Hello,
I feel like I could sleep for a week without waking up. I really don't know what to do about that. Each day I feel a little more tired than the one before. I know that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing so I guess the Lord just wants to test me to see how long I will keep doing it without Him helping me not feel tired. Oh well, at least I feel better about myself since I started getting up at 6:00 every morning, even though I am always tired. That way I can get completely ready before time to study at 8:00 and I am 100% ready to leave the apartment when we are done. It's a good thing. (Right - at district meeting, for lunch, we made little pizzas for lunch. We made them on my favorite bread, лаваш (lavash). In the back - Elders Olsen, Boster, Ананд (Anand), and Бордун (Bordun). Front - Elders Мельничук (Melnychuk) and Christianson, Sister Блохина (Bloxina), and me)
So, first, thanks mom and dad. Sara, I have to say that one line about someone other than yourself does not cut it for your letter for the week. I hope that means you will be writing a paper one. For it to count, you have to AT LEAST tell me one thing about yourself that happened this past week, something that was different, something that was funny, or just plain something that you enjoyed. Writing me isn't supposed to be a chore, but when you write so little, that's the vibe I get from you and if you are going to write, you might as well make it worth my time reading it. Mom, that's ok about not telling me. There's probably a lot going on that it is hard to remember. Maybe you even told me and I just forgot. I can't remember anything here. I have trouble remembering what I ate for breakfast! Dad, that's probably true about your program. It seems to me that people can't except that something is great from the start. If it is, then they aren't satisfied anyway and want to make it better. Oh well, I guess that's life.
So, I am staying in Пенза (Penza) another 6 weeks. Even though I really like it here, I was kind of hoping to leave. I have a dreadful feeling that the next 6 weeks are going to be the hardest 6 weeks yet. It's hard to explain but I am just tired of being around people who are so negative all the time. (Left - Me in Пенза, I thought this little street was really pretty) I try to keep a positive outlook on things, but when my companion is negative, it is twice as hard because I have to be positive for her as well as for myself. Ahhh!!! I hope I can make it through without going insane. But, I don't just want to терпеть (terpet) this 6 weeks (thats probably like endure) I want to make them the best 6 weeks so far. So, if you could add a little something to your prayers, I would appreciate it. Please pray for us to be able to achieve the goals that we have set. That would really help, especially if you all pray for that every night together and in your individual prayers. I would really appreciate it. It took me a little time to смириться (smiritsya - like humble myself) to the fact that I will be staying here. I was hoping that after 6 months (or rather more like 11 months - have I really been on my mission THAT long?) the Lord would give me a break. But I guess that is not His plan and I will have to figure out what He wants me to learn so that I can move on. Don't get me wrong, I still love my companion, I just am tired of having to pull her out of depression. I am thinking that maybe we need to learn how to be completely positive together. Then maybe things will go better. Also, it looks like I am in Пенза for another reason. We have a meeting with one of our investigators tonight (who doesn't want to do anything but likes to meet with us so she sets up the appointments herself when we are there) and we asked one of the members to go with us. She agreed but last night she called to tell us that she couldn't (luckily she found someone else who could go with us). When I was talking with her, she told me that I am her saving angel, that if I wasn't here there would be no one else to support. It is interesting because she told me earlier that she prayed for a long time for sisters to be sent to Пенза. It's nice to know that I am the answer to her prayers.
Let's see, what else. (Right - we later made our own pizzas for lunch. The roses in the background were from a culture night) This week hasn't started off very well, at least in terms of being able to achieve our goals. One of our investigators is in Ростов (Rostov) for the next three weeks, another is leaving Saturday and will be out of town for three weeks and she can't meet with us before that because her daughter is in town. Other than that, we have one investigator with whom we can meet. And, she doesn't like to sit still while we talk. We may end up not working with her anymore. We will see how our meeting goes with her tonight. But the thing is, we can't meet with her 5 times this week to be able to achieve the goal of lessons with investigators with a member present. The funny thing is, I still believe that the Lord will help us achieve our goals. I think that maybe right now He just wants to show us that when we achieve them, it will not be anything WE did, but it will be His doing. I'm ok with that. I am just doing everything that I can do. We have even started contacting on Wednesdays. Maybe some people wouldn't want to do that on P-Day, but I rather like it. It always seems to turn out well. For example, the first three people with whom we talked today not only listened, but took the information and said they would read it, though they still didn't want to give us their information. We will see what happens with that.
Ok, well that's probably about it for now. I don't know what else to say.

Love,
Сестра Атвуд