Christmas is coming...

Okay okay okay, so it's Monday (obviously) and I've chosen to write you all first, because Saturday was Zone Conference, and that of course meant that President and Sister Pratt were both here for the weekend, and THAT means that they know exactly what's going on with us right now. Actually, now that I think about it, they may still be here, because we had a snowstorm blow in here AND in Vladivostok last night. In any case, it's Monday and PDay, Zone Conference was amazing as usual, and we've finally got time to do some updating for the family. So.

First things first: As of this year I will be spending Christmas in Korea, which is both awesome and lame at the same time. Because there are only 5 of us sisters in the mission, and because Sister Lewis, my MTC companion, also has to be in Korea with me, Sister Ivanova will be flying up to Khabarovsk to hang out with Sister Kavalovskaya (have I mentioned that Cyrillic doesn't look pretty in Romanic? Well it doesn't.), which of course means that the investigators there will get a lot of attention and ours won't get any. Oh well. Also, I hear the temple in Korea will be closed because it's Christmas and all, and that's also a bummer. Guess there's always March.

And that brings me to point number two... ish. Because it doesn't really work out for me to call you on Christmas day here (Silly Russians don't know how to celebrate holidays properly. As far as they're concerned, Christmas is sometime in January), And since Christmas for me isn't even Christmas for you anyway, sometime on the 26th (my time) I'll be calling, but I'm not entirely sure when exactly because we're flying into Vladivostok or Khabarovsk or some other completely foreign place in the morning and then from there on to Sakhalin... assuming of course that we don't get transferred, at any rate. Given the fact that President himself said it would be so, I'm assuming we're here to stay at least another 7 weeks after the 21st (short transfer this time around, just in case you're wondering. Easier to get flights for the new elders coming in, or something). In any case, that probably means I'll need a phone card, but if you send me one you'd better do it quickly because mail here is rather on the slow side. I'll see if I can locate one here in the meantime.

Speaking of things I need to find here, my stupid battery charger, which, okay, I didn't actually purchase, randomly decided to die the other day, and as of this moment I have no way to charge my batteries. So I need to find one that's relatively cheap and that cooperates with the outlets here. See also: Actually works. Welp. Good luck, I suppose. More on that one as things happen. When I do get one though, I promise I'll start sending photos... though that's another one of those dunno how's I'm currently working on, and if dad you would be so kind as to send me a thumb drive, well, that would be just thrilling. Pleaseandthankyou.

So I made another new friend this week. Sister Ivanova and I were tracting in some buildings on the east side of our area (we found open buildings to tract in! Hooray!) around... wednesday ish, and we'd found somebody who, while interested in our message, wasn't actually interested in opening the door to talk to us, for some reason. So we were doing our best to be as loud as possible while still not being loud enough to overly disturb the neighbors when we heard barking on the floor below us. Then about 30 seconds later a black dog of medium-ish size (we found out later that his name is Misha) ran up the stairs and over to us, still barking. Apparently he'd decided I was the least friendly of the two of us, because he circled Sister Ivanova once, then came over to me and promptly bit me on the foot. I looked down at him and I thought to myself, "Really? Really? That's my foot. I need that." It didn't hurt of course, and it didn't even leave a mark on my boot, but still. He bit me! Lame. After that we figured we were done tracting in that building, so we walked as calmly as possible down the stairs and out the building, with Misha following along behind (still barking). Outside we met his owner, who sadly wasn't interested in the gospel, and who also wasn't very interested in the behavior of her furred nuisance, but she also wasn't horribly opposed to seeing us again. So...  We shall see how we feel about that one. And here I thought all those crazy dog stories were just myths they told the greenies to scare them. Huh. Live and learn, I suppose.

Welp. I'm all out of amazing things to say this week, and in any case I've still got to write to President Pratt (although the why is a little beyond me at this point, I will admit. Rules are rules though). I love you all, I expect you all to have an amazing week, and if there's anything you want from Korea, well, you've got until the end of my mission to let me know. See also: Stay safe and happy. Yes, both together.

-Sister Read. Calista-style.