Week 45 - White Christmas! Hazzah!

Interesting Fact 45 - Russians celebrate Christmas on January 7th! I get to have two Christmasi!

Merry Christmas everyone! It was so nice to talk to all of you on the telephone! Definitely the best Christmas present was to hear them voices of yours. First Christmas here in Russia was quite the treat too. Well to first state, this week was absolutely crazy with Elders coming and going in and out of Petersburg. They all were staying at our apartment to. We had 2 big Christmas activities that we had to organize, of which we also had to organize when they would come and how (via airplane, bus, train). It was quite tricky. On top of that, we had two visa trip groups going our to renew their visas, so they had to come in for that. So basically, we had people with us all week. On Saturday and Sunday, we had the Elders from Petrozavodsk (that 7 hour train ride city) stay with us. We all opened packages Christmas morning. On Saturday night, (I already told you about this), we went caroling down on Nyevski Prospect by the Lady Kazan Cathedral. We got a lot of people stopping by and talking to us. 

We also tried something new this week called Signboarding. It's doable here, but no one has ever done it, so Elder Hill and I went out with a makeshift sign that says What is Happiness and hit the busy streets. I have never seen so many people smile here so far on my mission. It was so cool. People would come up to us, (rather than us to them) and talk to us. A lot of people had various ideas of happiness, ranging from families, to money, to moms, to smiles. It was so much fun. Because of the snow and the rain slush stuff, it completely destroyed our sign, but it was quite a successful night. 

This week, we really didn't have much time to work a lot and teach people, but it was still a great week nonetheless. We did a lot of finding this week at night after our activities and such. Today, before I came to the library to write this, we stopped by a place to eat. On our way, we talked to a few men from Africa here. We gave them an invitation, and we went our ways. A man nearby saw us, and called me over to him and wanted to know what we were doing. I explained to him that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and that we had a message about Jesus Christ. I asked him if he believed in him, and he said that did but just was never baptized. I asked him if he wants to be baptized, and he said, "Of course I want to." That happened maybe 2 hours ago or so. It was so awesome to see. We exchanged phone numbers. He wants us to call this weekend so I hope all goes well with that. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to talk to everyone this Christmas. This Christmas definitely is a tad different, but I know it's a Christmas I will never forget. Being out here has really strengthened my understanding of the true meaning of Christmas. As we celebrate the birth of the Savior, it's important to recognize his humble beginnings, but also his Glorious Atonement. I am so blessed to know that Jesus Christ is our Savior of the World, and we are here to do his work, to bring souls unto Him.

That's it for this week! I love you all! 
Love,
Elder Tekulve

Week 44 - Busy-ness, Business, Bees Knees

Interesting Fact # 44 - When you go to a grocery store, plastic bags are not free. You have to tell them how many you want and they scan them in and you pay a little extra for them. They are not much. Maybe 3 rubles a piece, which is a little less than a dime.

Well goodness gracious. Busy week! On Wednesday was transfer, so I had to pack up all of my bags (which is getting hard to pack now because of the stuff I have been accumulating), and went off to the mission office. Normally, on transfer day, you take all your bags with you, meet at the mission office, and then you take your bags and take them across the city, or across the mission, to your area. Luckily, my apartment is right next to the mission office, so it really felt like a one trip stop. Twas nice. Well nonetheless, as soon as Wednesday rolled around, I was running around doing all sorts of stuff. We had to figure out all of this cell phone stuff for missionaries, figuring out plane tickets for those going to Kaliningrad, dentist bills, and all sorts of random stuff in one day. So my new responsibilities now are sometimes a giant random to do list. But that's not really what we are here for, to be someone's patsy and running around. We are here to lead the mission along with the president. So, that part I am exciting for.

My new companion is Elder Hill. I mentioned a little bit about it him last email, but an interesting thing about him is that he was at BYU at the same time as me. Not only that, he was in the same Dorm Building, and in the same Hallway in Budge, but in the opposite wing, with a mezzanine separating us. We have several mutual friends and it's been awesome working with him. He is hilarious and wants to work hard. A great companion right there! He is from the Sacramento area, but before BYU, he lived in Slovenia for a year because his dad was a mission president there. We both have visions to transform our area because for the past howsoever-long, this area has been neglected because of some of the random busy work we have to do. We hope to change that and get this area blooming with investigators and baptisms. We are here to find, teach, and baptize. I shall do just that! 

One of things that we have to organize now, which has been quite tricky this week, are all those visa trips that happen every 3 months (those are the trips that we sometimes have to take to Estonia to renew our visas). But basically we have to organize when people have to come to the city and stay at our apartment for those. We had one this week, and we have 2 more coming up this week which has proved rather difficult and tricky to organize since ALL of them that have to go on the trip do not live in the city. We have to organize the two Christmas activities coming up for the missionaries. The past few days have been a lot of organizing and planning, but we have been spending a lot of time finding as well.

In this mission, there are some laws that limit our use of tracting. But we decided to try to follow those laws and try to tract. Its pretty funny. I am 10 months in my mission and I am now beginning to tract, a usual practice in most missions. I went tracting once for a little bit a while ago. OH! I forgot to mention. I am back in Center branch! I am in the same branch that I was in a few months ago, but it has been combined and now it is a huge solid branch preparing to become a ward to support a stake. But, at any rate, we went tracting last night and it was SO FUN! We would call through the domaphone/apartment telephone thing and would share our message through it. Occasionally we would get let inside the stairwells where the doors for the apartments are located. We found one lady whose name is Lydmila who we talked to for a while. She explained to us her trials and tragedies and she was so grateful for our Christmas message that we shared with her, insomuch that she cried a little bit. We gave her a Book of Mormon and we explained that it was from God and that it was Holy Scripture. Soon thereafter, she kissed the cover. She is a nice little lady who has been living a hard life but was touched by our message. We hope to come back soon to teach her. On a funnier note, a man opened the door and he was missing pants. It was a bit alarming, but he was one of the more nicer men we spoked to that night. 

This week, we are planning to Signboard in the busier parts of the city. It will be quite a blast. Elder Hill and I have a lot of cool ideas and we are going to try them out this week. Christmas is coming up! Oh, and because of the visa trips, we will be having about 6 elders over at our apartment for their visa trip the next morning. So it is going to be a big Christmas Calling family party! Yay! I found a lot of Root Beer extract in the apartment and we are going to make home made rootbeer floats. Grandiouse it shall be. 

Well that's it for this week! I love you all. I can't wait to talk to you so soon!

Love,

Elder Tekulve

Week 43 - The White Return to Vyborg

Interesting Fact #43 - I can honestly say I have drinken more tea in the past 10 months than I have in my life. Of course, it's herbal tea, red tea, or fruit tea, all a-okay. Russians love tea. Their favorite past time is to talk and drink tea together. I have become quite the big fan of tea, to be honest. There is this one raspberry herbal tea that I absolutely love called Summer Bouquet. Quite an apt description.

So this week, as the subject can so easily describe, I went back to Vyborg! It was only for a short time, but it was so great. It was weird going back to there, because I finally could understand the signs that I saw, and there was snow everywhere. I left Vyborg when it was steaming hot and super bright, so it was so strange for me to come back and it's dark, cold, and snowy. But it made me love Vyborg even more. We met with the elders there, one of which is quite the cook. Made some potato cheese broccoli soup and some beef stroganoff, a Russian dish! Pretty tasty. We got to met with one of my old investigators there, Leonid! It was a pretty cool lesson with him, and he has committed to go to church after the new year. He has a lot of fears leaving the apartment, but loves to meet with the missionaries. Maybe you remember him?

This week, we also had transfer calls. This was the fastest 6 weeks ever. I was incredibly busy travelling all over the place this transfer. But President Clark has called me to be his new assistant with Elder Hill, which left me in complete shock. I am most likely going to be there for a while too. But that was probably the most shocking thing this week, but I feel like I am ready to continue to help out this mission. To put it simply, I am really excited. Yeah, I am going to miss all the cool travelling that I did here as a zone leader, but I get to help out the whole mission, and not just my zone. But I am just so humbled to know that the Lord has trusted me to be in such a position, and I will continue to honor my calling as a Missionary.

In terms of our actually investigator work, it can be deemed as a slow one, but this week as also so busy with travelling and zone leader meetings. We had an 8 long meeting with all the zone leaders, the assistants, and the mission president to discuss the needs of the mission, and how to continue to help lead this mission. In the beginning of this year, we had a goal to double baptisms from last year, with a goal of 120. Unforunately, we fell short of that goal here in this mission, and we reset another goal to have an additional 30 which would put the total goal for 70 this year. We again, have fallen short, which has been a disappointment, but we have reavaluated our goals and have set another goal to have 3 additional baptisms per zone the end of this year. We just had one this Saturday, which we weren't able to attend. It was a lady named Margarita, who is the sister of a member here in the Shuvalovo branch. She is from the Crimean Sea area, but is in the city to visit and also to go under surgery. She got baptized by her brother and law, and then got confirmed the next day in the hospital, which was awesome to hear. She had to go in for surgery the day after her baptism. She is quite the dedicated lady.

Nellie got baptized this weekend too!! The baptismal service was for the both of them (Nellie and Margarita)! My previous companion Elder Pace baptized her, and the new elder in that area, Elder Byington baptized Natalie 2 weeks ago. They are so happy! I was unable to make it to Nellie's baptism, but I had the chance to help a member in a wheelchair get to the service, and there I saw both Natalie and Nellie and they were just both so happy.

Seeing their happiness has really made me just so happy to see a family be more united like that. Families are such an integral part of our church, and it's amazing to see a faithful mother and daughter enter into the covenant of baptism. Words really can't describe just the joy you feel when you have someone you teach get baptized. It really is an amazing thing. And I am so blessed to have that feeling for both them two, Edward Arsyonov, and Igor Shevchenko. I can't imagine the joy Heavenly Father feels when his OWN children come back to him. I get the oppurtunity to just feel a fraction of that joy, and at times it seems overwhelming.

It really just convinces me more and more that this is the work of the Lord that I am doing, and this Church is the true church of Jesus Christ.

Well I don't have much time, but I love you all!

Love,

Your son, you friend, your brother,

Elder Tekulve

Week 42 - Sawing Wood in Petrozavodsk

Interesting Fact #42 - Train food is actually pretty good. Definitely tops airplane food, that's for sure. I wonder what the food is like on the train where Tyler Olpin works at? 

So yes. I went to Petrozavodsk this week. I bet you are wondering where the heck that is, or how to even say it. I took a 7 hour long train north to Petrozavodsk to go on an exchange with the missionaries there. It was a nice little Russian Winter Wonderland there. It was so cool. So we get to the train station, got on the train at platform 9, and not 9 and 3/4. It was kind of an older train, but it was just Elder Sherbina and I in the wagon. They fed us this stuff called Plov and some chicken. Plov is basically just rice, but it's way tasty. We finally get there at 11:30 and we took our nice little walk to the other elders. The next, we go to this little Corrillian Cabin that was pretty far away, and we performed some service there. One Elder and I sawed some wood into small planks and repaired a fence. The other elders cut some wood into firewood. This was all in the snow. So much fun. Probably my favorite service project we have done so far.

Afterwoods, I went with Elder Rasmussen, who is more or less my other half in terms of interests before mission, and we taught their investigaor named Vladimir. He is this little Moses man with a big beard. He has the bible pretty much memorized, and didn't seem the point of the Book of Mormon. Elder Rasmussen, from St. George, bore this awesome testimony about the Book of Mormon and closed with a powerful prayer that left Vlad a little speechless. We left to go back, and had to wait for a bus.  The busses there are a lot different. They are just a lot older, and about to fall apart kind of thing. So it was a nice little exciting bus ride back home. The next day, we all go back on the train to go back. All of the elders there left with us back to St. Petersburg. So it was 6 of us all together. 4 Americans and 2 Ukranians. The Americans, we just played Uno for 6 hours and made up our own little rules. Another nice train ride. 

We also went to a place called Sestraetsk which is a 30 minute taxi ride northwest of St. Petersburg. That place was gorgeous. It's a nice small town on the bay front. I have a few cool pictures that I haven't been able to send via email effectively, yet. One day I will have it figured out. 

This weekend, we had a mission conference as well as a special District conference with Elder Bennett from the Seventy. President Clark, who holds all the keys for the St. Petersburg area as a Stake President, has reorganized the St. Petersburg District to make it a prepitory district to soon become a stake. We are so close to getting a stake here, and it was so awesome to see the support of the members here. After President Clark spoke, everyone stood up to support him. Out of the blue, we all sang Love One Another in Russian. It was so cool to see. The members here are ready, and soon there will be a stake. I hope I am still here in Russian when the day comes. We also had another Mission Conference with Elder Bennett. He was once mission president in Samara, Russia and he helped transform that mission to a very successful one. It was a really cool Mission Conference, and he spoke a lot about change. I learned that there are still things I need to change within myself to be a better successful missionary. We should never be stagnant. We should always change, repent, and do better. Always progress. And most importantly, always love! 

That has been my week. It was quite the busy one with a lot of travelling, as was last week. This week I am going back to Vyborg and also doing another exchange with another set of elders in Peter. So my time in my own area will, again, be rather limited. Ha. Well that's about it. I love you family! Thanks for your support and love, and your everythings. 

Love,

Your son,

Elder Tekulve

Week 41 - Thanksgiving in Kaliningrad!

Interesting Fact #41 - I have noticed that the people here don't like to drink cold beverages. If they have a drinking fountain that has cold water, they will put cold water and mix in some hot water to make it room temperature. I thought it was very interesting. And in some of the hottest days, they will sit down to hot tea. I really thinks very interesting culturally, and to be honest, cold water in a cold country is an oxymoron. They are all trying to stay warm. Why drink cold water?

Well this week, I was in a plane! I took a plane to Kaliningrad this week to go on an exchange with the elders there. Kaliningrad is located around Poland and Lithuania. It was a lot warmer there, it was crazy. But it's not to much further south. Kaliningrad is very very German influenced. I didnt have an oppurtunity to take pictures, but instead of a lot of Russian Orthodox churches, there are a lot of German Luthuren churches there. It was a gorgeous small town. Reminded me a little bit of Vyborg, but less Finnish and more German. Apparently they have a lot of amber there, and that place is known for its amber abundunce. Kind of cool. If I am back in Kaliningrad I definitely will get some there and definitely take pictures. We met with a few families there which was pretty cool. One of which had a daughter who just got back from a mission in Donetsk Ukraine, the same one that Sean Rooney is serving in! I asked about him, and it was awesome to hear that he is doing great. 

So I got a funny transportation mishap story. To get to the airport in St. Petersburg, we needed to take a bus to get to the metro, take the metro ALLL the way across the city, and then take this big taxi bus called a Marshrutka and take it to the airport to then get on a plane to fly to Kaliningrad. Talk about travel. But I had packed a small lunch to eat while we waited for the airport. I packed this yogurt drink and put it in my backpack, and stood in a crowded bus. I stood next to the door and a pole. We get to the next stop and the door opens super suddenly and pins me between the pole and door. Well, it pinned my backpack against the two. This guy behind was trying to unwedge me. I thought he was trying to help me and I told him it's ok. But then the door closes, and there is yogurt everywhere! All over the door, all over the floor, the walls, my backpack, a little bit on my luggage, and a tad on my coat. It was absolutely hilarious. Luckily it didn't get on people. I walked off the bus cracking up, and watching the bus drive off with yogurt all of the doors. I knew after that the day was going to be a long day of travel, and it was. hahaha.

On Saturday Natalie got baptized! She is the daughter of Nellie, who I started teaching in Central right before I got transferred out. It was really awesome to witness. The missionary that replaced me in Center, Elder Byington, baptized her and it was just so great to watch. Apparently the hot water doesn't work in the font, so it was freezing. She got out of the water and just kept on saying "ok! ok! Thank you!". I got a few pictures of the service. So I guess that is the biggest news so far. Her mom is getting baptized in 2 weeks. 

We met with an investigator here from Armenia. He was a very interesting man. Asked very interesting questions. He was really polite and just loves the missionaries but sometimes it felt like he was trying to teach us, which isn't why we are here. He was a really nice man named Erezho. He fed us some juice and home made cake which was absolutely amazing. So good. 

Speaking of food, this week was Thanksgiving! I was in Kaliningrad too! I ended up cooking for 4 missionaries including myself. I made this Sweet Chili Chicken Fried Rice. It turned out pretty good. It definitely doesnt beat eating turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing. But I was grateful nonetheless. My companion has never experienced Thanksgiving, and I explained him what we normally do and thought it was pretty awesome. It really is my favorite holiday. Being here, it has really made me grateful for the blessings that we have as a family. We really take for granted the things we have, and just the oppurtunities that we have all been blessed with. I have really seen a lot of people here in very trying circumstances and are of low means. I am just grateful to have lived and grown up where I did. I am grateful for the oppurtunity I had to study at a university and to be able to find a job and to work. I am grateful for all the things that I have ever been given to me. But to be honest, I think I am most grateful for having come here to serve a mission. Just looking back from a year ago, when I opened my mission call, I have grown a lot and learned so much. I am just grateful for everything, to be honest. And I am grateful for you, family. I love you.

Love,

Elder Tekulve

Week 40 - My First Zone Conference trainin' dem Missionaries, and my Day of Birth 2011

Interesting Fact 40 - Well seeing how it was my birthday recently, to say happy birthday, you basically say With Day of Birth, which in English sounds hilarious. 

So yeah it was the big of ol' day of birth for me. It was a usual day for me. Although! The night before, because we had elders from Petrozavodsk staying at our apartment, another elder made me a cake, and it was actually way good, seeing how it was missionary made. I was impressed quite much so. It was this cinnamon apple cake with a yogurt frosting or something. Delish. So I guess I will explain what I did on Friday to start out. So we had an exchange with the elders from Petrozavodsk and I went with an Elder Larsen from West Bountiful. We met with a less active named Fike here in Shuvalovo who has 9 cats and speaks perfect English. He kind of reminds me of a Russian Sam Adams back in the Soviet times after the stories he told us. He also gave me some sort of card thing for my birthday. He was a cool man. Joined the church 5 or so years ago, but his health sometimes prevents him from going to church, which is unfortunate. Also given the fact that it takes an hour + to get to church on the metro. Shuvalovo is quite far from the branch building.  We then met with our investigator named Pasha who is an evolutionist. We gave him a Book of Mormon, which he really wanted to read. We explained to him that science is here for us to explain how God works, not to disprove God and try to prove his inexistance. And if Science "proves" something false, it just means that we don't know yet, and that we haven't figured out how it works. He seemed really interested in that. He told us he will read and wants to meet back. Good day. Oh and thanks for all of the birthday emails!! Loved it! 

So we also had Zone Conference this week. I was in charge of training the missionaries how to contact more effectively so that you can receive contact information, and then being able to call them or come in contact with them so that you can then meet with them. It was actually pretty cool. My companion  gave a really awesome spiritual thought about how we need to work together and have faith to acheive our goals, like Nephi when he was commanded to build a ship. He didn't ask why he had to, but asked "how". 

Well, in missionary work, there is a lot of different ways to find investigators. One of which is in the area books, or the records that missionaries have kept about past investigators. I found one from about 15 years ago named Igor Chukolov. I called him up and he was really excited and happy that we had called. It had been a long time, and he told us to call in 20 minutes. I called back and I talked to his son named Sasha. Sasha explaind that he has been in a spiritual low for a while and wanted to meet with us. We set up a meeting on Saturday evening with him at his hostel and it was a fantastic meeting. He bought some herbal tea and we sat down and talked. We gave him a Book of Mormon as well. He wants to meet back really soon. He is a very very sincere man and was very interested. He wrote down some notes of what we talked about. He is from Kiev, Ukriane so my companion and him really hit it off. My companion is from Odessa, Ukraine, which is like the San Diego of Ukraine. He was the miracle of this week, I guess you can say. I am really excited to continue working with Sasha.

I have to admit, that weeks are flying by. It felt like 5 minutes ago I was sitting at the computer writing my last week's email. It's really kind of scaring me. I am almost at my 9 month mark in a few days. These 9 months have been the fastest of my life. I still have so much to do and so little time to do it in! It really goes to show how time is absolutely nothing. In the grand spectrum of my life, this time I have on my mission is so incredibly short. Well I wanted to end this email with a few words that I know that God has a plan for us. Time to him is nothing, and only we measure time. But it's what we make of our time here on Earth that determines our eternity. God has a perfect plan, and we just need to follow that path, however hard or inconvenient at times it may be, that's the only way to be with him again.

I love you all, and I hope you have a great Thanksgivin'

Love,

Elder Tekulve

Week 39 - Vyborg came over and Missionary Activities!

Interesting Fact #38 - This just might be my last one. It's really difficult to find something new every week. I think I have exhausted this haha. But! The one thing I have noticed is that a lot of people have both the British style of car (steering wheel on the right) and American/International style (Left). But the thing is that they all drive on the right side on the road. That would be difficult. 

Well this last week was pretty busy. We had a lot of meetings with investigators, members, and less actives. We haven't had a lot of time to just sit down and eat, sadly, but it's just a sign that we are indeed busy. We met with a few members, one of which served in the Roseville, CA mission a while ago and knows the owner of Camelot, and knows the whole Golfland business. It was kind of cool talking to him about that. We met with another member who actually FED us! One of the first! That one rule a while back got removed with our new mission president. They fed us rice, beans, pickles, and beets. So good. I am not even kidding. Was fantastic. 

I had our first exchange with Vyborg this week. They came to us and I was with another Elder for a day. We met with our investigator named Max. He is a russian who speaks FLUENT english in a PERFECT southern accent. It's actually really humorous. Very humorous actually. He learned English by watching too many John Wayne films, so he speaks just like a cowboy would. It's really strange because he is Russian. He can't stand the Russian language and calls it the Indian language. Just an interesting person, but so awesome. We taught him the Word of Wisdom, which he already lives by with the exception of Black Tea. Max gave us a number of his friend Benny whom we called and also wants to meet up this week. That night we also got another referral from the Institute about a 20 year old named Dima who wants to meet. Dima came to church as well and really enjoyed it to. He is a really bright guy who is a computer programmer. Knows English pretty well too, but has a hard understanding, so I speak to him in Russian. We met with a few other investigators this week. It was just a nice busy week.

We also had this Institute activity this last saturday that we were invited to participate in. It was about missionary work and we got to participate and be a part of the program. We did this skit which was actually really funny. My companion got a video of it which I want to grab from it, but I was in it and stuff. Basically we had 4 situations on how to share the gospel, and the same 4 situations on how to share a cake and compared the two. I was the one eating the cake and had to share it. THe first situation was when someone comes over and you try to hide that you are a part of the church when they ask questions, I was eating a cake and someone had asked about it and I had to act like it wasn't anything that I wasn't eating anything. It's kind of hard to explain, but it was really funny. The youth really liked it. We then went out and contacting in the street and we actually got a phone number and handed out a book of mormon to someone with them! It was pretty successful. We had a testimony meeting afterwards. It was pretty spiritual too becasue a lot of them shared their conversion story. Over 3/4s of them are converts, so it was really cool to hear.

This week we have two exchanges and Zone Conference that we are organizing. I hope all goes while. I have so far been really busy here in Shuvolovo. I am really enjoying it here too. I just want to let you the readers know that I know, more than anything, and without a doubt, that this church is true. The more I study from the scriptures, the more I realized that God is a Loving Heavenly who loves us. He has so many blessings in store for us and all we got to do is ask and we will receive them. that's all for this weekend. I love you all.

Love,

Elder Tekulve

tidbits about the LDS church by Ford Motor Company

For those of you who are not LDS, here is an interesting observing overview of the church Drew is serving. =)

An interesting feature published in February 2007 by Ford Motor Company for its employees. The below article was produced by the 'Ford Interfaith Group' as a message about the LDS Church. The Ford Interfaith Group promotes unity among Ford employees worldwide by sharing information from all faiths, and features these types of articles about all religions and faiths from time to time in its employee newsletter.

   

 

QUICK FACTS & INTERESTING TIDBITS about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Fleeing continued mob attacks, 158 years ago today the first Mormon pioneers desperately started their Westward trek from Illinois in the dead of winter. Of the 70,000 who began this 1300-mile journey, 6,000 were buried along the way, including many children. The following are quick facts and interesting tidbits about this now flourishing church. 

 

OVERVIEW 

 * Named "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"; informal nicknames are "LDS" or "Mormon." 

 * Believes it's the Lord's restoration of original Christianity as foretold to occur before Christ's Second Coming. 

* Core focus is that Christ and His teachings bring happiness in this life and exaltation in the next. 

 

HISTORY 

 * In 1820 14-yr-old Joseph Smith told of a vision of God and Christ foretelling a church restoration. 

 * Organized in New York in 1830, the church moved to near Cleveland, then near Kansas City, then Illinois. 

 * Fleeing Illinois, Mormon pioneers founded Salt Lake City in Utah and over 600 other Western communities. 

  

SALT LAKE CITY 

 * Temple Square in Salt Lake has over 5 million annual visitors, more than the Grand Canyon. 

 * The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is the world's most famous and has the world's oldest radio program. 

 * The Salt Lake Temple is the most famous, but there are 128 other temples built or underway. 

 * Home of the world's largest genealogy database; visit it online or through 3,700 free branch libraries. 

 

ACTIVE CONGREGATIONS 

 * Sunday services entail a three-hour block of three meetings; about 27,000 congregations exist worldwide. 

 * Highly vibrant programs exist for youth, children, singles, men, and women; very strong family focus. 

 * Everyone has a calling; some surveys show LDS have the highest U.S. attendance and service rates. 

 * Families receive personal fellowship visits at home from other members on a monthly basis. 

 

FINANCES 

 * Members tithe 10 percent, plus donate generously to the needy the first Sunday of each month. 

 * Clergy and all other congregational positions are unpaid (however, much of the janitorial is paid). 

 * The church has no debt; all buildings are paid for in cash (average of two new congregations a day). 

 * The paid positions in Salt Lake are famously low-salaried; funds are frugally used and tightly audited.

HEALTH CODE

 * With a health code from 1833, LDS avoid alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, coffee, and tea (herbal tea is ok).

 * This 1833 code also teaches grains (especially wheat), fresh fruits and vegetables, and sparing use of meat.

 * A UCLA study showed that active LDS live longer than most Americans, men by 11 years, women by 8.

 * Utah is 50th in smoking, alcohol consumption, drunk driving, heart disease, cancer, and sick days.

EDUCATION

 * With four colleges, Utah's BYU with 30,000 students is the largest single-campus private college.

 * BYU Independent Study with 130,000 students is North America (340 web courses, 530 via mail).

 * Seminary, a daily class usually held around 6:00 A.M., serves 376,000 high school students.

 * There are Institutes of Religion at 1,950 colleges worldwide that serve 367,000 college students.

 * The church operates schools in parts of the Pacific Ocean and Mexico for 10,000 students.

 * Utah is 50th in spending per pupil, but first in adults that graduated from high school and attended college.

WOMEN

 * In 1842 the "Relief Society" was organized; it's the largest women's organization in the world.

 * Wyoming was first to allow women to vote; Utah was second, two months later, in 1870.

 * Women preach from the pulpit and serve as organization presidents, teachers, committee chairs, etc.

SHARING CHRIST'S GOOD NEWS

 * 61,000 missionaries serve in 165 countries; 93 percent are college-age; 22 percent are female.

 * Unpaid and paying their own way, most work 65 hours a week for two years, often in a new language.

MEMBERSHIP DISTRIBUTION

 * LDS are 70 percent of Utah, 30 percent of Idaho; after Catholics, LDS are the largest sect in 10 states.

 * The church has 5.5 million members in the U.S.,making it the fourth largest individual U.S. denomination.

 * Some memberships: New Zealand 95k, Japan 115k, UK 175k, Philippines 500k, Brazil 900k, Mexico 925k.

 * Worldwide 51 percent are female; about 55 percent are not Caucasian; about 70 percent are converts.

MEMBERSHIP GROWTH

 * For the last 15 years, every day an average of 800+people worldwide joined the LDS church.

 * Half of the growth is in Latin America, but the rate of growth is highest in Africa and the former Soviet bloc.

 * Worldwide membership just passed 12 million, a tenfold increase in 50 years.

 * In 1984 a non-LDS professor estimated 265 million members by 2080; so far growth has been faster.

 * As this growth has been steady, he said it will be the "first 'new' major world religion since Islam."

CHARITY/SERVICE

 * Members in need obtain welfare from the LDS Church (thus Utah government welfare spending is very low).

 * LDS donate time at 220 welfare storehouses or canneries and about 400 farms (a FL ranch is 312k acres).

 * There are 210 employment centers placing over 175,000 people annually, and 64 family service centers.

 * The church operates 46 thrift stores, in part to provide employment for the disadvantaged.

 * The 61,000 missionaries spend half a day each week doing non-proselytizing community service.

HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

 * Over 200 million pounds of food, clothing, and medicine were donated in the last 20 years in 147 countries.

 * Almost all of this help is to non-LDS; LDS charities also work with and donate to many non-LDS charities.

 * Very rapid disaster relief has been given in 144 major disasters since 1986.

 * Almost 3,000 welfare "missionaries" work without pay in 55 countries (farm instructors, doctors, teachers...).

 * LDS charities fund a wide variety of projects like drilling water wells or funding small business startup loans.

 * New in 2001, members in poor areas can get low-rate college loans; 10,000 loans have been made to date.

GRAB BAG

 * Utah is first in: charitable giving, scientists, household computers, children with two parents, and birth rate.

 * Noted LDS included five senators, the Osmonds, Gladys Knight, Steve Young, and the inventor of TV.

 * LDS played a key role in the 2002 Winter Olympics; the chair is now the governor of Massachusetts.

 * Hawaii's #1 tourist site is the LDS Polynesian Cultural Center (Tonga and the Samoas are one-third LDS).

 * LDS have sponsored Boy Scout troops since 1913; 23 percent of all Scout troops are LDS.

 * The BYU Women's Cross Country were national champions or in second place each of the last seven years.

DETROIT AREA

 * The Detroit metro area has 30 congregations; the Dearborn chapel is on Rotunda by Ford's Building #5.

 * Detroit has a temple, storehouse, cannery, employment and family service office, and family history libraries.

 * LDS include former Governor Romney, three former Lions quarterbacks, and hundreds of Ford employees.

Week 38! - Schuvoaovo! and District Conference

Interesting Fact #38 - The one thing that I thought was interesting this week that Russian Wallpaper is really ornate. I noticed it before, but I never made mention of it. It's really really ornate, shiney, and full of cool patterns and such. Yeah. Interesting, I know!

Well this week was a rather crazy, busy one. I went to Estonia again on Wednesday, which proved to be uneventful (We were only there for like 20 minutes to only back into Russia with our new visa). Every 3 months we are to have a visa trip. They have always been to Estonia for us Americans, but President Clark wants us to go to Finland at least once while we are out here to go through the Helsinki Temple. Maybe in 3 months I will go to Finland? I have become quite the traveller. After I got back from Estonia (which was about a 2 or 2.5 hour drive), I grabbed my suitcases and headed to Shuvalovo, which is right north of the city. It's still in the city. It's much much different than the center. The center felt a lot more run-down in some areas, but this area is a lot nicer. Our apartment is in this massive new apartment complex on the 8th floor. THere are 20 or so floors with an incredible view. 

My companion is awesome. Elder Scherbina. Such a stud. He is from Ukriane, like I said last week. I don't think I have had a companion who is as busy and hard-working as he is. It's great. We planned out our exchanges for this transfer, and there will be about 9 total in 6 weeks. I get to fly to Kaliningrad for one of them, and take a 7 hour train ride north to Petrozavodzk. I am way excited too. I also get to back to Vyborg for a day, and that I am excited for. 

It hasn't snowed yet, which is really surprising. I have been reading that it has been snowing in Utah and California. Not here... yet.. Well granted, It did snow one day, but it didn't stick. I guess I better knock on wood. 

While here, we visited a less active named Anatoli who is blind. We get there and we just talked to about his life and about the scriptures. We read a little bit from the Book of Mormon, and then gave him a blessing. He has a lot of health problems and it was really difficult for him to just get up for us to bless him. He lied down on the couch as we talked with him. We then met with another less active named Myagkishev, who is a little old man who is ADHD. It was so funny. Just running around and talking about all sorts of things. He also is a fantastic painter and paints LDS temples around the world and sells them. He has painted about 20 - 25 different portraits of temples. He invited him to District Conference (or Stake conference if there was a stake here) and he came! During District Conference, we talked about why we need a stake and what it would bring to the members here in St. Petersburg. It was way interesting. President Clark (who is also considered the stake president here) had a way interesting conversation during Priesthood session. The members basically explained themselves why a stake is necessary, and the most important fact about a stake is that with a stake, a temple can be built. 

This weekend, we also helped this little old lady named Raisa come to chuch. She is probably 3 foot 10 and in a wheelchair, and it was just kind of fun helping her down there stairs and into a car. It was also nice to be in a car for once ha. Oh yeah, on Saturday, the sisters in our district had a baptismal service for this girl named Yulia, who was found through the institute program. She has been going to institute, not a member, missionaries taught her, and now she is baptized. The power of the book of mormon! It just goes to show that this is the Lord's church, and that this is also the Kingdom of God once again established on the foundations of prophets in this last dispensation. The church is true. And that's all I need to say.

Well that was the week so far, until next time! or "Do Svedaniya!" as they say. I love you all, and you are all in my prayers. 

До Сведания

Старейшина Текольви

Week 37 - Halloween and stuffs. Oh, and Transfer calls

Interesting Fact #37 - The Metro. I have become quite the metro expert here in the city. I know it quite well. There are 5 lines, Red, Orange, Green, Blue, and Purple. My area here in center is on the end of the green line on my little island. The metro is crazy. So fast, sometimes so packed with people. But it's great sometimes. You get across the whole city in 20 minutes or so. 

Well. Many cool interesting things happened this week. Like a lot. Well first off, I am being transferred out of the center. I am going to a place north of the city (well. Still in the city) called Shuvolovo. Annd... I am going to be a zone leader I guess, which is kinda freakin' me out a little bit. There are three zones in the mission. Sometimes 2 zone leaders each zone, and I got assigned to be one of them. But at the same time I feel like I am still so new here! haha. I know I can do it. If I successfully trained someone fresh out of the MTC while being in Russia for only 3 months, I can be a zone leader I figured. It's a lot of responsibility, but it will be fun. My new companion will be Elder Sherabina from Ukraine. He is awesome, and doesn't speak too much English. Good thing I can speak a little of Russian, I guess. I am absolutely excited, but I am going to miss the Center here. I made a lot of good friends here with investigators, members, and less-actives. That's the toughest thing about transfers, really.

One of the awesome things about my Zone is that we get to organize exchanges with the Elders in Petrozavodzk (7 hour train ride north), Kaliningrad (1.5 plane ride west. Near Poland), Sestraedsk, and VYBORG!!!! Some of the places we get to go there for exchanges, but I think most of the time, the elders there come to our area. I would love to go to any of the places for exchanges, and especially Vyborg again. I loved it there.

So last week we saw a miracle. I get a call from Elder Andrus, the senior couple elder in the office and explained something quite interesting to me. President Clark, my mission president, met with a mother and daughter named Nellie and Natalie. Years ago they were greatly offended by some missionaries and they had this list of grievences that they show to everyone they see in the church. They wanted to talk to President Clark, who is also the Stake President here, to share with him as well. He heard them out and explained that the Church is sorry, and that whatever happened to them before should be done with. They then bore such a powerful testimony to him about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. He was just shocked. But the reason why I am telling this, is because Elder Andrus gave me their information to meet with them. I get there and they just had such an amazing testimony that everything was true, but they just wanted to get some apology or something. I committed them right there to be baptized on the 19th of November and the accepted. We taught them the Restoration, which they already knew quite well. It was just shocking and awesome. Such an amazing experience. 

But then, of course, I get transferred out of the area before their baptism, just like Edward Arsyenov hahaha. I am not too far away, so I can definitely still go to it. My branch meets in the same building. But It was just an amazing experience. Oh yeah, and last Monday night, we couldn't find anyone who could meet so we did some finding. We found this man from France named Dominique. We explained that we are missionaries, and then he started explaining to me that he has been looking for the right Christian Church and that he was trying to follow Jesus. He recognized the many churches there are, and he made clear to me that he wasn't Catholic, he wasn't Orthodox, he wasn't Protestant, he was Christian. He then explained how four months ago he tried to commit suicide, but God wouldn't let him, and since then he has been trying to find the right path. I told him that there was a reason why we ran into him on the street, and the God had placed us there, at that time, and at that place. A man from France and 2 Americans meeting on a random street in St. Petersburg, Russia, for him to hear the Gospel. He told us to call in a week because he didn't have money on his phone, so we are going to call tonight. But it was just amazing. God works in miraculous ways. 

Well this week was quite amazing. I am really glad I am on this mission. I am so glad that I am doing the Lord's work. I am really an instrument right now, and I couldn't be any happier. I love it here. And I know that this Church is true, and that God is a God of Miracles. The Lord is guiding our work and it greatly increases my testimony that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. It is his Church. 

I love you all.

Love,

Elder Tekulve

Week 36 - Alexander Suvorov

Interesting Fact #36 - The interesting thing of the week this week is that Finnish diary products are abosolutely amazing. There is this brand called Valio, and everything they make is absolutely amazing; their milk, yogurt, cheese, sour cream, all so good. I think Valio milk often times can top the good ol' Westwood blue cap milk we would used to get. Russian milk unfortunately has some interesting tastes. I tried it, judged it, and realized Fins know how to make milk. Thank goodness Finland is just next door.

This week was an interesting one. We did a lot of finding and contacting this week and we saw a few awesome miracles. On Wednesday, we were supposed to meet with a less active we had heard about named Dima. He called an hour or 2 before our lesson and cancelled it. So we gathered up some less active addresses nearby and decided to just go and try to find where these people went. I hadn't no idea who they were. We had no information about them, except their addresses and phone numbers. We decided to stop by the home of the Suvorov brothers, Andre and Anton. We get their and ring through the domaphone (this microphone you talk through to talk to people in apartments. They can open the outside door to let you in, and then you go up to their floor and such). A man answered and we asked him if Anton or Andre were there. He told us they weren't here anymore but told us to come in. Of course! So we get up to his apartment and we sit down to talk. His name was Alexander and that he was the father of the two sons who are in the church, Andre and Anton. He explained to us that he respected the church a lot so he got his two sons baptized in it about 15+ years ago. He gave us the information where they lived and their phone numbers for them. He also gave us this giant satellite photo book of St. Petersburg to use for our finding efforts and such. He was such a nice man. We gave him a Book of Mormon and told him we are going to come back and share a message of the Restoration. He has unfortunately been out of town, but told us to pick a day with him and he will plan around it. I talked to the two sons and Andre was really excited that I called and wants to go to church next week. It was just way out of the blue. Our investigator work has dropped in the past couple weeks and we were really working hard in finding new investigators, and then we get handed Alexander. It was just amazing.

And then on Saturday evening, we decided to go tracting for the first time! There was a rule that we couldnt go tracting here in this mission, but it got repealed and so we tried it out for the first time. It's a lot more difficult here because there aren't any houses, they are all apartments. So it would really only involve you dialing random numbers on a domaphone and talk to them through that. There was one moment, someone from outside opened the door and let us in. So we went to a random floor on the elevator. I just pressed the 14th floor button and up we went. Turned the left and there were 5 doors. I just felt like the one on the left was the right one. Knocked and a lady named Nina answered, and it just so happened to be her birthday that day too. We talked to her about the Gospel and gave her a Book of Mormon, as well. She had told us that she is interested in all Christian churches and faiths, and that she has been looking for the truth. She asked us "why my door out of all of the doors in this whole apartment complex?". I explained to her that it just felt right to go to this one. Unfortunately she didn't want to give us her phone number, but I pray that she calls us back. Just imagine, it's your birthday, and these two missionaries stop by and give you a book and tell you it's the truth your looking for. My mind would have exploded.

To be honest, those are the two things that happened this week that were awesome. We didn't have too many lessons or appointments this week, which was kind of a bust, but these two things came out of it. So no complaints there. We are still teaching our good ol' pal, George. He came to church as well and was 30 minutes early before any of the branch was there, which was awesome to see. We are still trying to work him towards baptism. One day! One Day!

I am not sure if I told you about Sergey, this 19 year old we found on the street a few weeks ago. We had to hand him off to another set of missionaries because he lived in another part of town. But I get a call on Friday night from Elder Clark saying that he has a baptismal date on the 19th of November! A pretty good birthday present, I would say.

This past week, my testimony about the Holy Ghost and the guidance it gives has strengthened greatly. I know it works through you in very silent means. You might not even notice it. I didn't really have this big hoo-rah feeling that the Holy Ghost is showing me exactly where to go. I just went, and chose. For Alexander, we went and and did not even noticing. For Nina, I clicked the 14th floor without second though, and picked that door on the left without much forethought either. The Holy Ghost can really work through when you don't even realize it. That's my little spiritual thought of the week, I guess. But I love you all. You are in my prayers all the time.

Love,
Elder Tekulve

Week 35 - Korablestraiteliy!

Interesting Fact #35 - The word for missionary and the word for policeman in Russian sound very similar. Sometimes when people ask about discounts for policeman when we are serving in the Hermitage, I always think they say something about a discount for missionaries. That would be cool.

Well I would first like to start out this week by thanking all of you you that sent me emails me this week. I really love to read what's going on in the good U S of A. They also all really touch me too, and of course they make me laugh. But thank you. I really love you.

I bet you are looking at the the name of the email and are wondering what the heck that is. It's a name of a street in our area that I love to say. One of my favorite words. The translation basically translates to "The street of the shipbuilders". I love that street. It's one of my favorite contacting routes in our area because it's mostly people who are out to take a nice stroll. They usually like to talk with us. 

This week we met with George some more and talked about Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. He was really excited about it, it seemed. He explained that that it would be no problem to go to the market the day before to buy his foodstuffs. He usually just eats bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and apples. That's his breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But he came to church this week! He has a disease where he walks really slowly on a cane, so it took him a while to get to church but he came. He was really late, but it was really awesome to see him walk in. It also really impresses me to see someone who has such little physical strength as he does do so much to increase his spiritual strength. It is perhaps the most inconvenient thing for him to go to church, but he still goes, because we always invite him to, and because he grows every time by so doing. This last time he commented on how pleasant it was this time around. He felt warmth and comfort when he came to church this time and really loved it. I guess that was our little miracle this week. 

We met with our inactive friend, Vladimir Denisov, who hasn't gone to church in a very long time. He came to conference this last weekend, but has a hard time coming regularly. We have been meeting with him once a week for the past two months and this meeting with him he really opened up to us. We were supposed to leave after about 45 or 50 minutes while we were there. The next 30 minutes of our lesson was him opening up and expressing every fear and feeling he had. He has a strong testimony but he is just so scared and frightened about coming back. We told him we would pray for him and so that he can find his answer and conquer his fears. We told him that we are going to be there every step of the way. He just really appreciated our visit and our willingness to help. It was awesome to see.

This week, I went on a 24 hour exchange with another new elder in my district. We got together to teach the commandments to our new convert, Yegor. He is 18 and got baptized in July. Just to note a few things: He is already planning on going on a mission, he is currently now the Young Men's President in our branch, he is going through the Book of Mormon for maybe the 3rd time now. he is the coolest kid ever. We taught him all of the commandments, of which he understood perfectly. I took a picture with him that I will try to send this next week.

Just everyday as I study the scriptures and go out and teach people it just really strengthens me spiritually. My testimony has grown so much just being out here. I really have seen the blessings of the Restored Church here in Russia. To be honest, this is such a special place to be at this time. The work is growing, and same with the Church. I know this church is true, and I feel that short statement is enough to express my feelings about this work. I know that God loves us, and knows us each individually. 

I love you all more than you can imagine.

Love, 

Elder Tekulve

Week 34 - General Conference Weekend!

Interesting Fact #34 - You know street performers in the U.S.? What are the more common ones? Guitarists and stuff? Probably. Well the most common street performers, and by that I mean those who play in the street for donations to earn some sort of living, are Accordian players. They are usually 50 or 60 year old men playing away Russian lullubyes. I really enjoy seeing them. I will just hear some great accordian tune travelling through the cold wind. One of the best players is in this underground crosswalk by the metro stop. The acoustics are just amazing. Almost Lake-Powell-fire-dance-in-a-cave worthy.

Well this week was General Conference for us. I absolutely love general conference and I can not wait for the next one in 6 months. So what they did here in St. Petersburg, was that they had the Chapel opened up to play the Russian General Conference which had been recorded from the week prior, and then English was in the relief society room. Yeah it was a week delay for us, but if we tried to watch live, it wouldn't have started until 10 at night... Yeah, no. This way, we got to watch all of the sessions. Well all of the talks were absolutely amazing, might I add. One of my favorites was Dieter F. Uchtdorfs in the Saturday Morning session explaining that compared to God, we are nothing, but we are EVERYTHING to God. There are times where we think we are forgotten, inadequiate, or even discouraged, but always remember that God loves you more than you can even fathom. He has created everything for the benefit of US. All the stars, all of the mountains (yes, and that includes Half Dome), for US, because to him, we are aboslutely everything to him. We are all his sons and daughters, and that's something that should NEVER be forgotten. 

Also, if you watched the Sunday Afternoon session, the ST. PETERSBURG RUSSIA mission was mentioned by Elder Nelson. He explained when he came to our district conference this year, he called up Sister Efimova up to the pulpit to bear her testimony. She, right now, works in the Mission Office and is in charge for all of the housing for the missionaries, and I often talk to her about housing stuff. Well her and her husband were the first mission presidents to be called from Russia. Shortly after their return home, Brother Efimov passed away, but Sister Efimova's testimony is the strongest I have seen here in Russia. She is a wonderful woman. 

So how about them new temples huh? Provo 2.0, as everything has been calling it. I am really excited for that temple being built. And how about them Paris, France temple plans?! That's very exciting. I know that with the stake now in Moscow, it's only a matter of time until they announce the plans for a Moscow temple. And I know that once we get a stake here in St. Petersburg, we will have a temple here in no time. The members here are so strong. 

This week, all the missionaries in our mission went on a fast for the success of our mission. Our goal is to get 30 baptisms until the end of the year, and I fasted so that I can contribute to that 30. We are all praying and working so hard to find people that have been prepared by the Lord. We need to find more people to teach, and that means more finding. We have been planning differently and more with the Spirit so that we can be successful as a mission, so that we can get a Stake here. That is our immediate goal here. It will happen. And I know it. 

We are still working with our friend George, who came to general conference yesterday! He only stayed for the first half of the first sunday session, but I am glad he stayed during the talk about The Book of Mormon. That was a powerful talk. Well when we met with him, he had read and kept his commitments and had questions to ask us from his reading. We had him read 2 Nephi 31, and he had a lot of questions about the Holy Ghost. We gladly answered him. We are going to be meeting with him soon to see how is doing! I love that guy. Oh yeah, we also taught him the Word of Wisdom. He already lived it, more or less. He rarely drank a cup of coffee once in a blue moon, and that was it. Didn't smoke, drink, drink black tea, so we committed him to give up coffee and he was set. I was so excited to find that out from him. I pray for the best for him.

Well that was the work for me. Going to general conference this weekend and also fasting for our missionary work here has really incraesed my tesitmony that this church is true. It is Kingdom of God here in Earth and it is growing. I am contributing, as a part of my priesthood duty, to help grow this Kingdom. What a priveledge it is. I love you all, and you are all in my prayers constantly.

Love,

Elder Tekulve

Week 33 - The Adventures at the Center Reenuk! and PICTURES!

Interesting Fact #33: Рынки, or Markets, are these large outdoor swap meets almost. We went to the biggest one here in St. Petersburg, called the Center Reenuk (Рынок). It basically felt like I was in Uzbekistan in some sort of bizarre bazaar. Everyone goes and sells stuff there. Emphasis on the word stuff. You will find anything and everything. Almost. But yeah, Reenoks are the life blood of purchased goods. 

But to add about that reenok experience, was that we get there and we are just stunned. Then this man named SHAQBOSS (I kid you not) came up to us and led us the way to coats. I kept on telling him I wanted a coat with a fur hood, but he kept on insisting that I get this leather coat with fur inside. He said that I looked like a stud in it. I finally told him exactly what I wanted and he led us on this excursion through the market to find the coat section. Needless to say, I got my coat, and I am happy. It's a nice thick coat with a fur lined hood. It's recommended to get that because It helps block out the wind and snow. Yeepee!

This week we had to pass off our investigator, Sergey, to another set of Elders. It was a tough little passing off. I really liked the kid, but he lived south of the city, in Avtovo. So I called up my good friend ELDER CLARK (remember him from the MTC?) and we had a joint meeting with Sergey. They are going to meet with him tonight. Since we have two sets of Elders in our area, we are trying to split up who gets who from our branch. We passed off one of our investigators who lives closer to the other elders. He is so close to a baptismal date, but whatever reason, him and his family haven't been able to meet with us for a few weeks. 

Another exciting part about this week was that we met with one of less-actives, whom I have been trying to meet with for 2 months now, named Fy! He is such a cool guy. He moved here from China 3 years ago to study here. The elders found him soon after and he got baptized. He has such a strong testimony, but it's just hard for him to go to church because he lives so far away. That's what I have noticed about the church here. Transportation can take up to an hour or more within the city. It's such a big city, and the church building is right east of the center. I takes us about 45 minutes to get to church via metro. But with Fy, we talked to him about being an example to those around him and he told us he wants to start going to church and institute again. He also invited us, and the Senior couple, Elder and Sister McArthur to lunch with him this Friday! He wants to make us some authentic Chinese food. Apparently he is quite the chef too. 

We had a very interesting and rather cool meeting with our good pal George this week. He had told us that he wants to take a break from us, but we insisted that we wanted to meet again. We met with him this last week, and it was just such a great lesson with him. We talked about the Holy Ghost and how it can by constant companion after baptism, and that through the Holy Ghost we can be protected spiritually and physically. Afterwords, he just kept on asking what he needs to do. His problem is that he thinks that changing religions isn't Russian, but we are working with him to realize that by being baptized  it doesn't make him any less Russian. But it was a really good lesson, because he no longer feels like he wants to take a break. He has been reading a lot from the Book of Mormon. He is already in Jacob now, and I am sure he is even further. I just know the more he reads, the more he prays, the more he will know the truth. 

Well I hear great things about this Half Dome trip, and I am quite proud of you all. I hope you recorded General Conference though! Really though. It's not being broadcasted until this next weekend here in Russia. I am absolutely so excited to hear it. They are going to have an English one as well so I can heard the original voices of them all. Success!

Well I love you all, and I pray that you all are enjoying life. Life really is a blessing. 

Love,

Elder Tekulve

Estonia! This was during my visa trip there, and again, there were castles galore and stuff. 

Vyborg - The Nedelev brothers. They were some of the coolest kids in Vyborg in the branch. 

again, Vyborg. With the Martaler's on the right, and Misha Dobgylavich on the left.

This one is with an investigator I taught in Vyborg, named Edward Arsyonov. He was baptized on the 20th of August.

                                 is in Vyborg still at some sort of statue and stuff. This was in July I think.