Monday, November 7, 2011

Yeah, it has been a pretty crazy week to say the least! We have had transfers which means a lot of taxis, buses, and trains. I took a bus from Novo to Barnaul on Saturday, it's about a 4 and a half hour ride, so not too bad at all. It feels so weird to be out of the office! We had church services yesterday and there are so many great members in the branch and some of them already have a liking to me in a way because Elder Peterson, my trainer, served there for a very long time and they all love him. The zone leaders have a conference to go to this weekend so they wont be able to make it to the Musical Event this weekend at the branch so i have to take one of their spots and sing a solo! Talk about scary! I'm not sure who wrote the song but its called "My Way", don't quote me on this but I think it might be Frank Sonatra, not sure. So we'll see how that goes. At the moment its snowing and Im just so glad that I have my boots and my coat (it has fur and looks really cool). I told Elder Fitzgerald that if I slip and fall (which both of us almost did about 100 times on our way over here) that i'm just going to lay there and soak up the embarrassment. I miss you all and love you very much!

FROM: Alex Bennett
Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween! Thank you soooo much for the packages, the Reeses are lovely! Oh that is so cool to hear that you saw a picture of President Gushin! He's really the best, love 'em to death. You were right about transfers, they are happening this week so we have been super busy and I am actually going to be in Barnaul with Elder Fitzgerald (we served in the MTC together). I received the letters from the Walkers, it was wonderful, I wish I could as good of a missionary as they all are. They were talking about their vacation and the experiences that they had to share the gospel on it. Thank you for all of the stories and pictures they are awesome! - Loves Elder Bennett

Monday, October 24, 2011 1:51 AM




It's crazy this week with all of the travel :) We had two sisters that had migration trips and a group of elders who were leaving on visa trip this morning. We had 13 people total at our apartment last night! Most came on bus or were serving in the city, but there was a plane that came in at 9:25 last night that President Gushin and I went to and there was a train that was coming in at 12:35 in the morning that Elder Kelly and I took a taxi to get to. To sum it up, it's been a 'lil bit tiny crazy here lately, and it will only get more exciting next week with transfers. To answer some questions... no we do not fill up the washer with the shower hose, but we do have to put the club hose in the toilet when we wash stuff if that counts. Big news, we've had our first snow fall last week, right after I told you it was sunny and warm... It's still pretty nice though, just a little chilly in the mornings and nights. We got some "boots with da fur" on Friday . Thank you for your emails and the pictures they are great! - Love Elder

Re: my boy is just soooo far away, sigh
FROM: Alex Bennett
TO: vicki bennett

Monday, October 17, 2011 1:04 AM
Things are getting a little busier because of Transfers and a new policy that come out from the District Presidency that says that no one is able to travel alone anymore. So it's been like a big brain teaser/puzzle call it what you will, to get people to where they need to be. And there has been a lot more critical thinking and planning involved. Just barely had a cool experience like 20 min. ago in the office, a guy came in and started asking about our church and we talked to him about the Book of Mormon and he said he would read it and he even wanted a few more that he could give to his friends. And a little earlier at the super market buying groceries, a man stopped me and asked why we were here and said he would like to meet with us and learn more. One more quick, last night we had the goal to place a Книга Мормона and we weren't having a ton of luck. It was close to the time that we needed to get back and it looked like we weren't going to give it to anyone that night, but I said that guy right there, one more chance before we went home. He took it! You need to find and email Michael and Lisa Kelly and tell them how great their son is. He is so patient when I have questions and need help and he is just the best. This might be a surprise to you, but there is actually no snow here yet! But like you have said, i need to start getting serious about buying things. Well we gotta get going, I love all of ya, wish you all the best this week! - Love Elder Bennett

I'm alive
Monday, October 10, 2011

Hello, I just want you all know that I am still alive, we actually went with President Gushin (mission driver) to help the sisters buy a new bed and carry it to their apartment and some other business, so our day was kind of busy and we didn't really have a chance to write earlier, life of an officenick. I'm really grateful for all of your letters that you wrote to me and for your love. Hopefully I will be allowed some time that I can write a little more and fill you in on what's going on. Paka for now! - Love Elder Bennett

family night

So the other day we were teaching English Club and our topic was on Heroes. I asked everybody to come up with a super power, symbol, how they became one, etc. and one person came up with the best super hero name ever.... Suga Man! We asked him what that meant and he told us that the fats in his body could be turned into carbohydrates and he could eat all the chocolate he wanted and never get fat, sounds like a pretty good power to me! Im pretty lucky, Elder Kelly is pretty dang good at cooking so we've been able to make some tasty meals. I'll give you a quick run-down off the week. We had Leadership Training which was great, President Gibbons is amazing and has such a love and amazing insight for this mission. I love 'em to death, he is sooo cool! We haven't got to see conference yet, but it should be in about 2 weeks or so that we'll be able to. I'm really excited to see it! I agree with ya that it seems just like yesterday that we were watching it in April, it's crazy how time is! We had a Super Saturday here at the branch that we translated some trivia questions for a game, it was embarrassing to see that the younger kids knew way more about the bible than I did! This week was a special one because President Neuenschwander, current Patriarch and was president over the Europe East area, was in Novosibirsk so he was able to come to Leadership Training and the Fireside on Sunday. He is such an amazing man and is one of the men who primarily brought the Gospel into Novosibirsk. Now that the Office Elders have an area, we have been working on mapping out the area and finding members who we can work with, so it's been super busy! Thank you all for your love and your emails, I have loved reading them! Thank you so much for the pictures that you sent of the marathon and the Tuachan ones. Until next time!

Apocolyptic Breakfast 4
September 25, 2011 11:39 PM

Well, thought it was the end of the world this morning when I woke up because all of the windows were super foggy and white, its gettin' colda! One of the pics that I sent is a shopka that Elder Peterson bought right before he left Tomsk, it looks like your wearing a bear on your head :) That's good to hear that you got the packages from Finland, the lady that helped me there was soooo nice and made sure that everything was good to go to America. I got an email from Pat Dagley letting me know about Clint and his report that he gave in good 'ol Newton, it you talk to them, let him know that I say "Priviet" from his "Same Lushe Dryg" (really good friend). To answer your question though, yes, everything went ok with Finland travel, I can really testify that Heavenly Father really watches over his missionaries and makes sure that they get on the right buses, planes, etc. There is a picture that I attached and it looks like I am sad, that's the day that I left Tomsk. Things are a prrrreetttyyy different flavor here in Novo. Its like taking Newton and comparing it to Salt Lake or Provo. The people here in the office are sooooo awesome though. My companion Elder Kelly is so witty and hilarious, always on his toes to come up with a funny comment. The Webbs (The office couple) are so kind and great to work with. They are new too, the McCauleys left last week so its been a big learning experience for all of us. Lately I've been working on trying to bring in everyone for Leadership conference this week, but everything has been working smoothly and I love it that President has combined the two office elders jobs that they have to do, so we are able to work on things together which is great. We also have an area and are participating in a lot of normal missionary work. We were working with an investigator named Nakita who speaks really good English and was pretty close to setting a baptismal date, but he just wont commit to one so we have him on the back burner for now, but we are hoping that he will want to continue meeting with us eventually. The Huffakers are a senior couple in Novosibirsk, they are amazing! The missionaries, members, and investigators go to their place every week for family night, which is always a great time. Every P-day we start off by grocery shopping with the Office Couple, Senior Couple, and President Gushin, he is my favorite Russian that I have ever met in my life! He is the mission driver and also 2nd counselor in the Mission Presidency. To describe him is easy, he looks exactly spot-on Mario in (looks and height) and he has the best laugh in the world, ohhhh he's so cool. I know that I am sort of jumping all over the place in my thoughts right now, sorry :) We went on a bike ride with all the missionaries last P-day, it was fun. Had dinner at the Webbs yesterday after church, roast beef, potatoes, salad, cookies, pudding, and Elder Kelly and I brought over Zucchini bread which was so delcious and was in the shape of a volcano because we didn't have a smaller pan so we re-named it Volkini Bread.... cheezy i know... but it tasted really good. After that we went to a fireside and saw a slideshow from a missionary who just got home and they asked a couple of people to bear their testimonies from the little audience of people and I was one of them. It was cool because I wasn't even nervous when she asked, as a missionary you just have to have faith and just go and do it. It turned out good, I testified that Heavenly Father will always help us and how I have seen His help every day. It can be a little frustrating when you can't speak the language very good, but the people understand you. The spirit is the common language that everybody speaks. Well I better get going, we need to do some apartment cleaning and some other jobs today, so we'll talk to ya next week! - Love Elder Bennett

Finland

Helsinki Finland

Helsinki Finland temple

Helsinki Finland Temple

I did get all of those postcards, thank you very much, they are beautiful. I also sent you some things as well.... Since it was your birthday and all :) I sent two packages for you, one of them (the heavier one) is going to be coming a little later (probably Sept. 28th or so) because it would have been a ton of money to sent that one by priority ( But that will be even more fun that you have something to look forward to the next couple of days :) Hope you had a wonderful day and that your birthday was as magical as Finnish chocolate. Finland was amazing!!! The crazy thing about going there is that everyone speaks English! Well, for the most part, which made it a little easier to find out where we needed to be and where to go. We were so lucky though, after we got our passports taken care of at the temple, which was closed for cleaning this time around, :( We took a bus to "Leppavara" Station and when we got off, there was a guy that stopped us and told us that we looked like we were very confused and let us know that he served his mission in Finland and was living there for work and school, oh and his wife was Finnish too. Oh how grateful we were for that! His name was Brother Marriott and he was sooo helpful and cool. He helped us get to the Stadion Hostel where we were staying and introduced us to Finnish Yogurt which is probably one of the best creations ever made! I don't know what we would have done without him! I'm pretty sure that Dr. Gunnell served there didn't he? In short, Finland was everything I've ever dreamed of, and it was great because on the flights back, i was able to have a long conversation with some Russians and it was great to get to meet them. Things are pretty crazy right now with the new responsibility of Office Elder to say the least. Busy, busy, busy, is all I can say. The most busy I have ever been in my whole life! Everything is very new to me still and I am doing my best to get adjusted, I don't know, crazy is the only word I can come up with right now :) How is the family though?! Sounds like Mike is still Mike changing his bike and all, hope he's loving his high school experience. Well I am very sorry for sending this very short message but that's about all I have time for today. Thank you for your prayers and your support, have a great week!

Monday, September 12, 2011 2:14
Hello family! I absolutely lovedddd the Reeses package that you sent and the inflatable pillow and M&M's, thank you, thank you, It was way cool to be in the office at that moment, you get things a lot sooner than if you were out anywhere else :) Oh wait, me in the office... what!.. I have a lot of news for you today, I will start with the biggest tid bit of info.... I am now an Office Elder! It was a surprise to me too! My Tomsk zone and I were on a bike ride last P-day and our phone rang. Elder Peterson and I thought it was to check how his leg was doing but it was actually to let me know that I was coming in to the office and that I was going to be leaving Tomsk a little earlier than the actual transfer date to receive some training here. It was funny, he asked me if I was on the bike still so I wouldn't fall off when he told me the news that he had. So yeah, that's where I have been since Thursday afternoon. Novosibirsk is huge and it's a totally different scene than Tomsk is. My new companion is Elder Kelly, he's great. He's from Orem and his dad was a Mission president over the Moscow mission about a decade or so ago. He is very funny and we watched a lot of the same t.v. shows and movies that I did. He is hilarious and very witty, i'm really lucky to be with him. We have been in a companionship of 3 because Elder Capps was Elder Kelly's companion before me and E. Capps has been showing me the ropes. They're both so awesome and I'm so grateful for my opportunity to work with them. Also, huge news, I am heading on Visa Trip tomorrow morning and I am the travel leader. It will be fun to go to the land of elvish language and delicious Finnish chocolate. Oh and by the way, I am going to try to send something from Finland through the Pochta there. It is so crazy, in a few minutes we are going to Carl's Jr..... let me repeat... CARL'S JR.!!!! Ahhhhhh, I'm soooo excited! That's the bonus to living in a big city. :) Random thought... That is crazy that Clint is home!!! I remember the day that I went with Colton to say good-bye to him. Let him know I say hello and I'm so proud of him. Let the kids know that I love them and that their pictures that they sent to me are fantastic. I told Olga that you were grateful and I showed her the email that you sent me. She said that it was very cool that you did that and she was thankful for you. Her daughter Sonya called me at the time that I was at the Aftovoksal to head to Novosibirsk to tell me good-bye. She sounded really sad and it really brought a tear to my eye and reminded me of the kids and how hard it was to tell them goodbye when I left. Hope Mike is doing great in school, it sounds like he's having fun with his small business and dropping phones in pools.. This is for him, on our way back from the branch building on Sunday, there was a group of Indian Flute players from Bolivia and they were selling cds. It reminded me of the time that we were in that mall and Mike bought that dang ocarina that he never played :) Just kidding. I guarantee that my email next time will be much better and longer hopefully. I love you all sooooo very much! Have a wonderful week won'tcha! - With tons of love. Elder Bennett

Curse the smell of garlic

In my time here, i have dealt with more cloves of garlic than people! Just kidding, way not true. But anyway, we helped a member the other day (and I'm also talking about other times we have helped other members with food) prepare some food and somehow I am always the one that has my fingers smell like garlic for days! :) I heard that to get rid of this pungent scent you wash your hands with a metal spoon, is this true?! I dunno maybe i'm just gullible and falling for another joke/prank like at the "fireside" yesterday. We all played "do you love your neighbor" after the spiritual thought and eating some wafflely and drinking some apple sok (juice). If any of you are familiar with this game, the person in the middle comes up to you and asks whether you love your neighbors, like the name implies, if no is the answer, then the person in the middle and the two on the sides scramble for a seat. If the answer is yes, you have do say "yeah, except those who....." and whatever you want after that. As you know, i'm still very young on the mission and dont speak or understand Russian perfect, so people can have fun with that. For example, the person in the middle came up to Elder Peterson and asked him the question and he said "i love all my neighbors except for those.. who put on lipstick today" I didn't know what the word for that was yet, so i kinda had rely on if a ton of people were moving or not and just follow the group, but he told me to hurry and find a seat, and when i stood up and changed seats everybody was laughing and then i found out what that meant and was like "Ha, ha, Ok, Ok, ponyatna..... (i understand) i don't know, it was just funny and some of the members tried to do the same thing and trick me, it was fun :) Great news.... WE HAVE HOT WATER AGAIN!!! Oh, it was the happiest day of my life! School started on the first of September, so we saw every girl and boy dressed up in the city. The boys are all in nice suits and the girls wear dresses and cute bonetchkas (things in their hair). There was a picnic/back to school activity for a few of the youth this last week, we all went to that and there was some food and a little scripture scavenger hunt of sorts around the branch building, it was fun. . Way more important and way cooler things happened this week though. There was a baptism for a woman that the sisters have been working with. The sisters asked me to conduct, very scary and my first time conducting something like this in Russian, but I made it through.... The other day we were going to help a member with carrying some things before we went to sports night. By the bus stop, we saw a boy about 13 years old about to smoke a cigarette. Elder P. asked him why he smokes and told him and it really isn't a cool thing to do and we went on our way. Cool part of the story coming up, we ended up in the same spot that day and saw the cigarette that he had (we recognized it because it had like a blueish color to it) not used and it was laying on the ground. How awesome it that?! Also, we were going through the area book and found a woman who we thought was ready to be taught again. We have had three meetings wth her and we set a baptismal date with her yesterday and she seems excited, so we are very happy with that. Today, we had a meeting with a contact that we met on the street. We saw him yesterday on our way to church and asked him if he could meet and he said he would the next day. He told the truth! It was awesome and he received it really well and he says that all that we taught him made sense. And he even agreed to pray at the end of the meeting after we taught him how, he did an amazing job, and he wants to meet with us tomorrow. I am so grateful for these miracles and blessings that we are receiving. Prayer and faith are so powerful. I'm so very thankful for all of your support and email. I send my love and a few pictures, enjoy them :) Love Elder Bennett

Look out Martha Stewart.........I was pretty proud with the meal that I made for us yesterday, I know it might not be the 1st pick in the Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray "Make a Delicious Dish" contest, but it was pretty tasty. It just looked good on a plate, i grilled up some chicken, there were mashed potatoes (instant though) :), grilled carrots, cherry tomatoes, and finished it off with some snickerdoodles. Well enough about yesterdays ужин (dinner), what about all of you. It sounds like this hurricane is rockin' the east coast, that's pretty scary stuff. I love the pictures of the kids, ahhhhh they're all so cute in their school and ballerina clothes. Give them all a big hug from me. Also, that's great to hear that Mike has all A's in school, way to go bro, but the whole Rugby thing is kinda sketch.... :) Mike's a Tank though, I think he'll do great, but my friends who played Rugby in high school always came from the games with their eyebrows split open or broken noses, etc. just sayin'... Tell TIM HAPPY BIRTHDAY! from his брат in Siberia.... Living away from home, very very far away from home, has made me really, really appreciate soooo many more things. I would like to give a shout out to you both,, being the head of a home (apartment in this case) is a ton of responsibility and it really teaches you a lot. Speaking of doing things for other people. Saturday was a HUGE day for service. We all met at the Aftovoksal (Rushlish again, Train/Bus station) early in the morning and took a train to this member's dacha (summer home) and dug some potatoes. There were buckets and buckets and buckets of potatoes, there was so much! And you all know how much I love them. I will send a picture of them next time. After that we took a bus back into the main city and helped a companionship chop wood at an investigators home. We all participated in giving a lesson to her after and it was great, she agreed to read from the Book of Mormon. We headed to our weekly sports night location to play some frisbee with members, something unfortunate happened. We were playing ultimate frisbee like i said, and my companion was running for a catch and really pulled his hamstring really bad. He went limping of the field and layed on the cement and looked like he was in a ton of pain. We all went over and Elder Erickson and I gave him a blessing. It was an experience that strengthened my testimony of the priesthood and how we always need to be prepared to give one at any moment. We went and got some crutches today before email and he says that he thinks it is healing alright so that's good and he finishes his mission in like 3 weeks so he'll get professional help soon if he needs additional help. Yesterday on the way to the branch, the main path is trees on both sides and its somewhat closed off from a ton of people, there was a guy getting held by two others and punched in the face. They were beating him up and he asked us for help, but we just had you turn off a little bit and keep walking. Dang, :( it's way hard to just walk away from stuff like that and not help, but we have to. There were two meetings this past week that were awesome (well there were obviously more that were awesome but i'm just going to talk about these for a sec.) Lyosha had a little short church related movie that he wanted to show us. It was called "Most" or bridge in Russian, and you've probably heard it, but its the one where this father is the conductor person in charge of switching the the train tracks and his son wanted to come help him so he was on the tracks and a train is coming and the father has to choose whether to save his son or the whole train of people. It is representative of Heavenly Father's sacrifice of his son to save all of us. It was just a power-house movie/story that really expresses how painful of a choice is must have been, the spirit was way strong and prosta (simply) just a great lesson. The other was family night at Chamaras. I used that glove thing to teach about the Holy Ghost and how it testifies of all of those stick on things. Misha was my volunteer and everyone thought it was cool, thanks for sending that. Also I played bananagrams for the first time last P-day, its an awesome game! English Club topics this week: Fantasy & Fiction and The Hollister, California beach life. Both went really well and everybody liked 'em. Oh the police came to our door and wanted us to say that we saw something that we didn't, there was an older man on the street that talked to us about the school system and airplanes for about 10-15 mins., and we had exchanges, i was with Elder Sodja for a day. We also had a Skype conference thing with the President and it was really cool. He is so awesome! I just love him, he taught us a ton of great things and really got us pumped up for missionary work.
Well, time is running out so i better finish this pretty soon. I love you all, thanks for all of your support, it has been a tremendous help. Hope everyone has a great week! Talk to strangers, i know they tell you not to :), but do, share the gospel, never be afraid to share your testimonies.
It's starting to get pretty chilly some days! So pray that i'll be able to survive this Siberian climate! Love Elder Bennett :) :) :)

Instant Potatoes are great

Made some instant potatoes this week in 10 seconds flat, and they weren't too bad either... Sounds like a ton is going on in the good 'ol USA for all of you. President and sister Gibbons arrived a day before the "Meet the President" meeting, so they were able to be at the branch building for English Club. They are both awesome and I'm sooo grateful for the opportunity to get to work with both of them. He is really awesome and has accomplished a ton in his life. And, he's trying to learn and perfect his Russian! I think its so cool how dedicated he is to learning the language. He's a really great example and hearing his testimony and background of his life was great....,There is this older grandma lady that will blow kisses at the missionaries that she sees on the street and will call one of them "Michael Jackson". Everything always happens after email time! Last week right after we were walking to the bus and my companion turns to me and says "Thats the Michael Jackson lady" and i was like ok, what does that mean, and i soon found out. She stopped us and called me Michael Jackson and was so excited and did a little dance. Hahaha is was the funniest thing ever, and get this, we ran into her again on our way to the branch building later that day, twice in one day, and at totally different parts of the city, talk about lucky. :) Going to get blini after email has been a little tradition for all of us, i was eating mine and a huge flock of little tiny super-smart birds came and tried to kill me for the food. I'll never forget the fire that was in their eyes....... no, it wasn't too bad, but it was one of those "ahhhh a ton of birds trying to eat me" moments, i'm sure that everybody has those all the time, right?! We still do not have hot water, we were supposed to have it like a week ago, so we are kinda wondering when we will have a hot shower again, but we'll see. Oh it was so cool. Sister Olga (mom of Sonya and Misha) also in the picture i sent, they all went to Ukraine to see her sister and she went to church there. She asked the missionaries there if they knew me and Elder Graham was in that branch! So that was cool to hear that he still remembers me, we were really good friends in the MTC. Also, Elder Garrett, my best friend from the MTC, i got a letter from him and Tanner. It was great to hear from them! Let Tanner know that his letter was hilarious and that i wish him the best of luck in the MTC and Porgutal, he'll love it.. Interesting story, it was rainy on Saturday so sports night was held in the branch building. When we got there, Sasha( a guy who is homeless) was sitting in a chair by the door. There were a few members in the branch having an activity so he wasn't the only one in there so that was good, but he just wouldn't leave. It's a hard time to make someone in those circumstances leave, but we had to. He was even given milk and a brownie from the members and he was in there for quite a while, but eventually we had to really be foward with him and tell him he needed to go. it was just safer to get him outside. After he left, we were able to go upstairs and have sports night which consisted of me playing chess with Sonya, Ping pong with Dong's (Dong is like the coolest Chinese college aged kid ever, we all love him, he's not a member but he comes to all of the activities and sacrament meetings, he's going to school here) and playing other games with the other missionaries.. Last night during planning, there were huge bangs and flashes of light, we thought someone was getting shot up right outside the building, but it turned out to be huge fireworks, it was pretty cool but you could hear all the bobushkas yelling at the kids after. Well, thanks so much for all of the support and love! Hope you all have a wonderful week, this is all for now! - Love Elder Bennett

SQUIRREL!

FROM:
Alex Bennett
TO: ◦ vicki bennett

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:16 PM




If you can all remember the movie "UP" there's that dog that goes crazy whenever he sees a squirrel. I saw like 10000 the other day at this veteran memorial/ park place. We were waiting at the bus stop for михайл's wife to take a group of us to go do some service (filling up the trenches that we dug). We also did some more wood chopping for some service this week as well. Good contacting week, just yesterday, i stopped a man and simply said to him, "Hey we are missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, would you like to hear more about our church." And he said, "Well, yeah, let me give you my number so you can write it down." It was so cool! Another awesome contact that we had was last P-day after Branch Council. There was a college-age looking man on the street and I asked him if he would be interested in coming to our Free English club that we have, and he responded with a very proper English/British accent "Well, hello gentleman, as a matter of fact, the English language happens to be my, well, cup of tea you could say.." and he said more, but we were just shocked at how well he spoke English. I called him a day or two later and he said he would like to meet with us on Sunday. New investigator! So we met and talked about the message of the Restoration, he knew some parts of it and it was an awesome meeting. We gave him a Book of Mormon and a книга мормона so he could read them back and forth if he wanted to in order to help him with learning English. At first he looked like he wasn't going to take them, but he was flipping through the pages and saw that I wrote my testimony on one of the first pages and he was like, "Ohhh, ahh, well thank you, I'll take them, thanks". We had another meeting with an investigator and we had a member present with us. The meeting went great, we emphasized the importance of having Faith in Christ and then acting on that faith. Had family night at Olga's, if you got the pictures, i'm with her and her two kids in the pic. They are awesome! I love em to death. The kids are hilarious and she is one of the best members of the church that i have ever met. We made little sugar-dough things that were really tasty and a potato and vegetable dish. We had a spiritual thought and played some UNO together, really fun night. English club has been going great, for yesterdays lesson plan i had the idea of a plane crash stranded on an abandoned island scenario where Elder Peterson and I only had one spot left on our life-boat and everyone had to randomly choose a sticky note that had the name of an item that they had to try and persuade us was the best to bring such as first aid kit, flashlight, pocket knife, telescope, sunglasses and hat, etc. and that person was saved. There were some pretty good answers and it was fun to see everyone really involved in it. One of the weeks we talked about sports, excercise, etc. and I did the crane into handstand pose, a few people clapped and were really impressed. To sum it up, things are fantastic, the weather is starting to get a little colder and it rains sometimes, but its not too bad. Mike, thanks for the letter that you sent. It sounds like you had a really good time at trek and a good summer. I can't believe you are starting school again! Crazy, this is the big leagues now, high school, it will be a ton of fun. A very important thing that you have to do is make sure that you have good friends though, dont do anything stupid! If you could let Justin H. know thanks for helping me out with the American Express and always being so helpful and for his email. Also let Erika know that i'm thankful for her email too. Hope you got the pics, that's why the letter is a little shorter than usual, but now that i know how to do it faster, it will be better for next week. I love you all so much! Thank you for the support, you don't know how much it helps me, it is really a strength to me and keeps me going. Thank you to all, and to all a good night! Talk to ya next week! - Love Elder Bennett

Subject:
Baby Pigeons.....
From:
Alex Bennett (abennett@myldsmail.net)
To:
vicki84327@yahoo.com;
Cc:

Bcc:

Date:
Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:51:13

Has anyone ever seen a baby pigeon?! There are soooo many pigeons here and i have no idea of their origin or where they come from?! Do they just fall out of the sky as adults or... i have no idea, but anywho... (sounds like something that would be argued on Seinfeld or something) How is everyone?! Let John know that I'm proud of him for becoming Hussain Bolt, that's cool that he's gonna be in a marathon. He can never beat me in a race on my home-court track aka the Newton Dam Run though... :) He told me that you went in a ride in the GTI and that you probably didn't like it, ahhh i remember those fun times in the VW, the bus drivers here drive a little crazier though.. So it's sorta like de ja vu to riding with him :) Jk. You mentioned Scipio, ughh that was the worst part of the ride to St. G from what I can remember.. Oh, the other day we went and did some service for михайл. We helped him dig a trench behind his house. He's got a cool trench system thing going and it was great to be able to go and help him out. To thank us, he gave us some treats. Also they gave us carrots and squash. I grilled some of it up yesterday and we had an awesome lunch. It reminded me of when you would grill up the squash and how delicious it was, mine wasn't as tasty, but it held it's own. Speaking of vegetables, we were contacting on Sunday, and these babushka (grandmas) were trying to get us to buy some potatoes. We told them that it's the Sabbath and that we aren't able to buy things on Sunday because its a commandment. The one kept on trying to sell them saying they wouldn't be as good the next day, but the one sitting next to her was trying to get to her stop because she really respected our decision. Elder Peterson said its the first time that he's seen a babushka respect him for that, so it was pretty cool. Last P-day we went to a little Cafe place and ate. I had a pork pie thing and some blini, it was delicious!! The cafe was called Klauses. I also bought a ToMb soccer team jersey, it looks way cool and it fits just great! Fun fact: I have had 3 mission presidents in less than 2 transfers, not too many people are able to say that. President Gibbons is now the mission president and we get to meet him in a week or so. Elder Davis came last week, he's an awesome Elder. For the English Club story yesterday, he started out with saying that he came from a really small town where the people would make gifts for each other. He then went on to how he was bigger than everyone else and that his bed was too small for him, and so he decided to leave and go find his real father in New york, etc. etc. He told it much better than I just attempted to, but we were able to tell that it was the plot from "Elf" the Christmas movie with Will Ferrell. It was pretty clever how he told it like it was him though, it was really funny. Really good news, we have 2 new investigators this week and are expecting a 3rd! Finding new people to teach has been a struggle right now for all of us so we've done a lot of street contacting. There was a man on the street that I had a really strong impression to talk to. He said that he would be interested in strengthening his faith in Jesus Christ, and he let us set up a meeting with him! It was so awesome, his name is сергей and we have this meeting with him a little later today. We also had a 1st meeting with влад the other day where we talked about The Plan of Salvation. He seemed to receive it really well and he agreed to come to church and meet with us again. He's a really smart kid and is getting excited about the gospel. Things are really looking up! I really have a testimony of the power of prayer. Our Heavenly Father is always there ready to listen to us and he wants to help us and give us strength. There are a lot of people here that recite and read prayers. But we know that God is our literal father and he wants to hear about our lives and have our prayers be personal. If you went to your dad everyday and told him the same thing over and over, how would he know how to help or how things are? Prayers are meant to be personal and sincere, not citations. Our prayers also lead to action. For example, we have asked for help to find and teach new investigators. This means that we can't keep are heads down on the street and not talk to anyone and expect to receive these blessings. We have to do our part. It's so awesome to see how much the Lord and Heavenly Father are willing to give if we just ask........... I’m looking for a card reader today when we have some free time so hopefully I’ll be able to get some pics on by next email. Don't worry I’ve taken a ton of good ones. Well anywho, have a wonderful week, remind people that they can send me emails and I’ll just take pics of them so i can read them. I love you all! Enjoy the nice summer heat! - Love Elder Bennett :) :) :)

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Alex Bennett
To: vicki bennett
Sent: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 10:24 PM
Subject: Re: forgot


it went really good. At the beginning I said (but in Russian) "Ok i have a favor i need to ask of all of you... even if you don't understand any of my Russian for the rest of the time that I give this talk, just tell President and Sister Rolfe that i did a good job anyway..." Everybody in the congregation was laughing pretty hard, and it's funny because the APs were there and they translate all of he meetings for President and his wife so they understood it and got a good laugh as well.


On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 11:03 AM, vicki bennett wrote:




how did your talk go? HUG

Message flagged
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 11:18 PM
Message body


The sequel to "Snakes on a Plane"... "River in a Bus".... Let me explain.. It was Elder Anderson's Birthday last week, so after emailing we went as a zone to get some ice-cream and go on a hike. Both were great and it was really fun to get the woodsy feel of Russia. The end of the hike brought us to a lake and it was just a good time. But the weather started getting sketchy so were started to head back really fast. Elder Peterson and I had a meeting with a member that we were going to go to, so we caught a bus. We were really lucky to get on it when we did. The minute after we were on the bus there was like a flash flood and the whole street was just a river. Cars were stuck, it was up to peoples waists, and it was so high that it was even coming in the bus a little bit. And I'm so mad because my camera was low on charge so it died and I didn't get a picture or video of it! I'll have to get some from Elder P. But it happens a lot here, so maybe I'll get some good footage some other time. Other crazy news, I can't believe it's already time for transfers! Time is very tricky. What was the MTC! Really, it seems like I never even went, but it also seems like it was just yesterday,I don't know, time just doesn't exist for the two years on your mission. We have a new greenie coming into our area from the MTC and one missionary just coming from a different area of the mission. Saturday was great! I experienced my first round of Training and met the mission president and got to see the APs again. Elder Eborn says that you and his mom talk to each other and we got a picture together that I think he's going to send in his email, so look for that. President Rolfe and his wife are awesome! We all learned a ton from them and just to sum it all up, it was really helpful. It will be interesting though because Gibbons is going to be the President soon. So, we'll all have to go through the meeting our mission president process again and more training. Oh yeah, they brought my packages, pictures, and mail with them... THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! Oh it was great to be able to get something! Nothing to cheer ya up like some Reeses Pieces (and a ton of other candy) and some letters and pics from the fam. Tell Justin I love 'em, those chapters from that book are great and so are his letters. I wish I could sit and chat with him, it sounds like a lot is happening at his work and with the kids, oh i miss 'em! Let Justin Hutchinson know that I really appreciate the letters that he sent me and his support it's really helped me out and let him know.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM RUSSIA! Also, we might go out and each of us get a jersey today so if he sees a withdrawl that is why. And tell John Mayhew I wanna hear how he's doing too. I've started taking pictures of the emails i get so i can just read them from the camera when we have a second. What other things are happening in the world? That stuff is always really interesting, so don't forget to throw in a couple current events or things like that in your emails :) Ok, so back to the week. We had our last hot shower this morning. The hot water will be turned off for 2 weeks :( The soccer match was really cool, the best part was close to the end of the game. There was an ambulance truck that was driving at a pretty slow speed on the outside of the field and the driver totally wasn't paying attention and drove into a gap thing about 3 feet or so deep. The passenger got out of the truck, looked at the situation, grabbed his clipboard, and put his head down and just walked away. The driver wouldn't even get out of the truck he was so embarrased. I don't know you just would have had to been there i guess, but it was pretty funny because everybody sort of saw it coming except for the driver. :) When we got back to the apartment, there was a fire truck and a ton of smoke in the air, I was really nervous i thought the place burnt down, but no, it was just the potato cellar on the other side of our little driveway thing. We had apartment checks, the office couple was really impressed at how clean it was. After English club yesterday, I was talking to a college age kid that said he needed a good book to read. I gave him a Knega Mormona and explained that it would be really good practice. He wants to learn more English so I'll see if i can get a hold on one in English so he could translate back and forth. He just couldn't wrap his mind around why we come on missions for two years and dont get paid for it. So he's interested and maybe there's some potential we'll have to see.
Well thanks for everything, the care package i got was such a booster for me, thanks! I love you all soooooooooo much!!!!!!!! I'm running out of time, so i guess this is good bye until next time! - Love Elder Bennett

Pentecostal Pinecones

August 15th!!! that it way early to start school! Last Friday we had splits with the Zone leaders, so I was with Elder Erickson. Right after "District" (our zone) meeting, we started the split and we had to be to a meeting with an investigator. She lived sort of far away so we took a van-bus thing called a "Marshootki" out to where she lives. We were in our work clothes because from what we heard, she needed some help with her potato farm and we were going to do some service. When we arrived, we gave her a call and she met us at the bus stop & lead us to her house. She has a huge family and a lot of grandkids. A huge meal was prepared on the table for us and it turned out that she didn't need help with the potatoes. So, we all ate the chicken strip things, potatoes, and ice cream dessert together. We showed pictures of our family and talked about their beliefs. They were Pentecostal and they knew the Bible like the back of their hands. So we had a discussion about Christ, the role of the Bible, and prophets. Everyone there was so nice and considerate. On our way out she gave us a whole bag of pinecones (we had no idea what we were supposed to do with them, thus the title of this email..) and some of the best jam that i've probably ever tasted. We had another meeting that day at a less actives house. It was on this months edition of the Liahona. It was funny because when we were going to leave, their dog, that was HUGE like lion size :) , was passed out by the door so we were trapped. He dragged it across the floor so we could get out and it was just a big fart that wouldn't move while he was sliding it around, it reminded me of moose's lazy days. Other news, I have a talk this sunday on actions of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, something along those lines. President Rolfe, sister Rolfe, the APs, and the office couple are coming to Tomsk on Saturday to do training, interviews, and to go to culture night with us which is.... a Futbol Game! I'm pretty excited, it will be awesome to see a Russian soccer game. Last Thursday we had an English Club party. We were in charge of cookies, we had to make A LOT, I think what we ended up with in the end was 114 or something like that, so a couple batches of snicker doodles and oatmeal ones. I was so proud, there were 2 college-age girls that even asked for the recipe, everyone loved them! I've still got it! :) Oh a story i just remembered about cookies... So we made some one day to take to Lyosha's place for family night. We had a good amount so we could have eaten a couple if we were hungry, so I was going to eat one and Elder Peterson said, "No, you can't eat 'em or there won't be enough for the thing tonight" so I resisted the temptation and started brushing me teeth so we could head out soon. Right as the toothpaste touched my tooth, Elder Peterson ran over to the cookie pot and ate 2!!!! I almost died! He was laughing so hard because he knows how much I love little snacks and treats to munch on and because I literally fell on the floor with a broken heart because I was going to have to wait to eat one until later. Maybe you just had to be there, but it was a big deal, and pretty funny. I had the story at English club last night, I told the one about how we were jumping over the tennis nets that one day and Mike pulled up the net and I pretended to be dead when Adam and his first-aid experienced self came to check me and I put my eyes in the back of my head and all the girls screamed. I of course explained and told it much better than that, but everyone loved it and thought it was really funny. You know how I am with a story :) Oh one bit of bad news, I dunno it's not that big of a deal, but there was a sign on the entrance of our apartment that said that our hot water would be turned off for 2 weeks, so that will be a fun... Anywho, thanks for everything, I'm sorry about the whole picture who-haw, I will figure out some way to get pictures to you, I'm sorry i cant give you a date that you'll get them or when I'll be able to send them, but I will find a way. Love you all, thank you sooo much for the support, it helps me out so much. Have a great week! -Love your little Russian :) -Elder Bennett

Tomsk is a city of a half-million people located in the heart of Siberia. Its location on the Tomsk River and the Siberian Railroad makes it a major distribution center as well as an industrial center. It is home to a world-class university and several technical schools.

From Russia with Love part 2...Tuesday, July 19, 2011 10:34 PM
From: "Alex Bennett" View contact detailsTo: "vicki bennett" , Bennett84321@yahoo.comPriviet Semya! Ya Loublou Vas! That's the closest Rushlish (russian english) that i can get to with the english alphabet to saying, "Hey Fam, I love you!" It's great to hear that you got a new router now that i'm gone!!! jk :) That's great to hear that Mike had a good experience on the trek, he got to have the best of both worlds: one with the Newton Gang and one trek with the St. G crew, let him know I miss him and his dang ET voice. I hope he's up to something productive and not playin' Call of Duty all day... but if he is, oh well it's summer. Im sure its hotter than Hades there right now, i hope you all don't look like carrots or human chicken strips when i get back :) its warm here with very cloudy skies, i think it'll probably rain, good thing i brought my Zonetick (umbrella). Hmmmm lets see.... really cool thing
happened this week. We've been having some meetings with a recent convert, Hatasha, she's such a great member. She is so willing to help us with missionary work and bring the gospel into her friends lives. We received 22 referrals from just her alone!!! It was amazing! There are so many other members that are working with us right now and it's great to get to know them better and make all of these friendships. We are also working with a couple other investigators at the moment. We have one that is pretty close to a baptismal date, i guess we'll see what she says next time we meet. Last P-day i did't get to tell you what we did. After emailing, Elder Peterson, Elder Haynes, Elder Erickson, and I went over to Sabeerski Blini to get a quick bite and decide what we were going to do next. We walked out of the place and i was finishing my food and 2 homeless guys come up to us and ask us if we would buy them food or give them money. As you know,
we're not allowed to do that, but i just felt terrible eating in front of them and they probably didn't think too much of us either, it's just something that a lot of people don't understand. So it was a little awkward, but they asked us if we had any preeglasheneye ("invitations") and they took the church brochures anyway so that was cool. We then went bowling, which i had no idea we could do, but it's a pretty popular P-day activity. I got probably the worst score ever in my life, it was so bad that im not even going to tell you.... i told them about how Mama would bowl a perfect 300 in Wii bowling all the time, they were pretty impressed. Ferretts are seen here and their on leashes, i want one when i get back. Oh, another sort of awkward moment, we were contacting last night and stopped a man and he talked to us, found out that he was a J-Dub and then from there it was a.. "well brothers, have a good one" and he walked off. We made some pretty
good cookies the other day. They were oatmeal- we had to make a trial-run baking of the recipe to get ready for this Thursday. We have an English Club party and Elder Peterson and I are in charge of cookies, hope the actual batches turn out ok.. A slightly drunk man (he was very friendly though) was walking and talking with us for a minute he said, "Oh your the mormons" and had some small talk and was asking us if we had seen some bowling movie with this Omish guy (he thought we were Omish) in it. We said no and he said, "Nooo, i'm pretty sure you have, all the mormons have seen this one." On Sunday i thought i was going to be writing my last journal entry, i ate a piece of sketch kinda moldy bread (nothing has preservatives here so stuff goes bad really fast) and realized it was that way after i ate it. But to my suprise, it caused no noticeable effects. Twitch, shake, Twitch. :) no everythings good. Ahhhh there is soooo much that happens in a
week! I could be on here for hours telling you stories. So i'll have some pretty good stories to tell you here and there. Oh haha funny story, so the other day Elder Peterson was looking through my Preach my Gospel manual and he went to the title page. He saw how it says "Billy Bennett" as my name. And he was like "WHHHAAAATTTT we've gone four weeks and you haven't told me this! It's like i don't even know you anymore! Biiiillllllyyyy, now i have to be all proper around you. As far as i know, everything else you've told me is a lie!" It was funny he was just making a big deal of it, and still is. :) Oh it was cool, on Sunday Brat Boareese gave the lesson and i understood most of it! Russian is still kinda kicking my bum right now, but its getting better everyday. I know that Heavenly Father blesses me so much everyday. I have seen so many miracles and blessings on my mission already. I'm so very grateful for Him and all he has done for me. I
hope that everything is going great for everyone, tell everybody i say hello. I found out that one of the Elders has a SD card adapter for his camera so hopefully i'll be able to send a few pictures through email next time. Well, love you, talk to ya later! - Elder Bennett

The Siberian Battalion Hymn

Words by Elder Douglas Simmons and Elder Alex Byers
Melody taken from “Highland Cathedral” by Ulrich Roever and Michael Korbn
Written and Compiled for the Siberian Battalion in April, 2010

The Inspiration for this song came from three sources. First, the melody itself, a popular bagpipe song called “Highland Cathedral”, second, a scripture in Jeremiah found by Earl Taylor, an old friend of the Simmons before they left home, and, third, the reference to young lions in Isaiah and 2 Nephi.
(Jeremiah16: 16) – Speaking of the gathering of Israel in the last days. "Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
(2 Nephi 15:29) – Speaking of the Lord in the last days . . ." And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe and none shall deliver it."

The words of the chorus are sung first and repeated between the verses, ending with the chorus one more time. Elder Simmons wrote the chorus and Elder Byers wrote the verses. Other verses should be added by later generations of the Siberian Battalion.

We are the (Elders or Sisters) of Siberia.
We are the young lions Isaiah saw.
We are the hunters who have come ‘afar,
Searching out all of scattered Israel.

Verse
Called of God by a prophet’s voice
We take shield of faith in hand, swift to the fray.
Armed with perfect obedience
Ready to serve we stand.

Chorus

Like the army of Helaman
We know we do not fight alone. We will not fail
With God as our strength and Christ our light
We bring brothers and sisters home.

Elder Peterson let me know that 2 days ago it was Slurpie day, Why did i never know about this in America!?!? Apparently they give out free ones on that day.... Anywho.. How is everyone!!! Sounds like everyone is having a fun summer and things are good. I dont know what season it is here, one day its summerish then it rains A TON! Yesterday after English Club was over, there was a huge rain storm and the sister missionaries didn't have an umbrella so i let them borrow mine (Elder P.'s was at the apartment). So Elder Peterson and I got a little wet but hey, no biggie. And Sasha (a male-member in the branch) told me that the rain here is radioactive/acid rain and it can make you go bald, hope its just a joke, but probably not. To answer some of the questions that you had... When I go to Finland, they say that I will have a 99% chance of going with the Elders that were in my district at the MTC, which would be really awesome. We take a bus and then a
flight, and stay at the temple housing. You also have the opportunity to go to a session at the Finland temple. Visa trips are a blast from what I've heard. We mainly cook our own food every meal. It's cool though, almost always members will feed us refreshments at Family Night and Firesides. At the family night that we recently went to, sister Olga wanted me to learn how to cook Plov (rice, meat, veggies) so we had that, cookies, and a sour berry drink. It was a great meal!!! All of you need to fly to Russia to come try blini (thin folded pancakes with your choice of fillings), they are sooo good! And the "donuts" here are amazing as well. Our apartment is a tall building, im not trying to scare you mama, but it's in a deeeecent neighborhood i guess, i dunno it's kinda sketch, but it's all good. There are other missionaries in our area, we have 8 total in our zone (including us). Elder Anderson & Elder Whitchurch, Elder Haynes & Elder
Erickson, Sister Vasilivskya (from Samara, Russia) & Sister Holmes, and... US! It's a great group, i'm really lucky. There are about 70 or so on average attendance every week to sacrament. They are all such amazing people, it's been great to get to know all of them better. English club has been really good, we have a few faithful attendees that come every time. Yesterday Elder P. and I taught our group (there are 3 different levels) about Utah- things to do, famous places, interesting facts, etc. Culture night is coming up, we might get to go to a soccer match, which would be really cool. We have a few new investigators this week, we were meeting with one yesterday and it was kind of embarrassing because my stomach made the biggest growling noice it ever has in my life. After the meeting i just said in the best Russian i could, "Exxxcccuuuusssee meee, my stomach was so loud!" and they thought it was pretty funny and so did my companion. We saw
the cutest little puppy-dog (not quite the age of a puppy not not full-grown either) at the bus-stop. It is homeless and we see it here and there throughout the week. It eats the sunflower seeds that people spit out and like eats whatever it can find, its sooo sad! If I were in different circumstances, i would have for sure taken it home and taken care of it. Got a hair cut this morning. Elder P. has a Phillips clipper set and he actually did a really nice job, it looks good. It saved us some money and the hair cuts here take like an hour and they like to leave it long in the front and short in the back "Dima hair cut", so i thought i'd pass.... Let Justin T. know that I'm thankful for the email he sent and that I'm doing excercises 6 days a week. Push-ups, crunches, we have a pull up bar, the whole 9 yards, so tell him to get ready to sign up for Ninja Warrior or American Gladiator when i get home. Ohhhhh weird!!! That song off of Just Dance 2
is playing in the internet place! The one that Jake likes to get really close like he's gonna kiss ya one where you're a sailor and do the salutes. Sometimes "Grenade" by Bruno Mars will play, Bon Jovi, Rhianna, etc. here. So the other day on the bus, there were a MILLION people on it, and i got positioned right under this persons armpit because he was grabbing the bar above,yum.... If you are all going to the Newton Celebration could you send me some turkey steaks and a keg of the Summers home-made Rootbeer, thanks. :) Im sure that St. G has a big celebration as well so you'd probably stay, but just sayin'... That's so crazy to hear about all these people getting married!!! They are babies! Life seems like a long time when you first look at it, but it really slips past you so fast! Im on a mission, I'm a baby!! Where has time gone?! I'm even starting to forget parts of the MTC, it's so crazy. Oh, if any of you can remember
any funny stories or things that happened i could tell a big group of people, let me know, at English club we switch off on days where we share a funny experience. Also like group game ideas, recipes, flash drive, or anything that you think would be useful. Thank you for everything, I'll say it again.. I HAVE THE GREATEST FAMILY IN THE WORLD! I miss you all, and hope you all have an amazing week. - Love Elder Bennett

Week 2!!!!!!!!! Happy 4th of July!Wednesday, July 6, 2011 1:09 AM
From: "Alex Bennett" View contact detailsTo: "vicki bennett" , Bennett84321@yahoo.comIt's so weird being on the other side of the globe on a holiday! :( But it's alright, hope everyone had a great 4th of July! Our festivities included Elder Peterson and I saying "Happy 4th of July" and we ate some candy, that's it. Congratulations by the way on your anniversary. How are the little kids!? I miss 'em all! That's so crazy that Kyla is walking and such. None of them are going to remember me when i come back as pale as a ghost! :) So I guess I didn't really tell you that much about how I got here. After we met our trainers (oh that's Elder Peterson in the picture, he's from
Murray area, he goes home at the end of my second transfer, he's super good at Russian, and he's my trainer I am so lucky to have him, he is a great missionary! we went to a little restaurant to eat. Then we went to the mission office to get our luggage and then we all went our separate ways. We took a bus, it was about 4 1/2 hours before we got there. It takes about 1/2 hour to walk to the branch building and about 10 min. or so on bus. We go to a NetCafe to do our emailing. I've already noticed how much of a blessing a mission is. I can see how it really prepares you for the rest of your life. I'll admit, there have been a ton of really hard and discouraging days already, but I appreciate them and the chance to learn, grow, and gain experience from my trials. I'm so grateful for
this opportunity to share the gospel and show my love for my Heavenly Father, my Savior, the people of Russia, and all of you. But anyway, we really did have an exciting week, I'll tell you more about it... Last week for P-day we went to a tower musuem place, it was really awesome to see the city from that view. I took some good pictures and i have great news. I found out that we are allowed to take short video clips here and there so that will be cool when you get to see them. I dunno, i want to send the SD card and my english tags, but i'm just a little scared that they get lost in the mail or that someone would take them. That would be terrible! so i talked to Elder P. about it and he claims that i might be able to make a CD at the Senior Missionaries place so i'll try to do what i can to have some type of back up so i don't lose weeks worth of pics. and memories. We've had a lot of rain lately, it's sort of like Northern Utah weather here right
now.. unpredictable, but it's not that bad. There was one day though where thunder went off and it was sooo loud!! It was when i was on splits with Elder Haynes because Elder Peterson was on his Visa Trip, but it really sounded like a bomb went off. Elder P. brought me some chocolate from his Visa trip to Finland, it was delicious! Other delicious things.... Russia "pillow" cereal (has like a fruity cream in the middle), ice-cream (any type), yogurt (called Chuda, which means miracle, it really is one), SUPER snickers (their huge!), and many others. The pourable things like milk have cool squishy handles. They also of course have amazing breads, pastries, and fruit tea (dont worry herbal and fruit are Moshna or allowed) English club and sports night are both really fun, we're getting quite the fan base, more people seem to come every week. We have been doing some service for a really nice lady named Olga, we've chopped up wood for her. The gnats
were creepin' on us though and eating our faces. I have been taking those daily mulit-vitamin things, the first day I chewed one though, i guess you are just supposed to swallow it, but it was the nastiest thing i've ever tasted!! Oh, and Elder Peterson was talking in Russian in his sleep, it was freaky! And there are these dang cats outside that we can hear out our window when we are doing planning at night. MEEEEWOOWW RAOOWWWW! They are sooo annoying! We had a fireside on Sunday at Vova's house, it was really fun. We had a spiritual thought and some people told funny stories and we had cookies, wafer things, and gas water (not sure if im the biggest fan, it's weird). Also, we had family night on Monday with a couple members at sister Olga's, (different Olga) she is so amazing. She has two
kids that are hilarious. Anyway she had me make snicker doodles and helped me make them, they were quite delicous if i don't say so myself... We had a family night lesson and played Uno (prenounced Una here). It was a blast! I've had the opportunity to take part in two blessings ( i annointed on both) they were really cool experiences. We have a couple investigators at the moment that we are working with, but we would like to bump up the number so we've been working really hard at street contacting. Please pray for us that we'll be able to find more people to teach and that i'll be able to have help with this language, it's ochen trudna (very hard), thank you. Well I'm running out of time so i'll finish by saying how much i love all of you. I LOVE YOU ALL SOOO MUCH!!!! - Elder Bennett oh also, let Justin Hutchinson know that i found a place that might take American Express, i haven't tried it there yet, but i saw the logo and it's
the biggest bank branch in Siberia so it's likely... Anyway let everyone know i love 'em and Im grateful for all of the support. Have a wonderful week!

address. either postcard. or letters have to be one sheet of paper folded into thirds taped with 2 pieces of tape at the top( no envelopes) sent to
Elder Alex William Bennett
Russia Novosibirsk Mission
P.O. Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

or to send letter in envelope or other physical mail (name is last

Russia 630102
Novosibirsk
46 Kirova Street
Russia Novosibirsk Mission
Elder Alex William Bennett

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Tuesday, June 28, 2011 11:41 PM
From: "Alex Bennett" View contact detailsTo: "vicki bennett" Ohhhhhhh man, what an eventful week! First off, I'd like to announce that I love you all very very very much!!! I miss you all and hope things are going great! I will send an SD card with pictures on it and my english tags here pretty soon. If you'd like, you can still write letters occasionaly, it's always good to have a tangible message every once in a while, but thank you for all of the emails, i really appreciate them. Well, about a week ago, i was "reborn". I was born in the city of Tomsk ("born" is the first area that you serve in and you "die" when you serve in your last city) It's a college town and it's really beautiful. The drivers are CRAZY though! It's really fun to ride on the buses, they go pretty fast. My papa (term for trainer) is Elder Peterson. I'm soooo glad that he is my companion! He is so funny, nice, and has taught me so much. He is awesome!!!Oh and he also saved both of us from getting jumped by some drunks when we were contacting the other. I was on the fence about telling you, but everything is fine were both safe, so I thought I'd let you know :) It was Sunday and we were walking down the street by the bus stop and two very drunk college age boys stopped us and were asking about the church. They got really close and started grabbing Elder Petersons arm he told them to not touch him. One of them said that he was going to take one of us to go buy beer and stay and talk to the other one. Luckily there was a person walking by and Elder Peterson told them that we needed help and we started walking across the street with him. After we were on the other side of the street we booked it! They were yelling that we were from the CIA or Nado and American spies. Goes to show that Heavenly Father is watching out for his missionaries! But everythings alright don't worry :) Anyway, There is actually an official branch building that the church owns here which is really nice. We go there for English club (which we had last night, we taught some vocab and phrases for weather), church, and when we meet with a member or investigator. It was quite the adrenaline rush when we were at church and Elder Haynes (ZL) told me seconds before sacrament meeting started that I was going to testify up at the pulpit. I'll admit it, i about pooped my pants when i heard that. But it turned out great, i think that most of the members understood me and they thought that my russian was funny. I asked "Ponyatna" after i said everything and the members and the branch presidency were nodding their heads and chuckling a little bit. Im sooo blessed, we have such amazing members. They sacrifice so much and are so dedicated to serving the Lord. I was really lucky, there was a baptism this first week that i came! Elder Peterson is on his last visa trip so for the last couple days i have been on an exchange with Elder Haynes. We had family night the other night with some members it was really fun! We played games and ate a lot of candy. Oh, and let everyone know that I say hello, I can only write two emails a week: 1 to the mission president and 1 to yall. I've had borsh, it's suprisingly delicious! I've had a little bit of culture shock yes, but I love it. Papa can probably remember from the "Best Two Years" movie when he looks like a deer in the headlights when he's talking to the one person, i've had a lot of those moments :) but its really getting better, i'm understanding a lot more, i'm getting a lot of help from my companion, the members, and the Lord. It'll be weird when i'll be able to rattle it off one day! Well I will tell you more in the weeks to come. There is just so much to tell that i can't smoosh it into one email and i have to read all of the emails and write one to the Pres. which takes up some of the time. Thanks for being the best family in the world!!! I love you all SOOO MUCH!! - Elder Bennett :) :) :)

23 June 2011

Dear Parents:

We just want to let you know that your son has arrived in the Russia Novosibirsk Mission safely. He has arrived in great shape despite the approximately 36 hours in transit.

The process includes leaving the MTC around 5:30 AM on Monday morning, leaving the Salt Lake City Airport, flying through New York or Atlanta to Moscow, spending 12 hours in Moscow applying for a second passport then boarding a Russian airline at 10:30 PM for a flight arriving in Novosibirsk at 5:30 AM Wednesday. Keep in mind that we are 13 hours ahead of Utah in the city of Novosibirsk.

He has been met by President and Sister Trejo, fed breakfast, and been put to bed for a few hours, oriented over 2 days and sent to his assigned city.

The Novosibirsk Mission is larger, in area, than the United States. We have missionaries in six cities and transfers involve long bus and train rides. Because of the difficult conditions and incredibly long distance from their mission president these faithful missionaries serve in, this is known as a Green Beret mission and requires “outrageously obedient” missionaries. We are so grateful that your valiant son has been sent here to join this work. In your letters to him will you remind him of the honor it is to serve in such a mission.

Here is how the mail gets to your missionary. All mail comes to the office and although this address is slightly different from what may have come in their missionary packet, this is the address suggested by Olga, one of our Russian office staff. Russian addresses go from the largest entity to the smallest.

Russia 630102

Novosibirsk

46 Kirova Street

Russia Novosibirsk Mission

The name of your missionary



The mail collects here until either zone conference, once every 6 weeks, or until someone is heading that way for transfers or other meetings. If something is very urgent, you are better off using email that they get to check on their Wednesday P-days, usually in the morning. They only get an hour on the internet to receive and to send and they are allowed to only write one letter for family and one to the mission president. It is suggested that others send via pouch mail to Salt Lake(single sheet tri-fold) or send to the office address. Please be sure that you write weekly emails to your missionary and then as an added bonus, packages and letters. Be aware that packages can take 2-2 ½ months to arrive at the office and then it can take 6 weeks to get it to the missionary depending on where they are serving. Be sure to plan ahead for Christmas so think of sending in September or October.





The first missionaries to serve in Russia arrived on 26 January 1990. The first official recognition of the Church in Russia was granted to the branch in Leningrad on 13 September 1990 with republic-wide recognition being granted on 28 May 1991. The Russia Novosibirsk Mission was formed July 1994 so it is almost 17 years old. It is a fairly young mission and it is exciting to work with members that are very strong in spirit and small in numbers.

Thank you for your son. We will take good care of him.



Attached are pictures of him and President and Sister Trejo.





Sister McCauley
Russia Novosibirsk Mission Secretary

Flag this messageIt's Official I'm in Russia!!!Wednesday, June 22, 2011 3:56 AM
From: "Alex Bennett" View contact detailsTo: "vicki bennett" The last couple days have been amazing! We're all here and everything worked out great! It really shows you that the Lord helps out His missionaries get to where they need to be. :) Sorry I didn't get to call in Moscow, they did not have any pay phones in the airport. I feel terrible that I didn't get to talk to Shelly, Tim, or Jared. I really wanted to hear from them, but things were really rushed and we had a lot to do. Russia is beautiful! I've been taking a few pictures so i'll send you the SD card when I'm able to. We arrived in Novosibirsk at about 5:30 (their time) and we were met by the other elders and President Trejo. We are currently at the mission home with President and sister Trejo. They fed us breakfast and then we got to sleep till 3:00. The beds here are soooo comfortable! We just got done with eating dinner and now we are going to have some training and an orientation. I don't have that much time to write some stories and experiences that have happened in the last couple days, but I will write some when I get the chance. I love you all, thank you for all that you have done to help me get to this point. I'm really excited, it's crazy that I'm all the way across the world from you (don't think about it that much though) :) Thanks again, hope things are going great for everyone! -Love Elder Bennett

From: Alex Bennett
Subject:
To: "vicki bennett"
Date: Wednesday, June 15, 2011, 5:36 PM


Hello!!! Sorry the email is being sent a little later today. We had to go to Babylon for the last time today so Elder Krushinsky could get his stiches up and have a check up. It was pretty cool, we got to go into an Albertson's today. The other Elders in the shuttle were from Samoa, Tonga, etc. and they didn't speak the best english so they asked if we could go help them fill out a "money gram" in the service desk part of the store and talk to the employee so they could get the money they needed. Oh and about that entrance picture.... i don't know if they even have it any more, i'm pretty sure they took that sign down. We were going to the temple one time and we saw where the sign you're talking about could have been, there were white marks on the brick. So sorry i'm not able to get that one but i will take one by the map. I will send an SD card with more pictures on it, we'll take a lot when we have a little time these next couple days. It's just been soooooo busyyyyy!!!! We have to have a "test run" of total luggage weight thing done by tomorrow, so we've been frantically trying to pack when we have the time. Thanks for sending the money, now I don't have to go to an ATM :) So apparently President Peterson is not going to be our new mission president anymore, Elder Hoggan (he is related to him) got an email today from his family saying that it was changed. I believe it will be President Gibbons instead.

Flight plans: We will be leaving here at 5:00 am to head to the airport and our flight leaves at 8:30 am. We arrive at Atlanta at 2:20, then leave there at 3:20. We fly from Atlanta to Moscow and should arrive at 10:10 am. Leave Moscow at 10:50 pm (long lay-over) and arrive in Novosibirsk 5:30 am June 22. So to give you a time range of when i would be calling... from about 6:30 to 8:00 in the morning on the 20th. If i'm able to, i'll also call from Moscow during the lay-over time. It would be great if you could send me a list of phone numbers so i can call Shelly, Tim, and Jared as well.

Thanks for the pictures, the baby is adorable. Also thanks for getting Derek's address. I'm way excited to hear where Tanner is going, I just can't believe that we are all this old! It'll it great to head to head out to Russia, but it will be soooo weird! We've been here at the MTC for 10 weeks now, I can't believe it! Time really just goes by so fast. I'm just so grateful to be able to serve and have this great opportunity to learn and grow. It was sad knowing that today was the last time to go to the temple for 2 years, I'm going to miss it. I'll be sending a few things home here in the next couple days so just be prepared for that. I love you all, it will be great to be able to talk to you. It'll be much easier to let you know how things are over the phone. Well Da svidanya for now, Love Elder Bennett :)