oh, yeah!

Yeah, I forgot something very important. The investigator we thought we lost, again, called us on Monday! We were so excited because usually people don't call when they say they will. (Left - my companion being silly one night) We hugged each other for a full minute or more and then knelt to pray for inspiration. There is something in her life that is preventing her from being able to accept the gospel and we don't really know what that is, but we wanted the direction of the spirit so we could say everything we needed to say and do everything we needed to do. It was a really good meeting even though we learned that she is not ready to accept the commitment to be baptized. She seemed a little afraid
when we talked about enduring to the end, but I think that is good. She doesn't want to jump into this and I think that means the Lord is preparing her to be a strong member and not just another person who gets baptized and later stops coming to church. I asked her how she feels about everything and she said that she doesn't know but if she could come to church than maybe she would understand more. That's the difficult part, getting her to church. She has a little daughter who sleeps late (I guess) and she won't wake her up because she says she is cranky for the rest of the day. Since we have church at 9:30, she has yet to come, but she doesn't even come to the 1:00 meeting that we invited her to. Maybe that's for the best because I guess that branch is struggling right now and the recent converts have started attending our branch. (Right - at a member's house. Her cat decided he liked me and climbed on my lap. This is the first time he did this, usually he didn't even want to be in the same room with us) But, we learned something new yesterday that gives us very little hope that she will ever come to church now. They are closing our building and we will be meeting in Комсомольски (Komsomolski). That's nearly an hour gazelle ride, plus 15 rubles (the price went up recently) there and another 15 back. The building where we meet now is only a 15 min. walk from her apartment, so we will see if she will come. But at least it will be a little later, 10:00. Still, that
means that she needs to leave her apartment at pretty much the same time to make it to our building by 9:30, so I highly doubt she will come. That's really too bad. This trial will really test the active members of the branch, too. I hope they will come out the victor.
Well, now I guess that is really all.

Love,
Сестра Атвуд

Yeah, another week is over. I really can't believe how much time has already flown by. My companion has only 3 months left on her mission and she keeps saying that's so much time, but every time she says that I think, that's so little! (Right - Sister Саргсян (Sargsyan) in Old City on our way to the bus stop) She will be going home a little after I hit my year mark. Weird to think that soon after, that will be me. Yesterday we had a zone conference. It was good, except that they like to talk about statistics and that always makes me feel bad
because then I feel like that is all that is important. For example, the sisters in Kazan got 10-10-10 (that means 10 lessons with an investigator with a member present, 10 lessons with new members and less-actives, and 10 other lessons with investigators) plus they had 7
investigators at church (I think), 4 progressing investigators and 1 with a baptismal date. They say that numbers don't matter but then they make such a big deal about the numbers and use those numbers to judge us. What does that tell me? That tells me that numbers are really all that matter and I don't like that at all. When they emphasize things like that I start to wonder if I am even helping anyone here because we have no progressing investigators. But, despite that, it isn't like we aren't looking for new investigators and trying to work with the ones we have. But it is their decision.
Anyway, after the conference we had interviews with President. That was interesting because he basically told me that I will be getting a transfer the next cycle. When I sat down, the first thing he did was ask me how long I have been in Тольятти (Togliatti). I just said, a very long
time, more than 6 months. When I told him that he said, yeah, that's a long time, especially for sisters who have little time on their missions. (Left - Sister Саргсян and I bought this basket of flowers for a birthday of one of the members, this is on our way to see her and give her her present) Then he went on to say, I'm sure we can find another place for you to serve. Well, when Sister Саргсян interviewed with him, he told her that they are probably closing Тольятти for sisters. That means that we will both be leaving and no sisters will be coming to replace us.
That's so weird to think about, but we weren't exactly surprised. Many of the members here don't really value the sisters and there are other cities that are basically begging to have sisters. All the members here rely to heavily on the missionaries, thinking they are here to do
everything (a few even told the blind inactive lady that we had so many problems with that missionaries are here to do everything, that it is our responsibility!) when we are here to preach the gospel and basically that is all. Everything that we do should be geared toward finding new people, even service. So, now they will not be able to rely on the sisters to do everything. Maybe someday they will have sisters again, but maybe then they will really appreciate them..
So, mom, thanks for buying that puzzle. That will be really good. When we used the one that our DL let us borrow, it was really good. Our investigator has a little daughter and after talking about the plan of salvation, we let the little girl play with it and that helped keep her occupied while we finished our lesson. (Right - The mother of one of the members died. We were asked to participate in the funeral service. One of the interesting customs that I noticed is that they covered all the mirrors or reflecting surfaces. I'm not exactly sure why they do this) Also, I'm glad you got everything figured out about taxes. I forgot to answer your question last week. As we were walking to the bus stop, I remembered and thought, oh well, too late now, I'll just have to remember to answer later. I'm glad you found my immunization record, though. You should put that somewhere where you will be able to find it for me when I come home.
So, yeah, it looks like I have only 3 weeks left in good old Тольятти. I can honestly say that I am very happy to leave. Don't get me wrong, I love the members here and the investigators, but I am just not used to being in one place for so long with the exact same schedule, nothing changing. Even at school I only have a little more than 3 months with the same schedule and then everything changes, and even then, it isn't everyday where I even have a schedule. Here I
can't take a road trip or do anything else to relax me or give me a break from routine. Even the conferences that we have don't help because we have to listen to Russian for several hours and if they speak in English I have to translate for my companion. So, anyway it will be nice to finally see something else though I have no idea where I will be going. (Left - Иван (Ivan), Баба Мария (Baba Mariya), me, and Sister Саргсян) It is possible that I will be going to Самара (Samara). That would be alright but somewhere I haven't been would be even better,
maybe even somewhere on the south side of the mission. Yeah, that would be really good.
Anyway, I guess that's it for now. I love you all and am glad that I don't have to worry about anything at home because I know you are taking care of it. Oh yeah, I have to admit that I'm a little relieved that you won't be coming to pick me up. It will be a lot better for me to be able to be released from my calling before showing you Russia, so if you would want to see it, I want to come back to visit Sister Саргсян in Ростов (Rostov), so maybe then will be better. But,
that means I need to know where you would want me to fly into, Salt Lake City, or just to Bismarck. Basically it makes no difference to me, but it would be kind of nice since it is so close to Christmas if I could see Becky, so I guess it's more up to her, if she even still exists (yeah, I still haven't heard from her).
Weird, it also seems that Heather hasn't gotten any of the letters I have sent her through pouch, so I'm glad that you got the one I sent. I am planning on sending a little package home, soon, so we will see and I will let you know when I get that done.

Love,
Сестра Атвуд

Wow, I don't even think I know where this last week has gone. I totally forgot about St. Patrick's Day! I can't believe it! I love that holiday! And chances are, I didn't even wear green. Oh well,
what can you do?
I have a couple of requests. (Right - while contacting one day, I saw this sign on a building. It says, My life - I love you! - your cat - I thought it was really funny, so I had to get a picture) There is this puzzle that one of the Elders has in Russian that his mother sent him. On the back is written this website: www.ldspuzzle.com - I was wondering, could you get that for me and send it to me? That would be really helpful. It is called the Plan of Salvation. Whenever we need to teach the plan of salvation, we have to borrow, "props" (I guess you could call them that) from one of the Elders and it would be nice to not have to do that anymore. That would be great. Also, I was wondering, did anyone look into getting that Russian language catalog that tells what you can order in Russian from the distribution center?
Mom, as for your question, we have to leave every 6 months for our migration cards. I guess there is a law that we can't be in the country for more than 6 months at a time, so every 6 months we have to leave and then come back. But, after a year, our visa expires so we have to get a new one, too. (Left - view of Тольятти and me) For just the 6 month one, we go to St. Petersburg and then to Estonia. At a year we go through Moscow to either Latvia or Lithuania. I wish it was just for a break, though.
Basically, the trip is more energy consuming than missionary work because they give you no time to be able to relax, we just had to run everywhere.
Let's see. This week we had a big setback with our one and only progressing investigator. Now she is no longer progressing. We don't really know what happened, but the same thing happened 4 months ago. When Sister Vernon was here, we asked her to invite her husband to meet with us, too. After that, she stopped answering our calls, stopped coming to church, and didn't come to anything we invited her to. After 4 months, we decided to try calling her again. She again hung up the phone, but she ended up sending us a text message. When she found out that there was a new sister, she said she would call us the next week to meet with us. Much to our surprise, she did. We met with her and we really felt like she was ready and that we could set a date for baptism at the next meeting or maybe the meeting after that. (Right - The Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Тольятти) She came to the baptism we had at the branch, but she didn't come to church, but she was reading. Finally, the second meeting came. We talked with her about the restoration (just to see what she remembered) and when we asked her about prophets she mentioned Joseph Smith and the people who wrote the Book of Mormon. Honestly, I felt like we had a golden investigator. But then, at the end of the meeting, we had to run because her sister-in-law was on her way and she said right now it isn't comfortable for her to talk to her about this. We wanted to know if her husband knows about the church and if he is anti or if he doesn't mind that she's meeting with us, so we asked. She said he's not anti but that he doesn't want it for himself. But, we think there is something preventing her from coming to church and fully accepting the gospel because after that she stopped taking our calls and stopped coming to activities. It's so frustrating because I want her to accept the gospel and be happy. The really strange thing is, I still believe that it is possible and I keep praying for a miracle to happen. What can you do in a situation like that? They tell us that everything is in our hands, if we are obedient and if we work hard then people will be baptized, but is that really so? (Left - We often did service at this children's park. During the fall, we raked leaves. During the winter, we shoveled snow. Sometimes during the winter, the people there wouldn't let us work. This was one of those times. So, the Elders worked without us) I have to believe that it isn't because that would have to say that people aren't getting baptized because of me and I can't think of anything else that I can do. I think they just tell us that so we will do all we can, but people still have their agency to choose. And honestly, I don't want the kind of baptisms that usually happen here. So many people were baptized because they couldn't say no to the missionaries, they liked them too much or were too nice or things like that. Then, after their missionaries left, they immediately stopped coming to church. One girl that we have been working with is an example of that. She was even baptized while I was here (by the Elders of course) but the first time that we met with her, she told us it was a mistake, she didn't have a testimony and that she just got baptized because the Elders kept pushing her. That's what happens when they make such a big deal about baptisms. I understand that that is why we are here, but more important than that, I think, is to make sure that they have a real conversion. Otherwise it just creates more work for the missionaries who follow.
Have I mentioned that it looks like I may be home for Christmas? (Right - So, while the Elders worked, my companion and I took pictures. This is a building in the park. This is from a Russian fairy tale. I guess a witch lied in this house on chicken feet) I'm not exactly sure yet, but I have heard that maybe we will be leaving Dec. 21. We should leave the 28, but because it is so close to Christmas, we may be able to come home a week earlier. I would rather stay longer, but I don't think I have a choice in the matter. At the same time, it would be really nice to be home for Christmas. I won't find out for a little while yet, but if that is the case, you should probably think about where you would want me to go. It might be kind of nice to spend Christmas in Utah with Becky if Becky can't be in Bismarck. Just an idea. That's still a long way away but I think it will go a lot faster than I want it to.
Well, what else can I say? I haven't heard from Lizzy and Sara in a while. I'm starting to think that maybe they don't think I am worth their time if they can't even send me a little email once a week. I can't think of anything that they are doing that would mean they couldn't spend 10 min. writing to me every week.
Ok, I guess I'll go now.

Love,
Сестра Атвуд

What a crazy week. I was glad to hear that you got my letter. I wasn't expecting it to arrive so quickly! (Here we are on our way to the airport in Самара (Samara). I'm on the far left then Elders West, Males, Condie, Sister Wilson, and Elders Nielson and Kruckenburg) I think that might actually be quicker than pouch. That's good to know, if that is the case. We shall see because on Tuesday I sent a letter through pouch. What can I say? I got back from Petersburg yesterday. It was pretty nice to be able to see the city. We almost didn't get to because the mission decided to stop paying for a tour for the missionaries. Of course they had to do that first with my group. Well, we were a little upset about that but we paid for the tour out of our own pockets in order to actually see something. (Right - This was on the way fromt the airport in St. Petersburg, that sign says St. Petersburg) Here's how the trip went.
On Tuesday morning a taxi came for me and my companion to take us to Самара (Samara). We arrived around 9:30 am there. We had a little orientation meeting so we would know what was going on, then we got into a gazelle to go to the airport. We stopped at McDonalds on the way there to eat. When we got to the airport, we went through security and we ended up not waiting too long before getting on the plane. They fed us lunch even though it was only a two hour flight, that was nice. It was really hard to sit there for so long. (Left - at pizza hut! Clockwise around the table - Elders Nielson and Barber, our guide, Elder West, Sister Wilson, Elders Condie, Cragun, and Males, me, Elders Christiansen, Lambert, and Smart) I am not used to that.
Actually, now that I think about it, it may have been a three hour flight. But that's not really important. There was a man sitting next to me on the plane. One of the Elders ended up talking to the people next to him and the man next to me was listening. I wanted to talk to him, but I didn't want to interrupt his listening. Then, with about 45 min. left of the flight, he tried asking a question. The other man said, girls, why don't you Heavenly Fat sit down and talk to this man? So I did. He had a lot of questions. (Right - the border between Russia and Estonia) The first thing he did is ask what happens if we go on a mission and then start doubting. That was a really interesting question that led to me explaining how God is ourher and He answers our prayers. Then he wanted to know why we pray for things and don't get them, even though we were sincere and believed we would. He has a son and I explained to him that God wants what is best for us, but we don't always ask for that, just like his son sometimes wants things that aren't good for him. He seemed to really understand that. (Left - This is the sign for Estonia) He didn't want to give any information, but I think he had a lot to think about after our conversation and who knows what will happen.
Then, after the flight landed, we got into some SUV with the man who was supposed to meet us. Somehow 12 missionaries, the driver and our guide fit into that SUV. It was pretty cool. We went to a mall where there was a food court, but we decided to go across the street to eat at Pizza Hut. That was the first time in a long time, but it was fun.
After eating, we all piled in again and headed for the border to Estonia. We traveled for about 2 hours before arriving. (Right - Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg) By the time we got there, it was getting dark. We headed towards the border. I ended up having to wait a little for Sister Wilson, so the others were way ahead. As we walked, I was surprised to see an Elder getting out of a van. I thought, what is he doing there? He should already be at the border! Then he said, Sister Wilson! That is when I realized he was from the MTC! He was in our branch, but not in my district though Sister Wilson was in that district for 3 weeks. He is serving in the Ekateringburg Mission. We were so surprised! We found out that they were waiting for 2 more Elders from our MTC branch. We were really excited to see them there, but we couldn't even get pictures because it was the border and we're not allowed to take pictures there. (Left - statue to Peter the Great) That was too bad. We ran into the other two on our way to the border. It was really crazy to see them, we were definately NOT expecting it.
After leaving Russia, we found ourselves in "No-Man's Land" walking towards Estonia. We continued on until we reached their building and entered. Inside, we changed a little bit of money so we could get something to eat, then we went in. One Elder who was with us is from Romania. I guess they had never seen a Romanian passport before, so there was almost a problem. They had to check something to see if it was real. It was funny because I was after him and the man inside the booth asked if he was with us. I let him know that he was and that seemed to reassure him a little. (Right - Revolutionary Square. The Bolshevik Revolution took place here) They eventually, after a few minutes, let him in, too. We didn't know where to go, so we walked in the direction of the signs for McDonalds. When we arrived, I ended up ordering in Russian, Estonian, and English. That was pretty cool.
Then we had to head back. We walked back across the border and while we were waiting to enter Russia, a lady started talking to me. (Left - Another Cathedral) We talked about a lot of things and I was just starting to explain about the Word of Wisdom when her son came. He was not happy that his mother was talking with me and basically told me to go to Russia (but in a rude way). But, his mother had already given us the address of her cousin who lives in Romania. She wants the Romanian Elder to go visit her.
Then we headed back to Petersburg. We got to a hotel late and then we had to deal with our guide trying to sell us things. That was a little annoying because he was the one who was supposed to do the tour. We all decided together that we still wanted to do it, even though we needed to pay for it ourselves. (Right - Peter the Great, he really did have a little head and big body like depicted here. That is why, they say, that he killed all his sons and many other people because he was so sensitive about his looks) There were a few who didn't want to do it, but they did it anyway because we couldn't if everyone didn't go. That also meant that we had very little time to sleep because the office didn't give us time for the tour because they weren't going to pay for it. We woke up early the next morning and headed out. We drove around seeing sights of the city, getting out to take pictures and hear about the history a little. It was a two-hour tour. Then we went to McDonalds for breakfast before heading to the airport. We made it just in time to register. That means we also didn't spend a lot of time waiting in the airport. (Left - the airport in St. Petersburg. I took this picture because it still has the old name written on it, Leningrad) They fed us lunch on the flight back, too. They gave us raw fish as part of it. That was interesting. Then I slept for most of the flight.
After arriving in Самара, we had to find our ride to the office. That was interesting because all the taxi drivers wanted to take us, but we told them we already had a ride. It was crazy because they were really pushy. Finally we got to the office and we had to wait for a while before our taxi arrived to take us back to Тольятти. (Right - eating raw fish on the plane, I think it was dried) It was a really fast trip with very little rest. I have to say that I kind of wish I wouldn't have had to go because I came back so tired and I didn't want to do anything. I feel a little better now, but even now, there is this weird feeling.
Well, that's about it for my trip. In 6 months I will go to Moscow, but until then, just an ordinary Missionary life. I am hoping that our investigator will get baptized soon, hopefully in the next month before transfers. We will see because we want to get a date set at our next meeting with her. I am excited about that.
Well, I guess I should go!

Love,
Сестра Атвуд

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

hmmm

Well, let's see. What's new? There is a lot going on right now. We have lately been seeing a lot of miracles in our work. We have been given a promise that if we talk to 10 people every day about the gospel, then our baptisms will double. Well, we have yet to see THAT happen but we have been finding a lot of people, so even though no one is yet ready to accept baptism, we are seeing success in a different way. (Above - Me and Саргсян in military uniforms on the men's holiday) For example, that girl that we met last week at the internet, not only did she start talking to us, but she gave us her phone number and address. We went to see her 2 days later and her friend was there, too. They want to hear about our religion, what we believe, why we are here, etc, but they tell us it is not for us to bring them to our church. But the interest they have is a beginning. We gave them a Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet, the Articles of Faith and even a Book of Mormon. They were really happy and they really enjoy talking with us. It is interesting that most people who want to talk to us, want to because they think we are cool or because we are nice.

I got a compliment yesterday. One of the members invited a friend to our youth night. She came and it turns out that she knows English. Sister Саргсян (Sargsyan) told her that I speak English so she even gave it to me in English. I don't remember exactly how she said it now, but it was something about my smile. Maybe she said I have a bright smile or something, I don't remember exactly, but it was a nice compliment. (Later I remembered that she told me I have a sweet smile) It turns out that she knows a guy from Australia who is in Тольятти (Togliatti). She promised to come to English and invite him. That would be really interesting to meet him. Maybe he has even heard something about the church! That would be really cool. We shall see if he even comes. She said that he is really lazy, so who knows if he will feel like coming, even though he only sits at home because he doesn't know Russian and maybe he won't think it is worth it to come and speak English. (Above - the Relief Society after the men's holiday that they organized, wearing ties made by Галина) Who knows? I would really like to meet him because it would make things a little more interesting.

So, pass on Happy Birthday to Becky for me, will ya? Even though she refuses to write me. What's the deal? Oh well.

Hey mom, thanks. Thanks for everything you do. I really appreciate it. That's crazy about Stuart's call. For some reason I don't even remember hearing that Josh Mayer was on a mission. That must have been a long time ago if he is going to be home before Stuart goes. Strange. Oh well. How many missionaries are in the ward right now?

Also, grandpa and grandma, thanks for the email. I appreciate hearing about everything that's going on. Sometimes I really do feel like I am in a dream and that nothing is really happening there. That means when I get home, everything will be exactly the same. I need things to remind me that things are changing so it won't be such a shock when I get home. I tried sending Adam a letter once, but he never responded so I don't know if he even got it. I hope things are going great for him. It seems like he should be finishing soon, but maybe I have no sense of time.

Heather, I really hope you are still reading the website because I can't respond to your emails anymore. I did get your letter though with the drawing. My companion really liked it.

Let's see. I also got a card from Brother Bruderer (I'm pretty sure that's his last name, the one who taught Sunday school a couple of times while I was home, and not Brother Bundy). (Above - With Ирина and her sister)He sent me some money. I was really shocked to get that! Especially since he sent it through pouch. Tell him thanks for me. I really appreciate that he is thinking of me.

It seems like I will be able to buy a digital camera. I really want one, and maybe I shouldn't spend money on buying one (I will have to get some money from the bank, but not very much) but I almost finished my film that you bought for me (I know, already) and it will be a lot nicer and easier to just be able to save them on discs. Then I can send even more pictures and even films to you. I am really excited about that. All I have to do is save them on a CD and into the mail! Then you can print any ones that you want, look at the rest and watch the movies. So, we've been looking around and I will probably buy one either today or tomorrow. I'm really excited because soon I will be going to St. Petersburg and it will be nice to have pictures and movies from that. Let me know if you think this is a bad idea, but it will probably be too late.

Well, that's it!

Love,

Сестра Атвуд