Flying Home

20 April 2006
"My mission is coming to an end. I am on the first of 3 flights to get home, and it is crazy. I don't know what to think. We had an interesting day so far and it is only almost 10 by Penza time. First things first - I didn't sleep all that well as I knew I was leaving. After that, we got up at about 3:30 this morning, showered and got all ready and then headed off with Роман. We went to the office and then to the airport. So there, I exchanged some money and then we just waited. We talked with an American so that was cool and we chatted a bit about the church. We saw Лилия who helped us out a ton. We set up everything so it would go smooth. When we left Лилия gave me a hug - it was crazy, but felt good too. Now we're just flying...I hope that I can keep busy for the next several hours, and I will write my feelings as I can.

7:00 PM (Penza Time)

I am going by Penza's time because that is what I have on my watch. That's not so important as is what's happening. Nothing really amazing but a few interesting things. In Germany we split up with Elder Paulsen who flew alone to Chicago while we are headed to Denver. We talked with a few people who wanted to know what we were doing and all. So here on the plane I have been going out of my mind. We have just eaten, but before that, I just sat. We still have 7 hours of flying ahead, and so that should be fun. I am going to write some people and watch something probably. Here on the plane is an Elder Cummins that knows my brother. He just talked with him this morning and was in my brother's zone. I guess it's a small world.

4:00 AM (Penza)

Well, I am on the last leg and almost there. It is sure insane and I can't believe it. It doesn't feel real. It will be even crazier to be home, and see the family in just over an hour. So the last flight ended pretty well, and I slept a bunch and watched the film and all. It was sure crazy but I made it. We went through customs and all before parting with Elder Alton. One of the things I did was ran and got a drink from a water fountain. It felt so good! I jumped on this plane and will soon be home. It is weird to look out the window and see real mountains. Its been so long since I have seen the peaks. It is also strange to hear only English. It has been a long time since I was part o the majority. Well, I want to do a few other things so I will write again later."

Sane

13 March 2006
"Today was a pretty cool day. We had a good time contacting this morning and talked with a lot of people. We even talked with a guy who was going to get us the phone number of another American here in the city. We headed to the branch apartment for district meeting tonight and we had a decent time there. We have good missionaries and I am really glad to be working with them. Well, we had pizza on tortillas and it was pretty good. I chatted with Elder Schwab for awhile about the work and our missionaries here, and i love to talk with him We then went to see Баба Нина and she is doing well. I love her to death, and it is great to be working with her. We then went to see Шавкат and we had a good time with him. He talked a lot about his family and about the problems that he has . We came home, and now we are chilling . Today was a sweet day and I feel good about being a missionary. I love the work a ton. I talked a ton with Маша и Люда today and they are doing well. They are keeping me sane I think - all the youth that is. I love them to death and what a joy to serve here."

Freedom

29 January 2006
"We had several interesting meetings today. Well, a couple and so that was good. We had sacrament as usual, and that all went fairly well. Владик was there as usual, and he is still trying to quit smoking. We need to keep praying for him, and we hope that he will be able to overcome something and we know it will be hard. Well, after the meeting we went with Гладков to his house where we had a decent meal, and enjoyed some pelmeni. We sat and chatted with him for a bit- he is crazy. He showed us how to fake people out with money, and he talked about how much has changed and how the government is taking advantage of so many people. Someone on the top is getting rich, and everyone else is getting conned. He talked about how much help people need. We chatted, and then we went out to visit one of his families that he needs to visit - Sister Нина Краснова. She is doing well, and the 2nd week in a row was at the meeting. After that, we came home and I have been getting things ready for the next couple of days. I thought about how lucky I am to live in a country where I am free to do what I want, and where the law watches out for me. It truly is a blessing to live in the land of the free and have so many rights."

Do it

24 January 2006
"We had another sweet day today. I still feel like a good missionary. We didn't have a whole lot to do, but we decided to go out and contact this morning, and stop by to some addresses. We had good luck that way, and set up a few meetings with people and found out some numbers that have changed. Well, we then stopped by to a contact who had ordered a Book of Mormon. He had a map of Utah and it was crazy to look at. He mainly just wanted to chat with Americans, but said that he would go ahead and read. We quick like came home, and made a nice big soup for lunch. Usually I don't enjoy such things, but it was good. After lunch I took a power nap and then we went to Шавкат's place. He absolutely ripped on president, and it was insane. He said how President Макаров was a bad person and how he should be helping and not just doing nothing. I told Шавкат that president was called of God and that I would not 2nd guess his decisions. We heard this for awhile before we finally conducted the meeting and moved on. We had a meeting with Владик to finish the evening and it went well. He accepted everything that we taught him, including the Word of Wisdom. He has a strong desire to quit smoking, and he is trying to do so right now. We prayed for him last night, and will continue to pray for him as he gets rid of the habit. I know that he can do it, and I hope he can do so!"

Another Good One

3 January 2006
"Today was a quick one, and we were super busy. We ran all over the place, and had a ton of meetings. We started the day out by meeting with a member named Дима. He is 20 and hasn't been to church in 3 years. He has been to America twice, and it is cool to talk with him. He is such a cool guy, and we want to help him become active again. We ran to see Раиса next, and she is doing fairly well other than the fact that she is sick and she feels like she can't do anything. She is cool, just needs to find more faith in herself. She said something interesting - "We will just wait until the time comes." I thought a bit about it, and wish I could help her understand that we can't wait, but need to act now.

We came home, and had some bean burritos - we made refried beans. That is dangerous of course - after effects, but tasty. We stopped by to Максим in the hospital, and then we met up with Аня Фил. to go to another meeting. She is cool, and is a good help to us. We ended the night with at the Старостины's. They always ask a ton of questions about America and what things are like there. It is fun to answer their questions and I enjoy it. We have a ton to do tonight, and tomorrow is p-day - time sure does fly."

Fun Day

17 October 2005
"Today just flew by. We had a ton of fun and we worked super hard. We made the best of it and so that is good. This morning, we went to the office after getting in a good morning of study. We got things together that we needed and then we started district meeting. That went way awesome, and we chatted forever. I love to meet with everyone and to relax with them and have a good time. We taught each other the law of chastity, and that didn't go so well for me. I have never taught that on my mission and it is super weird. After a long meeting, we went back to work on getting ready for ME and I worked for a while one that. We grabbed a quick bite of пельмены and we rushed into our meeting with President. Well, that went well, and I didn't get too many things that I need to do now. The mission is alright, and we are working hard for the most part.

After the meeting, I worked on getting talks together from General Conference. I am going to have them all tomorrow. Well, after I did that, we headed out for a meeting with a member that we had. It was a meeting with Галина Конаваленко, and it went well. She has a daughter who lives in Murray, and she asked me to take some things for her. She also gave us a referral, so that is awesome too. I love such awesome meetings. We came home, and now I am eating chips and a рулеть and am going to write in the area book! What an exciting time to be serving the Lord."

No work and Katrina

1 September 2005
"I have felt kind of useless today, even though we had a decent day. This morning we slept in because our alarm didn't work. We got up and hurried and got ready and ran to the office. After sitting behind my computer for 10 minutes, I realized I had very little to do. I had gone without breakfast and so I made some pancakes for myself. After the pancakes I got a few things ready to go to Сестра Петунц. Well, I did some reading up on some beliefs I played around some more with Access and made some cool reports and things. I worked some more on the Kiev problem, but we don't know what to do still. They are being interesting about it, and maybe I'll go there myself - lol - I only wish. Well, I just sat and didn't know really what to do. They worked on getting more hymnbooks labeled and I helped a little bit. I did take a look at some pictures of hurricane Katrina that was in America. It was huge and there was tons of pictures of the floods and all. Well, it was pretty crazy and it was weird to think that right now this is going on. Well today was the first day of school, and it didn't even hit me - we were in the office most the day. One of the things that we noticed was that there was a ton of people on the streets this afternoon and this evening. It's weird what gets them out. Well, we were working, contacting, and knocking this evening when we had a lady invite us in out of nowhere. She doesn't believe a ton but is a great lady. We talked with some other people, and it was nice to work, but I couldn't talks as my head hurt from being in the office so long. Tomorrow I will have plenty to do, and we will have some time to work. It is nice to be able to get out of the office - you just have to do missionary work!"

Great Game

8 August 2005
"I am here once again in the office. This time I am with Elder Kirk as Elder Bennett and Nance have left to go to Riga today and then they will be in Moscow. Anyways that puts me and elder Kirk together again for a couple of days. It is cool to be with Elder Kirk again and we hare having a good time. Well we have been plenty busy here in the office and have been doing tons. Today when we got here there was a ton of missionaries. Anyhow, we worked on putting the stats in and we talked with the sisters a bit. They are doing well so that is good. Well, we told them to keep up the good work as they are working hard and having a hard time. Well we then just worked on the office stuff as we always do and then we went to buy some food for lunch. Well we ate chicken cordon blue and it was really good. I really loved it a ton and I couldn't ask for a better meal. We just bought it already made in the store. Well we then finished up our work the best we could before we took off to go to the church. On our way to the church we were on the gazelle and there was this drunk guy that was talking to us. This young lady got on and she started to tell him off - it was way awesome. She was very embarrassed for the way he was acting. She told him that in America we don't meet such people at 6 because they aren't drunk. When he told us that he was getting off at our stop then she told him that we were unlucky. It was funny and we invited her to English. Well we were at FHE and that was a lot of fun. Elder and Sister Lunt are great teachers. They have a lot of great ideas. We talked about music tonight and we sang and then we played a game. We had two ties and they went in a circle. When one tie caught up to the other then the person with two ties had to sing a school song, patriotic song, or act like a farm animal. Well it was sure a lot of fun, and we enjoyed it. The Орловы sisters are great and it was their birthday so we sang and had cake for them. Their friend from Germany is still here and so that was cool too. We had a good time laughing and enjoying the FHE. Well Elder Kirk didn't finish everything up and so we had to come back here so that he could work on it. Right now I am tired and ready to sleep but I will let him finish. I am way happy to be here right now, and I really like our ward. They are great people. The saints are such wonderful people!"

On the spot

31 July 2005
"I am ready to explode. I ate way more than I should have today. We ate 3-4 hours ago, and it still hurts. I guess that is part of life. We ate some breakfast burrito type things and it was way good. We put potatoes, rice, eggs, cheese, peppers, mayo, ketchup and Tabasco inside of tortillas. I feel sick now, but life goes on.

This morning we went to sacrament meeting and that was cool. There was a lot of people there, and there were some people from Germany visiting the Орловы sisters. They knew English and they have been all over the world - they even had been in Murray. He said the biggest difference between Germany and Russia is how poor the people are here. He can't believe how bad it is here. Well Bennett and I helped President Колцов do all that he needed and we got out about 3:30. Well, we ate in the office and I searched for my planner. I lost it somewhere which is a bad thing. Well we had to wait a few minutes to leave after eating, and so we waited in the office for a bit. We then got out and contacted. That went well and it was nice to talk with people. We made it home and now I feel better after writing here. I forgot that today I talked in church about fasting. They told me about 2 minutes before the meeting and so it didn't go to well, but that is life. Now we have to get ready for a new week - crazy how time flies."

Great Day

21 July 2005
"Today just flew by. It was insane. We studied this morning so that was nice. We then went to the office and I started to work. I basically got a bunch of things together. I pulled together a list that the president needed, and then I typed up a letter for a missionary who is leaving soon to serve in America. Well, I helped Blinkov to clean up his computer, and now it looks a lot better. I worked on some forms for the Elders that have to get new visas soon. Well, Elder Lunt then took me and we worked hard to find him a place to get the internet. He is a great guy, and we found him a great deal. He is a great guy, and we found him a great deal. He will be using it a lot so it will suit him well. Well, we bought some ice cream and we rode home - to the office I mean, and I got back to work. I threw together the departing packets for the leaving elders, and I made a book for myself. Well, we got out to work tonight and we stopped by to some people. We talked to one really good guy but he lives far away. Well, we wanted to see Степан tonight, but he wasn't home. We talked to a drunk guy and he just wanted to chat. So that was the exciting day that we had, and we enjoyed getting out to work. Well, we worked hard and we hope to got out again tomorrow. The Lord will bless us as we do. It is awesome to work even though I sweat like a pig."

Way of Life

10 July 2005
"It was another good day until I realized that I forgot a paper for Elder Ehlert in the church. It was pretty important, so tomorrow morning we have to get it. I hate when I forget things. Anyhow today at the meeting we had a good time and met some more Americans. They are working here and they will be here for a couple of weeks. They served in Russia and Ukraine and go to BYU. Interesting how many Americans we have met. There was an interesting experience for me at Priesthood today. There was a young man by the name of Давид and as we talked about the temple he looked at the Salt Lake temple and strived to be there. The desire in his eyes was very clear. I thought about how lucky I was to have been able to be there and to be able to get to visit. I hoped that David will be able to get there someday.

Well, we visited Блинковы today as they wanted the sacrament - they just got back from the temple. It was nice to see him and talk with his family. It is crazy to think about how some people are so active and others not. I have thought about it a lot lately. There are so many inactives and they just don't understand. I don't know how they can fall away so easily. Did they not feel that change of heart that Alma talked about. They don't understand how bad it will really be. I wish that they could understand that this isn't just some game or something that happens and then we are saved. 5 years is all I need. Its a lifetime process. It's a way of life, not a part of life. Its how we live everyday. If every member would just understand, then things would be so much better. That's my job I guess though. Enough rambling, but you got the point.

Tonight on the tram a drunk guy was talking to Elder Bennett when he started to yell and swear at him. He tried to spit on him, but missed. We got up to leave, but weren't at the stop yet. He stood up and kept yelling. He was right in my face and told me some not so nice things. Well, the conductor told him to stop and sit down, but he didn't. Luckily, the stop came fast and we got off. He didn't follow! All was fine, but interesting. Well, now we are home and I have tons to do as it will be a crazy week with all going on. That makes it fun though!"

American Life

9 July 2005
"So the family bought a hot tub! That's right. Talk about sweet. It'll be way sweet to get home. Lol- that was crazy to hear. Well, anyways the family seems to be doing well, and to be relaxing as usual. I scanned some pictures this morning, but I didn't send them yet. I will send them in a week. I developed some more pictures today also, so that means that they will be getting lots of pictures. BJ is going to Switzerland - actually I think he is already there. I hope that is going well for him. I bet it is.
Well we slept for a bit today and did the laundry. We also bought our products for this coming week. I am excited to eat tomorrow - I'm always excited to eat though. We went to McDonalds and ate and that was cool. We walked down to a store and I bought myself some discs - blank cds - so that I can get music from the server. Well, we then went to work and met a lady whose daugher lives in Utah - in Murray! She went to the UofU. Well her mom was way active but not so much anymore so that's too bad. She made several excuses, but wouldn't tell use why she doesn't come. Well, we then met with Sister Stalnova and just chatted for a bit. She is a gread lady. We had to help the Ehlerts at вокзал tonight so we got home a little later than usual, but all was good and we got them sent off. It was another awesome day, and I loved it!!"

American Investigator

1 July 2005
"We officially have a new investigator. He's a really cool guy named Tom. He is a truly humble man who has been through a lot. He is almost 70 although you couldn't tell by his looks. He is here serving in an orphanage and he is wanting to know the truth. Well, we had a long discussion with him and we taught him to the first lesson. It was awesome when Elder Ehlert shared the first vision. It was very spiritual, and it was a wonderful lesson. We gave him the Book of Mormon and he was very eager to read it. He even called us tonight and asked us a question about his reading. Anyhow - he is way awesome and we hope to be able to help him understand more next time.

So the other cool story was that Сергей got baptized. He was the ZL's investigator, and he was way cool. He is a great guy and I think that he will be a great member if only they will get him a calling. Well, I also gave a blessing for the first time in a long time to a girl named Алла from Безыманский. She had a migraine. Well that was better after we gave the blessing. Also today I worked on putting a computer together, but it didn't work out so well for me. I couldn't get the CD-Rom to work on it. I also worked on getting my access stuff to work, but I couldn't still. So basically that was our day. It was a good one - nice to have had a meeting finally and to have a new investigator. Life is better with an investigator. Now we just need a few more, and life will be great."

Training and More

29 June 2005
"Wow - this is the craziest week - it is just flying. Today we did have time to plan at least. We set some goals and so that is good. We needed to do that as it helps me to work. Well, after studying we went to the office as always to begin our day. Well, right now is not the funnest time because like I said, I have понес. Well, lets just say that it doesn't help me to go any faster. Well, in the office I just worked on the main things as always. I did figure out how the Access program works better now. That is a good thing as I often do lots in there. So for lunch we decided we would be creative and go out to eat. Well, lets just say that we found a really disgusting place to eat. It was a sandwich place, but it sure wasn't good. Well, after we ate we went back to the office and worked on a few things, but nothing spectacular. We got out of the office and we went to баба Нина's house. There we met with her and with Зинаида and we talked about the 3 kingdoms. After that we went to the church to meet with the Ehlerts. There we helped them with a training and it was interesting to learn more about how the church works - about the order and everything. Well, we got home late because of that. Today we had an interesting experience. An American that lives here was in Poland when he met some missionaries. Well, he wanted to know more about the church and so he gave his e-mail. Elder Bennett wrote him and today he called. He wants to meet - Friday, and so we are getting ready for that. What an awesome experience. We'll see how it goes!"

No Time

17 June 2005
"I just never have enough time to do everything that I want to here in our area, and in the office. This morning we went to the office and there we worked as usual. Well, I worked on getting ready for everything next week as I won't be here. Well I had to work on getting one of my main programs to work and that meant I had to call America. Later, I talked with Bulgaria again. Well, tonight we tried to stop by to a referral, but it wasn't right we decided. We later walked and contacted but it didn't really bring any results. It's awesome to be serving here. I truly am enjoying it."

American Voices

19 December 2004
"I talked with someone In America for the first time in 5 months. Talk about a weird feeling. I called tonight just to set up a time to talk next Saturday. I talked with my Mom and Dad and then Spencer. It's crazy – I didn't realize how much I miss them. I am way excited to talk with them. Well, besides that, not much really happened here. I have been at church all day. I guess one way cool thing at church was that a girl got back from her mission in West Virginia. What an awesome thing that was. Она горячая также! Well, we were at church for awhile because tithing settlement is going on right now, and Elder McCain needed to help. Well, I ate good, so that was nice. Other then that not much is going on. The work is still slow..."

Good Feeling

1 November 2004
"I'm still in Ижевск!! That's right - all the worrying for nothing! In fact nothing scary happened The lady didn't even mention anything about friday to our landlady. That was good that nothing happened, and I am now registered here in the city. Elder Watts and I then went to the bank where he took about $1200 for the district (crazy how much money we need for missionary work). We met Ирина from America there and she went to the library with us (where everything is still alright, and we can still meet there). Elder Кирк and I ate and then sat on собрание округа. We came home and then went to help Александр - english student - with english. We also wrote to Washington because Юлия will be there!

Ижевск - I love it here! Thank goodness the Lord is blessing us. Talk about an awesome feeling."

Quiet

12 October 2004
"Another interesting day today. We were in a school today doing some service - well, mainly a presentation about America. Арсентин - he is one of our contacts - took us to the school, and we just talked with the kids about America. It was a good experience. The kids really enjoyed it, and it was very interesting to answer their questions. We ended the night with a meeting with Юри - it went well, and is doing well. Fairly quiet, but good today!"

Americans

10 October 2004
"Well, today was amazing. We had sacrament and the 4 of us did everything. I talked about service in the church and about the importance of service in the church. After church we went to the other elders house before going to Норья. What an awesome experience we had there! There are like 13 people - students that is - here from Logan high. They were there at the meeting. Zan - there teacher and leader was also there.

Алексей и Ольга received the Holy Ghost, and that was absolutely awesome. The spirit was strong, and many tears were shed. We then had a testimony meeting in Russian and in English. The spirit was awesome! I remembered how I felt 2 months ago when I came to Russia. The total shock of what love these people have! It is so awesome! There is no question - the gospel is true! What an amazing thing it is that the Lord is helping the Russian people to find truth through youth from America - from Logan that is!

Oh yeah, it was nice to see some American faces here in Russia! I was in the circle and participated in the giving of the HG when Elder Watts gave it - what an awesome experience!"

Blessed

7 October 2004
"Well, it was a fairly good day. I did have a harder time concentrating then I thought, but all is well! So anyhow, we had a couple of meetings today. The first thing we did was I got back with Elder Kirk, and then we stopped by to people. Our last meeting was with Ольга и Настья, and that went well! Our meeting before that was with Галина and that was interesting.

She is deaf and very nice. She fed us too. Well, she was very sweet and nice I wish we knew how to help her. Anyhow, I tried hard to pay attention to her, but it was hard. Wow, why am I so lucky to have been born in America, to have hearing, sight, and the gospel? Often I take it for granted. I wish that I could share it with everyone. The gospel is true!"