Elder & Sister Sartori with Tatyana

Seventeen Days Until the MTC

We are so excited to begin our mission-which will be when we enter the MTC as Elder & Sister Sartori. Yes, we have been meeting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with our sweet tutor, Tatyana, trying to learn Russian, but our Missionary Training will begin on Monday, 26 Jan. 2009....OFFICIALLY! Tatyana has been so patient and helpful! She is an angel here on earth and influences many with her strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. She is indeed a great blessing in our lives. Learning a foreign language is definitely a difficult task, BUT IT IS CERTAINLY DO-ABLE! It takes a lot of study, effort and prayers. Heavenly Father is helping us so much. As many of you know, 'for with God, nothing shall be impossible' (Luke 1:37) We send our best wishes to all our family and friends and wish you only success in all your righteous endeavors.

NEW BEGINNINGS

We are excited to start our blog. Wow!! I can hear our grandchildren now...G-ma & G-pa are BLOGGERS!! Oh to keep up with technology when you are grandparents! Friends and family, we have been called to serve in the Russia Vladivostok Mission. This mission is the Far East of Russia. We have been gathering, studying, looking, and reading all kinds of information about Russia. Thanks to all who have helped us in this journey. We found that Russia is VAST, it is a huge country. Russia is 1.8 times the size of the U.S.A. Our Mission Office is in Vladivostok, Russia, but we have recently been transferred to Khabarovst, Russia (about 300 + miles north). We want to do whatever Pres. Stanley Everett and Elder Henry Kosak need and ask of us. Two days after Christmas, the projected windchill temperature in Khabarovst was -51 degrees F and a day or two later the windchill temperature was to be -56 degrees F. COLD!! We are prepared as best we can and we are still excited to go!! Our great challenge for 3 1/2 months has been to learn the Russian Language. We have been driving down to the MTC in Provo, Utah and meeting with a wonderful tutor, Tatyana. Tatyana is from Moldova and speaks native Russian and beautiful English. We have been blessed to learn much and still have the earnest desire to learn more and more! Heavenly Father has blessed us tremendously. We will be speaking in our Sacrament Meeting on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. and we invite all to come and hear more about our gospel adventures pre-Russia.