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