September 20th

Hi Family,

Thanks for the weekly update Dad. Sounds like the experince in Eager was very worthwhile. You should share some of your notes with me!

Mom, I anticipate the package(es) and thanks for sending them! You da best! What a cool spiritual expereice you had at the post office. I was so elated and happy to hear that my sisters went contacting together! Ahh! Made my day. Any interesting stories - good or bad?

Cami, you're an all-star. 2nd place?! Haha you still have some Shannon Miller in you I guess : )

Sister Schill and I had a great week in Botanika! We seemed super busy all week long with meetings, and we were tired in a very satisfying way. I think I had more investigator meetings this past week than any other week of my mission. The work is coming along! We had some really cool experiences this week too.

We got a member referral last week for a Babushka named Nina. She came to Church last week, and said we could stop by any day to meet with her. We stopped by this week, and we were able to teach a first lesson to her and her husband. She didn't come to Church this Sunday, but she seems pretty interested. She is not too old in that she understands us, which is kind of nice and crucial. She has been reading the Book of Mormon, says she doesn't understand everything, but she will keep reading it. She and hr husband are very very humble people, and Sister Schill and I felt the Spirit very strongly with them.

Also, Sister Hanks and I contacted a nice guy about two months ago named Ivan. We had tried to find his number to call him back, but we couldn't find it anywhere. This past week, without even trying to find it, it just suddenly showed-up right where I had been expecting it to be the whole time. We call him, and he agrees to meet with us the next day. Before our meeting with him, we had a meeting with Lena (our investigator with a baptismal date) and Zhenya (a recently baptized convert that helps us a lot with Lena, I taught him in Chili). Ivan shows-up 30 minutes early to our lesson, and we tell him that he can come join us on the lesson we were having with the other two. We didn't know what else to do. Anyways, it turned out to be a really good first lesson. I was really anxious because Lena usually asks really difficult questions, and I was afraid that having the two investigators together would be bad, but they ended-up supporting each other. Ivan is atheist. He was under the presumption we were just wanting to teach him English (oops!), but when we explained our Purpose to him, he seemed kind of interested. He assumed that really religious people only wear turbans and had long beards or something. It was a new experience for him to see younger, devoted people that were still somewhat normal looking : ) He is very smart and thoughtful, and his questions were a lot like Lena's were when we first started teaching her. She even told him that she used to be just like him, but now she has most of her questions answered. She defended the Church and us, which was really cool to see, and I know it was good for her to to see all the progress she has made. Zhenya helped a lot too. He knows Englih perfectly, and he might become Ivan's private teacher now. He has really helped Lena progress, and he seems to be doing really well. Ivan agreed to read the BoM and to meet with us again. I don't think he would have ever showed-up to a first lesson with us if we knew we were wanting to talk about the Gospel. Plus, he said he had been extremely busy before, so it was a good time we called when we did. Even though he is kind of anti-religious, Sister Schill and I both feel like he was prepared for us to teach. I hope we get another lesson in! We had been all pumped and ready to get a Baptismal Date with him on the first lesson like we've been taught, but we both really felt it was not the right time. I still feel good about that decision, so I think it was for the best.

Oh yeah, Lena is still sober! She hung-out all night Saturday with her friends at a club, her biggest temptation she says, and she still didn't drink! She knows it is best to avoid the clubs and other tempting places, but she insisted on going to see if she could avoid the temptation of alcohol. I don't know... we didn't want her to go of course, but at least she didn't drink. That is a step in the right direction. She has a desire to follow her Savior and keep His commandments, so I feel that through time, the club won't even interest her anymore. We need to get her to realize that too: that her desires will change the more she chooses to follow Him.

Well, as for me, I am doing well. I feel exhausted every morning as I get out of bed, but by the time I go to bed at night, I am usually so happy and content with my day that I don't want to fall asleep : ) Things are well. I still desire to grow more spiritually, and to be more in tune with the Spirit, but I assume that growth is gradual. I sometimes feel like I am relying too much on myself and not on the Lord, but then again, I don't know how to rely on the Lord more, so it is hard finding the balance.

Hi Family,

Thanks for the weekly update Dad. Sounds like the experince in Eager was very worthwhile. You should share some of your notes with me!

Mom, I anticipate the package(es) and thanks for sending them! You da best! What a cool spiritual expereice you had at the post office. I was so elated and happy to hear that my sisters went contacting together! Ahh! Made my day. Any interesting stories - good or bad?

Cami, you're an all-star. 2nd place?! Haha you still have some Shannon Miller in you I guess : )

Sister Schill and I had a great week in Botanika! We seemed super busy all week long with meetings, and we were tired in a very satisfying way. I think I had more investigator meetings this past week than any other week of my mission. The work is coming along! We had some really cool experiences this week too.

We got a member referral last week for a Babushka named Nina. She came to Church last week, and said we could stop by any day to meet with her. We stopped by this week, and we were able to teach a first lesson to her and her husband. She didn't come to Church this Sunday, but she seems pretty interested. She is not too old in that she understands us, which is kind of nice and crucial. She has been reading the Book of Mormon, says she doesn't understand everything, but she will keep reading it. She and hr husband are very very humble people, and Sister Schill and I felt the Spirit very strongly with them.

Also, Sister Hanks and I contacted a nice guy about two months ago named Ivan. We had tried to find his number to call him back, but we couldn't find it anywhere. This past week, without even trying to find it, it just suddenly showed-up right where I had been expecting it to be the whole time. We call him, and he agrees to meet with us the next day. Before our meeting with him, we had a meeting with Lena (our investigator with a baptismal date) and Zhenya (a recently baptized convert that helps us a lot with Lena, I taught him in Chili). Ivan shows-up 30 minutes early to our lesson, and we tell him that he can come join us on the lesson we were having with the other two. We didn't know what else to do. Anyways, it turned out to be a really good first lesson. I was really anxious because Lena usually asks really difficult questions, and I was afraid that having the two investigators together would be bad, but they ended-up supporting each other. Ivan is atheist. He was under the presumption we were just wanting to teach him English (oops!), but when we explained our Purpose to him, he seemed kind of interested. He assumed that really religious people only wear turbans and had long beards or something. It was a new experience for him to see younger, devoted people that were still somewhat normal looking : ) He is very smart and thoughtful, and his questions were a lot like Lena's were when we first started teaching her. She even told him that she used to be just like him, but now she has most of her questions answered. She defended the Church and us, which was really cool to see, and I know it was good for her to to see all the progress she has made. Zhenya helped a lot too. He knows Englih perfectly, and he might become Ivan's private teacher now. He has really helped Lena progress, and he seems to be doing really well. Ivan agreed to read the BoM and to meet with us again. I don't think he would have ever showed-up to a first lesson with us if we knew we were wanting to talk about the Gospel. Plus, he said he had been extremely busy before, so it was a good time we called when we did. Even though he is kind of anti-religious, Sister Schill and I both feel like he was prepared for us to teach. I hope we get another lesson in! We had been all pumped and ready to get a Baptismal Date with him on the first lesson like we've been taught, but we both really felt it was not the right time. I still feel good about that decision, so I think it was for the best.

Oh yeah, Lena is still sober! She hung-out all night Saturday with her friends at a club, her biggest temptation she says, and she still didn't drink! She knows it is best to avoid the clubs and other tempting places, but she insisted on going to see if she could avoid the temptation of alcohol. I don't know... we didn't want her to go of course, but at least she didn't drink. That is a step in the right direction. She has a desire to follow her Savior and keep His commandments, so I feel that through time, the club won't even interest her anymore. We need to get her to realize that too: that her desires will change the more she chooses to follow Him.

Well, as for me, I am doing well. I feel exhausted every morning as I get out of bed, but by the time I go to bed at night, I am usually so happy and content with my day that I don't want to fall asleep : ) Things are well. I still desire to grow more spiritually, and to be more in tune with the Spirit, but I assume that growth is gradual. I sometimes feel like I am relying too much on myself and not on the Lord, but then again, I don't know how to rely on the Lord more, so it is hard finding the balance.

Sister Schill is doing very well. Her biggest fear is talking to people, and she knows that is a struggle for her. We are trying to get her to open her mouth more, and she is getting there. She doesn't like it, but she knows she should do it, so she does it. She is coming more out of her shell though on lessons, and I think she is starting to feel more confident and comfortable as a missionary. We have a great time togther and, our Mission President was right, we are a lot a like in a lot of ways. I am grateful to have served with her.

Have a great week everyone!

Sister Hakes

September 13th

Hi Family!

I had a nice, healthy, full inbox today, yay!

Ok, sorry I have kind of slacked on my writing lately. I just never have time on Pday I feel like. Sorry, this week my letter is going to have to be short again.

Our investigator Vladislav is finally considered progressing again! After our training, we really decided to focus with him on the BOM, and how it is necessary to read it to gain a testimony. I had thought he already had a testimony of it, becasue he has already read it through once, but it turns out, the more we discussed it with him, the more we realized that he didn't really read it right. He never prayed while reading, and he never really took it as a spiritual text, but more historical. Anyways, we kind of threw a "spiritual smackdown" on him (as we lovingly call it here), and he ended-up reading all of 1 Nephi and more as a result! Cool, huh? He was just different with him when we met this week. He actually had questions for once, and he actually responded to our questions. It's a marveloius thing really, communication, it opens so many doors. My comp and I trying to work more on asking inspired questions to our investigators, so it's not really us doing the teaching, but they speak just as much if not more than we do. That was something the training really focused on too, and, low and behold, it actually works! That's always nice to find out.

Lena came to Church, that's number two now, and she also came to a Fireside at the Mission President's home last evening. There is a boy in our district who is leaving on a mission to Moscow, so President Allcott decided to have everyone over to the Mission Home to see him off. It was really great, and there were a lot of the youth from our district present, which is exactly what Lena needs -- friends! She is still sober, which is super cool. Our concern with er now is the concept of free agency. It has been so fascinating teaching Russians the concept of agency, they honestly don't get or they don't approve of it. They think that it is better, or at least more intelligent, to have someone control things more. Like, her hang-up, is that if God really loved us, why would he let us suffer so much? She thinks that when people use their agency to harm others, God should step in and preven them from hurting others. She doesn't yet really have an eternal perspective, so it's hard to accept that everything will eventually be made right through Christ, either in this life or in the next. Sigh... We've discussed this now several times, and we've just told her she needs to take it to the Lord. This could actually be a really good thing for her and for her testimony. But, yeah, my comp and I find it so interesting how communism has influenced their view of the world. They see the need for a God that is more like Stalin than like Jesus. Scary, but that's how they feel. It all comes back to the lack of trust they have that God actually loves them, knows them, and has a plan for them. How grateful I am for knowing the Plan of Salvation is true! We are so blessed.

Our other Lena, that was supposed to get baptized Saturday, didn't end up making it to baptizm. We're wanting to keep working with her, but we are needing to be straight-up with her and find out why she isn't taking this whole thing more seriously. I think she skipped out on our last lesson with her to go to a club. What can you do? I love her and we are trying. In fact, I love all of our investigators and it is kind of hard to have so many people to be loving and caring for all the time. I sometimes can't fall asleep at night, and this is me, Kalli, who could never stay up past 10! I can't imagine how mothers do it!

Well, I love you all. Hope all is well at home. I'm doing so well. This week was cold, but that's good to hear next week should be better. Please pray for our investigators and for us to find NEW investigators.

Thanks for your letters and continual support. You have never stopped writing me after a year! Thanks : )

Sister Hakes

August 29th

Family! Hi!

I have news! Ready....

Lena has a Baptizmal Date! Yay!!

Well, that date isn't until the end of November, she wants to wait until her Birthday on the 24th to celebrate her being "born" again, but we're gonna try and move it up. But, yay! I had such an amazing week. We were at training all week, but it was so so so helpful. I don't know if the Baptizmal Date would have happened without our experience at Preisdent's last week. Ok, so...

The Church has done a lot of in-field analysis of how Preach My Gospel is working among the missionaries. Overall, they say Preach My Gospel has helped missionary work tremendously. However, there are 8 points from PMG that the Church decided that, if missionaries undestood better, then the work would boost even more. The 8 points are:

1. Understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptizm, HG, endure to the end) as our Purpose

2. Using the Spirit to Find Concerns

3. The Importance of the Book of Mormon in Receiving Revelation

4. The Importance of Prayer in Receiving Revelation

5. The Importance of Church Attendance in Receiving Revelation

6. Teaching People, not Lessons

7. Involving Members and the Ward Council

8. How to Start a Lesson

So, that's a lot, which we means we just need to get better at everything! Our Mission President was given 8 lesson plans on how to teach us to do these things better (standard lesson plans given to every Mission President), and he taught us straight from those for the last four days. Basically, we did two points a day and had about two hours of role playing to try and put them into practice. Most of the Elders there aren't serving in Ekat right now, so they were outside of their areas the last week. But, Sister Schill (who got to come with me) and I had the opportunity to go back to our area from about 7-9 and practice the principles on real people as we were learning them, which is how we got the Baptizmal Date from Lena. The whole experience at President's house was so intensely spiritual and enlightening. I feel like I received good idea after good idea to better help our investigators. Gotta love the Spirit! Pretty much, the conclusion after the four days amongst us was the we need to 1. love the people more (because that fixes a lot of the above problems listed) and 2. be worthy of, listen to, and follow the promptings of the Spirit. Pretty basic stuff that I felt like I already knew before, but it was just reinforced so powerfully that I finally feel like I understand what it means to love the people and follow the Spirit. And, having really been able focusing on that the last couple of days, we have had such intense, spiritual lessons as a result. It feels so good. I feel empowered, like wow, there really is a power to my calling that I am finally starting to understand. Now, I just hope I don't forget!

All week at training, I kept thinking, we need to do this with Lena, or do that with Lena, etc. So, Thursday, the day of our meeting with Lena, I had like a million things my companion and I were wanting to teach her. Luckily though, we had just been taught to follow the Spirit, so it helped in the sense that I didn't freak out, but we planned a pretty flexible lesson that could be adjusted to meet her needs. We also invited Zhenya to be on the lesson with us. Zhenya is that guy I taught in Chili that got baptized here in Ekat a little over a month ago (remeber him?). He knows fluent English and investigated the Church for 10 years. Lena came to his baptizm. While at the baptizm, she acknowledged that the Church is true, but she also said that she undestands why it took Zhenya 10 years to join, and it'll probably take her that long too. That was a little knife in the heart, and from that statement we realized that she wasn't understanding the basic doctrine of Jesus Christ enough, otherwise she'd be wanting to be baptized now. We wanted Zhenya to come on the lesson to testify how the actual baptizm was worth it and necessary. Zhenya also has a little crush on me... hope that doesn't become a problem : ( Anyways, back to Lena. So, we read Moroni's Promise with her, and we asked if she knew the BOM was true, and she said yes. So, we then read from the Introduction, where it says that if you know the BOM is true, then you'll know that Jesus is the Savior of the world, Joesph Smith is a Prophet of God, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS is the true Church restored to the earth. We asked her each question one by one, and she said that she knew all of them were true (Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, the Church). Obviously, we then asked her to be baptized, and, at that moment, the Spirit was so so strong. We just looked at each other in silence for a long time. She said that she would be baptized, but not right now. We asked her why not, and she said that she's not ready. Zhenya was perfect, because he has had to give things up to be baptized and forsake his old life. He asked her to specifically say what it was that was holding her back. She finally opened-up to us about how she thinks it will be too hard to quit drinking. She doesn't do it that often, but when she is with her friends it is impossible to not drink. We knew this all along! I had no idea though that that was the only thing holding her back. Thus, the importance of teaching by the Spirit to find concerns: ) (see point 2). We were able to finally openly discuss this and tell her that she won't be perfect before or after baptizm, but that she can most definitely overcome this temptation now, and even more easily once she has the gift of the Holy Ghost with her. Long story short, she agreed to be baptized! Yay! She takes the whole thing very seriously, which is great. She understands the importance of the covenant and doesn't want to break it. She has committed to start living the WOW now, which is another reason she wants to wait til November. She wants to be completely rid of the habit before she is baptised. I can see where she is coming from, but at the same time I know Satan really works hard on the people who are preparing for baptizm. I feel like something always happens to them, and three full months seems too long. Pray for her! She has come such a long way! During the lesson, I felt like my whole mission was worth it just to teach Lena. I really feel the love our Savior has for her. Even if she still wasn't going to get baptized, she'd still be worth it. But, now that she has decided to be baptised, it's even better : ) I was like in disbelief when she agreed to set a date with us. It was too good to be true. Something we had been working for for such a long time and it actually happened. The best part of all, is that I know she's not doing it for us, but because she knows it is what her Savior wants her to do. She will forever be a part of my life. I love her. Plus, everything we learned in training worked so perfectly in the lesson. It really works to folow the Spirit haha : )

Sunday we didn't have regular Church services, because we got to watch the dedication of the Kiev Temple in Ukraine. Yay! Try explaining that to your investigators though haha... "You aren't allowed to come to Church on Sunday...." Anyways, it was totally worth it. President Monson, Uchtdorf, Nelson, and I think Anderson were all there in Ukraine. They had three sessions of the dedication broadcasred so a large group of people could watch. It was super cool because, I had no idea before hand, but people from Chelyabinsk had to come to Ekat to watch the dedication, so it was a big reunion with the Chili members. Nice surprise : ) The Kiev Temple will serve 30,000 members in 13 different countries, and is the first temple behind the Iron Curtain (not counting the Temple in Berlin). The only countries they mention by name were Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Moldova, siberian Russia (that's me!), Kazakhstan, and Bulgaria. All Eastern European contries, which is why Elder Nelson was there. He oversees our area. It was a very spiritual occasion, and it was so cool to see the work moving forward on this side of the world. Ukraine is so much like Russia too, that it felt like the Prophet was here in Russia. Someday, Russia will have it's own temple too : ) Ukraine is actually further than Finland and harder for the members to travel to, but it will feel more like home to them. So, they are excited.

Well, I'm out of time! I wanted to write you all more, sorry, a lot about me this week... The Bday party for the twins sounds like such a blast! Way to go Chris and Francisca. Yes, please tell Grandma Hakes I received her lovely letter. I'm terrible and haven't written back yet... next week. Such little time. Please give her my love and thanks. I passed my year mark last week, and Sister Schill and I did not get a transfer this week, which means I'll be here in Botanika 6 months, just like I was in Chili six months. Woohoo.

Loves,

Sister Hakes

August 22nd

Hi Family!

Oh my goodness! It is already cold here! I kept trying to deny it and think "it's not really that cold, it's not really that cold..." but it didn't work. I left our apartment Friday morning with a light jacket, then when we came home midday, I had to put on a thicker layer of tights, a hat, and a scarf! The rain was coming down half frozen and icy-ish. Can you believe it?? It's only August! I think it was just a week ago I was writing about the extreme heat. All sorts of memories came back from winter, memories of being cold. I had somehow forgotten what it felt like, and convinced myself into thinking that it really wasn't that bad. Ok, now I'm complaining... sorry. I just wouldn't believe how fast the weather changed if I hadn't experienced it myself. I hear it should get a bit warmer before it really turns to Autumn/Winter. I hope so!

Yesterday, Lena came to Church! It really was the highlight of my week. Hands down. We were able to meet with her twice last week, and instead of choosing to go home for the weekend, she came to Church! It was a perfect meeting for her in every way. The talks in Sacrament Meeting were solid doctrine. The first on the Restoration and Joseph Smith, the second talk was on a talk by Sister Beck to the women, and how we shouldn't resist self-correction and repentance. It was like word for word what we have been trying to get her to understand. Then, the biggest miracle of all, was that the Sunday School class. Sometimes I worry about what the members will say in Sunday School, but it was by far the most spiritual lesson that I have been to here in Russia. We're studying the Old Testament, and the lesson was on Job, and how he was tried and still proved faithful. Last week, Lena had all sorts of questions about how, if God really loved us, why would he try His children? We gave her doctrine after doctrine, and tried to teach her, but she seemed to have difficulty accepting the idea that God would permit Satan to exist and torment us. In Church, one of the members asked the exact same question she had been asking us, and the members all discussed it together. It was beautiful for her to see that even the members don't have all the answers to everything, and that they don't just blindly follow what people tell them. She could tell that they too were very inquisitive, yet full of faith, and that they concluded that God just knows better than us, and they were willing to accept that answer. It was a beautiful lesson, and it really hit home to me how important it is for her to come to Church. Unfortunately, next Sunday is the Temple dedication, but I know she felt the Spirit very strongly, and had many questions answered. I feel so strongly the love our Savior has for her. After the lesson on Job, we sang I Know that My Redeemer Lives, and she and I both were very touched. When we were singing the song, I felt the love of my Savior for her, and instead of thinking of myself as I sang the words of the song, I was thinking of Lena and how He died for her too. The song is just as much aplicable to her life as it is to mine. I know the Lord wants this girl to be baptized. He keeps giving her small miracle after small miracle so she can continue on and finally make the plunge -- literally : )

Well, that is very interesting news about selling our home. Being 100% honest, I actually thought this was going to happen while I was on my mission, and that thought became more and more clear to me within these past two weeks. I'm not sure why, but I just had the thought occur to me a couple times that I might be coming home to a different house. I was talking to Sister Allcott a couple of weeks ago about how she and President Allcott decided to go on their first mission, and she said that she felt like there was always something getting in their way from finally being able to leave, whether it be health, finances, family issues, etc. She said that before you leave as a Senior Couple (and maybe this applies to Colin too), you almost have to prove to the Lord how determined you are to serve Him. That was at least their experience, and I heard another Senior Couple here in Ekat agree. I don't know if I am way off in relating that to you, Mom and Dad, but I have heard you talk in the past about having a desire to go on a mission after Dad retires. So, if selling the house will help Dad retire, and would free you both up (to serve a mission or not) I think it would be great : ) I am happy for you Dad! I hope everything works out for you at work as it should. You are such a great provider, you deserve some peace and debt-free-ness : ) Just like Job, right? The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, but either way, He knows what is best.

We also had a less-active show-up to Church. She hasn't come in about three or four years. She is a very nice, smart, successful woman, but to be honest, when we have met with her in the past, I've always left her home feeling kind of faithless. She just doesn't seem to have a testimony now, and I am not so sure she ever did before she got baptized. Shame on me for being faithless though, because she came to Church of her own accord. I don't want to take any credit for her coming, but I have noticed that if you show people that you care, they are more likely to come. We've had three or four less-actives come back to Church, and we haven't really even taught them as much as we have served them. That seems more effective in some ways. Don't get me wrong, we need to teach too, but sometimes the less-actives already know what they should be doing, but they just need someone to show that they care about them, and then it makes the needed changes less difficult.

This next week should be interesting. The Church is putting out some new methods to help missionaries be better teachers with Preach My Gospel. There will be some changes made to the work, most of which don't effect me that much, but Zone Conferences now will only be quarterly, which is kind of sad. The other change, is that every other month, there will be a leadership meeting for all of the Zone Leaders, District Leaders, Assistants, and Trainers. The first such meeting will be tomorrow, and will last four whole days at the Mission President's home. It turns out, that I am the only Sister training anybody at the moment, which means I will be the only sister at the meeting! All the other leadership positions are obviously held by the Elders. I am kind of weirded out by that. Just me and a bunch of the Elders. I think they might arrange for another sister to be with me... Anyways, I am actually really looking forward to Training tomorrow. I think it will be good receive some instruction as to how I can be a better teacher.

Oh, and Mom, to answer your question, we are the only missionaries in our Branch right now. We don't have Elders in our area, but I see them weekly usually at our District Meeting. We're the only companionship of sisters without elders in our Branch. We also have our own English Club too, so Sister Schill and I are pretty much on our own in Botanika. It's nice in some ways, I don't mind it. I am in the Ekat Zone, which has six companionships (our biggest zone - our mission doesn't have a lot of missionaries, only 50 max) and two senior couples. I don't see anyone of them very often becasue they all meet in the same building for Church on Sunday, but we're at a different place for Church. Anyways, I hope that answers your questions! Thanks for your last long, lovely letter. It was so good to hear how your Seminary class and everything is going. Thanks for always relating my mission to motherhood, it helps keep me motivated. And yes, Cassi, I loved your letter too about the surprises of being a Mom, and yes I have shared those surprises as a missionary. Love you both! Thanks so so much for all you do for me : )

I love you all so much! Thanks for your emails and I hope all is well with the newest Hakes member, Emily! Have fun at the Hakes-sibling Reunion! Much loves!

Sister Hakes

P.S. I'll need to think about your question Bear... I'm not sure what I miss exactly. Don't do anything to extreme Bear! You're so sweet.

Mom and Meesa, I would like having more foundation/make-up. They don't sell the same kind of foundation here, and it's a pain trying to find something that works here instead. Also, if you did want to send something for the winter, a hat or scarf that is all natural, meaning real wool or something like wool that's not sythetic, works in the extreme temps. If it's not real, it kind of freezes along with everything else and it's useless.

Give Megan Zant a BIG thank-you for her package she and Michael sent me for my Bday. Tell her I plan to paint my toenails soon! It was so sweet and so thoughtful of her : ) I loved it.

August 15th

Hi Family!

So much news indeed! Congrats Katie! I can't believe I have a new neice! That is four now that I haven't seen yet. I am so happy for you and Joe. Hope all is going well for you at this tender time.

Colin, congrats on the mission call! That is so exciting! Not too surprised about where you're going, totally called it : ) I just wrote Meesa a letter for the both of you to read. Best of luck!

Mom, how did Seminary go?

Dad, sounds like you had a marathon Sunday! Wow. Thanks for sharing. And yes, I swear it got cold within one day!! I woke up one morning and I was freezing! The day before I had slept without a blanket, windows open, and with a fan on because it was so hot. I totally don't get the weather here. I have tried to stay positive about the upcoming winter, but it is so hard. I can't believe I get to do that all over again! Haha, I prefer to just not talk about it...

Last week in Botannica was good, a lot more trying than the week before, but you need one of these every now and then I suppose. For some reason, it was hard to find meetings, and most of our scheduled meetings feel through it seemed like. That isn't really such a big deal I guess, but it was hard because most of our investigators couldn't met with us, the two with Bap Dates included. We were able to meet with Lena (the one I've written you all a lot about) twice this week which was really nice. She is doing really well, still the same problems, but we're trying. Becasue our initial plans fell through, we ended-up using our Back-Up plans a lot, and even our back-Up plans needed a back-up plan : ) It was good though, and it all paid off Sunday night and on Thursday evening.

Sunday night, a member named Zina gave us a refferal, and we were able to meet in Zina's home with her and her reffered neighbors, a mother and babushka. They aren't very religious, but they believe in God. Actually, the babushka is Muslim by birth, so I'll need to get permission permission to teach her again. Both very very sweet ladies and they seemed genuinely touched and interested in our message. The members here are eager to help, but they are really funny in the lessons because they can go very off topic if you don't prep them. It was so funny. She brought up two dreams she has had, Baptizms for the Dead, and hep Patriarchal Blessing fell out of her scriptures, and she said out loud "Oh, that's not allowed to read to you all, and hid it behind her." Haha, my comp and I were just dying inside. We obviously didn't prep her enough. But, the two ladies didn't seem to notice, and so it wasn't a problem. They took the Book of Mormon, agreed to meet with us again (though they couldn't say when), promised to read it, and really seemed interested. They liked us too which helps I think. We'll see. I'm trying not to get my hopes too much lately, it seems like every time I have a good new contact, I get carried away and start picturing them as the future relief Society President or Branch President... So, I'll just say it was a very good meeting and we have plans to meet with them again. We have received some good refferals lately from our members. We haven't been able to meet with the reffered people yet, but it is in the process. It is nice to feel thought that the members are willing to give us a shot and teach their friends. Those lessons are always so much better.

We also saw a lot of little miracles Thursday after our Weekly Planning session. I was slightly bummed because, yet again, our lessons had fallen through. As I was digging through my planner and the Area Book, trying to think of the very best way to use our time, Sister Schill and I decided to get down on our knees and pray. It was kind of a desperate plea from my end, becasue I was feeling kind of tired of trying to find things to do and people to meet with. Thirty minutes later, we were still in our planning session and hadn't really figured things out, but our cell phone rang and our investigator Lena called and said that we could meet with her that night. It is pretty rare when an investigator calls you to meet, so we felt so blessed. On the way to her house, we got contacted by three different people on one bus. Also rare. We got to our lesson with her and didn't have any more Book of Mormons to even teach out of. Then, sfter our lesson with her, we found two decent street lessons, and ran into a member named Uri walking hiss dog. He gave us a refferal right there on the street. We were freaking out! Sometimes I wish I was so hard for the Lord to work through. Here I am, frustrated that nothing has been or is working out, and all I needed to do all along was pray and ask for His guidance. I swear, the more my plans fall through, the better our day goes. haha. Oh, I just love my mission : )

Have a great week! Say hi to Whitney Robb for me!

Sister Hakes

August 8th

Hi Family!

How are you all? I am so excited for Colin to get his mission call, Kimball's ABQ prospect, Mom doing Seminary again (good luck!), Carrie's new nest, Katy's soon baby, all the many upcoming grandkid bdays, and everything else! Your lives sound so happy! I hope all is well for all of you and I keep you all in my prayers.

Yes, it has been really hot here. All the babyshka's are having a hard time because they mostly earn money from the food they grow on their gardens in the summer. The big news here is that there has been little rain, a lot of heat, and nobody is producing anything to sell. So, the babs are having a hard time. Yes, it is really smoky here from some sort of peat bog fires not too far from here. The air smells like smoke and it's very hazy (the sun is red too). But, to be honest, the heat hasn't really bothered me. I like it. There isn't any A/C anywhere, so during the day, on a crowded bus, it can be rather miserable, but I feel like miserable heat isn't too uncommon for me. The cold was more difficult because I'm not used to it, and it just seems to affect every aspect of life. So, I'm grateful for the heat. Supposedly, last winter was the coldest in the last twenty years, and this summer is the hottest in the last twenty. Yay for me! Supposedly, snow starts falling the latter-half of September. So, no reprieve here. Extreme heat, to extreme cold. Gotta love it!

We had a great week in Botanika! So much happened. We were able to get two baptizmal dates, yay! One with a girl named Lena (not the same Lena I've told you about) and a guy named Pavel.

Lena has already had 4 different baptizmal dates with some other missionaries. We've been working with her the last couple weeks, since she lives in our area, and we've started to see some improvements. The other companionship that taught her said that they had started to feel like they were getting in a rut with her and didn't know how to help her any more. We had the advantage of being able to be vey upfront with her, and ask her why she wanted to meet with the missionaries and what her expectations are, and we think it has helped. She has already been taught everything, but the only question was whether or not she was willing to live the commandments. She has promised to start living as if she is already a member right now, because she will be gone the next two weeks. We hope she will continue to make right choices while she is out of town. We'll have another 2 weeks to work with her when she returns from her vacation, her bap. date is Sept. 11th. She is a really sweet 18 year old girl.

The other date is for a guy named Pavel that the other sisters found. They met him on the bus just last week and gave him the first lesson, and then we all met with him for the second lesson and got a baptizmal date. He seems so prepared. It was an amazing lesson! We all just wanted to jump and down together because we all go through so many different people who aren't really interested, to suddenly somebody that just seemed to get it. I just about died at how easily he said "yes" to the question "will you get baptized?" Of course, he doesn't yet know about all that baptizm really entails, all the commandments, a change in lifestyle, etc. but he felt the Spirit which is most important. Our job now is to get the Spirit to convert him, and get him ready to make those neccessary commitments. It was such a neat experience to teach him though! I love missionary work, and I especially love teaching new investigators about the Gospel. So many sweet experiences. Teaching Pavel reminded me of Lev in Chelyabinsk, do you remember him? He was the guy we found on the bus that was so prepared, our little miracle. Pavel also is just really prepared. He is about 22 I'd say, and a nice, normal guy. We need to be living worthy as a companionship to help Pavel get baptized August 21, which is his set date. I'm kind of nervous to teach him, because it's not too common we have someone like him. I want to make sure everything will work out with him, and I know it will. Faith, Kalli, faith. His bap. date is really soon, and we have no idea where he is in terms of what commandments he is keeping already, but anything is possible!

Other than that, we had that less-active member, Brother Kozman, come back to Church -- that's two weeks in a row! We even went with him to help buy a white shirt that is appropriate for Church. The members love him and we have an FHE planned with him and another less-active family tonight. He wants to be a missionary he says, and he has like five potential refferals for us, but as of yet none of them have happened.

Sister Schill and I decided to start focusing our work more on investiators, and work less often with less-actives. Sister Hanks and I worked a lot with trying to reactivate people, and we have seen a lot of success, but we both feel like we need to start getting more and more investigators. Last week was definitely a good start, we had I think 9 or ten investigator meetings, which is a lot more than we usually have. I know the Lord helped us acheive that goal, and I feel He wants us to be branching-out more and trying to find more new people to teach about the Restored Gospel. The Church is true and all is well in Botanika!

Have a good week,

Sister Hakes