Привет из России, (Greetings from Russia)
Burrrrr…or is it Burrrrrrrr…or Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Enough said. I know I have absolutely nothing to whine about yet. This is only September, the beginning of fall and my feet are already feeling like ice cubes from the cold… not a good sign. Haha. I best bundle up, I have a feeling I’m in for a ride…the rain, (which it has done all week) the mud, the cold, the wind, the snow, the little sunshine, the language (that makes you ever so humble), the transit…you get the picture. BUT I love it ALL…the GOOD, the BAD, and yes, even the UGLY (mud). The first few days here in Kurgan was tough, I was homesick for the people in Ufa. It only took me a couple of days to adjust and now I love it here! Its strange how quickly I grow attached to people no matter where I am serving. I am sure I will experience the same with every transfer. My comp, Elder D is the greatest and an extremely hard worker. I have learned a great deal from him already.
Great anticipation is setting in as I look forward to our visa renewal trip to Madrid Spain. I’m grateful for the opportunity to attend the Temple. I can’t begin to tell you how much I’m looking forward to this trip!! I know it is going to give me that most AMAZING feeling I miss from attending on a regular basis. I am most excited about the Temple than I am about the trip itself. I can’t wait. I’ve read the Pearl of Great Price in preparation. We will actually be gone longer than expected. I leave Kurgan on Friday for Yekaterinburg, and fly out Saturday afternoon for Madrid. I believe we will be in Madrid for two and half days and then back to Yekaterinburg to file our visa information.
The other day I was thinking about the struggles that some of the people here go through with their culture and traditions. I see fist hand their struggles and truly feel for them. It has given me a sense of great appreciation for the support system I grew up with. I was so lucky growing up with family and friends having the same beliefs. The other day I was reading in 2nd Nephi when Lehi blessed Lamen and Lemuels sons and daughters right before he was to pass away. He blessed them that they would not be cursed for the sins and traditions of their fathers. When I read this again, it gave me a sense of peace and hope for the people here in Russia. They are faced with many obstacles and temptations with the adversary preying on them everywhere they turn.
We are currently working with two very nice older ladies that are getting extremely close to baptism. They just need to commit to the changes that they need to make. I strongly believe they will overcome what they need to and be baptized very soon. We are also teaching two very nice girls that have family members that are already members of the church. They seem to be very busy with work which makes it difficult to schedule meetings with them. Their work schedule takes over their lives. It seems people here in Kurgan work around the clock. I’ve never seen anything like it.
I love the youth here in Kurgan they are a lot of fun. Saturday we rented a wooden like gym and played a bunch of fun games with the youth and their friends. We played a game that was kind of like volleyball but played with a soccer ball…yeah…ouch! Then we played a game that was like playing soccer, football, hockey, and madness. It was crazy! I honestly thought someone was going to get hurt. However, everything turned out fine. It was a ton of FUN!
HILARIOUS MOMENT…So we were riding along in one of our more popular forms of transportation, which would be the ever-so-over-crowded marshrutka (a van with seats…cramming in as many people as possible). Elder D and I were on our way to the church building for district meeting. I was sitting trying hard not to fall asleep and keep my head from bopping around… and Elder D was standing having to stoop down because he was too tall. All of a sudden, a huge splash of water mixed with mud came SPLASHING in through the windows and hit everyone!!! Everyone in the marshruka started yelling and getting mad at the driver. Elder D and I looked at each other and all we could do was totally CRACK UP!!! Pretty soon, everyone else in the marshruka started to laugh. See... what a bit of sense of humor will get ya…a marshruka full of laughing Russians…nothing better than that I tell ya!! So what…if we had to wear a little mud all over us to our District meeting…it was well worth it… being able to get a marshruka full laughing Russians!!! It was HILARIOUS!!! I have to tell you the transit here in Kurgan is like riding the Indiana Jones ride at Disney Land, but every day…It’s crazy! So much FUN!!!
Well, that’s if for now. We hope to get in a lot of hard work before I have to leave for Spain. I will let you know how it went in my next email. I’m not exactly sure when or what day that will be. I sure love everyone and hope you all are doing well.
I can’t believe BJ will be home in three months. It seems like he just left!! I will be able to talk to him when I call home for Christmas…that’s cool!! Did you send him some of the ties, I hope.
Love you all…be Good!!
Elder Dewey
Peace Out.
Burrrrr…or is it Burrrrrrrr…or Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Enough said. I know I have absolutely nothing to whine about yet. This is only September, the beginning of fall and my feet are already feeling like ice cubes from the cold… not a good sign. Haha. I best bundle up, I have a feeling I’m in for a ride…the rain, (which it has done all week) the mud, the cold, the wind, the snow, the little sunshine, the language (that makes you ever so humble), the transit…you get the picture. BUT I love it ALL…the GOOD, the BAD, and yes, even the UGLY (mud). The first few days here in Kurgan was tough, I was homesick for the people in Ufa. It only took me a couple of days to adjust and now I love it here! Its strange how quickly I grow attached to people no matter where I am serving. I am sure I will experience the same with every transfer. My comp, Elder D is the greatest and an extremely hard worker. I have learned a great deal from him already.
Great anticipation is setting in as I look forward to our visa renewal trip to Madrid Spain. I’m grateful for the opportunity to attend the Temple. I can’t begin to tell you how much I’m looking forward to this trip!! I know it is going to give me that most AMAZING feeling I miss from attending on a regular basis. I am most excited about the Temple than I am about the trip itself. I can’t wait. I’ve read the Pearl of Great Price in preparation. We will actually be gone longer than expected. I leave Kurgan on Friday for Yekaterinburg, and fly out Saturday afternoon for Madrid. I believe we will be in Madrid for two and half days and then back to Yekaterinburg to file our visa information.
The other day I was thinking about the struggles that some of the people here go through with their culture and traditions. I see fist hand their struggles and truly feel for them. It has given me a sense of great appreciation for the support system I grew up with. I was so lucky growing up with family and friends having the same beliefs. The other day I was reading in 2nd Nephi when Lehi blessed Lamen and Lemuels sons and daughters right before he was to pass away. He blessed them that they would not be cursed for the sins and traditions of their fathers. When I read this again, it gave me a sense of peace and hope for the people here in Russia. They are faced with many obstacles and temptations with the adversary preying on them everywhere they turn.
We are currently working with two very nice older ladies that are getting extremely close to baptism. They just need to commit to the changes that they need to make. I strongly believe they will overcome what they need to and be baptized very soon. We are also teaching two very nice girls that have family members that are already members of the church. They seem to be very busy with work which makes it difficult to schedule meetings with them. Their work schedule takes over their lives. It seems people here in Kurgan work around the clock. I’ve never seen anything like it.
I love the youth here in Kurgan they are a lot of fun. Saturday we rented a wooden like gym and played a bunch of fun games with the youth and their friends. We played a game that was kind of like volleyball but played with a soccer ball…yeah…ouch! Then we played a game that was like playing soccer, football, hockey, and madness. It was crazy! I honestly thought someone was going to get hurt. However, everything turned out fine. It was a ton of FUN!
HILARIOUS MOMENT…So we were riding along in one of our more popular forms of transportation, which would be the ever-so-over-crowded marshrutka (a van with seats…cramming in as many people as possible). Elder D and I were on our way to the church building for district meeting. I was sitting trying hard not to fall asleep and keep my head from bopping around… and Elder D was standing having to stoop down because he was too tall. All of a sudden, a huge splash of water mixed with mud came SPLASHING in through the windows and hit everyone!!! Everyone in the marshruka started yelling and getting mad at the driver. Elder D and I looked at each other and all we could do was totally CRACK UP!!! Pretty soon, everyone else in the marshruka started to laugh. See... what a bit of sense of humor will get ya…a marshruka full of laughing Russians…nothing better than that I tell ya!! So what…if we had to wear a little mud all over us to our District meeting…it was well worth it… being able to get a marshruka full laughing Russians!!! It was HILARIOUS!!! I have to tell you the transit here in Kurgan is like riding the Indiana Jones ride at Disney Land, but every day…It’s crazy! So much FUN!!!
Well, that’s if for now. We hope to get in a lot of hard work before I have to leave for Spain. I will let you know how it went in my next email. I’m not exactly sure when or what day that will be. I sure love everyone and hope you all are doing well.
I can’t believe BJ will be home in three months. It seems like he just left!! I will be able to talk to him when I call home for Christmas…that’s cool!! Did you send him some of the ties, I hope.
Love you all…be Good!!
Elder Dewey
Peace Out.
4 comments:
So exciting about the Temple, and Spain!!! I want to go...
Awww. He sounds awesome. Oh how I miss these boys. I had a rough Sunday...oh well it too soon will pass. I so glad he is doing great, and working hard.
As always, I love to read Chad's blogs. They are so informative and fun. Sounds like he is doing great.
Awesomee blog you have here
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