Prophecies and Photos

Zdrastvuitye!

Let's just get the biggest news out in the open. On Sunday, I was blessed to be able to watch, via Skype, the organization of the Saratov Russia Stake! This event has definitely been one of the most cherished highlights of my mission. What a great blessing this is for Saratov, this Mission, and all of Russia! The creation of the Saratov Stake will bless the people of this entire Mission, and this entire country. The future creation of a Stake in Samara, which will just as surely come, will also do so. Here are a few comments that President Schwab made concerning the organization of the Stake: 

"Watching this Stake be organized today made me realize how many people have contributed to it over the years. For 25 years, missionaries in Russia have labored, slowly building up the Church to where it has a strong enough foundation to support the growth which will come. We have often mentioned that the same thing happened in Brazil, where missionaries labored for 30 years, slowly building the Church member by member, and Branch by Branch until enough of a foundation was in place to sustain the incredible growth that suddenly exploded there. Now, there are about 1.3 million members, 34 Missions, and 6 temples in Brazil! 

A Prophet of God has indicated that 'Russia is the next Brazil.' It is interesting to note that we are actually ahead of Brazil's pace, and have more baptisms in our first 25 years than they did in their first 30. But it is not a numerical contest or a race, and we will keep working until the Lord causes such an 'explosion' to also occur in Russia."

This "explosion" is going to happen before we know it! I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for this Mission and for this Country! Countless miracles have already come to pass in such a short amount of time and I am confident that they won't be stopping anytime soon. Support and sustain the Saratov Russian Stake and pray for a Stake in Samara!

Speaking of new, I have two large, considerably contradictory items of news that I thought I should share with you! First off, at the beginning of last week I called up my Mission President and submitted for an extension on my mission. A mission extension is only an added 30 days on my mission, so it isn't anything too long. Without regard to the extension, if the remaining transfers on my mission play out as normal, my release date will be somewhere around February 23rd. My Mission President told me that it is very rare, if not impossible, to have an extension granted, but if it is, I would be returning home around March 23rd (my birthday!!). I have pondered and prayed about extending my mission for quite some time now and the Spirit has confirmed, multiple times, that this is what I need to do. If it isn't granted, which is what President Schwab warned me will likely happen, I can walk away knowing that everything worked out the way that the Lord wanted it to. I am completely comfortable with whatever happens.

The other piece of contradictory news is that (if my extension isn't granted) I hit my "100 Days Left on My Mission" mark a few days ago! If I find out that I did, in fact, receive the extension, I will be recelebrating this milestone in another 30 days. Sister Warnick and I went all out to celebrate the occasion; I even made a cheesy sign out of pictures from the Liahona to commemorate the event. We basically turned the entire day into a photoshoot and I took goofy pictures with this sign along with my favorite foods, infront of random objects, with my companion, at McDonalds, with other signs, with literally everything. It made contacting go by a lot faster and we had a blast! We'll see whether or not I get to recelebrate this day! 

Let's talk about the weather for a sec. I have never gotten so wet in my entire life! It was pouring rain for the first half of the week, which means... mud. Lots of mud. More than a handful of times, Sister Warnick and I would be walking down the street and then "FOOOSHHHH," a car would drive through a puddle and soak us from head to foot. Multiple times, my friends. After about 4 days of rain, there was one solid day that was as cold as death. No nose drippage there because everything freezes immediately up in your nostrils. As of two days ago, it has been snowing nonstop. It is blizzarding outside as I type this. I'm looking at it through a library window this very second as I type this sentence. Yep, there it is. Majestic. I think this is finally the snowfall that will never melt. There's always one snowfall at the beginning of winter that is the foundation for the rest of the season. It doesn't melt, everything just snows and freezes on top of it. It won't go away until next April or May. That's what we're hoping anyways. 

This week is Zone Training, which means another train ride! Yay! Sister Warnick and I will get on a train on Wednesday and head over to good old Samara. Train rides are the best. I always feel like I'm in Harry Potter. Should be a fun one! The day after we get back from our trip is our WARD (not a Branch anymore) Thanksgiving Party, so that is going to be a blast as well!

Welp, that's all for this week folks! Hug your Stake Centers and do a photoshoot!

Do Svindanya!

Love,

Sister Megan Wagstaff