Well, family, its my favorite day of the week again haha. Monday! Probably about tied with Sunday.
I guess maybe you want to know more about Russia? Its crazy here. We live in a smaller "city" - not St. Pete's. Its a nice little place. You can most definitely sense the communism in the past though, looking at all the buildings. Its like they we all pumped out of some machine. They all look pretty similar and rough on the outside and they're... cozy on the inside haha. Some are nicer than others. That's what I'll say on that:) Once again, I will emphasize how excellent the food is. Last week we went to kind of a little restaraunt thing and I had a шеверма I think its called. Don't really know what's in it, but it was tasty! Also, guess what else they have here?? This is particuallarly for David, since he is the one that introduced me to them - doner!! (spelling?) It's this really fantastically tasty turkish food that I fell in love with and haven't had since I was in Germany. I am very excited about this. As far as Russian people are concerned, the stereotypes (for the most part) are no longer stereotypes, but in fact true. They are very rough and tough on the outside - on the street and what not. But they are very loving and caring people when they know you. Also one thing that I was really not expecting was that they absolutely LOVE to talk. I mean once someone is willing to actually stop and talk to us (a whole other battle) they just don't stop! I think in every conversation that I've had with any native here, they talked about 85% of the time. They just get talking and talking and its almost impossible to stop them. So unexpected haha. Also, this stereotype - the one about Russians loving fur - is also confirmed as truth. Everywhere I turn someone is wearing some sort of fur on their hands, or their feet, or their heads and draped around their entire body. It's really quite amusing. I think 4 of 5 people I see have fur somewhere on them (this being almost always true for women and surprisingly true for men). Very interesting.
Our apartment specifically, apparently is fairly spacious according to other missionaries - that's not the word I would have used to describe it, but then again, its the only one I've lived in so far. We have no bathroom sink so we wash our hands in the bathtub which is not in the same room as the toilet. That gets its own little room to itself. Approximately 3 inches from the bathtub is the washing machine (reminds me of Gary's house but apparently thats a common occurence here). We airdry everything too which is kind of an adjustment. Our stove and over both have to be lit with a match - it looks straight out of 70's Russia haha. I haven't taken photos of any of this yet, but I will be sure to do so. It really is kinda funny.
We have a mission kind of requirement to get 10 contacts per day. Seems easy, but you walk the streets here and try to get 10 people to eve say "Hi" back to you, then tell me how easy it is haha. Its fine though -we find ways to make it happen. We met with 2 less actives this week and had good lessons with them. Both came to church yesterday - one who hadn't come in about 8 months! That was pretty exciting! We also got a new investigator this week. He makes number 2. Our other one is jewish and we've apparently stopped meeting with him often cause he's not progressing at all. This new guy though seems very promising! He even said he would be baptized if he found out it was true (I'm sure he will though - seeing is how its the most truest thing on the planet!). The harder part is going to be making sure that we can keep meeting with him. His family lives in Ukraine and he works here. He is going home tomorrow, but should be back next week. Last night we also found another person who could very soon become another investigator. We talked to him for a long time on the street. He seemed to be very sincere and it really seemed like he was looking for something - something that the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ could give him! he gave us his number and told us he'd like to meet again and talk some more. Very exciting.
So while trying to achieve this goal of 10 contacts a day at a minimum - I got yelled at for the first time this week too! Kind of exciting. Not really sure what she said, but it made for a good laugh.
During companionship study this week we talked about finding the "elect". We are to talk to everyone, but only are there to find the few who will "hearken". It was a really cool learning experience for me and boosting since no one here will even stop to say hi. Made me feel better about what I'm doing. Some cool scriptures if you care to look them up : D&C 29:7 ; 33:6 and Moses 7:62. I also had such a poweful experience this week during a different companionship study. As part of the 12 week in-field training program, I was supposed to teach my companion the restoration lesson. When I got to the first vision and began reciting it, the spirit hit me about as powerfully as it ever had before and I knew absolutely 100% that God and Jesus Christ DID appear to Joseph Smith. It was one of the most powerful moments of my life - I could barely finish reciting the verses. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith now, than ever before. I can never forget that feeling that experiecne that I had. So powerful and I am so grateful for it!
Well I think thats all this week. It seriously felt like this week has been 4 months all on its own, but rumor has it that time speeds up eventually. We'll see haha. Thank you all for your emails! I LOVE them! I'm sorry I don't have time to write back to them all, but don't let that discourage you from continuing to write! The more emails I see when I log on for the week, the happier I am haha:) I appreciate them all!!
I'm doing pretty good - a lot better than last week, but still adjusting. I'll get there I'm sure though. LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!
P.S. The Russian is coming along pretty well. I can now get the jist of what most people are saying. I'm feeling ok about it as of now
С любовью
Старейшина Робисон
I guess maybe you want to know more about Russia? Its crazy here. We live in a smaller "city" - not St. Pete's. Its a nice little place. You can most definitely sense the communism in the past though, looking at all the buildings. Its like they we all pumped out of some machine. They all look pretty similar and rough on the outside and they're... cozy on the inside haha. Some are nicer than others. That's what I'll say on that:) Once again, I will emphasize how excellent the food is. Last week we went to kind of a little restaraunt thing and I had a шеверма I think its called. Don't really know what's in it, but it was tasty! Also, guess what else they have here?? This is particuallarly for David, since he is the one that introduced me to them - doner!! (spelling?) It's this really fantastically tasty turkish food that I fell in love with and haven't had since I was in Germany. I am very excited about this. As far as Russian people are concerned, the stereotypes (for the most part) are no longer stereotypes, but in fact true. They are very rough and tough on the outside - on the street and what not. But they are very loving and caring people when they know you. Also one thing that I was really not expecting was that they absolutely LOVE to talk. I mean once someone is willing to actually stop and talk to us (a whole other battle) they just don't stop! I think in every conversation that I've had with any native here, they talked about 85% of the time. They just get talking and talking and its almost impossible to stop them. So unexpected haha. Also, this stereotype - the one about Russians loving fur - is also confirmed as truth. Everywhere I turn someone is wearing some sort of fur on their hands, or their feet, or their heads and draped around their entire body. It's really quite amusing. I think 4 of 5 people I see have fur somewhere on them (this being almost always true for women and surprisingly true for men). Very interesting.
Our apartment specifically, apparently is fairly spacious according to other missionaries - that's not the word I would have used to describe it, but then again, its the only one I've lived in so far. We have no bathroom sink so we wash our hands in the bathtub which is not in the same room as the toilet. That gets its own little room to itself. Approximately 3 inches from the bathtub is the washing machine (reminds me of Gary's house but apparently thats a common occurence here). We airdry everything too which is kind of an adjustment. Our stove and over both have to be lit with a match - it looks straight out of 70's Russia haha. I haven't taken photos of any of this yet, but I will be sure to do so. It really is kinda funny.
We have a mission kind of requirement to get 10 contacts per day. Seems easy, but you walk the streets here and try to get 10 people to eve say "Hi" back to you, then tell me how easy it is haha. Its fine though -we find ways to make it happen. We met with 2 less actives this week and had good lessons with them. Both came to church yesterday - one who hadn't come in about 8 months! That was pretty exciting! We also got a new investigator this week. He makes number 2. Our other one is jewish and we've apparently stopped meeting with him often cause he's not progressing at all. This new guy though seems very promising! He even said he would be baptized if he found out it was true (I'm sure he will though - seeing is how its the most truest thing on the planet!). The harder part is going to be making sure that we can keep meeting with him. His family lives in Ukraine and he works here. He is going home tomorrow, but should be back next week. Last night we also found another person who could very soon become another investigator. We talked to him for a long time on the street. He seemed to be very sincere and it really seemed like he was looking for something - something that the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ could give him! he gave us his number and told us he'd like to meet again and talk some more. Very exciting.
So while trying to achieve this goal of 10 contacts a day at a minimum - I got yelled at for the first time this week too! Kind of exciting. Not really sure what she said, but it made for a good laugh.
During companionship study this week we talked about finding the "elect". We are to talk to everyone, but only are there to find the few who will "hearken". It was a really cool learning experience for me and boosting since no one here will even stop to say hi. Made me feel better about what I'm doing. Some cool scriptures if you care to look them up : D&C 29:7 ; 33:6 and Moses 7:62. I also had such a poweful experience this week during a different companionship study. As part of the 12 week in-field training program, I was supposed to teach my companion the restoration lesson. When I got to the first vision and began reciting it, the spirit hit me about as powerfully as it ever had before and I knew absolutely 100% that God and Jesus Christ DID appear to Joseph Smith. It was one of the most powerful moments of my life - I could barely finish reciting the verses. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith now, than ever before. I can never forget that feeling that experiecne that I had. So powerful and I am so grateful for it!
Well I think thats all this week. It seriously felt like this week has been 4 months all on its own, but rumor has it that time speeds up eventually. We'll see haha. Thank you all for your emails! I LOVE them! I'm sorry I don't have time to write back to them all, but don't let that discourage you from continuing to write! The more emails I see when I log on for the week, the happier I am haha:) I appreciate them all!!
I'm doing pretty good - a lot better than last week, but still adjusting. I'll get there I'm sure though. LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL!!
P.S. The Russian is coming along pretty well. I can now get the jist of what most people are saying. I'm feeling ok about it as of now
С любовью
Старейшина Робисон
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| Living Room in Gatchina |
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| Kitchen in Gatchina |
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