Drinking Ashes

Zdrastvuitye!

First transfer!!!! Sister Johnson and I were informed on Friday that she would be transferred to Engels in Saratov and I would be staying in Avrora!!! I'm literally so excited! My new companion is named Sister Jensen and she is a gem! She came to Russia with Sister Johnson and they are pretty much twins. We're literally going to be the craziest companionship! Sister Johnson and I are the best of friends and I can't imagine it'll be any different with Sister Jensen. I have met her once and she is so great! This next cycle is going to be a fun time! This letter is short because Sister Johnson has to finish packing before tomorrow, so we're trying to hurry!

Tomorrow is also my first Visa trip! I'm so excited!!! I have to get up at 3am tomorrow and my flight leaves from Samara to Moscow at 7am. We're going to Latvia from there!!! We don't get to leave the airport or anything, but it's still cool. to say that I've been there. It'll be an adventure for sure!

Our New Years Eve Celebration was pretty fun! We had to be back at our apartment at 6pm that night instead of the usual 9pm, so we had lots of time to feast and study! There's a tradition in Russia where you're supposed to write down your desire for the following year on a piece of paper, burn it, and drink the ashes in champagne. Obviously we didn't drink the champagne but we bought nonalcoholic children's champagne which was pretty much just fizzy peach juice. Really good! Anyways, after Sister Johnson and I wrote down our desires and tried to burn them, I accidentally got mine wet on the bottom so it wouldn't burn all the way. There were huge burnt paper chunks floating in my baby juice that I had to choke down. Not even exaggerating when I say "choke down." It was a struggle. Not a fan of the taste. At least my desire will come true now!

We also had our Branch Christmas Choir program on Saturday! It was such a crazy experience! The senior couple in our area spent a significant amount of time putting together a video, decorations, volunteers... basically everything for this program! It was such a success! So many people from the community showed up to see the performance! Many tears were shed in the audience and it was so great to feel the spirit so strongly!

Welp... That's all folks! I hope you all had a great time celebrating the holidays! Time to get ready for Valentines Day I guess. Keep smiling and spreading the gospel!

Do Svidanya!

Love,

Cectpa Megan Wagstaff