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
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