Interesting Fact #52 - I can't remember if I have already mentioned this one, but there aren't many names from men here in Russia. There are probably only 12 names they use. Granted, each name has 100s of nicknames, but the main full name is the same. The common ones you see are Alexandr, Vladimir, Igor, Sergay, Yevgeni (or Eugene), Pavel, Alexi, Yegor, Yuri, Nikolai, Ivan, etc.
This week was an awesome week. We had a lot of time to do missionary work in our areas because we didn't have a 101 things to do in the office or some other assistant stuff. First off, we met with Jacques a few more times this week. He is such an awesome guy! He just absolutely loves the Book of Mormon too. On Tuesday, we were teaching him, and it got to a point where he just was consumed right there and wouldn't stop reading. He just absolutely loves it. We invited him to be baptized, and he told us when he knows that this is the true, he will! We are aiming to get him baptized on March 3rd, but it is pretty soon from now. He has been searching for truth, and he really has been prepared to hear it. He came to church yesterday as well! We met with at the metro stop and walked with him to church, which is like a 10 minute or so walk. He got way into the hymns which was just so awesome to see/hear. He wanted to stay for the whole thing, but had to leave before Priesthood because he teaches French to a young lady somewhere in the city. He is our golden investigator right now.
This Saturday, the sister missionaries in our district had a baptism! We went to it with a few of our investigators. It was of this sweet little old lady named Nina who had met the missionaries 2 years ago or so. She was just so happy after her baptism. Yesterday she received the gift of the Holy Ghost and is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! The mission had a few other baptisms this last Saturday, one ofwhich was Vyborg! It was a son of one of the members there who the current missionaries had been working with. He is this little guy named Sergey who is handicapped, but is the coolest little guy. He had never been baptized when he was 8 because he was afriad of the water at the time, but apparently his baptism was awesome. I wish I could have been there.
Unfortunately, we met with one of our investigators for the last time, named Igor. His schedule is changing and kind of doesn't want to meet with us anymore, so we had a strong last meeting with him. We bore our testimonies and in the end, he will always remember us. He is studying to become a Russian Orthodox Priest, but he will always know those Mormons are not so crazy afterall haha. I think it's important for him to know that we are indeed a Christian church built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and his Ministry and Gospel.
We had some awesome finding experiences this week. On Saturday, we were stuck in the center of the city until 6 because we couldn't use the metro at the time. So we were walking to a place to grab a bite to eat and two young men came up to us and told us they wanted to come to church the next day. We said of course. We gave them an invitation with our address on it and they had to skadaddle. The next day, they both came! It turns out, that one of them is a member from another city in Siberia, and is down visiting. He is staying with his friend, Pasha (which is short for Pavel), who isn't a member. Pasha really liked church and wants to meet with us! We are meeting them tonight to go to FHE for Young Single Adults. We are praying that we can keep on meeting with and teach him.
Do you remember that one man who we talked to about the church all because I asked him where he bought his hat? I called him up and he really doesn't want to meet with us right now, but I asked him if I could give him a Book of Mormon as a gift and he gladly accepted. He really really wanted it. So he stopped by the church building and I ran down to give him one. I got his business card and his last name is Tyopliy, which means warm in Russian. He really is a warm friendly guy.
Oh and then! Last night was quite the cool experience. We went out signboarding on the main street in the city with those questions on the title "Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going?", and we got a lot of people to come up and talk to us. One of which is this other young man named Sergay (1 of many here in Russia). He had been pondering those questions for a long time and he never understood what the purpose was of life. I gave him the low-down of the Plan of Salvation right there in the crazy cold wind. My mouth felt frozen, but I could speak just fine without any problems. It was really cool to experience. But the cooler thing is that he wants to meet with us this thursday. He is studying film as well here in the city and he is 21. He walked with us back to the metro and gave him a quick lesson on the Restoration, which he just was in awe. We gave him a Book of Mormon which he really wants to read.
So. Yes. Miracles are happening all over the mission, including with us. We are seeing places that were once considered "dead" areas thrive with investigators and baptismal dates. It's awesome to be in a position to see that happening. It's really inspiring, to be honest. It makes me think though that God is really a God of Miracles. Miracles never ceased with Christ's death. They still continue. We see them all around us. God continues to bless all of his children.
I hope next time I will have some time to upload some more pictures. I got lots. A year's worth of pictures.
Well I love you all,
Love,
Elder Tekulve
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