A note from Elder Dewey's mom -

Chad cleared up a few of my questions about maintaining a blog.  He informed me that his blog is okay to publish as long as he is not the one maintaining it.  I apologize for the confusion. 

Restless sleep, warmer freezing weather, transfers next week...

Hello everyone,




Well, I wasn’t really able to write my weekly email home before hand because my companion and I are now living with zl’s because of some apartment trouble..... don’t worry though they have a very soft ground at their place... haha. Anyway, this week was a doozey and since I've had restless sleep lately my memory isn’t serving me too well right now and I’m having trouble remembering everything that happened last week.
On a good note…we have a couple of new investigators who we are working with and seeing some great progress, which is pretty exciting.
Transfers are coming up. I’ve been a little more nervous about this transfer more than usual, I guess because this transfer will determine where I will spend and finish up the rest of my mission. I won’t learn if I will be staying where I am or if I will be transfered to a new area until Friday, I guess it’s a wait and see.
The weather is starting to get a little warmer which makes our work (contacting) a little more pleasant. It’s still below freezing but it’s not unbearably cold.
I had a great time translating for the Nehrings in church this past Sunday again. I really enjoy translating, but I don’t ever think I would like to be a translator.
Lately, I have been thinking about the future (don’t worry…I’m not at all trunky) and bugging my companion and asking him a million questions about what I should major in. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I would like to do something in the medical field, possibly a pediatrician. I really love kids and nothing could be better than helping them with their health.
I am enjoying speaking the Russian language more than ever. I sure hope I don’t forget it, that’s become a big fear of mine. I will have to continue to study the language when I get home.
I know this is a pretty uneventful email. I hope to have more news for you next week. The work here is going better and things are looking up and hope is getting stronger. I hope you all have a great week. Continue to pray for the Russian people.


Love,


Elder Dewey

Hello Everyone,


I hope everyone had a really good week. As for me, it was one of those weeks. To be honest, I’ve had better weeks. I don’t want to go into much detail, I just want to take this new week and make it a  better one than last week. I refuse to let unfortunte things said or done get to me.
There were a few good moments; we are working with this new less active guy who looks exactly like Charlie Chaplin, it’s pretty funny, he seems to be a real nice guy. Tuesday we had a really cool experience, a guy from our English class who knows English fairly well took us out to dinner to talk about more English phrases and in what cases they should be used. He took us to a really great pizza place. Christmas was on Thursday here in Russia. Yep, Christmas for Russians is on January 7th. We had English club and surprisingly some people came even on Christmas! I would never go to a club on Christmas, seemed somewhat strange. On Saturday we were able to go see a baptism in the other branch, it was a great experience and very cool. Then we all went to our branch to have a Family Home Evening for those who can’t really do it at their own homes or have trouble. It was a fun time, we played a lot of fun games and there was a spiritual thought given. I really love working with the youth here in Russia they have so much potential, they are truly amazing people.




Well, I need to run. Love you all.






Elder Dewey

Happy New Year...parties, personality tests, long legs, small seats, Nutcracker and NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS...

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Dear Family and Friends,

This is another episode of writing home and another attempt at writing my letters before hand. It gives me a little extra time to put some thought behind the words instead of a bunch rambling thoughts thrown out into cyber space.

This week was a pretty crazy one with New Years and having to stay home cooped up in our apartment. There is too much that happens out on the streets here to be out amongst the craziness. Some may welcome this opportunity not having to be out in the freezing temperature, however I prefer the numbing cold and the feeling of being productive rather than sitting in an apartment feeling like the walls are closing in. There is only so much studying one can do.

The following are a few of the highlights from this past week. On Monday, we found a really nice tie store. I found the coolest tie I have ever seen on my mission and dedicated it to my new niece Piper Jane Dewey. It’s pretty weird that I am not there to hold her and be the coolest uncle ever, but I have to give everyone else a head start (you all need it...just wait until I get home!! haha! Of course you all know I will steal her heart once I get the chance to spoil her rotten. I will be her favorite!! Congrats to BJ and Britt on their new baby girl. She is pretty dang cute, however I might have to call in a blood test to see who the real Papa is because I didn’t think my bro could create something that good looking. Maybe it skips the first son in the family or something. I can’t wait to hold her! I will have to teach her all the tricks that will drive her dad crazy. I just want my bro to know I don’t do the whole dirty diaper thing though!
Anyway, Wednesday we had a great district meeting. It was funny because we took a personality test. I am sure everyone knows what those things are. This test matched you up with certain colors to your personality type. Turns out I am half red and half yellow. Red means I am very aggressive and like to be in control of situations. It also means I am very straight forward and don’t like to beat around the bush. Red also includes being cocky... I like to call it confident. Yellow means I love to have fun and be around people a lot. It also, means that I like attention and like to get compliments and I always want everyone to be happy and have a good time. So basically, to sum it all up with these colors mixed together I am aggressive, intimidating, cocky, fun loving, friendly, happy, and a complimentary loving person! But hey, I am who I am and I am okay with that. I can only really remember mostly the bad parts of the tests results because everyone was teasing me and giving me a hard time, but its okay. All those things can be controlled and used to my advantage. I am happy with who I am, if we don’t have different people in the world it wouldn’t work...if everyone had red personalities than it would be one big power struggle. With all yellow no one would stop from having too much fun! There’s was also the colors, blue and white but I can’t remember what the meanings were because I didn’t have any of those attributes haha. Luckily, God made us all with different personalities to give life a little bit of flavor and variety.

Moving on...
We went to the Nutcracker on Wednesday. It was pretty funny because my original seat didn’t have enough leg room. (I wasn’t just complaining, I really couldn’t even sit down!) So I went over and got the lady working there and she didn’t believe me and thought I was being unreasonable, so I kindly asked her to come see for herself. Once she actually saw my actual seat she was pretty shocked, and I said “yep, we are pretty big in America”… haha - everyone laughed and gave me the end seat with all the leg room I needed! The ballet was really cool and even better to see it in Russia. And of course, I am sure you are all aware that the man who wrote the music is a Russian!
Thursday we had our “New Years Eve” party, sitting at home! Haha! I made some really great tacos. (mom, I hope you know how much I loved you being my personal cook and maid) I know from experience now that its not the easiest thing to do. I think I would make a good mom because I just deal with it and don’t get mad. The conflicts are not worth it. The only thing that drives me nuts is when I am hard at work in the kitchen cooking some really good food like tacos or chow mien or something cool, and the only thing my companion can do is just stand there and watch, scratching his hungry stomach! That drives me nuts. (Please note - this is no companion in particular… haha - many have done it.)

I made some good “New Years Resolutions” which include (in no particular order) …
1. Tell those that I love more often that I love them.
2. Mountain bike at least 3 times a month with dad

3. Do any dirty dishes that are out.

4. Continue to do my own laundry when I get home
5. Meditate for at least 5 minutes a day.

6. Don’t use stupid slang (even Mormon slang)

7. Never go a day without giving at least 1 compliment.

8. Eat healthier.

9. This one is pending…Find my future wife.

Remember that last one is pending, please don’t forget! Haha…I don’t want to jinx it and give myself bad luck!

Well, those are just a few of my goals for the year just the fun ones. I have more serious goals, but hey I will leave those to myself… haha!


Love yall ! Have a good week!


Love, Elder Dewey! ~ qensuha!@!!

Elder Dewey becomes an uncle

Piper Jane Dewey - born December 28th

7.15 lbs

         

2009 Christmas in Perm Russia

Dear Family and Friends,
Well, I have decided I am going to start a new way of emailing home instead of my usual random rambling and babbling about things that aren’t really interesting and or important. I’ve decided that I am going to write my weekly letters home before I go to email so I can do some editing and revising before sending them off. So, today is my first real attempt and we will see how it goes.
My First piece of business is an attempt to apologize for my lame phone call home on Christmas. I found myself somewhat frustrated with hearing that there is “Nothing new” going on in everyone’s life. I might take that answer as legit if I had just left home and only been gone a few weeks or even months, but I’ve been gone for nearly two years…and that is not the response I should’ve been hearing, especially when there are so many changes going on. I have been on my mission far too long to think that nothing at home has changed. How can nothing change in the past 21 months? It just blows my mind. I guess someone just put the pause button on Mesa. Ha-ha… just kidding, I understand life is just the same old thing for you, but next time for anyone who will read this just think of anything new to tell missionaries! Often times one might think that the things you might think are just boring and lame could be very exciting to your missionaries. Missionaries love to call home but hate hearing that nothing has changed!!!!!!

Also, all the many comments from people saying "Hey don’t get trunky!" Do absolutely no good to a missionary. I am sorry, but my opinion is that all those people who tell a missionary not to get trunky probably got trunky on their missions! I am not trunky in the least. I find myself working harder than ever just trying to do everything I know how to keep this area afloat. If anyone has any good advice for a missionary coming down on the home stretch I would love it, but "Don’t get trunky" Is the sorriest piece of advice I’ve gotten. So now you know why I may have sounded a bit down. It was still great talking to everyone after we got past the trunky comments! I wish I would have had more time. And… I want you to know that I forgive all of you for those unappealing comments. Some of you still need to polish up those social skills every now and again...(BJ and Britt) But Britt has an excuse she’s about 12 months pregnant haha! And…it was a little too early in the morning for her.

Now that I am done with my reprimanding I will tell you about my amazing Christmas experience here in Perm Russia… I really enjoyed it this year, so much more than last year, being stuck with four missionaries in Kurgon. It felt a lot more like Christmas. However, talking to my family was still the highlight of the day, despite the above comments! I love the heck out of each and everyone of them! I still miss you guys even though you all seem like some made up piece of information that someone put into my head. It seems like I’ve been gone forever and you are all just a distant memory. Anyway, let me continue on with my Christmas experience…in the morning we stopped by the Central Market where we and went to our favorite donut kiosk and ordered 4 kilograms of donuts, the lady was pretty surprised that we ordered so much, but I am sure when she realized we were Americans everything was clear. Then we went to the Nearhrings (can’t spell) and helped them set up for our missionary Christmas party. The party was really great. We had tacos and played games. After eating, we had a white elephant exchange. We all picked out gifts a few days before. For my gift, I bought a Max Lucado book titled "You are Special" in Russian… how cool is that!!!!! It’s a story with an awesome meaning. It’s about a town filled with small wooden people. These people go around and give out stickers either a gold star or a grey dot. The gold star means you’re pretty or talented and the grey dot means the opposite. There is a small wooden guy who doesn’t get any stars and a whole lot of grey dots. His life is pretty sad to be honest and then one day he meets a wooden girl who doesn’t have any stickers at all and she tells him all he has to do is go and see the master that made them. So one day he goes and talks to the master and the master tells him how special he is to him and how much he loves him and that no one else’s opinions matter but his. And he also tells him once he realizes his is the only opinion that matters then the stickers won’t stick. It’s a really good book! I love it. I was worried for a while about whose hands it would fall into, but then when it all came down to it, Sister Rodgers got the book and I was pretty happy, one day I think she will be able to understand how awesome it is and what a great find it is. The ironic thing is, I got her gift she picked out which was a song book of all the Russian folk songs which was pretty dang cool and a tube of bubbles.... pretty cool huh? She is pretty funny. We also played some mafia which was a lot of fun. I am terrible at being Mafia, but really good at being the detective and persuading people… ha-ha. It was pretty dang fun and reminded me a lot of home playing with the family.

After the party, we went with some of the missionaries and Katya to the main square where we took pictures of lights and the ice sculptures which was pretty cool. We also had a big snow fight and about froze our hands and feet off!!! We just jumped around in this big field of snow it was a blast and a great night to remember! Honestly, Christmas kind of made me take a step back and look at my mission as a whole and a real sense of peace set in and I realized how happy I am with it and all that has happened and the growth that I have experienced. Mostly, I am grateful for the people of Russia and all that I have learned from them and the way they have touched my heart. I have a great and deep love for them. I am just really happy with my whole experience as a missionary and have made it through with very few regrets. I really am doing well and just trying to make everything better one day at a time. I am sorry for sounding a bit down on the phone. I want you to all know my spirits are back up and at full speed so don’t worry about me! Take it easy!


Love Elder Chad M Dewey

A few older photos of Elders Dewey and Shreeve

(photos from Elder Shreeve fb)

Elder Sam Shreeve returns home to Mesa Az...

Mesa Az. Elders

Elder Sam Shreeve Home Coming is tomorrow.  We look forward to hear his report home.  Chad will really miss him in Russia, but will see him this coming April!!

A personal note to Elder Ellsworth's mom...

This post is for Elder Ellsworth's mom. - Thank you for leaving such a kind comment in Elder Dewey's last post.
By the way, I have a few pictures of your son in some group photos that Chad has sent home. I would be glad to email them. Leave me your email address at dadewey1@gmail.com.
Merry Christmas!

Mr. Frost nipping at your nose...

С Рождеством Христовым,


Well, I am kind of running short of time today so this email home will be brief. I did want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I will be calling home Thursday morning around 8: oo am and we are allotted around 30-40 minutes.

I am feeing oddly old these days. I am turning into an old man here on the mish. I’ll explain how one knows when the “old man” (missionary) syndrome starts to take place. One of the first signs is when you start talking and no one wants to listen however, you continue because you believe you have experience and possibly a bit of wisdom that some might benefit from if they would only listen, or perhaps you just like the sound of your own voice. Another sign is when Mr. Frost hits and you find yourself numb to the bitter cold. This week was sooooooooooooooo cold, let’s just say a big NEGATIVE 40!!! Yeah, we had a great time walking around with frost on our eyelashes. It was actually pretty painful to be honest. Then a lady started yelling at me because my cheeks were turning white and she said if I don’t rub them out fast I would get frost bite.

This past week was somewhat disappointing because our district is not going to exist come next transfer because an area is closing. It’s hard to see Elder Haderlie, Elder Cordan and Sister Mezinets leave. We are losing three awesome and extremely cool missionaries. I hope they will always remember our district meeting and my thoughts on inner peace and pacification.

I have been kind of sick this past week, but seem to be recovering. I feel as though I am just doing my usual rambling. None of this is probably making much sense infact, I doubt that anyone reads these emails by now besides my mom (bless her heart). I am a pretty lucky kid to have cool parents that love me enough to put up with me and these crappy emails. Anyway, I am gonna call this one quits for now. I wish you all a merry little Christmas. The Bob Dylan Christmas Album is now put to good use. He is making my Christmas a little more American, so it’s cool. Anyway take it easy. I love you.

Elder Dewey

Random thoughts...

Hello Everyone,

Well, this week was a doozey to say the least. I won’t go into too much detail and bore you with my usual scheduled outline. This email home will be of some random thoughts I've had recently. Lately, I have been working on self perfection and I have come up with a few different theories on how it really works.
My first theory is about perfection. It is impossible to become perfect during our time here on earth, no matter how hard we try. Sorry to disappoint those perfectionists out there - it’s just not possible. "The joy is the journey.” (popular EFY theme) If we were perfect there would not be a need for humility or the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Our job is to do everything possible to become perfect, and yet at the same time realizing that we will always come up short (in my case really short). We need to believe and have true faith that the Lord will fill in those many gaps of imperfection.
Love is the key to everything worthwhile- The only way to get deeply involved and care about anything is to love whatever your doing or whoever you are around. I have noticed on my mission that the more I love the better my life becomes in every single aspect. When I love the people around me I am happier and work harder. I really have fallen in love with Russia. This place has something mysterious and magical about it and I know the secret, but that’s for me to know and for those lucky people who have the opportunity to serve here to find out! It’s too difficult to really explain my feelings about Russia. Russia is just something that you really have to experience for yourself to truly understand it.

Daily Meditation- Some like to be more spiritual and call it "pondering" it’s all the same though! I have been trying to meditate and refocus on what’s really important in life. I have felt more calm and relaxed when I meditate and I think that everyone should meditate. Everyone has there own way to meditate though, you just have to find your own and stick to it!
Next Theory- Fear is the opposite of faith.I know many church leaders have said this before, but I will add my own opinion. I think that there is nothing at all we should fear. Fear has absolutely no positive outcome on anyone or anything. However, for some odd reason I’ve been experiencing more fear lately... What have I been afraid of?? The future!!!! I am coming to the last few months of my mission and see that my time here in Russia will be coming to a close. I’ve worried a lot about leaving Russia and leaving my friends. A very wise missionary gave me a talk to read about how fear and faith are opposite and cannot co-exist. I read the talk and figured out exactly what was up. I didn’t realize that all these friends I have made here in Russia will always be my friends in the “big picture” we will be together in the end and we will be able to spend more time together, if not in this life, I will see them again in the hereafter where our meaning of time will not exist. That talk helped a lot and allowed me to let go of some of this fear.
I know I am not perfect and very far from it. I fear many other things and I am tackling them one by one. Honestly, I think I will leave a very big chunk of my heart here in Russia. So even if I don’t make it back there will always be a part of me here. (but I am determined to make it back.) I’ve learned a cool concept… when you give some of your heart away it seems to grow twice as big and then there is more for the giving.
I hope whatever I’ve said wasn’t too cheesy or weird. Maybe it’s the freezing cold weather that has gotten to me,,,haha!
Well, we are on our way to go bowling. Have a great week everyone, I love you all!

I will leave with you this statement from Bruce R. McConkie -

“There was only one perfect being, the Lord Jesus. If men had to be perfect and live all of the laws strictly, wholly, and completely to be eligible for eternal life, there would be only one saved person in eternity. The prophet Joseph Smith taught that there are many things to be done, even beyond the grave, in working out our salvation.
“And so what we do in this life is chart a course leading to eternal life. That course begins here and now and continues in the realms ahead. We must determine in our hearts and in our souls, with all the power and ability that we have, that from this time forward we will press on in righteousness: by so doing we can go where God and Christ are. If we make that firm determination, and are in the course of our duty when this life is over, we will continue in that course in eternity.”

Love,

Elder Dewey

Helsinki Finland...visa trip

I’m not sure where to begin…
It’s been an amazing week full of many memorable experiences.. It’s been a week of Thanksgiving celebrations, unpredictable travel plans, meeting up with members from past areas, attending the Helsinki Temple, catching up with the Elders from my group, and a personal search for some inner peace (which seems to come in small moments.)
I’ll start with pday which was our usual kind of boring pday. After internet we stopped in at the eye doctor for an eye exam and a pair of new glasses. I found a very cool pair of Ray Ban’s that look very similar to what President Spencer W. Kimball used to wear…classic!! During my eye exam I had the opportunity to chat with the eye doctor about the church, I guess he knew the missionaries from before. Later, we met up with the other missionaries at the church
We had three meetings scheduled for Tuesday, however one bailed on us…it happens. We had to go back to the scary building, okay...call me a wimp, but I’m telling ya, it’s a building straight out of a horror movie! At least we were there during the day and not at night. We also had a pretty terrific English Club. We had a tight kid show up who is really into soccer, so we discussed words relating to sports to keep his interest.  I love my English Class!!!
After district/zone conference on Wednesday we celebrated Thanksgiving as a zone. We had a great feast!! Not to brag on myself, but I have to say that I made the best mashed potatoes that I have ever tasted!! No offense mom. I’ll let you in on my secret…RED PEPPER! Yep, it gives it a bit of a kick and turns ordinary, boring mashed potatoes into something spectacular!! It was a great time. I surprised myself by not stuffing myself or overeating. I guess it’s that inner peace I have been working on, I didn’t have to eat a lot to be happy and satisfied…I found me “chi”. Later, we had a meeting with our investigator which went really well, we just need her to want to act on her desires to make the necessary changes.
We woke up about five Thursday morning to catch the train to Ekat for another visa trip, only to find out that our train wasn’t to leave until four that afternoon. The ZLS messed up a bit. Elder Smith and I really wanted to make it to Ekat so we booked it over to the bus station to see if we could buy bus tickets, however the bus had already left, so we were stuck in Perm waiting for the afternoon train after all. We left around 4 and arrived in Ekat around 10 that night. The train we rode on was pretty decent with seats that reminded me of airplane seating…not to bad
We left Friday morning around four to catch the plane for St. Pete’s only to find out once again, that the plane wasn’t schedule to leave for a few hours later than what they told us,,, someone made a mistake, haha…no biggey…stuff happens. When we arrived to St. Pete's we sat around the airport for another few hours and flew on to Helsinki. When we arrived to Helsinki we headed straight for......PIZZA HUT! We all ordered the “all you can eat” lunch special, however we all let ourselves down because we ate very little. I think it’s because we are not used to eating as much as we used to and many of us have lost some extra baggage. Later, we went to the temple where we stayed at the guest house and hung out.
We were able to attend two sessions on Saturday with members from our mission! It was pretty dang cool to see so many members from the Ekat mission at the temple, it made my day. I was also able to gather a lot of "chi" or “inner peace” while at the temple. The peace one feels at the Temple is a great thing, nothing quite like it!!!  Later, we went to the store where we found some ben and jerry’s ice cream...this was a small highlight of our trip!  We left for Ekat later that night. It was funny; on the flight back to St Pete's the flight attendant didn’t give me a card to fill out because she thought I was Russian. It must have been my angry face for having to sit next to an old smelly dude. When we finally arrived to Ekat early Sunday morning we were able to catch some shut eye for a couple of hours before attending church.
I was able to attend the Botanica branch…my old stomping grounds! It was amazing to see all the members that I used to meet with! I love them. We finally arrived home to Perm around ten last night! Wahoo!! That pretty much sums up my week…an amazing week!
So, I continue on with my journey to find inner peace and me “chi”! It’s pretty exciting. I have been a lot more relaxed. I have been trying to meditate, however I really don’t know how to relax and shut by brain off…it’s a work in progress. Maybe I need to take up yoga…picture that!! Haha!! Anyway, I love you all and hope you have a great week. I will send pictures home next week.
Love,


Elder Dewey

Memories Made in Ufa...pictures say it all.

Elders Dewey and Stoops

Peeps in Ufa

Love the hats!!

Peace Out...

New area, Perm...New companion. Elder Gilming from Cali...

Hello Everyone,

I just arrived to Perm last Wednesday so there’s not a lot to write home about. Next weeks letter should have a little more detail. Today, however, will be another brief outline of last week’s happenings.

Last Monday was our final pday in Ufa. We didn’t do anything special except that Elder Shreeve and I went out to find boots and we ended up lost, and on a bus that took us all around the city. I have to admit, it was a good time and a fun experience to see the areas where we served one last time, and reflect back on the good memories we made, the great people we were fortunate enough to meet, get to know, and grow to love. I am a better person to have had the opportunity to serve among these terrific people.

When Tuesday rolled around we had all our stuff packed and ready to go. We left in the middle of the night for the train station where we met a ton of members, mostly the youth, who came to say good bye to us. Yeah…another very difficult good bye!! I love these people and grew so attached to them. They are all so amazing! I don’t know why these goodbyes have to be so dang hard for me to deal with, but they are. Often times I wish I could  serve my entire mission in just one area. But I realize that this is part of missionary life. If anyone reads this from Ufa, I hope they know how much I love them and miss them. I have loved all of the areas I have been in and honestly having to leave an area stinks.

We arrived to Ekat at around 3 and I left around 4 for Perm. The train ride wasn’t the best, there was a constant draft of cold air that blew in pretty fast, but I survived. The first thing on our agenda was to move to a different area right away. We actually ended up with a cool apartment that used to be the sisters, and they now have the piece of junk we were living in.

We met most of the members here on Sunday which was really cool. Shortly after meeting everyone and getting a grip on my new surroundings I soon find out that our area boundaries have changed, and now I’m not exactly sure who is in our area. Oh well.

Our apartment is very nice and in a cool location which is in the middle of the city. To make things even better, we have all the great sites with decent stores as well. The best part is that there is a Mexican food restaurant right outside our house!!! How cool is that???

My Comp is Elder Gilming from Cali and is way cool. He is pretty dang new, but it should be really fun to serve with him.

Again, sorry for the short email, like I said, not much to write about yet...next week should be more informative.

It’s difficult to get my mind off all the people back in Ufa. I found my prayer last night turned into a long list of names.I finally laid down I still couldn’t stop thinking about all of them.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Love,

Elder Dewey

Last week in Dyoma...transfer to Perm

The youth made these cool hats for all the departing missionaries.

Missionaries in UFA...Dewey, Shreeve, Thomas, Holden, Odair, (missing a few names)

Hello Everyone,
I decided to take the same approach as last week and send home more photos than write a lengthy email about a non eventful week, sorry, I just think that pictures are more interesting to look at.  I will share with you a few random happenings of the past week.
First off, this is my last week here in Dyoma. We received news about transfers on Friday. I knew my time here was coming to a close, but it's still difficult to have to move on. It's hard not to grow attached to these great people.
While we were out the other day we found a dead man lying by some tree! I believe he must’ve froze to death…it happens frequently here in Russia. The police were just standing around the poor guy acting like it was no big deal, I guess because to them he was just another frozen body.
I am happy to report that Elder Stoops finally arrived here to Dyoma last Wednesday, but unfortunately I will only be with him for a few days and then I am off to Perm. Although I am disappointed that I have to leave everyone behind here in Dyoma, I am excited to be going to Perm. It’s the only area of the mission that I have not served in yet and I can now say that I have been in every area of the mission…pretty cool.
Sunday was an awesome day. We all had a chance to speak and say our goodbyes, which was difficult. After church that evening we had a meeting that the youth put on for all of us missionaries who were leaving, they have never done that for any other group of missionaries...(we're the special ones...haha) I really love the youth here in Ufa they really are amazing. They gave each departing missionary these goofy little hats we wore. It was pretty fun. We also had a testimony meeting which was really cool, I tried not to get too emotional. It’s always so stinking hard to say goodbye, so I just don’t. I know I will see them all again someday, maybe in this life or maybe the next, so it’s not a goodbye it’s a “see ya later” in my book. Anyway, I really loved serving here in Dyoma it's hard to leave. It’s funny because I try not think about leaving and go on like it’s not happening and then about two weeks later it will hit me and I will get kind of bummed out, but this time I’m determined to stay strong and not get too sad, it will be tough though because I really love the branch and members here. It seems like just when I get feeling like an area is perfect and going well it's time to part ways and move on and that sucks sometimes, but that’s life as a missionary.  I will always remember all my people in Dyoma and how amazing they all are! Well gotta run, love you all and thanks for the support.


Love,


Elder Dewey

Goodbye Dyoma Peeps!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM RUSSIA!