A Day in Armenia

So this last week I was in Armenia. Let me tell you. Armenians are WAY nice. Much nicer than most Russians. Russians value honesty over anything else. Armenians value kindness. It was great. I met this guy on the plane who just loved the idea of the Book of Mormon, and I promised to get him one in Armenian. It was great.

I'm glad, though, that we only have to go to Armenia every couple of months for visa trips. It's terrible to not be able to do any work at all for an entire day. 

On Sunday there was a stake conference broadcast for all of the Eastern Europe area of the church. Our little branch in Red Army consists of mostly middle-aged men accept for cute babushka, Nadejda, and the Relief Society president, who is married to the Branch President. They're all a little technologically challenged (I'm grateful that I had parents who were technologically challenged as well; it helps me understand what they want to know even if I don't really completely understand the problem). However, everything on the computer is in English for some reason, so not only are they technologically challenged, but none of them know English. It was kind of on our shoulders to get the branch broadcast up and working last Sunday. Gratefully, it did end up working, but only after a lot of middle-aged men staring at the computer screen while Sister Misuraca and I tried to explain how to dowload a video and transfer it to a flash drive a few times over.

After church, we were able to go out on the streets practically all day (we had a lesson fall through) and talk to people. It gets dark here really early now, though. 6 usually feels like 8 or 9. Sister Misuraca and I were getting cold and tired, but, after a short break on a bench outside a Russian Orthodox temple, we decided to press forward. We've been praying to find a family to teach for weeks. At literally 8:45, 15 minutes before we had to be home, we found them. We found the family that we had been praying for. It was such a miracle. They are the happiest Russians I might have ever met outside the church members here. Their faces glowed with happiness, and I cannot wait to meet with them again. I don't think I've ever laughed so much with strangers in my life.

Sometimes being a missionary is the last thing I want to be when I wake up in the morning. Sometimes I don't want to leave our apartment to go talk to people on the street who yell at us or laugh in our faces, but I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I know that the Book of Mormon is of God and that the message contained in it is the way to find happiness in this life and eternal life in the next. I know that I can help people find happiness in their lives. The kind of happiness that seeps into the soul and stays there, and (like a good wine) overtime grows. 

I go out everyday because I know that I have the salve to every injury anyone could have ever recieved in their life and I can help them heal. 

And then, you find people who want it. And those people are wonderful, and it so filling to be able to help people come to the Foutain of Living Waters and never thirst again.

And that's how Sister Jarvis sees it.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Jarvis

Imagine All the People

Good Afternoon!

This week Sister Misuraca and I found this HUGE statue of Lenin out by the Volga River. (I have no idea how we haven't noticed it for 5 weeks because it is literally HUGE). So, today, we're off to go take a look at it. Should be fun. 

But, before we do that. This last week was so exhausting and amazing. You know you're a good missionary when you come home unable to do anything after planning but sleep. It's great. :)

There's a member who lives in a town outside of Stavrpol who used to live in Red Army. His name is Andrei and he calls us every now and then to practice English and get a spiritual boost. Andrei also gives a nickname to all of the sisters who work in Red Army. Sister Misuraca is the Italian Queen, and this past week he gave me a nickname! I am now the Snow Queen. He told me it's because I look like Snow White. I really couldn't have asked for a better name. 

We have this investigator here named Denis. He comes to our English discussion group every Wednesday, and we FINALLY had a lesson with him. It was amazing. I've never been able to speak up much in lessons because I've felt like I don't really know what's going on or what to say, but in this lesson I knew exactly what Denis needed. I knew what would help him and what questions to ask. I can tell you that it wasn't me. I can tell you that I still don't know Russian and I still don't understand everything he said, but I can tell you that Heavenly Father is there and He is always helping me in every aspect of the work.

I've been trying to improve my ability to speak to people when I'm on public transport, and this week, I was able to talk to so many people! I love talking to people everywhere I go. They have so many new ideas and interesting things to say and lovely smiles to give. Just talking to them, I know that they are special and individual and loved by Heavenly Father. I love making people laugh. It makes me feel like I've made their day just a little better and just a little brighter. It's even better when I can tell them how loved they are by their Father in Heaven because they can begin to see just how much potential they really have to become so much more than they ever thought they could.

I hope that your week is full of smiles and laughter!

Sister Jarvis

A flurry of cats outside an apartment building in Red Army

Winter is Coming

The cold has begun to seep into our home, the Russians have brought out their big, fluffy, fur-lined coats, and the temptures have already dropped below freezing. 

But, all is well! We have boots and hats and coats and hot chocolate, so we're all set.
(Speaking of hot chocolate. Russians make some really good hot chocolate. Just boil some water, put a bit of cocoa in, and finish it off with sweetened condensed milk. I'm telling you, it's manna.)

We were able to watch General Conference this last week end.

IT WAS AMAZING.

I had no idea General Conference was so cool! Did anyone else know this and just not tell me? I guess maybe I should have just been more focused when I did watch it before. It's probably always been this amazing. I particularly liked Elder Holland's talk and President Nelson's talk. It was mentioned more than once to women to "fulfill the measure of their creation," and I have to tell you, I'm not really sure what that means completely, but I can tell you that part of fulling our creation is striving everyday to be a little better than what we were yesterday. It's a tough thing to be sent from the MTC into the mission field, and it can feel like you have so much to improve and so much you can't do yet, but I think it's most important to remember that you don't have to be good at everything all at once. It's a day by day by day process. And some things take a lifetime to learn.

I know that we have so much potential to learn and grow and become because we are children of God, but I also know that Heavenly Father will take us as we are because we can't become all that He knows we can without Him. So, turn to Him! He'll make you into a masterpiece that you can hardly begin to imagine. 

Being a missionary is amazing. I love it because I get to watch people begin to start that process in their own lives and see their light begin to brighten.

I love you all, and I hope your weeks are full of joy!

Love,

Sister Jarvis

Winter weather has begun!  (Mom, we're wearing your scarves and the hat you knitted!)

Watching conference

The Hunt for Brown October

Shalom!

What a crazy week I've had this week! 

It all started with the water going off in Red Army for 2 days.

After I emailed last Monday, we got a call from the Branch President here in Red Army who told us the water was about to go off for repairs and we needed to run home and fill up as many buckets as we could with water. Unfortunately, they had already turned off the cold water in our building, so the water was coming out boiling hot and brown. It was quite the adventure trying to fill up metal pots and random water bottles with burning hot, muddy water. It was fun, and Sister Misuraca and I laughed the whole time, no worries. (Also we have separate water that's clean, so not a big deal.)

We then had splits on Thursday, so I was with Sister Montierth! It was quite the day we had. Neither of us have been out for very long; in fact, Sister Montierth has only been out two weeks, so I guess I was the "senior" companion. (Those 6 extra weeks there really make a difference.) We didn't know much Russian between the two of us, but we sure did have an adventure. We met a grandpa outside the city who started off the conversation by telling us what beautiful girls we were and finished the conversation by trying to convince us that Obama was using the Book of Mormon as a political trap... Or at least that's what I understood. Either way, he was a very nice old man, and I'm sure we'll run into him again since he lives by a member. Later, we street taught and met a bunch of veterans from World War II coming out of a concert for "wise" people (that's the polite way to say elderly people in Russian). They were great. I love the babushkas and dedushkas here. They're adorable and usually very kind.

In the end we made it back to our trainers in one piece. AND we had zone conference. Which was just exactly what I needed. 

President Miner and Sister Miner are some of my very favorite people. I'm so lucky to have them as my mission presidents. I really feel like they're my extra set of family away from home. They're loving and kind and just full of wisdom. 

I haven't watched general conference yet; we'll watch conference next week with our ward when they upload the sessions in Russian.

Hope you all have a wonderful week! And I hope you all had a chance to watch conference! I'm sure it was absolutely amazing. I know I'm looking forward to it immensely. :)

Love,

Sister Jarvis
Russia Rostov-na-Donu Mission
Per. Semashka 117B
Rostov 344018
Russia


The sisters in our zone watching women's conference

Our Zone!  Names! (From back row left) Elder Foote, Elder Fisher, Elder Randall, Elder Barnes, Elder Cox, and Elder Barlocker
(Middle Row left) Elder Simenyook (He's Russian), Elder Berger, Elder Wilcox, Elder Henrie, Elder Waterson, Elder Corbridge
(Front Row Left) Sister Montierth, Sister Marquis, ME, Sister Misuraca, Sister Miner, President Miner.

Sister Montierth and I on splits

Pretty field in Red Army

This is how Russians pose for pictures.  I thought I'd try it.

Sister Montierth and I

The various assortment of pans and bowls we used for water.

Sunrise, Sunset

Dear friends and family,

What a strange week we had. Red Army is just full of adventures waiting to be had. 

We had a lesson with one of our investigators, Anya, this week. She is a fireball. We think she was formerly a Jehovah's Witness, but she won't tell us, but she has the most amazing questions because of it. I'm so excited for her. I love teaching her because she just wants to know things so badly, and I think she's finally getting answers to questions she's had for her whole life. 

Teaching in Russian is so fun. It's hard, but I love it. And, luckily, I have a companion who really understands Russian and that I can rely on. It's always a wonderful thing when you're with a companion like Sister Misuraca. 

The past few months of my life have been the hardest I have ever had to go through, but they've also been the most wonderful and miraculous. 

Service is hard because there's always that voice in the back of your head saying, "Where's MY time, why aren't they serving ME?" But, the thing is, that little voice won't ever open the windows of heaven. That little voice cannot change you, cannot allow you to become better. That little voice will never make you into anything other than what you already are. It cannot help you grow.  Growth comes from discomfort and struggle, yet smiling all the while. And it's easier to do when you ask the One Who Created All to help you out. 

Well, that's all from this corner of the world this week. 

Love you all lots,

Sister Jarvis

One of the views outside our apartment (10th floor perks!)

Sister Misuraca and I

Sister Misuraca with our rent money

Marmaev Koorgan (Russian Statue of Liberty)

Funny poster

An old picture: Sister Marquis eating food from a member, which is actually against the rules.  But we couldn't really do anything.  She had already made it when we arrived.

Here, There, Everywhere

The first week of a new transfer (the time unit that missionaries stay in an area or with a certain companion) is always the craziest I feel like. I've only been through 2, but I feel like they were the craziest weeks I've had.

So, like I said last week, I've been assigned to a new area called Red Army. I'm still in Volgograd, but Red Army is kind of like a suburb of the main city. My companion, Sister Mizuraka, and I are the only missionaries here. It's kind of cool.

We had to go to Rostov-na-Donu earlier this week. Sister Mizuraka had to go on a visa trip to Armenia, so I had to drop her off and spend a day with the sisters in Rostov. We also got to take a train! It was awesome. Although, I have to say that I like car rides better...

The branch here in Red Army is so great. They have so few members that I feel like I'm a part of a new family. There were about ten people total at church on Sunday, but it was okay because we all ate a delicious watermelon afterwards. 

I love the people in the ward here. All of them have such quirky personalities; I feel like I'm in a play. And, they're all so happy to be here and so loving towards each other, even though, life isn't easy for any of them. Many of them have family members who no longer talk to them because of their membership in the church or medical problems that make it hard for them to attend church. It amazes me that they still come. That their faith in Christ and His church is undaunted even with the challenges they all face.

It made me think about the promise that Christ gives in Matthew 11:28-30. He says "Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". 

If there is one thing I know, it's that Christ fulfills His promises. If you read the whole verse (which I, of course, will invite you to do), Christ does not say that He will take away our heavy burdens, He says that He will put His yoke upon us, meaning that He'll share the burden with us. He loves us so much that He lets us fall so that we can learn to pick ourselves us, but He's always there to make sure we're not going to fall so hard, we can't get back up. But, we have to take His hand because He won't save us against our will; that's contrary to who He is.

So, I invite you to take Christ up on His offer! Pray to Him! You can't know if He's there to help you if you don't ask for His help. So ask! I promise that if you do so sincerely, an answer will be given, and you'll be able to decide for yourself if He's really there.

Love you all!

Sister Jarvis

My old companion, Sister Marquis, and I

The Winds of Change Are Blowin'

Hello all!

Things have been busy here in Volgograd. 

This week was Volgograd's birthday (426 years old and not looking a day past 70) (Because 70 years ago, they entirely rebuilt the city after it was destroyed in WWII). There were a lot of police on the streets that day and Sister Marquis decided they needed the gospel, too, so we talked to a couple police women, who were very nice, but not interested. She's such a maledetz (good-jobber in Russian).

We got transfer calls this week, and I'm being transferred out of Volgograd early and will be serving in Red Army starting this week. 

Red Army is about an hour and a half away from Volgograd, no elders serve there, so it'll just be me and my new companion, Sister Mizuraka. They have a small branch with about 15 members who regularly attend, so we will have a lot to do out there.

It's amazing how much I've grown to love the people here in Volgograd in just a few short weeks. It's even more amazing considering we can barely understand one another. I love Volgograd, but most of all, I love the people here, and I know that love comes from God. I've learned so much about how the Atonement works and how the Savior loves us, as well as an amazing amount of Russian in just 6 weeks, and I know that it's not my doing. 

Scriptural thought! I've been thinking a lot about missionary work and why we do it and I came across this verse in Alma 26:37 "we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever."

I know that God loves us all and that he's sending people to us to help us everyday because He loves us. So look out for it in your lives because I know He's there if you seek Him.

Love,

Sister Jarvis

Russia Rostov-na-Donu Mission
per. Semashko, 117 V
Rostov-na-Donu
Rostov Oblast 344018
Russia

This hair salon man looks like Jason Bourne

Sister Marquis and Me

Preaching the Gospel

This is the only building remaining in Volgograd after WWII

My District