Hailey in Russia: Dying in Tolyatti

Happy birthday to the following pals:

BONNIE! BRENNA! GMA JANE! (I know I'm really late on this one. I love you grandma!) SCOTT! and HARRY! I think of you all often and I can't wait to just see you all so soon. I hope you had the happiest birthdays of all!

Good week. It just flew by.

MONDAY we met with those less active pals “TY” and “EL”.

TUESDAY we got figged by "JH" when she didn't show up to our lesson. She has done this the passed 4 times, so we just decided that it was time to stop putting in an effort to meet with her because she never shows up. It was okay, because we ended up meeting some cool people that night. We even sang high school musical together. The struggle is real brothers and sisters. We ended up texting "JH" and telling her that we can't meet with her anymore because she just never shows up to our lessons. It broke my heart, but we just did it, and moved on and just keep praying for her.

WEDNESDAY was a goooood one. We contacted with our member pal "ND". She's a gem. She served a mission in Novosibirsk back in the day, and so she's just a solid one. It was the night before her b-day, so we bought ice cream to celebrate and the grossest chips i've ever eaten. Picture this: sushi flavored chips. Teryaki chicken-shashlik flavored chips.hamburger beef chips. haha so bad but quite the experience. hahaha fun fact real quick. While typing "experience" just barely, I accidentally spelled it like "equpenience." My english and spelling is so crappy these days. Anyway, "ND"'s housemate "VL" bought her a new kitten! It's just the dang cutes! She named it Seema. She's adorable.

THURSDAY we had our english group which ran dry a bit because most of the pals didn't really show up. So it's all good, but it actually turned out to be a hilarious night because on the marshutka ride home we met this 21 year old girl named “YN” and she speaks english perfectly. She told Sis Hullinger that she looks like Drew Barymore, and then told me that I look like Gweneth Paltrow...... not so sure about that one. And she herfself looked a little bit like Emma Watson, so we spent the long drive back to new city with her talking about our "fabulous lives" and referring to each other as Drew Emma and Gwenneth. It was hilarious but you know what they say... "You kinda had to be there." She ended up taking the Book of Mormon and it turns out that she came to our church three years ago! So we'll be seeing her again soon hopefully.

FRIDAY nothing crazy happened at all. There was a cranky grandma at the pastry shop that really got on my nerves. She kept trying to make me decide which pasty I wanted within seconds, but you can't DO THAT! Have you ever looked at a huge display of pastries and decided which one you wanted within seconds? NO! You're not a human being! haha Dang lady. We killed her with kindness though and gave her the Book of Mormon. She ended up being a little nice at the end. We met this lady this night who works at a video game box on the street. Let me explain.... there are these little stations on some streets here in T"OL"tti and it's a station super small with 8 screens on the outside with dangling controllers and on the screens are a bunch of terribly fabulous games. Well there is just enough room inside of the station for a human being to sit in there, and this woman named "TY" is the one human that sits in that cubical for hours and hours a day. We were able to give her the Book of Mormon and she invited us over to her house to talk more about it! A few weeks ago, I saw two grandmas at one of those video game stands. ... and they were both b\playing games hahahahahaha it was just too funny. I couldn't help but imagine Grandma jane and grandma Lee just playing tetris or doctor mario on the street just like the good ol' days.

SATURDAY morning came. We went out at 7 am for one hour to contact some people on the streets. Saturday mornings in Russia are LAWAYS ghost towns. NOBODY is out. Really. Like.... we talked to one person within 15 minutes because nobody exists on the weekends. Anyway sissy H and I were discussing how we didn't see anything too cool during the week that would be cool enough to write home about. When we said those words, it was almost like Heavenly Father was like "Oh really? Check this out:"

We walked down the street and the Spirit stopped us in our path and prompted us to turn around and to walk down this street which wasn't really a street, but a pathway rather. And it was small and in between two large domes. We have never been down this little road. I stopped to itch my leg (happens a lot) and when I looked up.... I saw.................... "JH"! It was so unreal! We couldn't believe our eyes. She said "HI TVIN!" She thinks that's how you say my name. Then she asked us to go with her because she needed to go and get some water.

We follow her and asked her why she doesn't show up to our lessons and she said "Understand Tvin, and flounder (sister hullingers name in her mind) I have problems HIGHER THAN THE ROOF!" She's been trying to quit drinking. She's an alcoholic. So we walked with her and we got over towards the forest in this field. We didn't understand where she's planning on getting water from.. maybe a creek? So we just went with her and pretty soon we see this FABULOUS sight! A make shift tent and garbage everywhere. It turns out that "JH"'s friend named "MR" lives in that tent with her husband. There were so many prizes everywhere! Random things like side mirrors from cars, only one shoe from a pair of shoes, and things like deflated soccer balls, and just trash all over the place. And then all these creepy medical bottles all over the ground. Really, there were probably about 200 of them on the ground. We were really confused, and then the painting became clear: Those little bottles on the ground are bottles of medical alcohol, NOT for being ingested. She poured a small amount of the medical alcohol into her water bottle, and then deluded it with water. WHICH, is why she needed water to begin with. It really just broke my heart. She knows that she is miserable, and that she is really trying to overcome her addictions. She just is blinded and doesn't think that she can do it with Christ's help but really, that is the only way that ANYONE can overcome addictions. Well, anyway, her homeless friend "MR" was a gem and we gave her the Book of mormon and then ran outta there as fast as we could. "JH" chased after us "WAIT WAIT DON'T BE AFRIAD THIS IS JUST HOW PEOPLE LIVE SOMETIMES WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE JOBS!" No "JH"... that is not why we were running, it's because of all that alcohol we saw. Anyway, she begs us to stop so that we can talk, so we stop only to see her begin to pull down her pants and say in english, "SORRDI SORRDI TVIN I FLOUNDER!" then she told us to look away, and then she just started peeing in this little field. hahahahaha I wish you could've been there to see how funny it was. Anyway, we ended up sitting with her at a bench, and told her that she is not allowed to drink when we are around. We testified of God's love for her as His daughter, and then we told her she needs to quit drinking because if she doesn't stop now, she never will, and she could really die from this addiction she has. She opened up her little water bottle lid, and we invited her to dump it out, and it was so sad because she is just such a slave to her addiction that she stood up and said "I'm going to the hospital, bye. Call if you need anything!" And then she was gone.

I really have gained a testimony of the word of wisdom on my mission. I have seen how it ruins lives.... like... really. It ruins lives, it destroys families when we don't follow it strictly and with exactness. I know that we really do live healthy lives, and because we keep God's commandment by doing so, we have His promise that He will bless us with so many blessings. Anyway, it was cool to see "JH" because it was like Heavenly Father was beckoning us to not lose hope on her, because He loves her, and He needs us to be the means for Him to let her know of this gospel. She still wants to be baptized.

Later that day we called "OL" the one that looks like the Corpse bride who really ended up being a HUGE miracle and her daughter now reads the book of mormon as well.... well, she stopped answering our phone calls and we were a little worried and then we felt we needed to call her REALLY strongly at a random point in the day, and so we did and guess what? SHE ANSWERED! and guess what? She got hit by a car and is currently laying in the hospital with a broken arm and leg. It broke my heart, but I know that God has a purpose for everything, and that there will be something amazing that will come from this trial that she has. It was just so amazing that she answered. I just LOVE the Spirit! He always shows us what to do and when to do it.

THEN GET THIS. We had a lesson later that day with this man we met named "SG"who is about 75 and he goes to the forest every day. Well, we were on our way to that lesson with "mama" the member that is 60 who speaks perfect and english, and we were lost because we couldn't find this man “SG”’s house and so we take this path that we have never taken in the past, and we look up and... SURPRISE! "MR" the investigator who LOVES family history was right in front of us! So cool. We were able to set up a meeting with her for tonight, Monday.

Basically the Lord is amazing and He leads this work! He really does and He is amazing!

SUNDAY was church, and after church I was so hungry and wanted to go home, and when we got off the bus, guess who we saw sitting at the bus stop? "MR"! That lady that is the one who gave "JH" the water. The homeless one. She is also an alcoholic, and she wants to change, and she has been reading the book of mormon and she is going to come to church on Sunday! She was with a man named “SH”, who told me he has lost everything because he is selfish. I remember looking him in the eyes, and telling him that he can change, and that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, he can be clean from all of his sins and mistakes, and start over again. He got teary eyed, and promised to come to church on Sunday as well. He told me that he started drinking four months ago, because that's when he and his wife got divorced. I think the best part of being a missionary, is looking Heavenly Father's children in the eyes and testifying of the love that He has for them, and being able to feel that love for them. It's honestly such a blessing and I can't believe that I get to serve the Lord right now. It's just such a blessing. I love this work, and I am SO grateful for The Lord's hand in this work!

I can't believe I have 6 weeks left. The time just slips out of my hands like butter, I can't wait to come home of course, but I love this place, and I love The Lord, and I love this work and I can't believe how blessed I am to be here in Russia, specifically the Samara mission right now at this time. I love it here, and it definitely has a huge part of my heart.

PS found out i'll be "dying" in Tolyatti! I am so stoked about it. I love it here so much. I love the branch and all the friends on the streets and in the domes and all over the place. I couldn't be happier. AND I get to FINALLY watch the district 2! (you former missionaries know what I'm talking about.) #byesistermeyers #hellojynxhello

Love you all!

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Сестра Твид

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