Since the work in Saratov was not going too well, our mission president decided to take my companion and I out of the area. She got transferred to Samara, and I got transferred to... ROSTOV! I have already been here two weeks and I love this area so much!
So here is a summary from my last two weeks in Saratov:
-I became really good friends with a girl named Noor from Egypt! It was so fun because we were swapping stories about Egypt and various places we had been. I got to ask her a ton of language questions and cultural questions since I haven't been there in forever.
It was quite funny, because she has been living in Russia for a year and a half now, but my Russian is better than hers and I have only been here a few months. It is very interesting for me to see how much the Lord qualifies His servants to speak to His children.
-We hosted Bob Ross night again. This time, we invited all our friends again, and were blessed with one person showing up!!!!! It was awesome! We ended up actually having an actual conversation about the gospel with a non-church member!!!! That was my first time doing so the entire time I've been in Russia!!!! It lasted like 2 hours just talking about various things we believe, and things that she believes. The following week, we made palmini with her at the senior couple's apartment, and gave her a Book of Mormon. It was an amazing experience! First time handing out a BOM in my LIFE!!!! Super cool. She was so gracious. Hopefully the volunteers in Saratov now are meeting with her and following up on the BOM (we gave it to her the night before we left).
-We had to say goodbye to one of our favorite friends Diana. We went to her cafe one last time, and got blueberry pie. This is our favorite thing to order there, because it is SUPER yummy, and stains your teeth blue the rest of the day :)
Said goodbye to Sister Richter...aka the best trainer ever!!!!! <3 love her!!
THEN I FLEW TO ROSTOV. Me and Elder Roggow flew from Saratov, to Moscow, to Rostov. Almost had to check my violin (yikes, but thankfully elder roggow saved it), and almost missed our flight because elder roggow had been gifted a knife by one of the members and they almost didn't let him take it on the plane.
When I got to Rostov, I met my new companion! Sister Dzierzon! She is from Germany as well! She only has two transfers left (this one, and then one more), so I will probably be the one who kills her!!!! (mission slang for sending someone home from their mission). She is a hard worker and is the best non-native Russian speaking sister we have in the mission! I am so blessed to be companions with her. Together we are STL's (sister training leaders). This means we help other sisters in the zone, solve their problems, and go on splits/exchanges with them to help give new ideas and keep the work going. That's basically it. lol.
These past two weeks in Rostov, we have done A LOT. There is much more work here than in Saratov.
-we have been meeting with several members who say that they want our help sharing the gospel with their friends. we are working with them on how they can be member missionaries. Everyone here is so proactive. Especially the youth. They show up to all our game nights and activity nights. They really help foster a community of unity and togetherness. They include all the newcomers, and try to do as much for the church as they can.
-Sister Dzierzon almost ended her mission 10 weeks early and got deported. After her visa trip (we have to leave the country every 3 months to renew our visa's), the Russian government decided that she had overextended one of her visas and had a hearing on whether to deport her or not. Thank goodness we have an amazing office couple, and they were able to sort everything out so Sister Dzierzon could finish her volunteering service:)
-Couldn't celebrate Halloween, but got to carve pumpkins with one of our friends here :)))) My fav holiday:)))
Also--s/o to my fam:) got my christmas package two months early. I had to hide it so I wouldn't look at it everyday and be tempted to open it early lol
ALSO found some ice cream here called "большой папа" (big papa) it was good.
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