You really know how to dance

It was a good week. Things are different here now with all the changes in companions and branch leadership and stuff. Anyways, on Monday night we left to St. Petersburg to get to my companion's dentist appointment on Tuesday morning. We stayed with my friends the assistants that night. Tuesday morning we went to the dentist and man oh man... it's not pretty. The dentist looked at his teeth for 2 seconds, said 'awful' a bunch of times, then made him go get some x-rays of them. One of his teeth is dead from the gum up, and so all they did was work on that one. The roots are still kinda living, but the rest is dead. So they did a little mini root canal thing and stuck some medicine in his tooth to see if it would wake up his nerves. If it hasn't worked by this week when they go in again, they'll just pull out his tooth then move onto the ten plus other cavities and things. So yeah, not pretty at all. Sorry I had to tell you about that, Grandpa Gwilliam. I brush every day, just like you said. After that he wanted to go get a new belt because his old one is breaking. So we did that. Then we ate some fancy hamburgers (that had bacon and were really good) and then met one of our investigators that moved to St. Petersburg a few months ago. We went with him to Avtovo where they were having a ward activity and my companion wanted to go see all of his old friends there. So that was the night. Oh yeah, a recently returned missionary was there... he came back from America with his parents and they heard about this activity and stopped by. It was weird but fun. Wednesday... "Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." That's what I felt like. It was a crazy experience. We had a meeting in the morning with the Glausers to kinda send off the old missionaries and to make them start thinking about what they're going to do when they get home... about 12 hours before they got sent home. We are leaving as you know a little sooner than the next group, so we got thrown in there too. That honestly didn't phase me that much. It was fun to be there. Then transfer meeting happened... my last one... I just was having a good time seeing my missionary friends and then I sat down in the chapel and it hit me like a "lightning strike in a summer storm" that I have 4 weeks left.... I didn't know what to think. I was called upon (as were all the others) to testify in front of all the missionaries... no topic, just a testimony. Everybody did a really good job. I have had this little gift or tender mercy if you will to be able to share my testimony here and cry but be able to talk through the tears. Well, the spirit was so strong and I was so grateful for my mission and I was so sad to be leaving and I was so determined to keep working and I was such an emotional wreck that I bawled and bawled and got out a few sentences and that was it.  I read Mosiah 5:13 I think and just bore my testimony really briefly then sat down. After that, I was totally fine and totally calm. I am grateful for that experience because the other missionaries that felt that urgency like I did got on a plane a few days ago, but I have four more weeks to get some work done! I'm grateful for that. That night we got on a bus and went to Pskov, my new companion and I. Elder Mullen is great. I'm going to have a really good time with him. Thursday morning we tried to get him all registered up and it was hard. The visa worker in the office misinformed some of us and made it hard for us to get it done. But we got it done. During studies, Elder Mullen said some wise things. He asked my what I wanted to accomplish in these 4 weeks. I had never really thought of specific things to accomplish during this last time other than keep up what we've been doing. So we set some goals and we'll get on it. We had a fun time contacting that night and it rained pretty hard. This was a bad week to decide "I don't need my umbrella today". Friday we cleaned the branch and had a good time. Then we did some weekly planning. Saturday the assistants and President came to Pskov and just changed up the branch presidency. I'm now the first counselor. Hooray. We had a good dinner with them on Sunday night. We just talked about Pskov and what needs to happen here. I made a push for another companionship or at least one more missionary to have the ability to help out women. Last night we had a lesson with an investigator that I knew here before that hasn't been met with in a long time. He's doing ok, he's in a depression but he quit smoking. That's kinda weird. I thought that he would be super excited about that because that was always the hardest thing for him, and he's done it and now he's in depression. He was actually depressed before he quit smoking, that started while I was here before. It rained like I've never seen before in my life. It was calm then suddenly BAM rain. Heavy heavy rain. My suit is still wet, my shoes are still soaked. My shoes were filled with water. Again, the worst day on my mission to not grab an umbrella. Anyways, it was a good week. Have a good one yourselves!

Elder Gwilliam

The transfer meeting lunch

the Butters, Elder Jacob Carter

The last planner

California show your teeth

Hello! It was a good week. Here's a quick update. We left on Monday night for Novgorod to do exchanges. On Tuesday morning I went with the infamous Elder Dibble to help the branch president move a fridge to his new apartment. It was fun, I really like the branch president in Novgorod. He's a really cool, laid back guy. After that we had district meeting at the Glauser's apartment. It was fantastic to actually hear what they were saying and to participate. It was good. We decided that since my companion was there we could ask him a few questions about Russian. He decided that he didn't want to help so Elder Dibble and I answered the questions. After that we had some dinner, some tasty french toast, then ran to the bus station to make a bus out to one of the member families that Elder Dibble wanted to say goodbye to (he's going home on Thursday). The bus was pulling out as we got there, so we had to jump in a taxi instead. It was a good visit with them, I had been to their house before but they didn't remember me. We missed the bus back haha so we helped them move some wood around and he drove us back into town. Wednesday morning at 8 we got on a bus back to Pskov. We got home, did our studies, then went to some less-active addresses. The zone leaders were supposed to come on Thursday in the afternoon to do exchanges but cancelled at the last second. We met with the new branch president at the branch building and kinda did the official pass over of all the documents, passwords, keys, stuff like that. We met with a kinda investigator at the statue of Lenin and had a philosophical chat... well I didn't because I don't have the vocabulary or the desire for that. Friday we had the TRANSFER NEWS that I've been waiting for. My companion is leaving, my new one is Elder Mullen from Alaska. He's a new missionary, maybe 3 or 4 months here. I've met him a few times. It'll be great. That initiated the packing of the bags of my companion and the calling everyone to say I'M LEAVING AND WANT TO MEET WITH YOU AND SAY GOODBYE AND OTHER GOOD STUFF. That night we went to our investigator (the father of the former branch president.. I'll call him FFBP from now on) because he hasn't been answering the phone, and that usually means that he's drunk and in a slump. So we went there but he didn't open up or he wasn't home. Bummer. Saturday was really fun. We met with a nonmember mother of a member at the branch with a few other members and she taught us how to make these things called Манты (man-TEA). It's kinda like a dumpling but with only meat and a little more bland. But they were tasty. I wrote down the recipe and everything, so that'll be fun. The thing we didn't know was that they take 40 minutes to cook, and we made enough for 4 batches... yikes. So we ate them up, and in turn they ate up the day. Yesterday was good. We had church, Elder Zaharov said goodbye to everyone, then we had a request to help the sister of one recently activated member (she is also a member, not active and not friendly) move a fridge to her new apartment. So we did that after church, she literally did not say one word to us. But, we helped her out and I hope she'll remember that. So my fridge count for the week was two. I'll have a hard time topping that. I'll end with a funny quote from the former branch president of Pskov who recently got back from a conference in Moscow for those 18-30 unmarried members of the church. He called me to see how things were, and this was the best thing he said. He knows english ok, but he translated literally this phrase and it just sounded funny to me. I asked if he found any potential wives and this was his response: "Yeah, there was one. I don't know though. I don't know how her insides are, but she's really pretty." That was funny. I got a good laugh out of that. Also, one of the missionaries in his ward right now taught him the word "turd" and he loves that one now. Good one, Elder.

It was a good week. I've learned a lot in the last lots of months here in Pskov, I'm sad to see this time of testing come to and end but I'm ready to move on. I'm excited for Elder Mullen and what we'll do together. Have a good week! 

Elder G

PiCtUrE tImE

I thought this picture was really cool until I realized that this is the Serbian flag... not Russian.

hooray for smiley face toast

Hooray for man tea

Rain Rain go away

It was a rainy week. It was pretty chilly too. We even put our coats on Saturday and Sunday. IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY IN RUSSIA. What in the world? Last year from April until October I was dying and losing liters of water a day in sweat, and this year I'm wearking a coat. Weird. Here's the week: Tuesday we had another fantastic District Meeting using Skype. We must have a pretty bad connection because we can hardly hear a word that they say. My companion taught the lesson (in Russian) and there were lots of blank looks and no answers to questions from the Novgorod missionaries which kinda made my companion mad. But don't worry, tonight we're hopping on a bus to go there for splits so it'll be ok. We'll have a good district meeting tomorrow. After that we had the ward sports night activity, we decided to upgrade this week from small tennis (that's what they call ping-pong) to big tennis. It was fun! Only one investigator came. Haha but it was fun to play! I've never played before. I always wanted to with mom, but we never got around to it. Now we'll have to! Wednesday we went to the dacha of one of the babushkas here. We finished the little a-frame thing that we started a few weeks ago, it was good. It turned out better than I thought it would. That night we had a meeting with an investigator that we meet with only once a month or so. This time, she tried to compare satan to the internet. God puts info there just like we put info into the internet. But after a while satan got out of hand and powerful, just like the internet. Also where is Cain's wife from? Well according to her, God made Cain's wife kinda like we can make guns with 3D printers. Also satan's job is to make us to God look like unorganized fools who don't get along with each other. That's why it's a monthly thing. All that stuff was what I remembered the most, but she also has some sincere questions that she doesn't like our answers to. She just needs a second source, a second WITNESS or TESTAMENT and she'll be fine. That night on the bus ride home I was reminded yet again of the agility of seventy year old Russian women who see vacant seats on the bus. She hit that gap in the masses and sat right on that seat! Thursday was quite the day. We started off with Branch presidency meeting that affected the rest of the day. My companion and the first counselor, a member here, got in a HUGE arguement about whether or not people should have two callings in our branch because it's so small. It was a silly argument that had a silly beginning and a dumb end. I tried to extinguish the fire, but it got too big and even burned off my eyelashes. So I just sat and listened. The arguement went from that topic to personal attacks on each other. So at that point I stood up and said that I was not going to listen anymore, let's call this an interview and you two talk it out without arguement or harsh words. I left the room and my companion followed. He didn't want to go back in so we just went home. He sat on the couch for a few hours and just cooled down. I made him call the counselor and apologize. Then he said he was glad that this other guy wasn't branch president and that he's not ready. Funny story... the next day we got a call from the second counselor in the Mission Presidency, saying that he was coming this weekend TO RELEASE MY COMPANION and to CALL THIS OTHER MAN TO BE BRANCH PRESIDENT. My companion actually handled this news a lot better than I thought he would. So he's leaving Pskov, I'll get a new comp and I'll know who next week. I'm going to die here (a missionary death, that is). Also Friday we went to the father of the former former branch president and read with him Alma 34 about the Atonement. It was a good lesson, but for some reason he's just not making progress. He doesn't feel too good about the idea of helping us out like President Childs asked him to. Saturday the second counselor came and we did splits. My companion went off with the new branch president and they talked it out and I was proud of them. I was with the second counselor. We made a plan to hit up the Elders that are in Pskov, and only one opened up out of ten-ish. Yesterday was good. At church my companion was released, the other man was called. He actually went to St. Petersburg this morning to get set apart because President Childs was not able to come last week. We had a lesson planned with an investigator, but she ditched us. It was a good week. Really really fast.

Here's a question for you. I think you all know the answer, but sometimes it's worth remembering and being reminded of. What is the one thing that we do every week in church? The Sacrament of course! It represents and reminds us of the center of everything that we do. Christ is our foundation, our cornerstone, and the head of this church. Everything else is also important, but it can be traced back to Christ and his eternal atoning sacrifice. The more I learn about the gospel, the church, the more I read the scripture the more obvious it becomes. You should all read "A Reservoir of Living Water" by Elder Bednar. It's a good talk that makes me number one feel like my scripture study is weak, and number two I feel excited to read the scriptures and look for those patterns and themes that he talks about. Have a good week!

Elder Gwilliam

Tennis

the train out to the dacha 

Hello

Hello! It was a good, really fast week here. Here's an update. Monday after emailing, we hopped on a bus and went to St. Petersburg for Zone Conference on Tuesday. We rode on a really small, really hot bus. That was quite the experience. Tuesday was great. We started off the day with the last hoorah for floorball, seeing as Elder Dibble, a fellow lax bro, is leaving this transfer and most other people want to play basketball. It was fun to play again after a long time, but I remember that game every day thanks to my bruised tailbone. Man that is a really uncomfortable place to have pain. Anyways, Zone Conference was great. We talked a lot about member missionary work and what our responsibilities are compared to members. One of the problems we are seeing in our mission is that the members have become to dependant on the missionaries. In Novgorod for example, a young girl turned 8 and was baptized on Saturday. The missionaries literally did everything... it was so bad I guess that President Childs was a little upset about it (he doesn't normally get upset). So we went over our job and what we are here to do and talked about how to ease them off of their missionary addiction. One of them, as strange as this sounds, was just to refuse to do certain things. Let them kinda feel the heat from their leaders when something doesn't get done in the branch. Of course our situation is different, because my companion is the branch president and all. But it was just interesting to have that discussion. The assistants also made some magic happen and invited some members for us to practice with. One of them is from Ukraine, she's a young mom. We asked her about her baptism, what the gospel means to her, things like that and it just became a tear fest. It was better than any similar meeting I've had with members here before. She's amazing! That was the highlight of the day. That night we went to Avtovo to see some of my companion's pals from when he served there. Wednesday we woke up early and got our basketball on with the "ballers" of the missionary force. That was the best workout I've gotten in a long time and it was really fun. Elder Castleton can ball! He's awesome. We stayed for a day because my comp was supposed to go to the dentist that I went to for some work. We got there and they started doubting his insurance, so we cancelled the appointment and set it up for the next time we're in the city. Hopefully they can work out the problem before then. That afternoon we got on a bus and rode home. Thursday we had a belated FHE and it was fun. We talked about missionary work and tried to get the members all excited about it. We had some good food and played UNO as well. Friday we went bus searching. The one young woman in our ward that we have contact with decided on Monday that she wanted to go to the girl's camp that the stake was doing, so we scrambled all day to get all the forms done, to find a bus that would get her there on time, stuff like that. Saturday we went with her to the bus station to buy the ticket (you have to show your passport to buy the ticket). Before that we cleaned the branch building by ourselves (refer to what we learned in Zone Conferece :)). Sunday was great. I had a lot of realizations that I hope will stay with me. The first is that those I know here that read the Book of Mormon, and really read it, are generally more humble, in tune with the spirit, happy, friendly, and the list goes on. The Book of Mormon is key to our happiness and success and progress on the path of discipleship. I love the Bible, don't get me wrong. For the past while I've been using language study to read the Bible in Russian (I finished the Book of Mormon a few weeks ago.. yay!) and because I know the Book of Mormon better and I want to know the Bible just as well, I am reading the New Testament and adding my own footnotes that correspond with the truths we find in the Book of Mormon. There's a run on sentence for you to disect! I hope you understood. Anyways, basically read the Book of Mormon and you'll be fine!

Here's a cool thing I found in the Book of Mormon this last week about conversion. 1 Nephi 2. We start with verse 3 and see the depth of Lehi's conversion summed up in one sentence, the footnote helped me come to this realization (of course reading on will build upon the fact that he was converted). I read that and thought "dang, I want to be like that". So I read on, hoping for an answer. I found it in the beginning of Nephi's journey to conversion, his prayer to God to know if what his Dad was saying is right or not. It doesn't say that he received knowledge. It says that his heart was softened so that he could start to believe. He planted the seed, he didn't recieve a tree from Glover's Nursery. This is the beginning of his journey, and if he can start we all can. Later on we see so many examples of how this one little thing made a big difference in his life (remeber President Uchtdorf's talk "a matter of a few degrees"?). One of those examples that I read today was also in 1 Nephi. The end of chapter 3 was the angels appearing to Laman and Lemuel to tell them to knock it off, and they still don't believe and don't have much faith. Read their murmurs then read the very next verse, the beginning of chapter 4. As Elder Bednar taught us while he was in Moscow about a year ago, we too often see the division of a chapter as the division of two different events or stories. Sometimes reading past the chapter divisions is needed to see the whole picture. Anyways, that's my little Gospel talk for the week. Have a good one!

Elder Gwilliam

AMERICA! I got my russian companion to eat a bacon burger and Dr. Pepper for the 4th of July (observed) while we were in St. Petersburg. 

Flashback: This place was so cool!