Crazies??!! (16 March 2011)

So this last week was a little weird. we had about 3 or 4 meetings set up a day and we were lucky if 1 of them worked out. we had a total of 4 meetings last week and they were with mostly members. everyone else didnt feel like showing up so its all good. so not much else happened this week except for this crazy high dude. so we were handing out english club flyers and we were by our appartment and decided to give one out to every person that walked by. so we give one to this guy then he asks us for money for smokes. we said no but kept talking to him. then we asked what religion he is and he said satanist. . . yeah so my companion was like that bad. and the guy was like your saying i am bad and we said no satan is bad. then we was like look in my eyes, and got really, really close to my companions face and stared at hime for like 15 seconds and then backs away and asks is he sees bad in him. and we just tried not to answer the question then we were like ok we got to go and we start walking awaym, but wait he turns the same direction we are going, but we ran into him head on so he was going the other way before. so we start walking faster, he starts walking faster we are trying to lose him so we turn around a building and find that there is this huge deap puddle and you cant go around it because there and like little fences around it and then snow piles so we are stuck and then my comp was like what do we do? then he said ah the crazy is coming. . . so i jump the fence and am climbing on the snow but my feet are falling through the snow and i am like in snow past my knees and just plowing through it. then i get out of the snow and my comp just walks around and meets me there and starts laughing at me and then we were lke we cant go were we wanted because there is more snow so we go back the way we came and the crazy was gone. it was funny. :) not much else happend but that was the most exciting. hope everything is going well for everyone i love you

 

Love jordan

Looking Good (9 March 2011)

Alright so i am not illigal anymore we found a new appartment and we got all moved in. its pretty nice but i liked our fisrt appartment better. moving was a hassle bucause our landlord wanted us out of the appartment in like 1 day so we had to pack up and get out in one day and we had to take all our desks and stuff. we carried a closet up 9 flights of stairs and that was terrible because it didnt really fit in the stairs either. thiss week was alright we had alot of meetings planned but alot of people bailed on us so we didnt really do anything. we tried tracking and found out that doesnt work very quickly. we were told by like 5 people that they were going to call the police on us but they never did. and alot of guys came out with their shirts off and they . . . eh will will say they werent in shape. then this week i was a part of 2 blessings. so i have been in 3 blessings here in russia and one guy actually had me give the blessing so i gave my first russian blessing. he said that he understood everything that i said so that was good. the language is still really tough but it is coming along. ok one question you are all probling think of is how is the food and what have you had to eat?? well i made a goal before i got out here to eat everything that was putt infront of me. yeah so last night we were at this members house and the brought out potatoes and meat and an egg salad.. so to start off it was all cold! so not the best right there then is was soggy. . . there was like water on the bottom of it. and the egg salad had onions, cucumbers, eggs, and broccli. i think? i dont know how i did it but i ate it and eh . . . i am suprised i was able to eat it. i have been fed a pretty much raw chicken leg which eh, i wish that was warm too. but yeah i am somehow eating the food. the stuff that we cook is usually really good my comp likes to put alot of onions in whatever we cook. so i am getting better. so today we went to the reenok and decided to buy a suit, because they are way cheap here. so i got and lighter gray suit with a blueish pin stripe in it and it is european fit so it hugs the body ;) it looks good i got the suit for just over 50$ way good price and it looks good. then i found a tie that goes perfect with it. so the tie is black and it has grayish blue butterflies on it. oh man i am so excited to wear it all. i am also pretty much a champion of attracting people to talk to me and i have no idea what they are saying so i just decide to pull out the good ol book of mormon and give it to them and tell them its a gift and they dont believe me. but that is pretty much everything for this week not as exciting as last week but still a good week. we have about a strong 0 investigators so we need to find some. hope everything is going well for all of you love you all.

Love jordan

Illegal Americans...

Alright so lets start this off by saying that i have to run and hide from cops now. so this is the reason. . . so live in this apartment and then we get a call that our landlord doesn't have the right documents for us to stay there, so that means i am not registered in Russia and if i get caught by the cops eh its pretty much bye bye out of the country forever. so we were told to move into another building with other elders until we find another apartment. now i know how mexicans feel in America every time the see cops, but its all about the confidence if you act like nothing is wrong then the don't look at you or stop you. so we have been staying with 2 other elders for the past week and it has been really fun. this week has been really good we set a baptismal date with a brand new investigator but come to find out he doesn't live in our area so we had to pass him to other elders. we gave another guy a BOM and he seemed really interested. then i was part of a blessing last night which was way neat to hear in Russian and be a p[art of the circle. and then we were walking back to the apartment last night and we just got out of the metro and this guy comes up and asked me about my name tag so we started talking to him and he was a really neat guy and i decided i wanted to give him a BOM so i did and that was my first BOM that i gave out on the streets to someone we just met but he seemed really interested in it. Alright now for the good stuff that happened this week. so on Monday we go a volunteer to speak English with Russians at a library, so you sit down one on one with whoever signed up to do speak with you. so we go there and you speak for 30 mins with them. First person to come speak with me was this girl. . . and then her twin sister came and sat down too. . . so we talked for an hour and got along really well and i got there numbers after. . .(not so i can call them to see how there doing but to tell them about the church :)) but they were cool and we got along really well. then there was another girl who eh it was hard to talk with her because she kinda didn't say much. then i had a guy who wanted to sell me an apartment and just was doing business. then the last girl. . . this is where it gets good. so we started talking and it was some good talking, then she was like how long have you been here? i saw two weeks, she says what have you seen, i say, only red square and she was like no!! there so much more to see, here you can come with me and i will show you around, and i just tried to change the subject, then the topic of movies came up and then she said there was an American cinema here and what not then she was like when do you have free time we can go see a movie and then i changed the subject again. then at the end of our time she asked me and my comp to come hang out with her and her friend and my comp was like no! we don't have time and cant do that. hahah its not over yet. . . so yeah go downstairs to get our coats and i was like ok i will invite her to English club. so i am going to give her a flyer and she turns to me and was like hey can i get your number and i was like oh aaaaa. . .  yeah its on this flyer. and then she was like her is my number call me if you need anything like help with Russian or anything. hahaha i got asked on a date in Russia!! and i didn't even have to speak Russian :) but nope i shut her down ;) Then another good story so there are drunks everywhere here and they always fall down and cant get up.. . so we are outside a metro station and see this guy on the ground and i am laughing cuz he cant get up, then we go and help him up and pick him up ( there is a band playing outside the metro, just a little background info) so we are holding him up and then he was acting like a cat when you are trying to put the cat in water and the don't want their feet to touch. yeah he wouldn't put his feet on the ground so he is dancing to the music while we are holding him. then we set him down and he just starts dancing, this guy had some . . . .moves for a drunk man haha, then he walks over to a statue of Adam and eve and by it he just undoes his pants and starts to pee just in the open showing is whole glory to the world. but i guess that's normal here haha i thought it was way funny. so yeah that was about it for this week, we are looking for a new apartment and just making an adventure out of it. i hope everything is going great for all of you i love you all.

Love Jordan

Friend in Moscow

Jordan and Judd Player met up in Moscow. They both swam for the West Jordan High School swim team and earned the 5A State Championship a couple years back. For just a few minutes at the Moscow Airport they were able to meet up and chat. Judd's twin Brother is also serving in one of Russia's missions.  What are the chances...

Elder Judd Player and Elder Jordan Spoerri at the Moscow Airport

- 30 degree...Jordan's first week in the mission field

Alright so i got here a week ago and it was so sweet to hear evenone speaking russian except i realized i dont know russian. so lets start this off with step by step from the time i left the MTC, so we left at 5 in the morning tuesday morning and hoped on a bus to the airport then we get there and got situated and called home then boreded the plane i sat next to wininger on the first plane ride and a guy named herb, i talked to herb for like 2 hours but right off the bat he told me he didnt want anything so i just got to know him forever, that was my first shut down of the mission but it wastn to bad. and on that flight i had both of my carry ons by my feet so there was no leg room at all! i was so uncomfortable. then the next flight was alot better. we almost missed the flight but we made it in time and i went and found my seat and there was a lady sitting there and so i just sat next to her, i didnt care, and then she was like "oh this isnt my seat i am not sitting here" but she was speaking all in russian and i understood her and so i replied back" oh this isnt your seat?" and she was like no no no so i got up and she left but she forgot her computer case and so i had to go give it back to her so i went up to her and was like excuse me, this is yours, yeah? and she understood me and said thank you. i thought i was a champ because i spoke russian to someone outside of the MTC. but then here it comes. we get to russia. I DONT UNDERSTAND!! i dont understand like anyone. church members come up and talk to me and ask me where i am from but i dont know  but i dont understand it. but that was the first few days and i was way frustrated and was like what am i doing here i am never going to learn this language. but eh it takes time. so some stories, the grandmas here love me! i dont know why but they do! in church they all like came up and grabbed my hands and always ask me questions, but yeah i dont know what they say so they grab someone to translate for me and they just smile and grab my hands its funny. i dont know what i did to make them like me, all i do is smile :) so my companion. . . well lets just say since i was a terrible missionary in the MTC and had a hard time following all the rules, i got put with probably the most obeidiant person in the whole mission, there is a joke for the mission that he is John the Beloved. He is perfect in like everyway. but its going well i an\m learning alot from him. and he cooks for me so i cant complain. alright so here is a cool story. . . so my actual first real investigator. . . so he use to have a baptismal date a long time ago but then he started smoking again. so we met with him and had a way long meeting but he asked some good questions like why doesnt god help those people with cancer. and then my favorite at the end of the meeting he was like, you mormons think nothing is impossible and i was like your right nothing is impossible and busted out the scripture that with god everything is possible. alright so we were trying to get him to stop smoking and i was like ok how w\about we replace that habbit with a different one so i pull out my mints i have in my back pack and said, ok everytime you want to smoke take a mint and so he was trying them out and was like oh these mints are beautiful haha way funny and he was like ok i will try and i was like no you tell me you will or you wont. so i got him to say yes. and then so we all go outside after the meeting and first thing he does was pull out a ciggarete and lights it up. . . i was like what are you doing!! and he just laughs and smiles i was like NO! stop!! so we got him to throw it out and was way suprised. but i think he has been doing pretty good. so we went shopping today and i got this pretty sweet jacket its like one of those nicer dressier ones but it has some fur in it!! i love fur!! and its pretty sweet i love barganing with them too. OH! the ties are way cheap too! i am starting off my 1 tie a week for the rest of my mission. so i bought 3 today :) drunk people are everywhere here so its funny. like i was walking home a few days ago and so a guy just rolling on the ground because he was way drunk he was going crazy. oh and my favorite thing here is that when you step outside and take a breath through your nose. . . your nose hairs freeze :) probbably because its -30c here. well i think that is everything so far i hope everything is going great for all of you. i love you all! here is my address

Jordan Lee Spoerri

Moscow

glavpochtampt   a/ai 257

101000

Russia

Love Jordan

Finally in Russia...

Jordan finally made it safe to Russia. We received the following letter and pictures from his mission President.

Dear Brother and Sister Spoerri,

 

We wanted to let you know that your great son arrived safe and sound in Moscow earlier today, had his first day of contacting at Red Square near the Kremlin, and is now resting safe and sound before meeting his trainer tomorrow and heading for his assiugned area in Kakhovski, an area in Moscow. 

 

Thank you for preparing and sending such a wonderful son into the mission field.  He'll make a tremendous contribution, at an important time in the Church's development here. 

 

We've attached a couple of photos showing Elder Spoerri and the other missionaries who arrived with him today, in front of St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square.

 

The Lord bless you for your sacrifice.  We will love working with Elder Spoerri.  Please contact us if you ever have any questions or concerns.

 

Warmest regards,

 

President Stephen J. Sorenson

Sister Corinne C. Sorenson

Russia Moscow Mission

Last Week...we hope

Last Week in the MTC . . .  well i hope! 

As i said last week that i went and had another ingrown toenail taken out, so did one of my roommates, Goddard. But he went in a day before me and both of us two days after we had our taken out both of our toes got infected! it sucks! we think it is because the doctor doesnt really clean his tools. he just comes and takes the tools out of his tool box and when he is done just throws them right back in! but we arent sure i have to go back one last time this friday unless it is infected really bad both me and goddard wont be able to leave on time! Which i wouldnt be happy with. So we got our flight plans too! That is probably the highlight of the week! So the morning of the 15th we have to be in the front of the MTC ready to go by 4:45 and we leave right around 5 A.M. so then we drive to the airport and should get there just after 6 we are all thinking. Then we leave SLC at 835 A.M. and fly to NY and only have about an hour to find our next plane and board so hopefully we dont miss that flight or get delayed in SLC. Then it is a straight flight to Moscow after that. We are suppose to get there at 10:10 A.M. so i might just get thrown right into the work once i get there, but we will see what happens. Another cool experience that happened this week was one of the sisters in my district had to go get surgury so last week she asked wininger to give her a blessing before she was going in to see if she needed to get surgury. So she had to get surgury and she asked me to give her a blessing. It was my 2nd blessing that i have given ever and both of the blessing that i have given have been in the MTC so that was pretty fun. Its weird because after the blessing i dont really remember much of what i just said. I guess the spirit is just working right trough me and i didnt need to remember, but after both the ones i gave they said they felt really good that night so i guess the blessings helped. I love having my toe hurt, just because i get to wear my slippers around and dont have to wear church shoes. I know mom you hated it when i would do that to church and those were even black slippers. These ones are brown and i look good in them haha. No they are just alot more comfortable. Anyways you probably wont hear from me again until i am in moscow and who knows when my P-day is so it might be 2 weeks from now when you hear from me. but i am excited to get there and get out of the MTC. I love you all and thank you for everything.

 

Love Jordan