It's called "SOUP!"

It's snowing!!!! It started last Sunday and omg did I speak way too soon when I said it was cold... yes folks, hell has frozen over. jk, I love it here! But wow, I might not last the winter... I'm serious. Haha I just walk silently and brainlessly, moving as little as possible bundled in my animal Sasha (oh yea, did I ever tell you that's her name? I didn't want it to be, but it's been the only name that has been in my head since I first tried her on. So Sasha she is!) I'm so thankful for fur... words I never thought I would utter. That happens a lot here. :)

We've all been sick... and it's freezing in our apartment... so all in all moods aren't running the highest that they could be. :) Funny story--I make soup all the time and just throw in all the veggies and stuff that I can, season it up and eat. Every single time my comps ask, "What's it called?" And EVERY time I say "...soup..." "Yes, but what's it called?" And EVERY time I have to explain, "listen, in America this is soup. It's just SOUP!" See, they have borsht and shee, (which p.s. are totally like a simple soup but with beets... not a huge deal.) Oh, and tomato soup is just as weird to them as it was to Sosyak. They just don't get the concept of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Haha! And that can of tuna you sent, mom, caused a riot. I made tuna sandwiches for us and they were so in awe about it and they LOVED them... what the heck? I was like, it's tuna. But it was soooo good having it cuz I miss EVERYTHING I used to eat.

You know how I've been LIVING on bread and chocolate and I have to have chocolate every night or else I'll die? Well, Friday night I went home and miraculously didn't want chocolate... I was DYING for eggs and cheese! DYING! So the next day we loaded up and I have been eating them with everything. I figure my body FINALLY got fed up with never having protein or
something, cuz it's all I crave now.

My shots: I've gotten like 7. They totally don't hurt, they're in the arm and I only have one left at the end of December. I keep thinking, I bet they're just shooting me up with water or something cuz they thought it was soooo dumb I was getting the shots. Haha. But the place is nice so hopefully not. :)

You sent me an article about Christmas in Russia, but my comps don't celebrate it. They said that for so long the country didn't that only some people do now. And it's not even in December, it's in January. They told me that Dec 25 will just be a normal day for us... I of course said no freaking way, I'm talking to my fam all day!

p.s. I have to go get winter boots... yup, already. I love the boots I got, but yea, they're not for snow. My feet are going to fall off....

Did I tell you that elder B told everyone about my lice.... moron.

Let me tell you about this creeper man that's been stalking our investigators. Sveta is 17 and super cute, small and just an innocent beautiful girl and her best friend Youla is beautiful too. We're teaching them both. Well, the APs had an investigator a while ago whose like, in his late 30s and he's been following them everywhere. Real creeper, right. Well, he attacked Sveta the other night while she was alone walking home. Luckily a guy saved her, but I wanted to KILL this guy! And all the words I wanted to say to him I don't know in Russian and I shouldn't really say... But I swore if he showed up again I would freak out. "I'm gonna lose my freaking mind!" (kicks a trash can.) ;) Anyway, I taught my girls how to "grab, twist and pull," and I told them my mommy taught me that. Well, guess what. Last night he showed up at English. He doesn't ever talk to anyone, he just lingers and follows the girls. I got sooooo mad and was going to go tell him off, but Elder H stopped me and asked what was wrong and I told him. Well, he and Elder Y were having none of that so they told us to just go and I guess THEY went in and told him to hit the road and never come back or else they would kick his ace. He finally agreed, so I'm hoping it's all over.

We've got this inactive girl we teach, Lena. She's got a huge dent in her head because her boyfriend beat her and kicked her skull in when he was drunk and now he's in jail. I guess he killed a man before so it's his second time in prison. She's really hard to get to commit to things. She won't stop smoking and she's still in love with this moron who almost killed her. She always just listens to our lessons we spend time preparing, like no big deal. Well, the other day we didn't know what to teach, we don't know what else to say! So we read her the poem 'God Said No.' I forget what it's called in English, but I love it. It's where someone is praying to God for life to be easier and he keeps on answering no, but with good reasons. Anyways, she sat there and cried. It was the first time she cried with us, or had any kind of spiritual emotion. So I hope the spirit has made a breakthrough in her life and we can help her.

I'm still cutting hair. ALL the elders want their hair done but I don't have clippers! A girl came running into English last night and was like "I NEED YOUR HELP!" She's gorgeous and had long beautiful hair... HAD. She had to chop it really quickly before she came because she fell asleep and got gum all in it! So I sat her down and gave her the short Jennifer Anniston haircut and she looked awesome! She loved it! :) (written on Nov 8, 2007)

Slammed by an elf

It's not cold today, but it has been FREEZING! Even all the Russians have their furs on! I bought boots today, FINALLY! They're super comfy, but it took so long cuz EVERYTHING has heels here, and then I couldn't decide if I should get winter or fall/spring because the winter boots get hot soooo fast and everyone had different opinions on what I should do. Most said to just get fall/spring boots and layer if necessary... anyways, so stressful. But I got some good, comfy, conservative fall/spring boots just before I came here, so I'm happy. They were cheaper than I thought I would spend too, so I'm happy. 3000 rubes baby.

So, you wanna hear how my pumpkin pie went?... it was freaking amazing! The best pumpkin pie I've ever had! I know it sounds like I'm bragging, and I totally am, because it's totally brag worthy. I'm making it again today and I've been teaching babushkas on the street how to do it. They don't know what pumpkin pie is here... weird.

They don't celebrate Halloween here, so yesterday was a bust. I'm teaching my English class tonight all about it. They don't have thanksgiving here (obviously) and Christmas isn't a big deal at all!!!!! How sad is that gonna be?! I'm already playing Christmas music in our apartment!

At sports night on Saturday, a man who was passing by stopped to play soccer with us. He was like a psycho, drunk elf bouncing around and was really intense. I was chillin' in the middle of the field chattin' it up, and the ball came to me so I kicked it, no big deal. But a split second later I got full on BODY SLAMMED by the psycho drunk elf and I hit the ground and rolled like 5 times. hahaha the elders all thought I died and all ran over and I was just laughing and got up. You should see the huge bruise I got from it on my leg... wow. But all is well!

Two days ago we were with an investigator at McDonalds and I went with one of my comps to the bathroom upstairs, but I biffed it HARD on the way up and fell down completely. Everyone just stared. Sadly, McDonalds is always off the hook, so I had quite an audience. I don't think I ever told you about the time I rolled down the hill when I served in Pskov! hahaha my hands were in my pockets so I couldn't stop rolling! So I'm a total klutz. AND I have narcolepsy. I'm so freaking tired sometimes and I just conk out. Not like dozing... I'm GONE! haha

The other day I was on the bus, standing separate from my comps. There was a teenage boy by me and I wanted to give him an English invite, but I always get nervous cuz I CANT SPEAK RUSSIAN and so I thought, I'll give it to him in a minute. Well, a few minutes later a black man got on the bus, and of course I noticed him because there are no black people here. I felt so strongly that I needed to talk to him! But for some reason right then I felt like, it's time! Give the invite to the teenage boy! So I turned right then and asked in English if he spoke English, then went on in Russian and gave him the invite and he thanked me.

The black man, Clemes, heard me speak English and he automatically started speaking to me, which I was ready for. We talked forEVER, cuz our bus was stopped by the cops so we had to wait forever. He's from Africa and he was just too perfect. He said he's been looking for a place to worship, and can I just tell you, the things that came out of this guy's mouth were amazing! African blacks are the most spiritual happy people EVER! And he's having a horrible time here in Russia, like people beat him up and everything all the time cuz there is MAJOR racism here, but he was just so positive. I told him I was going to die when the REAL cold hit and he told me no, that I was a messenger of god and he would protect me. Just tons of stuff like that. Anyway, we exchanged numbers, he came to church the next day, and he loves it! He is AMAZING! He'll be baptized within the month, I know it. So it's times like this that I love. Even when everyday we get denied forty thousand times, it's these little miracles that Elder Eyring spoke about it conference, that can end up being a HUGE amazing thing. I love it!

We had zone conference this week and it was awesome. I'm having so much fun with the Book of Mormon! It's seriously so important to read over and over. The other day I started reading and got halfway through the chapter before I realized that I had read that already the night before. But the cool thing was that I had marked different things. So one day made the diff in what I got out of it. I know that book is true. With all my heart. I love it so much. I think we totally take for granted the power it has. It can convert all by itself, even without me teaching. That comforts me because sometimes I don't really know if what I'm saying is what the Russian people are hearing because of my language issues. haha But I'm so thankful for it. It makes missionary work so much easier. :)

I love you so so much! Oh, ps. mom and dad, I will NEVER leave you two alone. Totally sounds cheesy, I'm sure, but since the first week I got to my mish I see these old people with no family around to help and take care of them and it breaks my heart. So I promise you. hahaha you have got forever, but just FYI. :) (written on Nov 1, 2007)

Pumpkin pie

IRA got BAPTIZED! It was so fun! We had to arrange the whole thing, and she loved it! She came out of the water and I didn't even care, I jumped on her and got completely wet, but it was amazing! Elder J. baptized her. It was so RAD! Her mom wants to get baptized too! I LOVE her mom! The lessons we give at their apartment always have the most amazing spirit ever, and for some reason, I can speak Russian with them. It's really weird, but the words just come. I STRUGGLE really badly everywhere else. But there, it just flows and I feel the spirit so strong. It's the most amazing thing ever!

Today I'm making pumpkin pie... yes, you read right. I didn't even know you had to make it, I just thought it came like that from Costco... ;) But a babushka had pumpkin quarters yesterday by the metro and my companions were so excited because one of them has tried pumpkin pie and LOVES it. They were like, "you ameerican. You ceen maeek eet! narmalna. You ameerikin!" I was like, really I don't know how to cook, much less make a pie, but they wanted me to try. So I'll tell you how it turns out. I have to make the crust and everything! GOSH things are easier in America! :)

Satan freaking sucks, can I just tell you that? On Monday I woke up and was just so happy and thought to myself, "why am I ever sad on my mission? It's such a rad experience." Well, Satan decided to hit me that day, hard. I was horrible at the language all day and just couldn't do anything right and everything was going wrong and I was just really negative for the whole day and the next. I knew too. I didn't contact anyone because I couldn't communicate and didn't feel like it anyways. Well, I discovered, as I always do time and time again, that when I FINALLY bucked up and contacted someone (I felt so strongly that God was telling me to just do it and everything would be fine, so I did.) I was immediately happy again. It's so strange how it all works out. :) I have so much more to say, but I only have 2 minutes left and I need to write prez. I love you sooooo soooo much! (written on Oct 25, 2007)