last weeks mail that wouldn't send
Man I love you guys. I love how fast you type too. Mom sent a long email and then said she'd been typing forever. Then Sam sent a longer email and said she'd been typing only an hour. And send pictures. HA I don't know how you do it but I love it. Man I LOVE hearing from both of you! I get to hear all of Sam's mission stories and Mom's insights and the news about the family and all that. I skimmed mom's email real fast and she said "Grandpa got tired in Hawaii. He helped build a brick wall and got PLUM TUCKERED out." That made me laugh so hard for some reason. I think it's because now that I'm seeing what Russian is like with all its weird sayings, I can just imagine a Russian who knows English (aka Elder Kuzmin) giving me a super confused look when I say "plum tuckered." Also, I get a kick out of little things. Here's an example. We got a referral from Anna (armenian new convert) of these two Armenian twins, and their names are Samvel and Mamvel. I can't say it with a straight face! Samvel and Mamvel. Hahaha even just typing it I cracked myself up. Man life is great. Anyways, I just spent a whole paragraph talking about lame stuff. But in short, I love hearing from you guys.
MOM thank you so much for sending off that cd. You're on the ball! Thank you so much also for adding little details about the kids when you write. I love hearing about the sports and school and little daily things. It's the little things! How's Mitchell Moss doing? I love that guy and I'm glad he's still visiting a lot. I want to go skiing when I get back, with him and Patrick (and hopefully Caleb and Seth, too). We got a ton of snow this past week and it was all powdery and perfect for skiing. Except there's no mountains in Russia, which is why "rollercoaster" in Spanish translates to "Russian Mountians." Nonsense!
I'm also glad to hear that Sam's got an awesome companion. That makes life so awesome when you've got a great companion! Especially being a trainer, that's got to make life easy. I hear about missionaries in our mission who trained their 2nd and 3rd cycles and it blows my mind. Training in the first place must be super scary.
So on to the spiritual stuff. This week was nuts. We had transfers again, and I was with Elder Yates/Derby from California and then with Elder Anderson from Norway. That was pretty fun, I always learn a ton from other missionaries. Also this week, we had Sergei and Katya (that young couple I wrote about last week) get baptized. At the beginning of the week, he was feeling like he wasn't ready because even though he wasn't smoking at all, he still had a desire to smoke. We had some miracle lessons with him and explained to him that once he got baptized he would get extra help from the Lord, especially once he got the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We were able to promise him that the Lord would help him change his desires as he continued to prepare for baptism, even though there was a ton of opposition. Man it was so dang cool. After we confirmed him yesterday, he just kinda sat in the chair and looked around. Then we talked to him later and he said "I couldn't get myself to stand up! I was trying so hard but my body wouldn't move!" And during Sunday School he pretty much started prophesying. Not really, but he gave a lot of input and quoted the Bible and stuff, and listening to him talk you could just tell he has a rock solid testimony. Katya is amazing, too. She's been a super good influence on him, because he's had a crazy hard life. He started smoking since he was 8, and he sat in jail for a while at one point. Katya kind of turned him around, and she played a huge part in preparing him for when he met the missionaries on the street for the first time. I want to send pictures of the baptism but I ain't got a ton of time, and I also didn't get very many good ones because Rada was taking the picture for me. By the way, pass a hello to Elder Smoot from Rada of Old City Togliatti. She had lots and lots of good stuff to say about Brady and she even asked if he was married already. Hyuk hyuk. (I said YES by the way, nothing to worry about.) At least tell Pres. and Sis. Smoot, they'd probably get a kick out of it. This next week, we're going to contact this guy who's the son of one of the Babushkas in our ward, Sister Reisa. Apparently when the Petrunins were over teaching Sister Reisa, her son liked what he was hearing and he came in and said "I'm already fed up with drinking. You've gotta help me quit somehow." The Petrunins said We'll send the missionaries over! So that will be amazing if we can make it this week. His work schedule is crazy (according to Sis. Reisa) and she lives about 5 km from our apartment (and we would have to walk both ways). But we'll get to him for sure. Anways, that'll be great.
and now my time is up for sure and I haven't even sent pictures ahhhhhhhhhhhh! love you all bye
Alex
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Miracle contacts and a Russian funeral
HEY ALL
I'm hoping to write as much as Sam does for once. I'm so stinking jealous of your crazy typing skills. If I could type at 1000 words a minute maybe I could talk about all the stuff that goes on out here in the Motherland! Thanks so much for you emails, samsam. Haha I love how you end your letters like that it always makes me laugh. It always reminds me of that time we played volleyball with your college friends and that one guy said Stay in your circle! and you said Yupyup. Hahaha. Man, I'm glad to hear from everyone! Ready Proverbs 25:25 and you'll know what I'm saying. Sam's rockin it up in Chile and the family's getting back into things after the holidays, it sound like.
Oh, before I forget. Mom wanted me to do the top-ten most important list thing. One and two are tied because they're kind of the same concept, so I've got a top 3 out of ten. Here it goes. Are you ready for it??
1-Temple as in the fact that I grew up five minutes away from one, that I was able to go through the temple with my parents, that there's peace there, and the covenants I made there help me every day...
2-Worthiness in family meaning that it's important for me that all of my siblings grow up so that one day all 8 of us can be in the celestial room of the temple together. (Also, that all three of my brothers served full time missions).
3-Earthly and Heavenly Parents' approval meaning that it's important that I live in such a way so that I don't cause hurt for my parents like I have in the past. Along with that, someone once said to me that the Spirit is the Lord's approval stamp. Who doesn't want the Spirit?
4-Lasting conversion in myself and investigators
5-Church activity and testimonies among my friends at home
6-Music
7-Sleep
8-Health as in what happens when you RIP IT with the pushups every morning of your mission. Heh heh.
9-Speaking Russian without an American accent someday. I would love it if a Russian thought I was native once, based on my language skills. Probably never going to happen.
10-Not losing my mission language for the rest of my life. I want bilingual children who speak Russian from birth.
Well that's it. I hope that was interesting/what you were looking for. I don't think my list would have been anything like this before my mission. Kind of fun when I think about it.
So, mom, I haven't read your email for today yet. Last week I was just signing off and then I got an email from you! My time was up but I sent another sentence to know that I was on at the same time as you. Haha I thought that was so cool for some reason. It seems impossible because generally whenever I'm awake it's 4 in the morning or something back home. Thanks for sending me your insight about the 2nd coming (last week or 2 weeks ago?). That was super amazing and I had never even thought about it! Me and Elder Barton had a chat about this one time. He said, "If Christ created the Earth, then why did He make mosquitoes? He must have known that the only thing they were meant to do is cause pain and irritation, which He later would have to experience during the Atonement? What's the point of just creating something that would make the Atonement harder? Then, the realizeation came that I as a human being cause so much more pain than a stupid little mosquito. How many times have I hurt someone whether physically or emotionally or spiritually? When have I made the Atonement something harder for Christ to have done? God must have known that when he created me" It's an interesting thought.
So now that the huge "intro" of my email is done, I'll write about my mission life so that Mom can put up something in the ward papers.
THIS WEEK: The biggest news, first of all, is that one of our investigators, Aleksander, died. It was completely crazy. He was a 50 year old agnostic/atheist with perfect health who we used to speak English with. Let me tell you the story: Twice a week we've been trying super hard to make progress with three guys named Alex, Michael, and Dima who are all for the most part atheist--Alex's words: "I don't have feelings about God one way or another." They meet because we don't do English club any more and they still wanted to practice with us. We were thinking about dropping them, but we had an amazing lesson on the Restoration so we kept meeting. Michael went on vacation so we didn't have meetings for 2 weeks. Alex's wife, Inga, has a shop that sells USSR t-shirts and stuff, so we stop by there on p-days sometimes. She's always been super nice and knows us because Alex talked to her about us sometimes. We went into her shop last Monday and Alex came in and we chatted for a few minutes, and he seemed perfectly healthy. Since Michael wasn't back from vacation we didn't meet. Wednesday, 2 days later, a lady called the elders in another area in Togliatti and said "Alexander died!" and gave them a number and an address. They called us and gave us the number and when we called it, the number for Alex came up. It was nuts. We went over to the address to see if it was true, and Inga was there with a bunch of family. They were all crying and it was a really really sad scene. She said He woke up in the morning, made coffee, and then started feeling funny and then died fifteen minutes later. We bore short testimony and said there's life after death, and she said, "maybe you guys know, but I don't know about that. Just pray for him because I don't know how." That hit me hard. It gave me a glimpse of what life is like for people who don't have that knowledge.
We went to the "viewing" the next day, which was a small group of people in there apartment, and Aleksander in a casket with Russian Orthodox sheets and crosses all over him. They had a priest there, and he read prayers and did some chants and swung some incense around. It felt really empty. He kept saying how much Aleksander needed our prayers to get into eternity and all this crazy stuff. It felt really desperate. I compared it in my head to the knowledge that the Savior was resurrected and so we will all be resurrected, and see our loved ones. To make a long story shorter, we left without talking to too many people, we've run into a couple people on the street who saw us at the funeral who seem interested in our message, and it's been crazy.
I am out of time but I want to write about Sergei and Katya our GOLDEN investigators who are getting baptized on the 29th!! Remind me to write about them next week because their story is AMAZING.
I LOVE YOU ALL and I love my mission! It's the frontlines! I know the church is true, I know that God has a plan for us, and that Jesus Christ made it all possible. Keep up the good work Sam, you're amazing! Work for this, Caleb, Seth, and Patrick! It has changed my life! LOVE YOU BYE
Alex
P.S. I adopted Sam's typing skills (or I just didn't waste time trying to send pictures...)
I'm hoping to write as much as Sam does for once. I'm so stinking jealous of your crazy typing skills. If I could type at 1000 words a minute maybe I could talk about all the stuff that goes on out here in the Motherland! Thanks so much for you emails, samsam. Haha I love how you end your letters like that it always makes me laugh. It always reminds me of that time we played volleyball with your college friends and that one guy said Stay in your circle! and you said Yupyup. Hahaha. Man, I'm glad to hear from everyone! Ready Proverbs 25:25 and you'll know what I'm saying. Sam's rockin it up in Chile and the family's getting back into things after the holidays, it sound like.
Oh, before I forget. Mom wanted me to do the top-ten most important list thing. One and two are tied because they're kind of the same concept, so I've got a top 3 out of ten. Here it goes. Are you ready for it??
1-Temple as in the fact that I grew up five minutes away from one, that I was able to go through the temple with my parents, that there's peace there, and the covenants I made there help me every day...
2-Worthiness in family meaning that it's important for me that all of my siblings grow up so that one day all 8 of us can be in the celestial room of the temple together. (Also, that all three of my brothers served full time missions).
3-Earthly and Heavenly Parents' approval meaning that it's important that I live in such a way so that I don't cause hurt for my parents like I have in the past. Along with that, someone once said to me that the Spirit is the Lord's approval stamp. Who doesn't want the Spirit?
4-Lasting conversion in myself and investigators
5-Church activity and testimonies among my friends at home
6-Music
7-Sleep
8-Health as in what happens when you RIP IT with the pushups every morning of your mission. Heh heh.
9-Speaking Russian without an American accent someday. I would love it if a Russian thought I was native once, based on my language skills. Probably never going to happen.
10-Not losing my mission language for the rest of my life. I want bilingual children who speak Russian from birth.
Well that's it. I hope that was interesting/what you were looking for. I don't think my list would have been anything like this before my mission. Kind of fun when I think about it.
So, mom, I haven't read your email for today yet. Last week I was just signing off and then I got an email from you! My time was up but I sent another sentence to know that I was on at the same time as you. Haha I thought that was so cool for some reason. It seems impossible because generally whenever I'm awake it's 4 in the morning or something back home. Thanks for sending me your insight about the 2nd coming (last week or 2 weeks ago?). That was super amazing and I had never even thought about it! Me and Elder Barton had a chat about this one time. He said, "If Christ created the Earth, then why did He make mosquitoes? He must have known that the only thing they were meant to do is cause pain and irritation, which He later would have to experience during the Atonement? What's the point of just creating something that would make the Atonement harder? Then, the realizeation came that I as a human being cause so much more pain than a stupid little mosquito. How many times have I hurt someone whether physically or emotionally or spiritually? When have I made the Atonement something harder for Christ to have done? God must have known that when he created me" It's an interesting thought.
So now that the huge "intro" of my email is done, I'll write about my mission life so that Mom can put up something in the ward papers.
THIS WEEK: The biggest news, first of all, is that one of our investigators, Aleksander, died. It was completely crazy. He was a 50 year old agnostic/atheist with perfect health who we used to speak English with. Let me tell you the story: Twice a week we've been trying super hard to make progress with three guys named Alex, Michael, and Dima who are all for the most part atheist--Alex's words: "I don't have feelings about God one way or another." They meet because we don't do English club any more and they still wanted to practice with us. We were thinking about dropping them, but we had an amazing lesson on the Restoration so we kept meeting. Michael went on vacation so we didn't have meetings for 2 weeks. Alex's wife, Inga, has a shop that sells USSR t-shirts and stuff, so we stop by there on p-days sometimes. She's always been super nice and knows us because Alex talked to her about us sometimes. We went into her shop last Monday and Alex came in and we chatted for a few minutes, and he seemed perfectly healthy. Since Michael wasn't back from vacation we didn't meet. Wednesday, 2 days later, a lady called the elders in another area in Togliatti and said "Alexander died!" and gave them a number and an address. They called us and gave us the number and when we called it, the number for Alex came up. It was nuts. We went over to the address to see if it was true, and Inga was there with a bunch of family. They were all crying and it was a really really sad scene. She said He woke up in the morning, made coffee, and then started feeling funny and then died fifteen minutes later. We bore short testimony and said there's life after death, and she said, "maybe you guys know, but I don't know about that. Just pray for him because I don't know how." That hit me hard. It gave me a glimpse of what life is like for people who don't have that knowledge.
We went to the "viewing" the next day, which was a small group of people in there apartment, and Aleksander in a casket with Russian Orthodox sheets and crosses all over him. They had a priest there, and he read prayers and did some chants and swung some incense around. It felt really empty. He kept saying how much Aleksander needed our prayers to get into eternity and all this crazy stuff. It felt really desperate. I compared it in my head to the knowledge that the Savior was resurrected and so we will all be resurrected, and see our loved ones. To make a long story shorter, we left without talking to too many people, we've run into a couple people on the street who saw us at the funeral who seem interested in our message, and it's been crazy.
I am out of time but I want to write about Sergei and Katya our GOLDEN investigators who are getting baptized on the 29th!! Remind me to write about them next week because their story is AMAZING.
I LOVE YOU ALL and I love my mission! It's the frontlines! I know the church is true, I know that God has a plan for us, and that Jesus Christ made it all possible. Keep up the good work Sam, you're amazing! Work for this, Caleb, Seth, and Patrick! It has changed my life! LOVE YOU BYE
Alex
P.S. I adopted Sam's typing skills (or I just didn't waste time trying to send pictures...)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Hello fambly,
Family: How is ERRbody?? How's Samsam? I'm sorry I didn't do this last week, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!! I feel like a jerk for forgetting to write that :( I'll write you a nice handwritten letter today and you'll get to read some birthday greetings about 2 months after your actual birthday ha ha ha. I got some letters from home recently, and I loved the pictures from Caleb and Hopey. I love hearing from you guys! I hope everything is going well in school. Dad said in his last letter that you guys are doing pretty good in school and whatnot. I just realized a couple days ago randomly that Seth plays trumpet and it weirded me out. That's going to be crazy to see all those differences in a year and a half. You guys are probably getting back into school, now that the holidays are over.
No biznass which makes me feel good. Except I sent those pictures and didn't explain them AT ALL ha ha ha. I was wondering why you guys were so confused about the snake picture until I realized that I didn't even tell you about it. I went to a non-active's house to teach him a lesson and he's got a whole wall of cages with weird exotic pets. He's got geckos and tarantulas and a hairless cat and cocroaches and stuff. And a huge boa constrictor. So we taught him a good spiritual lesson about the Holy Ghost, and then Bro. Yuri started showing us his aminals and then he pulled the snake out, said something really fast in Russian and the plopped it on my shoulders. Then Elder Barton took pictures for me. It was super great, except the whole time I just kept imagining all the things that could've gone wrong, namely the snake flexing until my head popped off. That thing was super strong...
...and Mission life: Well things are crazy, which means it's a regular week. We've made some major changes in our area over the past few weeks. We kind of did a whitewash on our own. A whitewash is where the two missionaries in an area get pulled out and two other missionaries who are completely new to the area come in. Kind of a clean slate for that area. Well, this cycle ended (P.S. I'm already done with my first cycle in Russia hubba-WHAT?), and me and Elder Barton are still rockin' in Old City Togliatti. We took a look at all of our "progressing" investigators and we realized that we've been spending so much time pulling teeth with these guys to try and get them to keep commitments when we've got other potential investigators who could be ready by the end of this month for baptism. So we switched our focus to finding, and we've had so much success, meaning we've got a huge list of potential investigators that we didn't have before, all of whom are saying they want to meet. Once we showed the Lord that we're willing to do something hard (namely give up on 5 lessons a week that could help our reporting numbers), he started showing us miracles. One of these: We're sitting there planning at night, and a guy named Roman calls out of the blue and says he wants to meet. He said "you probably don't who I am, but I got your number, and I want to meet and talk with missionaries." And we give out cards all day long and NOBODY ever calls us. We always have to call them. It was bomb. Then, we stopped by a lady's house who we haven't put a ton of focus on as an investigator, previously. She lives far away, and we decided to start doing more to work with her. We found out she's super ready. She previously investigated the Jehovah's Witnesses (by the way, who knew there were Russian JWs? Crazy, right?), but she thinks they don't live the doctrines they teach. She knows the Bible extremely well and has been reading the Book of Mormon, and she said this: "I have found Jesus, but I don't think He's found me, and I think that's because I'm not baptised. I just want to make sure I'm getting into the right church." Could you ask for an investigator more ready? It was amazing. She has questions about us, though. So we're going to meet with her and help her get on the path.
And I've got about ten minutes left, so I'm gonna get some pictures up real quick.
Peace and love, you guys are awesome! The Church is true! This is the best experience of my life! Live for it! Caleb, Seth, and Patrick, you guys will be amazing missionaries. Just listen to Dad, do the little stuff. You have awesome parents and an awesome bishop. Don't let anything distract from getting ready for a mission. Sam, you're an amazing missionary, I love your example and your love for the work and the people you teach! Can't wait to hear about more of your miracles in the mission field in Chile. Love you guys!
BYE alexs.
P.S. Dad said in his letter that he wants to hear more about my companion. Well I forgot to write more about him, but he's the best trainer ever. Forces me to contact and listens to my opinion and we get along perfect and everything.
Family: How is ERRbody?? How's Samsam? I'm sorry I didn't do this last week, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!! I feel like a jerk for forgetting to write that :( I'll write you a nice handwritten letter today and you'll get to read some birthday greetings about 2 months after your actual birthday ha ha ha. I got some letters from home recently, and I loved the pictures from Caleb and Hopey. I love hearing from you guys! I hope everything is going well in school. Dad said in his last letter that you guys are doing pretty good in school and whatnot. I just realized a couple days ago randomly that Seth plays trumpet and it weirded me out. That's going to be crazy to see all those differences in a year and a half. You guys are probably getting back into school, now that the holidays are over.
No biznass which makes me feel good. Except I sent those pictures and didn't explain them AT ALL ha ha ha. I was wondering why you guys were so confused about the snake picture until I realized that I didn't even tell you about it. I went to a non-active's house to teach him a lesson and he's got a whole wall of cages with weird exotic pets. He's got geckos and tarantulas and a hairless cat and cocroaches and stuff. And a huge boa constrictor. So we taught him a good spiritual lesson about the Holy Ghost, and then Bro. Yuri started showing us his aminals and then he pulled the snake out, said something really fast in Russian and the plopped it on my shoulders. Then Elder Barton took pictures for me. It was super great, except the whole time I just kept imagining all the things that could've gone wrong, namely the snake flexing until my head popped off. That thing was super strong...
...and Mission life: Well things are crazy, which means it's a regular week. We've made some major changes in our area over the past few weeks. We kind of did a whitewash on our own. A whitewash is where the two missionaries in an area get pulled out and two other missionaries who are completely new to the area come in. Kind of a clean slate for that area. Well, this cycle ended (P.S. I'm already done with my first cycle in Russia hubba-WHAT?), and me and Elder Barton are still rockin' in Old City Togliatti. We took a look at all of our "progressing" investigators and we realized that we've been spending so much time pulling teeth with these guys to try and get them to keep commitments when we've got other potential investigators who could be ready by the end of this month for baptism. So we switched our focus to finding, and we've had so much success, meaning we've got a huge list of potential investigators that we didn't have before, all of whom are saying they want to meet. Once we showed the Lord that we're willing to do something hard (namely give up on 5 lessons a week that could help our reporting numbers), he started showing us miracles. One of these: We're sitting there planning at night, and a guy named Roman calls out of the blue and says he wants to meet. He said "you probably don't who I am, but I got your number, and I want to meet and talk with missionaries." And we give out cards all day long and NOBODY ever calls us. We always have to call them. It was bomb. Then, we stopped by a lady's house who we haven't put a ton of focus on as an investigator, previously. She lives far away, and we decided to start doing more to work with her. We found out she's super ready. She previously investigated the Jehovah's Witnesses (by the way, who knew there were Russian JWs? Crazy, right?), but she thinks they don't live the doctrines they teach. She knows the Bible extremely well and has been reading the Book of Mormon, and she said this: "I have found Jesus, but I don't think He's found me, and I think that's because I'm not baptised. I just want to make sure I'm getting into the right church." Could you ask for an investigator more ready? It was amazing. She has questions about us, though. So we're going to meet with her and help her get on the path.
And I've got about ten minutes left, so I'm gonna get some pictures up real quick.
Peace and love, you guys are awesome! The Church is true! This is the best experience of my life! Live for it! Caleb, Seth, and Patrick, you guys will be amazing missionaries. Just listen to Dad, do the little stuff. You have awesome parents and an awesome bishop. Don't let anything distract from getting ready for a mission. Sam, you're an amazing missionary, I love your example and your love for the work and the people you teach! Can't wait to hear about more of your miracles in the mission field in Chile. Love you guys!
BYE alexs.
P.S. Dad said in his letter that he wants to hear more about my companion. Well I forgot to write more about him, but he's the best trainer ever. Forces me to contact and listens to my opinion and we get along perfect and everything.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Bring on the COLD!
Hey ERRbody!!
FAMBLY: I'm all worried that my poor little mother thinks I don't love her anymore because yesterday the library was closed for New Year's (which was 4 days ago or something) and I didn't get to write until today. But here it is! Also, this letter isn't going to be one of my longest ones because it took me forever to get all the mail saved so I can print it and read it. I got a ton of letters from everyone! 3 from sam, 2 from mom, 1 from Chelsee, 1 from CHRIS (finally :'D ), one from jameson, bryson, morgan yada yada yada. It was like CHRISTMAS. I got double the letters from fambly and I got letters from friends. Ahh.
Well SAM I skimmed mom's email before I skimmed yours, so I was sick for about 30 seconds until I figured out that the earthquake wasn't where you were. I was also really impressed with what mom wrote. She just said she wasn't worried and she knew everything was fine. That's crazy awesome that we have a family that relies so much on the Lord. I'm realizing day by day that my mission gives me subtle blessings like that that will be with me for the rest of my life. It's amazing! I love my mission! I love russia too. It's really windy and cold but I gots a huge coat. Man there's so much stinkin stuff to write about but I ain't got no time.
So BIZNASS. I can't think of a lot of stuff... Maybe one thing... I mentioned music... and it would be awesome awesome awesome if you could get on itunes and go to the chopin complete nocturnes cd and burn it for me and send it. Mission approved. We just found out that we can listen to other stuff than MOTAB, like classical and stuff. So that's cool. Also, I talked to a member named Alyona about a week ago, and she's leaving here to go to Utah for school in about a week or two. She's gonna live in park city and go to westminster and I said hey that's close to where my parents are. So she might stop by one day just to say hi or something. I just wanted to warn you in case a random Russian shows up to say hi...
STOREEz and then some pictures I'll upload. Well this week was pretty slow because we were locked up in our apartments from 3:30pm on, on New Year's Eve and New Year's. New Year's is crazy in Russia. So much drinking. It was dead on the streets. We were walking down the street on Sunday morning and this confused dude leaned out his window and asked what time it was. We said 8 and he asked IN THE MORNING?? which was interesting because the sun was up and it usually gets dark at around 3:15pm this time of year... We also saw an older guy outside our apartment just sitting on the ice. He wobbled a ton when he got up, and barely made it down the street without falling. I feel like I would've laughed at stuff like that, but it just made me super sad. Karin, an investigator, isn't progressing anymore. He's never showed a ton of interest, even though his wife and kids are members. He got really drunk for New Year's and his wife started packing her things and threatening divorce and it didn't go well. We don't really know what to do. Pray for them. I hate watching good good families get torn apart by that. It's sad to say but I'm getting a real glimpse of what we're really up against.
ON a lighter note... We started teaching a kid named Albert. His mom, Tatyana is a single mom and a super-inactive member who seems like an investigator when we teach her. But it's been cool because just teaching them 2 times a week has really brought them together. She's on some sort of pension, so she watches tv all day, and Albert is always always on his computer. It's kind of a miracle that he agreed to sit in on lessons with us. We said, "Hey we're here to meet with your mom, but we have a rule as missionaries that we can't meet without a male present" and he really grudgingly left his computer. And now that we've started teaching him, he's opened up a lot and he's happy when we come over. It's the BEST. He just started reading the Book of Mormon, and we're excited to work with him.
We also met up with a young guy and his wife and kid last week. His wife is sixteen, which is a little crazy (well, they're both really young), but they were super nice. They used to be taught by sisters before the area got split up, and we heard that they even had baptismal dates. We're going to them tonight to teach them, and it'll be awesome. They live with her grandpa, and her grandpa said that they've always had a good relationship with the missionaries. They were super stinkin nice to us when we stopped by. It's gonna be bomb teaching them.
Anyways, I really really wanted to send pictures of new years and this awesome cathedral I took pictures of, but I've only got one minute left, which is not enough time to upload pictures. Poo. I will for sure get you some pics next week though. Russia's amazing. Church is true. My little bros are li'l missionaries and it rocks. I love my parents and family and missionary sister, all of you. KEEP DOIN WHATCHA DOIN.
LOVE
Alex
P.S. for FHE, I want you to do something. Just read the chapter headings of Judges 14, 15, and 16. Then talk about how if someone made a movie of that, I would totally go with caleb and seth and patrick to see it on opening night. I think you will all enjoy what you find there. BYE.
FAMBLY: I'm all worried that my poor little mother thinks I don't love her anymore because yesterday the library was closed for New Year's (which was 4 days ago or something) and I didn't get to write until today. But here it is! Also, this letter isn't going to be one of my longest ones because it took me forever to get all the mail saved so I can print it and read it. I got a ton of letters from everyone! 3 from sam, 2 from mom, 1 from Chelsee, 1 from CHRIS (finally :'D ), one from jameson, bryson, morgan yada yada yada. It was like CHRISTMAS. I got double the letters from fambly and I got letters from friends. Ahh.
Well SAM I skimmed mom's email before I skimmed yours, so I was sick for about 30 seconds until I figured out that the earthquake wasn't where you were. I was also really impressed with what mom wrote. She just said she wasn't worried and she knew everything was fine. That's crazy awesome that we have a family that relies so much on the Lord. I'm realizing day by day that my mission gives me subtle blessings like that that will be with me for the rest of my life. It's amazing! I love my mission! I love russia too. It's really windy and cold but I gots a huge coat. Man there's so much stinkin stuff to write about but I ain't got no time.
So BIZNASS. I can't think of a lot of stuff... Maybe one thing... I mentioned music... and it would be awesome awesome awesome if you could get on itunes and go to the chopin complete nocturnes cd and burn it for me and send it. Mission approved. We just found out that we can listen to other stuff than MOTAB, like classical and stuff. So that's cool. Also, I talked to a member named Alyona about a week ago, and she's leaving here to go to Utah for school in about a week or two. She's gonna live in park city and go to westminster and I said hey that's close to where my parents are. So she might stop by one day just to say hi or something. I just wanted to warn you in case a random Russian shows up to say hi...
STOREEz and then some pictures I'll upload. Well this week was pretty slow because we were locked up in our apartments from 3:30pm on, on New Year's Eve and New Year's. New Year's is crazy in Russia. So much drinking. It was dead on the streets. We were walking down the street on Sunday morning and this confused dude leaned out his window and asked what time it was. We said 8 and he asked IN THE MORNING?? which was interesting because the sun was up and it usually gets dark at around 3:15pm this time of year... We also saw an older guy outside our apartment just sitting on the ice. He wobbled a ton when he got up, and barely made it down the street without falling. I feel like I would've laughed at stuff like that, but it just made me super sad. Karin, an investigator, isn't progressing anymore. He's never showed a ton of interest, even though his wife and kids are members. He got really drunk for New Year's and his wife started packing her things and threatening divorce and it didn't go well. We don't really know what to do. Pray for them. I hate watching good good families get torn apart by that. It's sad to say but I'm getting a real glimpse of what we're really up against.
ON a lighter note... We started teaching a kid named Albert. His mom, Tatyana is a single mom and a super-inactive member who seems like an investigator when we teach her. But it's been cool because just teaching them 2 times a week has really brought them together. She's on some sort of pension, so she watches tv all day, and Albert is always always on his computer. It's kind of a miracle that he agreed to sit in on lessons with us. We said, "Hey we're here to meet with your mom, but we have a rule as missionaries that we can't meet without a male present" and he really grudgingly left his computer. And now that we've started teaching him, he's opened up a lot and he's happy when we come over. It's the BEST. He just started reading the Book of Mormon, and we're excited to work with him.
We also met up with a young guy and his wife and kid last week. His wife is sixteen, which is a little crazy (well, they're both really young), but they were super nice. They used to be taught by sisters before the area got split up, and we heard that they even had baptismal dates. We're going to them tonight to teach them, and it'll be awesome. They live with her grandpa, and her grandpa said that they've always had a good relationship with the missionaries. They were super stinkin nice to us when we stopped by. It's gonna be bomb teaching them.
Anyways, I really really wanted to send pictures of new years and this awesome cathedral I took pictures of, but I've only got one minute left, which is not enough time to upload pictures. Poo. I will for sure get you some pics next week though. Russia's amazing. Church is true. My little bros are li'l missionaries and it rocks. I love my parents and family and missionary sister, all of you. KEEP DOIN WHATCHA DOIN.
LOVE
Alex
P.S. for FHE, I want you to do something. Just read the chapter headings of Judges 14, 15, and 16. Then talk about how if someone made a movie of that, I would totally go with caleb and seth and patrick to see it on opening night. I think you will all enjoy what you find there. BYE.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Russian e-mail for you!
Well, Christmas is next week, so I guess I'd better start by writing to you about what I'm thankful for. Ha ha because you need something from the gratitude book and I still haven't given it to you. So, for the gratitude book, you could write...
I'm thankful for my winter coat, and that I bargained until I got it for 2400 rbl. instead of 4000. I'm grateful for the scarf mom gave me that she got from China because it stops me from getting frostbite on my nose and face. I'm grateful that my gloves have fur in them, and that I have a furry-inside shapka. And I'm grateful for my boots. And I'm grateful for my cousin Mitch who works at the outdoors store which means I have smartwool thermals which are very very comfy and warm, and I'm grateful for my smartwool socks because they're awesome. I'm grateful I don't have a dastardly in-grown big toenail like Elder Garr does. I'm grateful that my trainer is cool and that we laugh a lot and still work super-hard. I'm grateful that I got letters from home when I went to the mission home on monday. And I'm super grateful that my mom sent me an awesome Christmas package that I opened a few days ago, with star-wars jammies and peanut butter and really good beef jerky that I already ate. And I'm grateful for the African tennis balls because you sent me three of them so I can juggle. And I'm grateful that you made Chris make 2 letters for me because I laughed way hard at what he wrote, and I'm even more grateful that one of my little brothers drew some fast food items smoking and making fun of a weiner who wasn't smoking because that picture made me laugh super duper hard. And I'm grateful that сан санович was so nice to us and wants to meet with us and said he'd come to church (even though he didn't). And I'm grateful that mom tells me every single email that she's glad I'm on a mission and I'm grateful that Sam always gives me advice because it's awesome that we're both on missions and stuff. And I could go on forever with my grateful list but I have to write now because I'm almost out of time.
So, business first. THANK YOU FOR THE CHRISTMAS PACKAGE. I got all your dear elders and letters and the letters from chris and the package all at once, while I was at mission conference Tues and Wed this week (it was in Samara, so they brought everything that had been sent to the mission home). It was the bomb, I read over all the letters a bunch because there was lots of good stuff. And I didn't know I missed peanut butter until I ate some and it was the best thing ever. Russian food is good too, though. We went to макдоналдс (McDonald's LOLOLOL) last week and it was super super good. Russian McDonald's is about a billion times better. They have Big Tasties, which you can't get in america. Dang, I'm off topic. I was going to send pictures of the McDonalds, and some graffiti of a cow that I saw, and a picture of how I used the nativity scene stickers you sent (heh heh), but I need to buy batteries for my camera today so I'll send them next week.
Agh, I haven't said anything and I've only got about 15 minutes left to write! Okay, so before I forget, some business to attend to: I'm going to call home on Christmas, and it will be in the morning for you. I'll probably call at 9 or 10ish tonight after all our work is done for the day, so that means you'll be getting a ring at about 11 or 12 Christmas morning. And this time, IT WON'T FALL THROUGH like in stinkin' Moscow. That was the worst. I'm really looking forward to talking to everyone!! Also, I have to tell you, that we're allowed no more that 40 minutes, so I'll buy a calling card for 40 minutes and it'll shut me off when it runs out. I was hoping we'd get to talk a little longer, but 'tis not so.
So that's that. How are things back home, as you're getting ready for Christmas?? How's Chile? I haven't read either of your emails yet, I always read them after I'm done writing, when I can print them out. So far I've just skimmed. Oh before I forget, be sure to thank Grandpa SO MUCH for the donation!! I was so happy to read the part "from him" in the last e-mail. It made me laugh, I sure miss that guy. Tell him I'm thinking about him! Oh wait, if he's going to be there Christmas morning than I'll tell him myself! A do-hoo-hoo.
Sam, I cracked up at the one sentence I saw from your email this week: GYPSIES ARE REAL. In Russia we call those babushkas. Lol. I think being outside America is such a...rich (..for lack of a better word...) experience for both of us. I see crazy stuff all the time, and I love hearing about your stories, too. It's great by now, too, because I really feel like I've gotten settled in to life in Russia (as much as I can be after just a month). Also, that's crazy. One month already?? That's bizarre. Anyway, back on topic... Yeah. Not-America is crazy.
Okay five minutes left. This could be the part of the letter you use for bulletins and ward updates and stuff. I'll tell you a little bit about my week. We were in Samara for two days, about a 2 hour drive away from Old City Tolgiatti. It was an amazing conference, we learned a ton, and I set some new goals that have already been helping out a ton with the work. We had some really cool stuff this week, too. When we got back to Togliatti, we tried going back to an old guy named Nikolai. Originally we taught him a lesson once, and he invited us back. But then when we came back, he said he didn't want to meet anymore. So we were disappointed about that. His health is really bad, he's got a problem where he shakes a ton, and he said right after we left after that first meeting, he started shaking really bad, so he saw that as a sign that he needed to stop meeting with us. But, he also pointed out during that first lesson that there was one point where we were talking about ole Jo Smith that he stopped shaking completely, which apparently never happens for him. Anyways, we stopped by a few days ago just to check up on him, and then he actually allowed us to come back a few days later to meet again. We taught him, and helped him pray. Right before he prayed, he started shaking really really bad, and he got too scared to pray. Shoot shoot shoot times up and ask me about this story and I'll tell you over the phone AHHHHHHH LOVE YOU BYE. LVOE ALEX
I'm thankful for my winter coat, and that I bargained until I got it for 2400 rbl. instead of 4000. I'm grateful for the scarf mom gave me that she got from China because it stops me from getting frostbite on my nose and face. I'm grateful that my gloves have fur in them, and that I have a furry-inside shapka. And I'm grateful for my boots. And I'm grateful for my cousin Mitch who works at the outdoors store which means I have smartwool thermals which are very very comfy and warm, and I'm grateful for my smartwool socks because they're awesome. I'm grateful I don't have a dastardly in-grown big toenail like Elder Garr does. I'm grateful that my trainer is cool and that we laugh a lot and still work super-hard. I'm grateful that I got letters from home when I went to the mission home on monday. And I'm super grateful that my mom sent me an awesome Christmas package that I opened a few days ago, with star-wars jammies and peanut butter and really good beef jerky that I already ate. And I'm grateful for the African tennis balls because you sent me three of them so I can juggle. And I'm grateful that you made Chris make 2 letters for me because I laughed way hard at what he wrote, and I'm even more grateful that one of my little brothers drew some fast food items smoking and making fun of a weiner who wasn't smoking because that picture made me laugh super duper hard. And I'm grateful that сан санович was so nice to us and wants to meet with us and said he'd come to church (even though he didn't). And I'm grateful that mom tells me every single email that she's glad I'm on a mission and I'm grateful that Sam always gives me advice because it's awesome that we're both on missions and stuff. And I could go on forever with my grateful list but I have to write now because I'm almost out of time.
So, business first. THANK YOU FOR THE CHRISTMAS PACKAGE. I got all your dear elders and letters and the letters from chris and the package all at once, while I was at mission conference Tues and Wed this week (it was in Samara, so they brought everything that had been sent to the mission home). It was the bomb, I read over all the letters a bunch because there was lots of good stuff. And I didn't know I missed peanut butter until I ate some and it was the best thing ever. Russian food is good too, though. We went to макдоналдс (McDonald's LOLOLOL) last week and it was super super good. Russian McDonald's is about a billion times better. They have Big Tasties, which you can't get in america. Dang, I'm off topic. I was going to send pictures of the McDonalds, and some graffiti of a cow that I saw, and a picture of how I used the nativity scene stickers you sent (heh heh), but I need to buy batteries for my camera today so I'll send them next week.
Agh, I haven't said anything and I've only got about 15 minutes left to write! Okay, so before I forget, some business to attend to: I'm going to call home on Christmas, and it will be in the morning for you. I'll probably call at 9 or 10ish tonight after all our work is done for the day, so that means you'll be getting a ring at about 11 or 12 Christmas morning. And this time, IT WON'T FALL THROUGH like in stinkin' Moscow. That was the worst. I'm really looking forward to talking to everyone!! Also, I have to tell you, that we're allowed no more that 40 minutes, so I'll buy a calling card for 40 minutes and it'll shut me off when it runs out. I was hoping we'd get to talk a little longer, but 'tis not so.
So that's that. How are things back home, as you're getting ready for Christmas?? How's Chile? I haven't read either of your emails yet, I always read them after I'm done writing, when I can print them out. So far I've just skimmed. Oh before I forget, be sure to thank Grandpa SO MUCH for the donation!! I was so happy to read the part "from him" in the last e-mail. It made me laugh, I sure miss that guy. Tell him I'm thinking about him! Oh wait, if he's going to be there Christmas morning than I'll tell him myself! A do-hoo-hoo.
Sam, I cracked up at the one sentence I saw from your email this week: GYPSIES ARE REAL. In Russia we call those babushkas. Lol. I think being outside America is such a...rich (..for lack of a better word...) experience for both of us. I see crazy stuff all the time, and I love hearing about your stories, too. It's great by now, too, because I really feel like I've gotten settled in to life in Russia (as much as I can be after just a month). Also, that's crazy. One month already?? That's bizarre. Anyway, back on topic... Yeah. Not-America is crazy.
Okay five minutes left. This could be the part of the letter you use for bulletins and ward updates and stuff. I'll tell you a little bit about my week. We were in Samara for two days, about a 2 hour drive away from Old City Tolgiatti. It was an amazing conference, we learned a ton, and I set some new goals that have already been helping out a ton with the work. We had some really cool stuff this week, too. When we got back to Togliatti, we tried going back to an old guy named Nikolai. Originally we taught him a lesson once, and he invited us back. But then when we came back, he said he didn't want to meet anymore. So we were disappointed about that. His health is really bad, he's got a problem where he shakes a ton, and he said right after we left after that first meeting, he started shaking really bad, so he saw that as a sign that he needed to stop meeting with us. But, he also pointed out during that first lesson that there was one point where we were talking about ole Jo Smith that he stopped shaking completely, which apparently never happens for him. Anyways, we stopped by a few days ago just to check up on him, and then he actually allowed us to come back a few days later to meet again. We taught him, and helped him pray. Right before he prayed, he started shaking really really bad, and he got too scared to pray. Shoot shoot shoot times up and ask me about this story and I'll tell you over the phone AHHHHHHH LOVE YOU BYE. LVOE ALEX
Monday, December 6, 2010
pictures from the motherland
In Soviet Russia COAT WEARS YOU! Ha Ha I couldn't resist! Say it with the Tyson Dictter Russian accent!) Sorry the photo is turned sideways! Here is the e-mail that came with all the cool photos!
Alrighty alrighty alrighty. So I thought that emailing on time would get easier once I got out here. But even though there aren't flashing red numbers in the corner of the screen, I'm still on a time-crunch, always!! I'll never get to say everything I want to in one of these emails. So much stuff happens. Russia's crazy crazy crazy. I love it. We're super jealous of Sam. I printed up your emails last week, and my companion saw how long sam's was, and he said "How does she have that much time to write!?!?!" Anyways, here's the plan. In order to save time with emails, I'm just going to print off your emails without reading them in-depth. If they're short enough like mom's then I'll scan them for big news first. But what'll happen is I'll write to you first, and then read your letters after. So I'll be responding a week late to any news I get from home, but I figure that'll be best.
Okay, now that that big explanation is done.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know it's not for another six days but I'd rather be a week early than a day late! Bah ha! I just feel bad because there's no way I'll be able so send a package with a big furry shapka hat for you or anything like that (lol). But I'll write you a nice letter today and send a little gift that will fit in an envelope. P.S. that will get to you probably after Christmas and everything.
OI. Christmas! It feels kind of Christmasy here, too. They celebrate it almost exactly like we do, except their big holiday is New Year's. But they have Father Frost (Santa) and presents and lights and trees and everything for New Year's. And then they celebrate Christ's birth on Jan. 7th, but more as a minor holiday with a family meal and stuff. So it's fun. There's Christmas stuff going up everywhere here. And when I say Christmas I mean New Year's (which is christmas for Russians pretty much).
Man, when I think about stuff like that it makes me miss you guys! I love those days when we used to have a fire going and we'd watch tv and make junk food. Ah good times. I also got an angry letter from Patrick, and I hope he just wrote it before my letter got to him. I wrote him a huge letter from the MTC, and it should've showed up with the package of all the stuff I sent home before I left America.
I also read Sam's story about the investigator. That's really really hard stuff, I think. I always heard stories like that, but it was never a big deal until I got out here. It's hard to have people turn you down like that after you've turned over your whole life to God and His work with the sole intent to help those people. We dropped by a guy's house last week. He's from the Area book and we'd never met him. His name was Nikolai and he was super old and had a condition where he shook all the time. He let us in and we had a really really good lesson. There was one part where we were testifying and he stopped shaking completely. He told us that it was weird that he was able to sit still because he's never able to do that. Next time we came to his apartment, we asked how his prayer went and stuff, and he told us he didn't want to meet anymore because after we left, he started shaking even worse than before. He took that as a sign that he needed to stop meeting with us, but we take it as a sign that he needed to keep meeting with us. Well, everyone has their agency.
Also, this week we had 4 investigators at church, which is a huge deal. We walked Karin to church with his family. They're all members, but he's not because he smokes and drinks a lot. But we've been teaching him and he's making progress and he came to church. That's a huge deal for him. He never ever ever comes.
Other than that, I don't have a ton of news. I held a boa constrictor snake and got a picture. I'm gonna send it to you. TELL ME ALL ABOUT YOU GUYS AT HOME. The longer the email, the better. I'll just print it off and read it later if it's too long. I wanna hear about dad's work and Patrick and Caleb and Seth and Hopey with their school and lacrosse and trumpet and guitar and all that good stuff. I love you guys so much! I think about you all the time, and how awesome it'll be to just sit happy with my family at home! But I love being here, don't nobody worry about that. It's crazy nuts in Russia, but I love it. I walked past some graffiti on the way into the Library just barely that said россия умирает, which means "Russia will die," and whenever I see stuff like that, it makes me laugh a ton, which is weird. I see English graffiti everywhere too, and it's spelled wrong sometimes, which makes me laugh too. Like "What's the deel?" or "I hate emos" or "sk8r". Also, there's a ton of sickle-and-hammers here. And all the streets are named after soviet stuff. Like marx street and lenin street and victory street. Man, Russia's great. Also, there are dogs everywhere without owners. They just wander around in packs. I could write forever about first impressions of Russia, but I'm going to upload pictures now. TELL ME ALL ABOUT HOME. I LOVE YOU GUYS AND I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING AN AWESOME DECEMBER SO FAR.
Love Alex
P.S. Mom next time you see chris will you please tell him to e-mail me? I can receive emails from friends, I just can't email back, I have to write. So tell him to email me!! Thanks love you bye
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