Nothing to Do With Russia and Everything to Do with Life!

Matthew has been wonderful and handling a lot of the Russia things so that I can get this crazy wedding put together! So that is what this update is about!

We've had four showers and many gifts later we were blessed with a vast majority of the things we need! So that has been very cool to see as well.

For the most part everything is done and ready. Just a few things to make here and there. I think I was able to plan out the right balance between making and buying things for the wedding. I do not feel like I am going to die so that has been it's own little miracle!

We are going to begin moving things into out "summer home" this weekend before and after graduation so that is exciting as well! A professor is graciously allowing us the use of her home while she is gone for the summer (yet another blessing in our lives!). Then I go home for two weeks before the wedding.

We also graduate this Sunday! It's odd that it is so soon.

So many big things coming quickly! We also have two weddings we are attending this summer so that should be fun all around!

Thank you to everyone for reading, praying, and remembering us!

LOIs!

Hello All!

We have recently received word that our Letters of Invitation (LOIs) are making their way to us! This is an important step towards getting our visas to go to Russia, so we are excited. In going to Russia, one can't just waltz across the border. If you want to stay for any length of time, you need to be formally invited from within Russia. IA has been working to prepare Letters of Invitation for Amanda and I, and they are now done and being sent to us.

We also have found out that we will be able to send some of our things ahead of us, thanks to a short term work team that is going to IA in May. We can send a couple of suitcases of things (mostly clothes, books, teaching materials) on ahead, which will help us since we will only be able to pack what we can take on the plane with us when we finally leave in August.

We have also had our application confirmed for the TCK-PFO training in Buffalo. So all that we have left to do now is fill out about 600 forms for that and we'll be ready to go :-P The plane tickets have already been purchased for that particular trip, so everything is falling into place.

As always, we cannot thank everyone enough for their faithful giving and prayer. It looks like everything will be in place financially for when we leave, which is an incredible blessing. We have been so amazed at the way God has used so many different people to make it possible for us to serve in Russia!

Until next time,

Matt