Зеленинка

Дорогие Мои,

This week was kind of crazy, but also really fun. Being a trainer is always an adventure.

I forgot that being a missionary is really weird at first and that trainees have all these awesome new ideas. Sister Lindquist is such a hard worker. She's quiet; in fact, she may be the first quiet companion I've ever had, but that's actually a good thing. She's so far been instrumental in helping me realize that I just need to calm down sometimes and breath. We both have taken the Meyers-briggs personality test, and we're almost exact opposites as far as our personalities go, so I think we'll compliment each other nicely. She has a very strong testimony. On Sunday, she was asked to speak to the congregation, and after doing so, Janna turned to me and said, "That new sister is just blessed with the Holy Ghost".  We got lost while trying to find our investigator's house (and we actually have a question about that), met this adorable babushka who became our newest investigator, and have street taught quite a bit so far. We're kind of lacking in the investigator area, but it's a nice change from last transfer which involved A  LOT of running around.

We had quite a lot of strange things that happened to us. One of them being that we got lost in the Russian countryside a few days ago trying to find an investigator's house. It was beautiful where they lived; we both felt like woodland fairy princesses in the middle of some Tchaikovsky ballet. It was awesome. Unfortunately, we did not get to see the family we were trying to visit because the parents didn't end up being home, but one of the little girls answered the door covered from head to toe in green marker dots. I asked her what happened to her and with a completely straight face, she answered, "Chicken-pocks.  I'm going to the doctor soon." It was fantastic.

Yesterday, we were out trying to find some less active members of the church basically in the boonies of Volgograd, and we ended up meeting this awesome babushka. We were having a good conversation with her when this old dedushka (grandpa) came up and started talking with our babushka. I had no idea what was happening after that. The dedushka had no teeth, so I caught the gist of what was going on, but not much else. Somehow they ended up talking about Putin and smoking, but I really couldn't tell you much else. It was pretty funny. After he left, our babushka, Antonina, asked if we could come by again, so looks like we're going back out to the boonies this week. Which is fine with me because it's way pretty out there.

This week, I've been studying a lot about what it really means to lose yourself. And, I think it comes down to how willing you are to think more of others than of oneself. Missionary work is hard, really hard, and a lot of life is not pleasant or easy, but the good news is, when you are really trying to love the people who surround you, all of the worry and the hurt and the discomfort become unimportant because you get to see someone who needs it smile. Christ did a lot of little things in His life to help those around Him smile. Whether that was to play with children or raise a beloved brother from the dead. Christ's life shines with examples of showing love in big ways and small through service. So, if you are ever feeling unhappy, turn out! The person next to you probably needs your smile.

I love you all! And I hope this week is full of joy for you!

Love,

Sister Jarvis

Sister Lindquist and I pointing to the beloved Volgograd