Barrett's email - July 27, 2011

I forwarded the email Elder H sent me. That is all the information I have so far, so I guess I'll check out the apteka (pharmacy) and see what they have.

I got the credit card. It works. You may have noticed I withdrew 1000 rubles (whatever that translates to in dollars, I don't know exactly ~$33?). I didn't get to see the senior couple, but I got the letter. I love you

Elder Z and I are planning on going to Lenin's Mosoleum(sp?) next week, which just happens to be right on Red Square, just a well-lobbed stone's throw from St. Basil's, so we could try taking another picture. I was also thinking, if you wanted to wait about two months, for my first visa trip, I could probably get a picture in front of the Kiev Temple. That would be pretty cool. And yes, that is exactly the scripture. What do you think? What did Elder M and Elder S pick?

Ok, so let's see... Funny story of the week: So we met this guy Anatoly (I'm not sure how it's spelled in English) and his wife, and they seemed nice, not too interested, but nice. So then, a few days later, he calls us and invites us over to his house. That doesn't happen too often to us, so Elder Z were pretty excited. We planned a lesson and headed over there. When we got there, his wife, who speaks pretty good English (in fact she translates american books into russian) started telling us this huge long story about there neighbor, and the guys Anatoly sometimes drinks with, and somehow the police got involved, It was crazy. Long story short, Anatoly is scared these guys are going to do something to him, but the police won't do anything until something happens, so Anatoly figured if these guys saw him talking with a couple of American journalists, they would be scared and leave him alone. So, if we see these guys when we leave, act like journalists. Haha! The russian word for this is хитрость. So we explained a little better who we are and what we do, and if he needs help in the yard, or would like to hear more about the gospel, we'd be happy to help, but lying to strangers is not something we do. It was pretty funny.

I'm trying to figure out how to send pictures quicker, because it just takes too much of this precious little hour. So next week I hope send a couple. Feel free to make requests, things you want to see, things you want me to tell you about. I take a lot of pictures and I see a lot of things, so chances are, if you want to see or hear about it, I can email it to you. It's hard to figure out what to write sometimes.

Congratulations to the Roses!! Oh my goodness. This is the most incredible thing ever. I have had it written in my agenda for weeks to remember to write about it today. I am so happy for you both. There aren't words in English to describe how important and happy this day will be. Perhaps Russian has the words, but I don't know them yet. haha. Oh, I love you both.

What else is happening in Placerville? Oh, I am so happy to hear that my box made it home. What do you think? A box of treasures, I know. I don't even remember all the stuff I put in that thing. Did you ever get that letter with all the case charts?

Well, time is ticking away, so I've got to start wrapping up. I love you all. Thank you so much for all of your support. I love your emails.
Love you
Love Elder H