begin. I guess the most important thing is to tell about my trip to Moscow (see picture to the left - the sign says Moscow and was taken from the airplane as we pulled into Домодедово (Domodedovo), one of the airports in Moscow) and Estonia. But first, I want to explain about a problem that has shown up that is really making it difficult for us to work. Last Wednesday we were called by the lady who does our registration (we have to register ourselves to live here) telling us that we had to come to Саратов (Saratov) the next day to renew registration before we left on our big trip. 
(Picture to the right is on the газель [gazelle] on our way from the airport - Elder Richins, me, and Sister Silva) So, we did. There we found out that there is a new rule that the landlord/lady has to be present when they do registration (and we do, too) or they won't do it. The problem is, our landlady is in Germany and isn't planning on returning any time soon. So, we went to see if we could work something out and finally the man said ok, but this is the last time. Well, we left Sunday, and that means that we have to re-do registration anyway. I'll continue that story a little later. Monday, we made it to Самара (Samara) early in the morning. We felt really dirty and we had gotten permission from Sister Давыдик
(Davydik) to use their guest apartment to take a shower, so we went to the office and were able to shower before our trip orientation meeting.(Picture to the left was taken on the Metro in Moscow, Sister Wilson and Elder Barber. The film below was taken at the same time as this picture) That was nice because it was the last time we were able to shower until today. Then we got ready to leave. We left for the airport soon after our meeting ended, to fly to Moscow.
We had a little bit of time before our train for Estonia left, so we went to Red Square to take pictures and look around. That was really great. We ran into a missionary who had just finished his mission in Ростов (Rostov) and who was traveling with his dad.
It was interesting to be able to talk to them. Soon after, we had to head to the train station. (Picture to the right - on the escalator going out of the Metro station. It is very long. In front you see Elder Grigg and I'm not sure who the other Elder is)We took the metro and we didn't really know what we were doing, we just knew that three different lines connected at that station. We didn't know how to tell when it was the right line. I saw a sign with the name of the station we had to head to, so we went there. The other two sisters with me (my companion here and companion from the MTC) were a little hesitant, so I stepped 
on to ask if it was the right train. They didn't even have a chance to get on before the door closed behind me. . . meaning, they were on the outside and I was on the inside. (Picture above - me on Red Square. Behind me is St. Basil's Cathedral. The film below was taken by Sister Silva on Red Square, but don't believe the descriptions of everything, we really had no idea) That was a little creepy because I haven't been alone in over a year and then I was alone on the metro in Moscow. I asked a lady if we could open the door and she told me we couldn't. My companion was quick enough to gesture that they would wait right there. So, I got off at the next stop and went back. It was really funny to me, but everything worked out fine and we made it to the right station. 
We stopped at a store on the way to buy food. While there, we met a man from Turkey who doesn't speak Russian, speaks English, and lives and works in Moscow.
(Picture to the right - Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin in Moscow, I had no idea what most of the buildings were when I first went, except the cathedral and Lenin's tomb) That was really cool, but hard because we kept wanting to talk to him in Russian and he kept saying, I don't understand Russian. It was interesting.We were a little late getting to the train station and the Elders were freaking out. They thought we were going to miss the train but in reality, we still had a good 20 minutes before our train was to leave.
We had a 15 hour, over-night train ride to Tallinn, Estonia. (Picture to the left is the sign saying Red Square) It was a crazy ride because I ended up feeling like I was living during World War II. You see, in the middle of the night, we were woken up to have our documents looked at. We opened the door slightly and had to wait. While we were waiting, a man went by in a military uniform (the uniforms here really do look like they are from WWII) so that was a really weird feeling. They checked our papers, stamped our passports, stared a little too long at my companions passport until the main lady told the other guy to give it back (she had already moved on and he was staring at her passport still), and went back to sleep. 
A little while later we were woken up by a man wanting to look at our documents. (Picture to the right is at the train station in Tallinn, just after arriving - Elder Cragun, me, Elders Barber, Smart, Nielson, Richins, and Grigg)We went back to sleep after that and were soon woken again to see if there was anything we wanted to declare. We again went back to sleep only to be woken a fourth time by another person wanting to see our documents. They stamped our passport again, and we continued on our way. 
We finally made it to Tallinn a little early in the morning. We had to give our passports to a man (did you know it costs $450 for us to get a new Visa? That's so much!) and were told to be back at 4:00. We left to explore.(Picture to the left - view of Tallinn)Exploring Tallinn was great because we had a lot of time. We walked through the old city where pretty much everyone speaks English. That was weird to hear. We found a hotel where we ate a breakfast buffet and then went back to find things to buy. We did that for awhile and then went to see an old church. The church is really interesting because it was built as a Catholic cathedral but when the communists took power, all churches were forced to meet there, Catholic, Lutheran, etc. Now, Baptists meet there.
We were able to talk to the people there (they didn't speak English but they spoke Russian) and they had questions about the church. (Picture to the right was taken at the hotel where we ate breakfast, all you can eat. Some people went to McDonalds, the rest of us went here. Elders Grigg and Cragun, Sister Wilson, Elder and Sister Frampton, Elders Smart and Barber) It was great because I taught about the Restoration in a Catholic/now Baptist church. They were really nice, despite the one lady who has some really weird ideas about us.
After that, we went to see the Baltic Sea. That was really great. One Elder was skipping rocks. I've always wanted to be able to skip rocks, so they tried to teach me how to do it. I was able to skip it once. That means that I skipped my first rock on the Baltic Sea! (Picture above - walking the streets of Tallinn, all the sisters - Sister Frampton, Sister Wilson, Sister Silva, and me) It was pretty cool. By that time we were running out of time, so we decided to go to this store where you can find lots of American food. I didn't buy a whole lot (only cornbread because the past few weeks I have really been wanting cornbread) but the others bought a lot, peanut butter, cake mix, frosting, cheesecake, etc. But, it took so long that we ended up being 
late to the train station. We still made it in time and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that we all received our Visas and were able to head back. (Picture to the right - these girls make coated almonds that are really good. They use several different kinds of sugar and show you exactly how they are made) That train ride back to Moscow was a little better because we made it to the border before we went to sleep. That means that we were still awake when they came knocking on our doors to see our documents. The lady at the Russian border was the same lady from the night before and said, you again, huh? She didn't take so long this time looking at our documents before continuing on her way.
The next morning, we arrived in Moscow and we had a few hours before having to be at the airport to go back to Самара. It was raining, though. We went to McDonalds because we wanted to eat breakfast, but they switched the menu before we made it to the counter. (Picture to the left - me in the tower of the Lutheran Church - We climbed to the top first and saw the Baltic Sea before deciding to walk all the way there. Film below was taken in this tower) That was a little disappointing because they don't have breakfast at the McDonalds in Самара or Саратов. Oh well, we ate and then headed out, not sure exactly what we wanted to do. We decided to go to the рынок (rynok) but ran into a couple Elders who live in Moscow, one of which was in the MTC with me and knows a lot of the Elders in my group really well (he wasn't in my district so I don't know him) and he told us that the рынок was bombed the day before, 10 people were killed and 45 or so injured. We still wanted to go, but because it was raining so hard, they told us that it was probably closed down. So, since it was their p-day, they decided to take us somewhere else where we could buy souvenirs.
We went there and I bought a few things.
(Picture below - another view of Tallinn) We finished a little early and didn't know what to do, so we decided to head back to the airport to not risk being late. We thought we would be a half-hour early but it ended up being only 10 minutes so it was probably a good thing that we left when we did. We had a little bit of time to wait before getting on our plane. There was a man there from Ohio who lives with his family in Moscow (he does something with oil) and it was really interesting to talk to him. He does a lot of charitable things like giving money to churches, etc. but he thinks we are stupid for going on a mission (he considers missionaries to be destroyers of 
culture but in Russia, that could only mean we are teaching people not to smoke or drink . . . and that's not bad in any case). It was really interesting to hear his point of view.(Picture above - Sisters Silva and Wilson in viking hats at a local gift shop) All in all, we met a lot of really interesting people. In Estonia we also met a man from England. That was cool to talk to him. The nicest thing about the trip was just to spend some time with those Elders. I didn't know them as well as the Elders that were in my district in the MTC. Only two from my district came with us. But, they are all really good Elders. I have to say, I was really relieved to be getting back to Энгельс (Engels) and back to work.
Now is where the continuation comes in. We arrived in Саратов this mor
ning. We knew we need to write home, so we decided to head there first. (Picture to the right - me and the Baltic Sea) Its a good thing we did because we may have already been on our way to Энгельс, or in Энгельс when we received a phone call asking where we were. When the person on the other end found out we were in Саратов he said, you are supposed to be in Самара for a few days to register here. No one had even known that we were supposed to stay in Самара and they bought us train tickets to come back to Саратов. So, we were told that we can't go to Энгельс. Luckily, we got everything worked out so we could go shower at the sisters and then we came here. In a half hour, we have to meet the 
lady to see what we can get worked out, but we may not be able to head back to Энгельс for over a week. That will not be fun if we are not allowed to be in Энгельс because we have a critical time here with several of our investigators.So, we'll find out today what happens. Pray for us. (Picture above - Sister Frampton feeding Sister Silva chocolate with Elder Frampton watching. The shop in the background is one of the ones we went to our second day in Moscow)
By the way, thanks to everyone that wrote me this week. I got letters from Erin, Lizzy, Mom, Dad, Sara, and Becky, and then emails from a few of those and grandma/grandpa. Thanks for thinking of me. Grandpa, that would be interesting to speak at whatever you were
talking about, but I guess we have time to talk about that after I get home. But, I wouldn't be opposed to it if it works out that I can. (Picture to the right - on the Metro in Moscow, returning to the airport wearing our Russian/USSR jackets - me, Sister Silva, and Elder Barber. I am actually wearing Elder Barber's jacket. It started raining and got a little cold)Love,
Сестра Атвуд
P.S. I've really learned this week what an interesting life we have as missionaries. . . Nothing else can beat it.
(For more information on the sites of Red Square, check out Exploring Moscow)
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