I really was going to send you a picture of me in my hat today, but then I forgot the little computer-connecting device and in any case I feel all yucky today. Which one of you is responsible for sending me Strep Throat? Okay, maybe it isn't Strep, but it still feels nasty. I may even have to go into the nearest clinic and get myself checked out. Ick. Maybe tomorrow.
In any case, the weather has warmed up again and the snow has miraculously decided to leave us alone for a couple of hours. Hooray! I'm going to celebrate by spending the rest of the day inside... ish. They tell us that it's supposed to continue like this until the 4th, which is fine with me because it means I don't have to wear nearly as many layers.
But. I don't write letters just to talk about the weather (although it is such a fascinating topic). Let me tell you about my week instead. For Christmas we got together with the district to eat and watch the Christmas Devotional by the First Presidency. Eat dinner, that is. Not the Christmas Devotional. It's always nice to get a reminder that there really are other members of the church in the world,and that they really do do things like show up for devotionals and Conference and church in general. Sometimes I forget that the church isn't just made up of 30 missionaries and few handfuls of members.
We also had a branch Christmas activity on Friday, complete with skits and music and other expected Christmas-y things. Also fun, and it went off surprisingly well, considering that we'd only planned it a few days before. Hooray for being missionaries!
Anyway, I realize that today's is a particularly lame letter, but I can't think of much else to add that I haven't already said. I love you all, I expect New Year's to go smashingly, and... I dunno. Enjoy yourselves?
-Sister Read.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
On this day... 28? Really 28? Christopher, you're getting old.
Yes. On this day (ish) 28 years ago my dearest elder brother Christopher was born. Hooray! Hippo Birdies brother dearest, hippo birdies.
Speaking of birthdays, apparently my beloved father also has one coming up on Thursday. Hooray! I will of course be celebrating in the proper American-Missionary-in-Russia style by wandering around in the freezing cold and singing Christmas Carols with the other missionaries in my district, and maybe a few members as well, if they decide they can endure the cold (or if they decide WE can). Should be entertaining.
In any case, it's been at least a month (if not two) since I last wrote about being sick, so I thought I'd tell you about my week spent inside this week... except that for once I wasn't the one who got sick. I think the nasty bad air in Vlad and the ridiculously long time spent in the airport (due to "weather conditions", I forgot to mention last week. I'm not entirely sure where the weather conditions actually were, but apparently they were keeping everybody on the ground in the greater Primorskiy area. Go figure.) weren't the greatest combination of things for my poor junior companion. So we sat inside for a few days. She seems to have recovered now though, so we're going to go out and do amazing things this week.
I also forgot to mention last week that my Christmas package arrived right around the time that Sister Jarman did, so I picked it up on the way to Korea. Thank you! This week I figured I should probably open it and make sure that everything inside was still well and whole, so I did and discovered that apparently the Russian Postal System apparently had the same idea. They were even kind enough to unwrap the presents inside for me. Ha. At least they left me the candy. I am, however, extremely grateful for it, and just a little bit surprised that it arrived when it did. I'm not complaining though. I was expecting sometime in February.
Oh and also: Mom, can you check with the Credit Union about the limitations on my debit card? I tried using it in Korea and it got rejected multiple times. I figured out later that I didn't actually need any of the money on it, but it might be something I need to use in the near/distant future. So if you could ask them that would be just wonderful. Pleaseandthankyou.
Anyway, this week being Christmas and all (hooray!), we do get to call home. Or, okay, you get to call me on Christmas for you and Boxing Day for me. Since that happens to be a Sunday though, I can't actually promise that I'll pick up the phone if you call during the middle of church. I will, however, if you call sometime around 9AM ish my time (which works out to be... what? 4PM your time? I don't actually know on that one. In any case, sometime between the hours of 6:30AM and 9:00AM my time is basically what I'm getting at as a good time to call) and I may even talk to you for an hour or so.
But. That's all I have for you this week. It's Christmas, so go and do something nice for somebody else. Then go do something else for another somebody else. And go to the temple. Please? And then, of course, I want stories. I do love you all though, I expect you to have a wonderful week, and please to be enjoying all of the delicious Christmas-y things that you can't get here in Russia.
-Sister Read
Speaking of birthdays, apparently my beloved father also has one coming up on Thursday. Hooray! I will of course be celebrating in the proper American-Missionary-in-Russia style by wandering around in the freezing cold and singing Christmas Carols with the other missionaries in my district, and maybe a few members as well, if they decide they can endure the cold (or if they decide WE can). Should be entertaining.
In any case, it's been at least a month (if not two) since I last wrote about being sick, so I thought I'd tell you about my week spent inside this week... except that for once I wasn't the one who got sick. I think the nasty bad air in Vlad and the ridiculously long time spent in the airport (due to "weather conditions", I forgot to mention last week. I'm not entirely sure where the weather conditions actually were, but apparently they were keeping everybody on the ground in the greater Primorskiy area. Go figure.) weren't the greatest combination of things for my poor junior companion. So we sat inside for a few days. She seems to have recovered now though, so we're going to go out and do amazing things this week.
I also forgot to mention last week that my Christmas package arrived right around the time that Sister Jarman did, so I picked it up on the way to Korea. Thank you! This week I figured I should probably open it and make sure that everything inside was still well and whole, so I did and discovered that apparently the Russian Postal System apparently had the same idea. They were even kind enough to unwrap the presents inside for me. Ha. At least they left me the candy. I am, however, extremely grateful for it, and just a little bit surprised that it arrived when it did. I'm not complaining though. I was expecting sometime in February.
Oh and also: Mom, can you check with the Credit Union about the limitations on my debit card? I tried using it in Korea and it got rejected multiple times. I figured out later that I didn't actually need any of the money on it, but it might be something I need to use in the near/distant future. So if you could ask them that would be just wonderful. Pleaseandthankyou.
Anyway, this week being Christmas and all (hooray!), we do get to call home. Or, okay, you get to call me on Christmas for you and Boxing Day for me. Since that happens to be a Sunday though, I can't actually promise that I'll pick up the phone if you call during the middle of church. I will, however, if you call sometime around 9AM ish my time (which works out to be... what? 4PM your time? I don't actually know on that one. In any case, sometime between the hours of 6:30AM and 9:00AM my time is basically what I'm getting at as a good time to call) and I may even talk to you for an hour or so.
But. That's all I have for you this week. It's Christmas, so go and do something nice for somebody else. Then go do something else for another somebody else. And go to the temple. Please? And then, of course, I want stories. I do love you all though, I expect you to have a wonderful week, and please to be enjoying all of the delicious Christmas-y things that you can't get here in Russia.
-Sister Read
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
I don't even know where to start.
It's been a strange week. We flew to Vlad, I went to Korea, I came back to Vlad, and we spent two days trying to fly out of Vlad. Hooray!
Really. We were supposed to fly back to Khabarovsk at 8:30 AM Saturday morning, but the plane didn't actually take off until 1:30 AM today. I think that's the longest delay I've ever experienced in my entire life. Luckily we didn't spend the entire 41 hours sitting in the airport. Just 24. After that we got permission from President Pratt to come back to Vlad and go to church there before running back off to the airport to wait again. On the plus side though, they were showing Russian soap operas on the airport televisions the entire time we were there, and my vocabulary has definitely improved as a result. Ha. I think I've had a grand total of 6 hours of sleep the last three days, and I'm definitely starting to feel a little slap-happy. This upcoming week should be interesting.
Korea was fun though. We got invited over to dinner with the Southerlands, who are an amazingly generous couple living there in Seoul. They made us delicious food, let us watch the MoTab Christmas devotional with them, and generally made for an entertaining evening all around. They even gave us a ride back to the temple dorms afterwards. Some people are really too generous for words to express. I bought myself several pairs of earrings, of course, and then I got home and realized that I've almost officially run out of room in my little makeshift jewerly box (also known as a cleaned-out mint container) to hold them. Guess it's a good thing this was my last trip to Korea. Ha.
Anyway, I've only got about five more minutes to write, but I honestly can't think of anything else to say. Thank you all for being you, I love you a whole lot, I'm exhausted, and I expect this week to be a good one. For you and for me.
Love,
Sister Read
Really. We were supposed to fly back to Khabarovsk at 8:30 AM Saturday morning, but the plane didn't actually take off until 1:30 AM today. I think that's the longest delay I've ever experienced in my entire life. Luckily we didn't spend the entire 41 hours sitting in the airport. Just 24. After that we got permission from President Pratt to come back to Vlad and go to church there before running back off to the airport to wait again. On the plus side though, they were showing Russian soap operas on the airport televisions the entire time we were there, and my vocabulary has definitely improved as a result. Ha. I think I've had a grand total of 6 hours of sleep the last three days, and I'm definitely starting to feel a little slap-happy. This upcoming week should be interesting.
Korea was fun though. We got invited over to dinner with the Southerlands, who are an amazingly generous couple living there in Seoul. They made us delicious food, let us watch the MoTab Christmas devotional with them, and generally made for an entertaining evening all around. They even gave us a ride back to the temple dorms afterwards. Some people are really too generous for words to express. I bought myself several pairs of earrings, of course, and then I got home and realized that I've almost officially run out of room in my little makeshift jewerly box (also known as a cleaned-out mint container) to hold them. Guess it's a good thing this was my last trip to Korea. Ha.
Anyway, I've only got about five more minutes to write, but I honestly can't think of anything else to say. Thank you all for being you, I love you a whole lot, I'm exhausted, and I expect this week to be a good one. For you and for me.
Love,
Sister Read
Monday, December 6, 2010
Turns out the Mormon world is a very very small one.
So. Remember how last week I told you I was getting a new companion, and that she's from the States? Well, I did. Guess where in the states? And guess what city? Guess what high school she went to? And guess what company her dad works for? Did you guess Oregon, Beaverton, Westview, and Intel? Because if you did, you'd be right. Ha. We really do live in a small, small world. In any case, I'm serving with Sister Jarman, who is very down-to-earth and hilarious, and who speaks Russian probably as well as I did when I came into the country, and who lived in Moscow with her family because apparently her dad is somewhere up in the High-ups as far as Intel-in-Russia is concerned. She and I had a crazy week of running around like chickens with our heads cut off, but it's definitely made for interesting times. I'm not gong to lie though, I'm still laughing about the smallness of this world. How does that sort of thing happen?
I know I promised pictures of my new hat this week, but there never seemed to be enough time to take them and in any case I don't have my camera adapter with me. Maybe I'll try it while I'm in Korea. Otherwise... well... you'll see it eventually. Even if it is only when I come home (which, Cynthia was unkind enough to remind me, apparently happens in less than 80 days. I'm disgusted).
Like I said, we had a ridiculous week. Sister Volkova and I had to leave for the airport last Tuesday at 7:30 AM, which, in comparison to some of the other flights I've had, was actually quite nice. We didn't have to get up any earlier or anything. Once she got off I had to wait around another two hours for Sister Jarman, and then another 1.5 hours for her baggage, for some reason. Then we had to race over to one of the local hospitals ( where the our Branch Visa Registrar was and had been located) in order to fill out necessary forms, and then from there to the very lively and entertaining Foreign Migration Services building where we got to wait around for somebody willing to deal with "the foreigners." Ha. I'd just as soon not infringe on their day, but it is, after all, their law that we have to be registered. But. I digress. Sister Jarman's first official lesson was Institute on Tuesday night, and then we had a very long lesson with a pair of, well, now they're former investigators, but at the time they were current, who knew their Bible very well, and who kept trying to insist that we show them physical evidence of the Book of Mormon. Nothing like starting out your time in the field with a little bit of fire (no, for the record, I don't actually know what that's supposed to mean. It's just there because it sounds... I dunno. Wise? But I'm digressing again).
We also spent some more time on the street (where we got a few marriage proposals each), and generally tried our best not to freeze. Tomorrow I have to fly to Korea to renew my visa, and since Sister Jarman can't play around here by herself, that means she gets to come with me and play around in Vlad for a few days while I'm gone. Nothing like trying to memorize two cities at once.
In any case, that's apparently all the time that I've got today. Pass along a huge congratulations to the Hoffmans please, and of course my love to everybody else. And please, have an enjoyable week.
I love you all,
Sister Read
I know I promised pictures of my new hat this week, but there never seemed to be enough time to take them and in any case I don't have my camera adapter with me. Maybe I'll try it while I'm in Korea. Otherwise... well... you'll see it eventually. Even if it is only when I come home (which, Cynthia was unkind enough to remind me, apparently happens in less than 80 days. I'm disgusted).
Like I said, we had a ridiculous week. Sister Volkova and I had to leave for the airport last Tuesday at 7:30 AM, which, in comparison to some of the other flights I've had, was actually quite nice. We didn't have to get up any earlier or anything. Once she got off I had to wait around another two hours for Sister Jarman, and then another 1.5 hours for her baggage, for some reason. Then we had to race over to one of the local hospitals ( where the our Branch Visa Registrar was and had been located) in order to fill out necessary forms, and then from there to the very lively and entertaining Foreign Migration Services building where we got to wait around for somebody willing to deal with "the foreigners." Ha. I'd just as soon not infringe on their day, but it is, after all, their law that we have to be registered. But. I digress. Sister Jarman's first official lesson was Institute on Tuesday night, and then we had a very long lesson with a pair of, well, now they're former investigators, but at the time they were current, who knew their Bible very well, and who kept trying to insist that we show them physical evidence of the Book of Mormon. Nothing like starting out your time in the field with a little bit of fire (no, for the record, I don't actually know what that's supposed to mean. It's just there because it sounds... I dunno. Wise? But I'm digressing again).
We also spent some more time on the street (where we got a few marriage proposals each), and generally tried our best not to freeze. Tomorrow I have to fly to Korea to renew my visa, and since Sister Jarman can't play around here by herself, that means she gets to come with me and play around in Vlad for a few days while I'm gone. Nothing like trying to memorize two cities at once.
In any case, that's apparently all the time that I've got today. Pass along a huge congratulations to the Hoffmans please, and of course my love to everybody else. And please, have an enjoyable week.
I love you all,
Sister Read
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