"Things that just don't happen, happen in Russia"

Sister Sandberg told me this week at district meeting that she's never seen all the sisters and girls in the branches have better hair and she asked me if I’d cut hers in 2 weeks...OH!

Let me tell you about Rita, our miracle. Remember how I told you about going tracting last Tuesday and how it was such an amazing day? Well the last girl I gave and English invite to, Rita, is our new investigator. Here I am, serving in a "dead" area, and guess what? WE HAVE A BAPTISM!!!!! AHHH! I'm scared to get too excited, cuz I know things fall through, but she wants to get baptized! Feb 16th! She's so amazing! We met with her this week. We got to Fantanka, our building in the city and Kop and I ran to the bathroom. When we came back she told us that she said a prayer in her heart while we were gone and that she opened the BOM that was sitting on the table, and she read 2 Nephi 27:6-9.....Talk about Holy Ghost working miracles! Could that BE more perfect!?!?!?! She told us that she's studied every religion for a long time and that her parents told her never to study Mormonism cuz of what they've read about it...but she knew right when she met us. And she wants to be baptized!!!! She's amazing!
My heart feels so happy every time I talk or think about it. It's just amazing! I love her and pray for everything to turn out please, cuz I know Satan is going to be working hard on this girl.

I'll leave you with a little quote. I might have given it to you last week. It's by Tolstoy, the dude that wrote War and Peace. "Things that just don't happen, happen in Russia." Oh how true that is.

I love you more that life itself. I can't wait to see you and hug you! (written on Jan 24, 2008)

Tracting at last

So much to tell and so little time! I dyed my hair dark again...it wasn't supposed to go dark, but for some reason, it took super dark. But everyone LOVES it! The elders all freaked out! I LOVE it with my new cut and everything, so fun.

I'm super excited at the moment because I can converse soooo much better now in Russian. I know it’s totally the spirit, but I hope it keeps coming and stays with me after the mish, cuz it's so fun. I even duked it out with a babushka about the Davinci Code, Christ being married and having kids concept. I love being able to just talk about anything like normal, you know!

I was running super fast up the metro stairs the other day and started losing my footing and thought I could totally save myself, which of course made the fall so much bigger and extreme. Oh, and I screamed just to bring a little more attention to the really non-embarrassing situation. :[ So I fully fell in rush hour metro time and took a babushka down with me. Nice. I know Karma was just biting me finally for laughing so hard for days after Sister N. fell at the MTC...I've been waiting for my day. My debt is paid.

Then, as I stumbled laughing and apologizing onto the escalator, two men followed us on TOTALLY drunk and one fell on Kop (my comp, I call her Cor, which is Kop in Russian.) The other one was standing right behind me and had puke all down him. So I was praying, please let us make it to the top before he hurls again, cuz he wasn't looking too good and there was nowhere I could go. Well, about 1/3 of the way up the really long escalator, the other guy that fell on Kop fell back....there happened to be NOBODY on the stairs behind him and I watched as he somersaulted all the way down to the bottom! I thought he was dead for sure! But he got up and, yes, puked everywhere.

Tuesday was the most amazing day of my mission. There is no way that I can describe it the way that I would like on here. But I'll just tell you a little bit about it. Within two hours, I felt like we did more for this area than we have done my whole time here. No, I don't feel it, I KNOW it. The night before, I was really thinking a lot about why I've never gone tracting. I always hear it's dangerous for sisters and I’m not going to lie, it scares the heck out of me to go knock on Russian’s doors and TRY to speak the language in order to share the most important message these people will hear in their whole lives. But every time the elders mention tracting, I feel a little pang of something.

So Monday night before bed, I just felt the spirit so strong that we really needed to do it. To go and contact and tract for REAL. We always talk about being better and how we need new ideas and plans but we don't really do anything. Kop said she and Gegaulchi contacted a ton but nothing ever came of it. But I really felt in my heart that we needed to do it.

That morning was very peaceful and spiritual. I fasted and read the BOM and then in the PoGP about the murder of Joseph Smith...I love him so much. So we left and went contacting on the street and in the park. We gave away 7...yes, SEVEN Books of Mormon with lessons. That's a MIRACLE! Then we tracted an apt building and gave out more along with Liahonas and some church DVDs.

We passed out a ton of English practices and the last one I gave to a girl, and she just wanted to know more and more about the church. She’s 18 and really adorable and wants to come to church on Sunday. It was just a day of miracles! I felt very calm and at peace after it all.

That night we had a lesson with a former investigator (another miracle, seriously.) She's Ukrainian, Tatyana...HILAREOUS! Big, funny woman all about drinking and smoking and sex, but sooooo funny! And guess who she's MADLY obsessed with?... CHRISTIAN BALE!!!! hahahahha! I loved her instantly. But I didn't understand 98% of everything she said. The only times were when I was alone with her, like when my comp went to the toilet and stuff. And when I testified. I love how it just flows and how I feel as it’s happening! :) I love how God and the spirit work things out.

So much more to tell and only 10 minutes. We had zone conference on Wednesday and it went super well! Sister Sandberg LOVED my new hair. I gave 4 elders haircuts this week and they ended up really well and I did them fast.

I’m living off of beets. I found them canned! They're so divine, I just eat them straight out of the can...I have lost my mind. Who am I?

I just love my mtc group! Every time we all see each other we just immediately want to hug (which we can't) and just catch up on our lives. I will forever have a family bond with them.

So I went to Finland today! Kind of a whole gyp situation. It’s on p-day, temple is closed (saddest most tragic part, I cried,) I went with 2 non-English speaking Ukrainians and Gegaulchi...my favorite person. But she's Ukrainian so they all just talked the whole time. One of them is my new DL. He’s like a tiny gorgeous wind up toy.

But I bought Dr. Pepper and my favorite Finnish chocolate and was living large (literally, I’m huge). The best part was going through the 50 checkpoints. It’s super hard to get into Finland, but going back to Russia, it was a free pass, haha! I loved the guys at the borders tho. Every check point, it took the natives 2 seconds, and me 5 minutes cuz the guys would all want to see my passport and speak to me in English and stuff. It was super fun and I feel tight now with the Finnish border patrol. I love you! (written on Jan 17, 2008)

Transfers are torture

HEEELLLOOOO!!! :) I love p-day and coming to hear from you and write to you, it's so fun!

Transfers came and once again...TORTURE! Seriously, being emergency transferred is the only way to do it. Sure, you might shed a few tears out of mere shock (I know from experience) but then you move on and into a new apt. But waiting for the call...Pure AD! I just eat and eat and eat and run around like a crazy person. Every time this happens.

This time, I was like, no big deal, I totally know I'm staying. But 9:30 hit and I knew prez was making the calls, and it was to the kitchen for me. On transfer week I always run out of food really fast....cuz I eat it all on one night! But all is well. I stayed in Shivalova with my girl (I love her.) Ganiev my DL got transferred and we got ANOTHER Ukrainian one, but this one speaks 100% zero English...scary. But my comp doesn't either, so hopefully it won't be too bad for me. Then we lost Elder J...oh so sad. He got transferred to the toolies and is TRAINING a Ukrainian! Look out. I'm so proud of him, he's so awesome. He works so hard here.

But to ease the sadness, guess who we got in his place? Elder W!!! Yah! So we're stoked to be together again. Elder S. got made DL down in Pskov!!!! ahhhh! He’s sooooo rad! He seriously works harder than any missionary here, which is so funny because everyone knows he is just a crazy fun goofball that everyone loves madly. But he's sooooo hard core dedicated. He's like the perfect missionary.

I got my hair cut today for the very first time since I left home!!! I love having form! And I went to a cute salon here in center. It felt soooooo good to have my hair done by someone again! I loved it. And my hair is cute. Nothing special, cuz I’m keeping it simple, but cute.

Do you even know how cold it got here last week? -17C...don't know what that is in F but I’m not kidding you, I thought I was going to die. I actually was wishing for death. I actually thought to myself, why could I have not died that day on the elevator? That's how cold it got. My normal room temp water bottle half froze on my 15-minute walk from my apt to the metro. That's...sick. And wrong. It's super awkward when your breath freezes to your face. Especially if you're breathing through your nose.

Finally it snowed, and although snow is super uncomfortable in every way for me, it's soooo much warmer now!!! Yay. And also, little side note. It’s so funny how now I know that scarves and beanies and such aren't just accessories. They do serve purposes. Big purposes. I mean, we HAVE to wear them everyday here. Weird.

So let me tell what the new law has done to us. They are no longer going to call American missionaries here. Yes, we are some of the last ones here, at least until something else is figured out. They are only going to call natives. Scary huh! I'm so lucky I made it in before!!! They said it's just too expensive and too much visa, traveling, and other work to do for Americans to be here. So that's the shtooz on that.

Remember I told you about the babushka who fed me fish the first night I was in this area, and my comp told her I can't eat fish cuz it makes me sick? Well, we went back and guess what she fed us? Have you ever heard of holidee-ets? I've only heard horror stories from the mtc, on. It's cold, frozen, gelled meat. Well, she gave us FISH holidee-ets...can it GET worse? I don't think so. And she did it on purpose. After my first bite, she was like, it's fish and had been watching me. I said, yea, I KNOW. So I scarfed it and downed my potatoes trying to drown the horrible taste. Ugh.

I miss you like crazy! Don’t forget me. :) I love you! (written on Jan 10, 2008)

Terror in an elevator!

Happy New Year! It's freaking 2008! What the heck, weird.

I survived all the guns going off all New Year's eve! New Year's Eve was an interesting day for me here in Mother Russia. We kicked it off with a really good district meeting. I've really grown to love my district and I'm so sad it's being ripped apart by transfer calls in a couple of days. This transfer FLEW by! Scary.

After DM my comp and I accompanied Elder Ganiev and Uldaltsov to a member's apt for a spiritual thought and New Year's snack. We picked up a guy from the branch, Roma, on the way and started our very long journey to the farthest northwest corner of St. Petes. After asking a LOT of people for directions and consulting a few maps, we made our way into a neighborhood that reminded me a lot of Pskov. We found the apt building and with much rejoicing, called the man to buzz us in.

He lived on the fifth floor, so with much reluctance, as always, I stepped into the scary 1 1/2 by 3 feet steel rickety elevator and was followed by everyone. Uldaltsov didn't make it in before the doors shut so we opened the doors again to retrieve him. At that moment, I felt a huge urge to push my way past everyone and just take the stairs. But Uldaltsov was busy trying to squish in and I quickly convinced myself that I always have these thoughts in Russian lifts, and it always ends up ok. In a few short seconds we would be stepping out onto the fifth floor. We squeezed together as tight as we could and for the second time, the doors smashed shut...the freaking doors of doom...The lift didn't move. Someone suggested that maybe we were stuck. I laughed nervously along with the others. Roma tried pressing all the buttons, then tried the door opening once again. Nothing.

Now, until this moment in my life, I had never experienced, and can hardly explain, the sheer panic that took over my brain. I have always mocked mom's claustrophobic tendencies, insisting that they were all in her head. I urgently started telling myself that same thing, because I realized how quickly I was losing it..ahha! I don’t know how, being so tightly encased with four other people there, but almost immediately I ripped off my coat and purse. I begged Roma to try again. Nothing. I suggested we all jump, but immediately they all screamed no. The lifts are old I guess and can fall...lovely. But that didn't sound too bad to me at the moment. I think I scared the crud out of everyone, cuz I didn't start crying loudly or anything, my face just became very stony and white and tears just started falling from my eyes without me moving or anything. (I was told this afterwards...) I was trying to be very calm, but at the same time I was terrified.

Nobody's phones were working because we were in a freaking STEEL box with no vents or anything. I pushed on the ceiling maybe 5 in. above my head. It was steel too. It was official. I was stuck in an old, rusty, communist, steel casket with ALL Russian speakers, and was running out of air... I was stuck in my own personal hell. I prayed sooooo hard! They were all like, "this is totally normalna! Maybe we'll ring in the new year here..." It was two in the afternoon. I turned to Elder Ganiev and pleaded VERY seriously for him to hit me in the face. None of them would do it. I just wanted to be knocked cold, instead of stuck with these thoughts of being buried alive running through my head. I was super embarrassed at the same time because I never let the elders see me cry and I HATE drama and THOUGHT I was a strong person.

I turned to the dirty Russian germ and feces covered wall closed my eyes and laid my face against it. I was trying to find a happy place. I forced a laugh and said how this was such a fun adventure...no one bought my act. haha :) Ganiev suggested we sing and faster than I can possibly explain I bellowed "NO!" I didn't want to use up the little air we had. A few times we could hear people walking by the elevator and the elders would politely murmur, "excuse me, um, excuse me" and the people would just keep walking. Russians can be evil. On about the third time this happened, I SCREAMED "HEEEELP!" In English. Yes, I know I’m in Russia but I could NOT think of any Russian words.

Anyways, it felt like days to me and then the elders pried open the doors a crack and propped it open with a Book of Mormon so we could have a little air. They wouldn't open it further cuz they said they would break the doors then we would never get out. That shut up my cheering them on really quickly. Finally there was clanking from above. After ONLY 45 long and traumatizing minutes, the doors slid open and I dove out, not believing my freedom! Needless to say, I wanted to bawl. I thought I would die there. Goes to show how completely sad and pathetic I am. I couldn't thank God enough for rescuing us.

The man we had gone to visit was just like, "Yea, I wondered where you had gone," when we showed up at his door... ps the sign outside the lift said 4 people max...I was mortified I was such a crazy wanny in front of the elders. They were super nice about it and said they could see my fear and were shocked I stayed so calm. They swore they would take this secret of me losing it to their grave... or at least the next steel coffin they step into. I will never ride an elevator again.

Just fyi, the weather has suddenly turned and I’m terrified! Two days ago plus 5 degrees C. Yesterday minus five. Today, minus 13. Man, it doesn't mess around. When it drops, it plummets really fast!!! They said tomorrow will be colder! AHHHH! Way to ease me in! I guess I spoke to fast when I told you at Christmas, yea, not too bad of a winter...

I’ve got to go, but I love you so so much and I loved talking to you the other day!!!! I’ll write more about my new year later. (written on Jan 3, 2008)

Mangled limbs & high tech toys

I can't wait to talk to you on Christmas!

We spent our WHOLE p-day at the hermitage taking a tour of basically ONE room with the Sandbergs and missionaries, and it might have been fun, had it not taken 15 hrs when we have soooo much to day today! They had us looking at old snuff boxes the whole time! Of ALL the things to see in the Hermitage, we looked at snuff boxes!

So it's 4:30 in the afternoon right now and I haven't eaten a thing all day and I have to go to the office which is forever away then go pick up my pkgs! That'll be my highlight if we can make it on time!

So you know how I wanted to do a district party on Christmas? Well my elders really wanted to as well but Elder N. is like, suuuuper strict and was like, no we can't cuz we can't be in each other's apts. So I said, no prob, I’ll just run it by Prez. But they were all scared said no we'll do it officially, we need to plan it, blah blah. As of this morning, nothing had been done. So we were cruising through the hermitage and I was walking by president and I just asked him. He was really cool about it! Said it's all good! I'm excited, the elders were shocked, but they're really stoked. I'm making Hawaiian haystacks and some other treats I think. It should be fun, I hope!

The only person we've really visited the last couple days is this old babushka, Ryeesa. She's an invalid which there are a LOT of here in Russia. Have I mentioned there are also tons of young men missing hands, arms, feet, or legs? They’re ex-soldiers. It’s sad, but you see them everywhere. My hand does not stand out at all, cuz missing and mangled limbs are very common here.

But yea, Ryeesa can't get around very well at all, she's just this cute little crippled lady that needs someone to talk to. So we were there and she had one of those little rubber toys that you bounce and a light goes off inside, you know. They’re so cheap and basic, but I'm telling you, my comp and her sat there for forty minutes FASCINATED by the thing and kept holding it out to me like it was some new amazing techno gadget or something. It was so weird. But it made me ONCE again realize all the things I take for granted in my life. I need to DO SOMETHING FOR THESE PEOPLE! I just don't know how or what!!!!! The Gospel of course, I know, but HOW!!!!!????? I don't speak the language well enough!!! Anyways, I'm working on it.

We're going to talk on the phone in like 4 days!!! I’m so excited! I miss you like INSANELY crazy! Have fun with all the Christmas festivities and all! I love you! (written on Dec 20, 2007)

Babushka on the lam

OMG, so today is so hectic! My computer here wouldn't work, I couldn't get into my email so I waited for an hour while my comp did her stuff and now my email works again and I can't copy and paste letters so I'm frantic to write so I can go and read the letters before I leave here because they make my life and I’m so totally losing my freaking mind. Did that sentence make sense? AH!

Guess what, I fell again today, hahahaha! Hard. But what can you do. And guess what else... I'm wearing a jumper! hahahahahahhahaha! I thought the girls in the fam would get a kick out of that. Some sisters have left clothes in our apt and today I jokingly tried some on. I understand why the girls left them. So I kept out two floor length skirts and one black jumper, which is adorning me today.

Yesterday was zone conference and I wore all black, which Sister Sandberg LOVED. All the elders loved it too because they knew why I did it and I got nun comments all day. :) I love our elders. But ZC was awesome as always! It was our Christmas one, so after the combined conference (north-my zone, and central-my old one) we had a freaking huge party! It was so fun! We did a gift exchange and W. from my last district gave me a Batman wallet! He’s so sweet! I loved it.

Tell Dad that I've been meaning to tell him, for some reason EVERYONE in Russia is obsessed with Hotel CA, the song. It's playing everywhere on the streets, in stores, in apts... weird.

I never see the sun. My first day in this area I saw the sun, but it was weird cuz it rose, but chilled at the horizon for a couple hrs before it set again. Sooooooo strange! We are CRAVING the sun! I miss it! Elder J. from Pskov is in my new district and the kid is so cool. He brought me two Dr. Peppers from Finland cuz he knew I loved them, then the other day gave me this magic chocolate bar from Finland (these things are sacred on the mish)! His comp is native and is Jim Carey to a T from Dumb and Dumber! He looks just like him in that movie! He's virtually silent but from time to time will suddenly bust out some amazing slang phrase without a Russian accent, or start singing Coldplay or something. He's really funny!

We had some mad drama with our district last week because all the elders are sister haters.... I thought we were lucky in this mission to not have any, but that wasn't true. President just put them ALL in one area... mine. But they talked to the APs about me and so I had a straight up convo and they like me now.

I bore my testimony in my new branch on Sunday. I was super nervous, I don't know why, it's just so intimidating in RUSSIAN! STILL! And I was telling about my fam and I said "strashny brot"... which means "scary brother" hahahahaha but I caught it as I was saying it and corrected myself with "starshy brot" and everyone was laughing. But it was fun and people are really nice and tell me I'm not as bad as I think I am at Russian... which is a lie.

I sat by a 5 year old kid that Sunday who drew page after page of aliens... and they were GOOD... I think he was seriously taken or something, cuz it was amazing. I felt like I was in the Ring or something.

The other night we stood outside a metro stop and handed out English invites...not much luck until I started saying, "Free English" in English. Then they went like wild fire. But while we were there a babushka who was selling things near us, which is totally normal, was for some reason taken by the police. Suddenly there were tons of policemen and cars and we were like, uhhhh, should we be here in the middle of this? The funny thing was, I watched while the bab yelled and yelled then right when the officers turned their back to talk she took off running so fast it wasn't even funny. I watched her book it all the way to a church and hide inside. It was entertaining and they didn't catch her.

let me tell you what I heard: Missionaries who serve English speaking go home knowing the gospel amazingly. Spanish speaking missionaries go home knowing the language perfectly. Russian speakers.... they go home way more humble.....haha! Somehow that doesn't feel fair.... :)

I love you all so much! (written on Dec 13, 2007)

Finland = Heaven

I am not in the best mood right now cuz it took us like 5 hours of our p-day to find this internet place and for some reason I have no money on my msf card so today isn't the greatest that it could be. But what can you do? Move on. :)

I'm loving my new comp! She's from Siberia, her name is Olga Koribrenikova and she's 24. I love her! She speaks zero English, but shockingly (maybe not to you) that hasn't stopped me from talking nonstop. :) We seriously have never had a silent moment, we just talk and talk and talk. The gift of tongues has kicked in at this time, and in that I mean that she understands me somehow and I have no clue how it's working. :) We seriously stay up late talking every night and just talk all day to each other on the street. I've never talked so much to a companion, and all the other ones spoke ENGLISH! Haha! When she prays she always thanks God for making her beautiful, which I love, haha. So anyways, we're having fun!

This area was dead, zero investigators and now, in one week we got one amazing one and a few more good potentials. I've cut a few people's hair and all is going swimmingly. For some reason, this transfer, I’m not scared at all to talk. Like, in Russian. I don't know ANYTHING, but I’ve somehow lost the fear. I LOVE it! I'll just be chillin in a discussion and the person will start yelling or crying and chatting 50 thousand miles a minute, and I have no prob just jumping in and saying something about what I THINK they're talking about, just whatever I feel. Somehow it works out. It's so fun!!!!

So my hair isn't bad at all to me anymore, I love it cuz everyone else loves it. Nobody believes that I’m not Russian, even after I talk to them, they're still like, "really? You’re so Russian."

I like my new branch. It’s actually near where I used to live and we were there all the time. My new area is called Shivalova, and it's north of center. It takes like 20 minutes on the metro to get back to center, so not far. Our place is about a 15-minute walk to the metro, and I like our apt. We had to live without a shower all week cuz the landlord was fixing SOMETHING on it, but what can you do. It took me back a little bit to Pskov, but at least I didn't have to BOIL water.

We have this mysterious closet in our apt that's nailed shut. I think there is a dead body or something, maybe preserved cuz I don't smell anything, but something is fishy there. :)

Elder J from my first district in Pskov is in my district here and he went to Finland to the temple the other day and brought me back dr. pepper.... aw! I love him! How sweet was that! He said he knew I loved it, so he bought me some. :) Finland has everything that’s the best. Like if it's from Finland in a store here, it's the most expensive and for sure the best and safest. I swear, Finland must be like heaven. Everyone talks like it is. And like I said before, I know we will speak Finnish in heaven, it's GORGEOUS!

We went to FHE where I used to when I was in center this week and guess who came! The boys from my English class! They miss me! hahaha! I was SOOOO excited! I don't know why none of the elders are working with them, they're AWESOME! We played games and they said they're coming next week too, so I was stoked.

The other night we were out on the street forEVER and my feet were on FIRE! I felt like I was walking on ice and it was just burning my feet! My boots are horrible for such cold weather, so I got some REALLY good ones yesterday. They're just plain black, very simple, but I think they're classy. I'm sooooo thankful, I’ve been dying.

I met a girl at my new branch named Shayanne, TOTALLY from San Diego!!! We freaked out and are attached at the hip now at church. I love her! I guess her man is from Brazil, he used to play for the Utah Jazz b-ball team but now he plays for the St. Pete's team here. They're in Greece right now for a game. She's the coolest chick ever and I knew immediately she was from sd cuz of the way she talked. So we love each other and I’m her new translator at church cuz she speaks zero Russian.

The other day we taught a teenage girl in one of these communal living places, which are so common here, it's weird. But we had to teach on an icy floor by candle light because they have a 10 x 10 room (no joke), no lights, no furniture, nothing. It’s weird cuz I keep on meeting people and being like, they're totally normal, but then when I see how they live, it's crazy to me. She lives there with her mom and bro.

Okay, I love you with every fiber of my being! Even more! (written on Dec 6, 2007)

Mission prep: Hair School, Snowboarding & Mosh Pits

I'm so tired right now cuz it's been kind of a big day and now it's the evening and we're finally hitting the internet cafe... forgive me!

Welp, I'm here with my new comp! Her name is sister Korobrinekova... try saying that five times fast. Or even once, cuz I can't. I'm always like, "Sestra K!" I love her! Every elder has been like, GOOD LUCK! But I think she's rad. My brain is super tired because we've been speaking nothing but Roosky... AH! She speaks ZERO English. It's good for me tho! I need to (*&^*&%&(% learn some RUSSIAN! Gosh DANGIT!

So I love my new apt! We're about an hour north of center, and it's shocking how much snow is there compared to here. I'm in center right now writing to you, so there is more snow where I live up north. Last night I called around to some elders and my sisters from center and was like "Carls Jr tomorrow baby, one o’clock" and guess what. EVERYONE came! It was one huge bash and it was ROCKIN! All my faves were there.

And this morning I actually got up and exercised, which was a first here. I love my new apt! I thought I couldn't have it better than the one in center because that was SUCH a jump from Pskov, but guess what. This one is WAY cooler! So I’m happy and speaking Russian, shocking.

This morning I fell HARD on my popa (rear) right after we left our place. Embarrassing.

Okay, can I tell you something HUGE that happened this week? Highlight of my life! So I was having a super horrible day, probably ovulating or something and I just felt so ugly and had dyed my hair cuz I needed something different and it turned our REALLY red (brown red but EVERYONE LOVED it today, so it's okay) and I was on the verge of tears all day because of a bunch of stuff, and nothing was going right. Anyways, I was sad and haven't felt sad like that in a while. Well we happened to be home, (thank goodness because of what happened,) and my sisters and I were cleaning and the cell phone kept on going off and so finally the fourth time and went and looked at it and it was the APs. I was mad at the elders at the moment so I almost didn't answer it. But I did and was like "WHAT?!"

It was Elder H. and this is how the convo went:
H- "Sister G?"
G- "Yea."
H- "OMG! I have something freaking huge to tell you! I- oh wait, hold up. Hey talk to my friend, I'll be right back.".....
Girls voice who I recognize- "Sister G?"
G, heart pounding- "who is this?"
Girl- "it's Sister N!" (Sister N was mishGirl's companion at the MTC--they are BFF!)
OMG... I LOST it! I didn't know what to do, I was in shock! And I started bawling! hashahaha! She probably thinks I'm horribly depressed and suicidal or something cuz I just bawled and all I could say was that I loved her. She sounds AMAZING! I miss her so much! AHHHHHHH!!! Sometimes I'm still like, AH! I can't believe I talked to her on the phone! H. was in Estonia for visa or something and N. was getting transferred and she asked him if he knew me. I love her!

H. got back on the phone after we talked and I was just like "I hate you!" I don't know why but I was fragile at the moment. He knows that I love him tho. And speaking of ovulating (way the heck up there,) did I ever tell you how my comps think that because I always need to pee, I have frozen kidneys.... they're serious. It's like a real thing I guess... IN RUSSIA! haha And they're always telling me I have to be careful not to freeze my ovaries... Sosyak and babushkas have told me that too...psycho. I think all their brains have frozen.

Thanksgiving was a bust even tho we did get to eat real pizza. We went to some museums with a couple of our elders and Elder S. kept us thoroughly entertained the whole time. :) I love my mission. You want to know a couple of things that prepared me for this mish? Okay:

1. Hair school - obvious one. It's amazing how everyone and their mom totally trust me to do their hair! Even ones who aren't members or investigators or anything! ... Well, they're not YET... :)

2. Snowboarding - I slipped on ice the other day and thought for sure that I was going down. But when I opened my eyes I was fully standing in snowboarding stance and had dug in like on a board. ... Too bad I didn't react like that this morning...

3. Mosh pits - Metro crowds and lines and squeezing in and out of the metro can get SUPER intense and scary. But if I just close my eyes and start humming some Rage Against the Machine, I just move to the flow and I’m totally comfortable with the frantic trampling mobs.

I told my comp we're definitely getting a yolka (Christmas tree)! Ugh, I have to go... not again! But I love you more than anything in all of existence! I love my mission! Thank you for like, the billionth time for sending and supporting me! I love you and dad so much! Please tell the fam I love them all!

P.S. the book of Revelation is blowing my mind! :) (written on Nov 29, 2007)

"Happy freaking American Thanksgiving!"

Did you know that today is Thanksgiving? Cuz I didn't....OMG! How OUT of it am i???? And guess what we're doing... NOTHING! I refused to do nothing so we are actually going buck freaking wild and hitting up Papa Johns for lunch. woopie. Elder Y. told me to just wait, cuz Christmas is even more off the hook than thanksgiving... oorah.

Last night we went to a concert that a couple of elders put on, which was way fun! But something really sad and traumatizing happened then. We walked outside to leave and right out on the street a car had just hit two people.... a young guy and a woman. They were both dead. It was horrible. I don't want to go on about it. I'm just thankful to be alive, just a general statement.

I'm getting transferred to serve in another area in the city with Sister K. I call her sister K cuz I can NOT pronounce her name. My whole mission I've tried. And guess what. She speaks absolutely zero english... hmmm. Maybe I'll finally learn russian. :) haha it'll be good for me. She's really sweet but the most that we've ever communicated was a smile and a hug. I cut her hair tho. This morning she called and I didn't understand one word she said... so she handed it over to Gegaulchi, haha! I knew I would be with her tho, I guessed it before they even called.

Elder J's fam came to pick him up on saturday and they're still here. All his bros came too, so it's just a big party! Sports night on saturday was so fun! It snowed a bunch and we met at the field and were all bundled and FREEZING and I was like, no way can we stay out here for 2 1\2 hrs! But we started a snowball fight and played soccer in the snow and it was so fun! Everything is SO frozen over! No need for iceskating rinks, the sidewalks work just fine.

I tried to highlight my hair and it went terribly wrong...again. So I went and bought a chocolate brown last night and we were all excited my hair was going to be dark.... washed it out and dried it... totally my natural color... didn't do anything! what the heck>!>?!?! So i'll have to try again I guess. I'm gonna just leave it for a couple of days tho. Random lessons this week: 1. Never light a gas oven then reach over the burner for something unless you purposely want to rid that appendage of any hair. 2.Walking on ice is an AWESOME workout.

I need to write to Prez, cuz I haven't the last couple of weeks...oops. :) I love you so much! Tell the family I MISS them! I can't wait to see everyone again! ahhh! Do they know that I think about every single one of them all the time?! I'm so thankful for my freaking family!!!! I'm so thankful for America! I'm so thankful for my mission and that you and dad support me here! I'm so thankful for colorful clothing! I'm thankful for russian chocolate! I'm thankful for english. I'm thankful for the scriptures! Ps, I'm totally into the dead sea scroll thing! soooo cool! I can't wait to study up on them when I come home. I'm so thankful for the gospel and for the Holy Ghost and that he makes it so I can communicate with the Russian people. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I love that they love me. :) Again, I love YOU! I'm so thankful that my best friend is my mom! haha! I LOVE you gosh dangit!!! ;) Hug everyone for me! And Happy freaking AMERICAN Thanksgiving! :) (written on Nov 22, 2007)

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)

Bednar, Clemes, and Sumo Wrestler!

I love you!!! I miss you!!!! I'm crying right now because grandma sent me a couple of pics and at this internet place I can get them!!! Ooorah!!! I’m totally crying. I'm trying not to start bawling. Compose. Cool. Calm. Collected. Good to go.

Elder Bednar spent all day with us today! Private sesh with some of us St. Pete’s missionaries! He's AWESOME! He ROCKED!!! I swear, the hours just flew by today and I didn't even notice, it was so cool. He just spoke and chatted and answered questions with us... so fun! He said a lot of stuff that I swear he knew was for me, because he kept on looking right at me and smiling. Everyone probably thinks that, but it was amazing. It was so insanely spiritual and he left us with a blessing that once again I feel was just for me. He just used the most perfect words. So I cried. (What's going on with me?) I loved it. I love him. I'm sooo thankful for the leaders in our church! Wow! And he told us all of the things that apostles do... dude, they are so cool. And I've been reading in the scriptures about them... they're like this amazing society of rockin' leaders that do all these things we don't even know about! I love them!

Omg, I have huge news! Remember I told you about Clemes, my black friend?... He's GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!! AHHHH! I screamed forever! Haha I'm so excited! And everyone is like "good work Greer" and of course it's like, why?, it totally wasn't me, Haha! But it's sooooo fun! And I wanted to cry when Elder S. said the other day "LOOK at you! You're making a difference!" That shot my heart in a good way, but I think my face dropped or something cuz he was like, "I mean it in a good way!" and I was like "I know!" but that's on my list of things to do before I die and just the fact that he said that, especially with me feeling like the hugest moron out here cuz I don't speak Russian well and I just get so frustrated and everything... basically it was really happy for me. I’m freaking out he's getting baptized! Yay!

The APs are my best friends they're so fun! The other day we were at a conference and some elders were all grouped together whispering and I went over and said I wanted in on what the convo was. One of the elders I don't know was like "um, no. This isn't girl talk. Only men can hear this." The AP's both automatically were like "woah woah woah, you do not talk to Greer like that," haha! H. was like "whatever she wants to know, tell her. She’s the coolest girl I know." I was stoked on that. So needless to say, at that moment I felt all-powerful. Haha!

So we run sometimes.... don't even get me started. I always am like "I refuse, you can just go without me. You look like an idiot," to my comp. But a couple of times she's gotten me to run across a crosswalk or something... let me just tell you, I feel like a fat kid in a snowsuit, it's horrible! My coat is HUGE and furry! Haha! I'm thankful cuz I’m freezing! But seriously, it's like a sumo wrestler running for a doughnut or something.

Last week English class was AWESOME! I took my iPod and had three versions of Winter Wonderland on it and I wrote out and cut up the lyrics for my class to put back together and sing... omg so much fun! We had teams and they loved it! There were two new guys in my class. They're in their twenties (and not gonna lie, total hotties). They were so stoked on the class and wanted homework for next time, which is today! We were standing after class talking and one of them was like "so, will you ever speak about your beliefs on God and everything?" ...It's times like that when I almost pass out, Haha. I was like, "um, yea. Actually the elders can meet with you on Sunday, how's that?" They were really excited and I guess it went AWESOME! They're officially new investigators! So I can't wait to see them again tonight!

All the water is frozen! It’s weird to see these huge rivers and bodies of water throughout the city with huge chunks of ice! It's freezing! I'm dying! And everyone just laughs and shakes their heads saying "you just wait" as I mouth it along with them cuz everyone says it to me.

Yes, they can't say "th". It's hilarious! None of them! I guess it's a really hard sound. But there's one three letter Russian word that I can't say, kind of sounds like dla, but your tongue has to be in a weird position and it's just horrible. I can't say it. So I can't really make fun of the Russians trying English. Out loud.

I miss you so freaking much! What in the world am I doing here without you!? How can I survive?! I might not! I'm going to have to live by you forever mom. No more of this long distance stuff without my mom. Sucks big time. I love you so much! Hug everyone for me! I love them all! I can't wait to see everyone again! :) (Written on Nov 15, 2007)