Merry Christmas!!!

Interesting Fact - Christmas in Russia is not tomorrow. I mentioned this last year. Tomorrow is just Tuesday, the 25th of December. 

So we had transfer week this week and I picked up my new companion, Elder Abbott. So on Tuesday morning, we headed into Peter. It is just as cold as it is in Pskov. I think a little bit colder because they have got stronger winds, but definitely a lot less snow. We had our Christmas Devotional and were taught by President Clark's return missionary children. 3 of them spoke to us, one on skype, and we had practices and learned how to be a better missionary. Maybe to the normal reader of this letter, that probably sounds like a strange Christmas Gathering, but one must understand that we are missionaries and we don't have much of an opportunity to celebrate holidays via parties, gatherings, get-togethers, barbeques, fireworks, etc. But nonetheless, it was fun and most importantly we had food. Some lasagna and salad. Good times! So we then had to literally race back to make our microbus back to Pskov. I went back with the Senior Couple, the Gardiners, through the metro. That was my companions first few moments in the metro and it was rush hour and we had luggage and all of that fun stuff. But after 40 minutes of sweating in winter clothes, moving suitcases around, we finally made it our bus, and four hours later, we are back in our apartment. 

So this week, we were supposed to have a baptism but it hasn't worked out yet. We are meeting with Kostya again tomorrow to see what has happened and to know how we can help him out. So no big worries, I still got the faith that he can be baptized! 

So we survived the end of the world, I guess. So that was a plus! And we also found a new investigator this week by the name of Julian. He is from Moldova and he is incredibly interested in the Book of Mormon. We had agreat lesson with him last night with my companion. Elder Abbott is a great companion! A little quiet. Something that I am not used to, but he is awesome and incredibly dignified. It is going to be great training him these next 2 transfers.

That was more of less last week for you in 3 paragraphs! I did it! 

I realized that prayer really is an amazing thing this week. We always get the answers that we need, and not what we want. Anywho, the Church is true! I love being here serving the Lord. It's awesome. Especially during the Christmas season. 2000+ years ago, the Lord was indeed born, and that through Him, Heavenly Father gave us the chance to return to Him and live with Him again. 

Love,
Elder Tekulve

Merry Christmas! 

Novgorod trip... again!

Dear Family!

This week we had yet another trip to Novgorod and back.. I think I was done with those 3 months ago... Nevertheless we had a good time working there. I had to conduct a Zone Training meeting there, which is always fun. Novgorod is about 4 hours east of Pskov. It's a bigger city than Pskov, but it is just an ant compared to St.Petersburg. Fact - There are even two McDonald's in Novgorod, Russia.

Our Investigator Kostya is progressing SOOO much! He was supposed to be scheduled on the 15th to be baptized, but it changed to the 22nd, but now it needs to be changed again to the 29th. He is so set on being baptized, but the problem is coming to church. He has to come at least twice to qualify for baptizing. He was set on coming this weekend, but his aunt passed away this weekend and he had to go to a funeral, which is an excuse that I am not going to push. He is still strong amongst all of this and he has such a strong desire to be baptized. He has agreed to live by the Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, and Law of Tithing. He is set! We met with him a few times this week, which was always a pleasure.

We have another man, named Sergay, who we are working with who is very close to baptism. We had two super lessons this week with him and our branch members. We call those super meetings "Operation Knockout". We had this super awesome lesson with Sergay about the Word of Wisdom and we had 3 members to support him. He has some struggles with tobacco and alcohol but he really wants to quit it all. We had him say three times "I will not drink!" and then we had him take his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and crumple them and then throw them away. It was way fun actually haha

We also met with our pals Misha and Genya this week. Well, we had a nice walk with them around town in the cold. We are meeting with them tonight, but we hope to set some solid baptismal dates this week. 

Last Preperation Day we went to the Zoo! It was basically just two rooms in this building and some cages with a few monkeys. It was great. I can't get the computer to upload pictures, as usual. So I will try next week. 

I love you all! Soon it will be Christmas! How grand!

I know this church is true!

Love,

Elder Tekulve

I forgot to mention..So we got our transfer calls this week. I am staying in Pskov for my 5th transfer, and I will be training a brand new missionary.... named Elder Abbott!! I guess Tyler gets to serve a second mission in St. Pete with his pal Dsu.

Icicle-ville and the Genya

Interesting Fact - Russians never sit on the ground. Instead they do the Russian squat. It's actually pretty difficult to get down, but I have successfully mastered the Russian squat. It's not the usual squat where you are on your toes, but the whole foot is on the ground and you balance your weight on your thighs. It's really hard to explain. The crazy thing is that they can sit for hours and hours and talk and smoke with each other. But sitting on the sidewalk is a big no-no. You gotta squat. 

This week, we saw a lot of good stuff happening in our area. The only downer is that our investigator Kostya didn't come to church yesterday which means that he can't be baptized on the 15th. He couldn't afford the 2 hour trip to Pskov, which I understand. There is still a lot of hope for our main man Kostya! So with the bad news first, there was a lot of great things that happened this week!

We had set up a meeting with a man named Misha this last Thursday. We get to our meeting spot and he brought 2 friends, Genya and Vova. So we sat down in our branch building and taught the Restoration and it was perhaps one of the most spiritual lessons ever. It turned out, when we had contacted Misha on the street, he had actually gave us Genya's number, and that Vova was just there by accident. But Gennya is the one who is the most interested of the three. He actually came to church with us yesterday and sat in for all 3 hours, with a smoke break outside after each hour. He is a great guy who is incredibly interested. He really wants to find true meaning and peace in his life and when he heard about the Book of Mormon, he had the strongest desired to know more and to read it. He called us last night actually to wish us a good night and to see when we can meet again. He has a STRONG desire to follow Christ in his life and change for the better. That desire is the best way to break any addiction. I am not worried about him quiting smoking. To quote the hippie priest in Casper, "It will be a piece of cake... piece of crumb cake."

We met with our newer investigator, Sergay, who had called us his himself a few times this week. He has had some psychological trauma but he is a sweet spirit. He came to church this weekend as well and thoroughly enjoyed it. He gets really nervous in bigger groups so if it wasn't for the Mission Driver, Bishop Balashov (Bishop in the St. Pete Stake), he would have had a terrible experience. President and Sister Clark came to Pskov this weekend and went to church with us all. Pskov really is the coolest branch. I love it here. It's the best non-blood family I got in Russia. But anyway, Bishop Balashov just loved the trash out of Sergay and Sergay really loved church.

It's getting colder and colder everyday! That's why we got thermals. It's funny, I have already used my thermals and boots more this winter than last winter. This is gonna be a great cold-baloo. The boots I got last year were a bit too much for Peter in a very week winter, but they are perfect here because we are literally treaded through a foot of snow everywhere we go. Even on sidewalks, well the places that were once sidewalks. 

This was a great week! We are going to Novgorod this Thursday do some exchanges and zone training. The Church is true! Tserkov' Iisusa Khrista - sammaya istinaya Tserkov' ha zemle, i Kniga Mormona est' Slovo Boga a Plod' Vosstanovlenniya Yevangiliya Iisusa Khrista. Josef Smit byl Prorokom Boga! 

So Lyubov'yu,

Staryeishina Tekol'vi

Snow!!!! Ugol Chudyes (Corner of Miracles!)

Interesting Fact - It can snow a lot in Russia. A lot is an understatement.

This week, we got a truckload of snow, in just one day. We left Pskov and it was snowing slightly, not too much. When we came back to Pskov from Peter, there is giant piles of snow. I honestly think it snowed maybe 1 foot or 2 when we got back. I like the snow a whole lot better than the rain, that is for sure. And plus, just pack yourself up with thermals, scarves, gloves, socks and boots and you are set for hours. No but seriously there, there are giant piles of snow piled up by the street sweepers and stuff. It is awesome! Oh and the river officially froze on December 1st. Just in time.

This week, we saw a lot of miracles. Namely one man named Kostya, or Konstintin. He is a friend of a member here, but he has an incredible desire to be baptized. He was already set on being baptized even before we met him, but set a baptismal date on the 15th of this month and set up a plan for these next 2 weeks. He has had a lot of trials in his life and because of it, he is incredibly humble now.

Miracle number 2: We also received a phone call this week from a man named Sergay. He received a Book of Mormon a long time ago and somehow got a hold of our number. I am not sure how, but he called and wanted to meet. He is a very discouraged man searching for light. I felt like our meeting last night overwhelmed him with light, but in a good way. It is not every day that you get a phone call from someone very interested. So we accepted this miracle very very appreciatively.

Miracle number 3 and 4: We also had 2 previous investigators, who Elder Barrett and I taught, call us wanting to meet with us, which is always an amazing miraculous thing. One of which is a man named Fyodor (yeah Like Fyodor Dostoyevskiy) who happens to be incredibly interested and understands very well. When we first met with him, he didn't have a phone and lost contact with him. But he called this last Monday, and we met 2 hours later. It was actually pretty cool because we had a meeting fall through 5 minutes before he called. We were supposed to meet with someone else but he called to cancel, and then Fyodor called and we met with him at the same time we were supposed to meet the other man. God always has a perfect plan. We just need patience. Sometimes for only 5 minutes, maybe for months, even years. But either way, it will always work out. 

We went to Peter this week for a Zone Conference! Those are always great. It was really strange to see that some missionaries, who I was in the MTC with, are getting ready to go home in the next few weeks. (They are taking their early dates, and it also helps that we are in the MTC for 12 sticking long weeks). Time goes by way too fast. But during Zone Conference, I had to teach "How to Contact someone on the Street" which was a fun little teaching. It wasn' as great as the Elder Biff and Elder McFly skit that Elder Hill and I did, but it was still fun.

It looks like we get to Skype this year! So Ma and Pa, you will get some more info about that. 

All is well in the snowy plains of Pskov.

Love,
Elder Tekulve

Visa Trip + Service Project Combo + Thanksgiving Borscht Inbox x Drew's emails x

Interesting Fact - There is no Black Friday here in Russia, obviously, due to the fact that they do not celebrate Thanksgiving. It is also due to the fact the unwritten American rule that you can't play Christmas music or even THINK about Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving does not exist. So, hence, no Black Fridays.

This week actually was a very great week. To start, you are probably wondering "well what did Elder Tekulve do on Thanksgiving in Pskov, Russia?" . As the title so clearly states, yes, we did eat borscht. I actually haven't made it in a long time, but this was by far the best borscht I have ever made. Maybe because it was to replace the longing of turkey, who knows, but nonetheless it was fantastic. The great thing about it too is that there are still left overs, which I do plan on eating today after emails. :) That day was a lot of fun as well because we had no meetings set up so instead we went and street contacted most of the day. We asked everyone what they were grateful for, and most of the responded families. Families are indeed, the best.

We also had an interesting moment with our phone getting stolen this last week. It is actually kind of a hilarious story because we still have our sim card, but the phone is gone. It all starts out on a cold Monday evening on a cold wet bridge in the small city of Pskov, Russia. We contacted a man who was very interested in our message and wanted to meet the following day. "Of Course!" we thought. So we set up a meeting, and he comes to our branch saying that he has 8 people going to be coming. "Excellent!" we then thought. But the problem was that his phone just broke and that he needed to use ours, so he switches out the sim card, puts in his, uses his, calls his friends, takes out his simcard and gives us back the phone. He then left to go meet his friends. He seemed really excited too so we thought nothing of it. He comes back to use the phone a 2nd time, switches the sim cards back out, gives the phone back and leaves. He comes back a third time, and this time we had set up chairs, we had gotten hymn books out, we had been discussing what we are going to talk about, and he says he is going to be right back with the phone. Yeah, we should have left with him, but we were caught in the excitement that we disregarded the notion. But we waited for him... And waited... and waited..., and he never came back. We were bummed that we had gotten tricked, but laughed about it 10 minutes after it. I was more worried about him and his problems than I was about a cheap cell phone. I really didn't care for it, but I just wanted to teach him and help him feel the blessings of the Atonement. Interesting burglary story!

Also, this week, we had a great service project/visa trip. Here in Pskov, we live a lot closer to the border, so we had organized it so that we don't have to drive up to St.Petersburg, get into a bigger group of missionaries, go down to the border of Estonia, came back up to St. Pete, and then back down again to Pskov. You are looking at 20 hours of bus and travel time when we live an hour from the border... So we organized it with the branch so that the few missionaries that needed new visas go across the border, while I wait (my companion needed a new visa) with members from the branch in the car. We then drove back to Pskov and then a little bit further to a city called Karamishcheva where a less active brother lives. We went there and organized his shed which had built up with books. It was almost entirely filled with Bibles, interpretations of the bible, and religious literature. It's interesting to think that we can have sheds full of various understandings and various interpretations of the Bible and yet not contain the fullness of the truth that the Bible and Book of Mormon contain together. I also got a Hebrew Bible out of this project. :)

Anywho, I love being a missionary! In fact, I am incredibly eternally grateful for this experience.

Love,

Elder Tekulve