She should be back tomorrow or Friday, but we're not completely sure. (Left - 6 month mark, burning nylons) I hope not longer than that because I didn't bring stuff with me for longer. So, you see why I'm not sure if it counts? I am serving here and while I am here they are both my companions, but at the same time, I don't live here. I guess I could just count it as an extended exchange. Anyway, that's great that you have a new puppy, a male one? Why a male dog? I was wondering if you would end up getting a new one. That will be interesting when I come home, he will consider me a stranger. Oh well, life goes on.
This last week has been a pretty good one. It's still been hard to do work, despite the fact that we've had more time to do it. You see, the православная (pravoslavnaya - Russian orthodox) church celebrates Christmas on the 7th of January so everyone has still been celebrating. One nice thing has come from it, people are nicer to us on the street. Lately when I try talking to people, they smile at me. Sister Саргсян says that is because of my accent, but I like to think they are just nice people. Still, not many people want to stand and listen to us because it is cold. That makes it really hard to contact for a long time on the street.
On Saturday (Russian Christmas) we were contacting near the православный cathedral and we tried talking to a lady. We had just barely started, like maybe we had been walking for 10 minutes or less. She started yelling at us telling us that it is an American sect that wants to steal their money and their apartments, etc. Well, we didn't even say anything other than, can we talk to you? She asked about what and we said about the gospel. That was what set her off. Instead of leaving, we stood there and Sister Саргсян said, no, that's not true. Then she explained what really was true. The lady stood there on the street in the cold with us for more than a half an hour. We talked to her and when we finished, she knew that we are good people. She didn't want to take our information or even the address of the church, she's not at the point where she is willing to make a change, but she thanked us for talking to her. She told us that she felt better after talking to us. That made it worth it. She will have another chance to accept the gospel and I hope that after talking with us, the next time she meets the missionaries, she will be a little more ready.
As you probably know, walking on the street in the cold is bad enough,
but when we stand in the cold, we get really cold and it is next to impossible to warm up without going into a building. (Right - My 6 month cake, doesn't it look yummy? Well in reality, it was pretty gross, but at least it looked pretty) Since we were around the православный cathedral (also called a temple), we decided to go in. I had never been inside before and we thought it would be a good opportunity to warm up and take a look. We took off our name tags because there were police men around and we didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to us. When we got inside, we ended up talking to a lady there. I don't think there are many missionaries who can say they taught a lesson in the temple of another church. That was pretty cool. The lady was really nice, but we couldn't outrightly talk about our church, we just talked about our beliefs. Still it was really cool. Inside, I guess it is not allowed for women to go without hats or something to cover the head. The lady we talked with said we could as long as we are girls. So, we took off our hats. Then, everyone stared at us as we walked around. There was a Christmas program put on by children and youth, so we decided to watch. One lady told us we needed to cover our heads and Sister Саргсян said, everyone has their agency to choose. She said, not here. Well, we ended up covering our heads just so we wouldn't offend anyone, but we noticed a few other girls later who didn't have their heads covered. Oh well, we left soon after because we were warm and we couldn't hear what they were saying anyway. It still was really interesting. One thing that was especially interesting is that they light a candle and then pray and they believe that then their prayer will be heard. I guess that means if you pray without a candle, it won't be heard?
On Saturday (Russian Christmas) we were contacting near the православный cathedral and we tried talking to a lady. We had just barely started, like maybe we had been walking for 10 minutes or less. She started yelling at us telling us that it is an American sect that wants to steal their money and their apartments, etc. Well, we didn't even say anything other than, can we talk to you? She asked about what and we said about the gospel. That was what set her off. Instead of leaving, we stood there and Sister Саргсян said, no, that's not true. Then she explained what really was true. The lady stood there on the street in the cold with us for more than a half an hour. We talked to her and when we finished, she knew that we are good people. She didn't want to take our information or even the address of the church, she's not at the point where she is willing to make a change, but she thanked us for talking to her. She told us that she felt better after talking to us. That made it worth it. She will have another chance to accept the gospel and I hope that after talking with us, the next time she meets the missionaries, she will be a little more ready.
As you probably know, walking on the street in the cold is bad enough,
but when we stand in the cold, we get really cold and it is next to impossible to warm up without going into a building. (Right - My 6 month cake, doesn't it look yummy? Well in reality, it was pretty gross, but at least it looked pretty) Since we were around the православный cathedral (also called a temple), we decided to go in. I had never been inside before and we thought it would be a good opportunity to warm up and take a look. We took off our name tags because there were police men around and we didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to us. When we got inside, we ended up talking to a lady there. I don't think there are many missionaries who can say they taught a lesson in the temple of another church. That was pretty cool. The lady was really nice, but we couldn't outrightly talk about our church, we just talked about our beliefs. Still it was really cool. Inside, I guess it is not allowed for women to go without hats or something to cover the head. The lady we talked with said we could as long as we are girls. So, we took off our hats. Then, everyone stared at us as we walked around. There was a Christmas program put on by children and youth, so we decided to watch. One lady told us we needed to cover our heads and Sister Саргсян said, everyone has their agency to choose. She said, not here. Well, we ended up covering our heads just so we wouldn't offend anyone, but we noticed a few other girls later who didn't have their heads covered. Oh well, we left soon after because we were warm and we couldn't hear what they were saying anyway. It still was really interesting. One thing that was especially interesting is that they light a candle and then pray and they believe that then their prayer will be heard. I guess that means if you pray without a candle, it won't be heard? We were contacting on Monday and we ended up talking with this nice бабушка, and she was really interested. Then a man came up and asked us where a building was, so she ended up leaving saying she was running late. 
Luckily, she has the information to the church and I think she may come. (Left - the Christmas program) There's always a chance even when that doesn't happen often. I really hope we see her again. Then, yesterday, after getting to Самара, I went contacting with the sisters here. We had a member with us so we did a little split so two were contacting on one side of the street and two were contacting on the other. That went like usual until I started talking to this old man. I asked him if I could give him a card for a free Book of Mormon. Basically he said no (I don't really know how to translate what he said) and I thought that was it, but he kept talking, so I talked with him. I told him about the Book of Mormon and a few other things. He asked we if I am studying right now, like in school and I told him that I was, but right now I am a missionary. When I said that he was like, what? I repeated myself and he seemed relieved. He said, oh, you scared me, I thought you said you are police officers. That was really funny. We continued talking and I soon realized that he is an atheist. I asked him if he believes in God and he said basically, heck no! Then he went on to say that knowledge is where it is at and that we shouldn't have to be obedient to anyone else. I told him that we believe we are happy when we live according to the commandments of God, but he believes we should live according to humanity. It was an interesting conversation, but I could tell it wasn't going anywhere. All I could do was testify. He told me that I should think things over and I asked him to do the same. I think it was pleasant for him because we didn't fight with him, we just listened and talked, and then said good-bye.
Luckily, she has the information to the church and I think she may come. (Left - the Christmas program) There's always a chance even when that doesn't happen often. I really hope we see her again. Then, yesterday, after getting to Самара, I went contacting with the sisters here. We had a member with us so we did a little split so two were contacting on one side of the street and two were contacting on the other. That went like usual until I started talking to this old man. I asked him if I could give him a card for a free Book of Mormon. Basically he said no (I don't really know how to translate what he said) and I thought that was it, but he kept talking, so I talked with him. I told him about the Book of Mormon and a few other things. He asked we if I am studying right now, like in school and I told him that I was, but right now I am a missionary. When I said that he was like, what? I repeated myself and he seemed relieved. He said, oh, you scared me, I thought you said you are police officers. That was really funny. We continued talking and I soon realized that he is an atheist. I asked him if he believes in God and he said basically, heck no! Then he went on to say that knowledge is where it is at and that we shouldn't have to be obedient to anyone else. I told him that we believe we are happy when we live according to the commandments of God, but he believes we should live according to humanity. It was an interesting conversation, but I could tell it wasn't going anywhere. All I could do was testify. He told me that I should think things over and I asked him to do the same. I think it was pleasant for him because we didn't fight with him, we just listened and talked, and then said good-bye.
Let's see. This morning we ended up going on a little tour of Самара. Well, we didn't see all of the city, but we took a walk down by the Волга (Volga), even stood on the frozen river(see above), and then we went to another building where we could go to the top and have a good view of the city. It was really great. I hope my pictures turn out. My camera was having a little trouble because of the cold. It wasn't even that cold! Only -1C (I don't know what that is in F, but it's really not that cold). Oh well, it is an old camera and for the most part it still works. Still, I can't help hoping that it doesn't break. I don't want to have to buy a new one.
That's pretty much it. But just as a reminder, don't forget about the website. I think it is a little frustrating for the people who were checking it that there hasn't been a new posting in 2 months. That probably also explains why no one has been writing me. Please take care of that as soon as possible. I understand that it is hard when you have other things to do, but if I could do it, I would.
Ok, that's all for this week.
Love,
Сестра Атвуд
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