Mixed week

As I look back on this week I have mixed feelings. We have definitely received major blessing and miracles but we have also had some struggles as we try to meet the mission standards and accomplish our goals.

First off, I might need a boyfriend. Appartently, the member family that we visited with last week wants me to marry their nephew. The mom pulled my companion aside on Sunday and asked her if I had a boyfriend in America. She proceeded to tell Sister Carlson that she wants me to meet her nephew that lives in America. Sister Carlson told me that she was pretty serious about it. And when we did service for Irina Victronovna she tried to hook us up with these two boys that worked at a local grocery store. I suppose that I should take it as a compliment.

I have mixed feeling about this past week. In terms of our investigators we were only able to meet with one when we have about 5 investigators in total. The meeting we did have with Lena was great. The last time Sister Carlson (she was passed to us from Arbatski where Sister Carlson just came from) met with her was two months and based on her last lesson we were not sure if she had read in the Book of Mormon. She surprised us by saying that she did read and bore her testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She can't read everyday but she reads on the weekends and likes it. We do not think she is ready for baptism because there are still other trouble areas that we need to resolve but we have great hope for her and she wants to meet us regularly. But it was incredible to hear an investigator bear testimony of the Book of Mormon and say that it is the only thing that coudl unite the world. At one time she said, "It is very important. It is your history, my history, and the history of God." As we left the meeting Sister Carlson turned to me and said, "What just happened?"

I have been disappointed with our other investigators. Karina, who at one time had a baptismal date, has not been committing to meet with us. It has been a little frustrating since our last meeting was two months ago and it was a good meeting. When we try to set a specific time to meet she gives wishy-washy answers and then won't answer our phone calls. We know Satan is working hard on her and I am worried because I have noticed a dimness in her countenance and demeanor. We think that if we can meet with her things will be all right but the hard part is meeting with her. That is how I feel about most of our investigators, if we could meet everything would be all right. 

But our meeting with less-actives have been great! We meet with two on Monday and we were really impressed and have hope that they will come to Church in the Perovo Branch soon (they are both active in other wards). As we left our second meeting, Janna told us that we would like us to return next week when previously she said she could only meet with the missionaries about once a month. And she gave us some cake, which is always appreciated. 

Things are a little rough but we have been promised that a better time is approaching from our mission President. Interestingly, we can no longer chalk draw or sign board. Also, we have been encouraged to do more tracting. Finding new investigators is going to be an interesting ride. 

One week - two countries

The past week has been a little crazy. All that has happened in the past week: a new companion, visa trip to Ukraine, awesome dinner at a member's house, and speciaized training for the zone.  

So first off I had my first visa trip to Ukraine! It was amazing and Kiev was a cool city. Most importantly, we were able to go to the Kiev temple. Our day began at 4:00am when Sister Thrall and I woke up and took showers. The driver picked us up at 5am. It was funny because we had just whipped up cups of herbal tea and I turned to Sister Thrall and said, "You know now that we have tea the driver is going to call any second. Sure enough, I took my first sip and the phone rang. The six of us headed off to the airport (Sister Thrall, Elder Black, Elder Campbell, Elder Hamp, Elder Francom and me). In Kiev we met our driver who took us to the temple and around Kiev. We barely made the 10:30 session at the temple but I was grinning the entire time. I felt such great peace and I hadn't realized how much I missed going to the temple until I was there. I had headphones to listen in English but I listened in Russian too. I was surprised by how much I understood. 

Afterwards, our driver took up to an Ukrainian restuarant. Soooo good! On accident Elder Hamp grabbed a plate of liver and onions. Of course, all the elders tried a piece and I decided to try a bite with them. Yuck! It took a few minutes to finally shallow my piece. 

Then our driver, a member of the Church, turned to us and said, "Next I want to show you where President Packer [of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles] dedicated this land for missionary work." We responded, "Konyeshna, duhvai (of course, let's)". President Packer dedicated Ukraine right by the statue of King Vladimir. And at the time he promised the Ukrainians that Ukraine would have many temples. Actually, Ukraine was the first country to have a temple announced where there was no stake. 

All in all Kiev was great. It was great to be with the missionaries I arrived in Moscow with. Although we were not all in the same zone in the MTC we all hit it off great. We think we would be an awesome district. We talked about the mission and where we all are. By the time we left we had all uplifted each other's spirits.

I mentioned last week that I was going to get a new companion and now I have her. She is great. Her name is Sister Shannon Carlson from American Fork, UT. She is engaged and will be getting married after her mission. She will hit her year mark on the mission during this transfer. I am really excited to work with her. Her Russian grammar is not the greatest but she makes up for it in spiritual power and love. Her first Sunday she went up to everyone and talked to everyone. She wants to be exactly obedient and we have been going through the mission handbook again together so we can be obedient. She knows that Russian is hard for her and it takes her a long time to learn but she does not let that stop her. Together we are studying grammar since that is my strong point and she is helping me with vocab. Oh, and she loves contacting. She has a lot of traits that I hope to acquire and I am really excited for this transfer and what we will accomplish. And neither of us know who is the senior companion. She thought I was and I thought she was so our companionship has an interesting dynamic.

We have not met with many investigators this past week with everything that has been going on. So far we met with one less active girl and we had dinner with a member family on Monday for Family Home Evening. That was an adventure! They will in a city that requires us to get permission from our legal lady first because we could get in serious trouble since we are not Russian. Surprising, our lawyer gave us permission so long as the member picked us up from the train station, we don't speak any English, and we don't wear our name tags. We were safe and had a huge dinner of bortsh and burritos. The elders came with us since they teach the daughter's boyfriend. The mom was so nice and when she found out about my mom she said she would be my "Russan mother". 

I did hear about Tamara from her member friend. Appartently, after our lesson she became eally excited and started doing a lot of service for her church. Of our investigators she is the only one really making progress. She wants to take my companion and I souvenir shoppin sometime next week. 

The end of my training

Get ready for lots of photos! Today is my last day with Sister Bullough. Tomorrow we will head to transfer meeting with her luggage. I will be staying in Perovo and receiving a new companion. Thankfully, I am not training (well no new sisters are coming anyways). My companion will Sister Carlson who has spent 6 or 7 transfers in her last district. I have a feeling that next transfer is going to be awesome. She has a lot of traits that I hope will rub off on me. I'll admit that her Russian is not the best but she does not let that hold her back. And everyone just loves her. So I am excitied. I will be sad that I will not be with Sister Bullough. We have gone through some rough times together and grown. But I know that this transfer is the Lord's will. It's funny how everything has worked out because we had some investigators passed to Perovo from Arbatski (where Sister Carlson has been serving) and that will make the transtition all the smoother.

In regards to your comments about the 90s, Sarah I have to tell you about the fashion trends. Of course leggings and the almost no clothes look is popular among the females. For men, mullets seem to be big, especially for little boys. I laugh everytime I see a mullet. And, just like the French, Russian women love their high heels. Today we went to a Renik (a huge bargaining mall) and I saw some rain boots... with high heels. 

Thank you for all your emails and words of encouragement. As you could probably tell last week was rough. Some many emotions were bubbling inside me and finally I exploded, starting with last Wednesday. I am not so much discouraged with the work as I was with myself. Our area is rough but at least we have investigators, which is more than some other areas. I hadn't felt like I had changed. In fact, I felt like I changed and became better and then regressed to pre-MTC state. There were some tears last week that I could not explain but I realized the problem. I focused too much on my weaknesses. I have learned a lot on my mission so far about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and God's love for me. I have also learned a lot about the reality of Satan and his power and how he wants us to be miserable. Because I focused so much on what I could not do I forgot who I was, the power of my calling, what I can become, and that I have the Lord helping me. Yesterday or Monday (I forget which) I sat on the train thinking of the things that I could change. As I thought of constructive, specific ways to improve I was filled with ideas that inspired me. They were simple really, and things that I know I should be doing but I felt enthusiasm and they refocused me on my purpose: Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the Restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. So I am pumped and ready to go.

And all the emotional whatnot last week reminded me of how much I am loved here on earth and by those I can't visibly see. Last Wednesday after English Club I had a chance to talk to Sister Thrall, my MTC companion. We breifly asked how each other was doing. She could probably tell that I was going through a rough time. The next day I found that she left me a chocolate bar and a very sweet note. 

Last Friday we had our first culture night! We went to the circus and it was SO COOL! I included some pictures of some of the acts. My favorite was the very first one in the spinning wheel. And yes, in one of those pictures they have blindfolds. Before the circus we went to Chili's with our district. The food may have been American but the service was so Russian. We ordered our food and they bought all our food, apetitzers and main dishes, out at the same time. There was not enough food on the table for all the dishes. And they rarely came by to check on us and we had to flag the waiters down to get the check. But the food was tasty. 

It was funny that you asked last week if I had given a talk dad. Sunday morning about two hours before church our district leader called us, "President Makarov called. He wants Sister Bullough to give a 10-minute talk and Sister Daniel to bear her testimony." Our study plans were shot for the morning as we freak out and prepared our talks. Then we got to church and as Sister Bullough was finishing her talk in walks President Sorenson, our mission president. But it went fine and all the missionaries (the four of us) spoke. Then we had dinner at a member's apartment. I am starting to like herbal tea and hot milk with honey.

On Saturday I fly to Kiev for my first visa trip. I am excited to be with Sister Thrall and have a long chat with her. But most of all I am excited to go to temple and feel the special peace there and to be instructed even further by the Lord. Hopefully, I will have some exciting stories to tell next week.

I love you all and am so thankful for all of your prayers and support. I know that the work is hard but I do love it. Most of all I am so grateful for the opportunity to give back to the God and give him my time and service. Afterall, I have so blessed, especially by all of you and I could never pay him back enough.

Well, September has started and the weather has gotten a little nippier. I think I am going to have to buy my winter stuff sometime this month. I haven't done any shopping, other than grocery shopping, since I arrived so I'm a little nervous. I am aware that I am being irrational.

People are starting to come back (finially) but school has also started. But we think that thigns will look up. Although we still have four investigators that I have not yet met. Sister Bullough and I have interviews tomorrow so we will find out what will happen with transfers. Also, next week I have my first visa trip to Kiev next Friday. 

Saturday we had a great meeting with Tamara. She served us herbal tea and ice cream! (The shock is I actually liked the tea. I didn't like how hot it was but I liked the flavor. I'm making progress!) She was a member referral and it is great that her best friend is in our ward because we can talk to her friend and find out how best to teach her and meet her needs. We watched the Restoration film and did a brief overview of the first lesson. She agreed to read the Book of Mormon everyday. She said she couldn't come to church but she said she would try another week. She is very sincere and has a lot of faith. I left the lesson excited. I'm a little sad to admit but it has been a while since I have felt that excitement.

On Sunday we accidently went to a forbidden city. In our area some cities are forbidden to Americans. Well, basically any non-Russians. We called us district leader to find out if we could go. Our legal lady gave us the OK to go there. However, he did not tell us that if we go there we need to take off our tags. Thankfully, nothing happened to us. It was a little bit frustrating because the places we were looking for did not exist. We had a map and followed it and we would find all the building on the map but not the one we were looking for. And an active member lives in one! At one place we walked around the entire apartment looking for door 8. We found door 7 and door 9, but no door 8. We had to laugh and we joked that it must be like in Harry Potter: invisible unless you have a ward or know the magic words. Sadly, the words weren't written in the area book and we forgot our wards at home. 

Yesterday was a fun day. A drunk lady threatened to kill us. We have been working on the area book since our investigators still have not been able to meet a lot and we have been going around and taking photos of the apartments where members and less actives live in case the area ever gets shotgunned (meaning that two new missionaries are assigned to a area they have never served in before). So we talking photos when a lady, very drunk, walked up to us. She rudely asked what we were doing because she thought we were selling something and Sister Bullough explained what we were doing very simply since she was drunk. Then like a switch had been hit she started to yell at us. Neither Sister Bullough nor I felt good so we started to walk away. She followed us. We walked a little faster and so did she. She got louder and more threatening. Then she said she was going to kill us. Thankfully, when we got onto the main street she did not follow us. Phew.

I have not given a prayer in church or a talk. I bore my testimony my first Sunday. There is a specific teacher for Gospel Essentials so I don't teach. I do try to participate though.

I'm doing OK. I'll admit I am a little sad that the day I write you in the day that I feel the weight of my weaknesses and inadquanices the most. I'll admit, preparation days are hard for me. My biggest casuality during this transfer has been my confidence. I have been studying about confidence and trying to carry myself better. I picked up the habit of biting my nails again so I am trying to stop that... again. But everything will be okay and I use this as an opportunity to draw closer to my Savior and Heavenly Father. 

First off, I will address the long-awaited question about the weather. I don't know if a lot of people know this but the summer is pretty humid. July, in particular felt very humid. I would be sitting on a train and I have to wipe my forehead quite a few times. Since August first the weather has not quite as humid. In fact there have been a few days where I wore a sweater. I could have gone without the sweater, but it was nice to wear it still. It hailed one day as we were coming home from church and we have gotten some good rain. Typically, when it rains it does not rain all day, but there was one or two days where it rained all day. I remember that day because Sister Bullough discovered a hole in her shoes and we walked a few hours to find a less active woman.

Despite the hot weather Russians will still drink or offer "chai" (tea, herbal for us, or hot water with a lemon or honey). You know me and you know that I don't like hot drinks. However, I can drink a cup or two. I have also eaten a lot of watermelon. I tolerated more than my companion who -hates- watermelon. But Ninel insisted that we keep eating. Really. She put her foot down when we tried to tell her we were full.

Sister Bullough is very excited for the cold weather to come because she loves winter and Christmas music. I know some people don't like to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving or December. I think we broke out the Christmas music my second week here. I'm anxious but excited for winter to see if Moscow winters live up to their reputation. I am not looking forward to buying a winter coat or winter boots. 

As to the possibility of a native companion, I really don't know. In a former email I wrote that there are not a lot of natives. There are three natives sisters in our mission and one is going home at the end of next transfer. The other two came not too long before me so there is a possibility. I don't know how high the possibility is but it is possible. Transfers are coming up and so many sisters have been in their areas for 4 transfers. I think we all expect a big change for the sister but we don't know who will stay or leave. 

Now to the work: 

We have not been able to meet with many of our investigators. We met with Ninel (that was when she forced us to eat watermelon). In our meeting we extended the invitation to be baptized and, at first, she said yes. Then when she found out we meant baptism like her granddaughter was baptized she said she did not want to because she was already baptized. We explained the priesthood and then extended the inviation again and she said the same thing: yes at first and then said no when we clarified. We aren't entirely sure why she changed her answer, whether there is a fear or doctrinal concern because we had to leave to get home on time. But hopefully in our next meeting we will find out. 

Because we have had a hard time meeting with our investigators we have been doing a lot of less active hunting, contacting, and updating the area book. I'll admit I have loved updating the area book because I have gotten frustrated with the lack of thoroughness. When I write about our meetings I try to put information that help missionaries that will come to our area. Often we will look at a teaching record and hear how great things are going and then it stops and never says what happened with the person.

Monday we went less active hunting and thankfully a member showed us the way to the lady's house. We went and called the apartment phone. Like in France, you either need to know the code or have to dial them on a speaker outside. No one answered. We were about to leave when the member pointed out that a lady was on her balcony. The less active lady lost her legs a few months ago. But this lady was on the balcony and smoking. We asked her if she knew the member and she responded, "She moved. She switched apartments." When she asked why we were bothering her we told her we were missionaries. Almost immediately she said, "I don't understand." And kept cutting us off, telling us to leave, when we tried to say the name of our church. And when we called the phone number for the less active lady the lady on the balcony picked up. So... we think that was her. We aren't entirely sure because she never said her name. 

That was my week. Aside from fixing our clogged shower it has not been too eventful. The pictures are from when we went roller blading last preparation day with our district. Today we played ultimate frisbee (my first time) and gator ball (a mix of soccer and football).

Watch out for that step! It's a doozy!

Well, this week was an interesting week that strengthed my testimony of the Book of Mormon and the need to read it everyday. We had to drop two of our investigators: Margaret and Irina. Unfortunately, dropping them both happened on Monday. On Monday we met with Irina Victronova and last time we asked her to read three verses in Ether 12. She didn't. Although we had planned a lesson on faith we decided to read with her. We would stop to ask questions to see if she could apply the scriptures to herself. She only corrected us on our Russian, which was appreciated but not the reason we wanted to read with her. Afterwards she complained about her eyes and head hurting. We tried to talk about faith and the importance of the Book of Mormon but at one point she flat out told us that she was not going to read. She said the only reason she read with us was to correct our pronunciation. She has an audio copy of the Book of Mormon but she doesn't like listening to it because it hurts her head. She also told us that she thinks she is going to die in a few months. At the end of the lesson Sister Bullough and I shed a few tears. Afterwards, Sister Bullough told me that was hard because in the 6 months she has been here she has seen the same thing happen. Irina will progress a little bit and then not progress at all.

About a week ago we called Margaret to see how she was doing. We asked how her Book of Mormon reading was coming and she said she has not read. Inspired, Sister Bullough asked if she believed it was scripture. She responded, "Honestly, I can't say that I do." We asked her to keep reading and she said that she would but she never did. But she still said that she wanted to be baptized. Then on Monday we called with the intent to see only how she was doing because it was late and we had no time for a lesson. She asked how we were doing and then told us she would not be baptized. She said she was already baptized in the Catholic Church and did not need to be baptized. She said that all Christian churches are the same and what is important is believing in God. She explained that if she will no longer read or is not interested in learning about the Church we can no longer meet with her. She said she understood.

So last night we gave her one last call to see if we could figure out when she started to doubt and lose her testimony. She asked her about previous spiritual experiences we had had with her. She kept bringing up that she believed in God and Jesus Christ and did not need another Church. We explained that we could not longer meet or call her anymore. She said she had a hard time believing that God would tell her not to drink coffee, tea, or alcohol and she could not believe in a modern-day prophet. We needed with our testimonies and I definitely felt the Spirit so strongly. Although we could not see her we could tell that she did too but she kept trying to explain or rationalize it away. As she started to ask questions or question our testimony the phone connection suddenly died. Sister Bullough and I looked at eachother and felt that we did not need to call her back. It was hard but we felt peaceful that we did the right thing. 

But not all has been bad! On Thursday (terrible day as well) we had a lesson with Ninel (note that it is Lenin backwards). We got out of the lesson and we thought that it was terrible. Afterwards we ranked the worst lessons we had had during our mission. Our lesson with Ninel was ranked No. 1. However, the next day the elders called us (they meet with Ninel's grandson-in-law) and told us that Ninel loved our lesson. We were blown away and could not believe it. And she has been reading that Book of Mormon on her own! At least one of our investigators is progressing. 

And we have a new investigator who came to church on her own 3 weeks ago. She knew no one but she came anyway. She met the missionaries in Rostov and the office elders gave us the referral. Imagine my surprise when we met with our referral and I recogized her from church!

Well, those are all the exciting news about our investigators. Personally, this was a rough week. I felt like I did not do the best that I could. I felt so weak and useless and I felt like a burden. I got frustrated and kept meeting myself up. I focused more on myself than I should have. Then yesterday I offered a heartfelt prayer and things became all right. I can be patient with everyone around me but I have never been very patient with myself. I worry about my language skills and my own shyness and timidity. At times it was a real struggle and I had a hard time feeling a desire to work. But everything is alright right now. I let fear and doubt overshadow my faith. I am probably not explaining myself very well but I know everything will be okay and the Lord called me here and he knows my potential better than I do. It's a slow process (it feels like) but I am opening my mouth more. Going up and talking to strangers is hard but I am doing better than last week and Sister Bullough and I set goals that will make us stretch and require courage. I'm excited to see what will happen.

Sister Bullough and I are doing well. We decided to defrost our freezer so had to clean out our fridge yesterday. I think we ate enough protein for the transfer. We had bacon (American is better and not as salty), hot dogs, pelmeni, and scrambled eggs. We were so full! Speaking of food, I had one of the most disgusting things that other day. Ninel made us a cold soup. It had vegetables but the broth was kvas, that digusting drink I told you about a few weeks ago. Then she put mayonnaise in it. At one point I thought I was going to be sick. We ate all the vegetables and then tried to drink the kvas. It was rough. At one point Ninel left and Sister Bullough and I exchanged pained glances. Then we saw the sink. We were bad and poured the rest down the sink. We "slammed" when we returned home.

We have started a new tradition that we call slamming. There are these cookies called Super Kontict. We fill a bowl with milk, take a bite from each end of the cookie and drink the milk through the cookie. It is just like a Tim-Tam slam but we make due with what we have here. We have even transformed it into a Russian verb "slamiravat". It may be summer but we listen to Christmas music a lot as well.

I have about 4 minutes left so I will address the weather next week. Since August started the weather has turned interesting. And I will share what I have been learning from my scripture study. I love you all. Thank you for the letters and emails! And I promise more pictures next week as well. It is written in my planner so it will be done.

We were about to head out and go roller blading for Preparation Day! Love you all!

Tried to come up with a cool title but failed

I'll admit that I am not sure how long this email will be. I remember that it was a good but as I have been trying to write not much has come to my mind. This week has flown by. I suppose I shall give you all the highlights:

Wednesday: I don't know why but I felt very frustrated and woke up in a bad mood. Of course, because I am on a mission I know that I shouldn't be in a bad mood because I know where all those feelings come from. We had planned to go roller blading but it rained all day long. As my district talked about sports I felt like I could not contribute to the conversation. But I took a little time to myself, still in the same room, and heard about trials and read from the scriptures. I do not remember what I read but I felt peaceful afterwards. Then some other elders came early for English club and I got to know other elders better. Sounds dumb when I typed it all out but by the time we left I found my bad mood was gone. 

Thursday: Met with a less active member and had a good lesson. As we talked about Joseph Smith and the gospel of Jesus Christ I got a little emotional. As I stopped to ponder what I would say I thought about all those you lived between Christ's death and Jospeh Smith. I thought about how long they must have been waiting for the Restoration so that we could do their ordinances, for such as baptism, for them and give them the opportunity to have eternal families. Then that night Sister Bullough and I had our companionship prayer but we almost forgot to talk about the miracles of the day. As we discussed the miracles we saw we had a long discussion about our families, what we wanted in our future families, how we met about the mission, etc. We talked, we laughed, we cried, then we went to bed exhausted. 

Friday: We had a great district meeting where we discussed how we can find people to teach. It was a very spiritual district meeting and helped fired us up because we went chalk drawing with the elders in the Perovo Branch. The elders drew while Sister Bullough and I handed our flyers and talked to people. We did not get any contacts but I felt good because I talked to people and tried my best. That night we had a meeting with a less active girl and she is awesome and ending up sharing more with us than we expected. 

Monday we had an interesting lesson. A lady is my branch is getting married and moving to Idaho next month. We went over and shared a spiritual thought with her and her roommate, also a member of the church. We talked about how we can make our homes spiritual centers where we can receive answers to our prayers and prepare us for what Heavenly Father has planned for us. As I talked the roommate kept looking to the side and at one point put her head on the table. I thought to myself, "Am I doing or saying something wrong?" After the lesson she thanked us and told us that she has been working really late the past few weeks. As we were talking she felt like I needed to make family home evening more of a priority. Then she said that I spoke very well for how long I have been here.

Those are the highlights from the past week. We met with mostly less actives because almost all of our investigators could not meet. We have tired not to get discouraged as we talk about our investigators because they are not making as much progress as they could be. And you know what the problem is? Reading the Book of Mormon. While I have been on a mission I have seen the difference the little things make. Don't neglect the little things. They make all the difference in the world and could affect your entire life.