So first, that little hardback book, it is a daily planner for Britton. It has his name written in Russian in the front cover. Here in Russia, it is a tradition for people to write in those journals, like yearbooks. You put in pictures or draw them, or you share a favorite memory. Most of the time we share testimonies. The joke about the Bolshoi theater was that the Russian word большой or bolshoi means "big", so it is the "big theater". Спутник or sputnik, means "satellite" So the big theater is called "Big Theater" and the satellite is called "Satellite". I was trying to say that they weren't very imaginative names. Sorry that it didn't make sense.
Сновым Годом! (snow-veem goh-dom) That means "Happy New Year!" in the sense. New Year's is a pretty big deal in Russia, and that is why we had a curfew of 4:00 New Year's Eve and New Year's Day... Nothing at all crazy happened. We did see a lot of fireworks, as much as on the 4th of July, outside. During our curfew, we cleaned out the deepest, darkest, most dirtiest corners of our apartment...what wonders we found in our search! No, there was nothing interesting. What was crazy was the days before.
First of all, Mom, I made a can nativity for the Mission President and his wife, and the senior couples liked it so much, they hired me to make ones for them. I bought two Coke cans, and Elder Patton and I drank the Cokes...they tasted of America...
Second, this week we decided to do a little Santa stopping by. We went to a family every day and we brought a box of chocolates and a nice card we made. We thought about families that we have tried to meet with, but with no success. We decided to stop by just to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and show how much we loved them. This turned out to be really successful. The most successful one was with one of our investigators and his family. His name is Vova, which I found out is a short-form for the name Vladimir. Short-form is like making Robert into Bob. So, we only met once with his family, and we tried calling afterwards and they wouldn't answer. We really wanted to meet with them again, so we went by with our gift. Here is the miracle. First of all, when you come to an apartment, you ring on the domaphone, and that is the only way you can get in. We rang them, and they didn't answer. Immediately, this woman exited the building, so the door was open, and we took this opportunity to get in. We came to their apartment. First of all, the first door you see, behind it is a little walkway with two doors on opposite sides. Both are apartments. So you have to open the first door to get to the other door. We rang the bell outside the first door, and the wife came out of their apartment, but didn't open the other door. This is common in Russia. She asked through the door who we were, and we told her. She had met us before. She didn't reply, and then we hear a door close. Feeling sad, we decide to leave the gift when a man comes out of the elevator. He lives in the apartment opposite of them, and he opens the first door! He asks what we want, and we tell him we wanted to give his neighbors (Vova and his family) a gift. He promptly opens their door, and the wife is there. Being so happy, we give her the gift and with her a Merry Christmas. Later that week, Vova calls us, sounding really happy, and he wanted us to come over sometime. We have tried so many times to meet with them, and this was the miracle we needed. I will fill in later what happened.
Then one day, while waiting at a metro stop, this guy in his 20s comes to us, asking who we were. We told him that we are missionaries, and that we have a free English Conversation Group, and he says, "Well, I believe in God'. So we begin talking about the gospel with him, and he is really excited. He actually wanted to know how the lessons we teach are set up. So we get his contact information, and we give him a church pamphlet with the address on it. He freaks out, and pulls out a piece of paper from his coat. His girlfriend had written down an address of a church, telling he should go to it. It was the exact same address as our branch building...This guy was so excited, and we were as well. We haven't met with him yet, because we just met him on Friday, but I will let you know.
So you wanted to know what a typical day of a missionary is...Well, we wake up at 6:30 and immediately get on our knees in prayer. Then we exercise for 30 minutes, and shower, eat breakfast, and get ready for the day. 8:00, we begin our studies. We have one hour of personal studying, where we study quietly the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. We study for our investigators and anything else, like I am reading the Old Testament, and I am about in Psalms 95. Then we have two hours of companionship study. Elder Patton and I like to start with a few hymns, and then we share what we study, finalize the plans for our day, plan the lessons we will teach, and also as a trainer, I have a training manual that has guidelines about how to train, and we follow those as well. Then after that, we have an hour of language study. We make flashcards, memorize scriptures, read from the Book of Mormon in Russian, and I personally like writing in my Language Study journal in cursive. It really helps. Then we eat lunch, and then we go out and work! We teach investigators, we contact people on the street, we meet with members, whatever is needed to help people to come unto Christ. Sometime before 6:00, we have dinner. Each day is different. And then about 9:00, we drag ourselves back to the apartment, and then plan for our next day. We write in our journals, get ready for bed, and then sleep. That is pretty much our day. It sounds monotonous, but every day brings surprises, as I have already shared.
The New Year is very special to the Russian people. It is a time to start over, and become better. It is cool to see that there are similarities between us and them. We both see this New Year as a time to start with a clean slate, and to improve ourselves. As it says in Thessalonians 3:11, (I hope that is the reference, I just found it this morning) find something you are lacking, and then become perfect in it. That is my commitment to you, and I expect all of you to say yes.
I love you all so much
Elder Hoggan (The Siberian Messenger)P.S. The Russian people have said that his has been one of the warmest winters they have had, so that is why I haven't frozen yet. Well, there is always next winter!
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