Flash...

I bought a flash drive, Praise Jesus. Oh, and the internet on my phone stopped working as well. IT seems that God wants me to Himself a little more than I thought perhaps. : )
And that is fine with me. Okay, SO, I went to go meet Paige and we went to a movie theater but none of the movies that were out were of interest to us. So we walked to another theater, but with the same result. So we just walked around. We went into this little ritzy mini mall by the Petrogradskaya metro. It was pretty cool beans. Then we went to McyD’s. Then we didn’t have anything else to do but I still had time to kill before rehab so I rode with her to her Metro stop (during Rush hour) and then rode it back and to rehab. Then I was still crazy early. There was like 4-5 inches of snow on the ground, and the snow was still falling. It was beautiful. I walked as slowly as possible to soak it in (and to waste time). It was wonderous. I was really tempted to make a snowman on the way to rehab, and Lord knows I had the time, but I pretty sure that is not exactly the social norm for an adult to do alone in public at mid-day. I prayed about it, and felt the Lord was calling me to go on ahead to Rehab instead. I got there and saw some people. Then everybody left the Office. I was left alone, so I prayed, and sang some hymns. When people would occasionally come back in to grab something they had forgotten I would try to stop singing before they heard anything. I think it worked…. But it was awkward kinda because I never know what to do so I just sit there. Then finally I asked Seryozha how I can help, in general, whether cleaning or anything and said that is the reason I am there: to help. He couldn’t think of anything, and asked Nicolai when Nicolai came in. Nicolai was with a guy who wanted to be admitted to Nicolai ignored Seryozha as Seryozha asked how I can help continued with saying that I want to serve God. It was nice to have a brother trying to help me serve. While they were discussing the intake God had me pray for the guy who was coming in and then God told me that soon he would be our Brother, and that he and his whole house would be saved. IT was delightful. I was so filled with the spirit that I was shaking. When he left they gave me some flyers to cut the little pull tabs for. I began cutting jovial and then it was just Seryozha and me again. Then Nicolai brought in another guy. When I prayed for him God just told me that his heart was still hard. Then he and Nicolai left. I looked up in my Russian Bible the word for prophesy (via Acts 2) and asked Seryozha “DO you believe that if God wants us to we can prophesy now?” ( I didn’t know how else to see if he was a sessationist and even thought God gave me the go ahead to tell him the prophesy I thought I’d see where the local church stands on the matter) HE said “We can always Prophesy” (at least that is how I translated it in my head). And I did what I could to show my relief and explain that many believe that that was only during the Apostles’ time. Then I told him What God told me about the men, and he looked up the men’s names and said he would remember, and he praised God.
After a while some more guys came (yes I was the only girl). And then we read Gen 39. We each read 4 verses and then paraphrased and analyzed them. I actually participated… mostly by looking up related verses that I thought of and attempting to read them, or referencing the verses I was thinking of until someone understood what was talking about… yeah. It was basically a giant game of catch phase every time I spoke, but everyone was very nice and patient and seemed to wanna hear what I was trying to say. Then it was over, we all shook hands and said goodbye. And that same guy walked with me to the Metro because he has to get on the tram which is right by there. Oh, but before we left one of the guys was talking with me in the street about what I am studying, and another guy came out of the building that I never go into and basically shooed him away and said hello to me…. I am not sure if they are saving me from them or the other way around…. Is my female presence perceived as a stumbling block? I feel like in this environment everything is working against me. I am a female foreigner… this makes me feel like a mute stumbling block…. How is this supposed to please and Glorify the Lord in this community? But that way of thinking is probably just what the enemy wants me to think. I for got to bring the flyers with me so I texted Seryozha to say that I forgot it but will get them later… two hourse later he responded… which made me wonder what I wrote him… Let me translate to the best of my ability the crap I texted him: “I forgot the little papers, the most next of time I believe with me” yupp. But some how he got it and responded “I am saving the little papers for you, they are ready to paste.”
So at like midnight I was freaking out about how stupid I am for sending that message and I texted him to say that I just read what I sent him and praise God that he understood and that I’d be back on Friday. I hope I didn’t text him too late, but I felt SOO freaking dumb… OH! But before that yes, I was walking home from the metro talking to Joe on my cell, and when I tried to use my fob to open the door it didn’t beep to indicate that it was unlocking. I tried like 5 times, and then tried to open the door anyways and it worked. I saw a woman on the first floor with a candle, but I didn’t think about it. I started going up the stairs because the lift didn’t look like it was operating… Then I looked up the stairs to see that everything was pitch black. We were out of power. I told Joe I had to go trek through the blackest black up soviet stairs so he’d have to excuse me from the phone. He understood. About then, when I was hanging up I ran into something that scared the crap out of me. IT was a wardrobe that is always in the middle of the awning… in the dark it was frightening.so I used the cellphone light thereafter. Then I heard someone else coming up the stairs and saw that they too had a cellphone light… For some reason this concerned me so I quickened my pace and unlocked the door quick and locked it behind me althoght it seemed like they had stopped. Later I found out that it was Masha who lives above us. She said she stopped because she was just about as eager to meet the person she heard above as I was to meet the person I heard below. The apartment was pitch black and though no one answered when I asked if they were home I thought I heard something in the kitchen so I proceeded to there and as I neared I heard Elena Borisovna and Nonna. They greeted me and were amazed that I had trekked up the stairs in the dark. We ate dinner (gas stove) and chatted and had tea. I took a candle with me to bed and right as I was about to go to sleep I blew out the candle and found it all very fitting to be in a early 1900s Russian apartment without electricity and blowing out my candle to go to bed… then I realized what I had typed Seryozha. Oh the shame. SO after texting him I lit the candle and got out my homework dedicated to get better at Russian. I did some homework by candle light and noticed a light in the hall, I tried out the light in my room and it worked, so I finished this week’s homework. Seriously…. I have GOT to get better. This is painful. Then and only then did I go to sleep.

Thursday
The SUN WAS OUT TODAY! Really shining and everything! It was so wonderful in the melting snow, although the streets were dirty and disgusting. I wrote you all, had a lesson, wrote you again, and friended some people on vkontakte, then had another lesson. Then paige and Joe and I ran some errands. I was temporarily drained and depressed so I lazily took the metro home (so silly… but hey desperate times…). Then I came home, walking in the Sun and went to my room and spent about an hour with the Lord. IT was much needed. Then I watched some telly with Nonna and as scheduled we went to the Loreal salon and got our hair cut together. It cost about 1000 rubles. It was fun and I feel pretty. My hair is straight right now because that is how they styled it. It makes me feel like a singer for some reason. We’ll see how it looks when it is curled. Fingers crossed.

Also, as far as things to pray for, I could really use a sister in Christ here. Or just a “wrist” in general I really don’t care what gender, it just seems wiser to pray for a sister. I can rock the whole lone prophet thing if God wants me to, and I do have a community to strengthen me, Praise the Lord, but that is slightly different from having someone to confide in. I am used to having 1-7 accountability partners… so having 0 in the country is quite downgrade. God is all I need, but I could use an Elisha around to keep me honest, if you know what I mean.



Okay... This is Wednesday. I just got out of my Russian Lang class. Inma wasn't there so it was just me and the teacher. I was workign Really slowly because thta is always what I do when I am nervous or under pressure... but I got slightly better by the end of class. I think I have to get used to her... and get use to beign in such a small class again.

Also, I no have soem rehab friends on vkontakte. :) and alot of people tell me that I look Russian and are suprised that I am not from here like Olga who messaged me this:

Я хочу тебе сказать что у тебя не американская внешность, ты похожа больше на русскую, ты не там родилась, перепутала всё:))))


OH, pics- the first to are of the Rehab office form when I was in there alone. The other one is the area by the rehab office when I was stalling and considering makign a snowman and the last ones are of our new dos.