Happy thanksgiving everyone!

Family!
 So much to talk about where to begin...
first of all, we busted out our Full on winter coats and boots this
 week. basically Im officially a marshmollow at all times. But I cant
complain cuz this marshmallow seriously keeps me warm HAHA russia Im
not scared of your so called nasty winters. Imma beat you. Nope, we
still havent had any snow yet, which is crazy becasue Moscow already
 has. Im oddly excited for the snow, i've heard it can get nuts! And
the light here is getting kinda cool, basically the sun finally comes
 out at about 11 and then goes back down around 4 or 5. Isnt that
 crazy? The weirdest partis that Im hardly even effected by it like I
 thought I would. Weird right? In about 5 weeks it'll start getting
 lighter anyways.... so russia take that! You have nothing that has yet
 to scare me :)
 Alright so people have been asking what my week is typically like. A
Basic day is wake upat 6:30, bundle up and go outside to work out (aka
 Sister Tenneys personal time to shoot hoops and be a baller). We have
 a court nearby so I just shoot hoops its sweet. Afterwards we go home
 and shower and get ready. At 8 we start personal study (prob the best
 part of the day) then 9 is companion study where we plan our day and
our lessons for the day. At 10 we continue comp study with the
 training program im in (cuz Im still considered a greenie). 11 is lang
 study, which gets funner and funner everyday as Im finally starting to
 better understand this russian language (again russia take that! Your
 language isnt so hard after all). By noon we usually are heading out
 to an appt of some sort. We walk out to the metro wich is about 15
 min away, or we hop on a bus. It takes about 45 min to an hour to get
 anywhere we want to go usually (which is such a shame!) but we usually
 contact and talk to people on buses. This is my fav kind of contacting
 :) Then we meet with people and teach. Sometimes we go back home for
 dinner but usually we're running around trying to meet with people so
 we often get food on the street (like a banana and a yogart and
crackers or something) and then get to our next meeting. Then we try
 to be home by 9 for planning and then we plan til 10 and then go to
 bed by 10:30! Its like a rat race everyday trying to meet with our
 investigators, meet with members who can help us find more
 investigators, or the best is to meet with investigators at a members
 house. Yea..... so thats basically the day in the life of ME :)
 The food here is good. Lots of soups, lots of cabbage made into things
I never had before. I dont really know what to say about the food.
 pretty typical. The yogart here ROCKS I love it.
 Oh before I forget, HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! I love you all and I
 know you are praying for me. I've felt it and I need it, and I thank
 you for it. I know you will, but remember to look for the blessings in
 you life. Last night we met with a lady who is inactive who just sat and
 complained to us the entire night about how God doesn't answer her
 prayers and doesn't bless her. As she complained I looked around and
 saw her clothes, her food, her warm house, her book of mormon..... the
 list goes on. We often don't realize the blessing we have until we LOOK
 for them. God loves us, and He blesses us. We just forget to see them.
 So let's look for our blessings this week aight? I love you all!
Love sis T

She understands some Russian!

Everybody!
Gosh, life is gonig by so fast it's crazy. Anyways, to start off, I want
 to thank you all! Your prayers for me to learn this russian language
is helping! This last week was miraculous in the fact that ALL OF A
SUDDEN I could understand most of what people are saying in lessons!
And in church! Its so crazy. Last monday after I emailed you all I
 went on a lesson and we walked out of it and I couldn't stop thinking
 about how crazy it was that I understood everything. SO I thought it
 was over but the next day it happened too! And then the next, and then
testimony meeting in church yesterday, I could understand basicaly
 everything. CRAZY!
 SO yes that is really evxciting. So yes, to answer the question, YES
 it is getting cold here. One night of contacting and being freezing I
went home and decided I needed to change some things so I wouldn't
 freeze. The ONLY thing I changed the next day was I put in this shoe
 liner in each shoe. Kinda like an extra layer in the shoe. That whole
 day I wasn't cold at all. Is that not insane? I added ONE tiny thing, a
 shoe liner, and I was warm. Now let's think about this. The details in
 life really do make a big deifference. We know in Alma 37:6 alma says
 it is "by small and simple things that great things are brought to
 pass". I want to testify to you today that it is true. when we meet
 with inactives out here the three qeustions we ask them is "do you
 read your scriptures everyday? do you pray? and do you go to church?".
 those three little things CHANGE EVERYTHING. I know when ppl do those
 things they stay on the path and they recieve the strnegth they need
 to carry on. they have the spirit and they have the joy of the gospel
 and makes them happy and makes them understsnd why we have
 commandments and that it's a joy to follow them. and tha'ts what I want
 each of you to think about. What is something so small, something
 almost insiginificant you can change in your life to be just a bit
 better? Just something small everyday. I know by the small things
 great things come to pass. I know it! And I know you all know it.
 continue to pray for me. I promise to pray for you. Email me, write
 me, aight??? haha. I'm happy and excited for this work. keep being
 awesome. SO will I ;) haha. Love sis T.

everday we see the small rewards

Everyone! Hello!
If you were wondering, the baptism was AMAZING. of course. I felt like
a little girl on christmas morning. I woke up and was so excited all
day! She was ready and excited too wich made the baptism all the more
better.
I have about 3 min left so I just want to tell you all one thing.
Learning this russian language is a rollar coaster. it really sucks
sometimes. This week I finally had a mini break down after visiting
with a  babushka and not understand a word she said I cried on the
subway on the way home haha. But then not 5 hours later I was on an
exchange with a russian sister and we communicted fine to each other in
russain for a straight 24hrs. and we did some excellent missionary
work together. And then after that I thought I was amazing so then of
course I went to a meeting and didn't understand anything again and
then went right back to feeling like an idiot. But guess what? THATS
LIFE. when we run hard, we get tired, and we sometimes trip and fall,
and we often don't get first place, but everyday we see the small
rewards of our persistance. and thats what matters. dont get caught up
in the big goals! nope, you're not rich yet, you're not skinny yet and
you're not perfect yet, but you're getting there step by step :)
and thats the biggest reward. we just gotta remember to see that.
I love you all!
love, sis Tenney