Heat Wave!

Interesting Fact # I think I might have already shared this one, many times, but Russia gets really cold, and really hot, and it's very humid. I remember last year I sweated more than I have my whole life. That same process happaned again this week. Summer was very late this year here and much more mild than last year's. It's been tough for my companion given his allergy to the sun. He has to wear gloves in the sun, and we have to wear long sleeve shirts together to match. Sweaty Sweaties!
I came to a nice conclusion last night as I was lying in the heat trying to sleep, "It's very hot here, but why does it matter? I am here at this time on a mission to Preach the Gospel, the Fullness of the Truth, to these wonderful people. Why does it matter that I am hot? I will never have this opportunity to sacrifice and get out of my comfort zone to help these people I love. So Why does it matter?" I often realize that our personal needs really don't matter. A better word to say would be personal WANTS rather than needs. Yes we need to survive. We need to eat, drink, and sleep, but what do our wants do? This past week, I had a great experience studying just about Charity. Yes, I have always known that it is the Pure Love of Christ, and that it's a Christlike trait that we should strive for, maybe something along the lines of helping those in need, or giving to the needy. Upon my studies, I realized that it is much more that. It is everything. Literally. Every good thing, every good trait, every good deed is CHARITY. "And ^acharity suffereth long, and is ^bkind, and ^cenvieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily ^dprovoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." (Moroni 7:45). From countless Sunday School lessons, Seminary, countless talks in church or General Conference, I have read or heard this scripture HUNDREDS of times. And it never dawned on me until now that it is everything that is good or of God. It is patience, it is kindness, it is always seeking the benefit of others, never thinking of yourself, it is embracing the good and turning away the evil, it is being virtuous and having good thoughts and loving those around him or her, and most importantly it is having faith. I feel kind of lame for now realizing it, but I am glad I did. Charity is everything. Without it we our nothing. We no disciple of Christ without it. Christ did this and some. And that some is the Atonement; something that we can't even fathom, the purest act of love and charity on behalf of ALL mankind. 
Well anywho, this week was a great week, allbeit a lot of our teaching meetings didn't really work out. We taught a lot of people on streets, which was just a great experience. We did meet this family in a park next to the train station. This family had been kicked out of their country in Latvia and were trying to get to a place further south. It was a grandmother, a 12 year old granddaughter, and 36 year old man with a mental disability, without a place to stay until their train gets there. We talked to them, and the grandmother, Lyudmila, told me their whole story and the trials we have gone through. She has suffered everything from war, to death, to abandonment, to fraud, to exilement, to persecution, to being homeless. She was such a wondeful woman who has done nothing wrong in her life, but she keeps on going. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and gave her the committment to read it on her 5 day train ride south. The daughter spoke little Russian, but mostly Latvian. We met them on Saturday, and we came back on Sunday to meet back with them. There were on the same bench in that park still waiting for their train. That was probably the highlight of my week was meeting them. I just pray they find the missionaries in their new city they are moving to, because that was a family that is ready for the Gospel. 
This Sunday, we had a big turn out to church, about 20 people, which is big here. However, they were mostly members from Peter down for the weekend. We had a few investigators come, which I am sure they thought was interesting. Our Branch president didn't show up, so we had to run the branch due to its size. It's a mission branch so the Mission President calls the branch president. We realized as well that there was no bread, so we had to make a 5 minute quick flour tortilla in the kitchen for the Sacrament and we managed a Sacrament meeting, Sunday School, and Priesthood Meeting. I gave a 10 minute talk, knowing I had to speak 5 minutes prior. Luckily that's pretty much what we do all day, everyday, So I just taught the Restoration there in my talk for the investigators that came. A few members gave really quick make shift talks, Elder Albee, the other elder in this area, ran Sunday School, and for Priesthood, we ended up watching Church films. It was very memorable for sure.
That's about it for this week! I Love this work, and I know this church is true. Although the church is small here in Pskov, one day, this city will have its own stake. I know it. I am just here building the foundation, and I couldn't be happier. 
I love you all! 
Love,Elder Tekulve

Happy Birthday Pskov

Interesting Fact - Russia loves holidays, and Russians love Russian Holdiays. There are SOO many here. We had a big holiday in Pskov yesterday and Saturday. The city turned 1109 years old. Yes, that is quite an old city. More than three times as old as the United States. But there are plenty of other holidays, like Day of Parachuters, Day of Museums, Woman's Day, Victory Day, New Year's, Old New Year's Day, Day of Baptism, Day of the National Protectors, Day of the Motherland, to name a few.

So this week, we had to go back to St. Petersburg! I was sitting in a bus for almost 15 hours total in a 2 day period. Went to St. Petersburg on a 5 hour bus, and then got my visa renewed in Estonia again which was about a 5 hour total trip, and then another 5 hour trip afterwards back to Pskov. A lot of our meetings we had set up for the week had feel through so we did a lot of finding, which means a lot of walking and knocking. My companion hasn't gotten used to the extensive walking we do in a mission so he is pretty sore. He is really excited to just rest this Preperation Day. I keep on apologizing to him because I won't let us rest when we need to be proselyting. The only really time is at lunch, dinner, and bed time. He is a champ about it. I really like serving with Elder Berrett. He is a great companion and hilarious as well. We have really opened up these past 2 weeks and now we are the buds! He doesn't let his severe allergy to the sun stop him either, which just completely impresses me. He can take something that's such a big trial and turns into something so happy so joyful. A lot of people come up to him and ask him if his a cowboy. It's actually a great finding method too. People are curious and want to know what this young man is doing with a black cowboy hat, a shirt a tie, and gloves speaking in a strange unfamiliar accent. I would be curious too. It's pretty funny when I tell people that we are from America. It's like saying some Chinese missionaries were called to serve in Philomath, Oregon speaking English in a thick accent and preaching to the Philomathiates. Pskov is definitely a lot bigger than Philomath, but the idea is the same. It's a small city here in Russia, and it's not every day that there are these two American missionaries trying to talk to people on the streets and smiling whilst walking.

We found a really great potential family to teach this week. We were walking to the branch, and we walk past these kids who looked Hispanic and they came up to us and asked if Elder Berret was superman because of his cool hat. The next day, we stopped by that apartment to talk with their dad and he is a very sincere and humble man. His family is really living in trying circumstances but they are really trying to make ends meet. He has 6 kids and they all look Hispanic but they are very Russian, all with Russian names. We stopped by them last night and it was just a great little gathering. We haven't taught them yet because they didn't have time to sit and talk, but they want us to come back next Sunday. When we planned to return to that place, we called it Little Mexico. 

Most of our lessons really did fall through this week, so unfortunately I don't have much to add about a great teaching moment or lesson. Although, when we were in Peter, we were sitting the metro on our a way to the Bus Station, and I sat next to an old man. I began to talk to him and he was really nice and open. I asked him about his family and he started telling about his family really quietly. He stopped and started weeping about someone who passed away in his family. He was difficult to hear because of the metro noise and the quietness of his voice, but I knew I just needed to talk to him about God's plan for us and how there is a meaning of life and a place where we rest from our worries, labors, and cares after we pass away. He continued to cry a bit, but the message softened him. I didn't have much time because of the Bus time we needed to make, but I left him with a pamphlet and had to run out. I said a little prayer for him that he might find the missionaries again and let them talk to his family. 

I love being a missionary and sharing these good tidings and this message. I love it here, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else.

Love

Elder Tekulve

Pskov - The land of miracles and 43 Churches!

Interesting Fact - In every bigger city in Russia, there will be something called the "Eternal Flame". They are monuments to World War 2. They are always very solemn but beautiful monuments. There is always a flame that is going all day, every day at that monument. I have seen the Pskovian, St. Pete, and Petrozavodskian eternal flames. In all actuality, the day that the War ended for them was a more wonderful day. Russia suffered the most losses out of anyone.

My first week out of St. Petersburg! I am quite happy. I was there almost a year in a big city full of hustle and bussle. Seriously, people are always on the clock there and running to and fro. And I get here and people have all the time in the world and it's great haha. I really loved St. Petersburg, but this is a whole new adventure I guess you can say. Pskov is 5 hours south of St. Pete and it is one of the oldest Russian cities. So therefore, it has around 40 something really old Russian Orthodox churches. There is a Kremlin there too from hundreds of years ago. Actualy, our apartment is right next to it and I can see it right outside of my window. It's way gorgeous here. It's been colder because it has rained every single day so far. I had to buy my 7th umbrella on my mission the other day to accomodate for the rain here. For whatever reason, St. Petersburg ranks second in windiest city, and also first in rainy city. Those two don't mix too well. 

My companion, Elder Berret is a champ! He just got of the MTC and is just way excited and enthusiastic about the week. He has an allergy to the sun and so he has to wear a big cowboy hat and gloves so the sun won't effect him. I really respect him because despite of his disability, he is out on a mission to preach the gospel, of which he knows is true. We basically came into nothing. There is another set of Elders here, and so we are opening the second area here in Pskov, which was opened last winter. So we inherited some former investigators and 1 current investigator. But basically, we are starting from scratch here. People love to talk here and it's awesome. We have a lot of potential investigators, and 4 new investigators so far. 3 of which were from tracting. We tracted into a man named Alexandr. He let us in and we taught about the Plan of Salvation a little bit. His wife is in the hospital with Tuburculosis and he has having a difficult time coping with it. The Spirit was incredibly strong as we talked about Christ and how he can give us so much hope in life. I also explained to him that the Lord has blessed us with the power to give priesthood blessings to heal the sick and afflicted and explained the time when Mom had Cancer and through blessings and prayers, she went from a less than a 10 percent survival rate, to living 12 years later writing her son letters and sending him packages of peanut butter and socks. He was just incredibly touched by our message and we are stopping by again tonight. Soon after we tracting into an older man named Ivan Ivanovich. One of the funniest old men I have ever met. He let us right now, without question. He was shirtless but with suspenders, and he was quite incredibly large. He was just so happy to have company, and we shared our message about the Book of Mormon. He wanted me to sign it because I was American, so I wrote my testimony in it and signed it. It was really just nice to meet him. His wife had passed away a few years ago, and so did his son, so he is fairly lonely, but was happy to see us. We are stopping by againg tonight. He is quite warm and welcoming. It made me realize I really love Russians. I love Russia, and I love this language. I just absolutely love these people and I know this message is of great worth  "and especially unto my people. For I ^bpray continually for them by day, and mine ^ceyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry" (2 Nephi 33:3).

I had another moment of just absolutely loving Russia this past Saturday. The other missionaries baptized an amazing man named Byachislav in the river. The group that attended were 3 babooshkas and a few members from the branch. It was just an incredible baptismal service and it made me realize that I really love this land. It was pouring rain on the way to the river, but as soon as the baptism was getting ready, the clouds parted, and sun shone, and my companion threw on his cowboy hat. The 3 babooshkas were just a complete riot, just being the awesome babooshki that they were. And then Elder Albee went and baptised Byachislav and he is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I love this work, and I love this land. I love being a missionary.That is about all for this week. Pskov is awesome. I love it this city!

Love,

Elder Tekulve

4th of July, Vyborg, and a new Transfer!

Interesting Fact - Umbrellas are a necessity here in St. Petersburg. I might have already mentioned, I honestly can't remember. But basically, they have umbrella dispensers.

 

This week's email might be a shorter one because I am going to send some pictures. The biggest news is that I am getting transferred! I finished my service as an Assistant, finally! After 7.5 months being here, I am going to train an Elder Barrett in a city called Pskov. I can't believe it has almost been a year since I last trained a missionary. I am really excited now, because now I know a lot more, in terms of missionary work, and I can actuallly understand this language now haha. I am really excited, and I really feel like I am being set free and I can be a real missionay now! No more office days! yay! I really can't wait. I have never been to Pskov, but it's a city about 5 hours south of St. Petersburg and it is right on the border with Estonia. It's an incredibly old city, like one of the oldest in Russia. I think it ranks up there with Kiev, Moscow, Hovgorod, and Nizhniy Hovgorod. I heard it's absolutely beautiful down there. The branch is really small there, but I am being sent down there to really help the branch out, and to really ignite the place. I can't wait! But I really am going to miss some of these people here in the city. A lot of members, companion, families, and Jacques. Jacques is doing awesome by the way. He has been passing the sacrament now and getting a calling. He is going to move to France really soon, but he is an awesome member who is as strong as a non-convert member. It's incredible.

 

Oh speaking of families, we stopped by the Shaikhulin family (the family whose 9 year old boy got baptized last month). We are continuing to teach him the lessons after baptism and everytime we stop by, the family opens up more and up. I really love that family, and they really enjoy us coming over. I have a few pictures of them. But Vania is just a stud of a kid, and  their 14 year old daughter, Liza, plays the violin like a pro too. We had a little concert after one of our lessons with them, and my mind was blown away. That is a family I definitely will miss.

 

So this week, We got to go up to Vyborg (my first area) with President Clark. We thought we were tagging along to go on some exchanges with the Elders there (which we were anyway), but we had some extra plans that we didn't know about until about 30 minutes before we left that we needed to throw on some jeans and tshirts. We were going to the woods. Not just the woods, but it turned out that President Clark was going to speak in the Districts Girl's Camp. Ha! So we basically had to transport materials to the camp along side this lake near Vyborg, and then awkwardly walk away and hang out a distance away from the campsite due to the awkward topic of conversation concerning marriage and things of that sort. As a missionary, it wasn't the most comfortable of situations. But shortly after, we left with President to the city of Vyborg and there I went on an exchange there with an Elder Clarke and went tracting. We tracting into a man named Volodia who let us in and we ended up teaching him the Plan of Salvation and it was an awesome experience.

 

That was more or less our 4th of July, too. Happy Birthday America! I hope you all had a great holiday, and had a good BBQ. We made burgers, but we didn't have time to make them on the 4th of July. But yeah. America!

 

Picture time!

 

1. At the Hermitage Square

2. Next to the Hermitage, along the Neva, with Peter Paul Fortress behind me

3. Veselov Family! Viktor and Larisa are on the right.

4. Shaikhulin Family!!! Me, Elder Rasmussen, Elder Stankosky, Vania, Hadezhda, Alexiy, and Liza

5. Jacques!

6. Dinner with President Clark and his son Carson, who just got back from his mission in Zambabwe, after we slammed Super Kontik cookies. Was a success

 

I love you all! The church is true! I gotta get running as per usual!

 

Love,

Elder Tekulve

 

P.S. It's incredibly hot again. Do you remember last time I was saying this? Yup. It's summer again.

 

No more week titles.. Simon!

Interesting Fact - In this city, because of the craziness of weather, there are umbrella dispensers. You never know when you will need it. For instance, this morning was bright and sunny. We went to buy groceries, and by the time we got out of the store, it was pouring rain.

We really worked hard this week, and almost fulfilled all of our goals. We were so close! We found a new investigator named Semyon, or Simon in English. He was found the week before on the street, but he really wants to be baptized. He is a very humble and great young man. He is about 25 years old or so, and he told us that he has never been baptized and he really wants to change his life. He had fallen into difficult times a few years previously with drugs and alcohol, and after his brother dying from drugs, he wanted to change his life. He has since quit drinking, taking drugs, and smoking and wants to be clean. He explained that he even at one point was completely athiest, but that event in his life really caused him to think again about life. He is a very reliable and interested young man. We met with him twice and he has just been accepting everything. He has been reading the Book of Mormon between the two lessons and he has also agreed to be baptized on the 28th of July. I think he is the biggest part of this week.

This week, President Clark's son, Carsen Clark finished his mission in Zimbambwe and came and worked with us on the streets. He absolutely loves Africans, so we met with one of our African investigators. It was a great meeting where the Spirit was incredibly strong. We really tried to get him to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We explained very simply the meaning of repentance, of faith, and of baptism. Something of which he began to understand. We also found another new investigator this week named Alexander. Yet another Alexander haha. We met at a park bench with a member present with us. It was a great meeting where he asked a lot of questions. The member, named Viktor, bore this amazing testimony about how the only to receive TRUE peace in life and in heart is through the Gospel. There is no other way. We invited him to church and invited him to bring his wife. As I was sitting there during Sacrament meeting, translating for the American family in our branch, Alexander and his wife, Dania, came to church and they absolutely loved it! Our plans now are to meet with him and his wife and try to get them baptized this month in July. We are still working with our friend Glyeb, who I might have talked about. He absolutely loves the church and met with missionaries 20 years ago, but lost contact with the missionaries but found them again and is just loving it. He really wants to be baptized to and really understands it really well. The problem is finding time to meet with him because of his work schedule. 

That's about it this week. I just love being a missionary. Just constantly sharing the gospel with every you see is something that can't be compared to. It really is something amazing. You are constantly on the look to help someone, or lift someone in need, or to share the everlasting gospel with someone. It's an amazing time to be a missionary right now for Jesus Christ's church. 

Love,

Elder Tekulve