Barrett's email - January 31st

Yep, you missed me. Haha. No problem. It's a strange day for email. We have a lot of stuff we gotta do today, so we gotta email early and we're using an internet cafe that we've never used before and it's not good. It took me the first 10 minutes to figure out how to switch the keyboard from russian to english (normally there's an icon, but this one doesn't have it), and then I discovered there's now way to get into my camera, so I am unable to send pictures, which stinks because I had some good ones, plus Elder Schoenfeld's Happy Birthday graffiti picture, so he'll have to wait til next week.

Right now I'm listening to Elder Mackey's voice recording. He sounds like he's doing great. I love that guy. And I got Elder Schoenfeld's pictures. I love that guy too.

So it's been quite a week. New companion, new assignment, new area, new ward. I love the new ward. The first russian patriarch in the history of the world is in our ward. He's one of my favorite people. The Stake president came over for lunch after church. There's a new translation of the triple combination coming out soon, and I guess it's already out in the digital world, because the stake president has it. He told us it's like a whole new book. I guess the old translation it terrible. Full of errors and stuff. But the new one is amazing. He said that he got it and he started reading it and he just couldn't put it down. He said, now the church is true! haha. I can't wait to get my hands on one. It's supposed to be soon.

Okay, now for some B+O! I've been getting a lot of questions about food, so today's theme is food

B: How's the food?

O: Oh, man, I love the food! All of it. So far I haven't gotten sick (knock on wood). I've never before worried about my weight, but this last transfer, I started worrying. I cannot believe how much bliny I've eaten this transfer. So much bliny. But somehow, I still love it

B: Do you eat a lot of beet soup?

O: Yes. Borsch is great. There are quite a few variations, pretty much everyone has their own recipe, but they're all good. I'm trying to find the best recipe, so when I get home we can have a borsch party.

B: What are some gross things you've eaten?

O: Pig ear, goat intestines, kholodets (basically meat jelly), kefir (pretty much just straight sour milk), kvas (very popular drink that tastes basically like soy sauce in water with maybe just a touch of beer), and a bunch of kashas composed of who knows what. I believe gag suppression is a gift of the spirit. haha

B: How is the food agreeing with you?

O: So far I haven't gotten sick (knock on wood)

B: What's your favorite food?

O: Holy cow! There's too much. They have some really good soups, and salads, and sandwiches. I can't even list all my favorite foods. Don't worry, the list is much longer than the gross foods. And I'm collecting a lot of recipes. I think probably the best thing I've eaten is this shashlik wrap that can only be found in this one little stand in the farthest southeast corner of moscow. It changed my life. I'll take you there when you come to pick me up

Okay, well have a great week! sorry I missed you. I love you all. Don't be afraid to write me (dearelder is still free, hint hint). Love you

Love

Elder Hamp

Barrett's email - January 23rd

In a field, a bunch of russians playing american flag football in the snow

P-day at the planetarium

In our seats in the dome theatre. It was way cool

My companion gave me this crazy talk and took a picture it blowing my mind

Winter is here. Snow tunnels on the playground

My last day in the University Branch

 Well, it's definitely getting a bit colder here in moscow. Last week it was hovering around 0C and now we're hovering around 0F. It's a pretty big difference. Hands are cracking, nose hairs are freezing. I can't imagine it getting any colder. But it will. My companion is fantastic and getting me set up with good winter clothes.
Can you believe it's already time for transfers. I guess I'll tell you this time, so you don't have to find out over missionary mom's, I've been asked to be zone leader. It's not as good as it sounds. I have to move again, and I'm losing my native companion who gives me a Russian phrase of the day and teaches me how to make Russian food, and basically knows how to do everything you can think of.
So the miracle of the week. You may remember last week, I asked about the general welfare of one Gavin Mackey. Well, believe it or not 2 days after I sent that email, I got my snailmail, and guess who wrote me a dearelder? Yep. Ask and ye shall receive.
I've been thinking a bit lately about some of the questions I've been asked in letters, and realized, I haven't answered any of them. So for all of you who have asked questions, and to all of you who have had questions but haven't asked because I never answer anyone's questions, I'm turning over a new leaf. I've spent the last few lunches using my spare time to go through old letters and compile some questions people have asked over the last few (9) months. And now introducing: Вопросы и Ответы!
B: How different are the people there in Moscow than in America?
O: There are many diffences, in my observation, but many may be more a matter of the biggest city in Europe vs. Placerville, than Russia vs. America. People are far more reserved, for the most part. The average person doesn't smile much in public. They're a very practical people. There's very little room for sarcasm. Those that I've met have a very good sence of humor, but it is not much like ours. There is also a big diffence between the average russian and russian members of the church. Membership in the orthodox church is a thing of cultural pride for many, as well as drinking... a lot. Whereas americans are usually far more open on the exterior and reserved in their interior feelings, russians are for the most part the opposite, very reserved outwardly, but once (and if) you can get past that, they are very open.

B: How different is Russia in general?
O: I've been told (and believe) that moscow is a completely different world than the rest of Russia. So I can't speak for all of Russia, but Moscow is very different. Most of the apartment buildings were made in the Stalin era and are pretty sketchy. They were made to fit as many people in as possible, so every story looks the same, and they just shoot straight up into the air. But the russians love going for walks, and there is a park by every apartment, with a playground and trees. The city is very dirty, and it gets dirtier the closer you get to the center (inside the brown ring on a metro map). Everywhere you look is a little street stand selling pastries or flowers or fish. In the summer the whole city is one giant yard sale. The metro is everything. It is unbelievable how many people are always on it. It's actually getting to the point where I can't really remember what it was like to live in america, so it's harder to see what's different. Buying-in-bulk means a 4 pack of toilet paper. Everything in the store is packaged to be carried. Most people walk and use the metro.

B: How do Russians view themselves and americans?
O: That depends on who you talk to. I've met those who hate america, those who long for the days of communism again, those who love america, who can't get enough american stuff, want nothing more than to go to america. I definitely don't want to talk for all of russia, because it's always so funny to hear someone talk about america as if the whole country is like las vegas, or miami, or whichever random town in boston they've been to. Which ever city they went to, they talk about it as if that's what all america is like. And of course, I'm speaking only for the russians I've met, which includes for the most part members of the church and members of English club. Sometimes contacting you meet a guy who hates america, or chinese people (I don't know why he's telling me that), or a guy who is an atheist communist marxist materialist. And I'm sure there's more out there than the sampling of my experience would suggest, especially compared to enthusiastic young people who love america.

B: Is there any crazy propoganda being spread there like in Korea?
O: Not that I've seen. Some very patriotic billboards here and there. Maybe it's on TV, but I don't watch much

B: Do the people have more socialist mindset, or have they gotten away from that?
O: Like I said before, it depends on who you talk to

B: Is everything americanized with a McDonalds on every corner?
O: Not everything, but a lot. There are a number of american fastfood chains. And, as I understand it, the biggest mcdonalds in the world. But it goes both ways. A lot of american stuff gets russified when it comes over. The "Beef a la Rus" is the best burger I've ever eaten, and it's only at McDonalds in Russia. Oh, and in Russia, it's not called 'mickey-dees", it's "MakDak"

B: Are Russians less receptive to missionaries than in America?
O: I would say yes

Ok, well, I think that's all for now. Time is running out. Have a great week. Love you
Love
Elder Hamp

PS Looking good, Steve

Barrett's email, January 15h

Me, my companion, and Sister Elena who organized the whole Gypsy Culture Hour

Me, not dancing, but learning some gypsy dance moves, haha

Me and my new best friend, Dima, at the gypsy culture hour. Notice the tamborine

Not only was last friday Friday the 13th, but it was also the eve of Russian Old New Year. In celebration, we ate a bunch of candy and my companion taught me how to play Тысяча

Tuesday night a pipe broke in our upstairs neighbor's bathroom. Here's the water coming down into our bedroom... at 2:00am

A new contacting method! One of us shovels while the other talks with the shoveler, haha

1. Me, my companion, and Sister Elena who organized the whole Gypsy Culture Hour
2. Me, not dancing, but learning some gypsy dance moves, haha
3. Me and my new best friend, Dima, at the gypsy culture hour. Notice the tamborine
4. Not only was last friday Friday the 13th, but it was also the eve of Russian Old New Year. In celebration, we ate a bunch of candy and my companion taught me how to play Тысяча
5. Tuesday night a pipe broke in our upstairs neighbor's bathroom. Here's the water coming down into our bedroom... at 2:00am
6. A new contacting method! One of us shovels while the other talks with the shoveler, haha
Oh, my goodness. That was a good email. I feel life is good. You are right. Our Heavenly Father truly knows each of us individually, and He wants us to be happy. He is not content to provide for our needs only. He delights in our righteous desires as well. The fact that I am writing to my family in the basement of a library in Moscow Russia right now is a testament to that.
It sounds like it was quite a week. Kindles playing movies, Justin Bieber spoofs, a rugby game!? Holy Cow. (Did they win?) Congratulations Jason and Jessica. Совет Вам да любовь!
Mine was quite a week too. My first week with the new companion. Oh, I got your DearElder about your trip to DC. And if you remember (I know it was a couple weeks ago) in the post-postscript you mentioned charoite from lake Baikal. Well, did I tell you that my new companion is from Lake Baikal? Yep. He's great. And I also got the DearElder from Sister Locke. Tell her thank you so much from me and quite a few other missionaries with whom I shared some goodies. I am so excited to hear of her decision and to find out where she will go. Keep me updated.
Speaking of updates: How are Arpil and Aaron and little Barrett Jr.? I still can't believe she's married.
And you know who else I haven't heard much from, Gavin. How's he doin'? Has he finished the 151? Can he speak Russian fluently? Has he solved world hunger yet?
As you have already probably seen in the pictures, we had a branch activity this past saturday, The History of the Gypsy Romance. It was fantastic! I think there might be a little gypsy in me. Sister Elena, literally the sweetest old lady in the entire world, organized the whole thing. She told the story, she had people read poetry, she even danced. It was a ton of fun. I wish you all had been there.
I got Elder Schoenfeld's email. Some interesting facts. Last year we had a 7 week transfer to get on schedule with the Madrid MTC (where all native missionaries go now) and now Elder Schoenfeld and I are on the same transfer schedule. And as far as the weather is concerned, Moscow is having an unusually warm winter too. I guess last year around this time it was about -30c but this year we're hovering right around 0c.
Ok, well, I'm off to the Planetarium for a p-day activity with Sister Elena, the very same. She's fantastic. I'll have to send you her bliny recipe. They're amazing and we eat about a million of them every time we go over. haha
Have a great week. I love you and pray for you. 2 Timothy 1:7 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of ^afear; but of ^bpower, and of ^clove, and of a sound mind.

Love
Elder Hamp

Barrett's email - January 9th

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

District meeting at the Neuenschwanders

Cameras set on a delay timer to take the exact same picture

Museum they went to on Free Museum Day

Bear's new companion

Priceless graffiti

Well, I hate to say it again, but - Holy Cow!! What a week!
Highlights version:
Tuesday - District meeting at the Neuenschwanders. Their last one in russia before they move to Turkey to help open the country for the preaching of the gospel.
Wednesday - All day training from Elder Bennett of the Area presidency. It was incredible
Thursday - I don't remember if I told you, but our entire mission has been reading the Book of Mormon as a mission for a few months, and so we had a specialized training on the Book of Mormon to wrap it up, Including a couple rounds of "Stump the Book of Mormon" where a random number between 1 and 531 is called out and we all see if no body could find anything meaningful on that page in terms of the the two questions we had in mind as we read (1. How can I become a better missionary? and 2. How can I increase my faith in Jesus Christ?) Needless to say, we couldn't stump it.
Friday - Found out that there is a Book of Mormon version of the video game "Total War". We were visiting this family and their son loves video games, and he was telling me about 'Total War' and all the versions, and as sort of a joke I asked if he had ever heard of 'Book of Mormon Total War' (I meant it as a joke and then was going to tell him all about Moroni in the end of Alma)(I had already told him all about Ammon. We're really trying to get him to get excited about reading). Well, it backfired when he told me that he had. and i was like 'What?' and then he showed me the trailer for "Total War: The Title of Liberty". It was hilarious
Saturday - Met my new companion. He is incredible. I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of stories to tell you with him.
Sunday - My old companion flew home
Monday - And now today we spent the whole morning cleaning the filthy russian apartment. It was fun
Well, there you have it. That was my week. It sounds like yours was great. 1400 Kindle books!?! Wow. That's awesome. To answer your questions, 1. As far as wrapping presents is concerned, It really is just luck of the draw. His package made it through untampered, mine came with all the letters opened, my last companion's got sent home with half the stuff missing and his parents are filing a claim. So, it really just depends on who's working at the post office that day. I was not at all disappointed by my package. I didn't wrap any thing either. And Question 2 (from last week) "ThermaSilk" size: medium.
I am excited to hear all about this fireside.
Yes, send me all of Elder Mackey's voice recordings! I can't necessarily listen to them right away, but I will be able to at some point or other. I'm not sure how to send a voice recording, but if you'd like, I will try. I'm not sure what I would say in it. And part of me feels like it might make the phonecalls less meaningful. But I don't know. It's hard to do a recording without Seth. haha
Well, it's getting close to that time again. I support you in getting a blessing for the job search. I will pray especially for this blessing.
I love you so much.
Have a great week
Love
Elder Hamp

Barrett's email - January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

Christmas morning opening presents 

Christmas tree

Happy Birthday Ana

Skyping home

Seniors singing at the Christmas party

Okay, so I'm here in the "Dungeon". It's this dark, scary internet place in the basement of an electronics store that a lot of missionaries use because it's close to the church. Usually we go to the post office or the library, but today our library is not providing internet for whatever reason, so we had to come to the dungeon. Now it wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that the computers here do not give you a count down as you near the end of your time. At the post office, you get a timer in the corner, so you can write literally to the last second (which I usually do), but here it will tell me I have 5 minutes left, and then I'm on my own. It could happen at any moment. It makes emailing even more stressful than it already is.

What a week! Happy New Year!!! Holy cow, it's 2012! Only 354 days left til the end of the world. Japanese New year sounds like it was the funnest ever. I see a new tradition in our future.

In celebration of New Years, President approved the viewing of secular movies for one night only, so on new years eve we (our district and another) went over to a senior couples house and slept over and watched a ton of movies. It was a lot of fun. We watched Harry Potter 7.2, Kung Fu Panda 2, Letters to Juliette (twice), Old Dogs, and Flykids (or Flyboys, I'm not sure how it would translate back into English) then I went to bed, but some stayed up even later. Oh, man it was so much fun. All night there were people setting of fireworks, and I don't mean bottle rockets, I mean full-fledged, 4th of July fireworks right in the streets, out of their windows, everywhere. I'm not sure it was the safest activity (especially since I'm sure most of them were drunk) but it was way cool. We were on the 14th floor, so a lot of them would explode right at our level. It did get a little annoying after a couple hours and they were still going. At midnight we even got to watch a little tv to see the russian celebrations. It was a good night.

Then on Sunday, we had a bunch of bliny for breakfast. The perfect way to start off the year. Church was only one hour long (last week we had the full 3 hours. New Years is the big holiday here), and afterwards we went over to a member's house for dinner and had more bliny. What a day.

And today, in honor of Ana's birthday, which also happens to coincide with Free Museum Day, we went to the museum Kuskova. It was incredible. I guess it used to be this really fancy estate, and now it's a whole bunch of museums. Tons of old paintings and sculptures and ceramics and china. It was fun.

Did I mention that I got the package with all the christmas cards. Thank you so much! It was a ton of fun to read them all.

Well, I got the warning, so from here on out I'm not exactly sure how much time is left, so I guess I'll start wrapping up. Thank you so much for everything. Thank for the updates and the pictures. I'm not sure how important the brand or the size is for the underarmor. It's always under, so it doesn't really matter. Have a great week. I love you all so much.

Love

Elder Hamp