Week 51 - My week ticker might be off a week. In fact it should be. But! A Week of Miracles and Frozen Lakes!

Interesting Fact #51 - Train sleep is the best kind of sleep. The two nights I had on the train this week and last week I slept like a baby. I think it's all the rocking it does. Just reminds me of the good ol' days when I spent most of my time in a crib eating pretzels and oreos and chipping my teeth on counter tops. 

I had another little night terror again this week. This time it was on the train. I thought the train was turning a corner and the train wagons were crunching into each other. I thought the wall, again, was falling on top of me and I couldn't do anything. So I got up in a flight of terror and  yelled, "NO!! STOP!!". Needless to say, my companion had a good kick out of it. Other than that, I still had the best sleep I have had on my mission.

Last monday, after I sent my letters to you, we walked around downtown Petrozavodsk, which, by the way, is a beautiful little city. It's right next to this large lake and it was COMPLETELY frozen. We all took pictures in front of it. I have to send them to you. I unfortunately didn't bring my camera. In fact. I don't even have a cord to plug into my camera to the computer. I must have forgotten it or something. No worries. I can buy one here at some computer store. But they are great pictures nonetheless.

Well February is here. The coldest month! And indeed it is. We got back to Petersburg thinking that we can actually start working in our area, and we found that upon our arrival, more work got stacked up to do. In fact, we have three zone conferences to plan for tomorrow. But among all of our crazy work, we still managed to find time to call all of the people we have found through our efforts in the past month. I think there are about 20 something names. We haven't called all of them yet, but we set up some meetings this week with new investigators! Hurray! We found out that one of them lives in the other branch area, so we are going to hand them off to another set of elders. He was a really nice guy who called us this last Sunday. We talked to him a few weeks ago while doing a survey and he was very very interested and wanted to hear more. He lives in some dorms and he invited us over. Probably one of the most hospitable guys ever. Gave us a bunch of chocolate and herbal tea stuff, and just was so excited that we came over. He is 22 and just way awesome. At times you can tell he has got some intense ADD, but he has one of the biggest hearts. Unfortunately we are going to have to hand him over, but I know he will be taught in good hands. 

The other man we met with was someone we found a few weeks ago as well. Right after internet one time, we found this man right outside the library who was really interested in talking. He invited us over and we talked for a while. The tough thing is that we got scheduling conflicts at times to try to meet with him, but we will move with him soon.

We have been trying really hard this week to Open Our Mouths. To never hesitate talking to somebody. It's something that's really uncomfortable,  but we have been seeing so much success from it. It's not something that's a problem on the streets. It's almost natural to start talking to somebody on the streets, but on transport. It's probably one of the most intense things ever. This friday, I sat next to a man on the metro and just simply asked him where he bought his hat. We got talking for a while about the city and he asked what I am doing here. I told him that we are here as missionaries and to teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I invited him to come to church and I found he lives 2 minutes away from the branch and he promised to come. Yesterday, we got a call during Sacrament meeting and sure enough, it was him! He came late, but he stayed the last two hours and really enjoyed it. The branch really welcomed him today and it was awesome. Miracles in just talking to people! 

We also had one of the biggest turn outs in our attendance to Sacrament meeting in a long long time. Somewhere around 120 or something came today, which is an incredible amount. I feel like we are incredibly close to becoming a stake. There is a new energy here with President Clark and both the branches and the missionaries are changing for the better. It's really incredible to see. Speaking of new energy, right now in Vyborg, my old area, it's EXPLODING in success right now. The missionaries there are really doing amazing work there with the branch. There are apparently 4 baptismal candidates, and about 7 investigators coming to church, which is the current highest right now in the mission. We are seeing a lot of miracles in "dead" areas as well. People are coming out of the wood work to meet with the missionaries. I am really glad that I am here right now in this mission in this momentous time. It's really a special thing.

In terms of our culinary experimentations, you won't believe what Elder Hill and I made... We made sushi with crab, cucumber, and avacado! It was so nice not to eat some basic chicken dish that missionaries so often make. We also had some shake and bake packets so we made some chicken nuggets, but we blurred the two words together to make Chi'inNah'ets! 

Well we are quite busy again this next week. We have a zone conference tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday to plan out for, along with organizing missionaries to stay in the city and stuff. Wish me luck! Well, I love you all. As always.

Gotta go!
Love,

Elder Tekulve

P.S. "Put your little hand in mine, there aint mountain we can't climb..." "Don't forget your booties because it's COOOLD out there".... Happy Groundhog's Day...

P.S.S. I didnt really proof-read