Barrett's email - Monday, December 12th



the sign out front

the elephant standing in the entryway

an elephant standing on one leg with the trainer on his trunk, and (if you'd believe it) it was spinning as well

the ring

you can't really tell, but there's a wire in my tie

Afterwards, I bought a souvenir elephant and I got it to balance on it's front two legs, just like real elephants in the finale

So once every quarter we get a "Culture Night" and this time we went to the Circus. It was incredible These elephants were doing some crazy stuff. I've never seen anything like it in my life. You have got to go someday

Holy Cow! Ok, where to begin.
Concerning the phone call: Well, it turns out Elder R's mom was right, I'm getting transferred this week. So what this means is that I don't know what this means. With any luck my future companion has already set it up with their senior couple to use their computer for skype, but chances are we'll have to follow through with the cellphone plan. I'll have to tell you the exact plan next week... I will probably have an hour to talk... Holy cow, I can't believe it's already here. I just had my second visa trip. That means I've been in Russia almost 6 months. Unbelievable. How is everyone doing? How is Seth? How is Brandon? How are the Mackeys? How are the Christensens? I cannot believe how much time has gone by. And how much more there is to go. Sometimes I think about how much time I have left. When I think of it as "the rest of my mission" it seems like a long time. But when I think of it as 16 months, it seems like no time at all. When I think that I haven't even gone through a Russian winter, and I still have another summer, and then another winter after that, it seems like a really long time. but again, when I think of it as only 10 more transfers, it feels like really no time at all. How does it feel for you? fast or slow?
Did you hear that the country of Turkey was opened to missionary work on December 1? I guess it's the first officially Muslim country ever to do so. They sent 2 or 3 companionships from bulgaria (I think) to open it. Incredible.
It sounds like you had a great time in DC. I'm excited to go there someday.
Well, it's just about time. Thank you for everything. Have a great week. Tell everyone I love them. Talk to you soon :)
Love
Elder Hamp