MTC Week 6!

Hey family!

      Wow, this has been a challenging week for me. Part of me can't even explain why it has been so hard. Many nights and throughout the day, I just cried and cried. I found myself continually on my knees pleading with the Lord to give me strength to continue forward. Each day, He has given me that extra strength I need. Each day, He has given me that desire to work harder so that I am better prepared to serve the people of Russia. This week, Sister Walker and I joined back into a companionship with Sister Jolley. This change has been SO challenging for me. Sister Jolley is a wonderful and loving Sister, but we are way different. We have different personalities and things that she says that wouldn't offend her often times offended Sister Walker and me. Throughout my 5 weeks here, I have been praying to love her more. I have been striving to serve her more often and show her that I do care. I know that we are in the tripanionship for a reason. Instead of worrying why, I have been working to be more patient with the Lords time. I have been working to more fully trust in the Lord and His Plan. Just like PMG teachings in Chapter 6, I am working to do God's will to the best of my ability and accept His timing.
      On top of the change in companionship's I have also felt a lot of challenges with the language. It is coming along, but many times it easy to turn to the negative and think things are just impossible to learn. I have been working hard to remember that the Lord has called me to Russia for a reason. I will learn it, I just must be patient with the Lord and with His timing. Even though the language is such a barrier; it is incredible how far we have come. I was speaking to my teacher one on one about my struggles and how I can improve. I was frustrated with myself because the many things I want to say, I can't say. I told him that I felt like I wasn't growing as fast as I would like. I felt like I wasn't able to have personality when I spoke in Russian. He sweetly said to me, "Sister McCartt, you may not be able to see it, BUT I do. You have grown an incredible amount. We must have patience with ourselves and with the Lord." He said, " I promise you that you will learn the language. I promise you that the Lord has a plan. It may takes months to gain that ability to have your personality while speaking Russian, but it will come. He said, "And it may be that you don't need your personality to fulfill what the Lord needs you to do." He told me that as I teach he can fill so much love. He can fill how much I love my Savior and how much I love the investigator. He said, " I know it is hard, but you CAN do it." Tears filled my eyes and I felt the Spirit testifying to me that what he said is in fact true. I will come to better know the language. It will be challenging, but it will come. I am thankful for my inspired teachers. They are incredible. I know that they were specifically chosen to help each of us in the district. There is no doubt in my mind. Whenever I feel discouraged, I have to remind myself that I CAN do it. If I ever feel inadequate, I must remember that I know better. I know that as I work my hardest and keep pressing forward; He WILL fill in the rest. Wow, it is incredible how humble I have become this week. It is incredible how much I have grown from just last week. As I have felt discouraged and alone, I have turned to the Atonement. I have been trying to focus on that with Him I can do all things. This work is difficult. This work is hard, BUT with Him, I can truly help the building of God's Kingdom on earth. I am humbled to think that I am the Lord's instrument This pushes me forward. This is not my time; it is his time. I am striving to keep the positive perspective. One last cool thing another one of my teachers told me this week was, "Sister McCartt. I promise you that you will make an eternal impact on people your first week in Russia. I promise you that. You will be prepared with as much language as you need to teach them." I know Heavenly Father will help me.

The days are long, but the weeks have surely flown by. I have 3 1/2 weeks left in the MTC. I have a ton to do and a ton to learn before then! Thanks for your love and support! It was SO great to hear from you. I hope to get the Dearelders you sent momma!

Tell the family that I love them A LOT.

love you so much
your daughter,
devy

Temple walk!

Our Portuguese friends who left! They are awesome.

Our Portuguese friends who left! They are awesome.

Elder Jenkins! He is HUGE and guess what he is 19!

Our Portuguese friends that left! 

Our Portuguese friends that left! 

Our Portuguese friends that left! 

We as Russians tried to eat all the cereal! We called it knock out :)

1 Month Down 17 to Go

This week has been an incredible week as Sister Walker and I have made such amazing progress with our investigators and with our goals. I am so much happier in our companionship. Being with just one sister is much easier than having two companions. I have seen so much growth in myself as I have given all I have to building God's kingdom here on earth. I have seen myself slowly but surely warp into a better, stronger, and a more willing missionary. Life here in the MTC is not easy. The schedule is exhausting, but somehow everyday, I am able to push forward and give Heavenly Father a little more of myself. Each night I "return and report" to Heavenly Father on how my day was, what I did well and what I didn't do so well on. Some days, I am excited to tell him how hard I worked and that I gave everything I had, but other days it is a little harder because I know I could have given just a little bit more (especially when I accidentally fall asleep studying...haha).

Please keep me in your prayers! Holy cow, the Russian language is hard! I feel like I learn and learn so much, but there is still so much left to learn. We finally learned cases last week. This has helped with forming sentences, but it has also made me realize how complicated Russian is. Now I see why Russian Missionaries use to be here for 12 WEEKS. In TRC, we taught a sister that served in Samara. She told us that she was the worst of the worse in speaking Russian, BUT she learned it. She promised us that we would learn the language. So to answer the question: How is learning and speaking Russian? It is coming along. I had a sweet Elder from my district give me a compliment earlier this week. We were asked to teach two missionaries in our district about a specific scripture. Before I taught I warned them that my Russian may be a little sloppy and slow. After the lesson in front of the whole class, he said, " Sister McCartt you speak very well. You said words even I didn't know!" The way he said it at first made it sound like he was surprised that I knew words that he didn't know, but he reassured me saying, "You said your Russian wasn't all that great and that it may come out broken. I was just very surprised how clearly you spoke." Even though I was embarrassed that the whole class heard this, I was also very touched. I definitely have work to do, but sometimes it is harder for us to see our own progression. It was nice to hear that I am making progress.

Our class often gets down on ourselves because of the hard language. I think one day our teacher Brother Hale wasn't happy by our negative attitude...okay, I don't "think", I know he wasn't happy because he gave us this incredible pep-talk. He had asked us to commit another Sister/Elder to baptism in Russian. I was paired with Elder Wride. A lot of us helplessly and begrudgingly said we would after begging for him to let us to teach in English. He said, No. The Lord has called you to speak and preach in Russian so let us practice speaking RUSSIAN. Well needless to say, we taught in Russian. As I taught Elder Wride, I was overwhelmed with the Spirit. The Spirit testified to me that I COULD do it even if it was hard. It wasn't me who taught Elder Wride, it was the Spirit who testified and who taught him. I was only the instrument. He at first rejected my invitation to be baptized (The teacher has told them to so that we could use the Spirit to soften the investigator's heart). After he said "no", I sat there silently letting the Spirit soften his heart and guide his thoughts. He came up with little excuses why he didn't want to be baptized. It was so powerful to feel the Holy Ghost working through me as I bore testimony and shared with him that I knew Heavenly Father would support him. I told him that I know Heavenly Father loves him. As I sat there, tears filled my eyes. I felt so much love for this investigator that I wanted him to know how much his Father in Heaven loves him. I sat there to let him think and to continue to be taught by the Spirit. Tears came to his eyes. I felt the strong need to then ask him again if he would be baptized. He said "yes". After the lesson, Elder Wride told me that it was incredible to feel the Lord softening his heart by the Spirit. He said that by what I said and by what he was taught by the Holy Ghost, he felt that his once excuses were not reasons at all to not be baptized. It was a wonderful feeling to see his heart change.
After the lesson, Brother Hale felt inspired to give us that "talk" I spoke of above and let me tell you---it was amazing. I can't perfectly portray the Spirit that was present or the way he bore his testimony, but I can share some of the things that he said that truly impacted me. He said that our attitude is essential in this work. He said, get rid of the negativity and stop saying you can't learn the language because you CAN. He proclaimed, "YOU have the creator of the universe on your side. He WILL help you. See your potential and who you can be. Go home, ask the Lord to forgive you for your doubt and negativity, and covenant with him that from now on; you will be positive and fully rely on Him." He promised us that we would see a difference. I did what he promised. I have ALREADY seen such an incredible difference. Please continue to write and continue to pray for me!

AH, I almost forgot to mention that I got a fabulous package from Shea this week! Some amazing treats, soda, and a cute little duck! Thanks Shea, I love you. I am writing you a letter!

Momma, I wish I could have talked to you this week. Thanks for all your dear elders. Thanks to dad and you for being so awesome. Share with the family my love, the email i sent, and the pictures. I love you lots!

I look forward to hearing from you,
YFLD,
DEV

Sister Christensen already came and went! 

Sister Walker, Sister Holmes (The sister that joined our district for a few weeks), and I on our temple walk.

Sister Ellsworth (my roommate) and I being goofy!

Sister Walker and I

.I found Sister Christensen at Temple Walk! 

Sister Walker and I made signs! I love you! 

Elder Lleyva and I. We all came into class on Russian's (Women's day) to this heart of candy.

This is Elder Gallo! One of our Porteguese friend's who left Monday.

Our shadows! 

. Roommate pictures at the temple!

We all matched randomly haha.

MTC Week 4!!!!

Well Hello!
What a week it has been. My goodness! The days have been flying by. It seems like just a day or so ago, it was my P-day. SO MUCH has happened this week. I have been very blessed. To start off, on Sunday morning our Branch President came into our district classroom telling us Sisters that another sister would be joining our district and so our companionship would be splitting up. My heart stopped. This week I have been really praying for our companionship to have unity. Sister Walker even felt something was amiss in our companionship, but we couldn't put our finger on it. We all get along well, but being in a threesome can be challenging. It is a completely different dynamic then just having one person as your companion. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us. SO Sister Walker and I are now companions and Sister Jolley has welcomed the new sister as her companion, Sister Holmes. She is very sweet. She was at the MTC before for 12 weeks, then went into the field for two months so she went home for the past three months. She is here for a refresher. It has truly been such a help to have her! Sister Walker and I have set some high goals as a companionship. I am excited to see our growth together! Sister Holmes ( the new sister) will leave in 2 1/2 weeks. I hope it won't be too difficult to adjust back to a threesome because the dynamics are completely different. I love Sister Walker. She has been such a strength to me. We have been applying the advice that Ryan gave me. Be exactly obedient. Make sure you have 1 hour of personal study, 1 hour of companionship study, and 1 hour of language study. He promised that the Lord will bless us for our exactness. It is incredible how blessed we already have been!
     One of those blessings have been with our investigator Ирэк. He is Muslim so he believes that God is our Creator, but not our Father. He believes that Jesus Christ was our Brother, but not our Savior or Redeemer. This really threw us off our first lesson, but going into the second lesson; we were really relying on the Spirit. The day that Sister Walker and I taught him, I felt strongly that I needed to spend my personal study time studying Chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel. It is all about the Book of Mormon. As we were preparing for the lesson in companionship study, we both felt strongly that we should indirectly teach him about Jesus Christ by teaching him about Joseph Smith, the Restoration, and the Book of Mormon. The lesson was amazing. We both felt the spirit directing our thoughts. We asked him to read the last two paragraphs of the Book of Mormon introduction. You could see this touched him. Something about him changed. We promised him that if he would read the Book of Mormon and pray with faith; he would feel peace and he would receive an answer. He committed to pray and read. I sure hope he does. I feel so much love for the people I am teaching even though they are just teachers acting like investigators from their mission. The spirit is real. It truly does touch the hearts of those we teach. I have been directed by the Holy Ghost as I have taught. It is an amazing feeling. As I bore my testimony to Ирэк in Russian, I began to tear up. It was very powerful to hear the Lord working through me and allowing me to speak this beautiful language. The language is challenging, but by golly; it is worth it. We later talked to our teacher about our lesson. He said he was very pleased by our work, and he said he could tell we were following the Spirit. He told us to keep it up. He also told us he could see us applying the different cases (this is what makes Russian so challenging). He said he was very proud of our language :). By golly, that felt good.  It is very humbling to know that I could not do all that I am doing without the strength of my Savior. He is my strength. He is my foundation and my rock. I am working to be more like him in all that I do and say. I am working to turn "outward" like Christ does by being more patient, more compassionate, and more loving towards others. If you haven't seen "Characteristics of Christ" WATCH IT. It is incredible.
I am blessed to feel so much love from my family. Thank you all for your letters and notes. You are seriously the best family anyone could ask for. I love you and look forward to hearing from you this week! Ethan keep up the card tricks! Jared, make that arm heal faster! Shelby, write me! Cole, keep that cute and cuddly smile! Shawn, remember that I love you and I am praying for you! Keep being as loving and caring as you are. Shea- write me and thanks for all that you do. you are in my prayers. Kyle- i love you and miss hanging out with you! write me! Mom and dad- you are the best. THANK YOU for teaching me to be the best I can be!

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Sister Walker and I at the temple! It was a super chilly and rainy day!

    Sister Jolley, Sister Walker, and I during temple walk! There are so many missionaries everywhere.

MTC Week 3!!!

Hello Family!
      This week has been a journey. I have had my ups and my downs. We just got back from the temple. Wow, the temple is an incredible place. Each week, I feel weighed down and exhausted, but without doubt each time after the temple; I feel renewed and regenerated. There is a peace that I feel there that I cannot receive anywhere else. I always receive the energy I need to push through another week. I know that the strength I am receiving is from my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that there is no way I could do all that I do each day and learn what I have learned in the past two weeks without the help and strength of my Savior. My Russian is slowly but surely coming along. The language is challenging, BUT I know that they Lord will help fill in the gaps. He will help me learn what I need to learn in order to teach those that are ready to hear the Gospel. There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord's hand is in this work. There is no doubt in my mind that He has given me peace when the days have been hard. He has given me strength though the days have been long. I just need to continue to remind myself of my purpose as a missionary. My purpose is to bring others unto Christ. What a wonderful calling.
        So I love my district. We have some amazing Elders. They all have powerful testimonies of our Savior. A bunch of them are 18 years old so I often refer to myself as Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas I am older than EVERYONE in my district, but that is okay! We are all learning and growing together. There are 3 sisters and 8 elders in our district. We are District 10-F. Each day, we open with a hymn. I love singing in Russian..even though I sometimes struggle through, but the Spirit is ALWAYS so incredible.
      Class has become more fun and exciting as we study about our purpose as missionaries rather than just studying Russian. We study for 6 to 9 hours a day, depending on the day. By the end of the night, my brain is like mash potatoes. haha
       This week we continued to teach our investigator (who turned out to be our teacher. He acts as one of his investigators). His name is Paulvo. We had prepared to teach him about the Restoration, but when we went in to teach him, he said he had followed what we had asked him to do. He had stayed up all night reading the book of Mormon I felt the need to ask him if he has any questions and OF COURSE, he did. He showed us a verse about Baptism and Repentance. He asked what each of these meant. We struggled to find the words in Russian but our lesson was definitely led by the Spirit. He somehow understood our explanations in Russian and asked when and if he could be baptized. He told us that he felt what we were sharing with him was true. My jaw about dropped to the ground. haha. We set a date. At the end of the lesson, i felt prompted to ask if we could kneel and pray. We did. The spirit was so strong. I am thankful for the blessing we have to teach. I have felt so much joy sharing the gospel and sharing my testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ and his atonement. Wow, we are so blessed to have the knowledge that we have. I am grateful to be raised in such an incredible family with such amazing parents.
        I had so many wonderful experiences like that this week. Unfortunately I had a bad migraine and had to lay down for most of the day on Saturday and Sunday, but I received a blessing. I am thankful for the priesthood.
      I love you guys! Thanks for all of your support. I receive so much strength from you. 

Our Czar flag! We all signed it!

Ryan's sweater! It is SO warm. This is me at 10pm. EXHAUSTED and about ready to pass out.

SNOW! It ALWAYS snows here!

My TALL district :)

MTC Week 2!!

This past week has been one heck of a journey I have never felt such low lows and high highs. The spirit here is incredible. My first few days at the MTC were hard and very challenging. The schedule is very taxing mentally and spiritually. I often wanted to throw in the towel when the language got too hard, but those small highs have helped me hold on. We have taught 3 lessons to an investigator in only Russian. It is incredible how much we have learned already, but there is SO much more to learn.The first few days we spent 10 to 12 hours studying a day. It was insane. I was having a rough week so on Sunday I asked for a blessing from my district leader, Elder Roberts. It was amazing. He knew nothing of what I needed, but Heavenly Father
did and He answered. It was Elder Roberts first time giving a blessing. I am so thankful for the priesthood What a blessing it is in my life.
        After a long week, we finally made it to Sunday. It has been such an incredible day. Today in one of our meetings one of our bishopric felt inspired to bless us to feel Christ's presence with us each day and that we may feel the angels surrounding us. He promised us that if we work hard and give our will to the Lord, we will be blessed with power from on high., I am called to Russia for a reason. I am called to touch specific souls in Samara and as I more fully focus on my purpose, I will see the Lord's hand in my life. This journey will be hard each day, but I will be able to share my joy and testimony of my Savior with the people of Russia, and that makes it much more worth it. I want to focus on becoming closer to my Savior this next week. I am thankful for the blessing I have to be here even though it is hard.

          My mom shared an amazing quote with me. It reads:"Life by the yard is hard; by the inch it's a cinch. Each of us can be true for just one day-and then one more and then one more after that-until we've lived a life time guided by the Spirit, a lifetime close to the Lord, a lifetime of good deeds and righteousness. I have been focusing on taking this journey one "inch" at a time. I know with the Lord's help I can do all things. 

  

My companions and I, Sister Walker and Sister Jolley.

Sister Walker and I. We are all silly!

Wearing the shirt you bought me Ryan! It reminds me of you!