New Missionaries this week!

Hello!
How is everyone! I am doing good, we just back from the temple and it was really nice. This last week has been ReALLY BUSY and crazy! I'm not good at writing these emails so i think i will just start from the beginning and go through the week. First though, thanks so much mom for the package! It was so awesome! it had everything I needed and needless to say i was the favorite roommate when it came because of the goodies. we ate all of them and were so glad for some treats from OUTSIDE the MTC.
Tuesday was P-day as usual, i got my laundry done and wrote some letters. Elder Scott was the devotional speaker Tuesday night which was a big surprise and also extremely amazing. i was really glad we had decided to sing with the choir that day because we had close seats. the devotional was amazing. He gave all of us a lot of really cool blessings including the gift of tongues and the gift of protection. it was so special to hear his testimony. As soon as he stood up I got felt the spirit and knew that we do have prophets on the earth today. We are so lucky to have that gift and it was amazing to see one right in front of me. he talked a lot about the adversary and how powerful it is but reassured us that no matter what kind of power the adversary can make you think he has, he has none. Jesus christ is the only source of power and he bore POWERFUl testimony to the fact that He lives, loves us and is watching over us. I have never heard a testimony so powerful or with so much conviction as that one. He ended his talk by saying "i know He lives because I know Him." that was so powerful to me because it recconfirmed to me His existence and His reality and help he gives us. overall it was a powerful and amazing talk!
Wednesday is speak your language day for our district (100% Russian all day) and the BIG baseball game. I am proud to say that i got a shout out in our last district meeting for my performance in the game. I ended up playing out in left field and actually caught a pop fly! I also got a couple of hits and got on base once. Basically I was a star and my elders were very proud of me. it was really fun and it has become a weekly tradition so we'll see how tomorrow's game goes. I was in charge of making the trophy and it turned out pretty sweet. I had very limited resources to use while making it. I ended up using a lint roller, a princess washcloth (thanks Sara), some ribbons from packages i've gotten etc. The elders loved it and hopefully we can get it back this week. wednesday in class we watched elder Holland's easter talk from last spring conference and it was so powerful again. As soon as it turned on i could remember exactly where i was sitting and what i was thinking. i hadn't made my decision to come on my mission yet and I just remember the power that talk had in my life at that time. It was a tender mercy from heavenly Father to be able to watch that again and to feel the same feeling that a mission is what I am supposed to do and that heavenly father will never leave us alone. that night was the TRC which went okay. It was not our best! The "market" part went fairly well and I bought a "skirt and a backpack". Dad you would be very proud because I even bargained with the guy for a minute (all in Russian) and got the two things for cheaper because i was buying two things. The lesson was okay but we had to end early because the next group was coming in. Hopefully this week will be better. We are already teaching the second lesson (the Plan of salvation) 100% in Russian. Wednesday the new missionaries came in and they are really cute. Aunt Patty- I met Svetlana this week and she is so sweet. When i told her I knew you she gave me a big hug and just talked about how much she loves you! it was cute, i am excited to get to know here better while here at the MTC. We will fly out together to go to Samara! It's weird to think that i will be leaving in four weeks but I am getting very excited. I also heard that my new teacher Brat Anderson ate dinner at your house this week. He also said how awesome you were!
Thursday, friday and saturday weren't too exciting. Just the same old class and trying to learn russian. we had a test on Saturday with Sister salash which was pretty hard but it was good to see what i need to study more and what i should be working on. Sunday was amazing as usual and the spirit was so strong. One of the counselors in my branch presidency was my stake president at BYU, Bro. Wilkey, and i just love HIM! he is so amazing and was one of the speakers in church on Sunday. It was an amazing talk on patience and accepting the Lord's will. (mom-- i think he has just been called as a mission president in russia, could you look and see if he has been somewhere? thanks) Sis. Clark and I played a duet in church and it went really well. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Some funny stories from this week... most morning i go to the early morning gym (6am) with one my roommates to run so that i can play volleyball during our scheduled gym time. (I usually go because I wake up and can't go back to bed:) One morning I was trying to be really quiet so i didn't disturb my other roommates and sneak out the door without letting in a ton of light from the hall. I was opening the door and trying to sneak out and banged my head on the door really hard! i got out into the hall and the light was super bright cause our room was so dark, luckily there was a chair just outside our door so I just sat down and held my head for a second. then my roommate came out of the bathroom and asked if i was ready and I just said "yep". i didn't tell them i had hit my head until a couple days later. I had a big cut above my eyebrow where my head hit the door and it was swollen for a couple of days. Oh well! My other funny head story is that I was doing my nightly push-ups and apparently was a little energetic cause i banged my head on the floor. everyone was writing in the journals and getting ready for bed and so heard this huge thud. I just started to laugh! luckily i was able to finish my push-ups that night, don't worry.
i'm so jealous that you are all going to Philly this week without me (and dad) we just have to work (and for dad pay taxes). that will be fun to go to that especially with devin and taylor. that is also cool that you will meet up with ronnie. tell all the babies hi and that i love them and miss them! sara-- thankyou so much for the pictures! i showed almost everyone I could how cute my nieces and nephews were. Other than that everything here is good. yesterday was a little hard for me because BYU started and I felt really sad that i wasn't in school. I loved school starting and being back at BYU with all of the people but I know this is where I'm supposed to be and will be back there shortly.
My other roommates are all serving in the Ukraine. I will be sad to see us split up but hopefully i will be able to see them sometime after my mission. I got a really fun letter from Ashely erickson last night- my friend serving in the Netherlands. I can't believe that she has already been out a year! it seems nuts. I also got a sweet package from Camille-- ThANKS! we busted out the propeller gun already and played with it last night.
overall it'sbeen a good week. Camping sounds like it was really fun and i'm sad I missed it! We will just have to make up for it when I get back by going lots and lots :) right, dad? well i hope you have a fantastic week and have fun in philly. give the babies lots of kisses for me and show them picture so they remember me. I love you all! thanks for your love and support! have fun! the church is true!
chief (sister morris)