Russia!!

ok... so i dont know which email you got... and i am sorry that the pictures didnt work.. when i am done with transfers i will send cds home so you can see at the pictures... ok so to start off my week, it was p day so the sisters decided to go down to the river, it was freezing and i didnt have boots or a jacket yet... and
  when i saw river, i mean... ice and snow.. thats all.. the snow was actually up to our thighs so that was pretty funny.. then we went to eat and it was pretty good... potatoes and chicken Then the next day we had my first real day of missionary work.. i had gotten a jacket and new boots so it was a lot warmer! its probably just a little above 0 on warm days and at night it gets below 0.. its ok though because i have enough on so that i am warm...
   Ok i will describe siberia a little bit here... hahah you would die if you knew what i was going through here... seriously i cant even tell you how funny it is.. sometimes i just start laughing because its hysterical what i am doing right now. Siberia... its kinda like frozen mexico... like nothing  is really that nice... but we are constantly walking on about 2 feet to 4 feet of ice... and you can imagine a girl from arizona... and you can only  imagine that i have slipped like 189543076 times.. and one time, on the way to a members house, i fell and my knee was bleeding uncontrolably and she was from armania and had no bandaids.. so she put honey on a piece of paper, and then stuck that on my knee.. it was so strange...its funny though cause women here wear like stilettos, on the ice.. i dont get it... i am in like army boots and can barely walk and these women are walking around in 6 inch heels.. one day i will try it.. maybe in 15 months...There are just little stores and stands everywhere... ice cream stands a lot too.. that one i still cant understand, why ice cream? maybe hot chocolate or something by ice cream? Oh, and the yogurt here is like really good.. i havent tried the milk or
  anything cause everything here is like whole milk or like really thick sour cream or the cheese is just whole.. i dont know if that makes sense... the breads are pretty good.. A lady fed us soup and it was really good... we had like pickeled cabbage with onions and carrots or something and that was really good too.. so overall i love the food.. its just different.. its a lot healthier...The sweets here are good too...Oh! i made a cake and cookies.. its different cooking here... its fun though. its good making food.. after being in the mtc for so long.
  Hm... what else.. OH! english club! thats so fun!! people come and we get to kinda teach them english! we do that 2 times a week... thats really fun and it helps with my russian too... Well... if you ever think that its bad living in america.. think twice... i have a lot of respect for people who can live here and its great to see a
  different country.The people here are different too.. kinda crazy sometimes, we visited this less active woman, she lives in like... not a very nice palace, and she lives with her family so she has all her stuff in one room.. and this room is like.. chuck full of who knows what, and she had like 10 cats living in
  there.. and this is kinda how it is in a lot of apartments.. anyways.. she prayed at the end.. and i couldnt really understand a lot of what she said but i know she said amen like 6439604 times in the prayer and my companion said it was a crazy prayer.. it was funny.. i cant explain this life..But, i do love living here and being on a mission. i just know i have to do all i can to be a servant of the lord.. its hard but i can do it hmm.. what else... theres like no really grocery stores here.. there is a huge mall and ikea.. haha its pretty funny its in russian letters... But here, there are cars but the traffic is like crazy.. and nobody really owns cars so they walk and take busses everywhere and let me tell you the buses are another story... everybody crams on these buses and we are like all touching... and sometimes, we have to chase after buses and they will keep the door open for you as you are running and then sometimes they just close the door on you.. which... i had it closed on my bag and arm it was pretty funny...so the buses are just an experience in itself...then the language... hahahah its hysterical cause i try to talk to people, and even when i speak russian, they still dont understand me... so i might as well be speaking english right! haha no... i am trying.. its just a really hard language.. luckily my companion is russian! oh by the way her name is (in english) sister vaselevskia... and she is great, i feel bad that she has to like tug me around and i dont know anything and i dont understand anything.. its quite the adventure here in siberia...The members are great though, the ones that are strong are strong... its just werid to think that i have been a member of the church longer than almost all of the branch... its crazy cause i used to think i didnt know much about the gospel until i came to realize that i know a lot because i have been surrounded by it my whole life.. anyway.. we have a few investigators we are working with... they are kinda
  progressing... the work is hard here.. nobody knows about the gospel and nobody really cares to know.. thats why as missionaries we have to speak to everyone.. it sjust hard cause i dont really know the language but its ok.. the lord is blessing me i know... Ive come to realize that no matter where you live or who are you or what language you speak, we are all gods children, and they all need this gospel as much as we do... and i am no better than anyone.. god loves us all equally.. Its funny though cause being an american you get some stares... when i speak> english people just look at me... one guy even when he was leaving the bus said "your a good girl "in english and then another guy gave me flowers... its just funny cause americans dont really visit siberia... Well... i cant really write that long... just know that i love you and i miss you and i hope everything is ok...
   OH!! and let people know that my email address is kaitlin.west@myldsmail.net... i think i wrote it wrong last time!!!! so please send that out!!!! tell everyone i love them... tell jess i hope the kids are great... tell
  grandpa i am so happy for him! tell dad the food is awesome!!! and tell ach and grandma and all the rest of the family i love them and that siberia isnt> as bad as people make it out to be... i think i will grow to love it a lot!!

  It has made me really grateful for what i have.. there arent really homes here.. just apartments and the nice apartments are the nicest... so its quite a change... i am enjoying it here and i know this will be an adventure
  of a lifetime...if you have any questions just ask me! i love you so much!!!!  Ok i got to go.. love you love you love you! send this on and email me next week on monday or tuesday ok!!!!!! cause i get them that day!