"... because there the Lord confused the language of the WHOLE world..."

Dearest Friends-

Here in Russia I am finding little hints of spring. The birds are singing and the sun is shining but I believe with all of this snow spring will take much longer than back home. During the night everything that had melted during the day freezes so in the mornings and evenings you are walking on ice. During the day, you are trekking through slush, mud, and puddles upon puddles. I have switched to a lighter coat so I’m excited about that. People have been saying how warm it is back home and that they can open windows and such……. You really need to be quiet… haha JUST kidding:) I will have my window open soon enough I’m sure. I hope. While I’m thinking of it, you can’t control how much heat is coming into your home (dorm room, apartment, flat). If you are getting warm you open a window. And if you were to have your front door open all day it wouldn’t affect your heating bill. Just an fyi for you:)

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a pretty full week here. There were some definite ups and some definite downs. Having internet in my room has already been a huge blessing especially during the down times. It is my little escape into the world back home:) But most importantly I can easily keep in contact with family and friends. I was disappointed to find that hulu is not available in this part of the country. Sometimes just a half hour show is nice to have to settle down with after a long day. Guess I’ll just have to be content with what I brought with me from home:)

I believe I’ve told you about the worship conference that the Hinson’s are leading on Saturday nights. I was there for the first week and helped with the Eshelman and Hinson kids. The next week I volunteered to watch the kids at the E’s so they wouldn’t have to worry about the kids during the sessions. So the last two Saturday nights I’ve been with the kids. I brought some movies with me from home so I take them with me when I watch them. I knew there was a reason why I brought my preschooler show “Charlie and Lola” with me… It’s just right for Iva to watch:) But yes, we are three weeks into the worship conference and we have three weeks left. We are halfway done. I usually stay at the Eshelmans place on Saturday nights but this week there were a total of 16 people already staying there… I decided not to be the 17th. It was the Eshelman family, Nastia (girl from the orphanage), Lola (a girl staying for spring break), and 9 ladies in town for a conference. I think I made a wise choice:)

So I have three teachers that trade off each week for my class. But this past week all three of my regular teachers were sick… I think it’s something about our classroom or us students… In America, what happens when your teacher is sick and the regular subs they get (if they even get a sub) are sick? They cancel class. What do they do here? Find sub after sub after sub… I had a different teacher every day for 7 days in a row. They are Russian Language teachers, yes, but they usually teach the higher levels of the language. They aren’t used to us newbie’s. Sooo yeah. Its been an interesting week at class. There were days I thought about not going because of everything being up in the air. And its difficult to be getting used to a different teaching style each day. But I’m proud to say that I didn’t skip. In fact, I haven’t missed a day since I started. There were days that I wanted to leave after I got there but I was too scared to leave not knowing what the teacher of the day would do:) They should have just canceled classes…

My university has a museum on the… 4th floor? Its like three good sized rooms with history about the university. There were several faculty members who were a part of the war so they tie in a lot of history about that. When they said we were going to a museum I got pretty excited:) But then they said it was only on the fourth floor… But I was pretty impressed with the whole thing. It was very nice and interesting. I didn’t understand everything that they were telling me but that is to be expected.

Breaks from classes have been interesting this past week. Some friends of mine from China wrote my name in Chinese for me which I was pretty excited about:) Still am. They seem to think that I should also be learning Chinese while I’m here… Shoot me in the face… haha I’d love to be able to learn Chinese BUT I’m having a hard enough time with Russian. And learning them at the same time… Madness. Yeah, just to let you know, this studying Russian thing I’m doing has pretty much ruined any chance of me learning any other language. Pretty sure. I can definitely see the importance now but I don’t think my brain is built for this.

Almost every day I hear the name “Alexander Sergey Pushkin”… If you didn’t know (which I didn’t), he is a famous Russian poet from way back when. He is very much dead but still his name comes up all the time. He is in my textbook dozens of times. They use dialogues of people talking about Pushkin to study and learn new words from. I haven’t been able to read any of his poems cause they are all in Russian. Obviously. But my friend, Vicka, found a collection of his poems with Russian on one side and English on the other. I’m excited:) Now maybe I can figure out why this man was so great.

Last Sunday, Cecil preached at the oldest Pentecostal church in the city. I went with as well as the Hinson family. Apparently, at this church not long ago the men sat on one side and the women on the other. Also, the women wore head coverings. So I had to be prepared with a head covering and to possibly sit with the women. Turns out that most of the women wear head coverings but not all so it was fine that I didn’t and they sit wherever they want. I guess the pastor has been working hard at trying to get the church to grow. But yes, it was an interesting service. It started at 11am and didn’t get done till 1pm. The seating is on wooden benches with backs that didn’t reach the middle of my back so 2 hours was… at times slightly uncomfortable. There was worship, Cecil preached with Tonya translating, the pastor got up and pretty much preached again, Steve Hinson did a special number, then there was announcements and prayer. The pastor and his wife live on the second floor of the church. They brought us there and fed us an amazing lunch. Their kitchen is tiny but somehow we managed to all eat. I think you could fit a queen sized bed in there but that’s it. After lunch Tonya and the men went back downstairs to the church for a leaders meeting. I think we were finally in the car at 6pm with still an hour’s drive to go:) It was a long day for everybody but a great experience.

Last Wednesday, I went for an outing with a lady, Irina, who is studying English and Italian. Her Italian teacher goes to my church and that’s how she heard about me. Irina has a car so she took me to lunch and also to one of the squares downtown I hadn’t been to yet. My college student stomach was extremely blessed at the restaurant she took me to. She ordered salad, a main course, dessert, juice as well as tea. Yes, I was very blessed:) This was the first sit down restaurant that I have been to here that I ordered food at so that was interesting. They had an English menu so I was excited about that. But yes, it was a great opportunity to meet and get to know her. She says that we will do it again in the future so I guess I didn’t scare her too badly:) Her son is learning English at school so she had me talk to him on the phone for a few minutes. He is only like 8 years old but his pronunciation was pretty good on the few words he knew:)

My first week here I read in my Bible about the Tower of Babel and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. I wonder what the world would be like if the people hadn’t built the tower and if God hadn’t divided the languages. Would there be different languages like there is now or would there just be a lot of different accents? And how did God decide who would have what language? Were families separated because they were given different languages? What was it like to suddenly be speaking a different language? Did they sound the same in their own eyes/ears and everyone else sounded different? I have often been pondering these questions… The answers to these can only be answered when I get to heaven:) Maybe they have some “what ifs” videos that I can watch or maybe the video on the Tower of Babel has some bonus features…. Whatever happened (or would have happened) I’m SO thankful that the Lord hears and understands me whenever or wherever I am. He knows what I’m going to say before I say it. He understands what I’m thinking or feeling even better than I do! I’m thankful that we don’t have to learn a certain language to talk to God. We don’t have to memorize certain prayers or anything. We can talk to Him just like we would talk to a close friend. With not having as many people with me throughout the day that speak English, me and God are having more inside jokes than ever before. I see something funny and I’m like “Hey, God you saw that right? That was hilarious! No one else saw it or understood it but we did!” Yes, it’s okay for you to have an inside joke with God:) So I guess in all my pondering and inside joking… Most likely you don’t have a language barrier to deal with where you are right now. So what’s stopping you from shining Gods light to those around you? But I also challenge you… Before you text your bff about that funny thing that just happened to you… Tell God first. He already knows about it but He would love to hear you say it in your own words. Before you call your mom to tell her about your day… let God know about it. Create some inside jokes with God. He has a sense of humor too you know:)

Well, according to my schedule this is a day or two late but thankfully I got it out before my weekend ended. Hooray! My prayer requests… Always be praying for my classes and that I would understand things quickly. That’s an everyday struggle for me. Also that God would provide times for me to talk one-on-one with these women He has been putting in my life. You guys amaze me.

Pondering,

Leah

"never be lacking in zeal..."

Greetings to You My Faraway Friends-

Just when I thought I could bring out my lighter coat it got cold again. In fact, the other morning I walked outside and found that it had snowed during the night! Pretty sure I gasped as I went outside. So now there is a combination of snow, ice, slush, mud, and gooey mud to walk through. Hooray. Slowly but surely these Russians will emerge from their coats and hats so they won’t look so intimidating anymore. Oh how I await the day.

Classes have been pretty rough lately, especially my last Friday, Saturday, and Monday sessions. You forgot that I have classes on Saturdays did you? Hahaha I’m still in denial about it. But the conversations I have with the people at the university have kept up with the usual standard. One of my teachers thought she was pretty cool to bring up Brittany Spears, McDonalds, and Charlie Chaplin. Another teacher mentioned Arnold Schwarzenegger, which I thought was hilarious. She also said that she loves the show “House” which I actually was impressed that she watches it. I think they’ve stopped bringing up President Obama... I was on break last Monday when one of the Asian students (the one who said that he loves me) was messing around with the guys and showed his “muscles”. So I took the opportunity to teach them that that is called “a gun show” :) At first they were like, “Gun?... guns? … show? Guns show?” and they would look at me, then at their arm, then at their hands that were formed like a gun. It was hilarious. Eventually they caught on and were laughing pretty hard about it. I’m such a good American teaching them such useful phrases… :) I can just see them in America walking up to a clerk at a store and in a moment of panic the only English words they can think of are, “Gun show!” Oooohhhh that would be amazing! Think of the confusion!! And think of the fun:) I met a guy on Wednesday who learned a lot of his English from movies. He said that I can call him “Mr. C”…. not sure where the Mr. C came from… And he said that he has heard of me… Again with the creepiness of people talking about me…

On Friday, I was in line at the school café and trying to order something new. Thankfully, the boss lady knows me by name and is very understanding & helpful. There was a guy and girl in front of me that asked if I was a foreigner… No, I’m just a Russian who doesn’t know what this chicken is called… Haha no really, I told them I was and actually talked with them awhile. The guy knew English surprisingly well and combined with my little knowledge of Russian we were able to understand each other. We left the café at the same time and talked awhile again. Very nice people. I hope I run into them again. I love how God brings people into my life who know English:)

I have two suitemates in my dorm. They have one bedroom, I have the other, and we share a bathroom. They are from China but they know Russian pretty well. I honestly haven’t talked with them much at all and have been feeling convicted about that. So on Thursday night I got some of the leftover food from movie night and gave it to them. Hoping it would be some sort of peace offering or something, I don’t know. Well, Friday afternoon there was a knock at my door and one of the girls came in bearing gifts of warm pancakes… My favorite:) I think I may have started a food friendship…

Tuesday, I went to see if a computer lab was open to use the internet. The usual old lady was replaced with an old man and no one else was in the room. The lady knows that I don’t speak Russian but I had to explain to the man since she wasn’t there and try to find out if I could use a computer or not. He would say something in Russian then all of sudden he was speaking in English about submarines, bombs, and torpedoes… I asked if he knew some English (I didn’t know what else to say) and he said something in Russian then started on again about submarines and different war terms that you would hear from an old movie. He turned on a computer and walked back to his desk so I guessed that meant it was okay for me to use it. I used the computer without being attacked or anything so that’s good. I’m Alive!

On Sunday, I was introduced to a lady who supposedly knows English. She was a very nice lady but it was kind of awkward cause she stood and sat really close to me and was asking me random questions. I do know she asked if I knew Joyce Meyer and John Bevere. I thought that was kind of funny. When she realized that I really don’t know much Russian she started asking me if I spoke German, or French. Yeah no. I would have been even more lost. Speaking of LOST, Tim’s friend let him borrow the first season of LOST but it’s all in Russian voiceovers. I watched some with Tim and the girls and I’m like, “What did she say?! What just happened?” Poor kids. What they put up with when I’m around…

Another incident with the language here was on Tuesday night. A friend came over to my room for awhile and I walked her to the bus stop when she was leaving. It was dark and she wasn’t quite sure where everything was. When I got back to my dorm building, the dorm lady caught me and was telling me something. The only word I understood was “walk” and the more she tried to tell me what she was saying the more she got upset. I didn’t know what she wanted and because she was so upset I called Tonya and gave the phone to the dorm lady. Apparently, she was only concerned for my safety and doesn’t want me going out in the dark because of drunks and what not. So it was very considerate of her but she got so upset in trying to tell me. I must admit that I was shook up about the whole thing. The first time that I was “out” that late at night, other than being dropped off by someone, and I get yelled at. Oh joy. Oh and fyi, my dorm building was built in 1959. I found that out today:)

Last Saturday was the first of a five week worship conference that Steve and Amanda Hinson are leading. They invited worship leaders, worship team members, pastors, and anyone else who wanted to attend. Steve and Amanda have been preparing it for a long time. I think they had a pretty good turnout and I’m sure that the numbers will grow as the sessions go on. Steve did most of the speaking and Tonya translated for him. Amanda talked about songwriting but she actually did quite a bit of speaking Russian on her own. But watching/listening to Tonya translating for Steve was hilarious. He used the illustration of golf and fishing so she had to translate all the technical stuff that goes with that. They were right in the middle of the fishing story and Steve says “I have no idea where I’m going with this.” Oh how I laughed cause Tonya was trying so hard to translate the fishing technicalities that he was describing. I actually kept an eye on the Eshelman and Hinson kids a lot during the meeting so I didn’t get to hear everything. It really went great though and I’m excited for the weeks ahead.

I usually stay with the Eshelmans on Saturday nights that way I can do laundry, use the internet, and ride with them to church. Starting this past weekend, they have a girl from the orphanage staying overnight with them the same time as me. They gave her a choice of where to sleep and she decided to sleep in the back room with me. I was surprised because she doesn’t know any English and didn’t seem too impressed with me. So we’ll see how it goes with her coming every weekend. Hopefully, I will be able to be some kind of light into her life even though we can’t really talk much. I’m definitely sure that the Eshelman family will be a wonderful thing to have in her life. I just hope that I can be of some use too.

In a time in my life when words aren’t much use to me, my actions are speaking volumes. I forget how people are watching me and waiting to see my reactions to my new life here. They are watching to see how this American deals with difficult situations, learning Russian, relationships and everything else. Every day I will look up from whatever I’m doing and find someone watching me. If you have ever seen “Inception” it has a great image of what it’s like for me here. For those of you who have seen it, it’s like when someone is messing with a dream and the people in it start watching them cause they know that that is the person messing with the dream… I hope that made sense. Anyway, like I said, I’ve already been forgetting how people watch me. On Monday, it was a really rough day in class and I really didn’t want to be there. At lunch break I ate with my classmate, Tolya, who doesn’t know much English. But we were eating and he said in English, “What is wrong with you today?” Instantly I felt ashamed and was kicking myself for letting the days lessons get to me so visibly. I have a friend who will ask me, “Why so serious?” if I even look like I’m slightly sad or deep in thought… People are watching my actions. My facial expressions. How I hold myself. How I dress. Actions speak louder than words and that is definitely the case here. The Eshelmans love to tell the story of when they read a chapter in Proverbs and when they asked the kids what they learned from it, Vera said, “The sluggard is lazy.” :) I don’t want to be lazy. I want to make my time here count for something. And if that means being more careful with my actions then that’s what I need to do. I read this verse the other day, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11. Life stinks sometimes. Classes stink. A lot lately. But I can’t let myself be cut down. I have to keep going to God to keep my spiritual life alive. I have to keep myself in check to make sure that I am displaying a life that is pleasing to God. If you are a believer in Christ and you have let that be known, people are watching you. It might not be as “visible” like what I’m experiencing here but they are. The guy who sits behind you in class. The lady at the next cubicle. Your neighbor. Your little brother. Your dad. Do they see a difference in you? Or have you become lazy and let your spiritual fervor die? What do your actions say? What do your facial expressions say? Let your light shine for Christ.

I have a praise report! I now have internet access in my dorm! This is a wonderful thing for me because the computer labs at school are not consistent and it is hard to talk with the workers. The Eshelmans have internet at their place but I can’t always be over there, now can I? So yes, I’m very excited!

I am so blessed to have your prayers and support. I couldn’t do this without you. You are all amazing.

Being saved in Gods unfailing Love,
Leah

"...like the sun when it rises in its strength..."

Greetings Faithful Friends-

I don’t know if I can beat the excitement and funny stories from my last blog but I’ll give it a try:) I’m glad that so many of you enjoyed it.

Well, what can I tell you about this past week… Last Saturday, I had class from 9-2 as usual with Ivan, Tolya, and newcomer, Mesha. He is also from China and seems to know more about what he’s doing/saying. He says he knows a little English but I haven’t heard anything other than him saying, “I know a little English.” Hhhmmmmhh. We shall see. Anyway, at 1pm our teacher told us to pack up and follow her. I didn’t have a clue where we were going but I’m getting used to following people around blindly. And hey, we were getting out of class early:) She brought us to the main auditorium at the university where, lo and behold, all of the other Asian students we hang out with were. Come to find out it was a presentation/concert for the female teachers in honor of the 8th of March- “Woman’s Day.” I guess they decided that us foreigners needed to experience some Russian culture. Anyway, it was a fun concert cause I got to hang out with Tolya, and my friends Anton & Vera. Ivan went to the bathroom at least 20 minutes before we left the classroom. He didn’t have his phone with him for us to call him on so he totally missed the concert. Poor kid.

Pretty sure I laughed at parts of the concert that I shouldn’t have but nobody kicked me out. And pretty sure none of us foreigners knew exactly what was going on most of the time. They gave out some special awards to a bunch of the teachers and they would go up to the stage to accept flowers. They would even do a little curtsey! It reminded me of “The Sound of Music” when they are at the concert at the end of the movie when everyone is clapping, giving flowers, and curtseying. You know the part where the family doesn’t come out of the tunnel to accept first place in the competition? …. Anyway… I put up some pictures of the concert and a video of one of the dances on facebook. I find it difficult to describe the concert ..….. A bit much? There were a few groups that performed that I really wanted to ask, “Are you for real?” There were opera type singers who came out in ballroom dresses and had videos of lightening on the screens. And the light effects… Oh Lord. Any light, didn’t matter what color, was going whenever the light person felt like it. If all of them were on at the same time that was totally fine. Ohhh wow. I have never experienced anything like that concert. But like I said, we got out of class early:) This is a pic of one of the bands....



I had a mini English lesson with some of the Asian students the other day. They had me writing on the board and everything. I’m trying to teach them how to say, “How u doin?” just because I think it would be funny to hear once in awhile:) The guy who told me of his love really likes to have a “dialogue” with me. It usually goes, “Hello”, “Hello”, “How are you?”, “I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” I just like the part where he says, “I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” cause that’s when he starts laughing. He called me over from across the room the other day and asked what city I was from. I told him and he just walked away deep in thought. I walked all that way why exactly?

Saturday night, was a completely different experience from the concert. I crossed from one extreme to the other. I went with the Eshelmans and the Hinsons to a homeless shelter where Cecil was invited to preach. The shelter is located just past the last bus stop on the edge of town. It was pretty dark out there and there wasn’t much light to see the buildings or anything. It might have helped if I had seen things more because I was not prepared for what was in the meeting/eating house. The meeting house was tightly packed with people sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and back-to-back who all turned to watch us come in. I felt like I stepped back in time when I entered that room. It just seemed like something you would see in an old war movie or something. I would say there was at least 80 people stuffed into the room. Almost immediately I felt ashamed of any complaint I have made about not having the right clothes, or not liking a certain food… An incredibly humbling experience. Sometimes the smell wasn’t very pleasant but that is the case in many places in Russia. Most restrooms don’t have toilet paper, soap, or paper towels so you are out of luck if don’t bring your own toiletries. It was a good service and the people were very responsive to Cecil’s preaching. After the sermon, they had their evening meal and we were invited to stay. They served soup and bread that they make in their own brick ovens. They didn’t have enough dishes for everyone to eat at once so they would wash dishes as soon as someone was done eating. On church on Sunday, Tonya asked everyone to bring any dishes they don’t use for us to bring to the shelter. I hope there is a good response with that. I would like to go back to the homeless shelter in more light so I can really see everything. I guess in the summer they have gardens and they also have some of their own farm animals. I took a few pictures but they aren’t the greatest. I felt funny taking pictures considering the situation. The Eshelmans took some on their camera so I’ll have to see how they turned out.

The next morning we had church. The alarm went off way to soon after being out late at the shelter:) Every Sunday after the service we go off into a side room for fellowship/food time. My first Sunday there, a lady told Cecil to tell me that I needed to push my way to the food. Apparently Russians have a smaller personal space than Americans. She came over a few seconds later with a plate full of food for me. So the next Sunday I made sure to get plenty of food so no one would go to the trouble of helping me. But then a man was concerned because I didn’t have any tea. He went and got Tim to tell me that I needed some tea. So the third Sunday, I had it all figured out. I grabbed a plate of food and my tea so no one would have to bother getting me anything. I even found a chair to sit where they could see me eating. But then the pastor’s wife, Natasha, asked why I didn’t have any cake…. I give up.

Something that has and is still difficult for my American brain to understand is the shopping situation here. In America, we are taught to make a list and try to go as few times as possible in a week. Some people manage to take just one trip a week to the grocery store. Fill up the car with groceries! By saving time we are saving money. But here its totally acceptable if you go every day. Most people don’t have cars so they have to carry whatever they buy all the way home. I would also say that part of it is because of needing to buy things fresh, like bread. Bread is literally everywhere and in everything. I don’t think I have had a meal where there wasn’t any bread or at least a grain type food. But the first few times that I went to the store I made a list of all the things that I would need for the week and possibly longer… Yeah that didn’t work and I think the store people hated me. They actually ask you before they start ringing up your stuff if you even want a plastic bag. And if you do want a bag they try with all their might to fit everything you buy into that one bag. I only know of one bigger grocery store that has their own bag. That is, one with a logo and stuff. All the other grocery stores have a small black bag which I think is partly because people have to lug whatever they buy all over town. But anyway, as much as it against everything I’ve been taught and as much as I dislike going to the store never knowing if someone is going to ask me something in Russian… I go more than once a week. Shocking I know…. I will now make friends with the cashiers and be able to fit everything in those tiny black bags. Hooray for me. Hopefully this change in me will not be permanent.

On Sunday I helped Tonya prepare for a tea party for some ladies in honor of Women’s Day on March 8th. It’s a pretty big holiday here and girls of all ages are congratulated and given gifts just because they are female. We had sandwiches, all kinds of sweets and, of course, tea for the ladies. There were 7 of us and then all of the kids. I helped babysit so the ladies could talk. I put up a video on facebook of one of the little girls complaining that she couldn’t go on the top of the bunk bed. It was hilarious. Wednesday there was a second tea party held at the Hope Center that Tonya organized. It was for a larger group of ladies so there was more work to be done:) But it really turned out to be a lovely party. My pastor’s wife, Natasha, was telling Tonya that she was so surprised at how nice everything was. She had not expected table cloths, real tea cups, and all of the delicious food. Tonya told her that is was something she learned from America:) I’ve put a few pictures on facebook so you can see what it all looked like.


I was very blessed on Women’s Day. I spent it with the Eshelmans relaxing and then getting ready for the tea party. Vera Eshelman painted a picture for me to put on the wall in my room. I already have it up:) Deanna E. bought me some cream that she picked out herself. And Tonya gave me a rose as I was leaving to go to my dorm room. But also having the opportunity to serve these ladies was a gift in itself. Yes, I was blessed on this Womens Day:)

Love is so amazing. Father God gave the greatest gift of Love. He gave it me. He gave it to you. I am alive because of His Love. My heart and my soul are ALIVE because of His Love. Without it I would be cold and dead inside. Not really living. Not ever experiencing the depth of my Heavenly Father. But with this gift of Love, I’m alive. When you experience this great Love, life has new meaning. You can actually feel His deep Love for you. Can you feel it? Can you hear Him whispering his love to you? He’s saying, “Come away with me! Let me show you the beauty of my Love. Its depth. Its riches. Its fullness...” Only Gods Love can make you whole again. Only this can fill the void in your heart. Only God can set you free. In the book of Judges (5:31) an incredibly wise woman named Deborah said, “So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may they who LOVE you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” What a picture that creates in my mind! To be like the sun rising in the morning. I know I talked with you last time about Gods Love, as well as now, but let me leave you with what is the prayer of my heart. Ephesians 3:16-19, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through this Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Amen.

I have a few prayer requests. One is a little strange. When I sit for long periods of time in what you might call a “student” position (you know when you are leaning forward and writing a lot) I get an uncomfortable sensation in my left shoulder blade. Sometimes it feels like a thin stream of extremely cold water and sometimes it feels like super hot water. The other day it reminded me of what it felt like to get a wart burnt off. Well, I’ve had this feeling before but not as frequent or as intense as I’ve had it lately. I guess its cause I’m in class longer than I was in the States and always needing to be in that “student” position. I would appreciate your prayers concerning this. It’s not always painful but definitely distracting and uncomfortable. My second request is quite simple but a little expensive. I could really use a refrigerator for my room. I don’t have a microwave either but a refrigerator would be more useful right now. I can’t buy anything that needs to be kept cold like milk, or eggs. So yeah, a fridge would be awesome:) My other request I think was said best by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” Ephesians 6:19. His words but they resonate in my heart.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I appreciate you all so much! Oh and fyi for all of you. I’m hoping to give a tour of my dorm building and parts of the university on video… I’ve been planning this for awhile but I thought if I put this in a blog I might actually go out and do it:) I’m not sure how doing it at the university will go but I’d like to try. Some places here don’t even allow pictures so we’ll see. Anyway, stay tuned. You are all amazing.

An official Women’s Day participant,

Leah

...perfect Love...

Greetings Dear Friends-

So remember how I said that I’ve been watching for one of these high boot women to slip and fall on the ice? Well during break one day I was looking out the window and watched one of them fall. Hard. I kind of squealed and covered my mouth cause I saw it coming. I got some strange looks from the Asian students… It actually wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be, watching her fall that is. Probably because it was a lady in her 50’s. There was a guy who helped her up and walked away smiling. I think he’s been waiting with me:)

I have three teachers for my class(es) and not any of them know Chinese or English. When none of us in class understand what they are trying to say they sometimes act it out. One day I had a teacher I’d never had before (this is when it was just me in class) and she immediately went into acting when I didn’t know what she was saying. She started blowing kisses, giving air hugs, and batting her eyes….. It was so weird it wasn’t funny. I finally remembered (much to her relief I’m sure) that it was Valentine’s Day:)One teacher even acted out sitting on a toilet. Brave woman. Last week, Ivan was trying to describe a type of bug to our teacher by making motions with his hands. She instinctively stomped on his imaginary bug. Ohhhhh how I laughed.

Monday was an eventful day in class. Tolya had severe stomach cramps and had to leave class for a little while. My teacher freaked out and was asking if he needed a doctor. At lunch, Ivan had a huge meal that included three fried fish. Well, something from the fish got stuck in his throat and for the rest of the day he made noises, ate more, and drank water, trying to get whatever it was unstuck. The Russian word for fish sounds like you are saying “reba” which for some reason I have found funny. But the fact that Ivan had a “reba” stuck in his throat made the whole situation hilarious to me…. I guess I’m not a very compassionate missionary… On Tuesday, Ivan didn’t show up for class. Apparently he went to the doctor to get the fish out of his throat…. I really wish I could have seen the doctors face when Ivan told him that he had a “reba” stuck in his throat. I would have paid money to see it:) Wednesday, Ivan came back to class. I asked him about what happened at the doctor and he said that they actually pulled out whatever it was out of his throat. That’s all he would tell me:) At lunch that day I joked with Tolya about getting fish for lunch like we had been since Monday. Neither of us have touched the fish since the episode. But Ivan (on his first day back) had fish again for lunch… I couldn’t believe it. I sat across from him and watched as he slowly chewed his fish and would every so often pull out a bone from his mouth. He caught me watching him and he said, “I must be very careful.” Crazy kid.

One of the Asian students from another class decided to profess his love for me in the presence of about 10 other guys. In English no less. Dianna Eshelman, who is 10 years old, asked me the other day, “Are you going to get married in Russia?” I told her that I could almost promise her that I would not be getting married in Russia. Then she proceeded to give me a talking to about that I should not just be looking for, “Someone who is pretty, but someone who will love you even when you are old.” She said lots of other things like that I needed to marry whoever God had for me, “Even if he is African, American, Russian, Chinese….” A wise women indeed:) But now I’m wondering if I should take this guy seriously after my talk with Dianna… :) Or not. Ivan asked for my phone number the other day and I tried to avoid the question. He finally caught on and said, “You don’t want to give me your phone number. You have broken my heart.” Then he put his textbook on his head and started fake crying. Later we were trying to remember the Russian word for “sunny” and Ivan said, “Its sunny outside, but my heart is cloudy because you broke my heart.” He put his book back on his head and started singing softly in Chinese like he was comforting himself. But I recognized the song and asked, “Are you singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?” He poked his head out and said that he was. I broke his heart but he’s singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star… Whatever.

I have to wash my own dishes once in awhile, believe it or not. Because I don’t have a sink in my room and because the kitchen on my floor is ALL the way across the hall :) I tend to have a hard time cleaning them cause they’ve been sitting for a few days. I should probably work on that. But anyway, I was washing dishes today when two guys came in to have a good long smoke while I’m struggling with my dirty dishes. So thanks guys for making my cleaning efforts almost completely useless. Cause now I need to rewash my dishes, clothes and take a shower. I appreciate it. Oh and Jesus loves you.

My second week here the water was off for extended periods three days in a row. Thank God that I use bottled water for most everything anyway. Right now there is no light bulb in the toilet room. Its been like that for….6 days now. I’m letting my suitemates deal with it since they can speak Russian. I wondered why I really felt like I needed to bring a flashlight with me when I was packing. I even went and bought one. Now I know:) I love how God cares about the little things. Thankfully there is a guy fixing it right now. So don't you be worrying about my battery running out:)

At the university on Friday, I was looking for my friend/body guard/translator Jane when a guy asked me something in Russian. Something about “school” but that was all I could make out so I just told him in the simplest way possible that I didn’t speak Russian. He looked embarrassed, looked down (as if he was supposed to know I couldn’t speak Russian) and just said, “Ok.” Haha maybe you just had to be there but it was funny to me. I was trying not to smile about it when I was walking down the hall cause people were looking at me funny. Although they usually do but I wasn’t helping the situation.

One thing that I have established in my life since coming here is that every Monday I reflect on the past week. I go through my journal and review everything that I wrote the past week to remind myself of all that happened. Then I write something that God really spoke to me about on a piece of paper (whether it be a verse, a lyric, or a quote from someone) and put it on my wall. It started out as just something spiritual to put on my bare walls but quickly turned into what it is. I really enjoy taking the time to do it and I love having the reminders on my wall. Sometimes more than one piece of paper goes up. I can’t wait to see how full my wall is when its time to leave:)

The last paper I put up just simply says, “I Love You.” Its written in my own hand but it came directly from my heavenly Fathers heart. The films that we’ve been watching on movie nights is the “Love Comes Softly” series, and it obviously, is all about Love. I just finished reading “Immanuel’s Veins” by Tedd Dekker which is all about Love. The songs I’ve been listening to and a lot of the Bible verses I’ve been reading have to do with Love. As you can see, I finally caught on to what God has been wanting to talk to me about:) Love for Russia. Love for my teachers, the Asian students, my fellow students, for the missionaries I’m working with, the people at my church, my suitemates, the list goes on… But even more importantly, Gods Love. Gods Perfect Love. God Loves me (you) even greater than my own understanding of the depth of it. It’s Unfathomable. I am overwhelmed by it. God’s Love is Strong, Magnificent, Overflowing, and Unconditional. It’s Perfect. I am so unworthy of such a Love. But yet He gives it to me every day. Every second. How do we become accustomed to such a Love? This Beautiful Love. Love is one of the mysteries of God in a way that we humans can’t fathom such an Intense Love. The mysteries of God. Daniel 2:28 “… but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” Let God reveal this mystery of Love to you… Last Sunday, my pastor was saying that when we ask God a question we need to give Him time to answer. God is never late. Ask God how much He loves you. Give Him some of your precious time and I’m positive He will tell you exactly how much you mean to Him.

Thank you guys for all the comments about my blog. I enjoy writing it and letting you know what’s happening this side of the pond. If you are on fb I put pics up every so often. Sometimes 5 at a time or sometimes 100. You never can tell.

You are all beautiful and amazing.

The heartbreaker,

Leah