Interesting Fact #52 - There really is no difference in feeling when it's -5 Celsius, and -25 Celsius. (23° F / -15° F) It's still cold either way. But thank goodness the only thing on my body that's cold is my face, and there is nothing I can do about that. I gotta breath.
This week was a crazy one. We had transfers, a general authority coming in, a new missionary coming in, departing missionaries finishing their missions and going home, another visa trip, a small exchange in a city south called Gatchina, and another trip to Petrozavodsk to finish it. In fact, that's where I am right now. It's 8 hours north on a night train. And it's a tad bit colder than St. Pete.
To start, so we had transfers this week! I am staying in the city as assistant with Elder Hill, which I am more than happy about. I think it has been my favorite transfer so far. We had a new missionary come into the field this week. A Sister Pinkston. She was way excited to do missionary work here in this mission! Something we need! We didn't get any elders, but we will get a few this next transfer cycle. So we went with President Clark and a few others to the airport to pick her up. A set of sister missionaries than took her through the metro back to the mission home. A nice hour trip in the St. Petersburg metro. We were pretty much busy with that the whole day.
The next day we had a General Authority come in while we were having transfers. We had to organize the transfers this week in a way that would make the fastest they could possibly be, so that they are in and out into their new area with their new companion. We are going to start doing that more often so that we can really maximize our time in our areas that day. That day, we also had to do some training for the new missionary and her companion. It was the same kind of training I got when I became a trainer. It felt like the training really well. We were really put on the spot to do it, so with that considered, it was an A-OKAY performance.
That night, we had 4 missionaries finishing their missions that stayed with us. We had to play hotel this whole week for other elders. So it's been fun and interesting. I said my goodbyes to Elders Larsen, Melnik, Ylyanov, and Zhilinksiy. I had gone on a few exchanges with Elder Larsen. I am really gonna miss that guy. The next day, because of traffic, Elder Zhilinksiy missed his flight back home so he had to stay with us one more night and wake up at 3 in the morning to get to the airport on time. We said our goodbyes. The mission will miss them. They were all excellent missionaries.
We then went to Gatchina to help that area. We went there to really encourage the elders there and to really lift them up, which I felt like we did. We sat down and talked with them to help them grow as a companionship and to really love their missions. And theeen, because of complications of transfers, we had to bring Elder Rasmussen back to Petrozavodsk on a night train. We left on Saturday night. It's just a train where you just sleep until your destination. We had a whole to ourselves, and I don't think I have ever slept that well on mission. Petro really is a beautiful little city. I would love to serve here one of these days. Yeah it's a lot more north and colder, but it's just an awesome little place. We got to go their branch again and it was just a solid small little branch, but yet so strong.
Oh yeah, I went to Estonia again this week for my 3rd time. It was a really short trip. But still fun nonetheless.
I think I have said this every email now, but I really am loving my mission. This is honestly the best thing I can be doing right now. Helping these people come unto Christ, and also to help lead some of these missionaries. It's been really intense, but so rewarding. Unfortunately, we have had barely any time this week to work in our area, but we have been seeing miracles in our finding efforts. People are contacting and calling us. I know, no matter what, the Lord's work will continue when you are doing what is right. Sometimes it may seem that there is too much going on to get everything done, but knowing that it is indeed the Lord's work, and that I am on the Lord's errand, I knew things would be alright. We have a lot of potential new investigators this coming week when we get home, and I have never been more excited to work. The church is indeed true!
Love,
Elder Tekulve
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