Almost Christmas!

Hey family!Before i forget... I’ll be calling next Monday morning at 8 am. I believe that is 9 pm Sunday afternoon in Utah time. I hope that i get to talk to all of you for this :)
This week was pretty... eventful. We got on a bus Wednesday to head to samara, came back on Saturday after zone conference with a new companion, some supplies, a package from Kendra, one from GRAND mother, and finally some letters! I haven't gotten letters in over 6 weeks. Probably be another 6 weeks until i get any more. Being in Kazan does have its price. I've not read any yet, and i haven't opened the packages yet (Christmas is on sun day... so i figure I’ll just wait) we do need some boxes under our tree i made this morning. (The green duct tape really came in handy...)
Elder Johnson is my new companion. He's from Provo Utah. He’s tall and skinny, and drove a black moped. I think we're actually going to get along pretty well based off of the last 3 days I’ve known him. He likes cats. I haven't showed my collection of posters yet... but I’m sure once i do we'll be putting them up on the wall (none of my companions have allowed this so far!) He's been in Russia since May and of course speaks better Russian than i do. Elder Varkenten in our district is the only elder i know that doesn't speak better than i do. Which is rather sad since over 3/4 of our mission is less than a year out.
We've not been having much success lately overall. I’ve gone 3 weeks without having a single lesson with a member present. i think that’s a record. We have Rushania and Artur that are progressing towards baptism quite well. But they can only meet on Sunday. Other than that all the investigators we do have are sick, busy, or just fell off the face of the planet. So our weeks haven't been very successful as far as the indicators are concerned. It would also just help to have a full week in Kazan without any distractions. I’ve been gone every other week (to Toliatti or samara) for the last 6 weeks. And well, my companion has a visa trip coming up in a week or 2.
Well... i really don’t have much else to say.... i do love you all and will be happy to talk to you next week! I hope everyone has a great Christmas!
Love,Elder Ellis