Sundays!

Hellooooo Sabbath Day!

I never said anything about it, but last week the first stake in St. Petersburg was organized. I got to go with Andrew, a fellow teacher, to the conference where Elder Nelson was there. Although the other talks that were given I didn't understand, Elder Nelson spoke in English and the message was very clear. Because of the faith of the people in St. Petersburg, there are enough members to create a stake. It is not an easy thing to do, believing in something that is practically unheard of in your country. It was very spiritual and I am very blessed to have gone.

Yesterday, we went to see the Peterhof! Needless to say, it was absolutely gorgeous.

One thing I love about St. Petes is all the architectural beauty. The buildings everywhere are gorgeous!

I can't remember exactly how many fountains there were at the Peterhof, but it was definitely a lot.

This one was my favorite.

 





After we spent a few hours blowing up my mind with all the beautiful sights we saw, we had our first movie night together as teachers! Because it was my birthday, I got to choose.

So we watched Arrested Development. (Tell your friends about this show.) If you haven't heard of it, I pity you and go watch it right now!

This morning, Andrew took Katie, Sydney, Courtney and I to a ward that is a lot closer to where we live than the stake center. Even though I still couldn't understand a thing they said, it was good to feel the spirit and to know that these people truly love the church. And Andrew was nice enough to translate the basic gist of the talks for us.

Thanks dude!

When I got back home, Anya's parents had arrived. Her mom was upset with me because I was barefoot. She asked Anya, 'Do you always let her feet freeze?' The babushkas here like to look out for us little hooligans and even though my feet were fine, I put on some slippers so she wouldn't worry!

After a few hours of being lazy and planning a few lessons, Nastya came over and we went out with Artom and Anya to walk around St. Petersburg. We are  very close to the Cathedral of Spilled Blood, so we adventured around that area which even though I have seen it before, is unbelievably gorgeous.

 

Yes it is sideways, but it is still gorgeous.

 

 

I have some photos with Anya and Nastya in them, but compared to their natural Russian beauty, my short stubby American physique is quite laughable, and I already have self esteem issues so we are just gonna skip that step!

 

Nastya was very helpful to tell me all the information about the places we saw. Of everyone with us, she is most fluent in English. Her husband Kioro joined us and we went to this Chineese restaraunt called Skyway Palace. Have you had milk oolong before? It is absolutely incredible!

 

I love going places with my host family. They are so great, I definitely got very lucky!

 

And no one yelled at me in Russian today, so I am feeling pretty darn good!