From Russia With Love: One month down!!

To my wonderful family,
Oh how I love you. What a wonderful treat to be able to see your beautiful and loving faces. I must say, I am SO blessed to have a family that loves and supports me. Being a member in Russia is VERY challenging. There is a lot of hatred for our church here in Russia. There are many members who have family members who are against the church. They are such a wonderful example to me. I know that it is hard, but they still push through and give their all to be their best because they know it is worth it. There is one lady who wants more than anything to get baptized. She follows EVERYTHING, but her husband told her, "If you want to get baptized, either you divorce me or kill me." She is having such difficult challenges, yet she still comes to church and knows that Heavenly Father will bless her as she keeps working hard. I feel so much love for the people here. I know that Heavenly Father loves them. I know that this gospel will help bless their lives because it has blessed my life and my family's life! Time is just flying by! I hit my one mark in Russia this week, and then in two weeks we have transfers! This thought is unbelievable to me! Time is just rushing by! I have so much work to do with such little time! I am very grateful for the chance to be here, and the chance I have to serve my Father in Heaven. This week was a great week, but LONG!! I got pretty sick with flu like symptoms, and I was out for two days! Luckily one of the days was a "Lock Down" day where we couldn't leave the apartment all day. Other than not being sick, I had a wonderful week. I am slowly but surely adapting to the lifestyle here! I hit my one month mark THIS week! I received a blessing last Sunday. In the blessing I was blessed with the gift of tongues. I thought that the gift of tongues just meant speaking Russian well, but I was wrong. I had a wonderful to have the Spirit work through me and testify to one of the investigators how much Heavenly Father loves her and wants to help her. I know that it wasn't me speaking. It wasn't my words. My Russian wasn't superb or perfect, but the Spirit was there and it filled each of our hearts. I am grateful to be here to experience and see hardships. I am grateful to be the Lord's representative! I am grateful to be a messenger of my Father in Heaven. I am truly carrying a wonderful message! I want to share it with the World. I want to tell you more about my week, but I am out of time! I love you all and pray for you everyday. Always remember how much your Father in Heaven loves you. He wants to help you and he will.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY mom. You are the best mom in the whole world. I am so blessed to have dad and you in my life. I am the luckiest girl in the world. I have such an incredible family, an extraordinary and loving boyfriend, and wonderful friends. I also have a Father in Heaven who loves me!

I love you all,
Much love,
Sister Devynn McCartt