Hello!

Well, I've decided against making a full post about Russia as it would take forever, and I'm going to be sending out a letter to all of my supporters anyways. So, most of you will hear about it in some fashion. In case you were worried, in the past few days I have started feeling normal again. It just took some time, but my stomach is currently about as normal as it gets : )

I had a great weekend. On Friday night we went to Mango Mike's for supper with our friends Eric and Erin. It was a pretty cool restaurant. Kinda a "tiki"/Caribbean restaurant. They actually had this drink that Nate had when he was in the British Virgin Islands called a "Painkiller" or something like that. He was pretty excited to have it again. We shared a platter of fish that had been sauteed in various fashions. Quite tasty. We then went back to their townhouse and watched a movie.

On Saturday, I got up and mowed the yard. We had let it grow much too long, and it was wet, so it took me a really long time. BUT, I conquered! We then spent the rest of the day helping our friends Jeff and Abby move into their new condo. They bought us dinner at an American/Italian joint, then we headed over to some other friends' townhouse for strawberry shortcake and a chick flick.

Sunday was church, Sunday School, then helping Jeff and Abby paint over their old apartment. Abby and I repainted the whole thing from green to white. We then ran off to Watson's for a cookout/reunion for the Russian trip. It was so nice to see everyone again! They cooked up a big Southern feast. Fried catfish, the whole works!!! And the best part was that two of my friends that I made in Russia have come to the U.S. for a month. They were at the party, and it was nice to see them again. I am having them over to our house on Thursday night.

It was very cool how we made friends in Russia, and felt so close to them after only 10 days. It was hard to leave, and imagine how our hearts lept with joy when we saw each other again in the U.S. I nearly started to cry. I guess that's one of the blessings and curses of short-term missions trips. You make close friends, and then possibly will never see them again. I guess it's like they say, "it is better to have loved and lost, then to never love at all".