It is nice to hear that things are going well with you all. Thanks for your emails, mom and Sara. It was good to hear from you. By the way, Sara, I got your letter and pictures. I thought there would be more pictures from your trek, but it was nice anyway, thanks. Plus, I didn't have any pictures of Sugar and now I have one (here, I mean). I also got a nice surprise from Heather and Erin. They sent me a birthday party in the mail, including party hats and a game called, pin the name tag on the missionary. It was great. I wasn't expecting it at all.
So, by the way, last week was 
an interesting week. I had a lot of things happen in regards to my birthday. First, Monday, at our district meeting (see picture to the left - me, Elder Cummings, Elder Ray), my companion made brownies, we made lasagna together as a district, and after lunch, the Elders lit candles on the brownies and every one sang Happy Birthday. Then we had root beer floats. It was really good. I wasn't expecting that at all. Then on Thursday, we had zone conference. Because my birthday was in July, they announced my birthday and President and Sister Давыдик (Davydik) gave me a snickers bar. (I later gave that away, but it was nice anyway). Well, that same day I got my party in the mail, and Sara's pictures/birthday card. I honestly thought that things for my birthday had finished, but I was wrong.
Other than that, this last week has been really good. I can't believe that it has only been a little over two weeks since I came to Энгельс (Engels). I feel like I have been here forever! But, I think that is because we are working really hard, and have so much work to keep us busy. I have met so many people, a
lot more that I ever have in such a short period of time. Unfortunately, during this last week, something I was hoping wouldn't happen, happened. (Picture to the right - me with my flaming brownies) Awhile ago we got a phone call from a girl in Пенза (Penza) (we wouldn't have answered the phone if we had known who it was because she isn't allowed to call us) to tell us that another girl is getting married. She wouldn't tell us who she was marrying, so that was frustrating, but it got me thinking. All I could think of was this return missionary who came back 6 weeks ago and then came to Пенза. I remembered seeing them together and thought it was a little weird, but I really respected the guy, so I didn't think too much of it . . . until that phone call. Well, at conference, the missionaries from Пенза all came and we found out that she is marrying that return missionary. I don't know how it is in other parts of the world, but it is really bad when a return missionary (especially American) comes back and takes a girl to America with him to be his wife. It really hinders the work here because other girls see it and think that that can happen with them, too. . . .and it does, that is the really sad and frustrating part. It is even worse when we see Elders who we thought would never do something like that, who we thought UNDERSTOOOD, come back and do that. There are a bunch of his missionaries (he was a teacher at the MTC) here and they are all shocked. They can't believe it because he said he would NEVER do this, and now he is.
Anyway, that is just so frustrating because there are enough problems with girls here as it is without making things worse by rewarding them for flirting (or for doing worse things).
I don't really want to think about that. We have some really good investigators here. We got to the point where we invited a mother and daughter to get baptized. That was really discouraging because they said no. The mother said that she needed to think about it and we asked them both to pray about it. It doesn't make sense because they accept everything we say and feel the spirit (the mother said she always feels better after we come) but something is keeping them from fully accepting the gospe
l. A husband and wife came to church on Sunday, too. That was really nice. That was the first time they have been there while I have been there. They have a 6 year old son and a 1 ½ year old daughter. (Picture to the left - Zone Conference) The daughter, Надя (Nadya), was making a fuss, so her mother had to take her out. President Давыдик was speaking, and we really wanted her to be able to hear it, so I left and offered to watch Надя. It was a lot of fun, though I was sad not to be able to hear President's talk. Надя is really cute. All I had to do was say, come with me, and stick my finger out; she would grasp it and go wherever I wanted her to go. We looked at a flowers and pictures on the wall, and even looked through a Liaxona to keep her occupied. Later, President told me that he really likes them; they listened intently when he spoke. It was great.
Other than that, we are supposed to take members with us when we visit investigators, but it is really hard when we don't know who can go with us. I came up with the idea of making a list of members who would be willing to go with the missionaries to appointments. We passed it around Sunday and already have 8 names. It's really good because we know who and even when so we don't waste time calling every name on our branch directory. We are really working now to get the members involved. They need to and then they will be surprised at how quickly this branch will grow. There are already two good examples. One lady, the relief society president, is amazing! She does SO much! She visits everyone and is always going to see investigators with us. She is a miracle . I don't know how she does it. She has a lot of problems, for example, she just got kicked out of her apartment, but she never complains! She always finds time to serve the Lord, even though she works and has to do other things. Then there is one man who used to be inactive. I think that now he is trying to make up for lost time because he is always introducing us to less actives that live
around him, and he is always inviting them to his home. I have never met so many inactives who WANT to meet with the missionaries. It is thanks to them, I think.
Well, what else can I say? (Picture to the right - this was taken during our service at the local children's hospital. Here we are pulling weeds in the garden. I'm the one on the left, Elder Wade to the right) We've had several run-ins with drunks on transport. Nothing big, but it is just hard to not look at them or say anything to them (that's what you have to do) so, then they want us to go drink with them or something. It's really annoying, but don't worry, the Lord is still protecting us. Nothing bad has happened yet. It's just really hard to see so many people destroying their lives. DON'T EVER DRINK! It' s not worth it! You can literally lose everything! I see it everyday here. One lady at the hospital where we do service told us that her husband left her because she smokes and drinks and does drugs. Yet, instead of changing, she keeps doing it! When will people get smart and realize that those things don't bring happiness, they just drown the sorrows that come by using them to begin with. I don't think I will ever understand it. People think that it is part of the culture here, but I don't care what you think, drinking is NOT culture; it is a dirty habit that needs to be broken.
Love,
Сестра Атвуд
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