Novgorod.... Again... and a few other things!

Interesting Fact - The really only place to ski here in Russia are on frozen rivers. The Vilikaya River this past weekend was filled with people skiing around on the ice. To compare, it honestly looks so boring because there are no real mountains here like there are in the states. They just kind of slide forward awkwardly. No dips, slopes, turns, trees, ski lifts, snowboarders to avoid, or cool hot cocoa places. I guess the only sense of risk is that you are skiing on a FROZEN river and if it broke, you would be in trouble. 

This week went incredibly fast. We left to go to Novgorod again. I think this is my fifth time there in that city? I know the layout fairly well now and can get around to various places without asking any directions. We had to do some exchanges there with the Elders. One of the elders there is the Branch President of the branch and is stuck doing all sorts of stuff that Financial clerks, bishopric members, and bishops end up doing all week long. But he is also a missionary and so his schedule really makes it difficult. The Elder on the otherhand is a beast of an Elder and teaches like a champ and talks to anyone and everyone, but he is stuck inside most of the time because of the Branch President that his companion has to do. Also to add, his companion has been sick for the past 2 months. So we risked it to help them out and take them out to contact and talk to people. It was a fun little exchange, and we still haven't gotten sick, so all is well. I think it was a strain of flu that I had taken a flu shot for before I left to Russia. Yay! Apparently there is a big flu going around in Pskov as well. Maybe all of Russia, I don't really know.

Also this week, we visited one of our investigator's sons in the hospital. He had recently gotten a surgery for his stomach. THe parents of the son are Sergay and Raya. Sergay has gotten back into alcoholism and he have been trying to help him quit by holding an addiction recovery program that with the Senior Couple here. But the wife, Raya, took us to see her son this week. It turns out that her son, Pasha, investigated a few hours ago, and that night I found his teaching record in the Missionary Area Book. The world really is a small place.

We couldn't get the rest of our investigators to come to church this weekend. The 23rd was a big holiday here in Russia: The Day of the Defenders, or in other words, Men's Day. So we were unable to meet our investigators this weekend. I also celebrated my 2 year mark on the 23rd. It really feels like yesterday when I left, but it also feels like this is my life and that living any other way doesn't happen. It is a weird funny feeling haha.

We found a few other investigators this week on the street who ended up being way open to meet the following day. One of them is a professional potato shipper. The other is from Siberia.

Pskov will finally be having a baptism this Saturday! It is a woman named Tamara who has 2 kids who are 6 and 7 years old. Today, we are actually going to help her move today with the branch and then have a FHE at her new apartment. The sisters have been teaching her, so its been great being another support.

That's about it for this week. It is getting warmer and warmer and brighter and brighter. Oh thank heavens!

Love,

Elder Tekulve