Sunday, August 07, 2016
Dear Family,
So, you’d think 4 nights in a hotel, paid by your
work would be a good thing, right. Not! 10 volunteers and we are somewhat holed
up right now in this hotel. We hope to be back
in our apartment by Tuesday. We are all safe and sound just inconvenienced. For
dinner last night at the hotel, I had bacon wrapped pork with fried zucchini. It
was delicious and yes, I ate the zucchini. I also ate a Caesar salad. Friday
night we ate dinner at the Ottesen’s. It was great having everyone together.
Out here, we can’t congregate so the volunteers don’t meet together outside of
zone conferences and church.
We had
district meeting on Saturday instead of Friday because of all the stuff that
was going on. Elder Worden had our training. (Counting us there are 8
volunteers in our district) It was on forgiveness and the atonement. He
referenced this set of scriptures.
Moroni 7:45-48
45 And charity suffereth
long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not
in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
46 Wherefore, my beloved
brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth.
Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things
must fail—
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and
it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it
shall be well with him.
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father
with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he
hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ;
that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have
this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.
Elder Worden talked about the phrase “seeketh not
her own.” Most of us discussed this as
not taking credit or being acknowledged for service that you do. Elder Worden explained that to him it was
like when Christ sat and ate with the sinners. The sinners are the ones who
need him. At times, we need to seek out and serve those who aren’t family, best
friends, etc. Anyway, it gave me a new
perspective on that part of the scriptures.
Saturday Dad and I went to the Samara Russia Air
and Space museum. This is what the internet says about it, ‘Few people know
that Samara was one of the main builders of the Soviet Union’s space program.
It is there where “Vostok “rocket", which made the first flight in the
history of mankind into space, was assembled. It is there, where the aerospace
power of the Soviet Union was formed, and it would be strange if such a
memorable event were not perpetuated in the city’s history.
A real-life P -7 rocket was installed in Kozlov
Square, Lenin Avenue in 2001. The history of the rocket began in 1984, when it
was manufactured as a simulator for the USSR’s Space Forces. The height of the
monument is 68 meters, and weight is over 20 tons.
The monument became very popular and on April 12,
2007 near it the “Cosmic Samara” Museum was opened to present the rocketry
history. Soon, the museum was awarded as the best tourism project of Samara,
becoming an indispensable item in the excursion programs. Indeed, this is one
of the most unusual and interesting landmarks in the city.
Yuri Gagarin, was the first man in space. In 1957
the former Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made space satellite
object. Four years later, on April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut (astronaut)
number 1 Yuri Gagarin made a successful orbit of Earth aboard the spacecraft
Vostok. As the first human to fly in space, Gagarin represented a technical
triumph for the Soviet Union.
Although Gagarin did not make another space
flight, he remained a national hero and a leader in Russia's cosmonaut training
program. His death during a training mission in 1968 was mourned throughout the
Soviet Union.
We even saw pictures of drawings here on earth
that depict people from other planets visiting earth and what someone thinks
they look like.
One display showed the type of food they had such
as freeze-dried Borscht. Looking at the capsule Yuri was in definitely wasn’t
for someone who was claustrophobic. I know I couldn’t fold myself into his
chair, at least not at my age.
President Ottesen sends the missionaries out a
letter each week. Last Monday he was talking about self-mastery. This is definitely something I need to work
on as far as my diet goes.
Controlling
your thoughts and developing mastery over your physical body is one of the most
important things you will do here on earth. As full time representatives of the
Lord Jesus Christ, you have an obligation to control your temper, your speech,
appetites, passions --and especially your thoughts. You rarely do something
wrong you’ve never first thought of doing. The thought preceeds the deed. For
disciples of Christ in Samara who anxious to live without sin, it is important
for you to learn to control your thoughts.
You will
need to develop your own technique for controlling your thoughts when you are
distracted by images and things here in Russia that might rob you of the spirit
and limit your full potential as a missionary. My first mission president (who
was a prisoner of war in Russia) used to tell us--“you can’t prevent a bird
from trying to land on your head, but you can prevent the bird from building a
nest there”. I think that means that while you can’t always prevent thoughts
from coming to your mind, you can totally determine whether they stay there or
not.
So how can
you control that?
President
Boyd K. Packer, gave a wonderful talk while was in high school about controlling
thoughts. He said, “Probably the greatest challenge to people of any age,
particularly young people, and the most difficult thing you will face in mortal
life is to learn to control your thoughts. As a man ‘thinketh in his heart, so
is he’ (Proverbs 23:7). One who can control his thoughts has conquered
himself.” President Packer compared our minds to a stage with performers who
occupy that stage during every waking hour of our lives. He said, “They will
enact for you ... anything to the limits of your toleration. ...“If you let
them, they will devise the most clever persuasions to hold your attention. ...
Even convince you that it is innocent—for they are only thoughts.
“If you can
control your thoughts, you can overcome habits. If you can learn to master them
you will have a happy life. “This is what I would teach you. Choose from among
the sacred music of the Church a favorite hymn. ... Memorize it. ... “Once you
learn to clear the stage of your mind from unworthy thoughts, keep it busy with
learning worthwhile things”.
Lot’s of great advice. Lot’s to work on.
Well keep Russian and the volunteer’s in your
prayers.
Love,
Mom
