MP3 player? What MP3 player?

To the inquiring minds who want to know:

As much as I would love to have MP3 music to copy onto my MP3 player, it really wouldn't actually be much of a success because I don't actually HAVE an MP3 player. And I probably won't until sometime after I get home from my mission. Although of course I wouldn't be opposed to receiving one at some point...

Oh, and also, please pass along a thank-you to all of those wonderful wonderful people who make many many contributions to my mission fund. I really really really appreciate it. Mom, you can tell Sister Little that I will of course get right on getting myself a new pair of boots (at some point, anyway, but she doesn't need to know that), but she doesn't need to worry about my coat because the one I bought last year is actually very good quality (heat-wise, anyway) and I don't need to replace it. But I am very very grateful for her concern for my well-being and will do my best to spend my money better... or something. Basically what I'm trying to say here is "Thank You." To everybody.

It seems to me that all I ever talk about these days is me getting sick. So. I won't tell you about how I got sick this last week. I'll just tell you that I took a very nice, very long three-day nap. And my companions decided to stay inside for three days as well. Actually, that isn't entirely true. They started to go a little stir-crazy around Thursday-ish so they called one of the members and she agreed to come and sit with me for a couple of hours while they went out contacting. And here I was thinking that I was too old to be babysat. Guess we all live and learn. In any case though, the long nap period has passed and I'm pretty sure I'm back to at least 85%, and that's good enough for me. I'm a little tired of staring at the rugs nailed to the wall (I'll give the Russians this - it does make for cheap insulation) in our bedroom, and we need to be doing more work.

Sister Lewis, Sister Bodell, Sister Read

Yesterday was the one-year (I like hyphens today, okay?) mark of my arrival in Russia, and I'm feeling very deja-vu ish as a result, especially because I'm still in Vlad. I've only ever been able to stay off of Sakhalin for up to 6 weeks at time though, so I'm expecting a transfer back that way in the next couple of days or so. Actually, I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to end up in Khabarovsk at some point, which, because it's the coldest city in the mission in the winter, I suspect means that I'm going to have to buy myself lots more wool socks and a new pair of gloves as well. Incidentally, all of that was not the point I was trying to make when I started this paragraph, but now I can't remember what I WAS going for. So. There you have it. I think I've officially gone insane... or something.

The Rain in Sakhalin Doesn't Stay Mainly In The Plain!

The other day we were on the street contacting and I started talking with a woman who was passing by. She looked like she might be interested in hearing about families, so I started to tell her about the blessings the Gospel brings, and about how families can be together forever. She looked at me kind of funny for a second and then said, "Huh. How nice. I'm in the middle of a divorce, so... probably not on that one. Thanks anyway." Ha. Luckily for me, she was interested in hearing more about the Book of Mormon, and gave us her number before she left. I was expecting something like that to happen to me at some point, and I guess it could've turned out much worse. I just had to laugh anyway though.

Soaked shoes, a missionary's major pain.

Sister Tolmachova, Sister Read, Sister Lewis. The Terrible Threesome.

Anyway, I think that's about all I've got this week. Enjoy yourselves (and the Fall!), stay safe, and remember that I love you.

-Sister Read.

Oh, and what the heck. Have some pictures. There's one of me and Sister Lewis and Sister Bodell (one half of the Office Couple. I love her), one of the rain on Sakhalin (and that was by far not the worst of it), one of what apparently happens to my shoes when they get soaked, and one of my ridiculous companions, who I'm pretty sure were making fun of the way I stand on occasion. Enjoy.