I miss you. Yes, you. All of you!!!

So. Much. Russian. (Mnoga Ruski yezik)

Ok, so I have my suitcase now, even though it was annoying to have to drive the four hours to the airport and back for it. I'm realizing I probably don't need half this stuff. I made it two days without it just fine! But I'm glad I got it in time to give Alesia her gift at the baby shower last night.

Every morning I have a 45 minute to an hour Russian lesson with Tanya. Later in the day I spend around 2 hours studying on my own. Well, that's the goal I might reach at some point. It's going really well, but it's a struggle to be patient with myself. I wish this process was faster. I just want to express myself freely. I just want to get to know these people. It's a unique kind of relationship you have when you love people but cannot speak to them very well. A bond only possible because we love the Lord and have talked through translators in the past. Of course, the Germans are helping me communicate, but they can only do so much. I'm craving a really good long conversation with an American!

Yesterday was probably my hardest day so far. I went with Natasja and Esther to the orphanage run by Sasha. (We also went shopping a little and saw Inna and her kids for a little bit, which was great) I had no idea the living conditions are the way they are. I cannot put much here, because of the way information gets around on the internet. Just please pray God will show me what I can do. N and I will be going 2 or 3 days a week. I need to figure out some crafts to do with them. I didn't bring very much because I'm trying to do crafts they can do on their own when I leave. It doesn't do much good for me to use American craft supplies because when I leave they are back to doing and having nothing. I hope that makes sense...I guess my goal is to equip, so that eventually the church and whoever else can take over ministries like this.

So then we went to the baby shower, which was a lot of fun, but still hard on me. I can't talk to anyone. I can't understand what they are saying around me. I don't want to need a translator and I don't want to always sit with Natasja. Grr.

Lunch time. I'll write more later.

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