Hello everybody! I'm glad to hear that you are all doing well. I love getting your emails and hearing about all the cool things that are happening to y'all. So here was the week: Monday at 11 PM the zone leaders called for us to let them into our apartment, becuase they had just flown in (they're in Kaliningrad) and didn't want to ride the Metro for an hour to get to the assisstants (the airport is in our area) and so we had to let them in and we got to have a fun little sleepover. On Tuesday we had district meeting and it was good. We have a fun district. We all get aling pretty well and we have some characters. Tuesday night we headed to the office elders apartment because I had a visa trip on Wednesday. That was really boring. We left at 7 in the morning from the mission office and just drove for 2.5 hours to Estonia. We walked out of Russia, and into no-man's-land. Then they didn't want to let us into Estonia, or the cool Estonian guy who took my passport was worried that Russia wouldn't let me back in, so he had to make some calls to make sure it was ok for me to enter Estonia. Then we were in Estonia for one minute. Then we walked right back into Russia with no problems. So that was a really really boring day. I did get to go on the trip with Elder Jaynes. It was fun to catch up with him and hear some fun stories. I had lunch with him and then we were back into the city. We had a good lesson with the english guy, and once Elder Saxton gets Russian, he'll be a great teacher. He's good in English. He just pours out his soul. It's fun. On Thursday we had service at the Hermitage, and we got to see some new things and new rooms that I had never seen before. We did splits with our Zone leaders... I was with Elder Doxey from South Jordan. I went to the same high school as him for two years, didn't know him. He played hockey, I didn't know him (I knew lots of hockey kids) and so it ended up that we were finally together, talking and getting to know each other halfway across the world. And the other Zone Leader, Elder Dibble, had a class with cousin Megan in High School. Sports Medicine I think he said. That's crazy too. In two minutes we talked to two different people... one who hated America and wanted us to go home, then another who wanted to shake our hands when we said we were from America. That's about how it goes here. Friday we had Zone Training, we did some fun walking and talking after that. On Saturday we had weekly planning. Then English. There was a really cool, funny, questionable non-active member that came. He's from South Korea and he knows English perfectly. He just comes to hang with the missionaries. Anyways, we share music taste so I'll get some hipster bands from him and pass them on to my hipster sister. He knows english well enough to know what ebonics are... that was crazy to me. Sunday was a good day. We had church, lots of meetings with our ward leaders, and then we walked and talked. That was about the week.
Training is really fun. I get to show my companion everything. I get to influence his opinion on everything. If I want to go run outside in the morning, he'll say yes. If I put on a tie during studies, he'll put on a tie during studies. If I'm in the kitchen, he's there. If I'm talking to people, he'll talk to people. If I am writing in my planner, he will too. It was just an eye opener to me this week to realize that literally everything I do, he is watching. I guess that's how it is in every situation. I watched my parents. I cook eggs like my dad. I cook food for my companion, like mom did for me. I watched the older lacrosse players like Jordan, Chris, Cameron, and Davis and tried to do what they did. It's crazy to me how much the people around you influence you and how there is somebody always watching. So, I found a cool scripture in Matthew 7, verse 24 that answered my question on how to be a good example (at least as a missionary). We need to hear the words of Christ, then DO what they say to do. Then I guess we'll be a pretty good example. I like the scriptures, I like the church, it's true and it blesses lives and changes hearts! I know that Christ lives and that he loves me. I love to testify of Him because nothing else brings the spirit so strongly. I love Him. He's my rock. I love you all, thanks for all that you do for me!
Elder G
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