Tired

25 July 2004
"Well, another day over with, and it was a crazy one, but a good one. It was so crazy because of how tired I was today. There were a couple of times when I almost fell over I was so tired.

This morning, we got up and had a good breakfast that Старейшина Thompson made - french toast. We went to church after that, and that was awesome. I understood a lot at times, while at other times I understood nothing.

After the meeting, we went and ate lunch followed by which we tried to visit 6 different people, none who were home. We met up with some other elders and just street contacted for a while. Well they did, I was unable to as I understood nothing.

We are now back here at home, and I am writing. I feel like falling over and dying. I am so tired! I will sleep good tonight!

A lady at church today said that the Lord would help me. That made me feel better, and really helped me. I hope that the Lord does help me, as I know he will. This place is awesome. I love the Russian people!"

Finally Arrived

24 July 2004
"Well, I'm here and still living - barely. We arrived at about 6 this morning, and waited for like an hour to get our passports signed. After that, we filled out some papers because our luggage didn't make it to the airport here!

Anyways, after that we made it to see President Davydik. It was nice to see his smiling face. We went to the his house, and we had some breakfast cereal, bread and yogurt. We then went through orientation...basically one word can sum it up: Obedience!

We then found out who are new companions are, and wher we are serving. My companion is Elder Jensen and I am in the Iвzheck area. I was unable to go today because of the long train ride to get there.

Right now I am writing with the zone leaders until Monday when I will arrive.

After that, we had a nice big lunch that Sister Davydik prepared for us. It was chicken, rice vegetables followed by ice cream. I absolutely loved it, and ate tons.

I slept for about an hour with my wait for the zone leaders to come pick me up. We came, dropped my few things off at the apartment, and then just kept trying to do missionary work, so I hope I get more experience tomorrow.

I am excited to get to the work, and learn the language. I have a lot of work to do. I must turn to the Lord! It's an exciting time in life!"

--Yes, I really wrote Ижевск(Izhevsk) like that in my journal with the Russian letter in with all the English letters and out of place. Also all those other mistakes are really there. I didn't write about how in shock I was when we were driving in to Samara and I got my first glimpse of the Russian buildings. I thought they looked like huge bricks in rows, all the same. I was in shock just looking at them.

Frankfurt to Samara

Alton and Paulsen sleeping in Germany

4:00 AM Russian Time
"Well, we are almost there! It is crazy. I am really going to be in Russia! It's crazy. Right now I am sitting next to a бабушка who only speaks Russian. She is really nice and understanding that I don't speak good Russian. That makes me fell good about getting to Russia.

After I wrote today, I slept some more before going to another terminal. We sat around and studied a little before going to buy some german chocolate. It was super good, and I enjoyed it greatly.

We then were waiting for our flight time when a huge storm came in. There was tons of lightning and rain and things – we thought for sure our flight would be delayed, but it wasn't really.

We got on the bus and drove to our plane which meant we got to walk up to it. That was an adventure. I fell asleep like 3 minutes after take off, so that was nice. We had an interesting meal, and I didn't finish it!

I am excited to get to Russia even though I don't understand as well as I need. The Lord has truly blessed us in all our flying to get here. I know that he truly loves me and knows the experience that is ahead of me.

It truly has been a humbling experience to get here! I know that the Lord has been teaching me, and that he is molding me into something he wants. I will follows the Lord as Nephi did (1 Nephi 3:7), and do all I can for him. This is the work of God, and he is sending us forth to declare the gospel of his son Jesus Christ."

Chicago to Frankfurt

22 July 2004
"...We still have about 5 hours on this flight before we arrive in Frankfurt. We already had one meal today, and we will have another in a couple of hours. It was some beef thing that was actually suprisingly good.

It is weird to think how soon I will be in Samara. I am excited to get there. I need tons of work on the language, but at the same time the Lord has blessed me tons. The language has come well to me. I know that I wouldn't be where I am now without the Lord."

--Just as a note, we were delayed in Salt Lake, missed our flight in Chicago and now we made this flight to Frankfurt Germany. This was after a 3 month stay in the MTC.