Handwritten letters

Note from Mishmom: Another missionary completed his mission and returned home from MishGirl's mission, bearing pictures and letters from her!! Woohoo! Following are snippets from those letters, which had been written over the course of many weeks.

So, I'm in Russia! Weird huh!? I can't get used to it! I still am so fascinated by all the architecture and art. I am always staring up at everything...probably why I have such a problem with tripping! The horrible roads and sidewalks don't help much either, but what can you do?!

I met a woman the other night who called and asked to meet with us. We met with her in one of the church buildings in the city. She was psycho; I mean, she was pretty smart, but she kept trying to trip us up and make us say something wrong, and it really bugged me that she was playing with us. But I still think she's a little crazy. Anyway, she told us that the man she is marrying is ex-KGB and that we better not offend her in any way. She looked at me and asked if I was scared, because she had told me there were a couple men circling our building. She stared me down, and said this, and I couldn't help it, I laughed and said no. She said it was a good thing she loved me, but that I better not offend her. Then she just kept saying, "What are we going to do with you?" My comps told me afterward that her fiance probably IS KGB and that it's not uncommon to have them check up on the church every once in awhile. WHAT??? I guess we're just very compliant and they say that there are cameras in all of our buildings, which I've heard from other people but I've never believed. Crazy KGB stuff!

It's dark by 4:30 and I feel like it's bedtime but then we go out to other appointments.

Have I told you that one of my comps got her patriarchal blessing and she's from the tribe of Zebulun? How cool is that!

I made peanut butter chews for the first time ever tonight. They're NOTHING compared to mom's but I've been having fun learning how to bake. FINE place to learn too! NOTHING makes sense here. All the spices are different, it's next to impossible to find things like powdered sugar (peanut butter is SUPER expensive!), and the ovens don't make sense or have degrees on them, measuring is all different....so basically what it comes down to is that I'm super proud of myself and SHOCKED it's all turning out so well!

I was just thinking this morning as I was looking thru my family pictures (as I so often do!) about how, yes, I'm loving my mish, but how you can go to the greatest place on earth, but without your family there with you, well basically it can be really sad. Now, I know this situation I'm in is only temporary, and it's an amazing opportunity to be able to serve the Lord and then return to my family. But it just made me think about how thankful I am for the Atonement and Christ's gospel and that our family is in the church, and eternal families. Because if I went to heaven and the rest of my fam didn't...well, it would be totally worthless. To me. Lucky for me, you guys raised us in the gospel! Thank you!

How cool is it that I met an apostle! He was so down to earth and personal. For some reason I was really nervous! It was like he ws some huge rock star or something, who I really wanted to run to, madly jumping up and down, and get his autograph! Haha! He shook all of our hands. His wife was awesome too, her testimony blew me away. She touched on a little bit how when she was a chld, Russia and America were bitter enemies. My companions and I discussed this CAREFULLY, before bed a couple of weeks ago. I'm not gonna lie, I always thought of Russia as America's enemy, probably accentuated by the fact that Russians are always the bad guys on movies and tv shows. They told me straight up they've always though the same. Just like everyone else I've met (the majority), they hate America, but want to live there.

It's so cool that the gospel is here now though. To think of all the stuff this country has gone through to get to this point where the church can be taught here is extraordinary! You should hear some of the things my comps' parents went through when they were growing up....wow!Anyway, once again, I loved Elder Bednar! I love hearing a prophet testify because you know that their testimony, their WITNESS,...it's amazing! He left us with a blessing and it was so powerful and so meant for me! I don't really remember the words he said in this blessing...but I remember the feelings it gave me. He gave us a promise that made me KNOW that if I continue to work hard and be patient, this language will come for me. I just know it. He promised it. Well, he didn't promise THAT, but in the words he said, that's what I felt from the Holy Ghost. I just need to be patient and keep trying. Even though it feels impossible, I feel like I can do it.

Can you believe how cold it is??? And how cold it's gonna be??!! After I emailed you guys, we were walking to an appointment and of course it was dark, like it was midnight. I'm thankful I live in the city where there are plenty of lights and I feel safe! You know how the whole city is on water, like Venice? Well, ALL the rivers were COMPLETELY frozen over. Just two days ago we watched a crazy man jump in and swim across one of them! Now it's rock solid! We might go ice skating next P-day! The WIND is what gets you! Man, it wouldn't be bad if there wasn't a constant arctic wind blowing 50 MPH off the ice caps!

But I never thought I'd say this: it's beautiful! I wonder when it will get old to me. The snowflakes are huge and fluffy. I have a lot of fun walking at night through the city with the pretty snow slowly falling. It's so fun! Like a movie! So yea, I've folded-- snow can be beautiful!

I haven't been mugged yet...but I got robbed! Well, almost! :) I'm always SO careful about my bag, but one day I wore my comp's backpack cuz we went shopping I had to carry it around all day. Well, we got out of a taxi van and I swear to you, ONE minute later a girl started yelling "Devooshka!" at me, which means "girl!" She saved me! A man had unzipped all of my back pack pockets! He was almost to my passport and money pouch! It was the first and LAST time I wore a backpack.

I got a really sweet email from an American girl I met a couple of weeks ago! They were an awesome group from the Moscow English teaching program. This is what she wrote:

"Hello! This is Tiffani, you met me one fine sunday in St. Petes. I really would love to keep in touch with you. You've inspired me in so many ways. The lot of us couldn't stop talking about how rad we think you are. You put the thought into my head to serve a mission. I look up to you tremendously. You're the cutest sister missionary I've ever met! You definitely draw people in and that is a quality that need to be apparent whith missionary work I think. Enough with the mushy stuff--I've added you on myspace as well. You are rad! TifK"

Do you know how much I needed that? Isn't she so sweet and awesome!? I loved those girls! I hope we DO keep in touch! I felt so connected to them!

We had a district lunch the other day here at our apartment and we made blini and palmini (both basic Russian food I totally have to make for you when I get home). The next morning, or more like middle of the night, I got food poisoining. I thought it was the palmini, but nobody else got sick. So stupidly, I ate the leftovers last night. Moron. had food poisoning all this morning again! I'm so dumb! So I thnk I'm over palmini for life. I've made taco soup today though, despite my nasty tummy feelings, and I'm planning on eating it for dinner! :)

You've asked about the people I serve with, so here are some descriptions:

Sister G.--my senior comp. She's 28, from Siberia, and I LOVE her! She's really good at English, kinda quiet, really sweet and sincere. She's a total stick and she's desperate to gain weight...so it's probably not the best thing that we eat together! :)

Sister V.--my other comp. 21 years old, from Siberia too. Always insists on doing opposite of what I want. Luckily I know how to work it now. :) Tells me how prego I look all the time.

Elder K.--Reminds me so much of Nicholas Cage, but is virtually SILENT. The most humble guy. From Finland and speaks English better than most AMericans, with zero accent. I've decided Finnish might be what we speak in heaven, it sounds so Elvish. :) I asked him all about himself and he sounds completely boring, just like my comps told me, but for some reason I thought he was awesome anyway. Well, come to find out from all the Elders, K is #1 in the WORLD in WarCraft, he's famous in Finland for his guitar skills and band, he's a famous football (soccer) player on the Finland pro team...Just all these AMAZING things he FORGOT to tell me about! I asked him about it and he silently walked away. I feel bad...he's so humble about everything. Oh, and he served in the military. He loves his country. I love him! (Written on Nov 18, 2007)