Photos of the Week

No blog post this week, but Andrew sent some pictures to share with everyone!

meat for a man

back in Pskov!

Dacha after dark

So this was a good week.

We had a pretty crazy busy week. A good one to finish it off in this area I guess. Tuesday we had a staff meeting to discuss transfers and get everything finalized for the zone conferences/MLC that took place Wed. - Fri. It was a pretty boring day compared to what happened in the days following. On Wednesday we had a great zone conference with Elder Bennett of the Area Seventy. It was such a good meeting, probably one of the best zone conferences of my mission. He did such a good job teaching us different principles and really helping us as a mission. We talked mostly about talking to people. It was great. After a few hours of talking about it, we went out and actually did it. It was so fun to get out there with a fire inside of us. I talked to a Jehovah's Witness and found out that I still don't really know the Bible like I thought I did. Man, it's ok though. Next time. Then we came back, had lunch and talked about what we had done. There were so  many great experiences had by all the missionaries who really went out there and tried their best. It was great. The next day was the same, except we focused mostly on getting contacts from people that we teach or meet on the street. He helped us to realize that in missionary work PERSISTENCE is really key and can help you with every part of the work. That was cool to see how asking for new people to teach and helping people keep commitments works together. I could type out my notes, but it would take forever. The MLC on Friday was really the gamechanger. We talked about mission culture and things that satan has done in the last few months or years to make this mission weaker. We made a list of things. It was cool to learn that as we are really open and honest with ourselves and with others, the spirit comes and we all learn together. It works on lessons and zone conferences too. That was cool to see. Anyways, we saw that most of the things on this list were physical things and made a decision to gather everything that distracts us and put it in a bag and "sacrifice" it to President Childs until the end of our missions. While I was gathering my things (and by the way, my things were russian books that if I got really bored or upset I might read, nothing awful :)), I just felt so good. Just a little bit more consecration, and the things that I gave up didn't even come close to the joy and spirit that I've felt since then. It was so fun. On Saturday we did transfer calls in the morning, then left to Pskov right away. There were a few delays and some traffic, so we got there later than we expected but just in time for a fun activity that the branch put on about families. It was a really good evening. We met with a man who met missionaries when they first came to Russia and has been to Provo many times, Lived in San Fran for two years, speaks great english. He's not so interested as far as I can tell in the church part, but we'll have to work on him down there. Sunday we had a sweet little meeting to change the branch presidency. I was sustained as the financial clerk! Yay! So we had that, then we went to the senior couple's apartment for some dinner and came back to the city.

This week I really noticed in me and in another Elder changes that the mission had brought about. For me, the gospel has come alive since I've been here. Sure I always went to church. I (for the most part) did what I was supposed to, but until you really dive in and eat up everything that the Savior and His church has to offer, it won't mean that much to you. This other elder was my ZL when I came and he was smart, good missionary but he just didn't feel it and it was obvious. He was kinda putting in time. I got to spend some time with him and he has grown in the last few transfers thanks to his position in the mission! When he got assigned to this position, I was shocked. It was truly inspired and this Elder will go home and rock it! I'm excited to hear about the great things that he does. The Gospel is real! I encourage those of you who haven't jumped in to get in! And if you're there, stay! Do everything you can to stay. Don't start making small justifications or rationalizations, because by small and simple things (even bad ones), great things come to pass. Small mistakes lead to big ones. But, on the other hand, starting today with a small choice to be better will put you on the right path.

Have a good week!

Andrew

It's good!

Elder Butters

Tina you fat lard

It was a good week. Really slow at the beginning, really fast at the end. On Tuesday we had a district meeting that did not go over time! Wow! It was fun to have a good meeting that was useful and didn't go for an hour and a half long. Anyways, that's my rant for this letter. We afterwards met with the visa clerk in the office. We had an investigator dog us that night. Wednesday we had two meetings. The office staff meeting, and the meeting with president. We mostly talked about the upcoming Zone Conference with Elder Bennett. It's going to be this week and that will take up the week. That night we had splits with the south zone leaders and a stake missionary coordination meeting. We've really helped the members make that a good meeting. We practice with each other different ways to help get members involved in our work. It was fun. Thursday was Hermitage service day. Nothing too crazy to announce about that. Just a good day in the Hermitage. We did some weekly planning after that. Then we had to come to the office to help the office secretary find some things. Friday we had a lunch in the office because Sunday was international women's day. We had KFC brought in which was good and greasy. Right after that lunch we drove to Petro. That drive is so long and it feels so good to sleep for 6 hours. When we got there, we went to a nice Karelian restaurant and I got some great local food. Some beef, pork, and chicken soup with a bread lid on the bowl. It was cool. Saturday was great. We worked with the missionaries all day. It was kinda sad, a lot of their plans for the day fell through but it made me feel better about our area. We did have a good lesson with a less active that I met with while I was there. He's doing a lot better now. All the people that I saw actually are doing a lot better! I'm proud of the missionaries that have been there since me, I've really seen big growth in the ward. We then ran back to the branch building and cleaned it before church the next day. Today was great! I saw lots of friends. I also translated talks from President and Sister Childs. It was tough! They are very educated people and they use a vocabulary that matches! But it was a fun practice. We spent church there, had lunch with the senior couple there, then drove home. Yesterday was President's birthday and a lot of people were calling him and singing on the drive home. We got home super late. We hit the road again early this morning for Vyborg. They had a ward talent show that President was invited to, so we got to tag along. There was a very big turnout and fun things to watch. Lots of piano, a haka, some guitar and uke. It was fun. We came back and we went shopping with President and Sister childs for the zone conferences. That's been the day so far. Not the most exciting week, but it was a good one.

I'd like to go back to the people in Petro. It was strange to see that in the dead of winter there was a better feeling there than there was in the summer when I was there. it usually is the opposite. One member had actually just returned from the temple after receiving his endowment. It was good. The gospel works and makes lives better! I've seen it and this is one of the best examples so far! Love you all!

Andrew

car ride

fun night: Elder Butters

Me

Vyborg Chapel 

Some locals

Craig's News

So, here goes for the crazy week. After we emailed, we met up with our new convert friend. He was doing well, we got some burgers and went to St. Isaac's cathedral. We didn't get to go on top, but we saw the inside and it was very pretty. We then went to the institute building with him again and had a talk about home teaching and callings. He doesn't have a calling yet, and his home teaching companion works out too much and doesn't have time for it. So we told him that we would be his companions and we hope to go with him sometime this week. Tuesday we had district meeting. It may have been the longest district meeting of my life. It was a good solid three hours. We've got a few yappers, and man when they get going it's really hard for them to stop. So it was a lot of talk. Wednesday is when this week went nuts. So during our staff meeting, we got a call from an elder in the city saying that his companion was being checked into the hospital. This elder, who was sick, had been having a hard time breathing and when they were out that morning said that it felt like he was running a marathon. So they went to the doctor and immediately got into a hospital. We didn't have many details, so our meeting continued. They called back and said that he had pnemonia, but they didn't know how bad it was. Then the meeting continued. Then they called back and said that his left lung was full of fluid. Man oh man! They immediately drained it and that's when people here started losing their minds. We had a meeting with President, talked transfers and MLC, then we ran to the hospital with President and Sister Childs (It's where I got my tooth filled. Coincidence? Also this elder's companion got a cavity filled at the same place the same day as me. Coincidence? I think not). President went into his room and talked to him, he seemed to be doing well. They stayed with him for a while then told us we could leave, and we did. We got a call later that night from President saying that they had done a CT scan and found some tumors near his left lung, they needed to do tests to see what they were from and if it was tuberculosis or not. Crazy crazy day! Then we had MLC the next day. We had a schedule, but we didn't really follow it. It was a really good meeting. I think the best one I've been too on my mission. That night we had a lesson with a former investigator who is an artist, but I quickly realized that he wanted us to buy his art, not learn about the gospel. We had a good chat, taught a quick lesson and left. His wife was very uninterested but we were bold with her and told her our reason for coming and she seemed to be more ok with it after we told her that we wanted to baptize her. Huh. That night we found out that the elder was doing well, does not have tuberculosis, and would soon be going home to get better treatment. He went home early morning yesterday. Sad to see him go, but it was good to hear that he was having fun and seemed to be well. Friday we had zone training. It was actually really good, seeing that we had two brand new zone leaders who had never taught before. We had english group that night and a member from Nevsky got his mission call! He opened it after english group and was kind enough to let us stay. He's going to Ukraine! Not Kiev, but the other one. In April. It was really cool to see that. We had planned on going to Petro this weekend but cancelled the trip due to the craziness and well... the last few days were pretty ugly. I'll just say that we had weekly planning and a lot of addresses.

That was the week. I'm loving it here. I'm glad to be on a mission learning the things that I have learned. For those of you who have not gone yet, GO! It's one of the best things you'll ever do, and it may be the best for your development! Love ya all!

Andrew

Salmon dinner.

Oh ps, we found a bed bug. I had been getting one bite every few nights, so 

I thought I'd check. We stayed up late and dumped vinegar everywhere that

they could live yesterday, and we found it and beheaded it on Friday. I 

circled all the bites on my body to keep track. No new ones so far.

I think we're good.

St. Isaacs

Ghost Companion

Bites. This is the only modest picture of bites :)

Fish eye