misses him. He is planning on going to BYU and she told me that it was hard enough letting him go to Moscow which isn't so far away, but she can't imagine what it would be like if he was half-way around the world. That is probably why she wanted to tell you all, hi.[Picture above - Раиса and I in Энгельс (Engels), more specifically the area of the city called Мясокомбинат (Myacakombinat)]
Another lady is from Пенза (Penza). We saw them on Sunday when they came to see the temple dedication. Her name is Морозова Галина (Morozova Galina). We didn't meet with Галина a lot in Пенза because she was always active, but I guess the few times that we did meet with her made a big impression. She came up to me and asked if I remembered her. I was really happy to see her because she was too sick to travel while I was in Пенза and she was really happy that I remembered her. She was sad to find out that I am going home in two months. She told me to tell America привет (privet - I'm not exactly sure how to pass THAT one on) but then to tell you thank you. I don't remember all that she said, but she said a lot of nice things. Basically she wanted to thank you for raising a daughter like me who would come and share the gospel.
Also, this isn't from a member, but one of the Elders in my district has an Atwood in his line of authority and he wanted to know if I am related. I figured that dad would know. His name is Millan D. Atwood.
Thanks to everyone who wrote me this week, mom, dad, Lizzy and Sara. So, since myldsmail is having problems today, I noticed that my gmail account didn't get the last two emails from you, dad. I usually check the heading before deleting them, but last week, I guess I didn't because I also didn't send it to my gmail account. The last one I have from you is Oct. 11. Could you send the ones after that to my gmail account? That would be great, thanks.
Lizzy, that's too bad about the job but don't worry, you'll get one. Tell Sara that she doesn't need money to start her personal history because she can use the computer if she needs to. Sara, what kind of test did you have to take? If you aren't going to write real emails, you could at least give a few more details.
Mom, it seems like you are pretty busy all the time. I don't know how you do it. I think I have a little feeling of what that is like now that I am also a "mom". I am so exhausted all the time and sometimes there are things that I just don't want to do but I know I have to because if I don't, they won't get done. Of course, that is on a small scale because at least my daughter can talk for the most part and at least I don't have to feed her and all that stuff, but it seems to me to be a similar situation.
Other than that, let's see. My head has pretty much been hurting constantly for the last several days. I'm not exactly sure why except maybe from stress. The funny thing is that I don't really feel stressed except being exhausted and having my head hurt, but I know that there is a lot of stress. For the first time in my life, there is a person who causes me to cringe everytime I see him. Its pretty awful. I'm not exactly sure why but I feel like he is terrorizing me. If you haven't figured it out, I am talking about the man who wants us to live in his apartment. He keeps appearing at out meetings. He came to conference and talked with President Давудик (Davydik) (so much for him telling the truth when he said he wouldn't force me to live in his apartment) and then when I talked with President Давудик, he made it sound like he was on that man's side, even after I explained how I feel about it. That is really upsetting because no one is on my side except my ex-companion who doesn't have to deal with the problem. The thing that makes me a little angry is that they said it was my choice, but when I made my choice, they decided I didn't make the right one and that it wasn't acceptable.
Anyway, other than that, not a whole lot of good things have happened this week. One of our investigators told us that she won't come to church and she won't get baptized (we haven't even asked yet) but she is more than happy to continue to meet with us. I'm not exactly sure what to do about that because our work is to help people progress towards baptism and that means that if she won't do what it takes to progress, we should stop meeting with her and let the members fellowship, but at the same time, I think she is just afraid and I think she already knows what she needs to do but isn't ready to take that big of a step yet. So, that means that I have to decide about that and I hate it when we have to stop working with people when they are willing. One of our other investigators is now in the cancer hospital for examination. She will be there this entire week and then we will find out if there is something seriously wrong.
Also, we ran into one of our anti- members on the street the other day and that was an unpleasant experience to say the least. The only comfort is that my companion felt as awful as I did without understanding and that is a testimony to me that the member doesn't have the spirit. This member said a lot against the church, the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, the leaders here, "western" people and America. I think the member is one of the Russian-power people.
(Picture to the left - Ирина (Irina) and I outside of the church building in Саратов (Saratov). This was after the dedication of the Helsinki, Finland Temple).
But, I don't want to go on too much about that because despite that, there were still some good things. I love being around the active members because they give me hope that things will be better. They are such good people and are honestly trying to do their best. There are still a lot of problems that need to be overcome because the adversary doesn't want to lose his hold over the hearts of this people, but when I see the strong members that are here right now, I know that it won't be long before he will lose the fight. Plus, seeing the temple dedication was amazing. It made me miss the temple, though. It was really cool because I was able to see two sessions. The first was also the first temple dedication ever done in Russian and it was great to be a part of that. The second was supposed to be the English session, but it was really in Finnish with an English translator. So, now I've heard the Hosanna Chorus and a dedicatory prayer in English, Russian, and Finnish. That's something interesting.
Well, I think my time is up. I keep praying for miracles, but I guess the Lord has something else in mind. Don't worry, though, despite all the hard things that have happened this week, I am still happy to be serving a mission and even happier that it is here, namely in Энгельс, Russia, with my sister, Дэлгэрцэцэг (Delgertsetseg). (By the way, she is teaching me some Mongolian so that is exciting).
Love you all,
Сестра Атвуд
P.S.
By the way, did you get the first copy of the Liaxona yet? I would really like to know which month is the first one.
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