Wow, I don't even know where to start today. I guess first I would like to wish everyone a Happy Woman's Day! (well, that's only for women and girls, not the men, sorry). It is a crazy day. (Right - this is me wearing a Russian hat. We saw this hat in a local store and I just had to try it on. Isn't it crazy?) Nothing is open, so we are not at our usual internet spot, but what can you do? That reminds me. When is Mother's Day? That would be a good thing to know so it doesn't sneak up on me like last time and then not be able to find out when to call, etc.

Ok, let's see. I really don't even know what has happened this week. Today, because of Women's Day, we are going to eat at an Italian restaurant with our entire zone. We hope that will be really fun.

Oh, I learned something very important. (Left - for Woman's Day the Elders took us to a restaurant called Il Patios, and paid for us. Since there were 10 Elders (excluding the 2 Elders who decided to sleep instead) and only 2 sisters, it wasn't too expensive for them, but it was a nice gesture. This was the idea of the Old City Elders, planned and instigated by them. Half of the Elders in our district participated)If you are ever going to be traveling in another country with cash, make sure they are crisp and brand new or the banks won't change them for you (probably not every where but better safe than sorry). That's something I never even thought about before.

Mom, thanks for letting Becky know. (Right - this is the Elders working out the bill. I think it looks like the mafia, so I really like this picture)Now I'm really interested to know what all she wants to tell me about. Hmmm. Thanks for buying HP, of course the Special Edition is what I want, always Widescreen if there is a choice. Thanks mom, you're the best. Today we copied some films from my camera onto a disk. Sometime soon, hopefully, I will get them sent off for you to be able to see.

Dad, what was the news you planned on writing last week? That's good that work seems to be calming down a bit. Is that a new programming language?

(Left - inside of Il Patios was this display. It it basically devoted to communism. Its rather interesting that it is in an Italian restaurant, and I don't really know why, but I took a picture anyway) I'm going to St. Petersburg next week so I won't be able to write until Thursday. That will be really cool to see. I'm excited. I'm also looking forward to a little break. I am so exhausted from the work. But, it probably won't be too relaxing because we will be running around in the short time we have.

I have a request. I wanted to see what kind of materials are available to get from the church in Russian, but I can't look on the website. (Right Sister Саргсян and I in front of the sign for Тольятти) Could some one order the language material listing (it said that it was free) and then when it arrives, let me know how it works? That would be really cool to know.

Well, I guess we gotta run. We are supposed to be meeting our zone in 15 min and it is a 30 min ride.

Love

Сестра Атвуд