Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
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
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
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
From: "Alex Bennett"
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
Thursday, July 14, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
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
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
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
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!
From: "Alex Bennett"
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!
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