October 7, 2019

its been a cold minute

Things are getting colder here in Saratov, Russia! Every week is one week closer to the infamous Russian winter. The people here are not very good at estimating the weather because at least 2 times a day people will tell us it will snow tomorrow and somehow it still hasn't snowed here.

I know I am just a little bit late, but I wanted to wish everyone a happy 21 of september!! hope you all listened to the song on repeat all day :) listen to it again for me, and eat some cinnamon altoid mints (i ran out of those this past week. rip to me for the next 14 months)

These past few weeks have been a little bit rough here. With University starting and work getting back into the normal routine, it has been difficult to get people to commit to plans. Russians have no issue canceling plans after they were supposed to be there. So often times it's a 50/50 chance on if our 4 meetings for the day will actually happen. A little bit depressing when everyone cancels on you, but as I like to say, "whatcanyado??"

In fact a few weeks ago, we hosted a Bob Ross Paint Night!! GREAT idea. I was so excited, thinking it would be a great idea to get all of our friends to the church and to do this with us. Here's basically what happened:

Imagine that you are having a birthday party. You invite over 20 of your friends. At least 10 of them responded saying that they will come. Your obligated best friend helps you set up the party and get everything ready. Then the two of you sit for 2.5 hours waiting for everyone to come, and no one shows up. Then at the end, you start eating your gross birthday cake out of sadness, and your two brothers walk in with their friend they were hanging out with and eat the birthday cake with you.

That's what happened at the Bob Ross night. We prepared so much, invited so many people, got people to commit. Me and my comp set everything up. No one came. And at the end the elders walked into the branch building with a member they had a lesson with and we all ate some gross apple cobbler that me and my comp had made (it was gross bcuz the apples here are different). Shed a few tears on the bus ride home, but whatcanyado. SO IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS FOR HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO THE CHURCH, or activities to do, lmk. ideas would be much appreciated :)

BUT BLESS UP because this past week we hosted a ward activity, and we had about 40 people show up :)))))))) That was amazing! We even invited our 20ish friends again, and we actually had one show up this time!!!! Me and my comp had been planning this beach party for over a month and were really worried no one would come after the bob ross fiasco, but thank goodness people came! At first we were a little worried, because we were calling people the day of the party, like 4 hours before it started, and they were like "umm we don't know yet. we will see how our day goes" And if that doesn't describe making plans in Russia, idk what does.

ALSO FOR mutual this week we played indoor hockey. 10/10 would recommend. Then afterwords waited for 30 minutes for a marshutka (the bus system here) to take us home. You never know what time they finish for the night, and hope that there will be one that comes by to take you where you need to go lol.

This week we also had Zone Conference. Great reminder to just keep pressing through the work, and pushing through hard things. Things don't always go how you want or would expect them to go, but it all will work out in the end. ALSO I am finally getting to know my way around the city! We went on splits, and I had went with one of the sisters not from here. I took her to one of our friend's house, and we didn't get lost! BLESSINGS

General Conference was great! So far, I have only listened to Saturday morning and afternoon, but they were awesome. It really hit hard on making sure that your foundatin is built on Christ, and that we need to trust in the Lord. Great reminders for all of us. I'm excited to be here in Russia strengthening people's faith and sharing the message of the gospel (with members only of course;) )

Fun fact: in russia (or saratov, tbh idk) they paint the bottom 1/2 of tree trunks white. they do it so during WWll they didn't have to use their lights on the car at night, and potentially be found? I think. And they have been doing it ever since. So every tree here is painted 1/2 white. kind of interesting.

Since I am not allowed to send pictures of Russians, you get pics of me and my comp:)

1- me and sister richter at our beach party

2- all the sisters from zone conference

3- in the church, there is a no smoking sign. its the little things ;)

4- fall has fallen

                                         

                                          

September 16, 2019

getting in the swing of things

I've officially been on my mission for over 3 months, over 100 days. I've finished my first transfer. I think the biggest time accomplishment is that I have been in Saratov for a whole month and a half without being kidnapped ;) lol jokes aside, it has been amazing! Everyday has a new challenge, and we never have time for everything that we want to do, but we are working hard to do the work here in Russia.

My first transfer here was packed with so many things. First things first, not a single person here can pronounce my name. You would think that it is very simple, but no. The bishop consistently asks me what my name is. Every week. Along with every member, and every person I meet on the streets. Up until two weeks ago, we went by our first names on the street so I never really noticed it before. But then our mission president changed it so we introduce ourselves as sisters and elders even though we are not wearing our nametags. It is funny to watch people react when we both put sister as our first name. Everyone thinks we are a cult and gets weirded out by how we refer to ourselves. But all is good.

A few weeks ago, we went to Marks, Russia on splits with the sister training leaders. It is a small branch of about 8 people. We all went up there, played our violins in sacrament meeting, taught the young women (only one young women) lesson, then went around the city to an inactive members house. The people/members who took me and Sister Willis around were an interesting group. One of them had housed the voluteers when there were some in Marks. She is a sweet old lady. Another one of them has skitzophrenia and conistently told us he needs to be in the "looney bin." We ended up meeting his girlfriend who turns out also has skitzophrenia and is pregnant. So that was cool! It was such a cute small city.

One of the things I love about Russia is that EVERY single city, big or small, has a statue of Lenin. All in different poses. Sometimes the statues are huge, sometimes little. But they all have one of him.

Last week we traveled to Samara, Russia to go to a conference with Apostle Renlund. We took a night train there and back. That was an adventure in itself. But Samara and the conference were amazing! Because Elder Renlund lived in Sweeden until he was 13, and then served his mission in Sweeden, we played a Sweedish hymn. The first verse was sung in sweedish (1 elder, 1 sister), the second in russian(1 elder 1 sister), and the third in english (all 3 elders and all 3 sisters). We had a sister playing the piano. And me and my companion, Sister Richter, both play the violin so we did a little bit of an intro, interlude, and played a little bit of the last verse with everyone and did a postlude. It was so fun! The spirit was so strong. Apostle Renlund started crying and thanked us for playing that song because it was his favorite hymn! He also shared a really great message on how we need to be preparing for the Sacrament on Saturday. He challenged us all to take time to think and plan out how we will prepare for the sacrament on saturdays so we can better renew our covenants on Sunday.

The other week we also prepared and served a Russian meal to homeless people on the streets here. After we made the meal, we were able to try it for ourselves. It consisted of borshe (soup), some vegitarian plov (rice dish), and kompoat (a drink). Very yummy! It took almost all day, but such a great experience.

Towards the end of last transfer in our district, there was a little bit of drama between the zone leaders and sister training leaders. So I was assigned to give the district lesson on being humble and striving for humility. Very funny. Both the elders and sisters were silent.

Funny things these past few weeks:

-one time when i was washing my hands, there was an entire HUGE bowl of small dead little fish that were right next to the sink. it took all i had to not puke. i prayed so hard that we would not be eating that.

-when we moved apartments the other week, i walked in on our new landlord IN OUR APARTMENT in his underwear. so that was great :) hes like a 50 year old russian man. rip. also we have this smell in our apartment that we CANNOT get rid of ? smells like rotten boiled eggs and kind of like someone died ? any ideas ? 

-saw someone smoking their cigarette right before they walked into sacrament meeting for church

-everything here is known as a "perioge" muffins, cakes, tarts, bread, cheesebread, anything. They bake it in a circular pan, and cut it like you would cut a pizza. so everything is in triangles. so interesting.

-got told by a drunk guy that mine and my russian companion's russian skills were "moletsi!" (that means good job/great job/amazing in russian) he kept giving us thumbs up and congratulating us over and over again. it was nice and funny because most of the time the russians here tell me that I am not very good at russian.

-the russian people put dill on EVERYTHING here. dessert, breakfast, main dishes, appitizers, pizza, cheese bread, anything. they love it. i thought i did too, but not anymore. they really go crazy with it.

Something me and my companion have noticed is that almost every week here in Russia/Saratov is that there is a new celebration, or something going on in the city square. And it is kind of confusing to us why there are so many celebrations and stuff the the city is spending money on. And one of our taxi drivers told us, "They have celebrations here every week so they don't think about the real bad things and revolt against the government" and then a few days later a 14 year old girl who was skipping school and hung out with us for an hour said "You would think that they would spend the money fixing the streets here, or making the city nicer, but no they just spend it on huge, useless celebrations"

ALSO SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENED THIS WEEK AT CHURCH. We visisted some youth this past week, and got them to read come follow me for this week. They haven't come to church in months. And after visiting with them, challenging them to read 2 corinthians 1-7 in preperation for this upcoming sunday (and also promising them candy bars if they came), they came to church!!! We also gave a lesson this week to a less active who hasn't been to church in over a year. We talked about the importance of the sacrament, and SHE CAME TO CHURCH TOO! Miracles on miracles this week at church!

pictures:

-FAMILY at apostle conference! my mom (trainer) is sister richter, her mom is sister alto, and her mom (my great-grandma) is sister august! (also sister klevakana was trained by sister alto, so she is my aunt (she is the one in the middle).

-the volga river

-temple in saratov

-pizza night after running through the city to be home on time

-me, sister richter, and sister davidson in samara!

August 19, 2019

russian hospitals and walking

This week we visited a baboshka named Lutmila. She lives through these sketchy woods. There is trash everywhere, and someone could jump out at any moment and rob or kidnap you. It is cool though! 

Also after one of my lessons last week, a baboshka gave me a whole kit of acne cream treatment for my face. Right after the lesson she started talking to me about my face and looked concerned then proceeded to pull all this stuff out for my face lol. Rip to that. 

Every morning me and my companion go on a run for exercise. We live pretty close to a huge river, so often times we will run down to it, and run along side it for a while. 

I also got to visit some parks this week. Parks here are huge and have lots of trees in them. They are the only nature that you see in the city. Everyone loves to go walking here, so parks are very popular. 

Here in the streets, they also start digging random holes in the middle of the street, sidewalk, wherever. They kind of rope it off, but not really. So you have to be careful that you all of a sudden don't fall 10 feet into a huge hole that they dug. 

We also got to play volleyball here on the beach! It is a great way for us to bring our potential investigators to get to know them better. We have a lot of volunteers there. It is a way for us to have them hopefully ask more questions about the church. Since in Russia, you can only teach the gospel to people who are your friends, this is a way for us to become friends with people. 

My companion plays the violin as well it turns out. We played Be Still My Soul this week at church. We also take our violins to members homes and we play some songs for them. It is a great way for us to bring the spirit. We are seeing if we can play hymns on the streets, or if that's illegal too. Russia. What can ya do. 

When I talk to people in the streets I say "hey do you know where _____ (mcdonalds, the store, this street, this park, etc) is?" and ask for directions to get there. Then they usually respond then we just ask a few more questions. Just like clarifying, then ask them maybe what else is there to do in the city. Then usually we say we aren't from here and we're volunteers, then ask for their number so they can show us something in the city. Then a few days later we text them and say "hey! it's us can you show us something in the city?" then 99% of the time (if they respond) they say let's go gouleaud (walking). Everyone here LOVES to walk. They walk for fun everywhere. If they have free time, they'll just go walk. So then we just meet with them, walk with them, and become friends with them. Because of the laws here, you can't share the gospel with them until you are friends. So we become friends. We have several meetings like that (we call them potential meetings, because they have potential to be an investigator). Then after a few meetings if they still have potential, we ask them if we can share a lesson or two about our church. And then we can only teach them inside the church. Or at the senior couple's home here in Saratov.

Some things I love about Russia is that the driving here is insane. Last pday, a car accident happened right before our eyes. And everyone here kind of just drives how they feel like it. There are speed limits, but they aren't followed. People go like 50mph down residential roads no problem. They weave in and out of traffic, and squeeze through tight spots like nobody's business. It's actually kind of amazing. 

Also, fashion here is something else. Denim on denim is alive and thriving over here. Also all the baboshkas (grandmas) open their doors and who knows what they will be wearing, or if they will be wearing anything. A guessing game every time! Love Russia! Also, everyone has their background on their phone as themselves. often a little bit of a scandalous photo too. even the baboshkas (but their photos aren't too scandalous, mostly just a blurry photo of themselves lol).

They only really have vanilla ice cream here, and it is very difficult to get chocolate. However after 10 hours of service with helping a baboshka at a Russian hospital, the Lord blessed us with CHOCOLATE ice cream! It was an amazing day! ALSO THE RUSSIAN HOSPITAL was something else. Boy oh boy. It could fall down at any moment. Also people go there to get better? It looks like they go there to get more sick and die. The floors are crazy uneven. The walls are filled with peeling paint. There are random rooms everywhere. A weird smell. Old baboshkas. It's just interesting. 

We also had zone conference. We rented a 12 passenger bus (called a marshootka here) and drove 6 hours to Volgograd. Elder Boam and Elder Golden of the 70 (or area 70?) spoke to us. It was so fun! And I got to see my mission president and his wife again! It was awesome. President Ustyuzhaninov and his wife are the best! 

These past few weeks, I have been reading about Alma and the Sons of Mosiah and how they spread the gospel. They were strong, didn't give up, and wanted so bad for everyone to accept their message. However at the end of the day, everyone has their agency. It reminded me that here on the mission, I can want for people to accept my message and pray and hope for it, but they still have their agency. The work is hard, but is so awesome! 

1-view of the river/bridge

2- temple here in saratov (not lds, one day though:))

3- this was all of a sudden in the middle of our walking path. so we had to go around it.

4- the conservatory

5- the next president of russia 

6- CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM BLESS 

7- honey butter we found at an outdoor honey market thing 

8- where a baboshka lives and sleeps. 

August 5, 2019

I MADE IT TO RUSSIA

alright first thing is first! my missionary.org email does not work here in Russia! :) so either email emma.cummings.volunteer@gmail.com or emma.cummings@latter-daysaints.ru (this one works best, but also it will get sent to spam unless you add it to your inbox)

I am so excited to finally be here. My companion's name is Sister Richter. She is from Germany and is the sweetest person ever! 

My area is.... (take a guess from the picture I sent!) if you can guess it lmk and you'll be a winner

hint 1) A "C" in Russian, is a "S" in english. 

hint 2) A "P" in Russian, is a "R" in english.

hint 3) A "B" in Russian, is a "V" in english. 

hint 4) A "O" in Russian, is a "A" in english (sometimes lol)

hint 5) there is a movie made about where my area is

It has been a little scary here, but nothing out of the ordinary.

ok legit i am the worst flyer. ever. ever. i knew something bad would happen to me flying alone. and 100% everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. So I left monday morning at like 5 am. I traveled on the bus with other missionaries going to California. We got to the airport together than split up. Then I was on the flight from SLC to NYC with some missionaries going to Scotland/Ireland mission (speaking chinese!!) But I had to go through security by myself because they were a little bit ahead of me. Then in NYC i had a super tight layover. From here on out, I was by myself. So I legit didn't know how to get to the next terminal, was asking and trying to figure out how, finally found out how. Made it. Then I had to be escorted through security and stuff because I still had to check in, pay for my bags, and go through security again. So that was a little stressful. And I had to carry so many things in my hands because my suitcase was exactly 50 pounds lol. Then It was nice because on the plane ride over here, I had the window seat in a row of three seats. And then... my other two seatmates didn't show up!! So legit I got the row of 3 all to myself for my 10 hour flight! Best. Flight. Ever. Legit slept the entire time. So nice. Then in Moscow. Moscow, Moscow, Moscow... I had instructions to pick up my luggage in moscow, then put it on the next plane, but then that wasn't working, and I was so confused where to go because every sign was so confusing and passport control had taken me SO LONG to get through and my flight was a little bit delayed, so by the time I was arriving at the place to check in for my next flight, they told me I was going to miss it and would need to get a new flight. It was only like 1.5 hour layover and it just wasn't working. So I had to go get that sorted out and pay for a new flight.

Anyways, after that I had to now call the mission president and tell him I was going to be two hours later. And I was searching and searching for a phone to use. Also keep in mind I had so much stuff I was carrying. My violin case, a coat, a cardingan, a scarf, my packed-to-the-rim backpack, my passport/ticket, my water bottle, and my scriptures. So I looked so weird going everywhere with all my stuff. Finally I just sat down because there were no pay phones. So I sat down and just hoped for the best. Eventually someone came and sat by me and THANK GOODNESS she spoke english and was from america and she let me use her phone like 4 seperate times times to call so many different numbers (that for some reason weren't working love russia) but the VERY last time I tried to call, and the VERY last number I was calling finally worked. And so I told president I would be late. Finally got to Rostov. But suprise suprise, no luggage. Grrrr. That was a whole different fiasco. Everyone got involved. Thank goodness for the people at the mtc who hemmed my dress got it wrong the first time, and had to redo it, so I couldn't pack it in my suitcase and had to pack it in my violin case. So I did have one set of clean clothes. They we went to the Mission President's house. They fed me an awesome homecooked meal (sooo much better than the MTC). And that is my airport story. Oh, and then I didn't get my luggage until a few days later. I was flying from Rostov, to Moscow, to my new area. And I had a three hour layover in Moscow and was running through the airport trying to find my luggage and get it with me in time to get on the plane and check in. It was crazy. On the way to the Rostov airport, the APs were dropping me off and giving me step by step instructions from their "airport connection guy" lolololol. Airports are ROUGH. 

So because I lost my luggage in the Moscow airport, I lived off the same pair of clothes for like three days :)))))  Thank goodness for the help/instructions of the APs and the Mission President's wife before I left Rostov, otherwise I still may be wearing that same outfit ;)  

 

After a crazy first few days of contacting with the Rostov sisters, eating at a local Russian resturant, and watching Kung Fu Panda in Russian for a memeber activity, getting caught in a rainstorm that SOAKED me, I flew to meet my companion and get situated for my 12 weeks of training. 

I had to wait about an hour for my comp and other sisters to come pick me up at the airport. It is some rinky-dinky Russian airport in the middle of nowhere. It only had one plane (the one I arrived on). One baggage claim/pickup thing. It was so small. Loved it. 

So because the laws in Russia here are so strict, we cannot go proselyting or normal contacting. We have to ask questions to people, and just have conversations with them. We become their friends and invite them to different activities we have at the church with other volunteers (known as missionaries in other countries) and members. 

This week we met a member at church who is like 70. He is from Alaska. Met his wife online. Moved here. Got married to here. She doesn't speak English. He doesn't speak Russian. It is interesting... 

We are trying to move out of our apartment because the landlady comes whenever she wants. And she stays for like two hours watering her plants. In our apartment. Why she has SO MANY plants? I will never know. But somehow she is always there, and nothing in our apartment works. Hot water is sparse, working lights aren't really happening, and we might die everytime we use the elevator to get to the 10th floor. But all is good! 

Also some grandma kissed us and crossed us this week so that was fun I guess. Also the food here doesn't really have flavor so that's cool too I guess. 

BUT IT IS AWESOME here! I am so excited to serve here!

Some things I have noticed: 

- all the baboshkas (grandmas) here have mullets. love it. 

-the sidewalks haven't been repaved or taken care of since the 1600s (lol jk probs the 1700s)

-russians LOVE to mumble so you can't hear or understand what they are saying. 

-everyone here lives in an apartment. 

-walking. walking. walking. everyone here LOVES to walk. for fun. all the time. if you ask someone their interests, 9/10 times they will say they love to walk. 

CecTpa Cummings

August 5, 2019

momma!

Ayo momma! 

Honestly idk which email to use either. I will probs use this one because I can add photos to it. So ya. 

I LOVE my mission president and his wife! they are soosososoososo nice and awesome and helpful and knowledgeable. Amazing people! They have four daughters (13, 9,6,3). I don't think they are even 40 years old yet. I got to spend my first two days with just me and them so I got to know them pretty well. I think they like me a lot because they went around to all the zone conferences here before I came and hyped me up to all the missionaries serving here (since they met me in the mtc and I guess loved me lol). Everyone tells me about it. And evidently he made the joke "sister cummings is coming!" so when I got here, I said "sister cummings is no longer coming, she is now sister came" just some jokes here in the mission. lol 

ok legit i am the worst flyer. ever. ever. i knew something bad would happen to me flying alone. and 100% everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. let me give you the teaaaaa. so I left monday morning at like 5 am. I traveled on the bus with other missionaries going to California. We got to the airport together than split up. Then I was on the flight from SLC to NYC with some missionaries going to Scotland/Ireland mission (speaking madarin chinese!!) But I had to go through everything by myself because they were a little bit ahead of me. Then in NYC i had a super tight layover. So I legit didn't know how to get to the next terminal, was asking and trying to figure out how, finally found out how. Made it. Then I had to be escorted through security and stuff because I still had to check in, pay for my bags, and go through security again. So that was a little stressful. And I had to carry so many things in my hands because my suitcase was exactly 50 pounds lol. Then It was so nice because on the plane ride over here, I had the window seat in a row of three seats. And then... my other two seatmates didn't show up!! So legit I got the row of 3 all to myself for my 10 hour flight! Best. Flight. Ever. Legit slept the entire time. So nice. Then in Moscow. Moscow Moscow Moscow. I had instructions to pick up my luggage in moscow, then put it on the next plane, but then that wasn't working, and I was so confused where to go because every sign was so confusing and passport control had taken me SO LONG to get through and my flight was a little bit delayed, so by the time I was arriving at the place to check in for my next flight, they told me I was going to miss it and would need to get a new flight. It was only like 1.5 hour layover and it just wasn't working. So I had to go get that sorted out and pay for a new flight (which btw I used the card for that, but you will be reimbursed. Lmk if they reimburse you for the flight, or how much it was because then they will just put it on my missionary card and reimburse me. then I can reimburse you. I didn't have my other missionary card up and working so I couldn't use that. so just lmk and next monday I will check my email and see if I need to transfer the money to your account or if you were reimbursed). 

Anyways, after that I had to now call the mission president and tell him I was going to be two hours later. And I was searching and searching for a phone to use. Also keep in mind I had so much stuff I was carrying. My violin case, a coat, a cardingan, a scarf, my backpack, and my passport/ticket, my water bottle, and my scriptures. So I looked so weird going everywhere with all my stuff. Finally I just sat down because there were no pay phones. So I sat down and just hoped for the best. Eventually someone came and sat by me and THANK GOODNESS she spoke english and was from america and she let me use her phone like 4 seperate times times to call so many different numbers (that for some reason weren't working ughhhh russia) but the VERY last time I tried to call, and the VERY last number I was calling finally worked. And so I told president I would be late. Finally got to Rostov. But suprise suprise, no luggage. Grrrr. That was a whole different fiasco. Everyone got involved. Thank goodness for the people at the mtc who hemmed my dress got it wrong the first time, and had to redo it, so I couldn't pack it in my suitcase and had to pack it in my violin case. So I did have one set of clean clothes. They we went to the Mission President's house. They fed me an awesome homecooked meal (sooo much better than the MTC). And that is my airport story. Oh, and then I didn't get my luggage until a few days later. I was flying from Rostov, to Moscow, to my new area. And I had a three hour layover in Moscow and was running through the airport trying to find my luggage and get it with me in time to get on the plane and check in. It was crazy. On the way to the Rostov airport, the APs were dropping me off and giving me step by step instructions from their "airport connection guy" lolololol. Airports are ROUGH. 

 I love my companion. Legit she is awesome. She has been in country since January and knows everything. She is so good at Russian and the gospel. She is from Germany. She is the nicest person every. She has such a positive attitude. I am so excited to serve with her. fr fr. 

ok suddenly people here need to pronunciate their words and to speak loudly so I can hear. and slower so I can understand. but other than that I can pick out 1/100 words people say :)))) i basically only know gospel words, so when people are not speaking about the gospel (99% of the time) I don't really know what is going on lolol. 

Just pack it away. Be careful with the hydroflask that it doesn't get scratched or used. That is why I packed it in that towell. But the stuff like makeup or shout spray, you can either throw away or use. Perishable stuff, chuck it or use it. Clothes you can wear if you want. If you have any questions about stuff, just pack it away and I will sort through when I get home. I had to get rid of a lot of stuff in the mtc rip rip rip. 

That's good that Rex made the football team! Tell him good luck! And happy birthday! I probs won't be able to skype that much because I can either do it at 8am here (10pm your time sunday) or 4:00pm here (6am your time monday). But maybe I can call next week and tell him happy birthday or something. we will see if you guys are awake, or two if I can get it to connect/figure it out, and if it all works out. lmk 

lol dang the cabin. i had a dream about it last night that I wanted to go one last time before it got sold, and so I was trying to plan a vacation there and was about to leave, then suddenly my companion stopped me right before i was about to go and told me that i can't just take a vacation in the middle of a mission. and i was like shocked that it wasn't allowed. it was funny. 

lol i sent the letters because i think i am going to die here in russia. like fr. but idk we will see lol. 

anyways that's about it. crazy week. 

hope you have a good week! i got an email from dad! so that is way fun! 

also i am so excited for you to figure out where i am serving. hope you like it! 

cecTpa Cummings

July 30, 2019

Dear Brother And Sister Cummings,

Your daughter made it to Rostov safe!! President and I (and few of our kids) met her in the airport. We are so happy to have her here. She is amazing. We met her first time in the MTC when we came for the Mission Leadership seminar for newly called mission presidents and wives. We loved her from the beginning. We both feel she is going to be a great missionary. And she is going to touch peoples lives.

Love,

President and Sister U.

July 24, 2019

End of the MTC!

Yahoo!

My 9 weeks at the MTC are almost up! I got my flight plans last Friday to leave this upcoming Monday, July 29! I was named Travel Leader (big money out here in the MTC)... But it is because I will be flying to Russia by myself! I am very excited to get out into the field, but very nervous about flying all that way by myself. It will be fun though! I will be traveling for over 24 hours. Super exciting! 

I have really loved my time at the MTC. I got to be here when all the mission presidents were here being trained. It was amazing because the food went from about a 1 or 2 out of 10 to a 7/10. It was amazing. In addition, we got to hear Elder Holland speak to us when they were here. All 12 of the apostles and President Oaks came and presided over a devotional that Elder Holland spoke to us in (President Nelson and President Eyring were the only members of the 15 that were missing). It was amazing! The minute they all walked in, the spirit was so strong! They truly are men called of God! Elder Holland talked about Christ's Atonement and how through his Atonement, everything is possible. It was an amazing talk! During the mission president's week of training, we also got to see multiple apostles walking around and we had the opportunity to see or talk to a few of them. Such a great week! 

I also was able to meet my mission president! Him and his wife are amazing, and I am so excited to serve with them in a little under a week. They are both very strong in the church and are so smart! Their name's are President Ustyuzhaninov, and Sister Ustyuzhaninova (you add the a at the end for native women names). 

On the 4th of July, we got to watch the Stadium of Fireworks. Our devotional before ran 20 minutes late, so we didn't get to see all the fireworks. And we watched them inside, from a crowded second floor window. But at least we got to watch fireworks! 

We had several in person TRC's and skype TRC's which have helped me teach lessons in Russian to people. Some of them have been really spiritual experiences that get me excited to serve, and others I walk out and start crying because I forgot every Russian word I knew. So who knows what will happen in Russia... lol. 

There has also been construction going on here at the MTC while I have been here. They have been tearing down some of the old buildings and overhead pathway things, and are planning on putting a park/new building for a cafeteria (?) in. Those are the rumors. Watching the construction has been a blast. I used to be in the new buildings, but with the influx of missionaries during the summer we got moved to the old buildings. So we are right by the construction where they are tearing and knocking down buildings. It was rough moving from such nice buildings to the cramped, smelly, old ones, but it has been somewhat worth it watching the construction. 

In addition, often times people hide things in the vents and behind various plates in the residential halls. It has been a fun activity for us to go and find what past missionaries have left behind in the walls! 

Last week we also had the opportunity to clean the temple. Because it is closed in July for cleaning, we cannot attend but we did get the opportunity on our P-Day to clean it for multiple hours! Such a great experience! 

Because of the influx of missionaries in the summer, the lines go out the cafeteria doors, down the steps, and across mtc campus. It takes FOREVER to get through the line. One of the questions we have here at the mtc is: How are we not technically at capacity yet, but yet somehow we are way over capacity?

Time has flown, and I will really miss my teachers! Sister Baugh, Sister Slight, and Brother Ferrin. They have been really cool! I will also miss my zone and district so much. 9 weeks together in such a small space really can bring people together. My Russian is still really rough, but I am hoping that going to Russia will change that. 

Next time I email, it will be from RUSSIA! 

CecTpa Cummings

1- me and my companion's missions! 

2- my district and two of my teachers (sister slight and baugh)

3- my district and our other teacher, brother (bpat in russian) Ferrin

4- girls from my district

5- black and white day 

6- NO SALAD ICE CREAM ONLY 

7- 4th of july!

8- treasures in the rooms 

9- Elder Bednar! :)

10- Mission President, his wife, and me! 

July 3, 2019

ok so just found out this week that it is Janice KAPP perry. Not Janice kNapp perry. thought there was a n in there and it was pronounce napp. So rip to me. 

Also someone was giving a devotional this week talking about heavenly father. and she said something kind of weird. don't think that she realized it, but the rest of us did. She said "He wants us to return to Him. He is our Heavenly Father. He is our Daddy." 

It was interesting to say the least. Also food got bad again this week. For sunday dinner we had: one crappy tortilla with a small spoonful of fake eggs and cheese. SO that is that. 

kak eta kak enachdaugh. (it be like that sometimes). 

zoom in on my smile from the pic where the salad line says "ice cream only" it is weird idk why tbh

June 26, 2019

June 19, 2019

Hello!

It's been a few weeks since I have entered the MTC! Today is 21 days since I left home! It has been busy, busy busy! My companion's name is CecTpa Perry from Provo Utah. She is going to Ukraine. Our missions are right next door to each other. She is awesome! We are constantly planning lessons together and learning new Russian vocab. 

The first few days in the MTC were a little bit overwhelming. I barely knew Russian, and couldn't understand most of the things the teachers were saying. But now that I am 3 weeks in, I feel a little bit more confident. We have taught several lessons solely in Russian and I can share my testimony, Joseph Smith's First Vision, and several scriptures all in Russian! 

I am the only one in the MTC going to my mission in Rostov Russia. There was one elder here going to my mission, but he left last week. Since there aren't very many missionaries in Russia, and more specifically my mission, I probably will be the only one here during my stay. With me being the only one going to my mission, that means I will get to fly from SLC to Rostov Russia all by myself in 6 weeks. 

The rest of the people in my zone are going to other places in Russia (Russian speaking), Ukraine (mostly Russian speaking, but 1 Ukrainian speaker), The Baltic Mission (Russian speaking, Estonian speaking, Lithuanian speaking, Latvian speaking, Georgian speaking, Armenian speaking)

I feel a little bit boxed in here at the MTC, but at least we get to go outside a lot! We can study outside and go play in the field for exercise times. Often my zone either plays volleyball or basketball in the gym. This past week we started going outside and playing spikeball. I always run around the field or run around on the track in the gym, then join in the sport that everyone is playing for the day. It gives me a good break from the two 3-hour classes we have every single day. 

During one of my lessons, my teacher told me that I have a very heavy American accent, and the people in Russia might have a rough time understanding me. So that is one thing that I do have to work on! During study time in the afternoons, there is usually a quick afternoon storm. It rains for like 10 minutes then goes away. Back to warm weather. It is probably because we are right by the lake and mountains. They come out of nowhere. But I love summer rain storms! The other day when we were studying, we had a little extra time. So after my studies I took a 10 minute nap in the limited sun time that we get. My companion took a picture of me that I'll attach. It's quite funny. I look dead. 

A few weeks ago, we had Elder and Sister Gong come and speak to the missionaries! It was super cool! Sister Gong spoke about how we need to be an example of Christ, even if we aren't baptizing or converting people. It is all about service and love. Elder Gong talked about how we should be learning something from each companion, so I have a lot to work on if I want my companion to learn a good trait from me! ;) But he also spoke about how important missionary work is in bringing forth prophecies of old and bringing the gospel to every heart, kindred, tongue, nation, language, etc. Great talk! We have also had a devotional from Elder Corbridge who spoke about having a narrow focus on Christ, and the rest will be taken care of. A few other speakers have come, sharing incredible messages and testimonies. The chairs for the devotionals are really uncomfortable, but the message the speakers share is worth it! I learn so much! I've really been able to figure out how the Spirit speaks to me, and how I can act on the promptings I receive. 

Alright. I'll send an email in another few weeks. Most of the MTC is repetition, with a few new funny experiences or laughs. I feel like my sense of humor has seriously declined in here, but what can you do. The other day, we were looking out the window and a boy was rolling across a flat field. Just living life. All by himself. 10/10 funny.

CecTpa Cummings

1-My district and teacher, CecTpa Baugh

2- me and my companion studying

3- the books I study from

4- the girls in my district

5- my district at the temple

6- we got commendable on our cleaning checks! (a hard feet)

7- me asleep (dead) on the grass

8- me and my companion on the map

9-my zone

Just a fun video about a kid rolling in the grass. Having the time of his life.