Saturday, January 23, 2010

Surprise

23 January 2006
"We had a good day and surprised Steiner really well. It was his b-day and so we set up a surprise party for him. Well, that went really good other then the fact that we were there for a long time. So, this morning I worked on throwing out the Christmas tree, and that was a party. It hurt and I got sap all over myself. We then went and contacted a bit which went all right. We had a guy tell us that that it was too cold, and that we should go home. We just kept going though (today was only -20C). We went to собрание округа which went fairly well. We had really good плов (rice dish) and so that was cool. We went to see Максим and he is doing pretty well there in the hospital, but he is going crazy. He has been there almost 2 months. We then wet to Афина's place and she was not home, but her Mom was. We chatted with her for a bit and that was good. She is a super nice lady, and very worried about Афина. We tried to comfort her, but she would be much better off if she had the teaching of the gospel to guide her. It is unfortunate, but we need to work with her. Well, I told Steiner that we had a meeting with a guy at 7, but really it was a surprise party. It was a good time, and there were a lot of people there. We ate cake and relaxed a bit, and it was really fun. Now I have the day still to plan tomorrow, but hopefully something will work out for us! I feel like a real missionary!"

Friday, January 22, 2010

Big Mouth, Good Day

22 January 2006
"Today was an alright day, and I feel a lot better tonight. We had a good evening, and I got back in the missionary spirit. I made a bunch of phone calls, and set up several meeting, and tried to get to know new people. All in all, things went well, and we had a good time. This morning we went to our meeting as usual, and all went well that way. Владик was there again, and so that was good. He is an interesting guy, and he has so much going on in his head. He always wants more and more to read and study. He just sucks this stuff in. It is insane how much he reads. He thinks a little too deeply sometimes, and he has a lot that goes through his head, but he is a good guy. In the building that we met, it was freezing and I was ready to die. Well, after the meeting we came home, and grabbed a bit to eat. We went to the branch apartment and helped Андре out for like an hour and got Маша's computer up and going again. We then got a call from Алексей Гладков to go to a meeting with a member, and things worked out that way. In fact we met a new young man there that would be interested to learn more about our teachings. We were there forever as Гладков has a big mouth and likes to talk a lot. We then came home, and I have been making phone calls all night. Missionary work is awesome, and I absolutely love it here!"

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Slow

21 January 2006
"Nothing is going for us at all. We don't have really anything to do at all. Today we were supposed to meet with Дима and have a meeting with him, but for some reason we couldn't get a hold of him. I don't know if he had something come up or what, but we couldn't meet with him. That was too bad because that was our only meeting today. We ended up just going over to help Андре out again. That went well, and we got done basically all that we needed to. We will have to go back another time probably. We then came home after that. Well, we had lunch at Андре's so that is the 2nd day in a row to eat there. That is also a weird feeling. We had собрание миссионеров and that went pretty well. Following that we headed out to sports night. That was a lot of fun again but I am wasted. There was about the same amount of people, that was cool. We played soccer, and basketball and really enjoyed ourselves. I feel dead and think I might get sick as I was sweating good and went out into the -20C weather. They say this is the coldest winter in 10 years so that's cool."

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Working

20 January 2006
"I would have to say that it is a super cold day. I am plenty cold, and on the street, the wind is blowing plenty hard to call it a cold one. We stood and waited for a gazelle probably 20-25 minutes, and almost froze ourselves to death. Let's just say that it was cold. Other than the cold, we had a decent day. This morning we had our planning session as usual, and that went well. After planning, we quick like ran to a meeting with Анатолий who is a member we want to help get the Melchizedek Priesthood. We came back home, and had a decent lunch before we had an hour or so. We pulled out a game of chess and played that for a bit. That went really well, and I won, so that was cool. We then went to a meeting with Нина, and that was a good meeting. She is having troubles coming to church, but wants to. We talked about humility and the importance of it. It was an awesome lesson, and the spirit was very strong.
To finish the day of, went to Андре's house to work on his computer. Actually, to work on Маша's computer. We tried to fix it but nothing happened really. We'll just say that she did a good job of messing it up. We stood on the bus stop forever before we finally came home. I am trying to focus more and more on the work. I love to be serving the Lord!"

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Fun

19 January 2006
"Put another cold one in the books. That was today for sure. I am a bit cold, but fairly well. We didn't have a ton going, but it went alright. We actually sat home for a bit this morning as we had no idea what to do, and we didn't know who to stop by to, but we were still happy. We worked on a puzzle for a bit but that got boring after a bit. I made onion rings and baked potatoes for lunch, and they turned out all right. We then went to give a film to one guy we met on the street, but his wife told us that he was too old and was crazy. We then did something crazy. We decided to walk to Афина's place. That was crazy because it is so cold on the streets. We were happy to finally get there and to be able to warm up. We had a pretty cool lesson with her and talked with her about how she needs to do something. She is a great girl, but she has no friends really in the ward, so it is hard. Well, after, we went to Изучение Священных Писаний и молодежный вечер. It was probably the funnest youth night since I have come, and we had a lot of fun playing and relaxing. There was also a lot of people there. All in all, everyone had a good time, and that's what most important. There was also less active and non-members there, so that means it was successful. Right now I want to pass out, and go relax. Tomorrow should be a decent day. Off I go."

Monday, January 18, 2010

Disc Shopping

18 January 2006
"Today was a bonk day. We didn't have really anything going for him. Well, it was p-day so most the day we didn't do a whole ton. We decided that it was time to go disc shopping again. We found one pretty good place that had a ton of good cds. I had a sweet time looking at all the discs, and enjoying seeing what groups I knew. We had spent enough money, and so we went to another store to grab some more discs. When we were there, we found a ton of way cool DVDs. We got a bunch of them too. We decided to grab a bite to eat and stopped by to the local pizza place here. By the end of p-day I had spent a whole 1000 рублes ($30) and I would have to say that it was worth it. We wrote home after that, and things went well that way. The family is doing well. We should have had English, but the weather scared everyone away. We just came home and then Маша и Аня came by to get a blessing. We blessed them and now I am writing."

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Freezing

17 January 2006
"Today was a fairly good day. It was -30C and that meant for a cold time. We didn't contact of course as it is so cold and that would be dangerous. So, this morning, we went and met with a member - дима - and had a good time chatting. We then went to the вокзал and bought some tickets before coming home. We made some interesting meat patty things, although I am not sure what kind of meat there was inside. Well, we did that and then we went to see Максим. He is doing well, and still the same joker. We chatted with him for a bit as he is laying in the hospital right now. Well, we then went with Анна Ф. to a member where we talked about смирение. Following our meeting we froze on the street waiting for our gazelle, and also in the gazelle. Well, we met with Владик and had a good meeting about the plan of salvation. He is a good guy, and although he has some crazy ideas, he is moving along. Now we are home, and hoping things will warm up. Oh, they cancelled school because of the weather. I guess that means it is really really cold. Too bad that we won't see -40C."