Waking up in Russia

If I would have had to answer your question of ‘settling in’ two weeks ago, I would not know how to answer honestly. Now, on our third (Friday will be four) week here, we are doing great!   I think jet lag affected me more than just sleep patterns. I was struggling to know not only why I was here, but why do I feel that way? One morning I was having a really tough time, I knelt down to pray again for help and strength, and Father answered my prayer so powerfully, as I heard, “Fear not, I am with thee, oh be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.” They hymn caught hold and I continued, "I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, uphill by my righteous omnipotent hand.” Of course He will, He promised me and is fulfilling His promise! That moment was life-changing!!!   So yes, we have settled in! Elder and Sister Hancock have been a HUGE help to us! Last week we were in Riga, Latvia, for a five day Seminary and Instit...

                                                                                                                                     3 May 2017 Dad and I have been on our mission and away from you for three months now. Time is going very slowly for me. I’m sorry for my lack of letters. When I think about writing you or even facetiming...

Bare bones timeline of our journey to Samara... Sunday, 19 Feb. 9:30pm: Checked in at Salt Lake City Airport             11:30pm: boarded our flight to New York City’s JFK Airport Monday, 20 Feb. 6:00am: Arrived at JFK             2:30pm: boarded Aeroflot Airlines for flight to Moscow Tuesday, 21 Feb. 7:00am: Arrived at Moscow Airport             4:00pm: flight to Samara                7:00pm: arrived in Samara I will fill in the details and experiences later, needless to say, I asked dad if we could please travel first class on our way home. It is brutal trying to sleep on full flights!!! We are safe, happy, and a bit overwhelmed! Let’s just say it is very weird having people trying to talk to you in a foreign language!!! We will try and figure ou...

Monday, Feb 6 : Up at 2am, left home at 3:15am, checked in at DFW for 6am flight. And we didn’t have to remove our shoes, love it when that happens! Arrived in SLC at 7:30ish. We had to walk a little ways to get our rental car (little Hyundai, no cruise).  Did you know that it is VERY hard and very comical to push 3 suitcases (each) through an airport, across a street, and down the sidewalk? And a bit embarrassing too.     We stopped at McDonalds (of course) for breakfast, no time for Kneaders. I was supposed to be putting on my makeup as we drove to the MTC, but we had one more tearful FaceTime with Sydney. We pulled into the MTC and they waited patiently for me to finish my call and make up.  And then we began our Exceedingly Awesome stay at the MTC!!! Man, they take such good care of you, it is really heaven on earth here, except for the MISSING FAMILY part!. But you, our family, are prayed for over and over again, every prayer. M...

Look what Celeste created for us!!! I really really love it! It's perfect! Thanks 'leste! So family, humor me, plan and carry out your '18'. This makes me so happy!!! You are in my thoughts all the time! Heart nan

{Our C.A.L.L….} After what seems like FOREVER, the big envelope arrived from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Office of the First Presidency!!! Every emotion!!! This is getting so real. Of course, our family gathered. Celeste, Lynda, and I painted a world map right onto the wall of our gathering room. Everyone, young and old, in person or on FaceTime (Sydney, Michael, Elder Chase Bowler, and Paigee [maybe others]), made two guesses, one in the U.S. and one outside, and wrote it on our map. Because I really wanted to get the most out of this ‘opening/reveal’ we changed things up a bit. Rob opened and read the call letter to himself. Then one by one, beginning with Letti, our oldest, we let each family member read it themselves, while I asked them a question, looking for clues. In the U.S.? NO! English speaking? NO! Spanish speaking? NO! Can we read the language? NO! Do we know anyone from there? NO! Etc. Etc. Etc. I LOVED seeing ...

...and a Happy First Post!!! We are HOMEbodies away from our Texas HO ME, settling into our new Russia HOME, serving to help strengthen other HOMES as we all prepare for our Heaven ly HOME. So... Welcome to our kinda/sorta private, craz y, yet happy life! You are friends!         (We squint when the sun is shining DIRECTL Y in our eyes, weird, I know!) (BTW, I love exclamation marks and use them a lot, g et used to it!) (And parentheses too!) (It is not easy writing a first blog post whi le eating belVita and Nutella, delicious, but not easy! [especially with extra Nutella!])