“…gifts of food are an international love language…”

Dearest Friends,

Spring is definitely in the air even though a teacher lied to our class that it was going to snow today. Silly woman. The grass is turning green and people are spending more time outside. Now I can actually see what people have looked like all this time under their fur coats and hats. Most are less intimidating and but some are more:)

I’ve always found people watching very interesting. That may sound slightly creepyish to you but its true. I tend to be more of an observer than someone who is right in the midst of things. I enjoy watching what’s going on just as much as the person who is in the center of all the excitement. Anyway, people watching here is just as interesting to me here as it is back home. I love to start a conversation in a public place with someone in English and then watch the people’s expressions around us. They usually have the same look on their face like “I don’t want them to see me looking at them and have them think I actually care but I do wonder where they are from and how they know English and if they are American why are they on this bus.” Usually I get the strangest looks because I obviously don’t have a Russian accent. It’s quite fun although there are days when I feel like staring right back. Probably not the best idea in Russia. Or anywhere really.

One of my New Year’s resolutions was not to get sick this year. I failed when I got a cold my first month here. Well this past week was an epic fail. I caught a bad cold then got some kind of stomach flu on top of it. I have no idea what I ate or if it was a bug… No idea but whatever I did I don’t want to do it again. After getting home from class Tuesday I went straight to bed and didn’t leave my room till Thursday morning. I was basically either in bed or the bathroom. And let me tell you, authentic Chinese food is one of the worst things to smell when you are at your worst. Pretty sure I was thinking of never eating Chinese food again. Praise God by Thursday I was well enough to go to class although I was still tired and weak. I’m still being careful of what I eat. Yogurt has been my best friend. Although, I accidently bought some yogurt with mangos in it…. If you didn’t know, I’m really allergic to mangos. My allergic reaction to a mango is on my “When I Died” top ten list. And pretty sure it’s in the top 5. Thank God I saw my mistake before eating it and gave it to my roommates. They actually ended up trading me for a strawberry one. Huh I thought that was cool of them.

On Friday, we had a substitute teacher because my fav. teacher took the day off. I didn’t say she could so I don’t know what’s up with that… The sub was the one who thought I was from Belgium and I hoped she would just kind of keep talking nonstop like she did last time and I wouldn’t have to do anything. After our lunch break, she came back in the classroom and told us that she just heard that she won a contest. Apparently, she wrote a song about Khabarovsk and its upcoming birthday and entered it in a contest. She won first place! She even sung a few verses for us…. That was interesting cause she is kind of old... But she said that she needed to be somewhere that day to accept an award or hear the song… I’m not sure which but she said that she was going to let us go at 12pm instead of 2pm so she could go do this thing:) Not only that but if the other teachers asked about us leaving early she was going to tell them that she took us to see the Amur River. So we literally tiptoed out of the classroom, down the hall, and out of the building. Hahaha good times, good times. It’s a once in a lifetime thing so what are you going to do? AND the best part was that we got out early:)

Thursday night I had the unexpected pleasure of going to a ballet. Riles and Aurora Hinson were performing along with all the other groups from their program. It was movie night but I was excused to go to a cultural event:) They were definitely legit performances and we had awesome third row seats. One of the numbers really reminded me of the ballet in the Shirley Temple version of “The Little Princess”. Yes, I watched Shirley Temple. And I loved it. Anyway, it was great to relax and hang out with the ladies of the Eshelman household and the Hinson fam. And hooray for supporting Riles and Aurora!!

Recently, my roommates gave me a food gift of friendship and I hadn’t repaid the favor. On my first trip to the store after being sick, I picked up some candy bars to give to them. After the ballet, their door was open so I went in to give them my new gift of friendship. Marsha was there with only a reading lamp on which I thought was curious. She took and thanked me for the food and then took my arm apparently trying to tell me to wait a minute. She then stood up on her chair and started messing with the light bulbs in the light fixture and had me turn the light switch on and off to see if they worked. I was pretty sure she was just switching around dead light bulbs so I asked to see them. I shook them and, yes, all of them were burnt out so I told her that they were ALL burnt out. She was really confused and asked how I knew that they were… I thought everybody knew that when you shake a light bulb and can hear something jingling that means it’s burnt out…. Well, I was wrong cause she didn’t:)So I guess she learned something new that day. And if you didn’t know about it then you did too. I think that gifts of food are an international love language. That’s quote worthy. Just saying. Make sure you give credit to me.

Because space in my suitcases was limited, I wasn’t able to bring much summer clothes with me. Like pretty much none at all. I didn’t even have room for flip flops. Tragic I know. So on Friday, I was able to go shopping with Vika and her friend, Dasha. I came away with a few things. Hopefully, I can find more or what I have will somehow manage to get me through the bit of summer I will be here for. If you are really interested in how my shopping experience was, you’ll have to ask me about it sometime. Writing it all out would be extremely difficult and it’s just a better story to tell in person. But yeah, ask me and I’ll be glad to tell you about it:)

Pretty sure that everyone woman that works at the grocery store I go to is named Olga. I went on… Monday and the cashiers name tag said “Olga”. On Thursday, I was in line and all I could see was the cashier’s nametag which said “Olga”. I thought this must be the same lady I had yesterday. Nope, turned out to be a totally different person. And I know I’ve seen another Olga there… I told Tonya and she thinks that they are trying to save money on name tags:)

So everyone in my class, including me, has been hoping to visit the circus. Khabarovsk actually has a building where different groups come through all year round. We have let our desire be known to the teachers and my fav. teacher decided that she would check into ticket prices for us. So last week she found out how much they were, reported this to us, and offered to take us with another teacher if there would be enough of us that could go. At the same time, Tonya Eshelman invited me to go for Tim’s birthday. I told my teacher that I had someone else taking me and миша said he wasn’t going to go. That left only толя and иван that could go. My teacher turned them down and said that she wouldn’t take them:) She doesn’t want to waste her time on иван, who it sounds like is going to have to speak to someone really high up because of his poor student performance and many absences. That would leave толя which would be just awkward. Иван was trying to corner our teacher today trying to get her to take them. She just told him straight out, “I don’t want to.” If Иван does show up for class and it’s a beautiful day all the teachers say that it’s because he actually came to class. If he doesn’t come and it’s a beautiful day they say it’s because he DIDN’T come to class. Somehow they are always able to describe the weather based on whether he is there or not:)

So Monday is my third month anniversary here. I only have 2 months left because I go home the 2nd of July. It still is amazing to me that I’m really here…. I’ve been thinking, dreaming, planning, and hoping for this trip since I was 12 years old. I’ll be riding the bus and all of sudden I’m like… Wow, I’m really here. Yes, even after 3 months I still get that shock:) This has been such a big dream of mine to come to pass like this. It’s been quite a ride. I’m already getting excited for that next big dream to take form in my heart. I have other dreams, of course, but which one will really take hold for me? Which one will God lead me to pursue? This has been and will continue to be such an awarding experience to be in the midst of this long awaited time in my life. And the feeling of knowing that you know that you are where you are supposed to be is one of the best feelings there is. It’s still difficult at times but I know quite worth the work. And the wait. I serve a big God with BIG plans for me. And you. I encourage you to follow your dreams. Not like what they are talking about in the Disney movies like the follow your heart stuff… but the dreams that God has for you. In the past, I’ve let other people tell me what my dreams were. Even my family. But it wasn’t until I put those aside and really went for what God wanted of me that things started falling into place. And it wasn’t until I set aside my own selfish desires that things started to make sense for me. And again, I’m not talking about the Disney stuff even though I know you want to break out in a Disney song… Like I do... Allow God to revamp those lost dreams. Explore Gods treasure chest of dreams and find the one that He wants for you. And don’t just stop with just having a dream… With God’s help, go FULIFILL it! Take your own adventure that will take you to great lands unknown or maybe just somewhere in your own backyard:)

Thank you for your prayers, especially when I was sick. I’m still alive!! Happy 3rd anniversary to me! And to you!

You amaze me.

Didn’t end up needing a stomach transplant,

Leah


This for those who were waiting for the breakout in song, “We’re Soaring! Flying! There’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach! If we’re trying, yeah we’re breaking free!... You know the world may see us in a way that’s different from who we arrreeeeeee.”

… if only for a day…

Dear Friends,

It has been such a long time since we last spoke. I shudder to think of how long it has really been. I’ve kept busy all this time. You can take that as a good or bad thing. I’ll update you on things and you can decide for yourself. Let’s see the weather has been quite interesting. On the Friday before Easter it was an absolutely beautiful day. I pulled out my converse and went for a walk. I thought maybe that day would be the first of many spring days. To my disappointment there was a mix of rain and snow for 3 days after that. The snow here is amazing. I don’t know what it is but there is something special about it. I have been reassured that warm weather will be here soon enough. We shall wait:)

Classes have been very consistent since all the teachers got better. I like to know what’s going on so the consistency is nice but I must admit that they are getting a little monotonous. Although, a few Saturdays ago it turned out to be the most unmonotonous (pretty sure this isn’t a word but its fun to say) days yet. We were on break (me, толя, and миша) and had a little over an hour left of classes for the day. I was just thinking that I didn’t think I could stand another minute of class when we heard what sounded like an alarm go off. We all stopped talking and толя jumped up to look out in the hall to see what was going on. He came back and said that it was the people in the next class messing around… I wasn’t quite sure how they could have possible made an alarm sound like that but you never can tell with those kids. We all continued talking and forgot about it. Then we could hear people moving all around us… Upstairs, downstairs, in the hall, down the hall, next door… all going outside… There had to be a fire!! The guys jumped up and went into the hall. I sat frozen and then suddenly started grabbing my belongings (I couldn’t live here without my camelbak water bottle) and sticking it into my bag. I was about to grab my coat when our teacher came yelling down the hall with толя and миша in front of her still looking quite panicked. Then our teacher proceeded to give us our homework assignment… Me and the guys stared at each other trying to figure out if our teacher was crazy. If there was a fire in the building WHY IN THE WORLD was our teacher taking precious minutes of our lives by giving us a homework assignment??!! Was it a fire drill? Was there a fire? Why was the building slowly emptying and why was there a recording in Russian over the loud speakers repeating itself? What did the recording say!? Our teacher finally stopped talking and said that everything was fine. Totally fine. But she pushed us out of the room and into the hall after giving us our homework. She disappeared off to somewhere and us foreigners headed outside the fastest way we knew. We could smell something that may have been burning as we left the building. Once outside, we saw that the grounds were full of people that had been evacuated from the building. миша said, “It’s true that everything’s okay?” Of course it was in Russian but that’s basically what he said:) I don’t think we will ever know if it was a real fire or a drill. Some people have told me it was a real fire and some have said it was a fire drill. I almost died that’s all I can say. It would have served them right for making me go to school on Saturdays:)…..

Classes have their interesting moments. Like when толя is trying to ask something and no one has any idea what he is trying to say. Or when иван gets his 50th lecture… no scratch that… gets literally yelled at for not showing up to class and doing his homework. And we all get to hear it:) hooray. Or when break time in between classes turns into nap time. We’ve been doing a lot of memorizing texts and dialogues… I’m literally dreaming them. It’s quite frustrating right now because when I want to speak or write Russian I do it in English. When I need to do something in English all I can think of is Russian. And of course there are the times when I can’t think of any language at all. Ugh. Did I tell you that one of our sub teachers thought I was from Belgium? Haha that was funny. She asks, in Russian of course, “Where are you from?” I said America. She says much more slowly and louder, “Noooo, WHERE ARE YOU FROM?” Again, I said America. She looks at me with pity I’m sure thinking what a sad confused girl this is, “No, you are from Belgium.” Ohhhhh yeahhh. I forgot what nationality I am! And they taught me that on my first day! Silly me. The teachers actually faxed иванs dad last week telling him what a horrible student he has been… Should be interesting what happens next… Drama lama.

Remember the guy who talked about torpedoes and submarines that one time? You know the other time I almost died… Well I see him around school every once in awhile. I always get the giggles and have the urge to ask him how the war is going or something. WAIT! Nooooowww I know where that fire came from!! Guess that’s what happens when you are going to school near a battlefield…

I got a call a couple weeks ago from that English teacher at the university that I met on my first week here. She said she wanted to do some kind of interview on my first impressions of Russia… I said sure I’d do an interview and we planned to meet a few days later. We met in the center of the university and as we walked she told me what she had neglected to tell me on the phone. The “interview” was going to be me, talking into a microphone, for 5 minutes, about my first impressions of Russia that would be put on a podcast… No introduction. No questions. Just me. For 5 minutes. Hit it. Oooohhh Lord. I wasn’t nervous until she told me what was REALLY going on. We got to the office where two guys were waiting to do the recording. The teacher gave me a piece of paper and a pencil and said, “You will write what you want to say and we will not disturb you for 5 minutes.” Awesome. I might as well write my will. I haven’t heard from her since my 5 minute execution. My only comfort is that very few will even listen to the podcast. I hope.

I’ve also done a written interview for my friend. It was an assignment of hers to get an interview of a foreigner. And what are friends for? I was thankful for the written questions but I was pressed for time on that one as well. Gotta love Russians and their lack of planning ahead.

Me and my friend Vicka were eating peanuts in my dorm room not long ago and the shells reminded me of the restaurant that you can throw the peanut shells on the floor (I always forget which one that is…). I told Vicka about it and then told her about Lamberts and how they throw rolls. Oh her reaction was priceless:)

I have a refrigerator!! I can’t remember if I’ve told you but I don’t mind telling you again because it is still wonderful news!! Also, my surprise Easter present was a microwave!!! Praise the Lord! The possibilities of what I can eat now make my head spin! Like I told a friend of mine, the biggest Easter present I’ve gotten was a Barbie… so this microwave definitely takes first prize now.

I try to have some quiet times to myself once in awhile. One of my favorite afternoons was when it rained and I had the window open and drank coffee. Not exactly like my favorite spot back home (Fusion Brew) but it was good times.

God continues to put people in my life who speak English. Easter Sunday a girl that was a visitor was all of sudden in my face and talking to me in English. I was totally taken off guard. It was one of those moments where no language is available to my brain or mouth. She’s a really nice girl though. I hope to talk with her again soon.

I went to an orphanage last week with Tonya. She got permission to use the eggs that have different things inside that tell the Easter story. This was really a God-thing that she got permission to do that. Other times she has gone there she has almost gotten dragged out and has had actual students yelling to hurt her cause she isn’t Orthodox. But God had his hand in this ministry opportunity and it went very well. She went a few times the week before Easter and told the story to the different age groups. She actually had some good talks with some of the teachers as well. There was a teacher when I went with that asked why these kids had to be without families and live at an orphanage. They don’t deserve the life that they have she said. The children of Russia need a Heavenly Father. They need a Savior.

I was thinking today about all that I’ve seen in Russia. All that I’ve experienced. All that happens in a day here. I wish that I could transport you here even just for a day. Maybe then you would understand why I’m here. Why the Eshelmans are here. Why the Hinsons are here. Why they need more laborers of the field. Why Russia has been on my heart since the age of twelve. Why some days are very difficult and I would rather just stay in bed. Why other days are so full of God’s love that I don’t want the day to end. I wish I could bring you here. Just for a day. Or two. Or a lifetime. For many of you, I can’t take you here even for a day. But I can try.

My two month anniversary here has come and gone. In fact my 3rd month anniversary is right around the corner… It’s funny how you think you are prepared for something and then you are in the midst of it and you’re like… What have I gotten myself into? That happens to me quite often. Many of those times I know God neglected to tell me about it in advance for a reason:) But one of those things I thought would be quite ordinary and natural would be creating friends. My mind said I’ll go to Russia, make some friends, win people to Jesus, and make some more friends…. I didn’t totally grasp what “making friends” would entail. I neglected to remember what making a friend means. What happens when you become someone’s friend. I neglected to realize how REAL making friends here is. The real feelings that you have for people. It has really taken me off guard the connections that I’m making with people here. I didn’t realize how “real” it would be. We have inside jokes, we know when each other is tired, when we are frustrated, when it’s time to hang out, giving gifts to each other… This is for real. Why didn’t God warn me? God is so funny sometimes. But so am I.

I don’t know if you can understand what I’m saying. I’m doing a lot of thinking out loud. That is if you call this out loud… But I guess this would be a good example of why I want you to come to Russia so you can see and experience it for yourself. If only for a day:)

You are all amazing.
“My love to all of you in Christ Jesus, Amen.” 1 Cor. 16:24

Still living and breathing no thanks to the torpedo guy,

Leah

“…isn’t everything Made in China?...”

Mellow Greetings Friends-


I am happy to announce that on Wednesday afternoon the window in my room was open:) It’s still chilly outside but with the heat on in all the buildings it can get quite warm। So yay! Although one downside to the window being open is that sometimes smoke comes in from people outside… Gross… I can actually see brown grass in places but mostly mud. Drying is the key right now. Everything is wet and muddy. Which God must not have heard my plea for everything to dry cause it rained off and on all day Friday… Darkest day that I’ve been here I think… I missed the really dark days of January:)But I'm sad to announce that it rained all day Friday and snowed on Saturday......


I actually have had 8 teachers total now. It was at 7 last time we talked. But the teachers that have been sick have finally returned so things are getting back to normal again. Also we started a geography type class in addition to the regular language study. Sounds like we will be learning the Russian names for geography type stuff. Like what the “Atlantic Ocean” is spelt in Russian and were it is. Should be interesting….


On Wednesday, I went was on my way to Golden Bird for a shopping trip when I thought I heard my name called… Right away I thought that I was just imagining it and forgot about it. I took about 4 more steps when I heard it again… This time I looked behind me and then laughed at myself for thinking someone was saying my name. I took about 2 more steps when I definitely heard my name being yelled from somewhere above/behind me… I could just barely make out an arm hanging out of window on the fourth floor of one of the dorm buildings. It was waving furiously, though not at me, just flying around to catch my eye. I quickly figured out that I was standing before dorm building No. 2 which is where most of the Chinese students I know live… And pretty sure that was иван (pronounced Ivan) hand hanging out the window… So I quickly waved and walked on hoping he would not try to have a conversation with me from the window with his hand… I think the tree in the way helped. The hand said, “Goodbye!” with a strong Chinese accent. I walked on breathing a sigh of relief that the hand was not in a talkative mood at the moment. When I came back the same way (any other way would have been too long) I walked quickly hoping to not make… eye contact (?) with the hand again. Thankfully, it did not. The next day at school I asked толя (pronounced Tolya) if it had been иван hanging out of the window. He said it wasn’t but he could only remember the guys name in Chinese and not Russian (the teachers give Russian names to everyone on their first day of class). But later женя (pronounced Jenya) (the guy who said I love you) came up to me and said that it had been his hand talking to me:) This is женя on the left and толя on the right:

So I have successfully taught my bff женя how to do a gun show. I say where’s the gun show and he gives one:) Although the other day when I asked him about the gun show he said that all he needed to do was flex his finger. That was all he needed to do:) Nice comeback:) He gave me some Chinese money on Friday! I’m excited:) The guys are really fascinated by this “gun show” and brought out their dictionaries to figure out its exact meaning… Boy was it hard to tell them that it wasn’t going to be in their dictionary the kind of way the word was being used! I finally had to use the example of толя saying “game over” to illustrate. The guys like to make “Made in China” jokes. They will be talking to each other and someone will randomly say “Made in China” and they all start laughing hysterically. On Wednesday, иван asked our teacher what her cup was called and she told him it was called a “thermos”. He didn’t understand so she looked to see if “thermos” was written on the cup somewhere and only found that it said “Made in Thailand”…. Иван said, “Made in Thailand… not made in China?”…. And they all started laughing….


So my other bff толя found out that I am leaving in July। He has been bringing it up almost every day since then. He has the date memorized and will sometimes during break write it on the board and look at me all sad. Although he has said that it will be “better” for me to be in America again:) Last week during all the confusion with teachers only he and I came to class and apparently we bonded. When he found out that I was only here for one semester he wrote “friendly” on the board trying to tell me that he didn’t want me to leave because I’m very friendly. It came out “friedly” … but I got the idea:) He said that иван and миша (pronounced Misha) are not going to come back with him next semester so he’ll be all alone. He really won’t be all alone cause I’m sure there will be other students. He just won’t have any of us with him. Sad day. But I know that he will make lots of new friends next semester:) So I don’t know how old толя is or when his birthday is…. When I asked him the first time he said he was 21. When my teachers asked him how old he is he said 23… When one teacher asked him when his birthday is he said October 7th. When another asked him the same question he said February something… I think he is getting his numbers/dates mixed up during the language conversion in his mind:) Here is my name in Chinese :)




So I have to admit something… I’m starting to get sick of the food at the cafeteria… Yes, I said it. It’s all good food don’t get me wrong! I’m sure that I will have cravings for it once I get back home… BUT eating there Monday through Saturday gets a little old. The vending machines at school have been calling my name lately just to get a taste of something different… Not good. I’m working on being thankful for the good, cheap, and easy to buy food that I get at the cafeteria instead of the monotonous tastes:) God bless the cafeteria…


So just a heads up for you, I’m going to be the champion of Chinese checkers by the time I get home so watch out. I’ve been playing it almost every Tuesday night at the game night we have at the Hope Center. Russians have their own way of playing regular checkers… Timothy “taught” me and I’m still in denial about how that went. It’s like a combination of checkers and Chinese checkers and… something else. Not sure what. You can go backwards and jump two pieces… It’s weird. I shouldn’t say weird… its different than what I’m used to:) I’ll have to play again so I can tell you exactly what the “Russian” rules are.

I successfully paid for my first month of internet on my own:) Света (pronounced Sveta), who helps the Eshelmans with translating, wrote out a dialogue for me to use when I pay. I had it all memorized but at the last second I got flustered and stumbled through it. They were very nice though and got it taken care of. One of the ladies was there when I first got the modem and stuff so she knew what my problem was:)

I can’t seem to find a record of me telling you about the verse that God gave me last year that really confirmed in my heart that I was supposed to come here. Its Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you WHEREVER you GO.” I love that verse. God has brought that to my mind several times over the past year. Currently, I am doing a study on the book of Joshua (or Joshua). I guess I’d never thought about how difficult it would have been for Joshua to step up as leader of the Israelites after Moses. Try and fill those shoes! Errr sandals. I can’t imagine the fears and hesitation to take that position. This verse proves that Joshua did in fact have doubts about it because God is telling him, “BE strong. BE courageous. DON’T be terrified. DON’T be discouraged, BECAUSE I will be with you WHEREVER you are.” But it wasn’t just out of the blue that Joshua became the next leader. He had been under Moses wing for a really long time. He had been in training. Preparing for his time as the leader. So it wasn’t like God was just saying do this now cause I said so… He was reminding him that this was his plan for him and that he was going to stick with him through the whole thing. The Lord said, “Have I not commanded you?”… They have obviously had a similar conversation before. There are lots of things I like about this story… One, is that God prepares us for what he has planned for us. He doesn’t just drop us in the midst of things. Sometimes it may feel like that :) but he really has prepared us for that moment in time if we let him. Second, is that Joshua was human too:) Reminders that someone that God used in such a big way had his doubts and fears just like anyone else makes me feel better about my own human thoughts and emotions. Third, is the fact that God kept his word. He stuck with Joshua through the thick and thin. The story of the Battle of Jericho was Joshua’s time to show the people that he really was Gods appointed leader over them. During that whole ordeal I’ll bet there were days when he didn’t want to march around that city and wanted to just stay in his tent. It’s not like he could have slipped on his iPod to avoid talking to people (yes I know you do that). But God came through for him:) Joshua 4: 14, “That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life; just as they had revered Moses.” And Joshua 6:27, “So the Lord was with Joshua and his fame spread throughout the land.”


I think this is already starting to click in your mind:) But just in case, I’ll break this down even more for you… 1. God has an amazing plan for your life. 2. He WILL prepare you for it IF you let him. 3. God keeps his word. These are the things I want you to get out of this as Pastor Ed would say:) I’m excited to learn more about Joshua and the Israelites… maybe I’ll tell you more about it sometime or better yet… do your own study:)


Thank you, as always, for your prayers. They are what keeps me going on dark days. Time is flying and I’ll be home sooner than…. You are amazing. I am truly blessed to know you.

Made in America,

Leah

"... 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