Sunday, October 30, 2016

Dear Family

This week hasn’t been too eventful for us. Dad and I have shifted our walks to the evening because by 7:00 am it is still dark outside. It comes up around 7:30am. It does get dark while we are out. The sun sets around 5:10pm but the Vulga River is well lit. When we go I put on a Cami, long sleeved shirt, hoodie, scarf, sweats and my spring coat. I have a head band thing to cover my ears and some gloves. It’s a little chilly starting out but it doesn’t take long for me to start being too hot. When we first got here it was too icy and wet to go walking.

We had a couple of sunny days last week and it was great. This week doesn’t look so good. Snow predicted for Monday and Tuesday. Then partly cloudy on Wed and the sun peaks out on Thursday. More snow for Friday and Saturday and overcast on Sunday. The highest it gets all week is 33. Some of the Volunteers suffer from S.A.D. Seasonal affective disorder because for a long time you don’t often see the sun. We have a few “Happy Lights” for light therapy that we distribute to help the ones that need it.

I’m trying to find a lighter weight coat. I either have to choose my spring coat or my stay puff marshmallow man coat. I need something in between. Today I had on my big coat and boots because it was snowing but on the way home I had to take my arms out of the sleeves of the coat because I was too hot. The bigger coat is fine if I’m outside for a while but when I’m in and out I’d prefer something less bulky. It is really hard to find things my size here.

I dyed my hair yesterday. The reason I bring this up (not because I know you are fascinated with every aspect of my life) is that it just amazes me how long the color lasts. In the US I dyed my hair every 4 weeks because of growth but also because the color faded so much. Here the color doesn’t fade and my hair grows incredibly slow. I would guess, the reason for that, is because the water isn’t treated with anything like chlorine.

On the way home from work the other day, we started going by this guy on the stairs. He started to engage Dad in conversation. I of course kept on going. I got a phone call at the bottom of the stairs where I was waiting for Dad. Dad and this man kept talking and talking. The man knew even less English that Dad’s Russian. Finally Dad got a whiff of the guy’s breath and new he was slightly tipsy. We aren’t supposed to get involved with someone who has been drinking because so many of them are mean. He dis-engaged right after that and we preceded home. The man spoke to me a little bit. He seemed friendly enough.

Last week I got to work on two power point presentations for President Ottesen. One was titled “Find the Higher Ground.”  He used a battle in the Civil War to illustrate the importance of maintaining higher ground.

Here is a short internet synopsis for the battle for Little Round Top during the civil war fought in Gettysburg:  The Battle of Gettysburg was the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought in North America. During the first three days of July 1863, the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia turned a small town in Southern Pennsylvania into the site of a struggle for the future of the United States. More than 50,000 men fell as casualties (men listed as killed, wounded, or missing/captured), a scale of suffering never seen before or since on American soil. According to many historians, Gettysburg was the turning point of the American Civil War. It was the Confederacy's best chance to achieve victory, and it breathed new life into the Union war effort.

Military strategists have studied Gettysburg battle tactics extensively. All agree the Confederates should have won that day---they had a bigger army, more cannons, more experienced soldiers, and more experienced commanding generals. What was the critical difference that day? It was the HIGH GROUND they chose to fight on. The Union soldiers were wise enough to fight from HIGH GROUND instead of the level terrain they had unsuccessfully fought on in previous battles. There is something powerful about finding the HIGH GROUND in your life.

He had a bunch of pictures from that movie, “Gettysburg” that I put into a power point presentation for him.

Then I he gave me the script and I found pictures for one on “Be Not Offended.”  It turned out really good also. President is always apologizing to me when he asks me to do something and to Dad also. I told him I loved to do things like that and I didn’t mind one bit. Part of my job here is to support him and Sister O. I am happy to do anything he wants me to do. Dad tells him the same thing. President sent Dad a text today about something and ended up telling him he didn’t know how they were going to let us go home next August. I think Dad is worried (me too) about being asked to extend because it would be very hard to tell someone who depends on us no. So Dad and I are praying we aren’t asked.

Dad and I went shopping on Saturday to the Cosmo Port mall. He found a new pair of tennis shoes and I found a scarf. We had lunch and then went grocery shopping. After making it home we hung out for a while and then went for a walk. Dad’s new shoes were rubbing on his heels and they started bleeding. He took them out of the top lace hole and they felt better.

Most of the branches were having Halloween parties on Saturday. We didn’t end up going because of Dad’s feet. Both the Bezi and Avrora branch had great turnouts. The Bezi Volunteers had a theme going. President Pacheco was Hook, Sister Howe was Peter Pan, Sister Johnson was Wendy, Elder Hemrick was a Lost Boy, Elder Anderson was Smee and Elder Quarnburg was Tinkerbell. He had his hair spiked and glittered. With his wings the Russian were calling him the Green Butterfly. He’s the one who sang the Barbie song at the talent show a while back.

Next Sunday is fast Sunday. Our branch is fasting for Sister Vera and then we are breaking out fast after church. That was a topic of one of the talks in Sacrament meeting today, fasting. She reminded us to fast with a purpose. I know when I do that it definitely makes fasting easier.

For dinner today I had homemade rolls, Cucumber salad, corn, Balsamic chicken and potatoes. Desert was cake and ice cream. The Cake was a blueberry cake mix that had very few blueberries. I didn’t like it that much and the potatoes were cooked all the way through. Dad liked it and the elders went back for more so I guess it was ok.

They ate all the cucumber salad. I used the cheese grater on the side that is for thin slices and sliced up 4 cucumbers with the peeling on. Then I added finely chopped onion. In that I put a mixture of vinegar, sour cream, sugar, dill and salt and pepper. I’ll have you know I didn’t even try one bite. Hey we are at my house; I don’t have to eat it.

It was great talking to all of you this week. Lauryn I used you as an example today. When the Elder’s came in they were talking about Elder’s Quarnburgs look that says “you’re beneath me.” He said he watched girls give that look and decided to copy it. He showed his look to us and I told him I had an expert in my family on that look. I showed them the Facebook post with you guys eating the whipped cream and then it goes to your face, Lauryn, that almost shouted “I’m disgusted with you,” and they all started laughing because Elder Quarnburg had it down perfectly. (So does Lauryn)

I am sending sunset pictures and a picture on a wall getting ready for the World cup championship being played here in Samara in 2018. Some snow pictures and a handy use I found for our “bidet.”

Love,

Mom