Happy Fourth of July everyone!!
I kept forgetting that was this week. My German companion had to remind me, whoops!
The weeks just keep flying by. This was another good one! One of my favorite parts of this week was exchanges. I was with one of the Russian sisters for exchanges, which means that I was with just her for pretty much the whole day. She speaks some English, but I speak Russian better than she speaks English. It was good practice! It was another one of those tender mercies where God's like "it's ok, Russian is hard. But you can talk!". I could kinda feel like myself again.
While on exchanges, we visited the cutest nursing home. It was really humbling. It's in an old crumbly building with only 3 rooms or so. We went and just talked with the people there. There was a really cute old Mongolian who used to be in the Soviet army. He also happens to be an amazing singer, and he sang us some Soviet army songs! They then asked US to sing something, so we sang a little something for them. Next time, I'm going to bring my ukulele!
I also tried two new things this week, buuza's and kvass. Buuza's are from Buryatia and they are like this big dumpling thing with meat in them. You take a small bite out of the dough, drink the juice in it, and then eat the rest. They're so good!! Kvass is sold on the street here EVERYWHERE in the summer. It's basically non alcoholic beer. It's ... interesting. I'm not really sure if I like it or not. It really just kinda tastes like bread.
That was my week this week! Everything is going great, Russian is coming along, I'm loving the people, the food, and the church. I also have been reading in Hebrews this week in the New Testament and I came across this verse in the Joseph Smith Translation of Hebrews 11:40.
JST Heb. 11:40 God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect.
Life is full of hard things. However, this life is a time for us to be tested. We believe that our Heavenly Parents love us so much that they want us to become as they are. How can we become as they are if we never learn and we never grow? A child can't learn right from wrong if his parents never let him experience opposition. Likewise, why would our loving Heavenly Father shield us from everything in the world? Our trials and sins don't define us, but how we react and learn from them does.
I love you all and hope you all had a wonderful week and a wonderful 4th of July!
с любовю,
Sister Jones
P.S. Sorry for no pictures this week, I left my camera at home:(
