Sticks and Stones

Hey family,
It is weird to think, I'm used to telling people "yeah I have been here for X weeks" But now I am going to be saying "X number of MONTHS" in Russia.... Dang... We were at the Рынок (Reenuk) today. It is just like in Mexico where they have those open shop kinda things where we can bargain with people.  They had some sweet stuff there! I saw a couple Golden Zippos and with Russian pictures carved into them. I saw some sweet knives! They have great stuff there.  We also went to the Spetsnaz store! I got a tie clip with a Russian symbol on it, pretty sweet:)  

 

Bought some new ties

They sell Kinder eggs with toys in them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I haven’t felt homesick yet! Maybe it’s a good thing, or maybe I should miss you more. haha I don't know.  I am having too much fun!


Packages take a while to get here. 6-8 weeks sounds right. When it gets to Russia, it will get sent to the mission office in Vladivostok. That is 4 hours away or so by bus. I won’t get any mail until the end of my transfer most likely. That will be two weeks from now. Each transfer is 6 weeks long.


I got to hang out with Elder Jaeckel this past week. If you remember him, he is the one who's mom sent me a camera battery and I took it to him.  He is way cool! He is our zone leader and because my companion is district leader, he had to go on a split with the zone leaders. I got Elder Jaeckel and Elder Sayers (my companion) went with Elder Mateer. Elder Mateer is from Great Britain so it is fun to listen to him speak Russian! He is awesome!

Russian Rubles up close

That is cool that Dad went out with the missionaries! We just had "missionary Saturday" in our ward. 2 people showed up so the other 2 companionships got to go out with members.   


I think 3 times this week we have had every single one of our appointments for the day cancel on us.  No worries - it  just means that there is somebody else who needs to talk with us at that time. We don't get discouraged, we lift up our eyes and look for the golden person we need to go find! It is always a little rough though asI think it is easier to talk to somebody with whom you have already set up an appointment, than to go talking to people on the street.  All in all its never boring.  Yeah, we have had some ups, and quite a few downs.  But, all is well :)


We have people always yelling at us "Go home Yankee!" But it was all worth it when we heard a Russian mess up and yell at us "Come home Yankee!" hahaha I think we know what he meant, but that just made me laugh so hard :) 

The lady you got an email from is named: Ксения. In English you say it like : K-sen-ya 

She is a member here in our ward. She has 3 kids; ages 2, 6, 12 - I think.  She reminds me a ton of Teresa Garr. So just imagine Teresa Garr but Russian :) She is so loud and sassy and fun to talk with, she even speaks English.

A full coat rack at church is a beautiful thing!



We went to go visit a less active member this week and let me preface it by explaining how the doors work. When you visit someone’s apartment you stand outside the building and press their apartment number on the pad and it will call them. They answer and if they want to meet with us they will press a button to unlock the door and let us in.





After a day of walking around (left). 

While we were waiting for the person to answer their phone three old grandpas passed by us so we asked them how they were doing. One got MAD! He went off like "Who do you think you are? How does it look like I am doing? Who gave you permission? What do you think you are doing here?" He was literally shouting! hahaha Poor guy.  Then a guy opened the door and just stared at us. He asked what we were doing and we told him we had a meeting with our friend. He pushed us out of the way and slammed the door shut. He then said "No, you don’t.".... ahhaha, alrighty.  I guess we don’t have a meeting here. 

Some people here get so upset but they are harmless.  It’s okay.  Whatever makes them feel better. Overall I am having lots of fun! Sticks and stones may break my bones but Russians can never hurt me. 

The Church is True and I Love You!!