Saturday, December 5, 2009

VACATION

5 December 2005
"Off to Riga we go! We are on the train right now, and we will be there in about 15 hours. Today we got into Samara after a long train ride from Penza. The Russians have this funny idea that since it is cold outside, you need to burn the cabins up. That means that you just die as you try to sleep and sweat to death. It is a pain. Well, we sat in the office for a bit before we were finally able to leave to the airport.

In Moscow, we had plenty of time to see the city. We went to Red Square and checked it all out. It was way sweet. We then went to TGI Fridays and pigged out. It was so sweet to get some really good food. We then walked around for a bit before we got on this train, and soon we will be in Riga. I am excited, and it should be way cool there."

Friday, December 4, 2009

Sweet Day

4 December 2005
"This week was a good one, and I am off to a vacation for the next 3 days. We are headed off to Samara tonight, and then to Riga and Moscow. Well, it’s good that today was such a good day. We had Афина at the meeting and on one stopped by for her, so that is good. Also Света came with Ирина so that is way sweet. We also had the Hunts there with us, so I had the opportunity to translate which was good. It was a really good meeting and so that helped a lot for the day. We ran by and picked up my beanie and then went home and broke our fast. We discussed our lessons that we were then going to have.

We headed to Афина's and had a way awesome lesson. We talked about testimonies and the importance. She wants to know the truth, and is working on understanding. Аня и Маша were there and at times they helped while at other they didn't help one bit - they go crazy together sometimes. They went with us to our next meeting with Поваров. That was interesting as we talked about the Book of Mormon. She has a lot of questions and is doubting the truthfulness of it. Well, it is an interesting time with her. We are now ready to head out to Samara. Hopefully all goes well."

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Girls

3 December 2005
"So we had a lot of wasted time today, but all in all, it was an alright day. This morning we were doing some contacting and it was super slippery. That was cool, and it made for a fun time trying to talk with everyone. Well, we came home, and we were going to eat, but then we decided that it would be better later. We ran out to the рынок quick like - it is 2 minutes from us - and my companion got himself some gloves. We had sport time, and that was cool. We played fly's up with the football in the snow. We slid all over the place. We then played a game, followed by a little basketball. All in all, it was sweet and a bit cold, but worth it.

We came home, showered, ate and then went to the собрание миссионеров. That was pretty cool, and we got a lot done, and I know when people can help us. We should have had a meeting with Гарик but he couldn't make it, and so we just chatted with Gene for a bit. We then met up with Андре to teach a lesson to a couple girls in our area - Ирина и Юлия - they are sisters and members. Юлия wasn't there but Ирина's friend was - света. We chatted for a bit with them, and had a good time there. They said they would come tomorrow, and that will be great if that is the case. Tomorrow should be busy and then it is off on vacation!"

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

BofM

2 December 2005
"Another fairly good day turned out for us today. We had plenty of time this morning and so we did our planning. That went fairly well, and we got next week well planned out. We made an interesting lunch - I wanted to make a chicken casserole but it didn't turn out all that well. I guess I don't really cook so well. It was still decent, and we didn't starve.

We went out and contacted while we bought tickets to Samara, and tried to get my beanie back - I left it at someone’s house the other day. We didn't have a ton of success, but we talked with one really good guy, so we hope that something will come from that. We then took the nice walk out to Афина's house where we had an interesting as always with her. We want to baptize her, but we want to make sure she understands. We shall see what will happen.

We then had another meeting with a member that fell through. We instead decided to stop by to some other members and they were home. The mom doesn't really come to church and we talked about the Book of Mormon with her. She wants to read every day, but it is hard to find time. It is interesting how the minute people stop reading the BofM is the minute they start to fall away. There is such a great power found in that book. I don't know if I'll completely understand, but I shall try to find out how it is so."

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Weird

1 December 2005
"We ran all over the place today. It was sure crazy, but it was good too because it meant that we were busy and had a lot of meetings. This morning, we met with Раиса and she is doing well. She is fairly sick, but at least she is happy as usual. She can't give up smoking, and we are unsure how to help. We were there for a long time, and we finally left to another meeting.

We met with another guy named Димитрий that is interested mainly just in English. It is fairly pointless to meet with him as he doesn't really want to get baptized. We are trying to help him, but he still doesn't want to give up his religion. We talked about baptism and about how it is important. He said he would think about it - and that is all.

We then ran to a meeting with a guy named Виктор. He is an interesting old fellow who also smokes plenty. He only has one lung, but he smokes anyways. Well, we talked about the Book of Mormon, and he said that it is true, but doesn't need to pray about it - for that he didn't know how to pray also. He kicked us out because he didn't feel good. Talk about weird meetings.

We then stopped to вокзал to buy some tickets, and then finally had some time to eat. We went to Трио Пицца and ate as we had no energy to make anything. We ended the night at молодежный вечер which was actually set aside for a missionary and his parents. It was fun, and nice to talk with people. I love the youth here, and I love to be able to work with them. They are a great help to us. I love it."

Monday, November 30, 2009

Free Beer

30 November 2005
"Another p-day gone and done. It was actually a lot of fun and we did a lot. We started the day by cleaning on the подезд. That was the фиг нам. We had to wash off the stairs because when they painted the gay walls they got the paint like stuff everywhere. We cleaned the stairs for 2 hours, and it was so painful. My blister popped that I got from ringing out the rag. The best part of it was that we helped a couple of grandmas move a door down the stairs and they gave us a beer as a reward. We told them we don't drink, and one of them got real upset we wouldn't take it. It was funny.

We took off, and Steiner got a haircut and then we bought some food for the next few days. We came home and we played a little chess. It was 1 to 1 and it was way sweet. We ran to the рынок, and I set up my lights for Christmas here. We then stopped into Subway and had some American food. It was sweet. We wrote home, and I finally heard from my Mom. We then went to English lesson and as always, it was pretty boring. We stayed for some singing, and then we came home. Tomorrow we should be super busy so it will be way nice!"

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Complaining

29 November 2005
"Today was sure a sweet adventure. We wanted to visit some members that live in a village outside of the city and so that meant that we had to find the place. Well, we walked forever to try and find the stop to get on the bus - we had some people who were super nice in helping - and other not so much. We finally found the thing, and headed out there - well I guess I was filled with the spirit, because I guessed the right stop. The weather right now is not normal - there is rain in winter in Russia? That means that everything was super muddy, and especially the деревня. We found the first lady, and it turns out that her husband started to drink again, they got divorced, and they are rarely together. We then walked another couple miles in the mud to find that another ladies house burned down. We were covered and these huge trucks were going by and getting us all muddy. We were covered by the mud, but it was way sweet.

We finally got home and got off of our feet and had a bit to eat. It was nice as we had walked a ton during the morning. We then went to the other деревня at the other end of the city to visit шавкат. He is doing okay, but he just complained a lot. It was hard to listen to him for a long time. It was hard to listen to his complaints because he isn't doing anything about it. We need to do some simple things and the most important one is to worry about yourselves. We need to work and do better!"