(Left - Lunch on P-day at the Komsomolski Prixod) There are many dangers when you walk. One of the most prominent are cars. They don't care if you are walking, they will run you over if you don't get out of the way. It seems like the members are always pulling me out of the street (not that I was close to being hit, but they get really protective and nervous when cars are around their missionaries). It is really only a problem when the drivers are drunk, but that happens a lot. Driving itself isn't safe and can be a little scary. Another danger are man holes or any kind of metal grate in the ground. No one walks on them here because if you do, you could fall through. I don't think they ever replace them, so when they get old and rusted, you just gotta hope that you don't miss one and step on it.We went to this restaurant last week called Техас (Tehas or Texas), it's supposed to be Mexican, but the food didn't taste like any Mexican food I ever had. It was a very interesting experience. I guess the place is owned by the Mafia, so it was a little nicer than some, but we had to wait for over an hour and a half for our food. It was insane. Sister Vernon and I ordered nachos, so they brought out this dip with beans and cheese . . . and pringles. Yeah, that's right, pringles. Who ever has seen pringles used for Mexican food? There were a few other interesting things, but probably the biggest for me was finding this weird Russian sausage in our nachos. Oh well, I hope we don't ever eat there again.
We also went to the birthday party of one of our investigators, or rather the daughter of the family. It was very interesting. They went through all these rites of passage for every year. It was rather fun, but I didn't understand a lot of what was said.
We get to see conference this weekend. That should be good, but it is in Russian, so I won't understand very much. Luckily, they are going to bring me an English copy so I can read along. That probably won't make sitting in a dark room for 4 hours straight any easier. Oh well. We also have another baptism this Sunday. I'm really excited about that because the girl is great. I really enjoy talking with her.
I am so tired here all the time. It seems like I am in this vicious cycle that I can't seem to get out of. Working makes me tired, but I can never get enough sleep to make it so I can work really well, so sometimes I feel like we aren't getting anywhere. We are still working hard and we have 3 new investigators. Hopefully something will happen soon. One of them talked to us when we were buying something in a store. She has met with the missionaries before.
We are really excited about her, and it sounds like her mother wants to listen to us too. (Right - Anya's birthday party - that is the little girl in the red dress with bows in her hair) They are both excited to meet with us, too.Sister Vernon is amazing at getting people to talk to her. She has already uncovered a couple of doubts that people have. One involves the family I mentioned earlier (the one with the daughter who hard a birthday party). They have been investigating the church for three years, but have yet to be baptized. They come to pretty much every activity, but they haven't accepted the baptismal commitment. Now we know why. I guess they don't have very much money and so they think they don't have enough money to pay tithing. The father is about to lose his job because the company he works for is going out of business. He is 48 and when he turns 50 he won't be able to find work anymore, but he hasn't been able to find another job yet. So, what will they do if he is out of work for 2 years before he can get his pension? So, we are working with the members to try and find him another job and we have plans to teach them about the blessings that come from paying tithing. We need them to realize that it's not about the money, it is about trusting in the Lord so He can bless us with even more.
I bought a new coat last week. It only cost 1500 rb. That's about $50, but I also need to get boots and all that fun winter stuff. I haven't taken money out of my account yet because I didn't know if anything was in there, so hopefully there is because we are going today and I can't get into USbank online to find out. Oh well, what can you do? I guess that's about it for now. Things are going well, despite the way it may sound. I am hoping that we can really help the people here, to strengthen the приход (branch) and maybe even get them a real chapel. Right now they have a nice building, which is better than meeting in the homes of the members like they used to, but it would be nice to have benches and all that good stuff to use and not just chairs. They need to have 15 active priesthood holders, and I think they are really close. We are working on it, as our the other 4 missionaries in our branch.
I bought a new coat last week.
It only cost 1500 rb. That's about $50, but I also need to get boots and all that fun winter stuff. (Left - Me with Togliatti in the background) I haven't taken money out of my account yet because I didn't know if anything was in there, so hopefully there is because we are going today and I can't get into USbank online to find out. Oh well, what can you do?I guess that's about it for now. Things are going well, despite the way it may sound. I am hoping that we can really help the people here, to strengthen the приход (prixod - branch) and maybe even get them a real chapel. Right now they have a nice building, which is better than meeting in the homes of the members like they used to, but it would be nice to have benches and all that good stuff to use and not just chairs, but that might just be a Russian thing. They need to have 15 active priesthood holders, and I think they are really close. We are working on it, as our the other 4 missionaries in our branch.
Love,
Сестра Атвуд
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