Scary

11 April 2006
"Today was a pretty sweet day other than I was dead tired. So we started the day with a meeting at a members house. We were doing home teaching with Анатолий Смолькин and that went well. So that was alright other than the fact that he repeated the Lord's prayer at the end. Well, I got back with Elder Christensen and we headed to see Раиса who is doing well. She had a good time with us, and I am going to miss seeing her. We then did one of the scariest things that I've done yet on my mission - we bought my train tickets home. It was a really weird and I feel weird. We went and looked at an apartment for sisters who are going to be serving here. We had a meeting then with Баба Нина and that was cool. I enjoyed it, and I love her a ton. She is an awesome lady. Well, then we went to the branch apartment where we had a meeting with Владик. He is doing alright, but needs some help. I love the guy to death and am going to miss him. He is truly awesome. We were then at the branch apartment for a bit before we left. Things are alright there, but I was dead and now I want to sleep. I almost forgot that I gave 2 blessing today and the spirit was very strong. I blessed Сестра Макарова and Люда Герасимова. It was awesome!"

Exchanges

10 April 2006
"Another day gone, and it also just flew by. So this morning we got up and had a good time. We studied and all that good stuff before we went and did our contacting. that went well, and we had a good time even though we didn't have much luck. We headed to собрание округа where I slept for a bit before we started our meeting. The meeting went alright, but nothing all that great. We grabbed a bite to eat before we went on exchanges. I went off with Anand and we headed out to the country to find some former members. We found out they had all moved or else they are против. We came back into the city where we stopped by to the apartment for a minute before we headed to our FHE with the Филипповы. That went fairly well, and I enjoyed it a lot. We chatted forever and I showed them a bunch of pictures from the mission, and all in all, it was a lot of fun. I felt really good there, and I enjoyed it. We are now home and I am headed to bed. Another day ahead of us tomorrow."

10 March 2006
"Today was a fairly interesting day, and we had a good time together. Well, we started out contacting this morning and that went pretty well. We were in the center so we took a new route, and found some cool things. We then went and looked at a few things on the рынок before going to check out an apartment. Well, it was a nice place, and I would like to live there, but it is a bit expensive. We came home to Elder Anand's area and went to a grandma - Валентина - and had a meeting with her. She said that she would be here on Sunday so that will be good. We came home, grabbed a bite to eat and then took off to Филекс to chat with him. He has a lot of problems with the Book of Mormon and so we tried to help him understand, but it is hard because he knows so much about the Old Testament and I know little. He asked a lot of questions about the Jews and it is something that I need to study a little more. We took off and are at Anand's place just waiting right now. That means I have nothing to study or to look at as his things are in Mongolian. Well, I will soon be happy to be with Elder Christensen and get to work again here in our area. Hopefully they get here too late or it will be super fun tomorrow."

Skipping

9 March 2006
"Things went fairly interesting today. This morning we were sitting here studying and there was a ring at the door. It was no other than Андре. Basically he was skipping class and needed somewhere to chill. We chatted for a bit, and then we went and contacted with him for a bit. It didn't go to well in a 3-some and snow was coming down but we tried. Well, we came home and grabbed a bite to eat before we headed to see Раиса. Маша was with us for that, and things went fairly well there. She still is having a hard time with smoking and is not sure how to quit. She said that she is smoking less though, so that is a good thing. Well, we then went over to see Баба Нина and all is going well for her and she is happy. We had a meeting before taking off to buy tickets for us to get to Samara next week. We came home and chilled before we went to the branch apartment for service. We cleaned everything up really well, and then we were sitting there when they started to listen to all kinds of music and just chill. Well, I went to the kitchen and just sat and thought and then prayed so that the Lord would help me to do something. Well, I went in, turned the music off and asked what we were going to play. Well, it went way awesome and we all laughed and had a good time. It was truly an answer to my prayers and it was a great strength and reassurance from the Lord that he is always willing to support those whom he calls. Tomorrow with Anand and then Christensen will be here!"

Women's Day

8 March 2006
"What a crappy day. Well, it was alright. I am with Elder Anand and today was the big праздник - Women's Day. Well, that meant that everything was closed almost. We had to go to the other elder's apartment and get things for Elder Anand. We then found out that things were closed and so we didn't know where to write home. We went to a Chinese restaurant that had some alright food but nothing amazing and I basically left hungry. We then went in search of an Internet place, and found one. I guess one of the biggest things is that we have a new stake president whom I don't really know. We went to look at some cds and other stuff that wen alright before we went to the branch apartment where we should have had a meeting with Vladik whom didn't show. So we chatted for a bit and now we are home. I made the popcorn as I usually do, and now we are chillin. I thought today about how weird it is to be w/o someone after being with them so long. I can't imagine what it will be like when someone dies who is close to me as I am so use to them. Love is an interesting thing and we always want more, but sometimes it an hurt us. I have thought a ton about it, but now I need to get on to other things."

Leaving

7 March 2006
"I guess it has finally happened - the comp has taken off. I must say that it is going to be weird without him the next couple of months. I just got use to him and so it will be weird w/o him. I am with Elder Anand right now and will be with him until Friday night. Today was actually not a terrible day. It could have been a lot worst. Or it even could have been really bad, but we got out contacting this morning before we went searching for a few things for my comp. I got my pictures back, and the new went to the branch apartment where we helped Маша a bit with her computer and got it running all right. We ate Шуарма right before that, and that was not such a great idea. We ran off to Люда's house where we had a pretty cool meeting with Марина - an investigator. She asked why we have to be baptized again if we were already baptized in another church. It was awesome to actually be at a meeting and to feel the spirit working through us as we answered her questions. We the came home quick before we ran to the concert which was actually pretty cool. We had a good time and the best part was probably when we sand "Don't worry, be happy." It was cool and then right after that, we quick like came home, grabbed Steiner's crap and then went to вокзал where we said our final goodbyes. Missionary work is one of the hardest ever, but the most rewarding."

Fasting

4 February 2006
"Talk about another sweet day - that is what we had today. This morning we were once again with the APs on splits. Things didn't seem like they were going to well but then 2 meetings worked out for us. One was for Elder Schwab and I, and we went to help Баба Нина told me over the phone that she didn't want to come to church anymore, and that she would not tell why. Well, Elder Schwab is a great elder and so he bore testimony to her of the truth, and the spirit was very strong. She committed to try to activity no matter how hard it was going to be. It was away awesome. Well, we then went and ate at Трио Пицца and that was really tasty. We ran to our house and then to change comps back. I fell on the meeting with Гарик (meeting 2), and that went fairly well. We thought we should have a meeting at 2 but the contact didn't show up. We went to the store, and then came home before we went to собрание миссионеров. That went decent before we went to sport. Well, we switched comps and Elder Anand went with me while Elder Steiner translated an audit. Sports was good, and there was a ton of people there again. I am dead, and I started fasting at 6 for Владик. It is hard, but it is sure worth it. Fasting brings great blessings."

Reading

12 January 2006
"Today was sure a long day. We did almost nothing. We didn't have anything planned and so we kind of just walked around. Elder Ананд is not really sure how to be senior companion, and so we didn't have much planned. We did go out contacting this morning, and that was cool. We talked with a lot of people and had a good time that way. We then came home for lunch, and had ourselves пельмены sandwiches. I started to read Harry Potter in Russian, and that was cool. We headed off to hunt down some members, but didn't have any luck. No one was home, and if they were, they didn't want to meet with us. We came home after a few hours and had dinner - I just read. We headed off to the scripture study class, and that went well. Well, Mark 9 really kicked my butt, but other than that it was good. We then had молодежный вечер which would have been cool other than Маша и Аня вместе. We had a cool time playing and all, but it could have been better. Now I am back home with Steiner have a good time and tomorrow we should have a good day. I hope that all will work out as we want."

Good P-day

11 January 2006
"Another quick day passed by. It was a good one at that, and we had a good time relaxing. It was p-day and so we chilled this morning and didn't do a ton. We did clean the apartment finally, and so the house looks a lot nicer. We gave Маша a blessing for here test that she is going to have and then we hit up the рынок. We didn't buy really anything - just some pasta. It is no wonder that I haven't felt good the past few days, as we haven't eaten anything healthy. In fact today I have barely eaten anything. I think that I need to start eating better, but I don't know how. After the рынок we went to the other area to check out discs. There wasn't anything too amazing, but we found one store that had some good stuff. We wrote home and the family is doing well. Not much going on that way. We had English lesson and that went well.
We finished the night by meeting with Владик. He is doing well, and still trying to find out truth. He seems to accept most of the teaching, and accepted the commitment for baptism. The main thing is that we need to help him quit smoking and drinking. He drinks rarely so that will be a lot easier. He wants to quit smoking but hasn't gotten his faith up to do it yet. President Макаров helped out wonderfully. Tonight I am in Арбекого with Elder Ананд on exchanges. I need to help him know more what to do. He is a great guy."

Relaxing

28 December 2005
"We completely chilled out today, and had a way good time. This morning we didn't do a whole lot, and then we just headed over to Gene's house where they practiced a bit for the concert on Friday. I went with Anand and Condie to play a little pool. It was fun, and the best part was that it was way cheap. We played for a couple of hours before went to Трио Пицца to grab a bite to eat. There was a cool film. The Incredibles - playing there, and so we decided to watch. It was way funny, and cool. Well, about that time we headed out to write home and that was cool. I didn't have a whole ton to write though as I had just talked to them, but I did what I could. it was a lot of fun, and I had a good time there. We finished the night off at English lesson although I didn't have anyone to teach, and so I basically just listened to Theurer's lesson there. We did some practicing for the concert on Friday and now I am with Boster on exchanges. We are going to be working together tomorrow, and hopefully it will go well. I thought about when I became senior companion and how it was tough. I want to help Boster to relax and just work. It is something I wish I had known earlier on my mission. What a wonderful place to be!!"