Elder Chad Dewey

My Russian Journey Ends Here...My Final Good bye...

2010-04-19T02:51:00.000-07:00

Well, this will be my concluding letter of my mission. I will be leaving from here in Tyumen early Monday morning and I won't have another opportunity to email again. It sure is a strange feeling that my mission experience here in Russia is coming to an end.

This week has been a good week, but it has been a pretty hard struggle as well, just realizing I will be going home so soon. It blows my mind that it's already been more than two years from the day I left. Honestly, Russia has just become my life... the culture, food, people, apartments, and just the Russian everyday life feels so normal to me, I cant imagine waking up and not looking out my window and seeing the big cement apartment buildings. I love Russia so much and I am going to really miss it. I will miss the people the most. I have so many mixed feelings going on right now. There are so many amazing Russian people, and I found it so unfortunate that they have so many difficult challenges in life. They fight so hard against the temptations of drinking, smoking and moral standards. However, once you get passed all the problems they face and truly get to know them for who they really are, you find that that they are the most amazing and loving people. I know that I have made some friendships that will last forever.

While on my mission during these last two years, I have learned some extremely valuable lessons. I don't feel like I am a master of the scriptures or the most fluent Russian speaker in the world, but I have realized a little bit more of what life is all about. I can't really decide which lesson I've learned is the most valuable one, but one of the most important is that I have learned that everything ETERNAL starts with LOVE. I understand now what love really is. I have realized that God really does love me, even though I have many, many faults that I struggle with often. However, all the struggles and hardships I go through always seem to turn out for my benefit and a much needed lesson is always to be learned. I guess we call it the "refining process" that all of us have to endure. I have also realized that Jesus Christ loves me and that only through His Atonement can I progress and apply His love. I also have felt the love I have for my Heavenly Father and Christ grow as I have had the chance to rearrange my priorities and my whole outlook on life. I know now why I do what I do and why I am who I am. God is a God of LOVE ETERNAL and there is proof of it everywhere... especially in the Atonement. I may not fully understand the Atonement, but I can be grateful and try to apply it and continue learning from it. On my mission, I have had the greatest chance to feel that love of God flow thru me. My love for the people here in Russia and those back at home has grown more than I ever expected. Most importantly, I have grown to love My Heavenly Father and because of that I have experienced an increase in my love for my parents, siblings, extended family and all those who surround me. I have also experienced an increase in my willingness to do service, to make people happy, and live right. Some people think that if we just shut off our hearts and just stop loving then maybe life might be easier and they wouldn't have as many problems in their lives to contend with. Those that think this way couldn't be more wrong. To me, LIFE is LOVE... truly living with a purpose.

I know that these past two years have been filled with more love than I can comprehend. I know God and Jesus Christ love us and we just need to love back. We need to show love one to another.

I know that these two years have been put to good use in preaching the only true Gospel and in the only true way to apply that love from our Heavenly Father. I wouldn't trade these past two years for anything in the world because I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to be true. I know Joseph Smith to be a true prophet who restored the Gospel to the earth. I know Christ died and Atoned for each of us and He lives today. I am grateful for the plan of salvation, for eternal families and to know that God's love is Eternal. These past two years have been the best years of my life and everyday I spent here in Russia was worth it!!

As I prepare to leave Russia and return home, I will leave a part of my heart with the beautiful Russian people and their culture. I will reflect back often on these last two years with fond memories and I will carry a prayer in my heart that the church will continue to grow strong, the people of Russia need the Gospel in their lives. I am grateful for such an amazing experience.

До свидания России (Good bye Russia...)

Love,
Elder Chad M. Dewey

To my friends and family who have supported me through these last two years I thank you and I will see you soon!

Long Train Rides, Great Meetings, General Conference...and only one more email home...

2010-04-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it's hard to believe this is my second to last email home! In two weeks I will be in Ekaterinburg to begin my journey back home. Has it really been two years?

This week has been a great one. After P-day on Monday we left for our 16 hour train ride to Surgut! It was a good time, but it also seemed long. We had a really nice cabin which seemed to be pretty new, but it was so stinkin hot. We arrived in Surgut early that morning and spent the day there. It's still really cold in Surgut about negative 16 degrees... My ears were frozen. We got on the train early Wednesday morning and got back home to Tyumen at 2am. We were pretty wiped out. Thursday, we spent some time in a little city to visit a member who can't really walk and unable to make it out to church. We went with the Palmers. it was funny because it felt like we had gone back in time to about the 1930s, everything was really old school. We had a good meeting with her as we talked about doing temple work for our relatives. By the way, that seems to be the Palmer's favorite topic this week. They talked about it on almost every meeting it was pretty funny! The Palmer's are the greatest, they help us out a lot. We had district meeting on Friday because we were in the city on Wednesday to watch some of General Conference which was really good. Friday and Sunday we met with our awesome investigator and her member daughter. They are both doing great and progressing a ton. On Sudnay, we watched General Conference with our investigator and she loved it! Elder Ellsworth and I made some amazing mexican food for Sunday and we had a dinner at the Palmers with our investigator and her daughter. They were amazed that two guys could actually cook. We also had rootbeer, they had never tried it before ... pretty funny. Then after dinner we talked for a bit and our investigator said she is getting baptized the 24th! This is the best way to fnish a mission! Well, I'm out of time. I hope you all have a good week. Next week will be my concluding email. Take it easy and I will see you in a few weeks.

Love,

Elder Dewey

A Roller Coaster Week...

2010-04-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

Surgut Forest

Favorite pastime

good thing I only have a few weeks left...my clothes are falling apart

(Elder Ellsworth and Elder Dewey)

Elder Dewey and Elder Stewart. (MTC Companions)

Hello Everyone,

Well, this week was a complete roller coaster! It was pretty crazy. Monday-Thursday were pretty good days. We had a good show up at English club and some really good meetings with actives, less actives, and investigators. Friday is where things get really interesting. We had a really good meeting with one of our investigators and we watched the film "The Testament" which is about the Book of Mormon and Bible around the time when Christ lived. It is a really great video, but it does have a few parts in it that make you stop to think or maybe even worry just a bit what the investigator is thinking. But in the end she loved the movie. It was a really good lesson and the spirit was really strong when we were able to testify at the end. So we went home and I felt like I was just floating on clouds, I was so happy and everything felt so good and so right. Then I received some bad news about something (don't really want to go into any details) that left me feeling pretty down. On Saturday we had a really good day, but I was still bothered by what I had heard. We had a Easter Party which was pretty fun.
Sunday ended up being the best day of the entire week. We had a great sacrament meeting followed by a couple of other great meetings. We also were able to fast to help our investigators except baptism and receive answers to her prayers. It was a great Sunday. Later Sunday night we met with our investigator and her daughter who is a member. We talked about commandments and a few other things. It was a great meeting and it felt like a huge miracle was put right in front of our face. There are so many other details, but I can't really explain and I know I don't need to. It's good enough to say that I know that the Lord lifts us to new heights after we have gone through the hardest trials unwavering. I really am grateful for this oppurtinutity I have to serve here in Tyumen. The time I've had here has been amazing and I couldn't imagine a better way of ending my mission. Well, 2 more weeks!!
love you all!!
Elder Dewey

Elder Dewey Is Coming Home...

2010-04-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Elder Dewey will arrive in Phoenix on Tuesday, April 27 around 8:00pm.

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Ekaterinburg to Denver

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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

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Departure:	09:55 AM	Ekaterinburg, Russia - Koltsovo
Arrival:	11:00 AM	Frankfurt, Germany - Frankfurt International , terminal 1

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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

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Siberia Zone Conference...

2010-03-30T00:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Missionary Families,

We are still getting snow quite often but the weather is getting warmer and we are sure spring is coming because the ice is melting! We have recently completed reading the Book of Mormon and underlining references to Jesus Christ. It has been an interesting and enlightening opportunity that has helped us understand that the Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Jesus Christ. We are looking forward to general conference in the near future. We enjoyed our zone conferences and are always happy to spend time with our wonderful missionaries.

We wish you all a joyful Easter. We are grateful for the Savior and all he has done for us.

Love,

Sister Allcott

Siberia Zone Conference (3/12/2010)

On the Road (train/bus) Again... Ekat, Tyumen, Kurgan and back to Tyumen...

2010-03-29T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hello again,
Well, here it goes again...another short and to the point letter/email with no apologies. It's best that I am too busy to draft a lengthy email/letter. I've decided that I am no longer going to promise a better/longer letter next week, because it most likely wont happen, besides I am down to my last few weeks so what ever I leave out I will have the chance to share with you in person when I return home! With that being said, here is this weeks quick run down of events.
Monday, we had a pretty relaxing Pday spending time with the Palmers. I really have enjoyed serving around them, they are the coolest senior couple. I've picked up some pretty crazy sayings from them, for example, "He's got bats in his bellfree", and "he is chasing lizards". I had no idea what these sayings meant until I had the opportunity to spend some time with them taking them to meetings.
Tuesday, we got up at 5am to make our trip to Ekat for our meeting at the Presidents.
Wednesday, we arrived to Tyumen pretty late.
Thursday, we spent time at the church moving stuff around and putting things together.
Friday, we spent more time at the church putting things together and had some really great meetings as well.
Saturday, we woke up at 5am to make to Kurgan to do a baptismal interview and we are still here but headed back to Tyumen tonight. I have really enjoyed my last few days here in Kurgan it's been awesome. Saying goodbye to everyone here was pretty tough. I sure love all the people that I have gotten to know here.
Well, I need to run.

Love,
Elder Dewey

Sent Elder Andersen home, New Comp - Elder Ellsworth, Amazing Investigator's, trip to Ekat,

2010-03-22T01:52:00.000-07:00

Well, my letter home will have to be cut pretty short this week because I spent too much time trying to figure out how to get my new email account to work so I could send the stats into the office!

Well, this week really has been a good one with spending the last few days of Elder Andersens mission with him. To be honest, he wasn't too trunky. We had a fun p-day of just kinda doing nothing, but those are always the best ones. We also had two really good meetings before he left. One, with a grandmother of a member who is on a mission. Her grandmother is a good investigator and fed us some amazing home made donuts, but yeah, they weren't too healthy so I had to watch my figure ya know? The next morning was an especially hard work out. haha! Tuesday, we had another amazing meeting with a members mom who is not a member. She is the best investigator! Honestly, after the lessons I just expect her to tell me that she is already a member and just messin with us or that she is an actress, but she is the real deal! She is an amazing investigator and we really are working hard with her. She prays and reads and she is awesome. Her daughter is a strong member of the church too, so she helps a ton. The best part though, is seeing their faces light up as we teach and see how excited Galya (the member girl) is for her mom! It's amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hands down some of the best lessons I have been on. The funny thing is though, I am humbled with each and every lesson. Whenever I go to teach I just get so nervous and I dont want to mess up or say something dumb but it always happens. I am just grateful that she knows it's coming from the heart and that's all that matters.

Elder Andersen is now gone. It was kind of sad sending him off, but he has a lot ahead of him in life so its cool. Elder Ellsworth (a young buck) came to me on Wednesday, and we have just been working hard ever since. We have a lot of work ahead of us and things are lookin up. I really like Elder Ellsworth he is a stud and a good missionary. (His mother would be proud!!) Well, let's see, the rest of this week was really good and busy. AND... I am just soakin up Russia all I can before they kick me out of here. I gotta run! Take it easy. love you all!

Elder Dewey

Last Transfer...staying in Tyumen, Elder Ellsworth new comp, Organ Concert, Zone Conference...

2010-03-15T02:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I am down to my last transfer which means there will only be a few more emails home. It's hard to believe. I try not to think about coming home too often, however with killing off Elder Anderson this coming Thursday it's difficult not to think about it once in a while.

I was hoping to make this email a little more exciting than the last few I've sent, however I forgot my letter i wrote out earlier so once again, this is going to be off the top of my head. Well, I will start out with the most important news...I received news about transfers on Friday and found out that I will be spending my last transfer here in Tyumen with Elder Ellsworth joining me, which means Elder Ellsworth will be the one to kill me...awesome! He is a super cool Elder!

So here is a run down of the past week -

We had a great start of the week with a pretty great pday on Monday. We were going to brave ice skating as a district then my companion and I wussed out because I realized that I have two left feet out on the skating rink and would only make a fool of myself. By the way, Russians are like all champion ice skaters. So instead of ice skating we went home and cleaned and went grocery shopping. Monday night we had a really good meeting with a member and her investigator mother. It went pretty well and we will continue to meet with them.

We had another good day on Tuesday. We had English club and two other meetings with some members of the church. It was cool meeting with one active family who just had a baby girl a few months ago so the baby would be the same age as my niece Piper. It made me really happy and excited to think that I will be able to see Piper for the first time when I return home next month.

On Wednesday we had district meeting and Sister Palmer made some really great food as usual. She even left the meat on the side for me! haha...bless her heart! We were able to help them get their printer fixed. Later, we went to a store called "Metro" it's like the Russian version of Costco, it was amazing! You can get awesome stuff there like peanut butter and Tabascos sauce! It's so cool.

On Thursday, Elder Anderson and I were able to pull something off that hasn't been pulled off in our zone for the past year or longer. We had a "zone culture day"!!!!!!! It was pretty cool, we were able to pull it off because they had to come into the city for Zone Conference anyway, so we all went to a Organ concert. it was pretty cool, the music was even good enough to put Elder Palmer to sleep after the first 5 minutes... haha! Gotta love Elder Palmer, he is hilarious! Later, we went to some pretty good pizza place, but the only pizza they had without meat was potato and mushroom... weird!

We had a really good Zone Conference as usual. I really love zone conference and seeing all the missionaries from the different cities, It's a blast to have them all stay the night at our house.

On Saturday, we went on little mini splits with the Assistants and had a good time contacting. Later, we had a meeting before English club with our cool vegetarian investigator haha! It was pretty funny because they were trying to convince me that it was a sin to eat meat. However, I know that is not the case, oh well. After English, we cleaned up the church. We had a great Sunday as usual. I felt pretty beat at the end of this week...but hey, it's p-day, so I can get a few minuets of rest...yay!

Okay, so I know this is another short less than informative email, but you know what they say about missionaries that are a few weeks from coming home...the letters/emails become shorter and shorter, I'm just going along with the norm...haha!

Well I love yall and I hope you are all doing well.

See ya Love you!

Elder Chad Dewey

Long Train Ride (too much time to think) , Great Meeting with past investigator...,

2010-03-09T23:53:00.001-08:00

Another week has gone by pretty fast. I first would like to start out with a big congratulations to all those Women out there in the world. It's "Ladies Day" in Russia! It's a pretty big holiday, it compares to our version of Valentines Day or Mothers Day combined into one holiday celebration. To be honest, I was not thrilled that this holiday fell on a P-day! We had to walk around forever looking for a place to do Internet and finally found one.

This past week was a great week. I was a bit sick on Tuesday, but there was no time to think about it, we continued on with English Club and our meeting. It was funny because everyone at English was flippin out that I was sick. They told me to go home and gave me some pretty crazy ideas of ways to get cure the flu/cold. For example putting garlic cloves in my nose or putting boiled eggs up against my nose would help and also drinking warm jello. It was pretty funny. I just ended up going home and drank a ton of orange juice and tried to rest. The oranges here are nothing like what we have in Arizona, especially the oranges at Chases or Blake's place.

We had a really great district meeting on Wednesday. Sister Palmer made an amazing pizza for us. We worked out some plans for our district here in Tyumen, After district meeting we left for Surgut. We were going up there to do splits. The Palmer's also went to do some branch business. It was a lot of fun on the train for about the first two hours or so, but the next 14 hours not so much...haha! It just is a long ride. We talked, played phase ten, but mostly I spent some time pondering about life. It's weird when you have that long to just think about things. I thought about all that I've experienced and the people I've had the chance to meet and get to know, and way's that I've changed, and how weird it is to see all this come to an end soon. I try not to think about it, but when you are on a train for hours it's a bit hard not to have those thoughts.

I spent Thursday with Elder Stoops up in Surgut. It was so cool to have a meeting with someone we met with when I was up there more than a year ago. It was a really cool investigator who remembered how poorly I spoke Russian and was so surprised how well I speak now. It was pretty fun, we just joked about it a lot. We had an amazing lesson with him and talked about how many times he prayed for an answer and he said two maybe three and I told him maybe that is why he hasn't received an answer because the process can sometimes be a lot longer process than only praying two or three times. We talked about how it has been a real struggle and it takes searching for the truth and not just wait until we receive some sign. Often times it is a strong impression or feeling that we receive and we have to listen to the spirit.

Friday morning we left Surgut and had another one of those fantastic train rides...haha. This one once again filled with endless hours of deep thinking. Luckily, I was able to sleep a little. I missed a great English Club on Saturday, I had to translate for a different meeting. Later, we had a terrific FHE at the Palmer's...a great time!

I have decided that I am going vegetarian for the entire month. There are a lot of vegetarian's who come to English and even some in the branch and they would like me to try it in order for me to understand their point of view. I've decided to give it a try. Plus it might help me throw those extra 5 kilos I need to get rid of.

Well, I need to run.

I love you all. Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Dewey

Last Visa Trip to Finland...

2010-03-01T23:20:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Well this week was another one of those crazy but great weeks here in Russia. I have not been in Tyumen a whole week since this transfer has started. Every week I have had some traveling to do. Although it's been crazy it's been great at the same time. This past week was my last visa trip to Helsinki Finland. It was really cool to see my whole group together for the last time until we head home in two months. But now let me rewind for a second. On Tuesday we had a district meeting before I left and Sister Palmer made some really good hamburgers and a delicious cake for my late birthday party. Later, they took me to the train station to send me off to Ekat. I spent most of the train ride thinking about the last two years and how Russia has really changed me in so many ways. I arrived in Ekat at 7pm and stopped by Subway with some of the other Elders. We obviously didn't get much sleep that night and stayed up talking. It was funny though because I fell asleep but they said I kept adding stupid comments to the conversation. We woke up at about 2 am to shower and wait for the car to take us to the airport. The trip to Helsinki was pretty good besides the rough flight from Ekat to St Pete's. I also didn't get much sleep the last few days because for some reason I've had too much on my mind and had a hard time shutting off my brain. Once we arrived to Helsinki we got a bite to eat and did a Temple session which was really good. It was a great way to kick off the last two months of my mission. It was a pretty emotional experience. After the Temple session we hopped back in the taxi and started the journey home. It was a pretty good trip on the way back but once again I couldn't sleep. I did the math and I figured that I've slept a total of about 6 hours the last few days (disclaimer it's my own dang fault).

Well, this week has been a pretty emotional one seeing everyone for the last time before our group meets at the Presidents headed for home. Its been really cool to see the progress of those in my group. When we get together we all click really well and talk about the progress each of us made since those MTC days of just sitting in the same room for three solid months going nuts...haha. It's really interesting to see everyone's growth and its nice to have people to share this progress with. I hope I keep growing at this same pace when I return home.

I know this email is another short one, but we have a busy day so I need to get going. I love you all. Thanks for all your love and support.

Elder Chad Dewey

Freezing Siberian winds, Great youth activity with a great turn out, and last visa trip next week...

2010-02-22T12:16:00.000-08:00

Well, It's been a while since I have had the chance to write my letter home before I actually sit down to email so I took a little extra time today to write down a few thoughts beforehand. I will start with the beginning of last week when we spent most of last Monday with the Elders in Kurgon. It was fun to see Elder Campbell one last time before he heads for home. Although I know that I will see him again someday, I am really going to miss the kid. We went to a really cool mexican cafe. It was pretty funny because it tasted like mexican food but had some weird things in it. Who the heck would think to put broccoli in a burrito? I know they don't do that at Filliberto's…haha! We had a crazy bus ride home to Tyumen that evening. The bus driver might have had a bit too much of that really strong juice if ya know what I am saying…haha! He sure looked like it anyway, but maybe that's just his normal look... who knows.

The rest of the week was really good, although most of our appointments that we had scheduled decided not to show up which was disappointing. It was just one of those weeks. I am sure the freezing weather had something to do with it because it's been pretty fierce lately and the good ole Siberian winds makes it even tougher. When the wind hits my face it just feels like someone is taking a pressure washer and spraying my face with ice. Thank goodness for my fur hood.

Saturday was my birthday…the big ole 21!! To be completely honest, I was feeling a bit homesick and missing my family and friends in the morning but was able to snap out of it during English. We had my birthday lunch at McDonalds…hahaha…pretty pathetic huh? But it was good all the same, just not the healthiest so I didn't feel too great afterwards.

We had an amazing English with a great turn out. After English we had a youth night for all those who wanted to come. We had about twenty people which included four missionaries and four members so that means we had about twelve nonmembers attend. We played "Do you love your neighbor" and "Mafia". It was a great time and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. We were really happy with the results because the members who came were a great help with making everyone feel welcomed. The youth showed a lot of interest and started to ask questions about the church. Hopefully we can work with some of them soon. I know I have mentioned many times how I love working with the youth here in Russia, but I have to say it once again…they are the best and truly have so much potential.

Sunday was also a great day. The Palmers invited us over for dinner. It was really great as usual. We had a great discussion about parents. It made me really appreciate all the stuff my parents put up with through the years and how they always had a lot of patience with me.

Well, time is up. I was hoping I had a little more time but I need to get going. I hope you all have a great week. I will be on my last visa trip this next week. I look forward to seeing everyone in my group, it will be great to catch up with them.

Thanks for all your love and support.

Take Care,

Elder Dewey

Great missionary experiences in Kurgon

2010-02-15T17:26:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Once again I have been traveling so I didn’t get the chance to write a pre-written email home so this will have to suffice. This week was filled with the best adventures and great missionary experiences.
Last Monday we had a regular p-day and later that evening we had a family home evening at the Palmers house with a cool member lady. It was great because she knew English so I didn’t have to translate. Don’t get me wrong, I love translating it just wears me out a little.
Tuesday we had a really busy day with just a lot of crazy things to do with finally being back in our area. We also had a really cool English club. I really enjoy the English club here because they are all younger and remind me a lot of my friends back at home. They are a pretty cool group of kids that come on a regular basis.
Wednesday we had two really great meetings, one with two investigators and another with two new recent converts. Also, we had to pick up the sisters from the train station because they were coming in from a Visa trip.
Thursday we had an awesome district meeting. Sister Palmer made some really good spaghetti! It was really spicy and so good!! We had a meeting with a cool African member living here in Tyumen. He promised he would come to church on Sunday but he didn’t show….hopefully next week.
Friday we left Tyumen to go to Kurgon for splits with the elders here.
Saturday I was with elder Campbell and we had a really good day. It was amazing to see the members here. The coolest part of all though was that they actually remembered me and were really happy to see me! I really really felt so much love coming back to Kurgon, it was one of the coolest missionary experience… I really loved it.
Sunday I was with Elder Elmer. He is a really cool elder. We went to some meetings with people I used to work with. It was so awesome to see them again and see the progress they have made since over a year ago!
Well, that was basically my week. Right now I am just on fire from seeing all these really cool people that I love so much. We go back to Tyumen today so I need to get going. Thank you all for your love, support and the emails…keep it up!

Love,

Elder Chad M Dewey

Tyumen...new area

2010-02-15T17:03:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,
This week was a pretty crazy and eventfull week. Monday we had a guy from our English club who took us out to dinner to a really cool Georgian(as the country) place and it was really really great food!! It was the first time on my mission where I kind of felt like an American Elder because he paid for our dinner and was so extremely kind.
Tuesday we prepared for the transfer to Tyumen.
Wednsday morning I traveled to Ekat and had a quick lunch at Subway with Elder Holden and Zhenya, a member from Ekat. It was really cool to have a few minutes to visit with both of them. After lunch I left Ekat to my new area in Tyumen!!! It's about ten degrees cooler here in Tyumen then it was in Perm... haha! Yeah, just pressed the rewind button on Russian winter for Elder Dewey!!! NO worries though...I love Siberia. I unpacked all my stuff and we got to work. I really like Tyumen its a very very clean city and the branch members all seem really nice.
Sunday was really fun to talk to a bunch of the members and get to know them a little bit better. This next week I am looking forward to meeting with a lot of the members to get a little more aquainted and learn how they came into the church. I always hear the coolest stories. Also. I am excited to be around the Palmers, a really cool Senior Couple here in Tyumen. They fed us Sunday night because we didn't have to time to go home inbetween church and a meeting with an investigator. Sister Palmer is a terrific cook and makes the best dang food.
Today I woke up a little early around 5:30 to clean up our apartment and get it in living conditions a bit and didn't take time to prewrite my email so I apologize for the shortness of this letter home.
I hope everyone is doing well back home. I'm loving it here in Tyumen.

Until next week,
Elder Dewey

Love Elder Dewey

Last Zone Conference in Perm...

2010-02-02T01:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Missionary Families,

We love our missionaries! Our last zone conference in Perm Zone (1/18) focused on Christ's atonement and also on planning. We enjoyed a great musical number by Elders Brown, Mathews, Pearson and Heuer with Sister Rogers accompanying. Thanks for all you do to support your missionary.

Love,

Sister Allcott

Transfer to Tyumen...back to Siberia!!

2010-02-01T01:16:00.000-08:00

This is how we shovel snow...

winter olympics in perm- canada vrs Usa and usa got owned. I am from az... what can I say?

some ping pong skills...

youth at fireside at the Nehrings - my last time translating for them I am going to miss them.

me and elder anderson a year ago in subway...haha - he is my new comp.

Hello Everyone,

Well, while I am waiting for all my pictures to load to the computer I am going to write a very short email because thats how the cookie crumbles this week. If you want pictures that means the email is going to have to be a bit shorter than usual. We had a great week, which included some really good meetings with investigators. We also had an awesome Sunday, we had an investigator come to church and attend all three meetings.
I found out about transfers on Friday night. I will being going to the Siberian Zone to Tyumen! I am so excited. And I will be with Elder Anderson from Idaho. He is a pretty cool kid, we have known each other since the beggining of my journey because he was my zone leader in the MTC! I am really excited to spend hopefully my last two transfers in Tyumen! I love Siberia it has a very special place in my heart... haha! (It seriously does) Kurgon being my second area. However, I really am going to miss Perm though. There are so many great people here and amazing youth. It seems like the Youth in Russia have so much potential and the members who are youth use that to their advantage and they are amazing! I really am going to miss Russia when I leave, but i still have some time to take it all in and enjoy it while I can.
Well, untill next week. I love you all and have a good week. I will be back to my old way of writing next week and have a better prewritten email.
Thanks for the support and hope you like the pictures.
Love,

Elder Dewey

2010-01-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

A note from Elder Dewey's mom -

Chad cleared up a few of my questions about maintaining a blog. He informed me that his blog is okay to publish as long as he is not the one maintaining it. I apologize for the confusion.

Restless sleep, warmer freezing weather, transfers next week...

2010-01-25T09:07:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Well, I wasn’t really able to write my weekly email home before hand because my companion and I are now living with zl’s because of some apartment trouble..... don’t worry though they have a very soft ground at their place... haha. Anyway, this week was a doozey and since I've had restless sleep lately my memory isn’t serving me too well right now and I’m having trouble remembering everything that happened last week.
On a good note…we have a couple of new investigators who we are working with and seeing some great progress, which is pretty exciting.
Transfers are coming up. I’ve been a little more nervous about this transfer more than usual, I guess because this transfer will determine where I will spend and finish up the rest of my mission. I won’t learn if I will be staying where I am or if I will be transfered to a new area until Friday, I guess it’s a wait and see.
The weather is starting to get a little warmer which makes our work (contacting) a little more pleasant. It’s still below freezing but it’s not unbearably cold.
I had a great time translating for the Nehrings in church this past Sunday again. I really enjoy translating, but I don’t ever think I would like to be a translator.
Lately, I have been thinking about the future (don’t worry…I’m not at all trunky) and bugging my companion and asking him a million questions about what I should major in. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I would like to do something in the medical field, possibly a pediatrician. I really love kids and nothing could be better than helping them with their health.
I am enjoying speaking the Russian language more than ever. I sure hope I don’t forget it, that’s become a big fear of mine. I will have to continue to study the language when I get home.
I know this is a pretty uneventful email. I hope to have more news for you next week. The work here is going better and things are looking up and hope is getting stronger. I hope you all have a great week. Continue to pray for the Russian people.

Love,

Elder Dewey

2010-01-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone had a really good week. As for me, it was one of those weeks. To be honest, I’ve had better weeks. I don’t want to go into much detail, I just want to take this new week and make it a better one than last week. I refuse to let unfortunte things said or done get to me.
There were a few good moments; we are working with this new less active guy who looks exactly like Charlie Chaplin, it’s pretty funny, he seems to be a real nice guy. Tuesday we had a really cool experience, a guy from our English class who knows English fairly well took us out to dinner to talk about more English phrases and in what cases they should be used. He took us to a really great pizza place. Christmas was on Thursday here in Russia. Yep, Christmas for Russians is on January 7th. We had English club and surprisingly some people came even on Christmas! I would never go to a club on Christmas, seemed somewhat strange. On Saturday we were able to go see a baptism in the other branch, it was a great experience and very cool. Then we all went to our branch to have a Family Home Evening for those who can’t really do it at their own homes or have trouble. It was a fun time, we played a lot of fun games and there was a spiritual thought given. I really love working with the youth here in Russia they have so much potential, they are truly amazing people.

Well, I need to run. Love you all.

Elder Dewey

Happy New Year...parties, personality tests, long legs, small seats, Nutcracker and NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS...

2010-01-06T00:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

This is another episode of writing home and another attempt at writing my letters before hand. It gives me a little extra time to put some thought behind the words instead of a bunch rambling thoughts thrown out into cyber space.

This week was a pretty crazy one with New Years and having to stay home cooped up in our apartment. There is too much that happens out on the streets here to be out amongst the craziness. Some may welcome this opportunity not having to be out in the freezing temperature, however I prefer the numbing cold and the feeling of being productive rather than sitting in an apartment feeling like the walls are closing in. There is only so much studying one can do.

The following are a few of the highlights from this past week. On Monday, we found a really nice tie store. I found the coolest tie I have ever seen on my mission and dedicated it to my new niece Piper Jane Dewey. It’s pretty weird that I am not there to hold her and be the coolest uncle ever, but I have to give everyone else a head start (you all need it...just wait until I get home!! haha! Of course you all know I will steal her heart once I get the chance to spoil her rotten. I will be her favorite!! Congrats to BJ and Britt on their new baby girl. She is pretty dang cute, however I might have to call in a blood test to see who the real Papa is because I didn’t think my bro could create something that good looking. Maybe it skips the first son in the family or something. I can’t wait to hold her! I will have to teach her all the tricks that will drive her dad crazy. I just want my bro to know I don’t do the whole dirty diaper thing though!
Anyway, Wednesday we had a great district meeting. It was funny because we took a personality test. I am sure everyone knows what those things are. This test matched you up with certain colors to your personality type. Turns out I am half red and half yellow. Red means I am very aggressive and like to be in control of situations. It also means I am very straight forward and don’t like to beat around the bush. Red also includes being cocky... I like to call it confident. Yellow means I love to have fun and be around people a lot. It also, means that I like attention and like to get compliments and I always want everyone to be happy and have a good time. So basically, to sum it all up with these colors mixed together I am aggressive, intimidating, cocky, fun loving, friendly, happy, and a complimentary loving person! But hey, I am who I am and I am okay with that. I can only really remember mostly the bad parts of the tests results because everyone was teasing me and giving me a hard time, but its okay. All those things can be controlled and used to my advantage. I am happy with who I am, if we don’t have different people in the world it wouldn’t work...if everyone had red personalities than it would be one big power struggle. With all yellow no one would stop from having too much fun! There’s was also the colors, blue and white but I can’t remember what the meanings were because I didn’t have any of those attributes haha. Luckily, God made us all with different personalities to give life a little bit of flavor and variety.

Moving on...
We went to the Nutcracker on Wednesday. It was pretty funny because my original seat didn’t have enough leg room. (I wasn’t just complaining, I really couldn’t even sit down!) So I went over and got the lady working there and she didn’t believe me and thought I was being unreasonable, so I kindly asked her to come see for herself. Once she actually saw my actual seat she was pretty shocked, and I said “yep, we are pretty big in America”… haha - everyone laughed and gave me the end seat with all the leg room I needed! The ballet was really cool and even better to see it in Russia. And of course, I am sure you are all aware that the man who wrote the music is a Russian!
Thursday we had our “New Years Eve” party, sitting at home! Haha! I made some really great tacos. (mom, I hope you know how much I loved you being my personal cook and maid) I know from experience now that its not the easiest thing to do. I think I would make a good mom because I just deal with it and don’t get mad. The conflicts are not worth it. The only thing that drives me nuts is when I am hard at work in the kitchen cooking some really good food like tacos or chow mien or something cool, and the only thing my companion can do is just stand there and watch, scratching his hungry stomach! That drives me nuts. (Please note - this is no companion in particular… haha - many have done it.)

I made some good “New Years Resolutions” which include (in no particular order) …
1. Tell those that I love more often that I love them.
2. Mountain bike at least 3 times a month with dad

3. Do any dirty dishes that are out.

4. Continue to do my own laundry when I get home
5. Meditate for at least 5 minutes a day.

6. Don’t use stupid slang (even Mormon slang)

7. Never go a day without giving at least 1 compliment.

8. Eat healthier.

9. This one is pending…Find my future wife.

Remember that last one is pending, please don’t forget! Haha…I don’t want to jinx it and give myself bad luck!

Well, those are just a few of my goals for the year just the fun ones. I have more serious goals, but hey I will leave those to myself… haha!

Love yall ! Have a good week!

Love, Elder Dewey! ~ qensuha!@!!

Elder Dewey becomes an uncle

2009-12-30T21:12:00.000-08:00

Piper Jane Dewey - born December 28th

7.15 lbs

2009 Christmas in Perm Russia

2009-12-30T20:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
Well, I have decided I am going to start a new way of emailing home instead of my usual random rambling and babbling about things that aren’t really interesting and or important. I’ve decided that I am going to write my weekly letters home before I go to email so I can do some editing and revising before sending them off. So, today is my first real attempt and we will see how it goes.
My First piece of business is an attempt to apologize for my lame phone call home on Christmas. I found myself somewhat frustrated with hearing that there is “Nothing new” going on in everyone’s life. I might take that answer as legit if I had just left home and only been gone a few weeks or even months, but I’ve been gone for nearly two years…and that is not the response I should’ve been hearing, especially when there are so many changes going on. I have been on my mission far too long to think that nothing at home has changed. How can nothing change in the past 21 months? It just blows my mind. I guess someone just put the pause button on Mesa. Ha-ha… just kidding, I understand life is just the same old thing for you, but next time for anyone who will read this just think of anything new to tell missionaries! Often times one might think that the things you might think are just boring and lame could be very exciting to your missionaries. Missionaries love to call home but hate hearing that nothing has changed!!!!!!

Also, all the many comments from people saying "Hey don’t get trunky!" Do absolutely no good to a missionary. I am sorry, but my opinion is that all those people who tell a missionary not to get trunky probably got trunky on their missions! I am not trunky in the least. I find myself working harder than ever just trying to do everything I know how to keep this area afloat. If anyone has any good advice for a missionary coming down on the home stretch I would love it, but "Don’t get trunky" Is the sorriest piece of advice I’ve gotten. So now you know why I may have sounded a bit down. It was still great talking to everyone after we got past the trunky comments! I wish I would have had more time. And… I want you to know that I forgive all of you for those unappealing comments. Some of you still need to polish up those social skills every now and again...(BJ and Britt) But Britt has an excuse she’s about 12 months pregnant haha! And…it was a little too early in the morning for her.

Now that I am done with my reprimanding I will tell you about my amazing Christmas experience here in Perm Russia… I really enjoyed it this year, so much more than last year, being stuck with four missionaries in Kurgon. It felt a lot more like Christmas. However, talking to my family was still the highlight of the day, despite the above comments! I love the heck out of each and everyone of them! I still miss you guys even though you all seem like some made up piece of information that someone put into my head. It seems like I’ve been gone forever and you are all just a distant memory. Anyway, let me continue on with my Christmas experience…in the morning we stopped by the Central Market where we and went to our favorite donut kiosk and ordered 4 kilograms of donuts, the lady was pretty surprised that we ordered so much, but I am sure when she realized we were Americans everything was clear. Then we went to the Nearhrings (can’t spell) and helped them set up for our missionary Christmas party. The party was really great. We had tacos and played games. After eating, we had a white elephant exchange. We all picked out gifts a few days before. For my gift, I bought a Max Lucado book titled "You are Special" in Russian… how cool is that!!!!! It’s a story with an awesome meaning. It’s about a town filled with small wooden people. These people go around and give out stickers either a gold star or a grey dot. The gold star means you’re pretty or talented and the grey dot means the opposite. There is a small wooden guy who doesn’t get any stars and a whole lot of grey dots. His life is pretty sad to be honest and then one day he meets a wooden girl who doesn’t have any stickers at all and she tells him all he has to do is go and see the master that made them. So one day he goes and talks to the master and the master tells him how special he is to him and how much he loves him and that no one else’s opinions matter but his. And he also tells him once he realizes his is the only opinion that matters then the stickers won’t stick. It’s a really good book! I love it. I was worried for a while about whose hands it would fall into, but then when it all came down to it, Sister Rodgers got the book and I was pretty happy, one day I think she will be able to understand how awesome it is and what a great find it is. The ironic thing is, I got her gift she picked out which was a song book of all the Russian folk songs which was pretty dang cool and a tube of bubbles.... pretty cool huh? She is pretty funny. We also played some mafia which was a lot of fun. I am terrible at being Mafia, but really good at being the detective and persuading people… ha-ha. It was pretty dang fun and reminded me a lot of home playing with the family.

After the party, we went with some of the missionaries and Katya to the main square where we took pictures of lights and the ice sculptures which was pretty cool. We also had a big snow fight and about froze our hands and feet off!!! We just jumped around in this big field of snow it was a blast and a great night to remember! Honestly, Christmas kind of made me take a step back and look at my mission as a whole and a real sense of peace set in and I realized how happy I am with it and all that has happened and the growth that I have experienced. Mostly, I am grateful for the people of Russia and all that I have learned from them and the way they have touched my heart. I have a great and deep love for them. I am just really happy with my whole experience as a missionary and have made it through with very few regrets. I really am doing well and just trying to make everything better one day at a time. I am sorry for sounding a bit down on the phone. I want you to all know my spirits are back up and at full speed so don’t worry about me! Take it easy!

Love Elder Chad M Dewey

A few older photos of Elders Dewey and Shreeve

2009-12-27T05:27:00.000-08:00

(photos from Elder Shreeve fb)

Elder Sam Shreeve returns home to Mesa Az...

2009-12-26T22:54:00.000-08:00

Mesa Az. Elders

Elder Sam Shreeve Home Coming is tomorrow. We look forward to hear his report home. Chad will really miss him in Russia, but will see him this coming April!!

A personal note to Elder Ellsworth's mom...

2009-12-23T07:44:00.000-08:00

This post is for Elder Ellsworth's mom. - Thank you for leaving such a kind comment in Elder Dewey's last post.
By the way, I have a few pictures of your son in some group photos that Chad has sent home. I would be glad to email them. Leave me your email address at dadewey1@gmail.com.
Merry Christmas!

Mr. Frost nipping at your nose...

2009-12-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

С Рождеством Христовым,

Well, I am kind of running short of time today so this email home will be brief. I did want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I will be calling home Thursday morning around 8: oo am and we are allotted around 30-40 minutes.

I am feeing oddly old these days. I am turning into an old man here on the mish. I’ll explain how one knows when the “old man” (missionary) syndrome starts to take place. One of the first signs is when you start talking and no one wants to listen however, you continue because you believe you have experience and possibly a bit of wisdom that some might benefit from if they would only listen, or perhaps you just like the sound of your own voice. Another sign is when Mr. Frost hits and you find yourself numb to the bitter cold. This week was sooooooooooooooo cold, let’s just say a big NEGATIVE 40!!! Yeah, we had a great time walking around with frost on our eyelashes. It was actually pretty painful to be honest. Then a lady started yelling at me because my cheeks were turning white and she said if I don’t rub them out fast I would get frost bite.

This past week was somewhat disappointing because our district is not going to exist come next transfer because an area is closing. It’s hard to see Elder Haderlie, Elder Cordan and Sister Mezinets leave. We are losing three awesome and extremely cool missionaries. I hope they will always remember our district meeting and my thoughts on inner peace and pacification.

I have been kind of sick this past week, but seem to be recovering. I feel as though I am just doing my usual rambling. None of this is probably making much sense infact, I doubt that anyone reads these emails by now besides my mom (bless her heart). I am a pretty lucky kid to have cool parents that love me enough to put up with me and these crappy emails. Anyway, I am gonna call this one quits for now. I wish you all a merry little Christmas. The Bob Dylan Christmas Album is now put to good use. He is making my Christmas a little more American, so it’s cool. Anyway take it easy. I love you.

Elder Dewey

Random thoughts...

2009-12-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Well, this week was a doozey to say the least. I won’t go into too much detail and bore you with my usual scheduled outline. This email home will be of some random thoughts I've had recently. Lately, I have been working on self perfection and I have come up with a few different theories on how it really works.
My first theory is about perfection. It is impossible to become perfect during our time here on earth, no matter how hard we try. Sorry to disappoint those perfectionists out there - it’s just not possible. "The joy is the journey.” (popular EFY theme) If we were perfect there would not be a need for humility or the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Our job is to do everything possible to become perfect, and yet at the same time realizing that we will always come up short (in my case really short). We need to believe and have true faith that the Lord will fill in those many gaps of imperfection.
Love is the key to everything worthwhile- The only way to get deeply involved and care about anything is to love whatever your doing or whoever you are around. I have noticed on my mission that the more I love the better my life becomes in every single aspect. When I love the people around me I am happier and work harder. I really have fallen in love with Russia. This place has something mysterious and magical about it and I know the secret, but that’s for me to know and for those lucky people who have the opportunity to serve here to find out! It’s too difficult to really explain my feelings about Russia. Russia is just something that you really have to experience for yourself to truly understand it.

Daily Meditation- Some like to be more spiritual and call it "pondering" it’s all the same though! I have been trying to meditate and refocus on what’s really important in life. I have felt more calm and relaxed when I meditate and I think that everyone should meditate. Everyone has there own way to meditate though, you just have to find your own and stick to it!
Next Theory- Fear is the opposite of faith.I know many church leaders have said this before, but I will add my own opinion. I think that there is nothing at all we should fear. Fear has absolutely no positive outcome on anyone or anything. However, for some odd reason I’ve been experiencing more fear lately... What have I been afraid of?? The future!!!! I am coming to the last few months of my mission and see that my time here in Russia will be coming to a close. I’ve worried a lot about leaving Russia and leaving my friends. A very wise missionary gave me a talk to read about how fear and faith are opposite and cannot co-exist. I read the talk and figured out exactly what was up. I didn’t realize that all these friends I have made here in Russia will always be my friends in the “big picture” we will be together in the end and we will be able to spend more time together, if not in this life, I will see them again in the hereafter where our meaning of time will not exist. That talk helped a lot and allowed me to let go of some of this fear.
I know I am not perfect and very far from it. I fear many other things and I am tackling them one by one. Honestly, I think I will leave a very big chunk of my heart here in Russia. So even if I don’t make it back there will always be a part of me here. (but I am determined to make it back.) I’ve learned a cool concept… when you give some of your heart away it seems to grow twice as big and then there is more for the giving.
I hope whatever I’ve said wasn’t too cheesy or weird. Maybe it’s the freezing cold weather that has gotten to me,,,haha!
Well, we are on our way to go bowling. Have a great week everyone, I love you all!

I will leave with you this statement from Bruce R. McConkie -

“There was only one perfect being, the Lord Jesus. If men had to be perfect and live all of the laws strictly, wholly, and completely to be eligible for eternal life, there would be only one saved person in eternity. The prophet Joseph Smith taught that there are many things to be done, even beyond the grave, in working out our salvation.
“And so what we do in this life is chart a course leading to eternal life. That course begins here and now and continues in the realms ahead. We must determine in our hearts and in our souls, with all the power and ability that we have, that from this time forward we will press on in righteousness: by so doing we can go where God and Christ are. If we make that firm determination, and are in the course of our duty when this life is over, we will continue in that course in eternity.”

Love,

Elder Dewey

Helsinki Finland...visa trip

2009-12-01T01:06:00.000-08:00

I’m not sure where to begin…
It’s been an amazing week full of many memorable experiences.. It’s been a week of Thanksgiving celebrations, unpredictable travel plans, meeting up with members from past areas, attending the Helsinki Temple, catching up with the Elders from my group, and a personal search for some inner peace (which seems to come in small moments.)
I’ll start with pday which was our usual kind of boring pday. After internet we stopped in at the eye doctor for an eye exam and a pair of new glasses. I found a very cool pair of Ray Ban’s that look very similar to what President Spencer W. Kimball used to wear…classic!! During my eye exam I had the opportunity to chat with the eye doctor about the church, I guess he knew the missionaries from before. Later, we met up with the other missionaries at the church
We had three meetings scheduled for Tuesday, however one bailed on us…it happens. We had to go back to the scary building, okay...call me a wimp, but I’m telling ya, it’s a building straight out of a horror movie! At least we were there during the day and not at night. We also had a pretty terrific English Club. We had a tight kid show up who is really into soccer, so we discussed words relating to sports to keep his interest. I love my English Class!!!
After district/zone conference on Wednesday we celebrated Thanksgiving as a zone. We had a great feast!! Not to brag on myself, but I have to say that I made the best mashed potatoes that I have ever tasted!! No offense mom. I’ll let you in on my secret…RED PEPPER! Yep, it gives it a bit of a kick and turns ordinary, boring mashed potatoes into something spectacular!! It was a great time. I surprised myself by not stuffing myself or overeating. I guess it’s that inner peace I have been working on, I didn’t have to eat a lot to be happy and satisfied…I found me “chi”. Later, we had a meeting with our investigator which went really well, we just need her to want to act on her desires to make the necessary changes.
We woke up about five Thursday morning to catch the train to Ekat for another visa trip, only to find out that our train wasn’t to leave until four that afternoon. The ZLS messed up a bit. Elder Smith and I really wanted to make it to Ekat so we booked it over to the bus station to see if we could buy bus tickets, however the bus had already left, so we were stuck in Perm waiting for the afternoon train after all. We left around 4 and arrived in Ekat around 10 that night. The train we rode on was pretty decent with seats that reminded me of airplane seating…not to bad
We left Friday morning around four to catch the plane for St. Pete’s only to find out once again, that the plane wasn’t schedule to leave for a few hours later than what they told us,,, someone made a mistake, haha…no biggey…stuff happens. When we arrived to St. Pete's we sat around the airport for another few hours and flew on to Helsinki. When we arrived to Helsinki we headed straight for......PIZZA HUT! We all ordered the “all you can eat” lunch special, however we all let ourselves down because we ate very little. I think it’s because we are not used to eating as much as we used to and many of us have lost some extra baggage. Later, we went to the temple where we stayed at the guest house and hung out.
We were able to attend two sessions on Saturday with members from our mission! It was pretty dang cool to see so many members from the Ekat mission at the temple, it made my day. I was also able to gather a lot of "chi" or “inner peace” while at the temple. The peace one feels at the Temple is a great thing, nothing quite like it!!! Later, we went to the store where we found some ben and jerry’s ice cream...this was a small highlight of our trip! We left for Ekat later that night. It was funny; on the flight back to St Pete's the flight attendant didn’t give me a card to fill out because she thought I was Russian. It must have been my angry face for having to sit next to an old smelly dude. When we finally arrived to Ekat early Sunday morning we were able to catch some shut eye for a couple of hours before attending church.
I was able to attend the Botanica branch…my old stomping grounds! It was amazing to see all the members that I used to meet with! I love them. We finally arrived home to Perm around ten last night! Wahoo!! That pretty much sums up my week…an amazing week!
So, I continue on with my journey to find inner peace and me “chi”! It’s pretty exciting. I have been a lot more relaxed. I have been trying to meditate, however I really don’t know how to relax and shut by brain off…it’s a work in progress. Maybe I need to take up yoga…picture that!! Haha!! Anyway, I love you all and hope you have a great week. I will send pictures home next week.
Love,

Elder Dewey

Memories Made in Ufa...pictures say it all.

2009-11-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

Elders Dewey and Stoops

Peeps in Ufa

Love the hats!!

Peace Out...

New area, Perm...New companion. Elder Gilming from Cali...

2009-11-16T01:07:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I just arrived to Perm last Wednesday so there’s not a lot to write home about. Next weeks letter should have a little more detail. Today, however, will be another brief outline of last week’s happenings.

Last Monday was our final pday in Ufa. We didn’t do anything special except that Elder Shreeve and I went out to find boots and we ended up lost, and on a bus that took us all around the city. I have to admit, it was a good time and a fun experience to see the areas where we served one last time, and reflect back on the good memories we made, the great people we were fortunate enough to meet, get to know, and grow to love. I am a better person to have had the opportunity to serve among these terrific people.

When Tuesday rolled around we had all our stuff packed and ready to go. We left in the middle of the night for the train station where we met a ton of members, mostly the youth, who came to say good bye to us. Yeah…another very difficult good bye!! I love these people and grew so attached to them. They are all so amazing! I don’t know why these goodbyes have to be so dang hard for me to deal with, but they are. Often times I wish I could serve my entire mission in just one area. But I realize that this is part of missionary life. If anyone reads this from Ufa, I hope they know how much I love them and miss them. I have loved all of the areas I have been in and honestly having to leave an area stinks.

We arrived to Ekat at around 3 and I left around 4 for Perm. The train ride wasn’t the best, there was a constant draft of cold air that blew in pretty fast, but I survived. The first thing on our agenda was to move to a different area right away. We actually ended up with a cool apartment that used to be the sisters, and they now have the piece of junk we were living in.

We met most of the members here on Sunday which was really cool. Shortly after meeting everyone and getting a grip on my new surroundings I soon find out that our area boundaries have changed, and now I’m not exactly sure who is in our area. Oh well.

Our apartment is very nice and in a cool location which is in the middle of the city. To make things even better, we have all the great sites with decent stores as well. The best part is that there is a Mexican food restaurant right outside our house!!! How cool is that???

My Comp is Elder Gilming from Cali and is way cool. He is pretty dang new, but it should be really fun to serve with him.

Again, sorry for the short email, like I said, not much to write about yet...next week should be more informative.

It’s difficult to get my mind off all the people back in Ufa. I found my prayer last night turned into a long list of names.I finally laid down I still couldn’t stop thinking about all of them.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Love,

Elder Dewey

Last week in Dyoma...transfer to Perm

2009-11-09T00:37:00.000-08:00

The youth made these cool hats for all the departing missionaries.

Missionaries in UFA...Dewey, Shreeve, Thomas, Holden, Odair, (missing a few names)

Hello Everyone,
I decided to take the same approach as last week and send home more photos than write a lengthy email about a non eventful week, sorry, I just think that pictures are more interesting to look at. I will share with you a few random happenings of the past week.
First off, this is my last week here in Dyoma. We received news about transfers on Friday. I knew my time here was coming to a close, but it's still difficult to have to move on. It's hard not to grow attached to these great people.
While we were out the other day we found a dead man lying by some tree! I believe he must’ve froze to death…it happens frequently here in Russia. The police were just standing around the poor guy acting like it was no big deal, I guess because to them he was just another frozen body.
I am happy to report that Elder Stoops finally arrived here to Dyoma last Wednesday, but unfortunately I will only be with him for a few days and then I am off to Perm. Although I am disappointed that I have to leave everyone behind here in Dyoma, I am excited to be going to Perm. It’s the only area of the mission that I have not served in yet and I can now say that I have been in every area of the mission…pretty cool.
Sunday was an awesome day. We all had a chance to speak and say our goodbyes, which was difficult. After church that evening we had a meeting that the youth put on for all of us missionaries who were leaving, they have never done that for any other group of missionaries...(we're the special ones...haha) I really love the youth here in Ufa they really are amazing. They gave each departing missionary these goofy little hats we wore. It was pretty fun. We also had a testimony meeting which was really cool, I tried not to get too emotional. It’s always so stinking hard to say goodbye, so I just don’t. I know I will see them all again someday, maybe in this life or maybe the next, so it’s not a goodbye it’s a “see ya later” in my book. Anyway, I really loved serving here in Dyoma it's hard to leave. It’s funny because I try not think about leaving and go on like it’s not happening and then about two weeks later it will hit me and I will get kind of bummed out, but this time I’m determined to stay strong and not get too sad, it will be tough though because I really love the branch and members here. It seems like just when I get feeling like an area is perfect and going well it's time to part ways and move on and that sucks sometimes, but that’s life as a missionary. I will always remember all my people in Dyoma and how amazing they all are! Well gotta run, love you all and thanks for the support.

Love,

Elder Dewey

Goodbye Dyoma Peeps!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM RUSSIA!

2009-11-02T00:54:00.000-08:00

photos from Elder Dewey

2009-11-02T00:37:00.000-08:00

Elder Dewey's Halloween (watermelon) pumpkin outside his apartment window.

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head wishing Elder Dewey a Happy Halloween...

2009-10-27T00:05:00.000-07:00

busy week...meetings, zone conference, splits

2009-10-26T01:55:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the weak email I sent home last week; hopefully this one will be somewhat better. I was so rushed last week and I wasn’t paying attention to the clock and ran out of time. I will try and make up for it with the email I send home today.

Where to start?????

Monday! Well it was a pretty fun p-day to be honest; I was just missing home pretty hard core. P-days are getting more difficult to take…ha-ha. We went bowling and then we all seemed to get bored early on and decided to go walk around and do something different. We decided to stop by a couple of malls so I could try and find a coat, but I couldn’t find one cheap enough. I was pretty ticked off that all the prices seemed to be unbelievably expensive.

We had an incredibly busy day on Tuesday with mission coordination meeting with K-dawg and a whole load of other meetings. We had some pretty terrific meetings with some new investigators who were actually interested a while back.

Wednesday- ZONE CONFERENCE AND MCDONALDS! That’s about it. We were stuck on a bus from Ufa to Dyoma for almost 2 hours because of some crazy traffic! Bus rides are pretty crazy here. I’m sure I have already shared that with you a few times before. Half the time I have to stand up and the ceilings are so low that I have to tilt my head down and when the bus hits a bump my head bumps into the ceiling. Some people might ask "haven’t I learned my lesson yet?" No… apparently, I haven’t.

Our water heater broke on Thursday and was spilling water everywhere! Our neighbors were getting ticked off so we had to call our land lady and she called a guy who was here for a few hours making the necessary repairs. We also made some "pies" with a member. By pies - I mean dough with cabbage or apples in it, they were actually pretty good, but nothing like the ones from home.

I went on splits with Elder Ellsworth (my good ole zone leader) last Friday. I was back in my old “greenie” - “new missionary area" (sorry pres it slips). It was a blast being with Elder Ellsworth he is a really cool kid and I enjoyed spending the day with him. It seemed somewhat strange after being in a threesome. Ellsworth is kind of “newer” compared to me, but can hold his own...I am proud of the great missionary he has become.

Saturday was boring...... Elder Holden got pretty sick, so we all cleaned out the apartment and studied.

We had two cool investigators who we call the "rockers" (they are into heavy music) come to the meeting. They are really nice cool guys. Coming home from church we got stuck on another miserable bus. For some reason I found myself thinking about home a lot yesterday. I guess it was because I had a pretty rough day emotionally. but that is a story for another day.

Okay, so here are some of the random thoughts that were swirling around inside my head yesterday.…. I have really been thinking a lot about my family and how they are the most important people in the world to me and how I so ridiculously regret hard core how stupid I was to them in high school. I am really glad that they will all be in Mesa when I get home and we can make some more great memories. The only awkward part will be that I will be the only one not married! We will need to fix that (sorry for the trunky comment). But honestly, I miss my mom, I have always been a “mama's boy”, but with a mom like mine who the heck wouldn’t, she spoiled the heck out of me! And, my dad is probably the smartest guy I know when it comes to the knowledge that really matters in life. I find it interesting and a bit scary how everyday I find myself becoming my dad with my stupid comments that I think are so funny but no one else seems to find the humor. And, I find myself not really caring what other people think about me, I’m comfortable with who and what I am….I guess you could say that I’m comfortable with just being myself, that’s exactly how my dad is. Also, my Sister is pretty dang smart as well, always willing to offer up her great advice which always seems to help. Often time I give her crap, and hope she knows it’s because she is my sister and that’s what little brothers are meant to do! And then there is my Bro who I haven’t seen in three years. We grew up side by side and at times went head to head… ha-ha! He is an AMAZING and a great example to me. I know I have tried to compete with him and have always won…ha-ha. I really do miss him and I am looking forward to hanging out with him again when I get home. And, I can’t forget to mention the Bro and Sis in law. I hope they know I love them too. Dillon is a goof and a half, but he is a really fun guy. Dillon and Brittney make a really fun couple. And Britt my sister in-law is way cool!! It’s hard to believe they are going to be parents shortly!!..... It’s crazy how everything all happened and so fast! I don’t know if I can compete with that, I believe BJ may have won this one…ha-ha!! I wonder what would have happened if BJ didn’t get a hold of my phone with Britt’s number?? Ha-ha! You all owe me one!!

Well I need to run… out of time!

Love you all,

Elder Dewey

2009-10-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

Well this will have to be another one of those lame rushed letters.. The following is a quick update of the past week -

Monday was a really great day. We all had a great time bowling with some of the youth. Bowling seems to be the activity that is enjoyed the most. We met with a terrific member family. We had a great meeting, and afterward he showed us his awesome fishing gear and…shotgun! I miss my shotgun and can’t wait to go shooting again with everyone when I get home. I hope you have taken good care of it and nothing has happened to it.

Tuesday- We had three good meetings.

Wed- I got pretty sick while at district meeting. I think it’s because I didn’t drink enough water. I gave a spiritual thought and then we went straight home and I tried to sleep for a bit hoping that what ever I had would go away. Later Wednesday evening we had another great meeting.

By the next day I was feeling back to normal and even had some BBQ pizza for lunch. It was funny because I didn’t tell Shreeve and Holden that we were going to Valentina’s later, she always feeds us a ton of food and certainly was well prepared once again when we arrived with a great spread. We were all about to burst, it was so dang funny! They were so mad at me but couldn’t do anything but eat what she had prepared because she is so dang nice to us! Later we had a chance to work off some of that food we gorged by playing in a small soccer tournament. We didn’t do too great…maybe because we could hardly move! Oh well. However, we got our game back when we owned everyone in basketball! Friday, we went to place that is similar to Costco... it was so amazing! I guess that sounds pretty hard up…huh? But it made my day when I was able to take home a bag of tortilla chips…haha. Later we had a few good meetings. Ahh I am running out of time …I gotta go!! I love you all! Bye!!

Elder Dewey

Bowling, Soccer, General Conference...and still no companion

2009-10-18T01:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Everyone!

Well as usual this week was really good. Last p-day we went bowling with a lot of the youth in both branches and we all had a great time. I bowled with Anton Vacya and Casha in my lane and Anton kept getting mad at me for bowling strikes, he really wanted to beat me but it didn’t happen... ha! Later that evening we had a meeting and sent some more elders to Ekat. Tuesday we had a few good meetings and then English where I had to teach, it was pretty fun. We talked a lot about vacations; I think they really liked it. Elder Shreeve returned from his visa trip on Wednesday.

We played soccer with these really cool guys we met on Friday. We played in some sort of tournament and played three other teams. It was a really great time, but I am pretty sure they were annoyed with me because I’m not the best soccer player haha!!!!! Oh well. It was fun and we made a lot of really cool new friends. We also had a zone meeting to review some new rules, nothing too new. Later that evening we had an activity with all the youth. Our new member, Tanya went and so we went along with her. Saturday and Sunday... all about General Conference! Tanya came and she really enjoyed it. I also soaked it up. I believe it was one of my favorites. I took about 10 pages of notes while sitting at a desk the whole time taking it all in and writing as fast I could, it was pretty funny. I really liked all the sessions, but President Monson’s talk on service was my favorite. I especially liked the part of when he quoted from the scriptures about losing ourselves for others. I’ve actually had a lot of what he spoke about on my mind the past few weeks. Well, I am going to cut this email a bit short, I’m not feeling too great, I’m not sure if I am trying to come down with something or what it is exactly, just kind of feeling sick. I love you all and I hope you have a great week. Thanks for everything!

Love Elder Dewey

P.S. Still waiting on my new companion to get here.

2009-10-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

This note is for the parents of Elder Heuer -

I noticed in your son's last email he mentioned that he wanted to ask Elder Dewey about using gmail. Elder Dewey does in fact use Gmail verses myldsmail due to the fact that myldsmail never worked and often times we didn't receive his emails home. I'm not certain if this is actually acceptable, however we found the switch to gmail necessary. I know many other missionaries experienced similar problems and now use gmail as well.
I tried to leave this comment on your son's blog, however the comment did not publish. I hope this helps. Please feel free to contact me anytime at dadewey1@gmail.com.

Photo of Tanya's Baptism, New Greenie with visa problems.

2009-10-05T02:01:00.000-07:00

The photo above is of Tanya's Baptism. She is doing awesome as a new member.

First, I would like to start this email similar to last week, sharing with you something from the soul instead of the boring brief weekly overview. Here goes another lingering thought from the past week -

A few days’ ago in district meeting we were contemplating how we could become better and more effective missionaries (the typical weekly discussion). We shared with one another all the reasons why we went on missions and what we desired and expected to gain from our missionary experience. Many thoughts were shared and most of us agreed we desired to receive the blessings of spiritual enlightenment, a stronger testimony, and all the other many blessings that most missionaries gain while serving. We expect and hope for a great deal of self improvement...You know, the kind that will land a nice young return missionary a “good looking” wife once he returns home and when the time is right. Haha! We all agreed that we were looking to receive blessings that will give us an even more grounded and firmer foundation than what we came out with. We all expect that while serving a mission it will enable us to make necessary changes within ourselves that will lead to a better future. Many of these spiritual blessings can only come from serving a mission. The bottom line, or the thought that occurred to me, is that while we all desire these blessings that will enable us to evolve into becoming a better human being, I couldn't help but feel that this sounded to me somewhat a selfish way of thinking. I questioned the selfless service we as missionaries are to provide and what that truly means. I guess, I just want to make sure the reasons I serve others would always be for the right reasons, and not because I expect to be blessed with certain blessings because of my service. I would like to think that I will always serve no matter what the outcome would be. I want to serve because I know others are in need and not because of the blessings that are gained. I want to serve others because I care and want the very best for them. I want them to have what I have, the truthfulness of the Gospel and a love for the Savior. I believe this is how we all feel. We just focused a little more on what we are looking to change within ourselves a little too much. Then I had this thought, which makes sense to me… "The best way to be selfish is to be selfless and serve others.” In the end this is what will lead us to true happiness and contentment, and isn't this what selfish people are truly searching for? It can only be found in loving and serving others.

Okay, a brief quick summary of this past week. -
Monday, Still waiting for my new "greenie" to arrive. He was sent back home from the MTC due to visa problems. He should be arriving any day now, I hope. Elder Matthews and the other missionaries leaving Ufa caught the midnight train to Ekat and all their other designations.
Wednesday, was Elder Shreeve and Holden’s first day. Once they arrived, we went to district meeting. Later, we found an amazing new apartment that we now live in! It’s amazing! It has three huge rooms with nice comfortable beds, finally!! I've been sleeping on broken down sofa's most of my mission...haha! It also has been recently remodeled, which is a huge plus. The shower is the best part it has side shoots that shoots out water like a waterfall..haha. Thursday, We had to move some stuff over to the apartment and had a meeting or two. Friday, we had to move everything else to our apartment and then had a meeting in the evening. Once we arrived home for the night, we played Settlers. It’s great living with Elder Shreeve and Holden. They both are really cool and a lot of fun. Saturday, we played sport, but not many people showed up until lessons got out. A bunch of little kids showed up and started swearing and trying to be cool so we just left.
Sunday, we had district conference and a special meeting for the new members. We went with Tanya and she seemed to really enjoy it.
Well I have to run love you all bye!
Love,
Elder Dewey

Elder Dewey, Tanya, and Elder Matthews

Elder Dewey making Snicker Doodle Cookies...yum!

Elder Dewey bowling in style! Ha! There must be a good reason for the rolled up pants...hmmm?

New Arrivals!!!

2009-09-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

(photos from the McEvoy's blog)awesome...

[front row] Elders Gillming (Yuba City, CA), Cutler (Draper, UT), Sister Mezinets (Ukraine), Elder Steiner (Sandy); [back] Elders Stanley (N.Ogden,UT), Haag (Bountiful UT), Smith (Spokane, WA), Cooper (St. George, UT), and Heuer ( Highland, UT).

Trainers/companions

zone conference...staying in Dyoma this transfer...training new greenie...

2009-09-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
Okay...so, I know I need to send pictures of the baptism. The internet here is not the greatest. I will some how try and get a few sent sometime this week.
I am going to begin this week’s email with a thought that I’ve had stuck in my mind for a while now as I have been reading the New Testament. I came across a verse that never made much sense to me until recently, or maybe I should say I never gave it too much thought until now. It is found in Matthew 16:24-25. It talks about whoever is looking for his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for the Lord will find it. For some reason this verse has been lingering in my mind for a while until something clicked. This is the thought that followed. –

I thought about the experiences I’ve had thus far into my mission and how it is all about losing your self completely in doing the Lord’s work. While I have been out now for a year and half, I can honestly say that I am not the same person I was when I first arrived here in Russia. I feel as if most everything about me has changed. While serving a mission everything changes, we don’t do the same things we did at home, we don’t act the same way, and we don’t dress the same way, we basically give up our whole selves. I am convinced that the life I once knew back home in Mesa will be completely different to the one that I will return home to. Honestly, I am looking forward to the change. Much of the “the not so good” stuff in my life has disappeared, some of it right away, and some of it over time. I would be lying if I said it was easy letting go. I knew that many of my friends will have moved on with their lives, and the life I knew before I left will no longer exist. And, the best part is...I am okay with that. Deep down, I was aware that these two years would bring about the changes necessary for me to progress and move forward in this life. And, I recognize the Lord's involment with the changes that have occured. I have been emotionaly and spiritualy challenged on a level I never knew before exsisted and from this I learned a lot about myself. I have learned a great deal while serving a mission here in Russia. I believe the biggest lesson I have learned is that of humility, which can be difficult and tricky at times. I have also learned to practice faith as I have come to rely on the Lord when faced with uncertain moments. Those lessons helped build character and strengthen my testimony! It has become much easier now that I am no longer looking back… only forward. I am excited to what is ahead. I look forward in making the last seven months of my mission count as I have done through out my mission. I look forward with excitement for the bright future that’s a head. I know for certain that I will never fall back into the same boring pattern of premission life, but will continue to serve others well, work hard to get through school, and find joy in the journey. My mission has taught me many important and valuable lessons that I will never forget. I love my mission here in Russia and the wonderful people that I have had the opportunity to serve and get to know. I can’t imagine serving any where else. I know this is where I am suppose to be. My mission has been the best part of my life thus far and I am grateful for this experience.

Okay, on to the happenings of this past week. There was a lot that took place, but I am running short on time so I will just give a brief outline.
On Monday we went bowling for a p-day activity with a bunch of the youth, which was a great time. I didn’t do that great though. I am getting a little rusty on my bowling skills… my highest score was 150ish, I think.
Tuesday, we went to Avdon to visit our amazing member Valentine. She fed us as usual, but we did remember to bring juice, which seemed to make her happy. After our visit with Valentine, we took a bus to Ufa to meet with Tanya. The meeting with Tanya went really good, she is a really great new member. We talked about Missionary work and more about the structure of the church. It was a good lesson. Wednesday, okay now this I am sure wouldn’t seem too exciting to some of you, but the most exciting thing that happened that day was... no…we didn’t find a new investigator, but we did find the most amazing cake I have ever tasted in my life!!! It’s called Honey cake. It’s kind of a honey flavored cake with a billion really thin layers, it’s the most an amazing thing I have ever tasted in my life!! Friday, at zone conference, I found out that my greenie that I have been training will be graduating and moving on to Perm and I will be training another new elder. We will be living in a foursome with elder Shreeve and Holden. It should be a great time. We will need to stay focused on helping the branch here in Dyoma continue to grow. My new greenie was supposed to arrive today, however he is having a few visa problems. I guess he is Norwegian/American or something like that. I am really excited to train again. It’s important to get these new guys trained because many missionaries have gone home and we are now in need of fresh blood.
Saturday, we played sport, and got news from Elder Shreeve that he wants us to find a new apartment for our foursome to live in that isn’t falling apart. haha! So, that’s my side project for today. Elder Shreeve and Holden get in this Wednesday so I don’t have a whole lot of time to find a place. My new comp hopefully will get here in the next few days and I will most likely go to Ekat to pick him up. Yeah, more travel for Elder Dewey. Haha.
Well, that’s all for now. Thanks for all the support and love.

Love,
Elder Dewey

2009-09-28T00:06:00.000-07:00

Note from mom - I received a short email from Elder Dewey today. He mentioned that the internet wasn't working and if possible, he would try to send an update later. He also mentioned briefly that he was staying in Dyoma for this next transfer and training another greenie. He seemed excited to have the oppportunity to continue to serve in Dyoma for a while longer. Elder Matthews will be transfering to Perm as a ZL.

Meet the Gray's... click here to be linked to their family blog.

2009-09-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

Kevin, Natasha and baby Yeva are a cute young family who live in Dyoma, the area Elder Dewey is currently serving. They are wonderful to the missionaries, and even better to their parents...they will send you pictures like these! Kevin will even go on early morning runs with Elder Dewey and Elder Matthews.

Thank you Natasha for the great photos...you're the BEST!!!

Tanya's Baptism...best experience...

2009-09-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

This past week has been an interesting one...it was a week full of hard work, and great memorable experiences, but not with out a few worries mixed in there as well. I am not exactly sure where to start, I guess I will begin with Monday...
We went bowling on Monday for pday, and we also met with Tanya to discuss her upcoming baptism. She also had her baptismal interview, awesome.
Tuesday morning we went running with Kevin and just about froze our bums off!! It's freezing in the early mornings here!! You have to be a die-hard and a dedicated runner when it is so dang cold outside…not sure if I love it that much! Ugh! However, since my companion is a cross- country buff by nature, I join along. And, it’s worth it in the end…so what can it hurt. We had a few meetings - we met with Nina, an older lady who is very nice. It was a good meeting. We also met with Fanilya, which went well. However, I feel as though she may be taking a few steps backward, which is a concern. We will continue to work with her. I hope and pray the best for her.
We had a great meeting with President Lushnikov, Tanya, Kevin, and Natasha on Wednesday. We also played Settlers…in Russian! President L won though, but of course, I wasn’t playing my best…haha. Since it was in Russian it was a bit more challenging, but a whole lot more fun! We finished the day with another meeting and contacting. The weather is chilly now, which makes it perfect for contacting, as long as you keep walking to keep the blood flowing, awesome.
We had to make a trip to the church on Thursday to get some documents sent out, which took a big chunk of our day. When we returned, we had our regular planning session. We also met with Katya. After our meeting, we helped Katya replant a tree from another neighbor’s garden to her garden. Yeah, so I am getting used to doing yard work in the good ole' missionary attire.
Friday... a few more meetings and a whole lot of contacting, awesome.
We had an interesting and fun day on Saturday, which included a sports activity and a service project at the church. It rained most of the day, which caused everything to get muddy as heck! By the time we completed the service project we were covered with mud. We of course didn’t bring a change of clothes, so we had to go home in our muddy clothes. It was pretty funny… we actually had to pay the taxi driver an additional fee because we were so dirty. Ha!
We had an amazing Sunday!!! It was the best day of this week!! Here is a little more detail-
We arrived to the church building around 10:30ish to prepare for Tanya’s baptism. While we were preparing, we realized the font was not filling up fast enough, so we were a bit nervous. We finally had them turn it up higher to fill faster.
When Tanya arrived, she looked a little nervous, so we sat her down and explained exactly what would take place and how everything was going to happen. I have to admit, I was somewhat nervous as well.
It was great to see the entire branch from Ufa and our branch from Dyoma there… It was amazing! Hands down the coolest day and experience yet!
Well, I need to run. I’m sorry for the internet problems today. I was hoping to send a few pictures from the baptism, but I will have to try for next week.
Love you all and thank you for all your love and support.
Elder Dewey

A few questions for Elder Dewey...

2009-09-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

1. What is one of the funniest experience you've had this past week?
Hmmm, let’s see... a funny experience... The only thing that I can actually think of at the moment that was somewhat funny was when we were walking home to eat a quick lunch, we came across a gang of goats (about 10 or 12 goats) walking down the road. When the goats reached a intersection they got all confused and started fighting with each other. The people at the bus stop started freaking out and swearing at the goats ...it was pretty funny. Yeah, I’m sure you don’t ever see goats walking the busy streets back home. Haha!

2. Can you tell us a couple of interesting facts about Dyoma..
Well, here in Dyoma there is a different language called tatarian, (a weird language many Muslims speak here in Ufa) it means thief. Also, Dyoma has a railroad stop and a huge half a mile bridge that we run over in the morning when we go running with our Americanitz (that’s what we call him) Kevin! It’s beautiful when the sun is coming up. I will have to take a picture and send to you.

3. What has the weather been like this past week?
This past week the weather has been mostly warm except today. It is now super foggy, but I kind of like this gloomy weather… haha! it just matches with Russia (the structure of the buildings and culture here.) Actually, the gloomy weather is not so gloomy to me. I guess I’ve gotten used to it.

4. Who was the most interesting person you talked with this past week?
The most interesting person in the spiritual sense I would have to say was Tanya. We have been talking to Tanya a lot about preparing for her upcoming event. Her excitement is so cool to watch. I have seen a huge change in her in such a short period. There is nothing better than to see how the gospel changes people completely. It’s been a great experience for my comp and I to have the opportunity and privilege to teach her.
Now for a funny/interesting one...While walking around Dyoma the other day, we happened to run into a guy that was quite the character. He turned out to be drunk. It was pretty humorous as we watched him try to to get this very small concoction of a motorcycle started...something you would’ve had to be there to appreciate! Haha

5. What is missionary work like in Dyoma, and is it different from in other areas you have served ?
Dyoma is very very different from every other area in the mission that I’ve served in. We have to travel about an hour to attend church, and it’s somewhat difficult for everyone to take a bus every Sunday. I also miss not having an English club. But, all in all… everything is great! When life hands you lemons make lemonade!

6. What is one thing about the Russian people and culture you hope you will never forget?
I hope I will just never forget the people and how they are real and not fake at all. They tell you exactly how it is and how things need to be. I appreciate honesty in people and in knowing where they are coming form. They are a real people, I just hope I never forget the relationships I’ve made in all my areas.

7. What has been the most satisfying experience you had this past week?
The best experience of this past week was meeting with Tanya. It was a good meeting and she is progressing a ton. It’s difficult to pinpoint just one, there is always good things happening in missionary life!

What is the one thing that you hope the people you've had the opportunity to know remember you for?
I hope they remember me as a person of trust. Someone that they could always trust and rely on. I think that’s one of the most important things for the people here, is that they trust you. I hope they remember me for just being their friend and missionary and that they could always trust me.

9. What is one thing you hope for, for the members there in Russia?
Well, if I had one wish for them...actually two, it would be that they would someday have a stake here in our mission, and one day a temple. this would really strengthen them. Sometimes I wish they didn’t have to experience as many hardships as they seem to have. However, when I think like this, I am reminded that it’s the difficult times that help us to grow and become strong.

Well, I love you all and thanks for the support. Next time I will give more details and hopefully a few pictures!

Love you all,
Elder Dewey!

Elder Dewey's stand in...

2009-09-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

Glad to have Elder Dewey join us for the BIG 50th CELEBRATION!!

Back from Finland...

2009-09-06T23:51:00.000-07:00

At St. Petersburg

Elders Isenbarger, Campbell, Sergeeve (who just returned home to St. Peterburg a few weeks ago.)Dewey, Murphy and Dial.

(picture by the McEvoy's)

Hey Everyone,

I don't have a lot of time ...places to go and people to see... I am going to cut this one kind of short. I had an amazing trip to Finland. We first started our visa trip with a sixteen hour train ride in which we slept most of the time. Once we arrived to Ekat we had a small window of time so I wasn't able to visit with all the people I wanted, but maybe next time. Friday morning we flew out to St Petersburg which was amazing. We did a bit of sightseeing, and saw some amazing churches and other sights. I would love to take my family back there someday. After sightseeing, we stopped at Carl's Junior!!! Yes...this was a highlight for some of us and probably the best tasting food we've had since being here in Russia. Honestly!!! We finally arrived to Helsinki Finland. I spent very little time sightseeing in the city and more time at the temple...my favorite place to be!! It is a great (the best) place to mediate and receive answers to one;s questions...I'm sure you would agree. Elder Campbell and I also found Ben and Jerry's Ice cream and that was amazing as well!!! I arrived back to Dyoma this morning. After my trip, and the opportunity to attend the temple, I feel refreshed and energized and ready to get to work!!
Thanks for all the support I get from everyone! I love you all I hope you all have a really good week. Once again, thanks for the support! Next week I will try and send some additional pictures. Gotta run... running out of time!

Love,
Elder Dewey

Great investigators...Visa Trip to Helsinki Finland...

2009-08-31T00:53:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Hope all is well on the home front. The following is a brief outline of what my week was like here in Dyoma. It was probably the busiest and the biggest roller coaster of a ride week yet! However, it’s always an amazing journey from week to week! Okay, let’s get down to business…

We had a regular p-day on Monday with a bit of rain. We had lunch with Elders Bagmet and Thomas...which is always a great time. Later that evening, we had an awesome meeting with our investigator, Tanya. She was still feeling pretty shy during our meeting, however she is really starting to open up to us... Awesome! Afterwards we came home, grabbed some groceries, and called it a day.
We went to the hospital for the last time on Tuesday to visit Fanilya (she was released later that day). It was actually kind of a bummer to say goodbye to all our friends we made there in her hospital room. We had two additional meetings with inactive members and another meeting with our investigator Marat, a pretty cool kid about 17 or 18. He is writing his own fiction book about philosophers or something of the sort. It sounds like it will be a really cool book.
We had district meeting as usual on Wednesday, and then grabbed lunch with some other elders. I’ve decided that I am finally beginning to like Russian food. We had small thin pancakes with chicken and peppers in it and it was pretty great stuff. Later we came home and had a meeting with a really cool less active kid. He enjoyed visiting with us, and filled us in on the recent movie and other interesting happenings that my friends from home forget to mention! Thanks guys! On the way home, we stopped by Fanilya to check up on her and to make sure she was doing okay and we had another great meeting.
On Thursday, we met with quite a few members, both active and less active. The members here in Dyoma are really great people and a lot of fun to work with.
I finally got a much-needed hair cut on Friday. It was the longest time I spent in a barber chair…It took the lady about an hour to cut my hair! It was interesting, but no worries it turned out okay. Not a mullet!!!! Later, we had our weekly planning/baking session… haha! It was pretty fun…Move over grandma, there’s a new chief in the kitchen!!! Haha! I have become quite the domestic guru…yeah right! I'm going to have to start marketing my cookies! Don’t worry… I only have one cookie and give the rest away as fast as possible. We had another meeting with Marat and he gave us a little more detail about his book. He sure enjoys talking, it’s somewhat difficult to get any floor time…haha… he is still a really nice kid. We also had a meeting with Fanilya. We are trying to work with her as much as possible to keep her on the right track and happy!
We had a sport activity on Saturday, but unfortunately, not too many people showed up. It was still fun. I accidentally knocked down elder Bagmet (a huge 6'5 Ukrainian giant) and so he got up and was joking around with me and accidentally kicked me in the face… it was pretty funny, but painful. Later, we went to their apartment and he fixed us some Ukrainian food. It was pretty dang good! One of our meetings fell through so we returned home in the pouring rain. And what did we do once we got home? We BAKED! We made some great brownies, and although they were pretty tasty, I limited myself to a half of one…WHAT GREAT WILL POWER!
We had an amazing Sacrament meeting on Sunday. I was excited to see Tanya come out and she really enjoyed it. We gave the members the brownies we made, and they thought they died and went to heaven or something like that. They don’t have brownies here in Russia! It’s only when us missionaries make them. Later in the day, we met with Tanya and a member that helped out during the meeting. Later that night, we met with Fanilya. It's great to see how well she is doing.
Often times it’s difficult to see one’s own progress, but for some reason this past week, I had a glimpse into some of my own progress and hope someday I can see it more fully. I love Dyoma and I love my mission! I love just working my tail off because it makes the mission life worth every bit of it. I am grateful for all the blessings I have received thus far into my mission. I have yet so much more to accomplish and time is closing in.
Well that’s it from this end of the world. I’m off to Helsinki Finland for another visa trip. I may be a day late in my email home. I am looking forward to meeting up with my group of missionaries and the opportunity to attend the temple. I hope you all have a great week and tell grandpa and grandma Beus “happy 50th”! I wish I could be there on Saturday for their big celebration with everyone!! I hope you all have a great time.
Make it a great week!
Love,
Elder Dewey

A shepherd in Israel...meat fat in jello form...tasty...not!

2009-08-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

I apologize for the weak email last week. I came down with a bad cold and then I started to recover for a few days, but it hit me again yesterday. It is probably because of the weather change. It has rained here in Ufa for what seemed to be for days, and then warmed up for a bit and then rain again.
Anyway, last week we again went to the Vietnamese market in Dyoma with some of the other missionaries. We all got an awesome deal on a few ties…AGAIN! Ha-ha. We made our purchase from this crazy lady who couldn’t speak Russian too well, and after we finished our purchased, the crazy lady laughed and hit my arm and called me “SNEAKY”…haha!
We had a busy Tuesday with some great meetings and then an awesome visit with Fanyila who is still in the hospital. The people in her room wanted to look at our pictures (Russians love to see pictures from America). One of the older ladies made fun of how fat I used to be, but said that it’s okay because I’ve lost the weight…haha! She now calls me “KING KONG”…haha…pretty funny! We made snickerdoodle cookies for them and took them to the hospital. They don’t make cookies like that here in Russia and so they asked us for the recipe, but I told them ” it is a family secret recipe never to be reveled”…haha! Then they got mad at me…haha! It was fun to tease with them.
We had a great district meeting and then a good meeting with Tanya. We had another meeting scheduled with our other investigator, but disappointed when she didn’t show up, but pleasantly surprised when she came out to our activity on Friday…there is still hope! For some weird reason I didn’t have her number right in my phone and she didn’t have mine right so all is okay!
Both my comp and I were pretty sick on Thursday and Friday so unfortunately we didn’t get a whole lot done but try and heal. We had a great activity Friday evening where we taught the articles of faith to the members and investigators. We had the help of some other missionaries and church leaders. My companion and I had the twelve article of faith…one my favorites! Too bad, I only have it memorized in Russian …haha! It was a great activity!! I was pretty sick all evening but tried not to think about until it just got to me. I rode the bus home with Tanya and Matthew (a member missionary age kid.) The bus was jammed pack.
We had a fun service project on Saturday at a broken down building the church owns in Dyoma where they want to build a new church. It was great to see investigators come out to join us to do service. I have a great deal of respect for them because if some asked me, "Hey you should come clean up a bunch of trash at some old torn down building with us and when it’s over we will give you a cookie and a glass of juice.” I hate to admit, but I would probably would’ve said heck no. We also made some more cookies to take to the church. I’m not a real fan of cookies, but these actually turned out really good. Later that afternoon we had lunch with Elder Thomas and Bagmet. I love those guys. We had a birthday lunch after church on Sunday for Valentina, a member here in Dyoma. I tried Holadets!!!!! Its fat and meat in jello form!!!!!!! Yeah, it was so tasty… haha!! Honestly, I thought I was going to die! It was pretty fun and I guess I needed the experience. They said it wouldn’t make me fat because it will just slip right through the system unnoticed …haha! It was pretty nasty. After the party was over, I washed all the dishes. I had all the ladies amazed that I was doing the dishes. They said I’m going to make some girl very happy. I will happily do the dishes in America with a dishwasher haha! It’s all by hand here! Haha.

Well that’s about it for this week. The work here with our investigators is going well, and we remain hopeful.

Make it a great week!
Love,
Elder Dewey
P.S The answer to last week’s email is a Shepherd in Israel!!!! You win mom!!
P.S.S. This internet plays the best music! I miss my music!!!!!!

A quick hello...

2009-08-16T23:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam and Friends,

I'm sorry, but I lost the track of time and so this week's email is extremely short. I will make up for it next week. We had a great past week and we are working hard. We have a lot of meetings scheduled for this upcoming week. The weather has turned off cooler and rained most of the week. Maybe summer is officially over here in Russia? Only time will tell. I promise to fill you in on more detail in next weeks email. Just know that all is well and I'm still lovin every second and time is going much too fast.

Okay, here is something I want to leave you with, and please make sure you make a comment on the blog as to your guess...

From the following list - what is the one adventure you think I would like to experience;

Live alone in the Alaskan woods for a week
Bike across America
Be a Shepherd in Israel
Be a fisher in Greece
Live in the Australian Outback

I will reveal my answer in next weeks email.

Have a great week,

Elder Chad M Dewey

splits...picking cherries...more ties...

2009-08-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a great week. Life in Dyom hasn’t changed a whole lot since my last email...still pickin cherries!lol. We had a great week and still hard at work. Here is a quick run down.
we went tie shopping for pday last week with some of the other missionaries, but nothing we found was up to par for me so I didn’t snag any. Later, we started our splits, which gave me the opportunity to work with Elder Thomas. He is a great Elder and we had a great time. Tuesday, while still on splits, we stopped by the Vietnamese Market in Dyoma. It was interesting to see that everything that was for sale was made in China. There were so many Vietnamese people there, and I found it kind of funny that I cold speak better Russian… not to be cocky or anything.lol. Oh, and we were able to snag 13 ties in total, all with amazing discounts. Later we went to visit a member who lives in Avdon, a little city outside of Ufa. It wasn’t that long of a trip, and I enjoyed seeing more of Russia’s countryside. She fed us some great tasting cabbage soup. She is an awesome and extremely kind lady. We had a great lesson with her as well.
After we returned to Dyoma, we went cherry picking again at Nina’s garden!!! It was a great time, except for when I came close to falling out of a tree. Not quite sure what happened, I guess I lost my footing or something. When we returned home that night we had a good long chat and soon realized that we talked most of the night away and didn’t get a whole lot of sleep…it was great though.
District Meeting was Wednesday and a few meetings with members. We stopped by the hospital to visit with Fanyila and take her some of my favorite peach juice. It seriously is the best juice I have ever tasted. I wish I could take it back with me to the states. We also stopped by to see her the following day as well.
The weather here as turned a little cooler with some added rain, which is a nice change from the heat. I guess you all know what hot weather is all about. Who knows, we may have experienced our last bit of warm weather and may be in for more cooler weather yet to come, but not quite time to pull out the warm Russian digs yet.
We watched the Testament for an activity back at the church building in Ufa. It was great to have one of the girls from Dyoma attend, she normally only comes out to English. She said she would like to start meeting with us and find out more about the church. We have a meeting with her tonight, I’m pretty stoked!
I taught Sunday school in church this past week, which was an interesting experience.
Well, that’s it for now. Remember to email me as often as you can. I love getting your emails so please keep it up.
Thanks for all your love and support,

Elder Chad M. Dewey

Broken sofa bed...Cherries anyone?

2009-08-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

Pickin Cherries

Elder Shreeves and Elder Dewey

street contacting

Dear Family and Friends,

I am sending six pictures today, which takes a while to do on the computers here so this email will have to be a short one. I know the pictures will make mom happy.
We worked a lot with less actives and active members this past week. The branch Presidency here loves me because I mentioned that I like to shoot shotguns, and since a lot of them are hunters I fit right in. They would like for me to stay in Dyoma for a while. Honestly, I would love to stay, but I might have to go on to something else...one never knows. You just always have to be prepared to go on to do whatever is needed and asked of you.

We had the opportunity again to pick cherries.I love picking cherries, but not the biggest fan of eating them. We also had our apartment inspected by President Allcott last Monday, which I was a little nervous about, hoping he didn't think we lived like slobs. I try to keep the apartment somewhat clean, but lets face it, I'm a typical guy! haha! Anyway, the inspection wasn't too bad. President Allcott told me to get a new bed if possible because I currently sleep on a old sofa that is broken in half, it's pretty pathetic. However, I don't think I will have much luck convincing our landlady that I need a new bed though, for some reason she doesn't take a liking to missionaries..

Let's see what else is new.... just working hard as usual. Some sad news, our investigator with a baptismal date, broke her leg and because of hospital rules, she will most likely be there for the rest of the summer. We are going to stop by to see how she is doing.

I have also been coming up with a theory about how most people get consumed or caught up in worrying about life's uncontrolable prolbems. It goes off the theory from the book of the seven most highly effective people or something like that. ( I don't know exactly what it is called...haha!) The theory is that the concerns most people have are contained in a large circle, however we can only control a portion of that circle (concerns) or a smaller circle within the large one. So, we should spend our time focused on the problems we can control or solve, and possibly the smaller circle will eventually get large enough that we will worry less about stuff we can't fix or change. There is a lot more to this, but I'm almost out time so I need to cut this short.

I hope you enjoy the pictures, some are of a culture activity when we went to the Romanov's site where they were killed- (meaning Anastasia and her family.) I have one here in Dyoma picking cherries as well.

I love you all! Have a good week and thanks for your love and support.

Love,

Elder Dewey!!!

A rough week...

2009-07-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends.

Honestly, I don't really have that much to say. This week had it's struggles, good times, and difficult goodbyes. I said bye to Elder Basset, which was a hard one. He was a great missionary and very humble. It was sad to see him go. This past week just seemed to be one of those hard working weeks that seemed to be somewhat more difficult than normal. We did a lot of service, picking cherries and moving dirt. It was great to be outdoors working, and doing service is always a good thing.
We had some good meetings, including Zone Conference. I am feeling pretty spent this week for some reason. Things are coming along slowly but surely. I just wished I didn't feel so extremely tired. I don't like to admit it, but some of the pressures seem to be getting to me. I'm sure I will get in the groove of it all, I'm just feeling out of sorts right now, and not sure why. Everything just seems harder than normal and the pressure keeps getting turned up. But I'm still hanging on by a thread though so everything will be okay. I'm working harder than I have ever worked. We had a District Conference on Sunday. It was cool to see all the members from my greenie area.
I really don't have enough energy to write any more. I will try and write a better email next week.
I love you all and thanks for the support...Love Elder Dewey

A week in Dyoma...

2009-07-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

Monday- For pday we helped a lady in Dyoma move furniture and rip wallpaper off her walls.It was pretty fun. Later, we met with Faniliya, our investigator. The meeting went fairly well, but not as good as we would have liked.
Tuesday- we met with our missionary coordinator to discuss the needs of the our area and the members here, and to try to implement some plans to get things going. We also had another meeting with Faniliya at her work. It was a better meeting, she accepted everything, and she said that she will keep reading and praying to find an answer.
Wednesday- was district meeting at the branch building in Ufa. It was great to see all my buddies. Afterwards, we had lunch with the district at a nearby bakery. Later that afternoon, we met with a really cool member. When walking home that evening, two groups of guys stopped to talk to us for a while about America and asked us all sorts of questions about America and asked us what we were doing in Russia. We had a great long conversation with them. Then some little girls started following us asking questions and wanted to know if we had girlfriends...haha...it got to be a bit annoying after a while. They asked me to teach them English, and I said "We don't know English", and she said, "What... you don't know English?", and I said, "sorry we are French". The little girl had the saddest look on her face. lol. I don't consider that a lie...just a joke!
Thursday- We had a great planning session for our week. I made Borsch soup that turned out pretty dang good! Later, we had three meetings, two being with members, and the other one with Faniliya. She fed us some pretty intense rice and chicken. It was amazing!
Friday- turned out to be a busy day with 5 meetings. Everyone was impressed, and the ZLs called to congratulate us and I told them if they call again for that reason then to please don't call. I am not a big fan of stats. It needs to be all about the people and the work and not about numbers. We need to stay in tune and focus on real work and the people...numbers are just numbers. We need to stay focused on building and strengthening testimonies and less concentration on impressive numbers to report.
Saturday- We made brownies to take to some members but they didn't turn out...our oven sucks. We had two meetings, one with Faniliya, we helped shovel a ton of turn for her in her backyard. A lot of her neighbors came over to help out as well. She lives in a little wooden home. My companion and I had a great time talking to her neighbors from Uzbekistan. My companion arm wrestled their son and the Uzbek won...haha! Faniliya fed us buckwheat and potatoes which was great!
On Sunday, after we met with Timofea. a cool kid in our branch ( the second counselor in the branch) we met Elder Anderson and Taylor at my old "greenie" apartment. That was pretty nuts!!!! I hated living there, it brought back some weird memories. Later, we had a meeting with some members and their daughter who is our investigator. The meeting went amazing! We gave a spiritual thought and then just talked for a while. I really love talking in Russian! After our meeting, we came home and crashed.

That is it for this week.

I love you all please send me some love through emails...please! I only received two emails this week...more support would be greatly appreciated!

Love,
Elder Dewey

2009-07-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

Thank you Sister McEvoy for the wonderful picture! You know exactly what makes a MM happy! You are the best!

Elder Dewey and Elder Matthews

(Photo courtesy of Sister Donna McEvoy)

Elder Matthews just arrived in Yekaterinburg from the MTC. What an exciting time!

It's all about change...

2009-07-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

This past week was all about change…new Mission President, new companion, and new area. Two new Elders from the states finally arrived, Elder Matthews, who I will be training, and Elder Wilson. So, part of the week we were in transit, leaving Botanica, picking up my new companion at the Mission Home, and then a long train ride to our new area just outside the city of Ufa called Dyoma. Before leaving, we spent Wednesday morning contacting around Ekat. It was a great time. We spent the night at the AP’s, and left on a train the following day around 5pm. We came back with the ZL’s and Elder Peterson. We were on the train for about 16 hours. I couldn’t really get much sleep, and so once we arrived my brain felt like mush. When we arrived to our area, Dyoma, everything was laid out really well for us. We walked around our small town checking things out, and found it to be kind of old school which I really like. Going from a larger city to a smaller area mixes things up a bit and keeps missionary life interesting.
We had a meeting with a member who was really nice and helped Elder Matthews read in Russian. It was really cool. Sunday, I made my return to Ufa! Our building is in the center of Ufa, my greenie area. It was cool seeing my old stomping grounds. I loved seeing the members and getting reacquainted with them as well. We also have an investigator who will be baptized soon. It’s amazing! I think we will be able to accomplish some great stuff here.
I miss all my friends in Botanica, but I know I will see them again someday no mater what. It’s great to be with a young elder, it makes me cautious and work hard at trying to set a good example.
We went running with our missionary coordinator. It was great, we ran for a long time. I think we might be going every morning. It‘s a little different being with a younger elder and taking on the responsibility of most everything. To try and help him catch on faster, I try to make sure I include him in everything, but not to overwhelm him. I know it’s important that he get’s off to a good start. Here is where I shine or crash. Wish me luck…
Love,
Elder Dewey

tearjerker week...too many goodbyes...

2009-07-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

Dear family and friends,

I hope everyone had a great week. I have to begin by saying that my week was one of those tearjerker weeks with some difficult goodbyes, but I will get to all of that in a minute.

For P-day last week, we went to the site where they killed the Romanov Family (Anastasia's family). We found this site to be a solemn and reverent place to visit, where beautiful temples exist, one to represent each person killed. I love history...it was a great time!

Tuesday, we had a meeting and then a going away party for President and Sister Allen...a difficult goodbye to say the least. President Allen was a GREAT Mission President. It was one of the saddest days of my mission so far, along with Sunday, which I will get to later.

Wednesday, we had our last district meeting and we ended it by going to Subway together one last time. Later, we had three meetings; we met with Zhenya our missionary coordinator, Elena a really cool member, who fed us such an amazing meal, and then the Kaigarodovy family. It was a great busy day, but again...some hard goodbyes.

Thursday- We went contacting with two other elders and the sisters. Elder Sorenson played his violin, the others sang, while I talked with people on the street. It was amazing…we actually got some great contacts. I sure will miss Elder Sorenson and his violin. It’s funny, it seemed like I talked to a million people and while talking away I’m thinking how comfortable I was with it all. And for a moment, I reflected back at how nervous I was when first contacting, just the thought of having to actually open my mouth to speak something in Russian petrified me! Haha!
I hope to be of some help to the new Elder I will be training. It’s not easy being the “greenie” in a foreign and unfamiliar country with a difficult language to learn.

After contacting, we had a meeting with Kiril and Ina. They have the cutest little kids. We taught them a short spiritual thought. I also visited with Kriril about my upcoming trasfer to Dyoma, since he served a mini mission there he was able to share some great insight on the area.

Friday- We had a few meetings, but for most of the day we cleaned our apartment and packed for the new transfer.

Saturday- We had sports with all the elders and some members. Afterward, we hurried home, ate, showered, and headed out for another meeting with Ludmila. Later in the day, we had English club. Because Elder Sorenson served in this area a year and eight months ago those that attend English have gotten to know him really well and worship him.

Sunday- Again, one of the hardest days of the mission. During sacrament meeting while translating for the McEvoys, I wanted to stand and bear my testimony. I knew it was my last Sunday and my last opportunity. So, I finally got up towards the end and before I started to speak I looked out at all the people I have gotten to know and grown to love, and then found myself too choked up to talk and broke into a few tears. It was hard to say good-bye to everyone. But I wanted to express the love and appreciation I have for them and bear my testimony one last time before leaving. It was one of those tough moments. Later, we met with a less active. After returning home, I sat down to write a note to the elders that will be taking over this great area...the note ended up being an eight page book...ugh! SO INCREDIBLY HARD TO SAY BYE!

Next email will be from Ufa! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Chad M. Dewey

coming up...transfer to Ufa to train first "greenie"...first fish...

2009-06-29T00:24:00.000-07:00

the beautiful countryside of Yekaterinburg Russia...

Chad's first catch...

Dear Family,

Well, the biggest news for the week is that fresh blood is starting to arrive, which means I will have the opportunity to train. I am so stoked! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited this makes me!! I am transferring back to my first “greenie" city, Ufa (actually a small city outside of Ufa called Dioma)to train! The new "greenie’s" name is Elder Matthews. I don’t have any other details, but will let you know as it all unfolds.
I would like to thank all of those that emailed me this past week... It helps keep the ole spirits up when you all remember to email.
The highlight from this past week is when we were invited to go to a garden home with a very awesome and cool member family. We had a great time fishing. I caught my very first fish! I emailed you a picture. I’m sure I made you proud at the monstrous fish I hooked! Ha! (yeah, I know...pretty pathetic!)
Later in the week, we met with a very musical family with the McEvoys. We had a great time getting to know them, and especially enjoyed listening to their musical talent.

I need to cut this short because I have a lot of emails I need to catch up on. I sure love and appreciate you all. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Chad M. Dewey

taxie driver from #@!#%...lost luggage returned...

2009-06-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

new pet bird...flew in from outside...
english club

Weekly post from 6-21 -

Dear Family,

This week can be described by our latest taxi ride. We got in this guy’s taxi and before we even had time to shut the passenger door, he took off like a bat out of @!#!! He started weaving in and out of cars barely missing them! This guy even had gloves on, as if he was up to no good. Hard to explain, just chalk it up to another one of those experiences you had to be present to appreciate. Just a crazy time I tell ya!!
For part of the week, we were in a threesome, which included Elders Sorenson, Thomas, and me. Tuesday was an interesting day…we had our first lesson in wallpapering 101. Remind me to always stick to paint and never to venture off into wallpapering ANYTHING!!...UGH!!
Oh! I finally received my bag from the airport…yeah, I forgot to mention that the airport lost my luggage on my visa trip, so, yeah; I went around with dirty, sweaty, and disgusting clothes the whole time. Oh well, everything was safely returned.
Thursday, we had a lesson with two amazing investigators, which made for a great day! We played Soccer in the rain on Saturday, and I was able to muster up and score a goal! I actually suck at soccer. Later that afternoon, we had English club. On Sunday, I translated for Sacrament meeting and Sunday school and then the third hour I taught the lesson in young women’s. My lesson was on the Priesthood, and I believe it went pretty well. After church, we had a meeting with a less active member. I think he was a little drunk…UGH!

Here is a quote I would like to include in this weeks post.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, and sweat, and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, who knows great enthusiasms,great devotions, and spends himself in a worth while cause. Who at best knows achievement and at worst if he fails at least he fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat"
Author unknown.

Thanks for everything you all do for me and all the love, support and prayers.

Love,
Elder Chad M. Dewey

Visa trip to Madrid Spain...

2009-06-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Visa trip to Madrid Spain - June 2009

Sister Allen cutting Elder Dewey's tie before having to say goodbye in July...

President and Sister Allen will be greatly missed!!

Late night view from outside apartment

Elder Sorenson and Elder Dewey doing a little contacting on the street corners of Ekat while Elder Sorenson plays his violin.

Dear Family and Friends,

It was another whirlwind last week with some unexpected issues that occurred and left me a bit confused.( It's funny, you mentioned that I looked a little dazed in the last zone conference pictures you received. The pictures were taken while I was trying to figure out what was happening with my visa.) Let me explain...

My trip from Ekat to Spain began Wednesday morning at 7ish. I first thought I was leaving on Tuesday afternoon, but they received last minute news that my passport was still in Prague, so they really were not sure where to send me. They already bought my tickets for Spain, which were pricey tickets, and Elder Brown, the Canadian needed a companion. After debating what to do they decided for Spain to be my visa destination. I ended up leaving on my visa trip by myself about 20 minutes after my group left for Helsinki Finland. The flight from Ekat to Prague was pretty good, I was able to sleep most of the time. Once I arrived to Prague, I had a few hours to hang out at the Airport. So, I sat in some sandwich shop feeling exhausted, maybe it was the whole visa issue that had me feeling worn out. The flight to Madrid was good, I had a lot of time to get some good reading done, and I slept a little more. I felt better once I was able to get a little shuteye. When I arrived in Madrid, I took the metro to the Spain MTC, which is quite the adventure and pretty cool. The MTC is right next to the Temple. I finally met up with Elder Brown. We attended an early morning temple session on Thursday, which was amazing. We then had some study time and lunch. After lunch, we went out to see downtown Madrid, it was nice to do some sight seeing. After returning from our brief downtown adventure, we had dinner and more study/nap time. Honestly, after experiencing missionary life out in the field you realize that three hours of study time a day is adequate. And... being locked back up in the MTC can drive one a little nuts. After picking up Elder Brown’s passport on Friday, we stopped at a bookstore where I found some great materials I have been wanting for my mission, but unable to find in Russia. The best find was a few moleskin books. By the way, mom if you can slip a few in the next package I would greatly appreciate it. After the bookstore, we went back to the temple and attended another session, and before taking off Saturday morning, we were able to fit in one more. Honestly, the best and most rewarding experience about this visa trip was the opportunity to attend the temple. The overall feeling of just being inside the temple is the best.. it get’s better every time!
I just want to thank all of you for your love and support.

Make it a great week!

Love,
Elder Dewey

Last zone conference with President and Sister Allen...

2009-06-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

Last Yekaterinburg Zone Conference with President and Sister Allen before they leave in July.

All the Elders had their ties cut by Sister Allen.

Dear Families,

This week we had Zone Conference with the Yekaterinburg Missionaries. Together we enjoyed trainings, discussions about the recent Mission Conference with two Apostles, testimonies, sandwiches, and the cutting of ties. Thank you for the support that you give your missionary. We have loved serving with them and love each one of them.

Our best,

President and Sister Allen

Russia Yekaterinburg Mission

busy week...

2009-06-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

It is starting to warm up here in Ekat, which makes for some great contacting weather. It is much too warm for a jacket of any kind and we are now sporting our short sleeve shirts. We had a pretty great Tuesday with a few successful meetings with some less active members and our contacting went pretty great as well. I was able to get quite a few people to stop and talk with me. Contacting is actually one of my favorite things to do. I am grateful that I have finally reached a point where I am comfortable in speaking freely and carrying on regular conversations without feeling intimated by the Russian language...but the learning never stops.
We had a zone meeting to go over some highlights of last week's meeting and to also discuss our new Mission President’s arrival coming up. We also had an awesome meeting with a family that has a ton of kids, which is very rare here in Russia. It was an awesome meeting. We discussed the meeting last Sunday and asked them about their thoughts. Later, we had a birthday bash for Zhenya, the missionary coordinator. I gave her a few American cd’s that I love, and since I can’t listen to them on my mish, I thought she might enjoy them. She said she really liked it. After lunch, my companion, Daniel(a member), and I went out on the street and sang happy birthday to Zhenya... my companion played his violin while Daniel and I sang. It was awesome...we created quite the funny scene, it was a great time.
Thursday, was a busy day with four meetings of less active members. We also went to visit Kuzma in a nursing home for the elderly. While we were there this elderly lady gave me a poem. She was an interesting and funny elderly lady. I guess for some odd reason she took a liking to me.

Friday, was another busy day, we had a long, hot and sweaty transport ride to visit an older member. We also spent a lot of time contacting.

Saturday, was a sports activity with the members; however the members didn’t turn out, so it was mostly all missionaries. We played soccer and our team won! It was tight! We also went out contacting.

Sunday was kind of a crazy day. First off it was Fast Sunday. We had a 9:00 am meeting with a less active member that we tried our best to get him to come to church with us. He is such a great guy who is struggling with a few things and going through a difficult time. He said he was too tired to go to church. I expressed to him that I am not going to give up on him and that I will be coming for him next week and the weeks after until he is going on his own. I also expressed to him that he needs to go to church and stay active so he is able to receive the blessings the gospel has to offer him. We have a great repore with him and I feel we can make a difference, he just needs a little support and be pushed a long a bit.

Later I had to translate for President and Sister Allen during
Sacrament Meeting and Sunday school. So, I put on my headset (looking all professional…ha-ha!) and translated away. After the meetings I had to translate for President Allen a while longer, so it was about four hours of translating altogether and by the time I was finished my mouth felt like it was full of cotton balls and my brain felt like mush…ha-ha. It was a great time though. Afterwards we rushed home and made some bbq pizza and rushed out again for another meeting with Zhenya (our missionary coordinator) and Sveta, (investigator). It was an interesting meeting. Sveta has some pretty crazy and abstract ideas about God. The meeting stretched me pretty thin with the vocabulary, but it was all good. After the
meeting we went home and I…CRASHED! Ha-ha. All in all it was a pretty good week.

I am leaving for Spain on Tuesday with another Elder to renew our visas. We will return at the end of the week. I will take a few pics and send with next weeks email.

Make it a great week.

Love,
Elder Dewey

2009-06-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

Gates to the future

Members in Yekaterinburg welcome first member from First Presidency

By Vaselina Novikova with Sister Donna McEvoy
Published: Saturday, June 6, 2009 - LDS Church News

YEKATERINBURG, RUSSIA
"Photo courtesy of Europe East Area

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf greets throng of members who gather to shake his hand following a member meeting in Yekaterinburg, Russia, May 31. President Uchtdorf is the first member of the First Presidency to visit Russia's third largest city.
Six-hundred faithful Saints gathered here from throughout the Ural region of Russia on Sunday, May 31, 2009, to hear President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency and Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This historic event marked the first time a member of the First Presidency has visited Yekaterinburg. Members traveled from as far away as Surgut, 1,000 miles by train, in order to attend.
Pavel and Tatyana Kulakovy drove with their children eight hours from Ufa. Brother Kulakovy, baptized in 2002, was unable to go to Moscow when President Gordon B. Hinckley visited that year. "I knew this would be a great opportunity and I was determined I wouldn't miss out again."
Yekaterinburg, situated at the Ural Mountains on the border of Europe and Asia, has served as the industrial, administrative and cultural center of the Ural region. The third largest city in Russia, the population exceeds 1.5 million.
The first missionaries opened the city for the preaching of the gospel in 1993 when four elders from the Russia Novosibirsk Mission were sent from Moscow. The Russia Yekaterinburg Mission was created in 1995 and, since that time, more than 2,500 Russians have joined the Church.
Members were eager for President Uchtdorf's and Elder Andersen's visit and prepared well. Sisters Sofya Arefyeva and Vera Terentyeva of Miassky Branch said their branch president, Elder Georgi Mizin, encouraged them to prepare spiritually. "We have fasted and prayed much that everything would work out." They were grateful they were able to bring their wheelchair-bound friend.
The congregation rose as President Uchtdorf and his wife, Harriet, and Elder Andersen and his wife, Kathy, entered the room. "As we walked in the door, I felt the Spirit of the Lord in great force," Elder Andersen remarked.
Elder Wolfgang Paul of the Europe East Area Presidency said, "One of the expressions of [the apostles'] love is that they came here." Ilya Druzhkov of the Botannichesky Branch Presidency said, "It's very precious to have the attention from the First Presidency for us."
President Uchtdorf noted that the Ural Mountains are sometimes called The Gates of Siberia. "You are the gates to the future of the Church," he said. "You are true pioneers in the best sense of the word, and others will follow. Generations to come will praise your name because you are not ashamed of the gospel, and you did not have fear."
Members came with high expectations, hoping to be strengthened and encouraged. They left amply satisfied. "It's hard to be a member [in Russia] as it is, but it's even more trying at a time of financial difficulties," said Vasylina Novikova, a branch Relief Society president. She was struck by President Uchtdorf's comment, "Let's go slowly, step-by-step, spoon-by-spoon, because the Lord doesn't want us to be disappointed."
"This is important," Sister Novikova said, "because so many people get worn out when they try to do too much and feel overwhelmed. I felt happy to be a member of the Church. I thought, 'Here is a man of God.'

President Uchtdorf's and Elder Anderson's Visit...Amazing!

2009-06-01T01:04:00.000-07:00

Pictures taken by the McEvoy's...thank you!!

( Elder Dewey is the one with his head down.)

It's been an amazing week. Sunday was by far the best day of my mission thus far! Yes, mom... I did shake President Uchtdorf’s hand along with Elder Anderson’s, but No…I did not get a picture to send home to you. Ha-ha. I didn’t want to be one of “those” that pulls out the camera and start snapping a bunch of random pictures, the memory of the entire experience will suffice and will stay with me. It was amazing to say the least! It was so great to see all the members from the different areas I have served in as well. I was surprised when they all remembered me…even my name. It was fun to talk to those from my "greenie" areas and actually be able to carry on a regular conversation. Ha-ha! They even laughed at my jokes...the same ones that I tried to tell before, however they could never understand me due to my poor language skills. haha!. But this time they got the punch line!! Ha-ha!
So back to the meetings - President Uchtdorf talked about how the members here in Russia are the pioneers and the gateway to the future…YES THEY ARE! The future members will always remember them and thank them for all their faith and endurance. We also attended a meeting for just the missionaries where Elder Anderson talked about how we as missionaries just need to take what the Lord gives us and make the best out of it, and remember that the trials we experience on our missions will mold us for the rest of our lives. President Uchtdorf also talked about not getting down on ourselves, and to look at life like a sunrise and sunset. There are always new days with new starts. My favorite was when he said, “Endure to the End Everyday”. I thought that statement was pretty cool, often times we try to take life on all at once which is an impossible task.

Well, I am with my new companion, Elder Sorenson and we need to get going.

Make it a great week!

Love Elder Dewey

P.S. I would love to hear from you…chadmdewey@gmail.com

Ali, the owner of my favorite tie store...he is way tight!

Elder Dewey and Arkad (member) Wow! a picture with someone taller than Chad.

bbq in the country...suits chopping wood

2009-05-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

Whatcha gonna do…

Hmmm…looks like I will be staying here in Botancia… And, let me try to say this without laughing… I will be killing yet another elder! Elder Sorenson will be my new companion and returns home at the end of this next transfer. I am at a loss for words... what more can I say?? I served with Elder Sorenson for a short time in Surgut while my companion was away on a visa trip. It was an interesting experience. When contacting, we would stand on street corners and Elder Sorenson played his violin while I talked with people (keep in mind, we are talking Siberia in November. I'm not sure you all know that kind of cold, and it was this az. kid's first winter in Russia! haha.) I have to admit, it worked out pretty well, so we will see how successful it is here in Botancia in the summer. I guess the thing that keeps me sane with killing off another elder and... always forever the youngest is that I love Botanica and I love the branch members here. The other stuff is just getting a little, you know_____! Oh well, whatcha gonna do!! Such is life!

The highlights for the week –
We enjoyed a wonderful BBQ at the Druzhkovy's garden home. We had a great time with their little kids. The Druzhkovy's have the cutest kids in the world! It was a blast.

I also had the opportunity to conduct the baptism of Oksana, Uralmashs investigator. It was the coolest baptism, Elder Shreeve baptized her in a nearby lake, and I lead the meeting in a little quaint garden house. It was an incredible experience.

A humorous moment from this past week...Elder Shreeve’s and I had to chop wood for the baptism in Revda and as people walked by, we received some pretty strange looks, confused as to why two guys dressed in white shirts and ties would be chopping wood. (I guess that would be an odd sight to see.)haha.

Upcoming highlights for this week –

President Uchdorf and Elder Anderson will be visiting. Stoked!

Until next week,
Elder Dewey

P.S. Shreeve's is going AP...I'm hoping he will hook me up - it's due time. haha!

Ikea's 40 MEATBALLS...Russia in the springtime...

2009-05-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

notice the purple addition to the ear...haha

view from our apartment balcony...no jumping allowed!

Elder shreeves and I (two mesa az. elders survive russia's winter.)

Russia in the spring... (nothing like the sacred groves, but it will do.)
Say cheese...me being a goof.

поздравления от ekat,

I hope all is well at home. The work here in Ekat seems to be moving at snail speed. We are working harder than ever without much progress. It sure can wear on ones nerves. I know the Lord is forcing my patience, which I’m sure is something I am need of. Contacting did pick up while we were out on the streets, we managed to get a few additional contacts and then another great one while on the bus, so we will see what happens.

We went to a baptism this past Saturday, which was way cool!

I know I have mentioned before, the interesting things you learn about yourself while serving a mission. This week I thought a lot about how fortunate I have been through out my life thus far. While I serve among these great people of Russia and see them struggle with all of lifes challenges it really gets to me. I truly feel for them. I feel they deserve all the blessings and comforts that I have been blessed with in my life. At times I am astonished at all their many struggles, but more amazed at the amount of faith they have. Honestly, I don’t think I could go through half of what these people do. Their faith is more than I can even comprehend.
My goal this week is to truly lose myself in the work and try not to over think the future. I'm not going to worry about the numbers game and just stay focused on the needs of the people. I truly love the people here and love my mission.

We were supposed to find out about transfers today, but they decided to hold back for a week. I’m sure it has something to do with President Uchtdorf and Elder Anderson’s visit. We are all looking forward to this great opportunity. I believe it has been ten years since the mission had a general authority visit. I guess the last was about ten years ago when the mission first opened…exciting stuff!

We have been invited to a BBQ this week (weather permitting) by a family in our branch, the Drushkovy’s. We are going to their garden out in the country. It sounds like a great time.

The weather has been crazy. It warmed up, then on Saturday we had a rain storm, and now it has turned off cold.

Earlier today we all went to IKEA and had their “40 MEATBALL” lunch. Whoever ate all 40 got to join our “MEATBALL’ club, it was one of those moments that you had to be there for…but way funny.

I am sending a few pictures today from when Shreeves and I went to a meeting to see a lady and we got there too early so we walked around in a nearby forest….kind of goofy pics.

Sorry for the boring email today, hopefully I will have more upbeat, positive, and interesting news next week.

I love you all and thank for your support!

P.S. BJ and Brit – Don’t worry about your little Chad jr taking after his/her uncle…he/she will GROW into his/her EARS! They will be a little noticeable while young, but once he/she reaches the height of 6.6” the EARS will become less noticeable. Just remember the CHARM and WIT he/she will inherit!! LUCKY KID!!!! AND... don't let his/her grandpa and grandma call him/her Yoda ( the creature from Star Wars)...even if the EARS are pointing and flop over! I will be thinking of names you can call the MINI ME. I'm sure I can come up with a few good Russian names...I will have them for you next week.

до следующей недели,
Старший Dewey

President Uchtdorf Visit...

2009-05-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Exciting news…President Uchtdorf along with Elder Anderson will be visiting our mission towards the end of May. We are all stoked! I will let you all know what the experience is like.

счастливый День матери

2009-05-11T00:58:00.000-07:00

Victory Day and Service Project...Elders Dewey and Anderson at Victory Day. ..

Elders Thomas and Dewey...service project in Ekat.
Elders Shreeve(ZL)and Dewey on splits.

Elders Bassett (AP) and Dewey

Hello Everyone,

I hope all the mom's had a great Mother's Day. Mom, since you like to receive pictures I will send a few today. It was great to talk with all of you today. It sounds like everyone is doing awesome. Since we had a good chat I will cut this email a little short.

Congratulations BJ and Britt! You two don't waste any time, I will give you that! How am I suppose to compete with you guys! I am sure he/she will take after their uncle with all my good looks, charm, wit, and all of my other great characteristics. Ha ha!

I forgot to mention that transfers are soon approaching. We should find out next Monday and I will let you know the outcome. I really have no idea if I will stay or end up transfering. I really love it here though and would hate to leave...I love the area, the branch, and the great members. It just gets a little frustrating, always...I'm not even going to finish that sentence. Complaining or whining will get you no where in life. It is just the circumstance our mission is in. The good news is ...there will be a few new missionaries arriving over the next couple months, so we will see what happens.

The weather is warming up and the days are longer. We can now shed the coat! We don't have to deal with the snow and ice for a while and we can let our feet unthaw! OH HAPPY DAY!!!

I love you all and thanks so much for all your love and support! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Dewey

say uncle...

2009-05-08T14:27:00.001-07:00

noooooo jk...

GOT FURRRRRR...

2009-05-04T01:03:00.001-07:00

elders dewey and shreeve cleaning the neighborhood by the mission office... (Chad -please tell me you don't wear those shoes/boots/or whatever they are out contacting. They look like the same shoes you are wearing with your suit in the picture below...yikes!)

(service pictures taken from McEvoy's blog...thank you McEvoy's!)

elder dewey hiding behind branches of trees...(you can barely see
him.)

snow in may...

Hello Everyone,

Since I don’t have a lot of time to email, I am going to cut to the chase and give you a quick brief recap of last week. I hope the few pictures I send will make up for lack of sharing. I promise next week will be better.

This past week we were busy with meetings, district conference, a service project, (cleaning up the neighborhood by the mission office)and a whole lot of busy work, which was all great. I went on splits again with Elder Shreeve and it was amazing as usual. He is the coolest guy ever. We had a ton of fun. He speaks Russian extremely well, and inspires me to keep at it. I'm just grateful I no longer have the language barrier I had my first six-seven months out, and now can speak and understand it pretty well.

Again, I apologize for the shortness of this email, but I will write more details next week.

Make it a great one.
Love,
Elder Dewey

pictures from friends in Russia...

2009-04-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

older photos shared by a friend...she found these on facebook...thanks kim!

elder dewey serving in surgut for a few weeks with elder sorenson while companions were away on visa trips...

baptism in kurgon..

great work sister missionaries... elder dewey thought these two sister missionaries were the best of the best...

lost for words...just look at that hair AND those SHOES...

"Member Missionary" Work...The Key To Success!

2009-04-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

What a crazy/busy week it has been, but a GOOD one! I have little time to email today due to another busy day ahead. We had some great meetings and also Zone Conference this past week. Our focus for the week was on "Member Missionary" Work. We actually met our goal! Due to humility... I realized we had to be more humble, truly praying for guidance. We met with some less actives and members, emphasizing the importance of getting the less active members more involved and help them regain their desire to come to church. Our goal is to get the members here in Yekaterinburg more involved and participate in "Member Missionary" work. It will help those that need that extra reassurance and acceptance from the members. "Member Missionary" work truly is the key to success!

Here are some random crazy/funny scenes that we witnessed in our travels this past week:
Scene 1– Some crazy guy went up to a light post and ripped off a flyer that was posted and started eating it, like it was going to be his last meal! So CRAZY!!

Scene 2 – One day while out contacting we stumbled across a bunch of kids (ages probably 10-12 years of age) destroying some random car on the street. They were climbing all over it, pounding on it, breaking the windows!!! Some poor old babushka (older women) tried to yell at them to get them to stop, but they ignored her and continued with their destruction!!! They were maniacs!!

Scene 3– While we were enjoying one of our many rides on the Ghetto buses here in Yekaterinburg we heard some punk kids talking about me, trying to be funny, and thinking that I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, so I started conversing with them in Russian. They were shocked out of their minds that I could speak their language!! They didn’t know what to say after that. Pretty funny!!

**Just thought I would share some of the interesting events that take place around us.** You got to love it!

We had a great Sunday. Our missionary coordinator gave a great talk on priorities. She is way cool!!
I love my area, the members, and the people we work with. Our one area now covers three. Himash and Botanica being the main areas that we currently cover. We live in Botanica and it takes about 40 minutes to get to Himash.

I want to share a few awesome quotes with you all:
"Sow a thought, reap an act; Sow an act, reap a habit; Sow a habit, reap a character; Sow a character, reap an eternal destiny" David O McKay I really love that one!

“Strength and struggle go together. The supreme reward of struggle is strength. Life is a battle and the greatest joy is to overcome. The pursuit of easy things makes men weak.
Do not equip yourselves with superior power and hope to escape responsibility and work, it cannot be done: Its following the line of least resistance that makes rivers and men crooked.” Ralph Parlette

I love both of those quotes so much, but I don’t have a lot of time to explain. In a nut shell…before my mish I always seem to look for the easy way out, but on the mish I realize that’s what makes life dull. The struggle in life is what brings the best reward. Struggles and challenges also result in making one the Best person that they are intended to be.

So, that’s it for this week. I love you all and grateful for all your love and support!
Have a good week!

Love,
Elder Dewey

Don't forget to email me!!! I get lonely! You can email me at chadmdewey@gamil.com

Yekaterinburg Zone Conference

2009-04-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Families,

Yesterday we enjoyed a Zone Conference with the missionaries of the Yekaterinburg Zone. They received trainings from the assistants, from their zone leaders, from President and Sister Allen, and also practiced teaching doctrines in Russian. They had sandwiches for lunch, and then interviews with the President. Thank you for the support that you give your missionary. We love and appreciate each one. The weather is getting a little warmer here, though there is snow in the forecast.

Our best,

President and Sister Allen