January 5, 1997 - Sunday

Today is a "working" day for the Russians because they got off for New Years Day.  So Church isn't until 7pm.  We are having a big dinner tonight because Ст. Moyle is flying out tomorrow.  Ст. Barnes is going to the Petrovsky Branch today.  We've been lazing around all day.  It's about 4:15pm and we just played a tie breaker chess match today. 

I suck, last night I kept running chess through my mind.  I was dog tired, because I'm sick, but I couldn't get to sleep.  I had my problem and finally got to sleep.  I can't tell if Satan is putting these little things in the way of my sleep or if I am just making excuses so I can sin.  Either way I'm a punk. 

I just don't feel like doing anything.  I don't even want to read, write or do arithmetic.  I'm silly I tell ya.  I wonder what Gilbert is up to?  I have a feeling that he is working a lot harder than I am over there in the land of baptisms.  I don't know if I will work any harder in my next companionship or not.  It all comes down to the fact that I like to sin.  I like to take it easy.  I have been.  I haven't been studying hardly at all this whole companionship.  I'm incredibly stupid. 

Today though, I made some flashcards or whatever you want to call them.  So I'll study a little on the metros.  I need to cut out playing chess, reading newspapers or a lot of books and sleeping in and of course my problem, and I'll do a lot better.  Then I need to do things like study regularly, not give in to borderline wrong things and clean up a lot more.

[Post Journal Chat - Looking back on this post I can see that I'm being extremely hard on myself, was depressed and homesick.  I'm not trying to blame Ст. Barnes, but it's hard when you come in all charged up and ready to go, and the first two months have these kind of stuff in it. 

I remember the first morning when I woke up at 6:30am and wondered when my comp was going to get up.  At 6:45, or maybe closer to 7am I went and woke him up.  "Hey Ст. Barnes time to get up" and I turned the light on, and then went back into the living room.  He might have turned it off, or just slept through it.  He didn't get up until 8 or 9. 

A couple of morning like that and you stop trying to wake your senior comp at 6:30am.  Then you, yourself, stop getting up on time.  It's easy to see how it all snowballs huh? - well bye]

January 3, 1997 - Friday

Today I found out Woolverton will be my новый напарник [novwie naparnik - new companion]. 

Здорово да?  [zdorovo yes?  or great huh?  Let me tell you that it was pretty dang weird to me.  Remember that he was the one who pulled the gun on me during my first tracting experience.  Now I was going to be his companion - and move over into the apartment where the prank had gone down.]

Anyways.  We went picture taking with Elder Moyle who is leaving soon and then ate at McDonald's.  Came home.  Went to a D with this girl named Ana Molodova.  I think?  She's pretty cool.  She skies, speaks English really good [well.  Better than I do huh?]  She's been a member for more than 5 years.  Almost from the beginning.  Well it's time to hit the hay.  night.

November 21, 1996 - Thursday

This week has gone strange. Actually my whole stay in Russia has been strange. Right now 'm heating some stew up for supper. Ummm Umm. I made it and it is pretty good. I went and saw Red Square yesterday and part of the Kremlin from a distance. [that's me to the right there - although this picture is from a later date] Okay done with supper. Mmm Mmm good.

Last night around 6 a group of elders in town more got robbed and in a fight. 3 Russians stopped two elders as they were walking into their [apartment] building. They hit one guy and gave him a black eye. They took wallet, money & watch.  When they were searching their bags two more elders (who live in the same apartment as a 4-some) came in the building.  The three guys attacked and the elders beat the snot out of them and got the money back. 

So two of the elders will sleep over at our flat tonight.  It's almost 10:30 now.  It seems like 9:30 rolls around and I get really tired.  We moved everything around in the rooms today.  Now I basically have a room to myself.  Man - everyone around here is major trunky (it means that they are sitting on their trunks, packed and ready to go.  We didn't really get anything done today.  We went and helped the other elders move out, cleaned etc.  Then we came home and ate, went to institute and caught the end of English class.  Nobody was there really.  4 girls.  And nobody came to institute so we came home and cleaned everything.  Two of the foursome that got robbed are moving in with us for about a week so they can get another apartment up and running.

I am so tired so I am going to go to sleep.  First Ст.  Moyle was telling me tons of stuff and asking me all these questions about girls back home.  It was pretty funny.  Well night!