. Don't let it get to your head. haha! If you didn't get that this was a compliment, it was, but I felt awkward saying it.

So... this week, two of our elders are getting kicked out of Russia... They accidentally walked on to a secret airforce base or something, which was not marked obviously... being secret and all... now they are never allowed to come to Russia ever again... yep. Glad it's not me! But at the same time, they'll probably be going to the prebaltics or Ukraine, so actually they're lucky cuz Ukraine is beautiful!

Elder Bukanov is leaving to Ulyanovsk to train. And I'm staying here in Penza training again. I'll probably finish my mission here in Penza, which I'm way happy about.

Hmmmm... So we have this member, Alyona, she is wonderful, but she randomly decided to leave the church a little while ago, because she found this tool boyfriend. Karoche, this week she secretly called Lilya, one of my favorite members here and told her that she wanted to come to conference but her boyfriend didn't want her to. She said she was sick of him and made the biggest mistake of her life deciding to marry him. She caled off the marraige and told him she was going to church and he told her he wouldn't let her, so she snuck over with Lilya. I was at the church building and these guys were waiting for Alyona so that they could grab her and drive off. They figured she would try to sneak out. She ran up to the door, but her slimy boyfriend grabbed her and was trying to get her into the car. I ran out of site and sound of my companion to go and rescue her, but this huge guy appeared out of nowhere and the look on his face was serious. I knew I wouldn't be able to get past him. Lilya ran up and grabbed Alyona, she was in better range, but another guy went up and was ripping her off. That's when I yelled for my companion and Zhenya to come and help. Zhenya comes out, a tough guy with tatoos (in Russia each tatoo has a specific symbol, and his tatoos were a sign to anyone who understood that he was VERY dangerous)  and the other big guy almost wets himself and backs off. We get the guys off Alyona and call the police, but they take off. I got the license plate number though and was pretty much a hero... haha!

Pretty dramatic. That's a really fast, watered down version of the story, but essentially... I hate satan.

I'm out of time, I wanted to say so much more! We've got a baptism coming up if the husband doesn't forbid it! Prayer for her! Her name is Elmira!

Love you all!

Elder Swartz!

April 8th, 2013

Hello family and friends.

This week has been an adventure. We were pretty much outside of our area the entire week on splits. First with the sisters, then off to Samara on a day train to go on splits with the leaders there. oh if you're confused about the sister splits... you should be. so were we. oh well. haha! It was really just us working all together for a day, knocking, contacting, meetings. pretty fun. Splits with the Leaders were fun as well, but because of all the hustle, we got 3 days in our area. Even then, we did well and we were just as successful as any of the other elders and sisters in our district. Yeah for an understanding Heavenly Father. Ha, so on the train, my companion had gone to sleep and I got up to go to the bathroom and there was this drunk guy who got mad at me... for... uh... being. and he tried to punch me in the face, but very much missed. But he hit my shoulder pretty hard. It didn't hurt, I was more just confused. So I just turned around and went back to my cabin and chuckled for a moment. Russia. haha! 

I love how Russia is two weeks behind everything because I don't get caught off guard with holidays or Conference! I get emails about how awesome it all was and I remember "oh yeah, that stuff exists" and then I am ready when it comes to Russia. Conference should be soon here, so I'm excited about that.  So right now our area is doing well, We really have some stud investigators and I have pretty high hopes for their baptisms. They may not get baptized with me, but I feel like it will happen eventually. I really feel like this is the prime of my mission. I'm not nervous at all about my teaching ability (finally), although I still have not Mastered Russian, I am rarely misunderstood. I feel like the spirit is guiding me and I feel as though I am seeing the fruits of my labor. I just received news that a girl I found and worked with in another city is getting baptized this next week. There is nothing else that I can think of that brings more peace to my heart than knowing that the Lord is the one in charge of it all, even when I forget that. Even when I don't get to see the whole scheme, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. That's the whole point of our message, finding faith in things that you've never seen. 

So I'm really happy to say that... well... I'm just happy. I can't think of a better place in the world for me right now. Not Home. Not Asia. Not Disneyland. Here. My goal now is to come home on a stretcher from working so hard. I hear it happens. haha! Mary, push as hard as you possibly can to the end. I want to be able to say that I worked harder than you, but I don't want to win just because you slacked off at the end. (I'm absolutely positive that you aren't, but we're all human, right?) Yes. That's a challenge.

I love you all. 

Elder Swartz!

April 1st, 2013

So people, how's the weather?

This week has just been a whole bunch of Russia being indecisive about warming up. Lot's of melting and freezing. Spring is on it's way though. I'm pretty much ready for it. Puddles = Satan when your shoes are already filled with almost two years of hard work... and big holes... So Elder Michaelis just showed me a picture of his neices and nephew and said "These guys totally beat your neices and nephews" and I have to admit, the picture was way adorable... but then I threw back all the stories that Rachel has told me about Maddie and Boston... and he knew he was defeated. I'm serious, you should have seen the look on his face when he realized that my neices and nephews were better. haha! He didn't admit it out loud though.

So also, we now have permission to email friends because of a first presidency decision... I may not be super good at rezponding depending on how often I get emails, but I thought I'd throw that out there. 

It was easter on sunday...? Huh... weird. Here in Russia, Easter isn't until May 5th... happy easter I guess though!

Mother, I was thinking the other day and I was reminded of a recipe that would be very good. You know that one baked chicken and rice stuff with the cream of chicken and bacon/ham sauce? yeah, thad be kool if you tossed that my way. We've been having cook offs with members, competing who can make the best meals as of late... it's been really fun, and filled with more dinner appointments I've ever had. Sometimes I win, sometimes they win, but it's all just delicious food in the end... haha! I'm ashamed to say that I have gained I think five pounds of the unfortunate kind of weight. haha!

So this week, I yelled at my companion... yeah. It wasn't his fault. I had just gottten chewed out by people on the phone and other circumstances stacked up and I was doing a good job at keeping my cool and being patient and then he did something really small that he was just joking about and I meant to "play" frustrated, but a bit of realy frustration spilled out and I raised my voice a bit. only for one word and I bit my tongue and felt really bad and went red in the face... he is SOOO great though because he immediately shrugged it off and we were friends again in three seconds. Man, that's the second time I've let my emotions out of hand, the first time was my first cycle in an understandable situation, this one I felt waayy bad for though... But I learned a lot about myself though!

So to be honest, I'm... how do I put this. I'm not an "Always" missionary. At least, not the kind of Always missionary that I wanted and expected to be. I don't "Always" put in 100% like I wish I would and there are SOOO many times where I KNOW I should do something and I KNOW it's a prompting from the spirit... and I DONT DO IT!!! So there's that... and yes. It bothers me. BUT! I've become an a different kind of Always missionary in the fact that I understand that I can ALWAYS change. I can ALWAYS come back to Christ, because he is ALWAYS waiting with open arms. And I've been prepared to be an ALWAYS person. As a normal person, I'm not always going to be perfect. That's not the game though. It's about ALWAYS coming back. always trying again. Always doing a bit better. So, yeah, I haven't become the perfect, "Always" missionary that I expected, but I've become something that I didn't expect. I still have time though, and I can do a lot better before the end of my mission! I'm going to finish off with no regrets! Thanks for your constant support and encouragement! Love you all!

K bye.

Elder Swartz!

March 25th, 2013

Hello Fam.

So this week's been good. We're working hard and our investigators are progressing well. I'm really hoping for a baptism this cycle, but it seems it's not going to happen! Satan! But hopefully They will trust in God enough to understand what's best...

Inregards to who gives the best emails... I'd have to say Rachel. Long emails are the best. haha! Plus, she tells me about all the fun things that happened that week, even if she thinks it'll be boring, she writes it anyway, because it was what she enjoyed. Dad, you give good emails, really good advice! but I'd love to hear more about what's going on with you and your life. Mom, your emails are a good balance and I love them, but Rachel still has you beat... maybe it's all her practice with blogging... haha! But honestly I loved all your letters this week! Mary's was good too! 

Let's see... I can't think of anything that really happened this week different... We watched seventeen miracles for family night with the branch, that was fun, even the translation is just one man talking with a monotone voice the entire time... somehow, you can still get into it. haha! Elder Bukanov and I have really just been having a lof fun in Penza and we're working with a lot of really good people. 

Mary, I totally know what you mean about branch council! I had the exact same situation! I took it for granted!! But now all the youth in Penza are on Missions, which is way sad, but there is suddenly tons of little kids now because of recent baptisms or re-activations. It's way fun, but pretty distracting sometimes. I love it though! Little Masha is so funny! She has recently discovered that missionaries will let her draw in their planners, as long as she asks, so she'll take my planner and draw these super funny pictures in them. She's four. I really just love it. 

This past week, I lost both of my name tags... with in three days of each other! That the first time on my mission that I've lost a nametag... and I lose both of them... ugh. So I've been running around like some normal citizen... haha! Pretty fun! Not really, I'm excited to get my new nametags... too bad I have to wait till the next cycle starts!

So... I'm out of time... haha! Loves! 

March 11th, 2013

So I don't have a lot of time this week...

First off... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!! and Bastion! He can't read this though so it's mainly for mom. I'm glad you had a good birthday and I'm so glad that you were able to spend it with family! This year, I don't get to, but I definitely am looking forward to next year when I can. I did not cherish you guys enough! Also, Thanks for sending Cergei that package!! That is the best present I could have asked for!!

I lost my nail clippers again this week... I always lose my nailclippers for some reason... and asked my comp if I could borrow his... And he grabs a pair of scissors and hands them to me. I've never   done that before... but it turned out fine, then I watched him do it and it was crazy how fast and smooth he did it... Who knew!

So Igor, who's getting baptised soon, was talking to us on sunday. We're just chatting and he tells us this story about how he was pronounced dead. He was riding his bike a few years back and he got hit by a car. He had hit his head and in the hospital they were having a hard time keeping him alive. His brain kept flickering on and off and finally, everything shut down. They pronounced him dead. He said when he woke up, he was naked as a baby laying down. He had a tag on his leg and they were getting him ready for the autopsy. A lady walked in and told him they should take him back to the hospital. I asked if she was surprized or anything and he said no. As if it happens all the time or something... They should really redifine "dead" here... it could probably fix a few morbid mix ups...

I don't have any more time this week. I wanted to thank Chris and Rachel for your letters! I really appreciated the council and I'll do my best not to relax till I'm done!

I love you all!!

Elder Swartz!

March 3rd, 2013

Hello Family!

This week has been a fun one. We've been having some good lessons and we're trying to help a few people decide to get baptized, but they are still fresh and don't feel ready! I really don't have a ton to write home about... I'm glad that this week has been a good one at home. Seem's like Tiff is adjusting well if she's going on that many dates. haha! Tell her she at least has to put off her wedding until I come home!  Cool that Lone peak is doing well in basketball right now! That's exciting! 

Hmmm....

So I was at a member's place the other day and he jumped on to my facebook page while I was there. I felt weird... but I wasn't the one on it! haha! He only got on for a second to add me as a friend and I saw a picture of Ashley, Jamie, Kendra, and Lizzie all holding flags and books of mormon and standing in front of the Provo temple! I didn't have enough time to see what flags they were before he got off the computer, but if I'm guessing correctly... Jamie and Kendra need to write me. I'm assuming they got ther calls... Weird. Lindsey, if you even still read this, then tell them they better write me!!

As of late, I've really been thinking about how I can gain more divine light and it's been a really good study topic to dive into. I thought about this a while ago, and I may have shared this already with you, but I was thinking about it even more today and I was able to go deeper. If a person walks into a dark room, he has to touch things to figure out what they are. Unfortunately, that's a dangerous way to discover if you've wandered into the wrong kind of room.  A room full of hot stoves and irons is a dangerous place for someone with no light. Just like that, if we have no spiritual light, then we are wandering around without any sort of warnings as to what is important, what is desirable and especially, what is dangerous. we have to touch, try, and experiment in order to discover. Thanks to spiritual light, we can know what is dangerous before we get burned, or hurt, or trapped. Not only that, we can know what is desirble and important instead of wasting our time touching and feeling things trying to figure out if it's worth our while. I love a scripture I found, I can't remember exactly where, it was a while ago, but it said that whatever is light, is discernable. Whatever is discernable is good. I think it was something like that.  It's either in Alma 32... or maybe in D&C 121... I don't remember. Essentially, it goes back to the idea that the more light we have, the more knowledge we gain and at an incredibly faster rate. The more knowledge we obtain, the more we can love those around us. Without knowledge We cannot truly love because we cannot truly understand.  We cannot help. That's why Christ can love us like He does, because He understands. That's why He can help. Man, I could go deeper and deeper, but I don't have time... 

Looks like I had something to write about after all...

Loves,

Elder Skvortz

Feb. 24th, 2013

Hey everyone!! 

This week has been a fun one! And I don't expect it to get any worse! yeah! 

First, I want to say that Rachel, your pictures probably made me the trunkiest missionary in the mission... not really, but I was SOOOOO jealous!!! All those pictures of the beach and the private islands and private cabinas!!! That is my dream vacation! Harry Potter world and FREE Universal studios! Swimming with sting rays and dolphins!! Holy cow! Just how rich are you guys!? And then to top it all off, your snarky little email about you eating an awesome fudge sunday relaxing and watching a movie. Certainly didn't help me concentrate... haha!  But, I just had this weird rotten tomato thing that actually isn't a tomato and it was way good. We've been having good succes lately with the members and with investigators, and there is a guy getting lined up to be baptized. So, as much fun as your great and spacious cruise ships may be, I'm happy eating my fruit over here. :)  PS: Happy birthday!

Dang... I have no time... Sooo it's been funny to read all your emails because it seems like your winter has been a lot worse than mine... haha! The snow is constantly melting... meaning it's above freezing where I'm at... at least in the day. The sun is pretty much always out and it is SOOO nice! I'm loving it! And the Russians are too. They haven't seen a mild winter like this in a LOOONG time! I haven't needed to where a hat barely at all, wearing a scarf is completely unneeded, and mittens burn me up. It's soo nice! I remember last year when it was... not like this. I'm glad I experienced it once... but just once.

This week, we went to "Snyezhnaya Koroleva" The snow queen. It was a fun culture activity, and it was interesting to see a fairytale I did not know. Also, I just had a SUPER amazing Shaurma (uzbekistanian version of a burrito) and it was probably the best thing I ever ate. Also, this week we're going over to a members house and I'm teaching them how to make mexican food! As long as we can finish in under an hour... haha! 

I'm just in a good mood lately! The Lord's really been blessing our district and we've been having a lot of fun working hard here in Penza! Haha! So my companion, he's wonderful! We went knocking yesterday and everyone we talked to was super nice. Then on the third door, they let us in and we had an awesome lesson. We went home and I suggested we knock in that area some more another day. My companion looks at me as if I'm crazy and says I'm a fanatic. (not in an offensive way, don't worry) He calls me a knocking Nazi and thinks that we do it way too much and says "it sucks". This is funny to me because we have been knocking for two and a half hours tops this cycle, (two or three times for maybe an hour) each time was awesome and we got let in. He has no idea what he's in for... haha!

Dang it! I don't have time! I was going to share a story about a cool investigator! Oh well, if they progress, then I'll tell you next week! Love you all!