We had a great week last week! I think I'm finally settling into my role as teacher, and I feel like I've been improving. Trust me, there is a lot of room for improvement for me with this new method of teaching. It's very different from what I'm used to. But, it's been very good for me.

On Friday morning we went to the Kremlin to visit the State Armoury and to see the 7 cathedrals within the Kremlin walls. I particularly loved the State Armoury. So cool! They have carriages from the 1700's on display that are Cinderella type carriages. So beautiful! They also have tons of jewelry and clothing that is hundreds of years old. It was so amazing, although we weren't alowed to take pictures, so I just had to take mental pictures of everything. Very very cool! If anyone ever visits Moscow, the State Armoury is a must see.

We barely made it back to the school in time for me to teach my 4A/B class. Teaching went well and then I spent the rest of the evening planning lessons and preparing for this week. Planning as a teacher is a never ending process.

Saturday was one of the best days I've had since arriving in Moscow. It was a region wide YSA Conference from 11am-9pm. Amazing! There had to have been a good 70-80 YSA's from all over Russia. Mainly St. Petersburg and Moscow, but there were lots of other areas represented too. So awesome! Anyway, the area CES coordinator spoke to us and it was wonderful! We rotated in groups from class to class (with different speaker) for a few hours, then ate lunch, then prepared for a performance. The performance was basically a competition between the groups to see who could create the funniest skits. It was really funny to listen to everyone fighting about how they wanted to do things. Some people really got upset about not having it their ways. One girl stormed off because we weren't doing what she wanted. The way Jessica put it is that "The Russians communicate through debate." Of course that is not true, but I do see a lot of Russians argue a lot!! Anyway, it was funny...but we finished our skit and then did our performance. Fortunately my part was super easy. I got to speak in English as an International Airline Flight Attendant. Haha!
So, after the performances, they fed us a delicious dinner of pizza and salad and cake and ice cream. Yumm!!!

After dinner they had a "Western" Discoteca. It was so awesome! Russians really know how to dance. We met a really cool guy named Alex who was showing us how to dance. he was amazing! But, it was really funny because Jessica nor I had brought jeans and all the Russians were freaking out about it. They said, "You have to wear jeans." So, one of our friends pulled off a few pairs of jeans from the decorations and told Jessica and I to go put them on. I tried on two pairs. The first pair made me look like MC Hammer on phenphen, and the second pair made me look like I dont know who. The pants came 4 inches past my belly button and made me look terrible!! Hahaha! Finally, after embarrassing myself in the bathroom as Russian girls were coming in and out, I put my skirt on and walked back into the dance. I thanked our friend for his help, but told him I could dance just fine in a skirt. haha! It was really quite funny. Anyway, the dance was way fun! And, jessica and I got to demonstrate how to dance the Virginia Reel. So fun!

Sunday was also a great day! We left for church a little early so we could sing with the choir. It was great! The whole block was really nice! Honestly, being at the church is like going home! I don't know how else to describe it. I got to chat with President Gibbons (he spoke in General Conference a few years ago) and he's the Area President for all the Eastern European Missions I believe. Anyway, we chatted for a minute and what a nice man he is. very humble and kind.
I also got to play the piano for the primary again and was asked to accompany a special musical number for the Relief Society. It's kind of funny because people are just starting to realize that I really am a pianist and have been playing for a long time and know what I'm doing. When the lady first asked me to play for the RS, she said, "Now you have a piano that you can practice this song on right?" I said, "Well, yes I do have a piano, but I played through the song once and decided that I don't really need to practice it since I didn't have any problems the first time through." I think it's a bit astounding to people that I can pick up anything they put in front of me and play it. I guess I've never really thought about it being a gift, but it really is. A gift that has taken thousands and thousands of hours to develop...but it certainly is a gift nonetheless.

All is well in the land of Moscow! I love it here! It's really amazing and I'm learning new and fun things every day! Thank you for everyone's support back home! I love you all!!