Thanks for all of the birthday wishes--tomorrow should be way fun. We're going to Tallinn early in the morning for zone training and I'm excited for that. I'll be staying there until Wednesday night because we're going to do exchanges, except for this time I'll be with Sister Carr. Pretty sure it won't be a birthday I'll forget.
It was funny; last Sunday I was talking to Gelia, a chubby little 9 year old that suddenly just loves our guts. She has the same birthday as me and she kept asking if I was allowed to do (insert Russian word that I don't understand). Apparently they wanted to have a combined birthday party and go swimming with me. Such a bummer that I can't. Although, I can't imagine even wanting to swim here, where getting wet is like the last thing I would want.
Speaking of which, it's cold here. And when I say cold, I don't think that you understand to what extent that I mean it. My face froze to my scarf yesterday, which was painful and something that I didn't even know was possible.
But if you're wondering about my welfare, I'm great! I've shaved my legs every day for the past week, if that's any indication of how I'm doing (it should be). Lots of really good things have been happening.
For one, we committed Zhenja to quit smoking and the elders gave him a blessing, which was a really cool experience. He's having a hard time with that but little by little (Jared, tell me you know what Russian word I wanted to use there--I don't know how to spell it. Pateehonkoo?) we'll be working with him. We're doing the quit smoking program with him tonight.
Another one was that we fasted again for Sasha on Sunday. Good things came out of that. First of all, Sasha and Olga came to church! And President Crandall (who's actually from Twin Falls) in the district presidency of Estonia spoke about building up the Narva branch. It was perfect because Sasha and Olga are both concerned about the size of the branch and the lack of families and priesthood in it. So that was great.
Another thing is that it's been difficult to meet with Olga and Sasha together because they have totally different concerns, but they don't want to meet separately. Anyways, Olga came up to us after church and said that she wants to meet with us one on one! She's been coming to all of the activities and she's been to church for three weeks in a row, so she's doing really well. She's a very private person so it's hard to figure out where her concerns are and what her testimony is but this is a huuuuge step!
Also, while President Crandall was speaking, I have a lovely realization. He minored in Russian and I could pick out all of the mistakes he was making--mostly this was a boost to my confidence to know that I can speak better than a Russian minor! And lest you think my head is getting too big, I am fully aware that it's the gift of tongues, haha.
Forgot to say that last week, President Boswell announced the new mission president here. His name is David Harding, from Lindon, UT, and he'll arrive in July. It's going to be so weird to have a new mission president but I'm excited!
I figure that I haven't told you much about my district right now. There's me, Sister Dalley, Elder Skinner, Elder Long, Elder Bell, and Elder Allred. You already know about Elder Allred, Elder Bell, and Sister Dalley, but I'll tell you about Elder Long and Elder Skinner. Elder Long is the most saintlike person ever and he's one of those people who manages to be hilarious without making fun of anyone and without being inappropriate. It's a real skill; especially on a mission, haha. He's from North Carolina and he's great.
Elder Skinner is just a 2 year old little boy in a diaper and cowboy boots. Haha that's literally how I picture him in my head. He's from Tremonton, UT and he loves to talk about rodeos, deep doctrine and say things like, "Everyone on my ranch is American-made". He killlllls me. I don't think I've found someone so fascinating or hilarious. Besides Sister Janis, maybe.
Anywho, he and Elder Bell go home at the same time, which is in March, I think. And the transfer is almost over, so sorry that took so long for you to know who I'm spending my time with.
Last week we went to the Narva castle for preparation day and it was a lot cooler than I thought. I was expecting to be disappointed because the castle in Trakai is pretty rad, but I wasn't! We didn't even go inside but it was cool to look across the river at Russia. It looks the same as Estonia, in case you were wondering. Elder Long threw a rock to Russia, which was beyond my capabilities but fun to watch.
Jared wanted to know what kind of Estonian snacks/candy I like, so I'll tell you about that real quick. First of all, Daim bars are like Heath bars but better. Pretty sure I've mentioned those. I love them...and haven't let myself buy them for the past three transfers because they're addicting. Although a new chocolate bar that I looove is Geisha. It's milk chocolate with hazelnut filling and it's so much better than Bueno. There's also Kalev chocolate, which is amazing in general. My trainer's favorite flavor was white chocolate with blueberries. Yum.
I don't eat chips here but they have some whaaack flavors. Everyone's favorite seems to be seasoned dill or forest mushroom. There's also a grilled meat one that I have yet to try; probably never will. Also there are peri peri flavored chips, which are so gross. Haha I guess I'm not the biggest fan of chips in general here.
I'm going to be sad when I go back to America and they don't have the kind of orange Fanta that they have here, though. And hopefully y'all have the aloe vera drink!
As for food, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that if you have onions, potatoes, dill, cabbage, sour cream, and a whole bunch of oil and grease, you could make any Russian dish. It's delicious a lot of the time, but it makes you feel a little bit like death afterwards. The good/sad thing is that we don't really get fed in Narva, so I don't have to worry about it.
But yeah, like I said last week, we mostly just drink homemade lemon ginger tea.
Anyways, Sister Dalley and I have been teaching the youth a lot lately. I feel like teaching them has taught me a lot. When I first got here, I thought that I would need a lot more patience in order to teach teenagers and stuff, but that's not what I've needed. Creativity is really all that's required. They've been so fun and easy once I figured out that I can't teach them like they're adults and then get frustrated when they don't pay attention. Lately Anya and Katja have loved reading the Book of Mormon and drawing it on the board as we go. I have a feeling that all the things I'm learning here about working with youth are going to be important for me and my future family.
Last week President Boswell sent something in his weekly letter that I thought was beautiful and it blew my mind: Stars are not immortal but we are.
Think about that! God made us with such incredible potential, it's not even comprehensible. I hope none of you are living your lives day to day without doing something that's going to move you closer to being the person that God made you to be. I especially hope that you're going to the temple at least once a month, because I'm hanging around people who save up all year just so they can go once. And sheesh, it's the best place to figure out what definite measures you can be taking to reach your potential, how to help your family reach theirs, and it's the best place to make decisions in general. If nothing else, go because I can't :)
I love you all. Next week you probably won't even recognize who's writing you because I'll be 20. Leaving your teens feels that way, right?
-Sister Gooch
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