Week 2 in Tuapse

Tuapse Branch Picnic

Walking with Ira, the daughter of our investigator

The time has come . . . its P day . . . I'm in an internet club, and tons of Russian kids are yelling crazy things in Russian, swearing at each other, and playing some online game.

I'm not sure if I spoke last week about the ongoing war I'm having with the mosquitoes, but I feel like I'm finally winning some battles. I feel like the mosquitoes here got the word out to the other mosquitoes that some chocolate thing is walking around town in a white shirt and tie and he's delicious! The mosquitoes were having a heyday for about a week and a half, but just like how you can only eat so much chocolate cake without getting sick of it, I think that they are done with me and went back to drinking milk.

We had a branch picnic earlier this week and it was crazy! When I heard picnic I thought that we would all meet up at some park, eat some sandwiches on a picnic table, and then say goodbye. To my surprise, we took a bus to the middle of nowhere and then proceeded to hike for an hour to the absolute middle of nowhere and put a small thin layer of cloth made for maybe 4 and somehow sqeezed 15 people onto it and a bunch of food. We then made a fire and ate chicken nonstop for 8 hours as I strained every braincell I have to understand what everyone was saying. The picninc would have been more fun if I didn't crack my knee open when falling on a sharp rock and being bitten by a third of the mosquitoes in Tuapse. We did have an investigator there, and I think his daughter and he had a good time, so that was good.

Elder Porter and I get along beautifully, and one day we filmed a documentary of "the woman in the red shirt" climbing into a sewer drain to save a random cat. It was honestly hilarious, and I will do everything in my power to send that out. As I said in my last email ,we are promoting English club, and I told Elder Porter to start telling all the kids we meet that I was Obama's nephew, so. . . 1) Pretty much every kid in Tuapse loves us and comes up to us to say hello. 2) English club is gonna be packed!

Well, the mission is going good. Only 2 drunk guys tried to fight us this week. I have never prayed this much . . ever, and I know that my Heavenly Father is watching over me. :) The Church is true, that I promise you. And if you ever want to find out for yourself you can find out through prayer!

Love, Elder Curran

P.S. Fwd this to anyone who you think would like to read it and send me a letter. I love hearing from you. Elderjamesbcurran@myldsmail.net

PPS Mom: I have no idea how he killed his wife. The Uzbek resturant is a priority for today. I like the Russia tour idea. I just introduced myself in church. It wasn't anything particular. I wish I had a 2 hour lunch. We only have 1. But it's ok. I'm trying to clean the apt. But it's really hard to keep it clean cause Russia is so dusty.

Last letter from the MTC (August 11, 2009)

Dear Mom,

How is it going? If you are reading this, I'm guessing I'm in Russia. Wow. That's crazy.

Also, thank you for the calling card info. I've written it down, and I'll be calling you on the 18th.

I'm glad that you were able to get "Week 9 in the MTC." I was surprised that you didn't receive it because I know I sent it to you.

I'm glad you were able to talk to Jerome. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten received any letters from him or Happi. :( Please tell them I said hello.

I'm not really looking forward to Russian food, although I hope I canfind an Uzbek restuarant and eat plov again. I have beendreaming of eating it for so long.

That's funny that you mentioned the sisters' zones of the Temple Square Mission. There is a Sister Cummins in here who is going there that I was good friends with at BYUI.

Your story about Auntie Pat and you when you came home from your mission was funny. I wonder if I will be uncomfortable saying prayers in English. Perhaps?

Which mothers have you met on LDSmissionarymoms.com? I know elder Olson's and apsley's mothers are on there. That's crazy you have seen me on other people's blogs!

No, I will not keep my hair as long as you saw. Right now I have it pretty short. I get my hair cut at least at least two times a month.

We have many missionaries going together, but 10 of us are going to Rostov -- 7 in my district and 3 native speakers. I know all of us.

As for service, I clearn building 13 every Thursday morning, and I have cleaned every part of that building. I've cleaned toilets, showers, floors, trash - literally everything.

Well I hope all is well. I think I will just be emailing from now on!

Love,

your son,

Elder Curran

Week 1 in Tuapse

Wow. . . . . I cant believe its been one week. I really had no idea what to expect when I was coming out here but it has been a great week. After meeting my companion, Elder Porter, from Heber AZ, and getting to know him a little, we get along just fine. He's way funny and has tons of stories. He's been here for 21 months, so he speaks Russian almost perfectly, in my opinion. Which has its pros and cons. It's definately a blessing, because we can actually answer questions people have about the church. But at the same time we understand all the terrible things that people are saying to us.

I didn't expect to do so much knocking, but that's pretty much all we do. We wake up at 6:30, do some pushups and sit ups, and eat, shower, and get dressed. 8 - 9 is personal study. 9-10 is companionship study. Then we're out the door. On the way to our knocking area, we talk to people which usually consists of people either telling us to get lost or politely telling us they are "Praveslavni" which is the Othodox Russian Faith and that they are not intrested in hearing from us. When we get to our knocking area, we knock which consists of dogs barking at us literally for 4 hrs and people either telling us to get lost or that they are "Praveslavni" and are not interested. Then at 2, we go home have lunch and language study and do it again for another 4 hrs. Very occasionally, someone lets us in and listens to or agrees to meet with us at a later time. From those that either let us in ( Maybe 6 this week) none have actually met with us again :(. WE do however have 3 investigators, 2 of whom we have taught once this week and one we can't meet with right now because he was accused for killing his wife? IDK?

But anyway I have never been so tired and hungry as I have been this week. I lost 8 pounds this week. Ohhh . . and we aren't allowed to eat dinner. Breakfast, lunch, and that's it :(

Tuapse is extremly mountainous, so I'm pretty much walking up and down mountains all day. I convinced my companion to start English Club, so we have been promoting that for a few days and will start in a week and a half. Today, while my companion was getting a hair cut I somehow talked to an old gradmother about it and told her that her son should come to our free english class. She told us we were sent from God. And in my head I ws like "FINALLY! someone gets it," but I knew she was just grateful we had a free english class.

Only 2 guys tried to start fights with us, and they were under the influence. But surprisingly we have made quite a few friends who were under the same influence. Go figure. The Russian word for Black people is the "N" word, but its not a bad word to them, so I literally hear the N word all day, since I'm probably the first black person they have seen in person. So . . . yeah thats gonna take some getting used to.

Our apt is a dump, but we make it home. It's hot as all get out here, but at least we have air conditioning. I'm so grateful for that. At church, there are probably 6 active members, including the Branch President and his wife. So even though I escaped 12 weeks of giving a talk in the MTC, yes I had to talk in church, in Russian, to Russians. I think I did alright. Noone has thrown any rotten vegtables my way, but Ill let you know what happens.

Even though this week have had its downs, I have come so much closer to my Heavenly Father, because I honestly don't know what I'm doing and I need all the help I can get. I know that my Heavenly Father cares and loves all of his children tons! Well, that was my first week in Tuapse aka California of Russia ;) (In my opinion)

love Elder Curran

P.S. please forward this on to anyone and I would love to hear from you. Please write me at elderjamesbcurran@myldsmail.net instead of writing an actual letter. If the letter got here, it would take 6 weeks and email is just so much more convienent ;)

An Insane Trip, but Arrival Safe and Sound

K. So . . . . I made it. I'm in Russia. But seriously the trip there was insane. So insane that I cannot speak of it for fear that as I sit here in the Russia Internet Club in Rostov, I will break down for the dreaded memories that happened only 48 hours ago.

Ok . . . Im just playin. Its not that bad but seriously it was nuts, and truly a day of Nostalgia. I left the Provo MTC!!!!!!! finally !!!!! I waited for this day forever. And headed to the Salt Lake City Airport. (The place I was born - the city, not the airport) We took off and we were "rolling deep" (tons of missionaries) on the plane. The plane ride to Atlanta wasn't that bad, and I even tried to preach the gospel, but the girl to the right of me was already a member and the guy to my right said he only spoke German. I thought he was just saying that so I wouldn't talk to him, but when he spilled coke all over my suit he still couldn't say anything in English, so I believed him.

When we got to Atlanta, I ate a delicious burrito, which is the closest thing that I will have to chipotle and headed to Moscow. The flight was 11 hours long, but since I wasn't that tired I didnt really sleep. Instead one of the members of my district in the MTC got this Russian lady to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon. (She wasnt interested.) And I had about a 3hr conversation with the lady in front of me ( I understood 20% of it) about religion. She took my Book of Mormon and promised to read and pray about it.

After a very long plane ride, we landed in Moscow and then waited in an airport (that I used to fly into all the time) that didn't have air conditioning or air and were greeted by the Moscow Mission President. Although it was good to see a friendly face, it was sad because we still had half of our trip to go, and we were saying goodbye to a lot of the elders that came in with us on June 3rd. We then said goodbye to them and headed to the American Embassy (where I lived for 2 years in middle school), and got our passports. I tried to sneak into the residential area to see my old house, but the security guard apprently liked his job and would not accept any type of smooth talking, flattery, or bribery.

After we came out of the Embassy, we waited outside for the bus and for the driver and somebody who looked like he had been staring at me for a while said "Hi" so of course I gave him a friendly wave back and said HI. Confused he told loudly no in Russian "NYET!" and said HEIL . . . . HEIL HITLER !!!!! Then continued to repeat this many times very loudly and angrily. Although I was very taken aback, I didn't get scared out of my mind until other random people on the street started screaming it too. At that point, the Russian lady helping us out had us get on the bus where I did some serious self reflection on what had just happened. I'm still not sure.

Anyway, we flew drove 3 hrs to another airport in Russia and were given some intructions in Russian and sent off by ourselves. After asking about 6 people where to go, we found where to go. All of the elders with me had never been to Russia b4 and were literally in "shock." I used all the Russian I knew and got us where we had to be, and got our luggage all checked in. We waited for about 5 hrs, and then flew to Rostov. We were greeted by President Nechiporov, and I almost started to cry. The whole day was so miserable. I was so tired. I hadn't slept in a day and a half ,and when I heard the president speak, I felt the spirit so strong, which reminded me of comfort and it was just so pleasant. We drove to the mission home and 5 min of being there, I notice a picture of a kid from Russia that used to go to BYUI and I was good friends with. I asked the Mission President how he knew him, and he said it was his son! Thats nuts.

Well, that's my story. The Mission pres and his wife are amazing, and Rostov is hot and insane. But I'm ready. My new comp is Elder Porter who is 5'1 and prob 119 lbs, and we are going to serve is Tuapse. I'm excited. I'll let you know what happens !!!!!

First E-mail from Russia

I got here safe, but the trip was insanity. I had only been here 15 min and noticed that I was good friends with the Mission President's son at BYUI. Crazy.

What is your other email? I only know AOL. Also My new companion is Elder Porter. We are serving in Tuapse. I think he is 5'1 and 110 pounds, but he seems cool. He has been out for a while, so I'm glad because Ill need all the help I can get. I haven't taught anyone yet but by next week I should. TTYL !!!

love Elder Curran

P.S. PLease do whatever it takes to get the peanut. It is my only source for shaving.

By The Time You Read This Letter ...... (August 4 letter)

Mom,

I'm pretty sure when you read this I will be in Russia. (It's true!)

Ok, now to your letters. Someone follows my blog? Try to find out who it is. Maybe I know this person. Also, how many comments have been left?

Elder Apsley was correct. We taught native speakers last week and this week also. It wasn't too bad. I'm more worried about native speakers, who are not members already or missionaries.

It has sunk in that I'm leaving, and I get my flight plans tomorrow. Thank you for the "cage" story. I haven't seen much of all that, but I can definately see that happening.

Next letter, I'll send the photos you asked for. I needed to cut my hair, but I took more pictures.

Love,

your son,

Elder Curran

P.S. Thanks for all the gum! LOL And my dress shoes are fitting great.

Phone call

Elder Curran called from the Salt Lake airport on his way to Russia. It was great to hear his voice. He is so excited to head to the mission field and preach the Gospel.