Friday, October 17, 2014

It's not cold, yet


The weather is still pretty hot here! I am sweating a lot.  I will probably be buying a winter jacket and boots in a month or so. I didn't know Nakhodka meant “Lucky Find”! That is pretty sweet.  


We never have dinner appointments so we are always cooking for ourselves! I am so grateful you taught us how to cook every Sunday.  They were talking to us about how we should have been preparing for our Missions for a long time before our missions and I thought well, I can't really think of anything I did to prepare. They then talked about the value of hard work and I thought of course!  I learned that.  We shouldn't be lazy? They then talked about being able to cook for ourselves and clean our apartments. I thought, I have always been cleaning! They talked about how we should have not been spending excess amounts of time on the computer or video games, and these are all the things you have been telling us from day one! I am so glad you gave us such high standards.  It makes this all so much easier.


The New Orleans experience sounds great! I hope to be able to go there some day.  


Thanks for thinking about sending me a care package.  If possible, could I have some Ramen?  I can't really think of anything else :)  I trust your judgment (Dang, I can't remember how to spell judgment, I hope that is correct!).


So in three weeks, our Branch President is leaving. He is like the Bishop but the ward is only like 15 people. They are all really good people but I am afraid that when lose this big source of power in the branch then we will lose some really good people. We need to inspire them and rally the troops so that when our leader is gone we can still stay strong!


Yeah those were eggs in a plastic bag! They don’t use cartons for their eggs :) And no that was not powdered milk in a bag - it was regular milk! Totally normal milk in a bag.  Crazy, huh?  


We only have 2 elders in our apartment. (I cannot for the life of me remember how to spell apartment....)  In our Nakhodka area there are 4 elders and 2 sisters.


I am currently sitting in a little office building thingy, 4 floors up, I have weird Russians sitting around me and when they talk I have no clue what they are saying.... It’s okay maybe they are talking about me... I will just type about them and they won’t know what I am saying either!  We sit here and email for an hour or so then we go back out and talk to people! Maybe I will play Ping-Pong later.  I will send some pictures in an hour or so from our church computer. I can also see the ocean from where I am sitting and I see a bunch of boats.  It makes me miss going SCUBA diving.


In regards to e-mail messages home we are allowed to tell you first names but no pictures of Russian people and no last names.   


I bought a leather satchel, it’s pretty manly! I also took some money out to buy pizzas for Priesthood session of Conference but ended up not using it.  I can’t wait to go see "Meet the Mormons" It looks so fun! 


I have tripped like 20 times this week. In Russia, they have a lot of cobblestone sidewalks that are hard to walk on.  A couple times I was walking past someone who was sitting on a bench or something, I would start to say hello in Russian and then I would step off the edge of the sidewalk and my hello would get mixed in with an "Aaaggghh" So I would end up saying something like "Straaagjlsszxn"... which actually isn't Russian... It sounds kinda like it but it’s just stupid :)


We were led a couple times during the week by the spirit. We made a plan on Monday or to find a man we didn’t know. His name was Владимир. So we headed on out, talking to everyone we met.  Then we met a big muscled guy just as he was walking into a store.  He is probably 30 years old. He stopped in the doorway and started talking to us. He seemed very interested in our English Gospel discussions. He said he will be there and guess what his name was.... Владимир! We also got his number, but didn't have time to teach a lesson yet. I think it is so cool how it always works out that way.


Another time, just 2 days ago, we were heading back from the Priesthood Session of Conference. We were looking for a number 9 bus to take us home. We didn't see that one but bus number 5 came up. We got on the 5 but before paying we saw a number 9 in the distance. We hopped off quickly and get on the number 9 bus. When we get on the bus we handed our money to the conductor lady.  Then, she handed Elder Sayers a notebook.  It was his notebook, he had left it on the bus earlier that day. It was great how that worked out and didn't stay on the number 5:)


I am loving Russia! Slowly but surely understanding more and more :) Wish me luck! The Church is true and I Love You!


Старейшина Гарднер
Elder Gardner

 

 

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