Week 28 - J-E-L-L--Oh NO.

Okay this week was CRAZY long. Things that were literally 6 days ago feel like 6 weeks ago. 

Spent the first couple days in a Trio, and that was super fun. On Monday, I made a big mistake and wore my white converse in the rain. I made it almost the whole day without getting them super dirty, but at night time we were walking back from a store and I stepped in the biggest pile of mud in my entire life. It happens! No big deal haha.

On Monday I ate holodetz (meat jello) for the first time. I can finally say I've eaten something super nasty on my mission. I took the first bite and it was not even that bad, so I started feeling cocky. I took another bite 3 times the size. This time I got all the jelly. Big mistake. I gagged it down though!! It was just like all your Thanksgiving leftovers together in clear, solidified broth-jello. It gave me goosebumps.

Speaking of other nasty food, on Tuesday we did a Fear Factor Night "Blender Edition". Basically ever food has a random number, and you draw a certain amount of numbers for each "level" and blend the things together and drink it. I had a sour cream, pickle and chocolate milk drink and it was the nastiest thing in my life. I almost threw up. Elder Galmeister actually did. Tuesday was not the best day of Elder Galmeister's mission.

On Tuesday we woke up super early to take Elder Wonson to the train station. Elder Galmeister and I were companions for 8 hours!!!! Legendary. We reimbursed our sleep when we got home, just for an hour and a half. I woke up to him breathing super fast. I was kinda sketched out. He was like grunting in his sleep a little bit too. The first thing I thought to myself is "woah, he's having a super intense dream. I'll have to ask him about it when we're both up!" I almost thought about going and waking him up. But no, I did the exact opposite. I rolled over in my bed and put the pillow over my head. 30 minutes later, we were both awake. I said "man, you must have had a crazy dream". Turns out he had SLEEP PARALYSIS and couldn't move or say anything. He said he was trying as hard as he could to get my attention by breathing and barely getting a grunt out! He said it was the scariest thing in his entire life, and I did the exact opposite thing that he wanted me to do hahaha. I laughed about it for the rest of the day. He didn't think it was as funny as I did though.

Our apartment

Sushi with Elder Galmeister

We picked up my new companion, Elder Devey. He's so funny and awesome. He taught me how to do a Rubik's Cube too. He's from Orem, Utah. We're almost complete opposites, but we still blend together so well! He loves music and theater, and is super smart. He tells the funniest and coolest stories, too. His Ukrainian is super super good. We practice almost all day together.

Elder Devey

It was COLD this week. It snowed throughout the entire week. Elder Devey likes it a lot more than I do. It looks super pretty all the time though.

A street of beautiful mansions that are all empty - people are too poor to actually live in them.

Elder Devey and I are already neck-deep in the missionary work! We got called to be in the Branch Presidency here in church. He is Second Counselor and I am the Secretary!! Another big scoop of responsibility on our plate, but we're hungry for the blessings!!!

American Christmas Music is playing in the markets here.. Super weird to hear. But it's great!

With December already here, and the Christmas Season here too, it is a great time to turn outward to other people through service. The best gift that we could give to anyone is being a more Christlike person ourselves. #LightTheWorld is such an awesome opportunity for us to serve people and to GIVE this Christmas Season. Go watch the daily videos on mormon.org. We're finding ways to serve each day here in Ukraine! I expect big things back in the states!!

Have a fantastic, service-filled week.

Elder Stott