Sunday, October 16, 2016

Dear Family,

Well, it was a kind of quiet week. Our AP’s went to Orenburg for a few days and their presence at the office does generate a lot of traffic and phone calls. They got back on Friday, just a little late for the start of district meeting.

I’ve got to try and track down a Russian audio version of the Book of Mormon for an investigator of Sister Thomas’s who is blind. She said they tried the internet but they didn’t have the audio in Russian.  Then I have to get a Chinese version of the Book of Mormon for our German Elder in Kazan. He is an amazing young man. He had to learn English in order to learn Russian. He spoke some English but not a lot. He was at the Provo MTC. So now he is fluent in German, English and Russian. He goes home next month but we got another German Elder last month.

It is getting colder now. In fact, while in church today it started to snow. The weather app told me that it was 36 degrees but felt like 32. I’m going to have to pull out my “stay puff marshmallow-man coat pretty soon. Sunrise is at 7:09 am and Sunset is at 5:40 PM. We are losing all of our time to walk.

The Russians think that all illness starts with the cold. They bundle themselves up as well as their kids as soon as it starts getting cold. I’m sweating in a light coat and they have on a winter coat.

The Church has started a “Behind the Walls” program for our volunteers. They are supposed to get out into the community and make friends. Well a several Elders in our area got in touch with a professional Ultimate Frisbee team here in the Samara area. They went to play them on Saturday. Our Volunteers lost but the score was 13 to 9 so they didn’t get creamed plus the got to interact with 20 Russians during this game. The Russian team wants them to go and play other teams with them but the games are usually on Sunday so that isn’t going to happen. All the guys were really stoked by the experience.

At our branch meeting, during the 2 and 3^rd hours the sisters watched women’s conference and the men watched the priesthood session. I really enjoyed the conference, especially the song the young women sang, How Firm the Foundation. I also liked President Uchtdorf reference to working hard; making it to the last floor and the last door. Our Sacrament Meeting is unique in that President Krievov frequently has his 6 year old daughter say the closing prayer.

Sister O and I went to Metro on Thursday. I am still running true to form in that I don’t think I have much to buy and then go ahead and spend over 10,000 rubles. We use reusable bags here or else you pay for plastic bags. I finally got wise and started to always bring all my bags with me. I kept buying more than I planned and ended up buying the plastic bags. Now I just bring them all with me, every time I shop for groceries.

Along with our Metro run on Thursday, Sister O and I went to the ballet/opera house and bought 40 tickets to the Nutcracker for December. This is a reward for all the Samara and Toliatti zones for working hard on their SYL (speak your language). The Saratov area is going to see Swan Lake in November.

Sister O invited most of the Samara zone to her house for Sunday dinner today. The Penza and Orenburg volunteers are too far away to come. There will be 18 of us. I made two banana cakes and had already bought some ice cream to take over. It should be a lot of fun.

Last night the Ottesen’s put on a special fireside for the Besimonski branch. It was on Family home evening. Then they showed them how to do one. They did, putting on the armor of God. I sent picture of Elder Quarnburg getting girded up.

President’s letter was great this week:

It is easier to avoid temptation than it is to resist temptation.

I invite you to think about your greatest temptation here in Russia---whatever that may be--- and then ponder and pray about what you can do to avoid it in the future-- rather than simply trying to resist it each time. Then, I invite you to follow through on the "avoidance revelation" that I believe will come to you. This process will start with prayer.

I need to introduce you to Ernie.

Raising a family of boys allowed us to have plenty of pets, including a variety of reptiles. One of our favorite family reptiles was a ball python that belonged to my son Andrew. His name was Ernie. Ernie was our first pet snake. Like most snakes, Ernie didn't have much personality. He was motionless most of the time. The boys quickly learned that the best part about owning Ernie was feeding him. When Ernie was young, the boys fed him small "pinky" mice each week. After a while, Ernie outgrew the pinkies and moved on to regular mice. He would typically eat one mouse every 2 weeks. Feeding day was exciting and took place in the garage---far away from Sister Ottesen. All five boys typically attended the event, hovering over Ernie's cage to watch the carnage. To begin, one of the boys would usually put a ski glove (in case the snake decided to strike) and then drop the mouse into cage. As soon as the mouse was dropped in, it saw Ernie and instinctively (and immediately) scampered to the opposite side of the cage and began scratching madly to get out. Initially, Ernie did nothing. It was odd--because we knew he was very hungry but he just lay there in the corner of his cage all curled up. We kept watching. After about 10 minutes or so, Ernie would begin to show some signs of life and then turn his head in the direction of the mouse. Then, Ernie would smoothly start to glide his way toward the mouse. As soon as Ernie would get within 10 inches or so of the mouse, the mouse would frantically dart to the opposite side of the cage away from the snake. Patiently, Ernie would then pause and slowly turn back again toward the mouse. Just as Ernie would get close to the mouse, the mouse would quickly scamper to the opposite side of the cage. However, we observed something interesting happen with each of these approaches by Ernie. Each time Ernie would advance toward the mouse, the mouse would allow him to get just a little bit closer each time. After about 20 minutes or so of this back-and-forth drama, the boys could see that Ernie could actually get within just an inch or so of the mouse’s nose before the mouse would eventually scamper to the other side of the cage. Each time, Ernie patiently turned to follow the mouse. Eventually, Ernie would actually be able to get up to the very tip of the mouse’s nose --almost as if he was simply trying to make friends with the mouse. But Ernie was definitely not looking for friends. Then, in a split second, Ernie would grab the mouse by the head and twist his coils all around the mouse’s body—and that was the end of the mouse. Victory for Ernie.

In my experience, the more you pay attention to what is tempting you, the more you get used to that temptation. The more you flirt with sinful thoughts or habits or faithless thoughts, the less shocked you are about those sinful thoughts, habits or faithless thoughts. This process of accommodation makes it easier for you to become casual about important spiritual things. In such situations, Joseph in Egypt is your ideal model: when he was tempted, “he … fled”. You need to run.

Jesus had to have noticed the tremendous temptations that came to him, but He chose not process and reprocess them. Instead, He rejected them promptly (the scriptural record we have says he simply--"gave no heed unto them"). Elder Maxwell said---

"If we entertain temptations, soon they begin entertaining us! Turning these unwanted lodgers away at the doorstep of the mind is one way of giving no heed. Besides, these would-be lodgers are actually barbarians who, if admitted, can be evicted only with great trauma."

When the people of Ammon were converted to the Lord, they didn’t hang their swords above the mantel. They buried them. Deep. Yes, very deep! They were not only avoiding temptation but closing the door on temptation. Completely. They were also putting any reminders of their past behind them:

"We will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day. . . .And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again."

We are taught to not to even touch “unclean things” and to avoid even the very “appearance of evil.” This result starts with your prayers. In fact, your daily prayers ---while you are His full-time representatives here in Samara--- should not be any different than Nephi’s heartfelt prayer where he said: “Lord, Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?”

Shake? Really? Yes. Doesn't Nephi's prayer really sound like he is asking the Lord for strength to completely AVOID sin? ---before he ever wandered close to it? So it should be with you--as you reach out to Him in heartfelt personal prayer.

In the Garden of Gesthemene, just before the Lord went off to pray, He gave his sleepy apostles this simple recipe for pulling off "avoidance" (not resistance) of sin---he told them to:

"WATCH and PRAY, that ye enter not into temptation". His recipe suggests two acts of faith which are already familiar to you: to watch and to pray. To watch means to be "on guard". And prayer, as you know, is "THE" mechanism for staying "on guard" against the worldly images and influences and negative thoughts that surround you here----the mechanism for helping you avoid ALL temptations. ALL sinful thoughts. ALL ungodly habits. ALL faithless thoughts. ALL things that may rob you of His spirit.

So...prayer is where you start.

Not all that complicated, right? I know He will help you "avoid" and not just "resist"! I know you can do this!

Love you all,

Mom