From 4:00 to 5:00 a.m. today I couldn't sleep, but I didn't want to get up and check email, because I didn't want to read it and then know that I wouldn't get another email from Elder (Andrew) Broekhuijsen. So, I waited until 5:00, and then gave in. No email. When I finally got back to sleep, I slept right through my alarm and didn't get up until 6:45. Oops! Happily, there WAS email by then! So, without further ado or explanation from me - here is the last email from Elder Broekhuijsen written in Russia. (But hopefully I can talk him into writing at least one post once he gets home!)
Dobriy vecher. (That's Russian for buenos tardes)
Well. I've been having a pretty weird day. We got up, did our normal study, etc., and then cleaned up the apartment and hit the store to buy groceries for the week. Good thing we're so fiscally responsible, because otherwise we may have ended up with more than 1000 rubles to spend on food for an entire week. We wouldn't want to actually EAT the last week of my mission, Elder Broekhuijsen grumbled, before remembering that he really likes rice anyways.
Then we came home and I spent 4 straight hours writing letters to as many of my mission friends as I could. I even got permission to write to a few of the sisters that I've gotten to work with. Usually that's not allowed. So thanks, President! After that, we came straight here. And now we're here.
I would like to report on a success from last week. You sent me away with $300 and a task to find a suit. I definitely found a spicy euro suit for 4500 rubles ($150). Haggled it down to $120. It fits really well. It's not custom tailored, but it fits almost as if it were. I would like to look into shortening the sleeves and hemming the pants sometime, but yeah. It's really really dark muted blue, and has cool pinstripes that are vaguely shiny, in the Russian tradition.
So I consider that a victory.
To answer Sister C's question, yes, I would love to do a duet with Melissa for our homecoming, and yes, I would love to sing a verse in Russian. Let's do Be Still My Soul! I love that song, and it's even prettier in Russian.
To answer mom's question, [What would you like by way of foods you've been craving when you get home?] — anything with sugar in it. As you know, I decided to go off sugar for this transfer to see if I could do it. I could. But I love sugar so, so much. So I figured I would give myself a week after I get home to splurge and then make some more long-term healthy eating habits to follow. But in terms of meals... I would love to hit up some Bahmi (or however you spell that). With saus ketchang. [Some favorite Indonesian foods of ours.] Oh, yeah. And I definitely need to make a run to Iceberg for a shake. And I want to make you all Plov and Borsch and stuff because it's so delicious and I'm not even close to sick of it.
There are my requests.
So I think I've overcome the "moping around about how sad it is to leave my mission" phase. Actually, to be perfectly honest, this week ahead of us doesn't feel much different than any normal week. So maybe I've just regressed into the "denial" phase again. I guess we'll have to see.
I don't know what to write. We had some really awesome meetings and new investigators and stuff this week, but it seems pointless to tell about them here when I can give you all the juicy details from not only them, but my entire mission, in like a week. We did end up getting a meeting with a guy named I* from an ancient potential investigator list in the dark depths of the area book (the section that's recorded in reformed Egyptian) from 2006. He came, and is a huge boss. He was an exchange student in Salt Lake City of all places when he was 15. Speaks English pretty well. He's 24 now. And he could be a stake president with a little bit of surgical false doctrine removal and a steady IV of the words of life. Thanks, Heavenly Father!
I don't have much to report. I'll be seeing you in a week. I keep thinking of vaguely interesting questions I'd like to ask, but then I remember that there is no point in asking questions this week.
Joshua, Garrett - you better be ready to give me the run down on the G7, Steam, etc. etc. when I get back. Dad, I get the feeling there will be some in-depth talks about photography and videography in the near future. Mom, I want to hear when I get back what you did the last week of your mission. It will be interesting to compare to my own. Melissa, keep smashing it to the end.
I'm out of stuff to say. Back to work over here.
Love,
Elder Broekhuijsen
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