Exploring Voronezh

Hello all!

This week has been really great! On Monday I decided I would attend Family Home evening even though I would be at least 30 minutes late because I teach until 7pm. One of the other girls has been struggling with teaching, she feels as though she is not qualified to teach, as an attempt to brighten her spirits I brought her along. After a long bus ride we made it to the house of the couple missionaries where FHE was being held. We walk in and find 20+ adults, yes! I love ADULTS! I met many people, most of which I needed one of the missionaries there to translate for me. I talked to one of the recent converts who said he would show me the other parts of the city I have not seen, so being my fathers daughter of course I agreed. 

The next night this girl was having a rough time again so I invited her along with me and John (the guy from FHE). We walked though what is in the center of my city "Lennon square" It was too dark to get a picture with the statue, but not far from there was this fountain which he said has actual water during the spring not just lights. 

It was really fun to get to know someone who was a native, well kinda he's from Congo, but has been here for three years. 

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all kinda blend together. The overall feeling from this week has been really great! I finally feel like I know how to teach the kids. It has been so crazy cause we are missing some teachers, but my cousin Tristan will soon join me! YAY! 

this is us by some dog statue, that is in the middle of this random quart yard, yeah so obviously we had to take a picture of it:) 

I am growing to love being in a new city, and trying to figure out where I am. Friday  was really fun I went and saw the college that is here, and met all these foreign kids from khakastain, japan, China, Ukraine, even Moldova. I watched as they played soccer against each other it was really fun to watch, and to see non russians:).  Saturday I went and helped clean the church then got some food at this really common sidewalk store. The hamburgers are really delicious! We then went into town and walked through a market that we are defiantly going back to cause it had amazing clothes. We also went to the church after this and played volleyball with the member's, and I found someone who is just as competitive as me.

This is some random girl. I am slightly obsessed with the style of all the girls here, they all (for the most part) always wear black heel boots (my mother would fit it great), and fitted coats. This girls coat has a belt on it, which many of them wear around their coats. As you can see there is a lot of snow, go Russian woman!

this is that dog, really don't remember why he is important, but yes, there is a dog in the courtyard. 

this is such a creepy picture, but I had to put this on, I am in LOVE with the fur coats here, they are so beautiful! Every time we go into a store with them I can't not touch them! I am hoping to get some type of fur, like maybe a scarf, but seriously they are incredible!

 this is my school! Yay! 

Lindsay Ashley and I were walking one day and stumbled upon this cafe, it was so great cause these little pizza things were just like the pizza roll things you just zap in the microwave, I was in love! I am still on the hunt for some good french fries, I am in desperate need of some real crispy curly fries, but I will settle for some good regular fries. :)

this magical place is right across the street from my school. It is ran by this little old lady who will fill up my water for only 6 rubles, yeah  you could say I am in love considering, It is quite the event to try to explain that I don't want carbonated water. I may say the right words, but it is crazy that someone who not want carbonated water, so I get asked questions I don't know:)

This i don't know if you can tell, but it's my socks, and gloves that are sitting on the heater, it's pretty much as crucial as brushing my teeth.

These kids are so crazy, but I am already in love with them, these two are trouble!

this seriously describes this class perfectly, one kid under the table, the chairs falling over. 

okay seriously this wasn't planned, we saw another random dog and had to get a picture with it!

It's been a really great week, I am so excited to have Trist here. I am also very excited to go to church tomorrow Linds, Ashley and I convinced these boys from Congo to come to church tomorrow, I am almost positive it was because we were american girls but thats okay:)

Miss you all lots, and love you!

Rissa

One week down... Kinda

Sorry these posts are getting longer, I seemed to have gotten here without my journal, so this is were a slightly edited version of my thought are going to go:) I have tried to separate paragraphs so if your skimming it's easier, I also don't have as many photos this time!

 It totally feels like I have been here for a week but it has only been 4 days... geez. If you read my last blog post you will know the trip over here was far from fun, I think that may be a big part in why the transition has been hard. It was made a ton easier when I got to go to the school where I will be teaching on Friday. We got to walk around, see the supplies they have, and meet the owners of the school. It was relieving to finally see the school, and feel like my 5 months will finally have started. We received our assignments for our grades and I am teaching along side the girl I traveled with (yeah). Luckily I am assigned a very fun age of kids 4-8, or "Kindergarten" as the school groups it.We have to plan lessons for each day, there are 6 different categories of lessons. We are short teachers so when we would usually only have to teach, plan, and make props for 2 categories, we now both are teaching 3, okay sure I can do that. BUT.. then I was informed that I am going to have to to teach another 2 groups of kids. It is going to be a little crazy here in Russia till we can get some more teachers over here.


For the past couple of days I have had Jane taking me to and from the school every day, but yesterday I called her informing her I could come home by myself. After completing this task, I finally felt a little independence yay! The only issue is that to ride the bus I need to have 11 Robles, which are about the size of a quarter and a nickel, I don't buy a lot of things so I don't have the change. I also don't speak Russian or as I like to tell the locals " mu-y Roo-ski ploe-ha" ( my Russian is bad) so it's not like I could just ask for change, and the Russians seem very stingy about giving people large amounts of change.
Yesterday while we were in the supermarket I needed to get change so I could ride the bus, I bought a water and some chocolate (the essentials) and headed to the cash register with my 500 bill (which is only about $15) with around 100 Robles worth of merchandise. Luckily my head teacher who speaks more Russian was there when the lady at the counter started talking fast at me and pointing to her register, my head teacher informed me she would pay for my stuff because the lady did not have change for a 500 bill GEEZ! I was told before I came that Russians were aggressive people, but they keep just seeming quite angry (maybe because they NEVER smile).
 It hasn't snowed while I have been here but the whole ground is about 8 inches of packed dirty snow it is weird to see cement:)
I also called the Elders yesterday, and they are sending a sister to come pick us up for church tomorrow at one of the bus stops. This is totally great, and I am sure ill be able to figure out which bus stop (because we are meeting by the McDonalds) but I don't have any CHANGE!! So I am going to have to go attempt to buy something this morning to find change. I am hoping my host family may have a better Idea for me to get more change.
Speaking of my Host family, they are really great. The youngest one follows me around, and begs to play on my phone (which just makes me feel at home). The older one is very great as well, it is interesting seeing that she plays the role of mother a lot because her mom works everyday. She cleans, takes the younger one to gymnastics, and makes the food.

We went to church, meeting up with the sister went great, church was interesting to say the least. We arrived and were greeted by the branch president who knew exactly who I was because my father had contacted him before I left, the other girls were very surprised that he knew who I was (go dad)! We followed the Senior couple up the grand stairs to the meeting, it was very small maybe 100 people but there were many faces that were not Russian. There were 5 elders, and 4 sisters there and they all came over and talked with us. Elder Taylor (I think was his name) was going to translate for us, and he did a very good job, well it was entertaining. One lady made her way up and I could hear him sigh into the microphone, then she started to speak and he tried very hard to translate, but then informed us that she speaks really fast and he couldn't understand. As one man was walking up our translator said " okay so this guy is Armenian, he has a strong accent ill try my best". Despite his doubt the translator did great with the Armenian.

(This is the church, gorgeous right?) Next a little girl came up and he told us how cute she was, that she was his favorite little girl in the ward. He was an awesome translator, it was nice to have someone who was easy to understand. We had an interesting testimony that was born (I don;t think that is the right spelling of born.)  from one of the girls that was with us, that thankfully was over looked after the guy after her got up and sang a song for his testimony.  The Elder also translated for me in Sunday school (you think I would remember his name) and was really good at trying to get the meaning across not just the words.  We headed to relief society, which had many babushkas (or grandmas) who were very feisty, and fun to listen to.

I then I had to meet some girls in my group for some planning, I knew the direction of where I was supposed to go, and we were meeting at the golden arches (mcdonalds) so instead of taking the bus I walked. It was so great!

 I found a really cool park, and this vedor that had delicious food. I also just felt as though I was a local (this need for local feel must come from my father). I knew where I was going, I was starting to figure out the city (or just the 2 mile straight stretch to my school from my house). It was a really good weekend.


I also got to Face-Time some of my favorite people tonight! I hope to face time my family later tonight because they are still at church!

 I can never catch them staying still!:)

these pictures are for Gav, he gave me a Flat Stanely before I left. Here is stanely sleeping in my bed, with my silk pillow case. And then stanely is playing Badminton which we play a rough version of in the living room:) 

p.s. Super sad about missing the Super Bowl, the family I am with does not get the channel for it, and the Fox streaming website won't stream to Russia. I am hoping to get some what of live score updates, but we will see. But of course my team knows Ill be cheering all the way over here. Visualizing the win, that's what it takes right? Go Broncos!

I love you all! Thanks for the Love and support in being in Russia! 

2 days of travel, finally in Russia.

RUSSAI! 

I finally made it ! for some reason I didn't realize how long it would take to get here, but here is the adventure I had getting here. 

On Monday night I headed to Vegas with my family to stay in hotel because my flight on Tuesday morning was at 6am (which actually made it so I had to be there around 4. I had many family members text me to tell me good luck, it was so nice to hear from all of them, since family is so important to me. I also got a special text from one of my favorite people who I haven't seen in about 6 months which made me tear up a little cause I miss him lots. Anyway So I got to pick my last meal which of course was Mexican food. It was delicious, we then went to the hotel were I almost immediately fell asleep. We got up went the the airport and said our goodbyes. Going through airports is one of my favorite things so it was easy to find the plane and get comfortable. 

I knew there was one girl would was going to be traveling with me, I also knew that she was quite worried about all the flying because of her daily novels on the facebook page we had for our group. The flight was just about to push off from the gates and this girl gets on dripping with sweat, dropping stuff, and breathing heavily. She sat down and seemed very stressed, I asked if she had just gotten to the airport and she informed me she had been there since 3. We headed from Vegas to LAX. We had an hour to catch our next flight that went to DC which is plenty of time as long as you don't daddle. I showed her how to read the departure board and then told her I needed to head to the bath room and said I would be right back. As you may be able to guess I came out and she had disappeared, awesome. So I looked around then figured she headed to the gate, but no where to be found. I felt really bad thinking I had lost her, but I needed to make the flight so I got in line to board and she showed up with a security guard about 3 minutes before boarding.

 This flight was about 6 hours and I attempted to sleep but got little. We got off and I told her if we got lost I would meet her at the gate and to get on the flight whether I was there or not.  I went to the bathroom and changed into some leggings and a tshirt so I could maybe sleep on this flight. I came out and she was getting talked into buying a $100  back up battery it was an off brand and didn't have the cord to connect to her phone. I walked over and talked her out of it, thinking about it now maybe I should have just let her get it? Anyway so then I walked over to the gate and they had boarded early, so I motioned to her and got on the plane. I sat down and was informed there was tons of extra room, meaning I got a whole row to myself (Heaven sent). They were just about the close the doors and the girl shows up. She wanted to sit by me, but then I convinced her that it was silly, and so she sat with the man in front of me instead of the empty row to the side of me. The seats had screens on the back of them that were full of music, movies, and tv shows. I found Beyonce in Concert and she serenaded me to sleep, it was simply magical. 

We got off the plane in Germany by this time it was Wednesday morning in Europe. We had a couple of hours so I got some gummy bears with the euros my dad ingeniously gave to me while the girl went to exchange some money. 

We met up with our group,

as we were about to board the plane we couldn't find the girl I had been traveling with, seriously I think she was doing it on purpose. I held our supervisors bags and she ran to go find her. We made the flight, barely. This flight was okay, I sat by a Chinese man  who read all this meditation looking books. 

We got off this flight and we were in RUSSIA! YAY RIGHT? kinda, it ended up being us in the airport for 4 hours waiting for a train. I talked to the other girls two of which were really cute and nice. 

It was time to go to the train, I grabbed my 3 bags, the others grabbed their 4+ bags. We walked down stairs, got on the train that was only 30 minutes, then we waited for an hour then walked about 4 blocks to our bus. This was a 10 hour bus ride, to my town of Voronezh. It was painful to say the least, especially when our bus broke down for about an hour.

We made it to Voronezh and I was so excited to sleep. We stopped at the station, as the host families came and picked up everyone. My host family was just the dad, he carried my stuff and informed me he spoke no English. We drove in a car that was small so my bags filled it. We pulled up to a tall apartment and got into a 4X4 elevator to the 10th floor (seriously sounded like the small thing was going to fall). We walked to the door and I was greeted by a young girl who sounded like an american she had such good english, Jane she is 17. I met her mother Natasha, and her younger brother 8, named Autiom (i think). They invited me into their kitchen and offered me food (It is around 4 am in russia) I declined, but made small talk with the daughter and son who spoke almost perfect english. They offered me a shower, I rapidly accepted and headed to the shower. My shampoo has never smelt so good to me. I got into bed and talked with my mom and Gav for a little bit which was really soothing. I was quite emotional which I am sure was because I had no sleep and this was all so new. I went to get my adapter so I could charge my phone, but the adapter did not fit :(. I took a sleeping pill after about an hour of rolling around and then didn't wake up until Jane came in and expressed how she knew it was hard but that I needed to get up to get used to the time it was around 4pm. I got up and she and her brother watched as I put on my make up. We then ate the candy I brought and popped some of the popcorn (lime salt, and kettle corn) which they loved, we had to pop some more so we could watch a movie. The boy chose The Nightmare Before Christmas. 

 I now sit here trying to finish writing before the computer dies:) I am hoping to go out tomorrow and find a cord that will fit so I can continue to communicate. I am exited to be here but it is a very weird feeling. 

Oh they also have this hairless cat

It was quite the journey but I am so glad to not be traveling anymore. American airports are way more fun to be in than Foreign ones because I can understand everything. 

Nerves, Crazy Dreams, and Russia.

Okay, so I am officially going to Voronezh Russia on the 28th of January! Yes that is only 7 days from now. I am beyond excited to finally be doing something. I have know since Novemberish that I was going to be headed out of the country to teach English in the elementary schools but what I didn't know is how sad the wait to leave was going to be. 

It wasn't bad over Christmas break because I saw friends who were home for the break, and had things to do with family in town. However when we got back from a great week in Wyoming everything went back to normal, no more extravaganzas and everyone went back to normal life but me.

 I am a very social person, being alone is my least favorite part of any day. All of my friends headed back up to school which made it that much harder because I felt as though I was being left behind. Why was I not doing something? I felt like I was the girl who dropped out of school and it's been sad probably because I have had a lot of down time. This seems so silly considering I was going to do something really cool, an experience most people never in their life get to experience. I wanted to go to Russia, and I CHOSE to put off a semester of college. The fact that I even got the choice of going is incredible, hearing these words come out of my mouth they sound very spoiled. I worked very hard to earn money to go and this is what I wanted to happen or it wouldn't have.  While I have been struggling feeling sad about not being in Logan (never thought I would say that).  I am sure this crazy feeling is coming about because of my nerves for doing something completely new, in a country that I don't know that language. 

 I thought about when one of my best friends left on his mission I was happy for him, but very sad he was leaving especially considering I saw him almost every other weekend when I was at school. This guy had been a huge impact on my life and had helped me through some of my biggest trials so far. It was very hard to say goodbye to him. Following the weeks after he left I had dreams about the world ending, and Nick still being in Columbia. My whole family was frantic trying to make it to my Uncle Matt's house which he had conveniently converted into a bullet and zombie proof safe house (if you knew my uncle matt you would know this would not shock you that he could engineer something like that) and my Uncle Todd was desperately trying to get Nick, cause he was still in Columbia. Super scary, Likewise I have had many dreams the past couple nights about the world ending and me being in Russia. Totally beside the point I was trying to make here, lets see back on track...

Oh yeah so  I had to remember that he wanted to go on a mission, and that he CHOSE to go. I was scared of his trek to Columbia, likewise I am beginning to feel the same about my trek to Russia. I will be in a different country, away from what is familiar to me. I will be in a second world country, that does not have the rights, privileges, and accessibility to as much as we do here in the states. Crazy!  Through this whole time of telling people where I am going they have all asked me if i am nervous yet, and I am not completely nervous but it's starting to come about. 

Don't get me wrong I am INCREDIBLY grateful for the opportunity that I have to go to Russia. The fact that I even get to go is so magical, and would not be possible without the support I have gotten from my parents and extended family. I am so nervous, excited and ecstatic about this trip. I know it's going to change the way I look at the world. I know that I am going to come back a more well rounded person.  But boy I am going to miss my family like crazy. I grew up in a home where anything was possible, and I am so grateful at how much I have been blessed.

 I am so beyond excited and hope to be updating my blog quite frequently with experiences I have abroad. Thank you all so much for the love and support. I am so excited, and I know that this is what I am supposed to be doing right now. I am supposed to go to Russia, and the kids I am going to be teaching are going to change me. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Love you all!



P.S Um how about them BRONCOS BABY!!! WOOO! I am now just praying that ill be able to watch the game in Russia! I am so proud to be a broncos fan! 

Listen to the spirit inside you.

I know I have dedicated this blog to my travels (by the way I am now going to Russia instead of Ukraine:) but after reading a article today I needed some space to tell an experience I had. 

About 2 years ago I sat in a room where a man who was a parent of one of my friends  told me that interracial marriages or any race other than white marriage was an act that would not recieve the highest level of heaven that my church believes in. Because of the beliefs in my family, and the heritage of my family my hand arose quickly. I then began to ask him (almost sarcastically) about the fate of my grandparents one of which was white, and the other Hispanic. I told him that they can recieve anything he and his wife could.  He then told me that my grandparents could recieve some of the blessings but not the highest level. I then told him how wrong he was and stormed out if the room.

 After church I  talked to my parents about this man and then spoke with my bishop about how this had made me upset. What my bishop then told me has changed my outlook on personal feelings and revelation. He looked at me with a playful disbelief glance and asked me about how it made me feel, then proceeded to tell me that I KNEW this was not right, I KNEW that this man was speaking wrongfully. And I KNEW that god is just, fair, and does not take skin color into affect. Also that I should listen to the feelings I was having.

This was about 4 years ago when this event happened, my father showed me this article by my church today. That I will share a small part of that really represents the whole meaning of the doctorine of my church. that is wrong, I should stand up for truth. I took this next paragraph from the article.

 The Church proclaims that redemption through Jesus Christ is available to the entire human family on the conditions God has prescribed. It affirms that God is “no respecter of persons”²⁴ and emphatically declares that anyone who is righteous—regardless of race—is favored of Him. The teachings of the Church in relation to God’s children are epitomized by a verse in the second book of Nephi: “[The Lord] denieth none that cometh unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; . . . all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.”²⁵

This blog post was in no way meant to be boastful or mean but to share my experience with personal feelings of right and wrong.

The church is true, Jesus is the only perfect human who ever lived. I have to keep reminding myself that this man who had made a statement that was false was not perfect but neither am I. I hope this post will only inform those who are unaware of this policy. The whole article is here

http://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the-priesthood

My blog!

Ah I have finally gotten a blog and it's about time. I have so many crazy things going on in my life. I am absolutely in love with my life right now. Many may know that in January I am headed to Ukraine for 5 months to teach English to kids in elementary schools. I am SO EXCITED! I have always wanted to do a study abroad, I realized that this was the time to do it before I had to apply for my program. I am a little worried about how I will get all my hair stuff over there ( I know first world problems right?) but other than that I am not freaked out just yet. I am sure it will hit me  when I get off the airplane in Ukraine:) 

I also am trying to keep focus on school I have this week then next is finals (kill me now) seriously not excited for those. I have lots of Spanish homework, a paper I should be doing right now, and two other tests! Ahh! Probably the only thing helping me focus is that I get to go to the Ukraine in a month!  I also get to go see a couple of my favorite kids for a week in Colorado. Yay! 

I have so many things to check off my long list, but I am so grateful for the life that I have, and the amazing things I am blessed with every day. Fight a good fight, endure, and make sure you keep the faith. 

Ooo also never believe anyone who tells you that you can't wear any color of lipstick you want:) 

Riss