Real Russian Gypsies

F-f-f-familyand friends,

I am currently writing you from my new and FREEZING and awesome area PETRO!!!! woot WOOT!!!!!

I'm sure you are all dying to hear about my night train ride. Let me just tell you it was awesome and peaceful, and fast, due to the fact that I slept almost the entire time (except every once in a while I woke up and glanced out the window into the dark russian night and watched the russian forrest pass by). Ideallic right???

So Petro. Its awsome. Smaller than k grad (which I love small cities) and there are even HILLS here! Its crazy, my 1st hill in russian, and I live on it! Everything else is so dang flat. Petro is known for its HUGE lake... which one day I hope to go down and stroll by (and freeze considering the prediction that snow starts THIS WEEK! seriously????).

As for my companion. She's russian, 26, doesnt know english, and AWESOME. Sister Kareba is her name. So my last companion was who I would consider a best friend, we chatted non-stop and seemed to live in the same wave-length. Its completely different with my new comp, but I like the change. You see I always thought I was the most diligent, obedient, hard-working sister- that is, until I started serving with her. She is crazy diligent. I know for other sisters that have served with her, it was hard on them. But I like it :) alot. SO now we are two crazy sisters together (mainly an awesome crazy sister (kraeba) and me, who thinks she is awesome but is seeing once again, how lazy and prideful I really am. Its good for me).

The WEIRD thing, is what has happened to my language. You see the last 5 transfers, I have been the one in the companionship who knows russian, and the trainer, basically everything relied on me. And everything always worked out cuz Heavenly Father is just that awesome. The thing is, I never realized how much He was blessing me until now. Now that I'm with a russian speaker, I dont need the help as much. Basically I'm trying to say my russian is now TERRIBLE. Its so sad!!!!!!! (I really could just start crying about it). I mean everything I say is understandable (which is the most important), but al of a sudden I'm stuttering again, and my grammer is all over the place, and I cant even remembver easy words! PLUS, rememnber the old "tressa" who always lived in her own world and never listened to anybody and made everyone repeat everything?? Well since I've been in russia, that was NOT an option, and I became a REALLY good listener (in order to undertsnad what the heck was goin on of course). But now that I know my companion understands everything I'm startingto do that again. AHHHHHHHH. Plough-haw (bad). So yea, basically I have never studied russian so diligently since coming here to Petro. Kinda backwards in a way.

So the Elders gave us a few of their investigators (takes giving missionaries to do that!). And we are now teaching a family of GYPSIES. REAL RUSSIAN GYPSIES. Cool right? A mom and 3 daughters (11, 15, and 20 yrs old). They are so awesome and really have a testimony of the church, but for some reason they dont seem to understand why they NEED to be baptized. We'll work on that with them :) I just love them and know that everything is going to work out with them.

So yea, as you can see, life is good :) I'm being humbled, thawed, and better undertsanding my purpose as a missionary, and in general as a daughter of God. A cool quote I came across today... something to think about.

"Not only time but eternity is your field"

- Elder Reuben J. Clark

I love you all!

love, Sister Tenney