Week 59 - July 25, 2016 Short but Sweet!

   Hello  there!

I don't have much time. Sorry y'all. Luckily I did a question and answer with my mom 

so here you are!!!

     1. How are you doing? Good. It's hard and we don't have a lot of answers
         so we are just doing our best in the dark. We will just doing
         our best with what we have.

     2 What have you guys been doing with the new changes? We study, index, meet
        with members and do service projects.

     3 What is your new "calling" over there? Don't have one yet, we plan to meet
        with the branch president this week to get one.

     4 What can you guys do? see answer two

     5 What type of service do you guys do everyday? Well there aren't many
        and we can't look for them officially, but we clean the church building
        or help serve members. more will come through time. they will be assigning
        someone to find service projects for us.

     6 if a person comes into the church building and just wondering about our church,
        can you guys talk to the person about our beliefs? Yes and no.  We can talk to them,
        but nothing close to testifying or teaching without the presence of a Russian member
        of the church present. So only factual or nonreligious topics.

     7 What if a person wants to join our church, can you guys still baptize them? Once they
        sign a paper saying they are doing this of their own will we can teach them. Elders
        can no longer perform these ordinances. A member will do the actual baptizing.

     8 Can we still say anything of the church? our believe in the email? Yes you can.
        You are free to do so but don't address me as a missionary. I am a volunteer.
              
     9 What can and can't we (emailers) do? see above answer

     10 where do you guys write your email an internet cafe

     11 how long you guys spend on reading and replying? about 2-3 hours.

I'll send more pictures and video next week!! I love you!

LOVE YOU! GOD LOVES YOU

-- 

Much love, 

Cectpa Graham

Week 58 - July 20, 2016 Day 1 as a Volunteer...

         Hullo my beloved readers!!!

As you all may or may not know, I am now a volunteer! Everything I have been doing 

for the past 13 months is no longer possible. From now on I will be solely serving people 

and members in Russia. We will be given church callings in our  branches 

and serving accordingly. We will spend most of our time in the branch building, 

service projects, or in the homes of members. It is pretty strange, 

but our mission has a great positive attitude about it all. 

It is no longer for us to talk about God or the gospel 

with people outside of our church building. 

We are all sad to hear that, but we are rejoicing that we are still able 

to serve the wonderful people   of Russia! This week we will go to Samara again 

for another conference on what we are not allowed to do. Then there is a branch picnic.

Last week, we went to Samara for a missionary leadership meeting. 

We discussed a lot of the new restrictions, but also were filled with hope 

and assurance that this is the Lord's work. He will do what needs to be done. 

Then, our mission moved our P-day to Wednesday so that we could  fully 

use Monday to contact before the new law was in affect. In two days, 

Sister Miller and I gave out 14 copies of the KM. YAY!

I'm out of time, but I love you and the Lord. All will work out! 

Talk to you next Monday!                             

                      --                        

Much love, 

Cectpa Graham

Week 57 - July 11, 2016 The Truth of God Will Go Forth Boldly

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” Joseph Smith 

   My dearest readers,

As most of you know, the Russian government has recently passed a law that would 

greatly affect how we do missionary work here. That is okay. It will all work out. 

I join in testimony with hundreds of other missionaries in Russia, that this is the Lord's work. 

There is nothing we can do or the world can do to stop it. 

I have been called to serve in Samara Russia. And I will stay here until further notified. 

We don't know all the details, but just know that I love it here. I have seen so many miracles 

and have felt so strongly the Lord's love for his people. They have become my closest friends 

and family. They are the most amazing, strong people I have ever met. The members here are incredible and are able to handle whatever may come in the future. We are so close to seeing 

the fullness of blessings from the Lord. 

Opposition is necessary in this life in order to progress and grow. Elder Dallin H Oaks 

gave a great talk about this very topic in last April's General Conference. 

We can only learn if there is something to challenge us in the first place.

In other news, it has been another pretty exciting and wonderful week! I am staying here 

in Tolliatti with Sister Miller for another 6 weeks. Only this time, they have asked me 

to become one of the three sister training leaders in the mission. That just means 

I''ll be going on splits with a few sisters and helping them in any way I can. 

There will also be a missionary leadership meeting this week in Samara so I'll be heading 

back that way this Friday. There we will probably be getting more information about what 

our mission is going to be like from now on.

Highlights: Met the new mission president. He is sooo cool. And so Californian! 

His wife did a slide show about their life and it was all about the beach and all things wonderful. 

We had a special testimony meeting with the missionaries of the Samara and Toliatti Zones. 

I truly felt the Spirit soo strongly while listening to the testimonies of my fellow servants 

in the Lord's vineyard.

Also went on splits with the loves, Sisters Hansen and Hofmann. 

It was so great being back with them. I have been truly blessed with companions. 

Remember how I had a district in the MTC. Well, I've seen all of them in the field except 

for my good ol' pal Elder Lee. After a year on the mission and 11 months in the field, 

I was finally able to see my desk neighbor of 9 weeks! He hasn't changed a bit. 

Balakova district reunion. Almost a year and all four of us haven't been in the same area at once! Love everyone! 

Also, we had the most fun, stressful visa trip ever! Somehow it ended up with 26 missionaries 

in a small white van without AC in the middle of July for about 14 hours together. 

We got to know each other wayyy better after that trip haha.

Sorry for the long email, just so much has happened. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

-- 

Much love, 

Cectpa Graham

Week 56 - July 4, 2014 I love to be a missionary! Cause at least I know I'm called. . .

     My dearest readers,

Wow I cannot believe 13 months have gone by so far. It is so true. 

Months feels like days and days feel like months haha. Just so much happens in one week. 

I wish I could just spend all day sharing about all my fun adventures. I must admit, 

I am about a week late on my journal- I used to be about a month late. . .

I'm working on it haha. Where to begin? 

We were stopping by a less actives home and ran into this guy. 

Isn't Russia beautiful

Sister Miller is just the best. Seriously, we just have sooo much fun together. 

We don't even have to say anything. She knows exactly what I'm about to say. 

She loves my cheesy puns and super sarcastic remarks. We just have a blast together. 

She helps me get through the hard times and works like a champ! One time this week 

when we were at a less-actives house, she gave us a pill to take. 

It helps your mind work better, she said. I had to pretend to take it 

and so did Sister Miller. We were just dying of laughter in the meeting. 

Then the woman practically swallowed a spoonful of flour and ground seeds . . 

then after the meeting we actually took the pill 

because it turned out to be just some random oil thing. 

I told her "on three!" and never counted...

Friday was one of the most "fun" days on my mission. 

We met with one of our investigators, Sasha. I love her! (yes, like the investigator in Bezi, 

just a woman ahah) We had a great lesson about why we don't baptize little children. 

We read Moroni 8 with her and she completely agreed. She is going to pray whether 

or not she needs to be baptized in this church. Then we went on a Ferris Wheel -

after asking permission from our new mission president- and then ate ice cream, 

cotton candy, corn in a cup, and walking around a park. Then we had FHE. 

It was a blast! I love Russia!

We got a new mission president on Friday. 

I called him on the phone to ask if we could go on a ferris wheel 

with our investigator. He said "Yeah sure, 

just give her a hug and say you love her!" ​

Cotton Candy!

It matched my skirt!

We are sitting on a beard. . . .my life's dream. 

The witch and the king. . . think of "Hanzel and Gretel." 

Sunday, a family from Los Angeles came to visit. The wife is Russian 

and the husband is from LA. It was soooo weird! I missed the California accent 

and the way we locate places by freeways. I forgot what the 405 was and where the 101 hits. 

It was glorious and also strange, talking to people in English about Ventura. Just weird. 

I hope I will be able to adjust quickly when I get home. 

I may be speaking Russian more than I think. . . 

Today was awesome!! Happy 4th of July!!! 

Our friends drew the pictures, and we later tried to differentiate 

"Look Alive" and "look Alike"

We had a huge party!! I was able to celebrate this day of Independence 

with a German and Russians and Americans. 

Note the Independence Day Chalkboard behind

Elder Plettig's German football jersey.

I think that is soo cool! It doesn't matter where you are from you can still be together 

and enjoy one another's company. We watched Meet the Mormons in Russian 

and I actually understood 80% of it! Wooooo!

Our big group of people!!! Yay for holidays!!! 

Elder Plettig Quotes of the Week: 

(1) We are going around in a circle sharing our childhood fears. 

Sister Miller said hers was jack in the boxes. Then he asked "Who is jack?" 

(2) While he was making burger buns for our celebration today, I asked him.   

"Are those German Buns?" Then he got offended and said 

"I just wanted to have a little bit of German on The 4th of July. Is that so wrong?" 

(3) The Old testament in russian translates to "ramshackle testament." 

After laughing hysterically he says: "Ramshackle testament. That cracks me out!" 

I love serving with him haha. 

We aren't usually supposed to be in the same public place 

as other missionaries, but on Sundays our buses come so rarely 

that we got mozhno.We were the only ones on!! 

ATTENTION!!!! So to end off, I have a favor to ask everyone. 

There is this Russian law that is going to be reaching the higher ups soon in Russia 

which would completely get rid of missionary work in Russia. Talking about God 

in the streets or in public will be illegal. If this law gets passed, then I'm not sure 

what will happen to us. Please pray for us and for the leaders of this great nation 

for the Lord to soften their hearts. That being said, I know that this is God's true church 

and his gospel. Nothing can stop the stone from rolling forth amongst every nation, 

kindred, and tongue. Nothing can frustrate God's plans. I'm actually not too worried about it, 

but I know that God will give us miracles. We just have to ask for it first. 

I love you all and pray for you. Have a great week!!!

-- 

Much love, 

Cectpa Graham

Week 55 - June 27, 2016 Bears, Beets, Battle Star Galatica

   My Dearest Readers,

Well it has been quite the eventful week! Seriously, each day is full of a surprise. 

Monday after emailing, we went to the super mall. Well in the parking lot 

was this cute little carnival. We called up to the zone leaders and asked if we could 

get permission to go. He immediately shot it down saying there was nooo way 

we'd get permission to go on any rides. Well a few minutes later, 

he calls us back saying we got можно. Hollah! We went to this super scary ride thing, 

then we did the bumper cars. I really missed driving at that time. 

Oh well, I got my whole life to drive haha. 

Us with the bear at a carnival. ​

​I've never seen a bear cub in real life. 

Now I can say I've seen bears in Russia! 

It was pretty sad though.. ..

The man on the left is from Peru! 

They travel all over Russia performing and selling little trinkets. 

It was epic! He was a big hit hahaha

It was POURING rain this morning. We were drenched when we came to 

the internet cafe and are still wet haha. Also, my cavity filling came out on Friday, 

so we are going to get that fixed tomorrow, maybe in Samara. So wish me luck! 

I'm pretty nervous about a dentist appointment in general, but now in Russia. 

It will be an adventure!

Fun fact: One day when I first came here, we bought bread from 

these two guys in a little shack. They are not from Russia, 

but were super friendly. We even took a selfie with them. 

Fast forward to yesterday. We were sitting on the bus 

and I had to go sit near sister Miller towards the end because 

I didn't have enough change for the fare. There is a man 

who starts laughing and then shows us his phone. . . 

it's a picture of us on his Facebook hahahahaha SOOO FUNNY! 

Welcome to our kitchen! ​

Isn't it beautiful! 

We worked so hard on them yesterday. They were FABULOUS.

Homemade tortillas too!​

Man so many miracles, I can't even write them all. Короче, 

we have met 4 new investigators this week. They are just so great. 

We as missionaries get to learn the real meat of people's lives. 

We hear about the most devastating things, grandsons in comas, daughters dying too soon, 

people living through the darkest times of the world. 

Yet, despite all that sadness and despair, these people are still able to 

wake up in the morning and get to work. As they give us opportunities to share 

the good news of the gospel with them, then we can share how 

God is going to help them through their trials. The Book of Mormon 

truly has the words of God to heal our personal wounds, inside and out. 

The sting of death and the victory of the grave are swallowed up in Christ. 

Preparing the jelloed giraffe​.

The Zone leaders pranked our district leader. 

We think we are the next "Office" cast.​

​A german eating a jelloed giraffe . . .

I love my mission. I love my family. I love the Lord. I love the Book of Mormon. 

I would not have put my life on hold without pay for year and a half 

if I didn't know the eternal truth that God is our loving Heavenly Father. 

Throwback to the dacha which is now forbidden to us 

because it is not in our city limits!

-- 

Much love, 

Cectpa Graham

Week 54 - June 20, 2016 Summer is in the air. . ..

       My dearest readers,

As a request from my mother, I'm going to answer a few questions:

I am currently serving in Toliatti, which is about 2 hours away from my last area 

and the mission office. The branch here is incredible. They used to have 3 branches here 

a few years ago, and then things happened so now they just have one. 

So just imagine all of the most strong and active members of 3 branches condensed into one. 

That is our branch. The members here are incredible. So many strong families. 

Like legit families, with a mom and dad and little kiddos, all active and strong! 

It is by far the biggest and most mature branch I've seen on my mission. 

They are just so great!  I haven't been able to work with most of them just yet, 

but I'll get there. 

On our way to our conference. Only we sisters were left on the bus haha​

Getting ready for conference

In the past three weeks, we have been blessed to find 8 new investigators. 

That is the most I've gotten in my whole mission. The Lord has poured out His Spirit 

upon us and this city. Now we just need to teach them the word of God so that 

they can decide for themselves if they want to follow Christ example. 

The Volga

Sister Johnson and I went on splits. 

Our friend took us to the Volga. 

We met with our investigator, Olga, whom we helped on her dacha. 

Well later that night we went contacting. We had planned to go somewhere, 

but both of us felt we should go somewhere else. Each turn we made conscious decisions 

on where to go. Then for our last contact, we talked to a women a ways away from us and compliment her garden. She the immediately said, "Americans?" We asked how she know. Apparently her friend, Olga, talked ALL about us! Our investigator is already turning into 

a great missionary for us. Turns out this woman really, really wanted to talk to us. 

She said she was just wondering how she could find us and why we don't come up 

and talk to her! Then we talked to her! It's definitely a testament to me that 

God is really aware of us and our desires. 

He wants to bless us individually and greatly! 

This is a picture of a hand holding an umbrella. 

If you look really closely, 

you'll see our investigator with a bag on her head 

and another bag covering her close. 

She lent us the umbrella so we wouldn't get sick. 

Love her. 

 I know God loves us and watches over us!

President and Sister Schwab and they daughter Jenni. 

They leave June 30. 

-- 

Much love, 

Cectpa Graham

Week 53 - June 13, 2016 Hairless Cats + Dachas = Dyed Hair

     My dearest readers,

What a great week. We are just seeing miracles right to left! It is awesome!! 

I finally went to a dacha!! It's only taken me 10 months in Russia, but better late than never! 

We helped a baboshka by digging up soil? Also we made a fire by our bare hands 

so we could drink tea. Next week she'll give us fish!!! WOO! 

On the dacha!!! I have legs...

Pants for the 2nd time on my mission!!! Wooo

We made a fire from nothing!!!!!! and matches . . .

 it was hard work!

I also held a hairless cat after hiking in the woods with the dopplegenger of Elaina 

in Vampire Diaries. She is just so beautiful!!! 

Fried chicken and mashed potatoes for the big Russia Day holiday that Putin established. 

Love them holidays. It was delicious because we had real BBQ sauce from america 

and Sriracha sauce. 

We decided to get sushi cause we can. Not bad actually. 

Sister Miller tried shrim for the first time. . . and hated it. 

Tomorrow is the last Zone Conference with President and Sister Schwab. 

Next month I will have a completely different mission president! So crazy, 

I'm really sorry to see them go. Such a wonderful pair. 

We are getting pictures ready for our gift to President and Sister Schwab 

since they are leaving in a few weeks!

Yeah this is our district. . . 

Left to right: Sisters Miller and Graham. Elders: Dorius, 

Plettig (German and HILARIOUS) 

Mills (there is a difference betweens Mills and Miller in our district) 

Harding and Alley. 

Also we hit Mckie Dees on the weekly herrr. Just can't help it.Their toilets are just so clean! 

We have had 4 new investigators this week! All of whom we found this week 

in different types finding activities. 

Knocking: We went knocking and met this Muslim man. 

He was really interested in talking about religion so we sat out on a park bench 

and had a lesson with him! 

Transport Contacting: we talked to this girl Sasha on the bus. 

She was super sweet and felt like it wasn't coincidence that we talked to her. 

We had a meeting with her on Friday and she said she will finish the Book of Mormon! 

She agrees that infant baptism isn't right. 

Street Contacting: We gave a woman 

who works at a Kvas stand a KM. We dropped by again and it was great! 

We even prayed with her on the street. Plan to drop by her tonight. 

Area Book: We called a potential and she said she was super busy 

and didn't know if we could meet her since she'll be working on her dacha. 

Then we asked if we could help her on her dacha, and she said, 

"You probably won't be up early enough. I'm going to leave at 7am." 

Lucky for us we do wake up early enough. We were able to serve her 

on her dacha and also have a lesson with her! She even came to church on Sunday! 

Miracles I tell you. 

​I had to quickly snap a picture in the internet cafe so I could show y'all. 

It's ombre with some highlights. I hope I don't look too weird. . . 

we gave the hairstylist a KM haha. 

-- 

Much love, 

Cectpa Graham