June 24, 1997 - Tuesday

Today was a pretty full day.  We had собрание округа [District Meeting] and then we went to Лариса's [Larissa's] where she jaked us.  But we talked with her daughter  Саша [Sasha].  We also watched the Simplsons.  We waited a half an hour or so and then we left.  We came home and dropped off our books and stuff and travelled to Stockman's to get milk.  Well we came home and ate some potatoes and then rushed off to our D with Николай и Татяна [Nickolai & Tatyana].  We were in there [their] apartment and they have a lot of mystical stuff.  They have all these pictures of people that were supposedly prophets or had some kind of power to heal people.  It was strange. 

But then we walked to the metro with Николай and Володия, and Володия talked to him a lot and just did cool.  If I can say that.  Then we stood in the metro, Ст. Schwartz, Володия and I and talked about Николай & Татяна for a while.  Then we talked on the ride home about the gospel and sat outside the metro and talked about the Gospel some more.  He's a stud and has such a firm grasp on the Gospel.  He has such a testimony.  I keep teasing him about getting married.  He's under a lot of pressure at work and he said he was sorry for just taking over our discussion.  Today I felt the Spirit a lot and it made me want to set goals to do better and stuff.  One was to read the BOM [Book of Mormon] an hour a day.  The other was to just study more and basically be a better person/missionary. 

While we were talking about the Gospel, I just thought that one of the most important things I'll learn on a mission is to always go to Church.  I'm very grateful that I always went to Church before my mission.  Sometimes 6 hours a Sunday.  We also talked about how we will go home and see things that are different in America than we saw.

June 16, 1997 - Monday

Well today we got freaking screwed big-time.  First we went to service on a non-normal day, then we got jaked [stood up] at our D with Лариса [Larissa], then we went to Stockman's [a European/Western type store that stocks a lot of stuff that you can't get in a Russian store] and there wasn't a paper - screwed again!  On the way back we were handed these little advertisments for a businessmen's lunch.  Well it sounded like you got a salad, a soup and then a main course - like a burrito or a steak.  Well not so.  You could choose between the soup or salad and then get a burrito.  So we picked the soup.  It was water with a little flavoring and an uncooked - I repeat an uncooked egg floating in the broth.  At least the burrito was good.  Never again will I go to the Чанго [Chango].  It also cost 48,000 [rubles - about 8 dollars - way too much for a burrito and crappy soup!]

June 11, 1997 - Wednesday

Actually it's 40 min. after midnight on the 10th, well 11th.  Today showed me just not to worry about things.  We went to district meeting and I didn't get any mail.  It's the first week I've never gotten mail.  I was pretty pissed and I had a really bad mood.  Which was really bad because we had a D with Лариса [Larissa].  So I was sitting on the metro and fuming when after praying for God to "take these bad feelings from my heart."  After I prayed I was sitting a couple of seats to my left.  This old couple were sitting across from me and they smiled at the baby.  Well seeing this weathered old Russian man's face brighten up really touched me and I couldn't be mad or depressed anymore.  It's weird how the Lord answers prayers. 

Then while at the D with Лариса, which went really well, I really felt the Spirit and she did too.  It was cool.  She committed again to pray for answers about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  I explain[ed] why it was important for her to know.  Then she'd know for sure about what we're talking is true.  I think I got her to see a little about how it would help her.



Sister Vera Yagadkina, Nadia Yagadkina, Sveta Borisova & Sasha -
evidently the two girls not too happy with me taking a picture.



Then we came home and sweated in the apartment while eating dinner.  Man it is so humid lately.  So hot.  Getting to the point of where I started about things always working out.  Last night we got told that there would be this New Era thing.  A reporter was coming - we were supposed to set up a FHE.  Well Elder Reagan said to meet the reporters or Ст. Gammon & them in the metro at a little before 7.  The Family Home Evening was to be at 7 over at Ягодкина's [Yagadkina's] house.  Well I worry a lot about it - we were suppose to plan a game and Саша [Sasha] planned a spiritual thought.  So we worried and waited in the metro until about 7:10 and then just decided to go to the place.  So the whole ride to the Ягодкина's I was fuming - dang Gammon etc. because I was afraid the night would flop.  Well we got there at 7:30 - a half an hour late - expecting to have to tell them that the reported hadn't showed.  We even had a game planned and we brought drinks.  So we showed up and 'lo and behold' the reporter and Сты. Gammon & Ludwig are already there with the reporter. 

It turned out all cool and the kids  - Саша [Sasha], Света [Sveta], & Надя [Nadia - hahaha kids - Sveta might have been 16, but Nadia was 19, and Sasha was 18 or 19 as well.  A note about Sveta's name - Svet is light, and if I translated it into English I would call her Lucy???  Lucent - glowing with light, Lucid - shining or glowing, Lucifer (not the best example) - son of the morning etc.  So...the the kids] gave some really good answers to his questions.  It was really cool.  Then after the reporter and the future A.P.s [Assistants to the Presidents - future because we had learned that the mission was going to split on July 1st, and Сты. Gammon & Ludwig were going to be the new president's assistants when he got here.] left we drank the pop and ate this cake Сестра Ягодкина [Sister Yagadkina] made for us.  It was pretty good.  Then we went to the Red Square and hung out with [Ст.] Woolverton and ate at McDonald's and came home late.

[Post-Journal Chat - OK folks do you like how use the brackets[ ] right after the Russian word and give what it sounds like or translates to and sometiems it goes a little long, or would you rather that I did a footnote kind of thing?  or monkeys?]