Hello Everyone: So I left on the plane and let me tell you the trip was great. While on the plane Elder P and I talked with a few people and had a good couple of lessons with Katherine on the flight from Chicago to Frankfurt. It was good, and we handed some BOM's. Lufthansa flight was amazing and very high tech! We got awesome meals that were gourmet! ha-ha LEGIT. We landed in Frankfurt and let me tell you, that was a nice airport and surprisingly not crowded. We had Mc Donald’s and it was hilarious! So I knew how Europeans love their drinks and I played it safe getting Coke (which was the best) and my companion got Fanta. I thought it tasted great but my companion thought differently. It tasted like carbonated orange juice and that is exactly what it was. Then he wanted water and I thought I told him about the water, but maybe I didn’t. He paid for water and it was carbonated as well. ha-ha I got a good laugh looking at his face. But he drank it all.
So I arrived in Russia at 0400 am and it was really interesting! Got off the Lufthansa flight and I thought I was sitting next to Napoleon Dynamites sister. We entered through the gate and we had to fill out our migration card and go through Russian security. We handed our documents and stood through a metal detector as this really angry looking officer pointed at me and said, "Hallo America!" hahaha… He stamped it and I was on my way to collect my bags. While waiting for my bags the track started to move and a dog walks onto the track as the first piece of luggage comes off! ha-ha official eh?! I lost one piece of luggage on the way here and I had to fill out four pieces of paper for it. I don’t know what to tell ya, I was here in a foreign land and no one was speaking anything that I could understand! Once I stepped out of the airport, I was running into a world of chaos. Everything was like 5x as ghetto as anywhere I have been even more ghetto than east LA. Everyone was walking around with beer in their hands and cigarettes. It was weird to see advertisements for Marlboro everywhere and how it is healthy. Oh and I guess it is normal for stray dogs everywhere, ran into one on the way to the library. Our stay at the mission home was the bomb and I got to taste for the first time the сок и yogurt. The best I have tasted! Bread was ten times better than at home too and I got to taste 4% milk.
So I met my trainer, Elder H from Bountiful, Utah. He is pretty tight and we get along well. We had our first lesson with each other yesterday after church and it was good. We arrived in Perm on a six-hour train ride. He is going home in August so I am trying to pick up on as much Russian as I can while he is here. I took some pictures of the area, but my uploading devices got lost on the way here. So pictures next week, I PROMISE!
Walking around and contacting is really interesting. All the women wear see through shirts, since it is hot outside and are way immodest. The men are like the movies portray they wear workout clothes and adidas, adidas, adidas. Everywhere is techno music and they love the black eye peas! (Russians love their techno except for President A he likes System of a Down because they are Armenian.)
The members here are a one of a kind! I love em! They are super funny! Everyone asked where I lived and when I responded Las Vegas they were booming with questions. They want to play poker with me sometime. I said maybe if they want to play for referrals. After church, our branch went out and I went on splits with a member who is a recent convert full of energy. We went out and contacted together. This is when I first got my taste of Russia. It is like walking out in the forest camping but being in a city at the same time. There are ton of stands that sell beer and vodka and porn. RIDICULOUS!! We contacted eight people and it was funny because I hardly talked. He wanted to show me how it is done! His approach was subtle and to the point and I am sure people were cussing at us and all he said was 'understandable'! ha-ha Sunday was crazy and different.
The only way to get around I guess is buses here. So the buses have German instructions and Russian advertisements. There is a guy driving the crowded bus and his "girl" who collects the money from you, and it is 12 rubles per ride. It is really interesting and I am sure getting fond of the smell of smoke and alcohol. When I walk outside I feel like I am walking in a World War 2 Movie. The train station has the marks of soviet russia all over and so does Perm. There is even a play ground were kids are playing on missiles. Oh and to answer some questions all the bottoms of the trees are painted white, and people don’t sit down on the sidewalks because it supposedly makes you sterile. Oh my favorite thing here is the taxi rides. ha-ha I feel like I’m in a car chase in a movie! Sudden stops, driving on sidewalks, swerving, and hitting the gas! Better than Disneyland ha-ha It is cool here. Oh and the doors are like dungeon doors and so are the keys. Showers are freezing! So no problems waking up! ha-ha
Love ya'll,
Elder LeFevre
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