My comp and I were in Astrakahn for a couple of days but on the way back we were trying to board the train and the guy tells us that our names are not on the list. He said that our tickets are for tomorrow. We started to freak because we had a train tomorrow going to Saratov that same time. If we missed that train then we would miss our MLC in Rostov. That wouldn't have been good. We also didn't have a hotel to stay in that night. This attendant guy comes close and starts whispering to us. He said the tickets cost 750 rubles so you can just give cash to me and we will be all good. So we did it haha.
Astrakahn: It was a great trip down there. I translated the meeting because the Branch President is from Chile. It was so hard but really good practice for me. The Branch President and his family are keeping the branch alive. Besides the Branch President's family, there are 2 Russian active members and a couple of African members. It is definitely a sweet branch. The Branch President doesn't speak Russian but he sat in on every lesson. He was super helpful. One of the active members from Russia had a brother in law die becuase of a mistake made in the hospital. His sister was upset about it and couldn't handle it. It was really sad. She shaked her fists at heaven and asked why this happened to my husband? He was so healthy. She was trying to find an answer to why he was taken and where he is right now. She went into the Russian Orthodox church and talked with them and they could not answer her question. Then her brother (who is a member of our church) told her that the missionaries were coming for a trip to Astrakahn and that we could help her. She met with us and just could not hold back the tears. She was still in shock about it. Our plan was to do the Plan of Salvation Lesson. When we saw her we decided to bear a simple witness of the Plan of Salvation. It was super sweet. She calmed down, felt some peace and was super thankful that we came. We gave her a blessing and a Book of Mormon. She even came to church. It was truly a miracle that we came to Astrakahn and we got to meet her with a broken heart and with tons of questions.