Happy Halloween!! I think? :)

Dobre Den Seemyu! 

(good day family!)

Didn't realize it was halloween until I started writing letters this morning. Crazy how weird the time is. It's technically "week 4" in the MTC, even though I've only been here for exactly 3 weeks. Time is flying, but it still feels like I've been here for my entire life. It's weird to think that I just met my district 3 weeks ago. We're family. I love each and every single one of them!! I'm having so much fun, and loving the MTC. I can't believe I'm already a third of the way done with it already. Life is so good.
Sunday I was able to watch Character of Christ, a fireside given by Elder Bednar on Christmas last year. LIFE CHANGING. He told the most touching story about a single mother who lost her only daughter, and the mother inside of me was dying. I cried like a baby. That was one of the most influential talks I've ever listened to. He's definitely a man of God.
I had my first TRC last week. It was a success! The language is coming along. I taught a lesson last Thursday without any notes and was able to have a real-ish conversation in my broken Ukrainian. Afterwards, my investigator (really my teacher) was so impressed with me and my companion. But honestly, it wasn't us at all. We both knew it was the Lord helping us. There's no way we could've held a 40 minute conversation in a different language, while only being here for 2 weeks and a day. It was crazy.
Another interesting thing, some days I totally get Ukrainian, other days, I have no idea what anyone's saying. It's like God is giving me little glimpses that He's really the one in control, and I have to rely on him 100%. My teacher was talking in Ukrainian for a good 15 minutes without a word of English, and my eyes were like O.O I had no idea what she was saying. I was concentrating so hard and really focused...and all of a sudden it was like a light turned on in my head. Everything she was saying was perfectly clear to me. I understood every word. And then just as fast as it came on, about 3 minutes later the light turned off. I get some of these experiences every so often throughout the day. The gift of tongues, and the gift of interpretation of tongues is real. I have such a testimony of it. 
Jenna Miller and her family sent me a package this week. I almost cried from surprise and happiness! Little Brenna wrote me the cutest note and drew me a picture. I have it in my room. Tell her thanks so much for me! :) 
The other day I was sitting in class, and it hit me. I'm a MISSIONARY. I can't believe it sometimes, but I'm so happy and honored to be able to have this calling. It's the greatest blessing. They're really pounding the fact that missionaries should be here for the right reasons. They can't have any lukewarm missionaries going out into the world. The Lord need valiant servants to bring people to Him. 
Do me a favor. Go back and watch the Mormon Message about the Ukraine temple. We watched it on Monday and we understood the Ukrainian kids! It was so cool. When I watched it a few months ago, I was thinking...there is NO WAY that language will ever make sense to me. But guess what, it's starting to. :) What a neat experience it is to be able to go to the mission with the temple. That's all any of the Russian zones say when we tell them we're going to Kiev. "OH! THE TEMPLE! You're so lucky!!" We really are. I can't wait to go there! That message made me so excited to get to the country and start inviting others to Christ. I thought my heart would burst when I was watching it. I already have such a love for the people of Ukraine. It's the greatest.
I honestly am so happy all the time. I dont' even know why, because I'm so tired! The sisters in our zone will always ask if I'm sure I'm truly happy. I'm not sure what that means, but I think a lot of girls here came because they didn't really know what else to do with their lives. I came because I wanted to serve my Heavenly Father, and be a missionary. When you know why you're here, and you've received a confirmation that this is where you need to be, you'll be just fine. This is the Lord's work. He'll help you out! 
One of the coolest things about the MTC is when we sing, "We'll bring the world His truth." They change the words from "And we will be the Lord's missionaries" to "And we are NOW the Lord's missionaries". Gets me every single time. Brings tears to my eyes to think about that.
Something funny about the language: I was hardly speaking it the first 2 weeks because I felt like I was always pronouncing it wrong or going to make mistakes. Finally, I just realized that this is the place to make mistakes and figure out how to really speak it. Some elders in my district have no shame talking, or saying the wrong words on accident. During a lesson that two of our elders were giving, the investigator started busting up, and couldn't explain why he was laughing so hard. Turns out instead of saying "We need prayer", he said, "We mushroom prayer." Kind of funny. :) 
Thanks so much for the package. Those pumpkin spice cookies were incredible. I'm obsessed. Thanks for all the letters and support. You'll never know how much it means to me. I love you, I love you, I love you I do! I'm praying for you always. You're the best!

Love, cectpa webber.

ps. I changed the ukrainian spelling on my name. It used to read Veber, but I changed it to Ooeber (obviously different characters in Ukrainian). Turns out they don't really like Germans over there, and won't talk to people who look German. What sounds more german than Veber? So I changed it....haha :)

Sister Webber and her companion, Sister Olds

At the temple

Sister Webber and Sister Berit Green

Greetings!

FIRST OF ALL:
CONGRATULATIONS MADI!!! :) :) :) :) :) 
I can't wait to share this adventure with you. MISSIONS ARE THE BEST! Sister Missionaries are awesome. 
President Hacking, in the MTC presidency was showing my companion at lunch a 19 year old girl who got her mission call to Argentina today, leaving the first week of January!! It's going to come fast madster, but you can do it! I've been praying for you for 2 weeks about this. I love you girlfriend!

This week has been a whirlwind. Today marks my 2 weeks in the MTC! It feels like I've been here for 6 months. I'm learning so much, and retaining soooo little! The language is a beast, but it's coming. So far I've taught 5 lessons in Ukrainian, and have 3 more this week. Can you believe it? It's the hardest, craziest thing I've ever done. I literally go to bed at night with Ukrainian in my head, and am barely starting to pick out a few words that I can understand. It seems impossible, but the Lord is on my side and wants me to succeed, so it's going to be okay. :) 
I seriously love my district. I can't get enough of them. The other districts in our Zone keep commenting about how much fun we are always having, and how much we're always together. We sit together at every meal, and we are pretty much never separated. It probably has something to do with the fact that all the Russians have been here longer than us and only converse in broken Russian, and then there's the "Ukrainian 8" and we just sit and laugh at ourselves. I don't know how I would survive the mtc if it wasn't for a solid, hilarious district.
Today we got to go to the temple, and I felt the spirit so strongly. I LOVE THE TEMPLE. It's one of the best parts of my week, easily. :)
I got questions about the mail system: I get real mail after lunch everyday, and dear elders after dinner. I can only write back on Wednesdays, so Madi, you can stop asking why I don't send letters to you every day ;) But I love you! You've been so faithful in writing me. I get a letter almost every day! All the elders in my district want you to write them...seriously though. One of them asks about you every single day. (Write him a letter. It would make his day. I'll send you a picture of him.)
Isn't that cool that I'm connected to Sister G, the Ukrainian teacher in 2 different ways! She told me she talked to Janae about me. I love that they served together. Did she tell you that I cried in our last lesson with her last week as our prog. investigator? It was the first time I really cried, and it was because this language thing is rough. I know exactly what I would say in English, but the fact that I can't do that....it kills me. It's kinda funny how I desperately wanted to go foreign, speaking foreign. English is looking really great right now. Even Spanish! But I'm so glad I get this opportunity, because I'll get the language down if I keep working hard!
I'm learning so much about the gospel and about myself. I can't believe I'm cranking out 16-hour days. It really is a miracle. We call our gym time our "Happy Hour" because it really is our saving grace. It's nice to get to blow off some steam and play a grueling game of 4-square. It's insane how competitive that game gets! I usually just run though. It's the best. Thank heavens I uploaded Manheim Steamroller Christmas music onto my iPod because it would be difficult to run to MoTab or Gen.Conf. :)
Funny moment of the week: 
Everyone around the MTC going foreign will walk around speaking their new language. Since we're the only Ukrainian speakers in the whole MTC, we decided to look up funny words and walk around "greeting" people with them, because no one would even know what we're saying anyway. So we go around saying "dobre den stareeshni harboozy!" and then laugh at ourselves (it means, "Good day elder pumpkin!"...oh the things 19 year old boys think of. But it's hilarious to us.) 

Thanks so much for the package! I was so happy. Those smart cookies were the best. I shared some of it with my district, we cut them up in little squares, and they were all dying. Best thing ever.
My companion and I were totally trying to think of a way we could get someone to send us Cafe Rio while it's still warm....but we let go of that fantasy real quickly. Haha. 
This week I was able to see so many close friends, and it was such a tender mercy. I think every single day last week I was surprised to see people from BYU-Idaho, Lone Peak, or my BYU ward. It really is so nice to be able to see so many familiar faces :) 

If I've learned anything this week, it's that this church is true. I've always known it, and I've known it with my whole heart. I've seen miracles happen already that wouldn't and COULDN'T have taken place without the Lord. I know he's listening to me, and blessing me with little tender mercies along the way. This mission thing is tough. But I know I have it in me to trust in my Father in Heaven. It brings me so much joy to think about serving in Ukraine and bearing testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the greatest work on earth. I testify of that. 

I love you all so much! Thanks for all the letters and the support. You're the best. Congrats on being in the "800 club"! I'll be praying for you like crazy! 

All my love and prayers (and missionary prayers work as double, at least), 
Cectpa Webber

Oh I'm glad to be a Missionary!

Hello family!

Week one: complete. So much to say. I'll recap the first week because those were the longest days of my life.

Wednesday: It was a real blessing to have Megan there waiting. I would've fallen apart if she wasn't there. Don't think that I was more excited to see her than I was sad to leave you, it was just a tender mercy of the Lord. We're the only district speaking Ukrainian in the MTC. 

I LOVE MY DISTRICT! My companion sister olds is the best thing to ever happen to me. She's a cooler version of me. There's 6 elders and two sisters. Megan's cousin, Elder Hadfield is in my district, and it was nice to get to know him before we entered the MTC, because familiarity is keeping me sane :) I was so happy the first day, and me and my sister were doing great. Our zone is all russian speaking, going to russian and a few going to ukraine. our coordinating sister had pb cookies with hershey's kisses there for us on the first night which are my FAVORITE. The spirit was so strong all day long, and I learned so much. There was no time to think or even be homesick. It was exciting to be the first group of missionaries to enter the MTC after the historic age announcement. The MTC is preparing like crazy for the overflow. Wednesday night all the sisters on our floor were being so nice and making our beds and helping us unpack. they were waiting for us to be in hysterics but it never came. As I tried to go to sleep though, I had Ukrainian blasting in my mind and couldn't understand any of it. It's probably the meanest thing they do in the MTC, is only speak your new language and not a word of English. It was crazy.

Thursday. Woke up and didn't know where I was. Seriously panicked for a few minutes, but thanked Heavenly Father for blessing me to be a missionary. Once I realized that I was in the MTC, it was all good :) I saw so many friends on Thursday. I can't even name all of them, there were probably 20-30 missionaries that I knew. I got the alphabet down, and learned how to pray. Me and my comp were still doing great, and so was our district. We seriously have the best district in all of the 2 russian zones. Our Elders are so funny, they are all really mature....but so hilarious. (In Ukrainian "Elder" is "Stareeshna" (roll the R) that's the english phonetics for the ukrainian word at least, so it's weird for me to call them elders.) We're the first 9-weekers in the MTC for Ukrainian and so they're pounding the language like crazy. Also, my sister told me that her friend served in Ukraine and lost a bunch of hair because of the radiation or something?? It freaked me out. Want a good laugh though? Look up D&C 9:14. I read that an hour after she said that and laughed. The Lord has a sense of humor when He's calming me down. I loved it.

Friday. Learned to bear testimony and we taught our first lesson to our "progressing investigator". It feels SO real, especially because she's playing herself. She's a real ukrainian and was converted when she was younger, so it's real. And teaching her is hard, but we survived. It's madness that we were able to teach in a foreign language after hearing it for 2 days. The gift of tongues is real my friends. This was our first day of mail and I got so many letters and packages!! Thank you for all the love and support--I feel it! Thanks for the pumpkin bread, it's been a favorite among my district. Also, Megan's mom sent me and E. Hadfield each a box of krispy kreme. WHAT?! Thank you Jen! I love you! 

Saturday: Learned that peace is pretty much the same word as Atonement in Ukrainian. Pretty sweet. Also that faith is goal based. Without a goal, we can't have faith. I love that. Today felt like an eternity, but I got through it!

Sunday: Glorious Sunday. I love the Sabbath, and all that comes with it. Especially in the MTC. It was nice to finally get to take the Sacrament again, it felt like way too long. It was a peaceful, spiritual day all around and I was so happy. We had Linda Burton, the RS pres come speak to RS. She said: The lord calls ordinary people to fill extraordinary callings. Can I get an Amen? He truly calls on the weak things of the world. The girl who told her conversion story said that "No time or effort as a missionary is wasted." that was a motivation for me. They also announced at the fireside that we'll be qualified to be Sr. Comp after our FIRST TRANSFER to accommodate for all the new missionaries. They also said something like 4,000 missionary applications had been submitted by Sunday night. Wow. Wow. Wow. Also, we got to watch the Joseph Smith Restoration movie. Sister missionary moment: I got all sappy over Joseph and Emma's love for each other. It was the first time I cried in the MTC, and I'm not ashamed. I love that movie. 

I love it here. Love it. I'm so excited to serve in Ukraine. We learned that aside from the US, Ukraine was the fastest country to get a temple after the gospel was introduced. They really are an elect people, and are so ready to hear the gospel. All the tribes of Israel have been found in Ukraine, how awesome is that?

Tuesday we had devotional and we sang called to serve. I thought my heart would burst from the Spirit! I could've sang that song for another hour. It was glorious.

Alright, now's the time for all you girls (and boys) to get a little advice from me. GO ON A MISSION!!! It doesn't matter how old or young you think you are. Seriously. My comp is 3 years older than me, we have elders in my district that are over a year older than me. It doesn't matter what's holding you back...if it's right, JUST GO. I love it here. I can't believe I ever thought I shouldn't go on a mission. The spirit is so strong, the church is true, and the work is great. The Lord is hastening his work, and he'll do whatever it takes to keep it progressing. I promise you'll never regret it. I've only been here a week and can see that it's already changing my life. It's HARD WORK. I'm not going to lie. And learning a language is one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it's already the best decision I've ever made. It's a blessing to be a missionary for the Lord.

Keep the letters coming. It's like Christmas morning when I get a letter. I'm so grateful for everyone who's sent one already! I love you all!! :)

  

Thank you for your prayers. I can honestly feel them. you're in my prayers ALL THE TIME and I love and miss you all.