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."

Burst

25 January 2006
"I am ready to die I ate so much today. I feel like bursting. Elder Theurer had a b-day today, and so that meant that we had pizza, and cake and lots for that matter. Well, I also ate some soup just barely so I am going to waddle in and plot on my bed to get some sleep. We started the day out by writing home for a change, and that went well. Things are well at home, and I have noticed how everything seems like a dream there. They tell me what is going on, but it doesn't seem real. Well, I worked on a couple of other little things and then we took off. We went to the branch apartment where we ate and watched Robots. It was cool, and we had a good time. We went out and bought a couple of discs, and found some way cool places to buy them. That is cool, and now we have a lot of discs. We went and waited to start English lesson and things went well there. We came home after that, and now we are just relaxing and having a good time. I am trying to plan and as always that is fun. Well, off to work and plan I go."

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."

Memories

5 January 2006
"I am back in Dachney today. It is sure awesome I love this area, and didn't realize how much I miss the people here. This was a huge growing experience for me. I had a ton of memories come flowing back. We left for Saratov this morning on a gazelles and went and played in the park. We actually went and played with some Russians in soccer, and I was playing goalie but got owned by them (we did end up winning). After a couple of hours, we took off.

So, on the way home we got a taxi, and he took some back route home. We were flying down this road and there were only two little tire tracks and the rest was ice. We did have one really close one where we almost spun out. It was sweet. We got changed and ready to go and then we headed off to get Шарума's. That was way sweet, and I love those. We then checked out some movies and discs before hitting up a tie store. There, I bought 7 ties and it was fun. We headed out to заводской where we saw the end of The Chronicles of Narnia, and then we did some skits. We did a gum eating where I started chewing a piece and then everyone touched, stepped, and sat one it before I ate it again. It was pretty sweet, and funny. On the way home, there were some little Russians who thought they were funny so made fun of us in Russia. We understood it all, and acted like nothing. We then answered a bunch of their questions in Russian, and they felt really stupid. Like I said - there are awesome memories here in this area!"

Boredom

31 December 2005
"What a lazy day we got going here. I am already bored out of my mind. Well, at least I made some tortillas for about 2 hours today. I made about 40 or so and they are way good! We also watched The Incredibles for a little bit so that was sweet. We have the television and DVD player here, so we will likely end up watching some more cartoons - President said that was fine. This whole day has been lazy. This morning we kind moped around before we went to the store to buy a bunch of food. I bought a couple of DVDs but they are in Russian only unfortunately. We brought all of our stuff home and then we headed to the приходская квартира where we all got together to play some baseball. That was way cool and I had some really sweet hits. We played for a little more than an hour, and then we came back this way. We walked around for about 20 minutes and then came home - we were in denial and didn't want to. Right now I don't feel much like a missionary as we are just sitting here. I should be studying something probably. I can't believe that tomorrow is the New Year! Time flies, I don't know how to explain. Back to being bored I go!"

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!!"

Getting Ready

24 December 2005
"I felt a lot better today although we didn't a whole lot. We started the day out by doing some contacting, and then we went and bought Santa hats and a Christmas tree. We got things all decorated, and then we tried to relax a bit, but ended up going to sport time quick like, and that was a huge waste of time. We sat there and just chatted and then we played a little chess which was our sport. We came home, changed, and then went back for a meeting that we had there. It was pretty cool, and we had a good discussion about our investigators. After that, we stayed there and had a little get pumped up for Christmas and watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas, and that was a lot of fun. We sat and chatted for a bit before we went with Андре to find some more presents. We were wearing our Santa hats, and tons of people wanted us to give them as presents. All these young ladies came up to us, and it was funny. We didn't buy anything other the some food for tomorrow. We came home, and now we are just chillin. Андре stopped by to get his book, and is still here. I talked with my Dad quick like, and now we are going to bed soon. Christmas eve - that is sure crazy!"

10 Commandments

28 November 2005
"It was sure an interesting day. It was actually a fairly decent one actually. This morning, we went out and had a good time contacting, with not much luck. We walked across the river, and found that not too many people live there - no one really walks around there even. We stopped by to the store before were able to get home. Here we had собрание округа, and that went well. The zone is doing well, and having a good time. We want to help Theurer and Stapleton, but we aren't quite sure how. Well, we then ate chili dogs made from beans that expired a month ago - that's missionaries for you.

We then went to a meeting with a бабушка that is less active and that went alright. We had a member with us who did not help a lot - he wrote SMS the whole time. We then went to see Афина and we watched some of the "10 commandments" with her. That was cool, and I really like that film. We are happy to be home, and have the other elders gone. Life is better with 2!"

Fun Day

2 July 2005
"Today we wrote home and that went well. My family seems to be doing well, and my brother is loving his mission. I am way happy for him. Well, I also wrote a letter to a bunch of other people. After that, we went and got products for this next week. We then went in search for a bag for the vacuum and ended up just buying disks instead. Well I bought a few DVDs and so that was cool. We ate at the chicken place again (РОДИКС). We then walked around for a bit before at 5 we went to the church for an activity. It was alright, and at least fun to watch. All the missionaries were there from Togliatti. Elder Nance who will be the new AP is way cool. He is really wild and has a lot of fun. It will be a lot of fun with him. Well, we forgot to start fasting, so tomorrow will be a long day. I guess that's what I get for forgetting. I am headed to bed for now!"

Phone Death

17 May 2005
"It's already after 10:30, but I really wanted to write. The reason it's so late is because our phone doesn't work and we forgot to pay - well, we payed today. That means that we were at the other elders to let them know and all. Well, we didn't have much success tonight or today. We had english tonight, so that was cool. We walked a lot, but other then that, not much. We watched Вместе Навеки with a family, and it was alright. Tomorrow is already p-day again, wow how time flies!"

Falling Through

28 April 2005
"We did a lot of stuff that we didn't necessarily need to, but that we did. We had an appointment fall through with members, and so we searched for a DVD to watch for English lesson. We didn't find anything really, but we searched for too long. Anyways, we had a couple of good lessons on the street with people and it was fairly interesting. We ate and had our meeting with Ирина fall through. Tonight we had english and we watched Shrek 2. It was way funny. I liked it a lot. Well, I am ready to sleep now and get ready for tomorrow. Hopefully all will work out well for us!"

Jensen

7 April 2005
"We walked, and walked...and walked today. It was insane. We went to tons of members and none were home really. Anyways, we contacted a bunch on the street too, and not much happened for us that way. Tonight we watched The Emperor's New Groove for english and I got to see Elder Jensen for the first time in a long time - 6 months. It was cool. I took my time for granted with him. He is a way good elder and I love him to death. To end the night, we met with a member across the street and invited here out to church and english. In general it was a good day, and we had a way good time."

Hard Times

28 February 2005
"It was a fun day, and we had a good time. We had собрание округа this morning and that went very well. We played ping-pong for like 2 hours after that and it was awesome. It will be hard without Barney to keep us all happy and going. Well, we then went to the рынок for a few minutes and then came home and ate. By that time it was so late so we stopped by to a couple addresses. We then went to FHE at the President's house. That was fun and we watched a little of Monster's Inc. Now we're home and have lots to do tomorrow. We will hopefully get a new investigator."

Balet

16 February 2005
"So it was definitely a sweet day. We had tons of fun. So, we started out with writing home, and that was fun. We then ran around and bought several things. I myself bought a couple cds. We later went and watched Best Two Years and ate pizza. It was cool, and all the elders from Saratov were there. We ran by to McDonalds and then we ended the night at the ballet. That was actually really cool, and our культурный вечер. Tomorrow it is back to missionary work we go, and finding people to teach. The movie got me excited to work again too though."

2 Quick Days

29 November 2004
"Another crazy couple of days. We were on another surprise sleepover at the other elder’s house and so couldn’t write yesterday. So we woke up Sunday morning and went to church as usual and Elder Kirk gave an awesome talk. He is very spiritual, and always brings the spirit. The best part of the meeting was when Сестра Лидия prayed – she is so humble! After the meeting, we went to Норья and had a good lesson there! Алексей was there and not happy to see us as usual, but I had a short talk with him, and things got a little better! Well, we came home, and had a quick decision to make, and so of course we stayed at the other elder’s place.

Today, we were there, and then we had district meeting! We talked about a lot, but especially about electronics – my favorite. Well, we came home, and then we went and searched for a Bible. We still didn’t find one – its like they don’t sell them here. Well, we went to a meeting with Наташа, Маша, и Юлия and watched Legacy. It was awesome because Наташа got permission form her husband to be baptized. She says when she is ready she will be baptized. Well, we ended the night and came home! I love to work! I think everyone does! It’s awesome!"

Movie and Work

21 November 2004
"Another day missed, but at least it was a good couple of days. Saturday, we talked with Виталий, and had a good chat with him. We tried to stop by to a contact that we received, but no one was home. Well, we then went and watched the film – The Other Side of Heaven – and tons of people came. It was way awesome. The film was a lot of fun, and everyone enjoyed it. Well, after the film, we decided to just sleep at the other's hour since it was late.

This morning we went to the meeting, and it was good. Настя taught the lesson – her first time ever. It went way good, just like home. Well, after the feast we went to see Ольга, and it was way pointless – she didn't really listen to us, but she just wanted to get answers on every question. Well, after that, we stopped by to some people, and then helped Стася with her English. It was a lot of fun. I love it here!"