" This week has been really good. I loved conference and getting to hear messages from our general authorities. It is crazy to think that between 6 months ago and now, I have left on a mission! Now I am serving the Lord and learning Russian. That's still crazy for me to think about!
This week we finished teaching Matfei (he committed to baptism, then we found out that he is our teacher! Sneaky!), and started teaching Sasha, Irena, and Max (Also our teachers!) . I think the most important thing that we have been working on in helping them prepare to receive ordinances of baptism and confirmation is strenghtening their belief in God. Commonly, they think that a God exists, but they don't know for sure. It has been interesting to try and help them realize and come to know that God does live and that he loves them. We make sure to promise them the blessings of keeping their commitments and I think that increases their desire to follow through. Also, we bear testimony a lot. I think that is crucial because our teaching isn't going to convert them. What will convert them is the Holy Ghost and we invite the Holy Ghost to be present as we testify. I love that even though this isn't the most "real" teaching we will do, the Spirit can still be felt and testimonies increase. The best part of teaching this week was when we asked Matfei to be baptized and he accepted! I can't wait to have that experience in Ukraine!
This week, my gospel study has been so good. In one of the Sunday "movies/firesides" that they show, Elder Bednar talks about how if we have a question that we want the Lord to answer, we should buy a cheap Book of Mormon, write the question in the front and keep that questions in mind as you prayerfully read the Book of Mormon. I started doing that this week and even though I am only 100 pages into the Book of Mormon, I feel like the Lord has answered my question already. The Book of Mormon is marked up and written in! I love that the Lord is willing to help me find answers to my questions. I can't wait until I finish and can go back and write up a summary of what I have learned. My gospel study has made me more confident in my ability to serve a mission.
This week has been so much better then last week. Thank you so much for talking to me and for the blessing you gave me. I know that the Lord has blessed me and strengthen me so much as I have been here. I know that I can do nothing without him and the fact that he is willing to strengthen me and bless me makes me feel so loved. I love the Lord and know that he lives and loves us too! "
Above is the letter that I wrote to my Branch President today. I love him! I met with him last week and it was so great. He gave me a blessing and we just talked and it was fantastic! The Lord calls amazing men to be in the Branch Presidencies at the MTC -- but I already knew that because I know Grandpa C. and he is wonderful :)
Just for y'all to know, I'm so glad that you waited to get a golf membership until I was gone, although I'm still not sure that "We got a golf membership because YOLO" is a good enough reason. On another note, two of the elders in my district were big golfers. Elder St. Clair is from Arizona, and worked at Trilogy golf course! Small world! He is really good though. (He once won a gold tourney in Flordia, winning a Mercedes car and 250,000 dollars...He had to turn it down to stay an amauteur! Stud, right?) They talk about golf a lot!!
GENERAL CONFERENCE was so great! We watched in the gym with all the other missionaries. -- Or most of them, not all of them fit in one room anymore. I loved it though. I was happily surprised by how direct some of the general authorities were My favorite talks were the ones about missionary work! And yes, I HAVE CAUGHT THE WAVE!! It is your turn now! Paint that misisonary badge on your heart and get to work!! Missionary work is fun and ANYONE can do it!! It is so wonderful to be a missionary now! Can you believe that it has only been 6 months since they changed the mission age! And now I am here and SERVING THE LORD! It rocks!! I also loved that President Monson got the missionary statistics from last week! 65,000+ missionaries-- I think -- and I am one of them! The world is going to change! Did y'all hear how often they referenced the scripture about the rock rolling down the mountain??? Missionaries are going to be EVERYWHERE!! During Priesthood, we watchted the Young Women Meeting. I was sad that Sister Dalton got released but the new presidency is great! All 3 of them served as a wife to a mission president! They will be so great to the Young Women striving to serve missions! They showed a pretty cheesy movie during that broadcast that I LOVED! It showed this girl and her progression through her life! I thought about how far I have come since I have been baptized! And now I am on a mission!! What?!??!?!?!? I am so blessed to be here!! Also, the beehive that gave the prayer at that meeting is basically famous now at the MTC. If anyone knows her, let her know that all the Sister Missionaries love her and her awesome attitude and enthusiasm!
Sunday night for our devotional we had Vocal Point come! SO GREAT! And then last night Gerald Lund came -- Author of Work and the Glory. It was so great! We have had the BEST devotionals since I have been here! They are so great!!! After our devotionals we do district meetings where we just talk about what we learned. They are my favorite part of the week! The spirit is so strong and we talk in English!
Speaking of English, Russian is going so much better. We learned how to conjugate verbs and are now learning cases. In a really, really simple way, in Spanish, you conjugate verbs. In Russian, you conjugate verbs too and then "conjugate" nouns, pronouns, and everything. THere are 6 ways to do that, and they are called the 6 cases! Next week I will send home a picture of the case chart I have been memorizing! It is intense. But we can understand way more and I can read it a lot easier. We pray 85% in Russian and we sing all our hymns in Russian. That part is pretty cool! Speaking of which, random fact, the Russian Hymnbook has 3 hymns that aren't in the English book, Greensleves and 2 other ones that I don't know yet! How awesome, right!!!
We just got back from the temple and we ate lunch there! It was SO good! If you ever get a chance, eat at the temple! A bonus is that you get to eat with all the cute old ladies too!
HIGHLIGHTS: Devtionals, Priesthood Blessings, Temple, General Conference, Cinnamon Rolls, Vocal Point
MISS: Spring! it was here for like a week, then in snowed again! Not cool! :)
FUNNY MOMENTS: The elders like to scare us a lot. Kinda funny when we all scream. If you take the orange juice that comes in a bottle and shake it, it will explode the lid off. We scared ourselves and our teachers like 3 different times with that! Our classroom smelled super bad at one point and we all blamed the elders but it turned out that it was just the way it smelled outside! Awkward!
TENDER MERCIES: the messages of conference, the cinnamon rolls, sunshine, new clothes! So many more
Also, real quick, I heard about the Mengelts. My heart breaks for the sorrow and pain they must feel. My only comfort to them and anyone else that is struggling with that is the Jesus Christ lives. God lives. They know us individually and love us. They know how we feel and can heal pain. As we turn to them for comfort, they can help us find peace, even in the hardest of times. I am praying for them and anyone one else who this impacted. Mom, you mentioned that you had been listening to Be Still My Soul to comfort you. That is is the song we sang for choir this week. We talked about how if we put our faith and trust in God, he will guide us and "Lift our cross of grief or pain". I testify that is true. He loves and cares about us and will guide and comfort him if we trust him!
Dad, I got 20 letters and 2 packages this week! Grandma C wins for best package because she sent me Cinnamon Rolls! They were so good and my districted loved them also! Love you grandma! Thank you so much!
Send more letters! They make me SOOOOOOO happy! Love you all! The Church is true!
Love you so much,
Sister Kati Ford
picture 1 is my running buddy, Sister Clark. We are in the same district'
picture 2 is my planner...I love planning every second of my day...seriously!
this is my district one day after class
my district while we were eating the General Conference Cinnamon Rolls that grandma sent!
YUMM!!!!
and I decorated my planner with the pictures you sent! Isn't it cute :) 
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