Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello! Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone. I hope that you stuck to your diets or are about to make new ones! 

Sorry my email is a little late. We had extreme computer trouble this week. That was pretty devastating!

Well, I have some good (maybe bad?) news for you! Either I love Russia/my mission SO much that I don't miss you at all...or I'm turning into a robot. Really. I miss you occasionally, but I'm just having so much dang fun over here that it's hard to stay sad for too long. I haven't cried once since coming to Russia, and with the holiday season (and training....and Skyping...) ahead, let's hope I can stay that way!

Well, Thanksgiving was fun and no, there's nothing like Thanksgiving in Russia. They have all kinds of holidays but Thanksgiving isn't one of them. We had a gigantic dinner together as a zone, and I made mashed potatoes and Grandma Brown's rolls-- everyone raved about the rolls. Seriously. Who would know that just the right ingredients makes my entire zone just start slobbering? ;)

Also, English group started up again but despite our multiple hours of contacting for it a whopping total of three non-members showed up. This was kind of how it was the last time we re-started, and I hope it picks up. We start and stop English group every eight weeks so that we can get a new crowd of people coming (who will eventually start investigating the church). We figure after eight weeks of hearing our spiritual thoughts (we teach one point of the first lesson every week) they either are interested or not, so it's time to get a new round of people. I get anxiety before English group starts (don't ask me why...it must be the pressure of having to speak English??) but it always fades as the hour goes by. I did a music number on the flute with an elder accompanying on the guitar (come thou fount) and then the third verse (technically it's the third verse but when it starts the original melody again) the missionaries sang and I dropped out. Well, the flute and guitar sounded interestingly bluegrass together (probably not my favorite sound), but it turned out OK. 

It wasn't the most spiritual week in terms of lessons-- can you believe that people are too busy to meet with us?? But it was a good week nonetheless.

Some thoughts this week:
if you're ever seen the live-action 101 Dalmatians (with Glenn Close) just picture her 800 million coats on every Russian person here. I've never seen so much fur in my entire life.
Sister Missionaries get extra blessings than regular missionaries. Also, Sister Missionaries who ride bikes get TRIPLE extra blessings. Also, Sister Missionaries serving in Russia and walking around in the wind/snow/blizzards attempting to speak a strange language should also get triple blessings even if they're not riding bikes. yep.
it's really cold here, and I think my toes are going to fall off
I'm really nervous/excited to train! I feel like I have more of an idea about how to train an American than a Ukrainian....but we'll see!

Fast and Testimony meeting was really cute yesterday. We've been visiting this nice old lady in Dioma practically every week since we got here. She lives about an hour and half away from the church and is 80-ish and still manages to go to church every Sunday. She's such a gem but has been struggling with her health lately. She can't see very well and her first request to us when we came was about somehow getting the Book of Mormon on CD so that she can listen to it. Well, it was about a two and a half month ordeal. The office kept sending the wrong format or the office would send them to the wrong city or the CDs that would come hadn't even been burned. Well! Finally, the new CDs came and we really doubted that they would work. They didn't work on our stereo or our DVD player but we brought them and decided to try them out on hers. We really thought it would be like all the other times and we'd have to say "We are so sorry! We'll have to call someone and have them send you new CDs!" Well, we popped them in and behold! They worked! Well, she got up in testimony meeting yesterday and just talked about how the Book of Mormon has blessed her life and she's so happy she's been able to listen to the Book of Mormon on CD. She talked about how much the missionaries have blessed her life and continue to bless her life every day. It was really touching.

I'm really grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve a mission here in Ekat. President Christensen is such an inspired man, and I'm so grateful that he is the president here. The more I follow his counsel, the more I see the blessings that he has promised. Being a missionary is tough-- I'll be honest. People don't always want to talk to you and sometimes they insult you but they're not the people we're here to teach. We're here to teach the people that are prepared to receive the Gospel. Anyone that's not prepared? Well, they will be with time so there's no use worrying about them. 

I hope you have a great week, and I pray for you all the time.  I love you all very much, and I pray for you all the time. You're so great!

With all the love in the world,
Sister Brown
your very favorite daughter, aunt, niece, granddaughter, etc.