LAST WEEK IN AMERICA!!!!WHAT!?!?!?!?

My Branch Email-

This week was really good. I am just super surprised by how 
fast the days go by! I can't believe that in a week, I will be 
in Ukraine, sharing the gospel with people there! I can't 
wait until I'm there and can help them learn of Christ!

This week I had something hit me really hard. This is what
 I wrote in my journal, "During Personal Study today, I had 
the best study ever. I had been reflecting on how I could 
be a better teacher, when I decided to try and teach like 
Christ would. I found an article that taught about some of 
his teaching methods, such as Sharing Scriptures, Parables, 
loving them, Trusting them, asking them questions, and asking
them to testify. After I read that I was thinking about one of 
our investigators, Maria. When I was studying for her, I 
tried to use as many of the teaching methods that Christ 
would use. As I was pondering, an idea came to me to try 
and explain that Christ would help her with her burdens. 
So we came up with a object lesson explaining that because 
Christ suffered the Atonement for us, we are never alone. 
He will help us lift our burdens. We shared a scripture in 
Matthew that talked about our burdens being made light 
through him. When we shared this message with Maria, 
she felt the love of the Savior through us and through the 
Holy Ghost. I really felt like I taught like Christ would teach 
her in that lesson. My love for Maria grew so much during that 
lesson because I really wanted her to understand and feel 
of Christ's love. I realized that Christ is the perfect example 
to us, in every aspect. He was the perfect friend, perfect 
teacher, perfect missionary, perfect brother, and we can 
learn a lot by following his example. I want to try to be 
more like him in every aspect of my life."And it's true. I 
love my Savior and I know as I strive to be more like him, 
I can be a successful missionary! What a blessing to be able 
to be associated with him everyday. He suffered for all of 
us, and sharing the joy of that message is so much fun! We 
get to help others feel hope and joy, which is a HUGE blessing 
for us!The other thing that I noticed this week is how much 
I love my investigators. When I think about leaving them 
next week, I get super sad. I love them, and I just really 

want what is best for them. I imagine it will be so much 
harder once I get to Ukraine and they are real people!

So this week went by SUPER fast!! It seems like just 
yesterday I wrote home, and now I am again!!! Say What?!?!?!

I had a cold this week.  That is pretty typical, most people 
get a little sick right before they leave!  But I'm all 
good now!! :)

WE GOT OUR TRAVEL PLAN!!! YAY!! we are really leaving!

So we leave the MTC at 4:00 in the morning next Tuesday.  
We get to the airport at about 5.  We check in and then 
we can CALL HOME!!  There is no time limit and I can call 
home during our layover also!  :) Our flight leaves at 7:50 
and we fly to DC where we have a 2 and a half hour layover 
from 2:30 - 5:00 ish.  Then we fly from DC to Austria!!!  
Then we have an hour there and we fly to Kyiv!!! Our 
travel is about 24 hours!!  Fun!!! There are 18 missionaries 
flying to Kyiv, so it will be a PARTY!! or just a lot of 
sleeping, haha :)

 I will probably call about 5:30 SLC time (7:30 your time) and then at about 2:30 

DC/Michigan time.  So if you want to be prepared!! :)

This week, we weren't quite productive as week past.  
We finished our book so we have been doing a lot of 
review.  And review games.  We do a lot of basketball and 
such.  It is a lot of fun!  Also, a lot of contacting!!!  
It has been good practice! :)

Russian mistake of the week:  So in Russian, the 
words for "man" and "car" are very similar.  Like 
one letter different.  So a lot of the time when 
we are teaching the Law of Chasity, people will 
talk about relationships between a man and a women 
but accidentally say a car and a women.  Our Elders 
did that in a lesson this week and their investigator 
was like on the ground laughing.  So I need to be careful 
about that one!!!

This week we have done a  lot of culture learning.  
It has been fun!  Russia and Ukraine have a sad history, 
so it is sometimes super sad to learn about.  But we are 
going to bring them happiness, so that is good!

One highlight of this week was one of our lessons 
with Sasha.  Afterwords our teacher pulled us out 
of the classroom and told us how awesome our lesson 
was.  That was super exciting to hear!  We had our last 
temple walk on Sunday.  Which was sad.  I still can't 
believe that we are leaving!  Like, really leaving!  Oh boy!!!

Our firesides this week were awesome!  On Sunday 
night, we had our first repeat.  Mary Edmonds came 
again and was just as funny as last time!  I love her stories!!  
This is one joke she told,

"One day there was a mouse with her baby mice.  
They decided to go on a picnic.  When they were on 
the way, a big cat appeared.  The mama mouse jumped 
between the cat and her baby mice and said, "Woof Woof!" 
The cat ran away.  Then the mama mouse turned to her babies 
and said, "That is why you need to learn a foreign language."

haha... I just realized that maybe that wasn't super 
funny...I thought is was... anyway... haha! :)

Oh maybe I should talk about this...So remember last 
week when my foot was all bruised.  Well...It wasn't 
getting better...So I went to the doctor and they sent me 
to get X-rays!!! I rode in a car for the first time in 8 
weeks!! That was weird!!! :) But anyways...we went 
and waited (Mom- Doc was on the TV and I thought of you 
(: ) and then I got 3 xrays and then went back to the MTC.  
The other sisters in the car had to go somewhere else so we 
drove all over Provo!  Like all through BYU and by the 
hospital and stuff.  It was super awesome to see the real 
world!!!  I loved just looking out of the window!  It felt like 
home!So anyways...got back to the MTC and talked to the 
doctor... It isn't broken...thank goodness.  But he is 
concerned about it so he gave me a walking cast.  I will 
go back and get it checked on Friday and then hopefully 
I will still be cleared to leave!  I'm pretty sure I will still 
leave but pray for my foot!! :)

Last night was our last Tuesday night devotional!  It 
was so good! :) He talked a lot in the scriptures and I 
loved hearing his insight on common scripture passages 
and how they applied to missionary work.  I think I will 
miss devotionals the most once we are gone!!! and our 
teachers, and our district.  Basically everything!! :)

So life is good and being a missionary is really good!  
Sorry my letter is shorter, there isn't a lot to say after 
8 weeks here! But I can say that I love the MTC!  I love 
the Spirit here and I love being surrounded by so many 
different missionaries that are from all over the world 
and serving all over the world!  I love the devotionals, 
I love my leaders, I love my teachers.  It is just so great!  
Someone said that, " The MTC is a haven for those that 
make it so" and that is so true! If you have a mind to 
love the MTC, you really will! And it is seriously great!  
I think I could spend 18 months just here...except I 
really want to start teaching people and making my 
own food haha! :) And if they had Cafe Rio haha :)

I have a few minutes, so just some advice to anyone 
that may be reading this that is going to the MTC soon:

1. Take short showers.  Keep the lines short!  We 
had a sister that would go around every morning saying, 
"Girl's camp showers, not prom showers"

2. Mail is so great.  Write your missionary friends often!  
They will love you for it!

3. ALWAYS go to choir. You will not have the full MTC 
experience if you don't go to choir!! Seriously!! And go 
early...There isn't always room for everyone!

4. Do what you are supposed to do, when you are 
supposed to do it!  Sleep when it is time to sleep, 
eat when it is time to eat, and EXERCISE when it is 
time to exercise.

5. Enjoy spending the time with the other missionaries.  
It won't be long before it is just you are your companion 
alone, all the time!

6. Have a good attitude.  No one wants to listen 
to a complainer! 

7. FREE BOX!!  I know so many sisters that have 
awesome stuff from the free box.  
Just a random little secret about the MTC haha

8. Enjoy the food.  It is American after all. My 
favorites and the gyros, biscuits and gravy, and 
anything Mexican.  They also have good soup!  
and if I can eat it for 9 
weeks, anyone can enjoy it for a little while!

9. Know that you are not perfect!  No one is perfect!  
As Elder Holland said, Imperfect people are all Christ 
has ever had to work with.  Just try your very best!

10.  Love your branch presidency and district and zone 
leaders.  They want to help you!

11. BE HAPPY!  This is missionary fun, not missionary 
work! ( haha I typed that out backwards first...I'm glad 
I noticed and fixed that!)

12. Sisters, be modest.   Everyone knows where 
their knees are! They should be covered when you 
are sitting and standing!  Just be smart! :)

13. Don't be afraid to share!  Everyone get sick of 
their own clothes.  There has never been a day when 
someone doesn't borrow something from me!  It's fun!

14. Love your district!  Be friends but also remember 
that you are here to work and learn! 

15. This is where missionaries are trained!  Become 
a better missionary while you are here and by the 
time you leave, your gospel flame should be burning SO bright so 
that you can share the gospel, get rejected, and still love it! :)

Love you all!  I KNOW that this church is true!  I know 
the Book of Mormon is true!  I know that through Jesus 
Christ, we can find happiness and joy!  I love this gospel 
and the joy it brings me!  I love my family!  I love my 
friends!  Write me, before Saturday or Friday with 
DearElders!  After that, send it to UKRAINE!  Next time I email, 
I will be in UKRAINE!  I CAN'T WAIT!

LOVE YOU ALL!

Sister Ford :)

Week 4! 1 month down...

This picture is especially for Sydney!  She sent me a heart, so I thought 

I would repay the favor!

  

:) Dear Family, Friends, Everyone!

 

How is the outside world?  Can you believe that I have been on my mission for 4 weeks!  In fact, this Sunday (the 27th!) is my one month! I feel like I should have a party or something!  Feel free to send me letters or packages of congratulations!  Haha :). 

 

Here is my letter to the Brach Presidency this week:

"This week, our teachers are all switching up so we as of right now we are only teaching Sasha. Our last few lessons with him have gone really well. We taught him about faith and and a little bit of repentence. We are excited to teach him about the Atonement later this week! We are really excited that we can tell him all about Christ and how he atoned for our sins and how through him, we can be clean and pure. I'm especially excited about how sometime soon, we will be able to explain eternal families. He has a wife and a child and at the moment, is living in a different city from them. I think he will really love that he can be with them forever.

We also started an activity this week where we are teaching other companionships in our class. We pretend to be someone that we know from home and then they teach us. I am so excited to teach and to be taught this way. It is really interesing to imagine and try to act that the person that you picked. I've learned a lot about teaching by being taught. It is really awesome how the Spirit can teach me, even though I'm pretending to be someone else! In this activity, we will be teaching a girl named Tonya, and a lady named Christina. We haven't taught them yet, but we will teach them this week.

Something excited that I have done for personal study this week is to read all of the Preach My Gospel lessons (including all the scripture references). I've been marking the scriptures according to what lesson it is from. An insight I gained from doing this is realizing how related everything is that we teach. A scripture that explains part of the Restoration, also explains part of the Plan of Salvation, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think that it helped me realize that our message really is quite simple. This isn't complicated, and the base of everything is that through Jesus Christ, we can return to live with our Father in Heaven again.

This week, I have also been thinking a lot about the people I will teach in Ukraine. It is weird for me to think that I will actually be doing missionary work in Ukraine. I am so excited to teach them that sometimes I just want to leave now. Of course, sometimes I feel so nervous about going that I think I would rather stay at the MTC forever. But usually I just want to be in Ukraine! It is crazy to think that we are almost halfway through our MTC time! It has gone so fast!"

Seriously though, this month has flown by!  I can't believe that I only have 17 more months left.  Plus, I imagine it will go even faster once I get to Ukraine!

This week was so good.  There were a couple of things that made it hard, but overall it was so good!  The Spirit at the MTC has been especially strong since Elder Scott was here.  It just makes me smile! 

Ok...first of all.  I hear people want to hear what I do all day.  If you want the short answer, it is class and studying.  That's about it!  But I will share the longer version too!  Our schedule changes a little bit depending on what day it is, but we do the same activities most days.  On Monday, I took pictures of almost everything that we did so I will explain Monday in depth then talk a little bit about our other activities. 

So on Mondays:

6:20 - Wake up.  We wake up and go get in the line for Sack Breakfast. Sack breakfast is just cereal, bagels, doughnuts, fruit...basically just a continental breakfast.  Missionaries are not allowed in the main cafeteria if they are not in church clothes, so we go get Sack Breakfast on days that we are in jeans for awhile.

(in line for sack breakfast)

(eating breakfast)

 Mondays we have service in the morning so we stay in our pants for that!  Then we usually eat our breakfast in the Hallway of our dorms!6:40-8:40 - Get ready and Personal Study.  Every morning we have personal study for an hour.  

(studying before gym.  sister hunt and I)

We read scriptures by ourselves, review lessons, pray...just whatever we need to work on and want to do.  It is usually very relaxing.  Mondays we have 30 minutes to get ready here but usually we get ready after Service and Gym, so we have some personal time.  

(in line for sack lunch)

We can talk, study, take a nap...whatever.  I like to paint my nails during that time. 

8:45- SERVICE!  Every missionary in the MTC does 1 hour of service per week.  Each district has an assigned area that the report to clean.  Ours in 1M, which is the big building with the offices, chapels, and main information desk.

(service and studying before gym.  sister hunt and I)

is the best place to have service!  A lot of missionaries have dorm buildings, so they scrub showers and toliets.  We get to wash windows, vaccuum, and other fun assignments.  It seriously is one of my favorite parts of the week!  Plus new senior missionaries come in on Mondays, so we get to talk to some of them!  This last Monday, we had the BEST assignment.  We got to pick 32 flags from whatever countries we wanted

(hanging up flags for service!)

(my artsy picture of the flags!)

- Ukraine first of course -- and then hang them up outside!  It was so much fun! Some of the flagpoles cranked, so it was an arm workout too!  It made me happy!  We finished that a little early so we got to vaccuum too.  There is never very much to vaccuum though because it is done several times a day, but it is fun!

9:45 - We have a little bit more free time.  I studied some more and prepared for a lesson I was teaching that afternoon.

 (we are learning some russian!  We use the dictionary to translate 

words we don't know while we read the BOM in Russian)

10:25 - GYM!  If we are inside, then I run on the track

("running" in gym.  ;))

 (Me posing while playing four square!)

(the whole gym)

 for awhile and then play four-square.  It is actually a very intense game! haha This week, it finally got warm enough, so we had our first outdoor gym!  I loved it!  I played soccer.  Another sister tripped me though, and I fell hard!  My leg is all scraped up and bruised!  It hurts, but it was worth it to be outside! 

11:30 - Lunch!  Today we also got sack lunch because we were in our gym clothes!  They have Sandwiches and salads, chips, etc.  Just normal lunch stuff.

11:45-12:30 - Get ready.  We get all dressed up and ready for the rest of the day. 

12:30-3:30 - Class!  We have a teacher for 6 hours every day. 

(practicing our teaching!  In russian!  That book is our little cheat sheet! )

(studying with sister hunt)

We practice teaching, we learn Russian, we goof off (a little), and we sleep -- haha just kidding about the sleeping part!  

("sleeping" with sister Hunt)

We were just pretending to be asleep!  I'm actually super proud of myself because I haven't fallen asleep in class or studying yet! Class is long, but super productive.

3:30-4:45 - We always have at least an hour of dedicated language study time.  We work on grammer, memorization, verbs...etc.  It is good!

4:45 - Head to the Cafeteria to eat.

  

dinner...swedish meatballs!  Also lots and lots of croutons!  :) 

They have a lot of different options.  Usually I get a salad, and any main dish that looks good.  

(dinner!  With Sister Lee)

They have custom made wraps you can get that are pretty good!  I really like the pasta.  On this day, I tried the Swedish Meatballs, they were ok!  We love dinner becuase it is a nice break!.

5:00-9:00 - More class.  Same as above.

  

(the sword of the spirit and the shield of faith that our elders made!)

Usually we get a little crazy by 8:00.  

(we mess around a little!  I'm not in this picture because i was actually 

teaching!  i came back to about 20 funny pictures on my camera!)

 

If you know what I'm like at 2 in the morning, that is kind of what 8 pm is like for a missionary!

9:00-9:30 - Planning.  We always plan what we will do the next day.  It helps us be more focused the next day!

9:30-10:30 - Get ready for bed.  Open packages, read letters (We can only open them after 9:30!) Write in our journals.  Quiet time is at 10:15, lights off at 10:30.  I'm usally pretty good at that!

So anyways that is our typical, 16 hour day! Fun, right?!?

Other activities we do include, TRC.  That is where we teach real life people, not our teachers.  It is in Russian and one of my favorite activities.  Last week we taught, two people about prayer.  One lady was actually from Russia, and she didn't speak much Russian. She wrote on our feedback form that my Russian was really good! It made me so happy!  :)

TALL - that is on the computer. It is kinda like Rosetta Stone.

(TALL- learning my russian!)

I really don't like it that much, but it is helpful for learing vocab, like numbers!

Choir- We have choir on Sunday and Tuesday.  It is the best thing ever!  Seriously, if you are in the MTC and you don't sing in the choir, you are doing it wrong! I love it!

Devotional- We have a devotional on Sunday and Tuesday!  They are awesome!

On Sundays, we have personal study all day, except for Sunday School (which is a district meeting), Relief Society (With all the sisters in the MTC), Sacrament Meeting, and Temple Walk. We also have a devotional that night, then a movies (always a church movie!)

Anyways...that is it!  

Now onto this week:

(Yay!  I love Laekynn!  I see Sister Davis everyday!  I'm going to be so sad 

when she leaves! Plus- these clouds are awesome!)

It was awesome because I knew 4 people that came into the MTC so I got to see them all over the place! 

 (I also saw Cody.  It was good to talk to him! This was his first week.)

I saw Ben, Laekynn, Cody,and Allyscha all over!  It was so fun!  I've been able to see Laekynn every day, it makes me so happy!  She is awesome!

I feel like my language ability has improved so much over this last week!  I guess that is what happens when an apostle gives you a blessing that your language will improve!  I feel like I am starting to really understand a lot more Russian!  Forming sentences is easier also!

I checked out a violin from the MTC this week! It is a really nice violin!  I think I am going to play in Sacrament Meeting!  Scary right?! But exciting! 

This week was also Sister Clark's birthday!  She turned 21!  

(This Sunday was sister Clark's birthday!)

We decorated a little bit and sang!  It was really fun!

  (We had balloons and hats and I made signs!:)) 

It made a normal day just a little bit more exciting!

For Relief Society, a member from the General Primary Presidency (Sister Esplin) came!  It was so good!  We got to sing some Primary Songs, which was awesome! :) That afternoon, for the devotional, the BYU men's chorus came!  It was so fun!  I saw Kyle Johnson, who was in my ward last semester!  I told him to say hi to everyone from me at Ward Prayer, I hope he did!  That night we got to watch the Testaments. I had never seen it before but it was super good! 

Our devotional yesterday was by Elder Evans.  He is  the head of the Missionary Board.  He gave a really powerful talk about repentence, it was super awesome! 

Highs of this week! -- devotionals, seeing my friends, playing a violin, our lessons, TRC, service! 

Funny Moments - In TRC, our person, in Russian, told us ALL about how he prayed for his zits to go away.  We were like...ok...Then he was explaining what he actually said and we were dying of laughter!  It was so great!

The Asians on our floor had a party the day before they left!  They were going crazy! It was really funny!

On Friday, I got 4 packages!  How crazy it that!  It made me so happy! 

(packages!  4 of them are mine!)

(In the picture with sister clark, one of mine is missing!  I am so loved!  Y'all rock)

Sister Clark got 3 packages, and that was because it was her birthday haha!  It was so funny!  I loved the packages, especially the treats from both of my grandmas!  They were so good!  :) And the dictionary is great, thanks!!! 

One day I was testifying to random girl in Russian!  I was trying to say that I knew that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon.  The Russian word for translate is pairavestee (that is what it sounds like.  So I got a little confused and mixed the russian and english together and was like Joseph Smith "transvestite" Kniga Mormona.  I was about to die!  She thought that I was crazy because all the russians were dying of  laughter and she had no idea what was going on!

So I'm doing good!  I love being a missionary!  I'm praying for y'all!  Keep writing me!  I love mail!

Love Sister Ford!

I'll send pics when I go do laundry!  :)

 

(making my bed!  We have random cleaning checks once a week)

 

our teachers leave us russian notes... This says, "My missionaries. I love you.  

Work hard, ok? Brother Hofman" 

(Russian torture, the case chart!!  opa!) 

Holy Cow--What a Great Week!!

Below is my letter to the Branch Presidency: 

"This week has been so good! I feel like I am finally getting to a point where the schedule is starting to feel normal, which is really nice. This week flew by! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was emailing and now here it is again!

This week I feel like I was able to feel the spirit so strong, almost all the time. It was really nice to feel peace and happiness and know that I am doing the Lord's work and that he is happy with me. The devotionals this week were all so amazing. I feel like it is impossible to feel "down" on Sunday or Tuesday, because we have such good speakers that care about us and teach us such marvelous lessons.

This week we continued teaching our 4 investigators. It's challenging and rewarding. I know that if I can testify and if the Spirit is present, then we are doing a good job, even if it is just in broken Russian. One lesson that was great was when we taught Max last Thursday. Originallly our lesson was about Joseph Smith and we were going to introduce the Book of Mormon. However, I got into the lesson, and the Spirit was so strong and we ended up talking about prayer instead. It was awesome because even though I hadn't prepared any notes in Russian about Prayer, I was able to say what I wanted to say! I know that was the gift of tongues at work. The language really does come when we need it the most. I'm excited for TRC (Teaching Resourse Center) tonight because it is on prayer! I prepared some material but I think I am really going to try to go from my heart and not from what I have written down!

We also had a really good lesson with Sasha. He seems really eager to try to gain a testimony! We are going to introduce him to the Book of Mormon this week! I can't wait! We decided that for part of our lesson, we are going to share our favorite scriptures. I'm going to share 2nd Nephi 32:3 and talk about how the Lord can answer prayers through the scriptures. I love that scripture because I love the imagery of the word "feast". I love that as a missionary, I really have the opportunity to "feast" on the words of Christ everyday!

1 thing that Sister Sink and I have done is to share our testimony in Russian with another set of missionaries every night before we go home! It is the best thing. It is so great because even though they can't understand us, they can still feel the Spirit testifying of the truth. It has really helped me gain a testimony that the language of the Spirit is universal! I love it!"

Seriously though, this week was one of the best ever!  I had a great week and I don't even know where to begin to tell you about it!

First of all, did you get the picture of the dictionary I sent you?  It is by Katzner and apparently is the best thing ever.  I would love one if you can find it!

Also, now missionaries in the MTC get 60 minutes to email! How awesome is that?!?!  I am stoked about that!   So this letter will be AWESOME!!

The only bum part about this week is that I went 3 days without mail :(  How sad is that!!! It was ok though...But Jacob, Mom, and Parker, I want to hear from you!  I really want to know how track and studying for AP tests are!  Also, are you going to Prom??  You should!!  Ask someone cute ;). 

I wanted to share part of a journal entry that really sums up how I have been feeling. 

"Today I have such a joy for the opportunity to serve a misison. I love it! The Lord is blessing my life in so many ways.  I love that I can so clearly see the way that my life has been made better.  The Lord is blessing me for my efforts, and I'm not even in Ukraine yet.  I am so grateful for his help.  I know that without him, I wouldn't be able to do any of this! I would be too scared, or nervous about saying the wrong thing.  But I am trying my very best and he is showering me in blessings.  I can't really describe how I am feeling, but Ammon in the Book of Mormon does a pretty good job.  He says (Alma 26:12 and 16) "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this lang, for which we will praise his name forever...Therefore let us glory, yea we will glory in the Lord; yea we will rejoice for our joy is full; yes we will praise our God forever.  Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? yes who can say too much of his great power and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men?  Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." The other day the choir directed said something that I loved.  He said, "I went on a mission to repay the Lord.  Now I am even more indebted".  That is how I feel.  I love being a missionary and I LOVE serving the Lord and helping his other children know of his love for them."

Something else, while we were waiting in line for Choir last week, we were talking to an Elder.  Turns out that he was in a Mormon Message.  So we watched that Mormom Message -- we watch a lot of Mormon Messages here -- and it really was him!  The Mormon Message is "Stay within the Lines".  He is the main character.  But seriously, go to LDS.org or the Mormon Channel on Youtube and watch it.  It is so good, especially for boys.  I want all of my younger brothers to watch it.Seriously.  Tonight!

The video above is kinda about mission prep so on that same note!  Jacob, you need to memorize the purpose from Preach my Gospel.  EVERYTHING we do at the MTC revolves around that.  Seriously... We hear about it at least 100 times a day.  No joke.  I have it memorized in russian now, no big deal! But Jacob, you will love the MTC!  Everyone here reminds me of you.  You would love gym, you would love all the different ties, all the elders go around singing songs, hymns, disney songs, or songs from Musicals.  I am so excited for when you get to come to the MTC!!  You will be awesome and you will fit in so well!

Something that is kinda funny.  Last week on our floor, a bunch of girls left.  Then a bunch of new missionaries came in!  They are ASIAN, like from Japan.  None of them really speak English and they are so cute!  It is so fun to say hi!  They are excellent missionaries though.  It makes me so happy!

Speaking of foreign missionaires, awhile back an elder came up to us.  He is from some little island in the Pacific and is at the MTC for two weeks then goes back to his country to serve his misison. He has a bunch of fake gold teeth and he walks with a cane.  When he first got here, he came up and asked to shake all of our hands.  We let him and he was so happy.  Then he said, "On my island, we watch American TV shows, now I know that America really does have the prettiest girls.  I love being here because I can see all the girls".  Kinda weird, right?!?  But somewhat flattering, I guess!

Did you watch the Mighty Band of Youth video on inbetween conference sessions.  It was great!  They let us watch it and there were real life commercials!  haha but it was fun to watch them and the whole program about the MTC! The video was accurate!  They said in the video that the capacity at  the MTC is 2800, just so you know, we have over 3000 now!  Opa!!  -- by the way, opa is my favorite Russian word!  I say it all the time!

This week, two of my roommates left and 3 Russian Districts left.  It was kinda sad but I am excited for them to serve.  I can't believe that in just 6 more weeks, that will be me!  This week though, because they left, we only have 4 girls in our room.  That will be nice!

SO....Russian.  It is coming along so well!  I can't  believe how much I know!  I can testify, pray, teach, and we went all Tuesday without any English!  That is called SYL or in Russian gasayya.  That's kinda how you say it, anyways, I don't have a russian keyboard on this computer!  But it was so fun! We played a game where one person was "Sasha" or legitly a russian and everyone wanted everyone else to think it was them.  I wasn't Sasha but I did get tie for first for people thinking that it was me!  I am a boss!  The picture I sent home with our "angry" faces were from when we were trying to figure out how to talk about our emotions.  We didn't know the word for anger so we all made faces.  It cracked us up for a good 15 minutes.  In that picture, Sister Hunt was in the middle.  She was actually Sasha!

One funny language story is that we had been teaching an investigator named Matfei.  One day I was praying for him with my companion.  I said in my prayer, "Bless us that we can help Mafia come to know the truth".  Then I realized what I said and almost died.  I really didn't mean to pray for the Mafia!  Opa!

Ok so more about this week!

Someone gave me some apple pie this week.  Umm...YUM!  It was so good! I was so happy that night!

I've been a little sick this week.  If someone wanted to know how my district was, I would tell them that we went through 14 boxes of tissue this week!  That is what we get for spending 16 hours a day together. 

We did a pretty intense workout in gym on Friday.  It was one of my ab workouts from my book.  I was sore the next day, which was nice!  :)

Sunday was so good!  What happens is that everyone writes a talk, in Russin, and then the branch president picks two people to give theirs.  I wrote my talk, but they didn't pick me!  Phew! We got to watch Music and the Spoken Word which was super nice! They even sang a song from the Sound of Music!  Music from the outside world!! haha.

This was the first week - because of conference and Easter, that we have had Relief Society.  For Relief Society they bring all the Sisters together and have a big devotional.  The speaker was Mary Edmonds, and she was so funny.  I was laughing so hard that I was crying!! She was a really powerful speaker! I learned so much from her!  She referenced the "Catch the Wave" talk and said that we, as sisters, were the Sister Tsunami!  It was awesome.  We also, even though we have been here a few weeks, had a new sister meeting!  Future Sisters, here's what you need to know! Be modest, and be sure that you follow the rules!  Don't bend the rules or justify them! Just obey!

Sacrament meeting was all in Russian but I could understand most of it!  Woohoo! We had a temple walk and saw Sister Elaina Bills, from Basha!  I love seeing people I know!  I have like 4 friends coming in this week, I can't wait!! We had choir, dinner and then a devotional.  The devotional speaker Sunday night was the dad of one of the Elders in my zone.  His talk was so good.  He is the media director for the church and does the I'm a mormon campaign. It was so interesting. The church is doing great stuff in England, look it up! He said that 44 percent of the missionaries in the MTC are sisters!  What! Crazy! We also got to watch the Joseph Smith movie.  So great! 

Tuesday was awesome!  We only spoke Russian and it was great! We had choir and during choir, the tech people were setting up teleprompters and searching underneath all the chairs with a mirror.  I remember hearing that they only did that when a member of the 12 was coming so I was so stoked!  So we got ready for the devotional, and then during our last prelude song, everyone stood up and Elder Richard G Scott walked in!  He spoke to us!  It was so cool! I had a great seat and I felt like he was looking me in the eye, like the whole time!  It was great! He spoke a lot about  prayer.  He said that we will never regret our missions.  I don't know if you knew that, but his wife served a misison.  He said that he is so proud of all the sisters.  He also talked a lot about those of us learning a language.  It was so awesome!

He ended by giving us an apostalic blessing.  He said that those struggling to learn the language will master it through the Holy Ghost.  Companion struggles will be made right through the Holy Ghost.  This will be a rich and powerful experience.  We made the choice and it will enrich our lives.  We will be better wives and mothers.  We were blessed with peace and that the burden of learning a language will be eased.  It was truly a magnificent blessing.  I felt so loved. 

Then we sang the closing song.  As a sister got up to say the prayer, Elder Scott jumped back up and started talking again!  I have never seen that before and it was so cool.  He was like running to get to the mike.  He said that the Lord has called us to succeed, not fail.  And a bunch of other stuff.  What a wonderful man, I am so glad he is open to revelation from the Lord!  It was so good!

I did sealings at the temple today!  It was so good!  I love my family!

Anyways, I've got to go!  Write me!  Please! 

Love,

Sister Kati Ford

The first picture is the russian english dictionary I want.  It would be fabulous if you could send one to me :) The one we have is 'the worst one that we could've gotten" - that is what my teacher said

the second picture is the sunday temple walk!  look at all those missionaries!

me and sister Hunt!

  

we found an ukraine flag!  

me and Elaina bills, we went to basha together!  She was in my orchestra and we went to disneyland together (junior year!)

me and sister lee in my district, I LOVE HER!!!

sister hall was in my ward last semester, she came in on Wednesday!! 

choir sunday night

monday was district polka dot day!  Almost everyone did it!  elder daw was the only elder though!  

saying goodbye to the other russsian district.  this includes our zone leaders! luckily almost all of them are going to Kyiv!  Its going to be a party!

goodbye to my roommates, they left too!  sister ahlstrom is going to ukraine (Donestk???) and sister Ramage is going to Everett Washington!  Russian speaking! She is the only russian speaker in that mission right now!  holy cow! they are so great though!  I will miss them!

everytime one of us says "guys" we have to do ten pushups!  I only said it once yesterday but sister clark had to do100 pushups! OPA! my name is the one that looks kinda like a butterfly!

yesterday was our first day of SYL (speak your language!) It was so fun!  Notice our little flags under our nametags, we had a lot of fun.  THe other picture is our angry faces.  I'll explain that story in my email!