This a handwritten bonus letter we received this week. Her handwriting is difficult to read and she shares some Russian words in Russian alphabet which I cannot type. This is my translation. (?) means I couldn't make out the word she wrote.
Feb. 4, 2015
So this week flew by! I can't believe it's already Wednesday again! The days have become Preparation Day, Post-Preparation Day, Super Long Day, Pre-Sunday, Sunday, Post-Sunday, Pre-Preparation Day. Days of a week mean nothing anymore. What is a weekend? Haha! But it's great! And I'm getting into the habit of getting up and going to bed on time. Let's hope I can keep that post-mission!
I was a bit homesick this week, at one point I just wanted a hug from Paige! But it wasn't too bad and I'm good again, although I still miss you all and pray for you every day!
Sis. Brown's (Natalia's companion) mom had a heart attack Monday and it was pretty scary, but she got to talk to her and she's fine and out of the hospital today! There were so many miracles throughout that whole experience! Her mom just happened to be near a hospital where the head cardiac doctor was on call. And her sister was in town to help with her family, and we didn't have a teacher (?) (?) like we were supposed to, and Sister Brown was able to get a blessing right away. Sister Brown was pretty shaken for a bit, but we got back to work, and had some awesome lessons, and she's totally at peace now! It was a good learning experience for me. The Elders said, "I'm so glad you're her companion, she's in good hands." I guess they think I'm more caring than I do.
I've been learning lots about Russia. Almost all women have had a few abortions when they are baptized. It's a big problem there, and Russian Orthodox--they don't understand why they should be baptized again, which is hard. We are working with a woman who has been going to church for 20 years and has this problem! (more in my e-mail) This is a whole floor of people learning Russian! 2 zones! It's so awesome!
Look up "earnest" in the Bible Dictionary. It's so cool!
So I guess I should say something about Russian…haha!! I only spend 8 hours + a day doing it.
It's going well! I can get a basic idea of what my investigators are telling me with some gestures and a lot of "repeat please" (in Russian); and I can get at what I want to say, well the basic gist. Sometimes I get full sentences, a lot of it is phrases strung together or just verbs and nouns if I really don't know what I am trying to say. We taught a real Russian in TRC last week and he talked a mile a minute, Slow! I'm terrified of Russia! I know that it will come if I keep working hard! I only pray in Russian!
Fun Facts: There aren't articles, so everything, pronouns, adjectives, nouns, verbs are all conjugated to take the place of articles. That's the hardest part. There are 6 cases and so far I only know 2 but there are way less tenses than English so that's good.
Oh! And I get a new name tag when I go to Russia! Tolley will be in Russian letters! The Elders names (?), because they're are like an adjective! So crazy! People's names aren't even untouchable by the powers of conjugation.:( haha! Also Russian is really hard to say sometimes because it's all consonants! Like priesthood sounds like this: tsvfchenstva! The longest word I know is apostasy. say it: ostoopkneechestva or to testify, say it: sveedetelstovevot.
Thank you for all your letters! I want to hear all about how you are doing!!
Love you all, Sister Tolley
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