More Rain, Pskov, New Transfer!

So this is the last week of yet another transfer. They are just flying by like geese. It is rather scary to be completely honest. It feels like 2 days ago when I was washing the blackboards at the MTC with some vinegar spray on a Friday night before we went back to our dorms. (Yeah, I know. Random memory. But yeah, it did happen). But I am so grateful to be here in this mission, in this city, at this time. This is a beautiful place where the people are just amazing. Their hearts are so full, and our role is to touch their hearts for it to turn back to Our God, and to praise Him. 

Anywho, while everyone is having a ball on the great lakes of Powell, I have sent some pictures! We stopped by the Kremlin today before we went to internet today. It actually is right outside of our apartment, but it was pretty cool to see. Well some explanations:

 1. Before we did service at this grandma's summer thatch. I was trying to do the Russian smile. I can't do it. My companion can though.

 2. Our district with the new convert, Byechislav!

 3. It says "I heart Pskov!"

 4. That is the main Russian Orthodox temple inside the Kremlin

 5.  again.

6. minus thumbs

So this week we stopped by a lot of addresses of less actives, previous investigators, and actives. We stopped by an address we had of a man named Yuri Priobrezhenskiy that we met a few weeks ago. Yesterday apparently was the Day of Transfiguration, and his last name means "The Translated", so we put the two and two together and stopped by his place last night. I have never seen someone so excited to see me before. He was so incredibly happy to see us that he just wanted to sit and talk all night long. We had only ten minutes before we had to run to another meeting with a man named Serkis. But we set up a meeting this week with him and his wife who are just the greatest. They are 75 and 71 but they act like they are 20. It is hilarious haha. 

We had a great meeting with that man Serkis last night as well. He is from Armenia and has a very strong faith in Christ. Everything he says is in harmony with the restored gospel. When we taught about the Great Apostasy, I compared it to a vase, which is filled with water. It was as if the vase was dropped and it broke on the floor. All that was left were pieces of the vase, big and small, but not a full vase to hold the water, or in other words, the Priesthood Authority that has been restored through a Prophet. They are as many pieces of the vase as there are churches in the world. Everything clicked in his mind and he grew very excited to know more. We were actually running out of time, because the one thing about time is that it goes incredible fast, so we set up another meeting with him this Friday. He is a great man. 

There were a lot of people that we stopped by with and I can probably go on and on about them all but I will try to keep it a minimum, as much as 40 minutes can give me. We got our transfer calls this weekend. I am still training Elder Barrett, but we are getting two new elders moving in, and the other two moving out. Soon there are going to open up an area for the sisters, and we got a senior couple moving in as well. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I had to shop for apartments this week. I had to dive into the realm of real estate and "home" shopping. It wasn't the funnest, but it needed to be done. I got called to be district leader, which is new. I have never been a District Leader before, which will be fun! Pskov is transforming into a real area with a real district, which is awesome to see such growth. Things are really picking up in St. Petersburg as well. I will let you know when I can with what is going on. But things are amazing here. I love it.

The Chruch is true, and it always has been. I love being a missionary.

Love,

Elder Tekulve