Rich

6 December 2004


"Wow – good things are happening in Ижевск and I am leaving. We met with Маши и Саша (rich lady, friend of Лена), and here friend Игор was there. Well, we talked about the BofM, and wow they were way interested. All 4 of us were there. Well, I took some pictures, but I really want to be here to work with them. Well, before that we were with Денис, and it was nice to talk with him. He is such an awesome guy. It will be weird without him. Well besides that not much happened. No crying today at least, so that was good. Tomorrow is the last day here – wow, it will be hard. Luckily, I found out a week ago – Elder Jensen found out late tonight. Well, I will miss Ижевск, and especially the people. The Lord has truly blessed me to serve here!"

Hard Day

5 December 2004
"Man, I gave it all up today. What a way to have a good ending. Well, it was testimony meeting today, and I cried my guts like when I first came. It was an absolutely awesome meeting. All the Михайловы family shared their testimony. They all wanted their family to be sealed in the temple. Well, after the testimony meeting, we had the lesson. At the end of the lesson was my time. I just stood and cried, and then I finally said a few words. Well, they sang Бог с тобой доколе свидимся. I cried and sang with them. Well, we headed to Норья and had a good little meeting there with them. We ate and said goodbyes – not as hard as I didn't really know them. We ended the night with a visit to Ангелина и Лидия. They gave me socks and postcards. Лидия hugged me too – I let her. Well, we came home and now I am writing. 2 days left. I am just going to cry when I leave. It will be so hard to leave. Я Ижевск люблю!"

Fun

4 December 2004
"It’s really hard to understand when you don’t feel well. We tried to find something on the internet, but the problem was they didn’t have a link so we didn’t find anything. Well, we stopped by to Ангелина и Лидия and gave them the news. Later, we worked on our lesson that we have to do tomorrow. Well, we finished that, and then we went to see Ольга – she is doing alright. We finished the night with a meeting with Лена (Тимур, Лилия) and Настя Ермелайова came with us. It was awesome. Настя is so awesome. She is so blunt with her friends. She just put it all out. Well, it’s too bad that all the members in the world aren’t like here. They are so awesome! People are amazing here in Ижевск."

Sick

3 December 2004


"I’m getting sick and its not fun. We didn’t do a lot here, but I just don’t feel well. We planned this morning and ate, and then we went to the internet place, and did our English lesson. We dropped by to the other elders, and their food was good. Well, we had English lesson and it will be hard to leave, I already know. I love the people so much. I am going to miss them. Юлия is amazing, and it will be sad not to see her when she is baptized. I love everyone here. It will be super hard to leave. I must turn to the Lord. It will be hard, but I have to continue on."

Transfer

2 December 2004
"The news came late yesterday and it wasn’t all that great – I am leaving to Saratov to the дачный район, and Elder Alton will be here in my place. Well, I didn’t sleep well and today I have been kind of sick. Well, we were super busy so that helped, but I was still thinking about the transfer. We decided to help Стася with English, and so that was good. Well, we then ran to Лена’s house and watched her videos with her and met her friend. After chatting we headed off, and we went to find Наташа but of course she wasn’t home. We just went to our last meeting of the night with Ольга и Настя. Also Настя, the other waiting baptism, was there. That was the day, and it was good. I really don’t feel well, but hey, what can you do. I just need to get it in gear, and finish off these last few days."

P-day

1 December 2004
"We have another good one today! We wrote home to start out the day, and we were there for 3 hours – Elder Kirk and Watts wanted to know more about the Ukraine crisis. I resorted to playing Minesweeper. Well, after the adventure there, we went and ate, and then Elder Kirk and I came home and slept. Well, we went to visit Галина but she wasn’t feeling well. We then had a meeting with Ангелина и Лидия и Марина. That was way awesome! We talked with them about carrying on, and doing well! They are amazing!"

English Class

30 November 2004
"Well, we had a pretty good time today. We visited Юлия’s school – УГУ! We were there to talk with her class about English. After the class, we talked with Юлия about the baptismal questions! She is so awesome! I love her to death and she is so ready to be baptized! We came home, ate and then went to Book of Mormon study class. It was way awesome. We had a blast. Well, after that we came home and had a good time talking about a good missionary subject. It was a good day overall. Tomorrow is П-День еще!"