deep-fired gold

Hellooo family!

Interesting Fact #25 - McDonalds in Russia is considered a nice place to take a girl out on a date too.

Well we are still in the Central area. Of course. It's been really interesting being a trainer. In fact, it's very very difficult haha. I don't have anyone to rely on with the language anymore, which is a great thing, but also a difficult thing. I feel like, though, in the past week and a half alone, I have gotten better with the language. I love the Russian Language. Yeah, it's very difficult, but I can do it. How many times? That's right. 9 times. No but really though, I love this language. What's so interesting and fun about is that EVERYTHING changes depending on the gender, case, preposition, verb, noun, etc. Everything changes. So you really have to think really hard if you want have correct grammar. I mean, you could just say it how it would be in English minus all of the spelling and grammar rules and it would still be understandable, but that's no fun, now is it?

Well, another part that has made this transfer intersting already as that we were "white-washed", a term used by missionaries. It basically means you are completely brand new in an area, and you have figure out everything on your own: investigators, members, public transit, stores, who-is-who in the cell phone. I am starting to figure things out here in Central. We actually live on the outermost island off the Neva river. Off of Vasiliostrovskaya island or something. If you look at a map, we live on the island furthest west.

So last Friday we did service inside the HERMITAGE!!!! That was the one place I was so excited to go to before the mission. It's absolutely beautiful. It is basically a Palace. HUUUGE beautiful palace. We haven't looked at the exhibits, but we plan on doing that soon, we hope. We need to get our hermitage pass from the mission office so that we can into it for free. All we do there for service really is check their tickets to see if they are ok. Occasionally we tell them to take off their backpacks and that water is not allowed inside. I got to help and translate a little bit for a few Americans from Texas and California visiting. Speaking of Americans, we were walking down Nyevski Prospect (the main busiest street in the City) and we ran into several Americans from Orem, Utah! What do you know! They gave us some Chewy bars and trailmix. They tasted like deep-fried gold.

Well on Saturday, I also went to Estonia. That was very interesting, I have to admit. You know when you're driving up the 15 and the road is terrible and bumping right up until you cross the border into Nevada? Yeah, it was kind of like that. Estonia is such a nice place. We stayed in a place called Nerva or something for 8 hours. Well, if the bank is freaking out that my card was used in Estonia, just tell them its ok. I put a few snacks and a meal there becaues I didn't have any Euros on me. Only rubles and kopecks. It was a beautiful little city though. There are two big castles there and this big Catholic church there. It's almost like good ol' Vyborg.

Well we finally scheduled some meetings after a few days of contacting in the streets because no-one could meet. We meet with a few investigators. We got a new one yesterday. He is this interesting man named Anatoli who wants to quit smoking. I have never tried to help someone stop smoking before, let alone in Russian. So we are going to be working with him to help him quit and teach him the Gospel. We have a few investigators who are from Africa that came to Russia to work. They are fun to meet with as well. Well nice people.

Well that's been my life so far here in St. Petersburg. I know I have more exciting things to come, and obviously I will be here to tell you about it. We are so close to getting a Stake here. So close. Just pray for us, and we will get it. And after we get a stake here, we can get a temple to be built here in Russia. Wouldn't that be something?


Well it looks like all my paragraphs start with the word "well". Well, that's okay.So it looks like Daniel and Megan got their mission calls eh? They be em Texans! They are going to have so much fun. Honestly. Mission work is so great. I love it.

I hope all is going well with you all. I love you all and you are all such a great strength and support for me. You are in my prayers always.

Love,
Elder Tekulve

transfer to the city!

Interesting Fact #24: St. Petersburg is one of the MOST gorgeous cities I have ever seen. Again, that could very well be an opinion, but I would like to state it as fact. 

So I got transfered! Guess where? Right into the heart of St. Petersburg. The area is called Central, which is a most apt name for such. It is absolutely beautiful. I already miss Vyborg, but this is also an amazing change. So I got transfer calls on Saturday morning from President Clark. He has given me a new responsibility. I am a trainer now. I am training a brand new missionary who has been in Russia for 3 days just like how I was 3 months ago. President Clark has given me a lot of trust and responsibility with my new position that I have been called as. I am now Senior Companion, which is nice after surviving the storm that is Elder Balabanov, last transfer. But, I am having my companion right now give a lot of input on what he thinks and what he wants to do. He is a really awesome missionary. Oh yeah, his name is Elder Pace from Fresno, California. The Californian Brigade! He is a solid kid who has a huge desire to work. I feel like I can work at my full potential with him. Needless to say, I am very excited for this transfer. Actually, I am insanely excited. 

I am just glad that last transfer was over. I didn't want to make my emails back home sound negative so I never said anything bad (not too bad at least) that happened in them. But let's just say that I don't have to deal with him ever again, and that I am unbelievably happy that I am here in the city with Elder Pace, and I can actually focus on my work, and not worry about the never-ending cleaning up projects I would have to do in the apartment, and trying with all my power to keep the companionship stable and unified. Again, like I said, I have come out being the most patient person I know, which is honestly why I think I got put with him for a transfer, so that I can be a better, more patient, more qualified, and a more hard-working missionary.

Well anywho, I am absolutely excited to be here. I live probably 20 minutes away from the Hermitage and the famous Russian Orthodox Temple that you see when you see St. Petersburg. For our service project, Elder Pace and I will be doing service inside the Hermitage, which in return they give you a volunteer pass. This pass gets you into the Hermitage and all other museums in the whole city for free. Expect gorgeous pictures soon. I am actually on a computer that is normal for once, too, so I can possibly figure out how to send pictures. Ha.

Well, I am definitely going to miss Vyborg too. I absolutely loved our ward (our branch) there. I loved our investigators there, and I loved the members there. I took a few pictures with Edward Arsyonov (who is still committed to get baptized on the 20th of August) and with some people in the branch. But at the same time, this is a new chapter of my mission, one of which I have a lot more responsibility. I know that I am going to love whoever I meet here, and whatever happens. I know what you probably thinking: How is it that Elder Tekulve is training after 2 transfers? I don't know, but my companion in the MTC, Elder Clark is too. The church has changed the whole curriculum and training program for missions so now it is a lot more specific and the training period is longer. I am going to train Elder Pace for 12 weeks now. These next two weeks are going to be awesome. And again, I know what you are probably thinking: How is that Elder Tekulve is training after 2 transfers? Can he even speak the language? I can speak enough to get by. I am not too worried about the language aspect. It will come, and the best way to learn this language is to be COMPLETELY SUBMERSED INTO IT. I have no more older companion, more experienced companion to rely on. I gotta figure it out on my own. Sounds good to me. :)

The weather here is starting to normalize too. It's actually perfect out here. It's no longer insanely hot. I had to pack all my stuff on Sunday and Monday and move down to Petersburg. We took this electric train instead because it's a lot more convenient than a bus, to be completely honest. After that we take a trollybus thing for 40 minutes. As we were unloading my luggage off the trollybus, Elder Balabanov dropped a bag, and the other bag burst open in the middle of the street. That was an interesting 20 seconds as I scrambled to pick everything up. It wasn't really his fault (kind of). I did pack the bag a bit too much. But it just was a funny little experience. Stuff like that happens all the time. Transfer days are known for broken luggage. The thing is though my suitcase is completely fine. I just had to rezip it and realign. It's totally good.

Well, seeing the date today and yesterday just really makes me think of a very important moment in time that happened 3 years ago. I miss Kyle a lot, but I know he is okay. I know he is safe and that he is loved. Heavenly Father prepared a plan for all of us and I know that he is absolutely fine. The more I study about the Plan of Salvation, the more I know that Kyle is alright, and that God loves us all. 

I will probably have more exciting things to say next week. I go on my first visa trip in a few days, so I will take a nice fun trip to Estonia. That will be excited to talk about to you guys. Well, I love you. I love you all. I also love this wonderful experience I am having here. I so far absolutely love my mission, and I am having the time of my life. I hope you are too.

Love,

Elder Tekulve

"doing what cats do best, I suppose"

Interesting Fact #23: Russia has some very interesting flavors of chips. They have Lay's here, with a wide variety of flavors. Well for starters, they have Original, of course. They also got Sour Cream and Onion. A common standby. Then they have sour cream and mushrooms? Okay. Not bad. A little strange, but not bad... Then they have Shishkabob flavored chips... Ok. Alright.... Then they have Bacon flavor Lay's...Kinda odd..... And then the Grand Mal Flavor to top it all.... They have, get this.. get this... Crab flavored chips! I have not dared to try them. Oh and I almost forgot, they also have Cavier flavored Lay's. I think the favorite flavor here is Bacon. People love their bacon flavored chips.

Week 23. Week 23. Week 23. A few very notable things happened. Actually plenty. Some funny, some great. Well last weekend, on Friday, to be exact, we took a trip back to St. Petersburg. Instead of the typical hot busride, we took an electric train this time. It was nice and comfortable and much faster. We get there to meet our new mission president, President Clark, who might I add, is an incredible guy. Guess where he's from? Midway, Utah. The same city where the Zumatt is located at. He has 2 kids on missions right now as well. One of them is in Zimbabwe. But President Clark is a really awesome guy. He is very fired up on getting a stake here in this mission. He knows only 2 weeks worth of MTC Russian, so that is his weakness, but he is a very inspired individual. I can tell he is really going to take this mission to a whole new direction where a lot of success will come. 

So we take the train back thinking it will be just as comfortable. Nope. It was absolutely packed. We forgot that it was rush hour in Pete and also the weekend so everyone and their mothers were leaving Petersburg. There were no real sits left so we sat in the median part in the train between the carts. I wish it was outside where there was air flow, but it was sealed tight. Again, I just never thought it was ever this hot in a country where it's known to be so cold hahaha. I just remember the man standing next to us was literally pouring sweat onto the ground. To be honest, I am actually really used to being hot all the time. I've grown accustomed to it. I welcome it. 

This week, actually, they turned off our hot water. It will be off for the next three weeks. So I have been taking ice cold showers for the past few days. I love it. It feels excellent. My companion can't stand it so he heats up some water in a pan and bathes a little bit with that. I just remember what you, Dad, were telling me what Bishop Clayton once said about me that I have a "Come as it may" attitude about everything. It's true. Hot water is off for 3 weeks. Oh well. Won't stop me.

Well the awesome thing about this week is that we a got a baptismal date set up with one of our investigators. His name is Edward Arsyonov and he is the husband of this part member family. I'm sure I spoke a lot about him already, but he wants to get baptized! We really didn't say anything about baptism, and he told us he wanted to get baptized on the 20th of August. He is a solid investigator who really understands really well. He has questions, yes so does everyone, even members, but he understands a LOT. So that was the really exciting part of this week. I may or may not be here for the baptism. It depends on if I am staying in Vyborg next week. I can't believe that it's already transfers again. I will be getting a new companion next Wednesday, but I am not entirely sure if I will be leaving or staying here in Vyborg. To be honest. I love this place, and I would hate to leave it. But if I am needed elsewhere, I will go.

Well because I seem to talk about the foods that I make every week, I will talk about the foodstuffs I crafted this week. Well yes, I made borsh, and it was way good! It's kind of a strange recipe, but i did it well. It tasted pretty dang good. I also made this other Russian Cabbage soup called Shshee, (pronounced just She). It's actually like a sourkraut soup. And I was really surprised that it, too, tasted great. It's an easy recipe too. I am a big fan of Russian food. Huge fan, in fact. It's amazing.

Well things are great here. I hope things are just lovely back in the States. Did Zoey ever come home? That little sneaky cat. Speaking of cats. There are cats all over here in Vyborg. Just sitting around, doing what cats do best, I suppose. But at any rate, I love you all and I hope you are all doing great. You're in my prayers everyday.

Love,
Elder Tekulve

patience is a virtue

Interesting Fact #22: So far, the graffiti that I have seen here has been really nice and pleasant. Most of it isn't the typical graffiti. A lot of them just say "Я люблю тебя" which just means "I love you". Pretty interesting, I think.

Well Week 22. The weeks feel like they are flying by. Really.

Last thursday I went through the Hermitage!! (Of Vyborg... haha). It doesn't compare at all to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, supposedly. They were having this really interesting Middle Eastern Art exhibit. They had a lot of interesting artifacts from a looong time ago. It was pretty cool. Apparently when you serve in the center of the City, you do service once a week in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg. I can't wait. Oh, and they give this volunteer pass, which gets you into the Hermitage for free, along with all other tourist attractions anywhere in the country. 

I am starting to forget what's been going on, to be honest. Weeks are blending together. On tuesday, we had this crazy huge thunder shower. It went from super bright and shiny in the morning, and by night it was pouring and thunderin' and lightnin' it up. I don't think I have been seen it so dark outside so far while I've been here. The days are actually getting shorter, supposedly, but I still have yet to see night. Probably in 2 months or so it will be normal, and then in 4 months, it will be completely abnormal when the sun rises at 11 and sets at 3. We got both extremes here. 

Well things are going really good with Igor Shevchenko, the fellow we baptized two months ago. He is permantly here in Vyborg. He got the Aaronic Priesthood a few weeks ago, and we wants to meet once a week or so. He is a very strong guy, spiritually. I am very impressed with him. He went to Latvia (because he is Latvian) to visit friends and family, and he was talking to his friend who wanted him to go and get baptized in her church. He told us he responded that he got baptised recently into the LDS Church and apparently his friend exploded on him calling him a devil and all sorts of friendly words. The funny thing is about this story, as Igor was telling it, he was laughing quite hard. He explained, "yeah, and so then I just kind of walked away". But to have someone who just got baptized who laughs at that kind of situation is awesome. I was fearing that would discourage him. Nope. Not Igor. He's a champ.

We had a lot of meetings yesterday, which is good. We met with that one babooshka, whom of which I spent a picture of. She wanted us to go and buy her a new phone and groceries. And so we did. She is a sweet old lady, but is confined to a wheel chair and stuck on the third floor apartment. Afterwards, we went down south for maybe 20 minutes to a small little village. I forgot what it's called, but it's basically just a village lined with Dacha's (small summer cottages). We had a few families in our ward that live there, both of which are awesome families. One family, The Cummings, (Surprise! English last name!) live in a very small 2 room (no bedrooms. Just 2 rooms. Kitchen, and a living room) cottage. The father of the family, Brother Cummings, is in the U.S. right now because they thought he had cancer, but apparently not. I just feel so bad for the circumstances some people live under. All we can we do as missionaries is to support them and help them feel God's love for them. They have two little kids, one is 4, and the other is 2. They understand English and Russian, so it makes it pretty funny to talk to them. It's a nice combination of Englussian. We did a small little lesson about the story of Ammon and how he had the strength of God.

We then met with the Dimitriev's who live right next door. They are an amazing family. We shared the same lesson with them, but we had everyone take turns reading. We have this small kids Book of Mormon comic book thing and we sent it around. There are two little 8 year olds, a 10 year old, and a 13 year old. So it felt befitting. Well because a lot of the strange rules have been removed from the previous mission president, President Neuenshwander, we can eat at member's houses. (We still probably shouldn't eat mushrooms. Strange things are afoot in the russian mushroom). But anywho, they fed us dinner. It was amazing. This Russian fish dish thing, with noodles and this Russian Salad. (Russian Salad's usually consist of cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes and maybe some sour cream. Its so good). It was most choice.

Speaking of food, I also made Borsh last night. I haven't eaten it yet though, so we'll see what happens next week! haha

Well I just want to leave with all of you reading this silly email/blog post/whatever this is with a nice little spiritual thought. The one thing I have learned so far this transfer is Patience. I have never been so patient in my life. And to be honest, I've never needed patience so much in my life. I just wanted to share with you all that patience is not just a virtue, but it's also a vital Christlike attribute we should all strive to have. So be patient! If there is a little bit of traffic, don't worry! Always know that you will get through it, and it doesn't necesarily matter how long it takes. Just be patient.

Well I love you all, and I pray for each and everyone of you.
Elder Tekulve

Interesting Fact #21: Russians have some really tasty treats. One of my favorites so far is this stuff called Khalva. It's like this sweet sunflower seed block powder stuff... thing.. I can't really describe it. It's this powdery block of sunflower seed awesomeness. It's amazing. I love it.


Well I have been coming to realize that I have really learned how to deal with things quite well. I have found out I know how to really handle this companion. Things aren't too tough, really. Apparently he is the hardest companion to have, and I have feel like it could be worst. So no worries there. Patience. Patience. Patience.

This week was another cool week here in Vyborg. Well I already have a new mission president. President Clark. President Neuenschwander got transfered to be a mission president temporally again in Novovisabirsk, Russia. I found out President Neunshwander also did in an insane amount of work to get a mission here in Russia. He was the mission president of the Eastern Europe mission around the time the Soviet Union fell, and he worked it out with the Russian Federation to get permission for the Church to come here. He is an amazing guy. I got to have an interview with him and he really really encouraged me with goal setting. He really has an awesome attitude about work, and how it is our personal decision. It is, indeed, my decision on how I want my mission to turn out to be. And boy, am I working hard for my mission to be those 2 years that I can look back on and nod and smile and say "Yup. I did that." My ultimate goal for my mission here is to do anything, and everything, I can to get a stake here. We are so close. The problem is in the inactivity of some of the Priesthood holders. Inactivity is the main concern here in this mission, so I am really trying to focus on reactivating people here. President Neunschwander explained it best by using this Chinese Proverb:

"There is a pond that is being fed by a stream. How are you supposed to empty the pond out with a bucket? By diverting the stream elsewhere" (The wording is not or anything like the proverb, but you get the point)

We really need to work to divert that stream, or to change the effectiveness of how we teach. That we way, we can empty out the pond, or reactive those who have become lost. 

So all in all, this work has been really interesting. I am really trying to focus on this mission and to really give it my best self. I am really excited to see where President Clark takes us. I have to yet to meet him, but I know he is a very inspired leader and a great guy. 

So here is a list of things that were interesting or funny or awesome that happened:

Well we had a meeting with this other babooshka in a wheelchair (not the one in the picture i sent). She is an inactive, and she was just kind of weird. She only believed in the New Testament and said the Old Testament isn't applicable or something. It was a lot of Elder Balabanov and her arguing back and forth, but that arguing was needed. That lady just had b ecome confused. Anyway, she realized that she has been confused (she is pretty old, and has a very loud mouth). She ended up praying afterwards and it was such a nice prayer. I really think that it made a difference in her life, that meeting. At any rate, it was just strange, but at the same time really awesome to see her change of heart so fast. 

We had another meeting with Edward Arcyonov. I am not sure if I told you about him. He is the father of a part member family. His family have been members for 12 years, but he has been against it completely up until this point. He has really expressed deep interest in the church, and he have been meeting with him for the past few weeks with his wife. He has been coming to church as well. The problem is that he is pretty shy and queit, but his wife helps so much in the lessons. We were talking about the Restoration of the Priesthood and I had his wife explain how the Priesthood has blessed her life (her son having it) and she bore such a beautiful testimony and asked him if he wanted to bless the family with that. He said "of course". So I pray that things will go even better with them. 

This was kinda funny but at the same time ridiculous. We spent an hour cleaning the volleyball court we have at the church building. It's outside, and it's not gated in the church property. It's also the "hang-out" spot.. You know that means. So we spent an hour or 2 cleaning the court, picking up hundreds of beer bottles, and sweeping up cigarette butts. It was nice time of cleaning. It felt good to have it clean. We go to take out the trash. We come back to lock up the church, and there were a bunch of teenagers back already doing there thing.... Haha. Well it just means we are going to have to clean it again sometime soon. Not a problem. But I wish those kids knew better!

Things are going swell here. Juuuust swell! I loved all your emails! I am gonna try to respond to them all! HERE I GOOO!!

Love, 
Elder Tekulve

new mission president

Hellllooo family. 

Interesting Fact #4130 : Irons heat up really really really fast here. Like within maybe 15 seconds or so. BAM! It's nice. Oh by the way, Mom, I have been ironing everday for the past 2 months or so. Guess who can iron now? Me.

Well again another interesting week here in Vyborg. Well to start, I got a new Mission President. President Podvodov's time was up here as a mission president (they serve for 3 years), so he went home. Well there have been some complications here in the St. Petersburg mission. Remember when I told you I met the new mission president in the MTC? Well he couldn't get a visa into Russian because he used to be a test airplane pilot in the U.S. Well, I suppose that's understandable. So they called President Clark, who was originally going to go to Alaska and serve as President there, but got transfered here to Russia. I guess Sarah Palin was right. Russia is pretty close to Alaska. The strange thing of it all is that, President Clark isn't here yet. He may come in a week, or maybe a month. So in that time, they called President Neuenshwander, who was in the area 70 here, to be the Mission President for the time being. He also is the Patriarch for this area. He also does the Church History in Moscow. He also is fluent in Russian. Oh, he served in Finland, so he knows Finnish. And by being the Mission President here, he acts as the Stake President for the whole entire mission as well. This man is a complete champ. So this last weekend we went back down to St. Petersburg and had a mission conference with him. He has changed a lot of the rules and got rid of most of them, but I have never heard more encouragement to work hard from anyone before. Our mission is up to us. We need to choose for ourselves. Be Responsible. It was an awesome conference, and I learned a lot. Yeah. This transfer is kind of strange for reasons that are obvious, but, my loyalty is first to the Lord, then the mission president, and then your companion. 

The Conference ended off way strongly as well. They fed us Papa John's. Oh yeah, Russian pizza is different, but so good. That was my first real taste of American Fast Food in Russia. Not bad, my friends. Not bad at all. I stayed the Assistants to the President's apartment in Malookhtinsky. One of the Elder's has a guitar. It felt so good to play. I haven't played on in so long. 

To be honest, this transfer is going by very fast, but the work has slowed down a lot. It's just been different. Nothing really exciting has been going on except President Neuenschwander and Pizza. We did have this lesson with an investigator and his wife who was a member. That in itself was just a weird experience. My companion really likes to argue, and it makes it really difficult to feel the Spirit. I'm still trucking through with this. I have really got to him calm down a little bit more, and to be more organized and clean. It hasn't been easy, but for once my apartment is almost spotless. I am cleaning the kitchen every night and picking up stuff. I feel like a mom sometimes. But he's starting to learn that the Spirit doesn't dwell in messy places. It's way true. 

He made this soup called Shee this week. It was absolutely amazing. It was like a sour cabbage soup with cream and carrots and stuff. It sounds gross, but it was absolutely amazing. He is really good at making soups. His borsh and shee have been grandiose. My meals consists mostly of chicken and meats and mashed potatoes. Although, i did make enchiladas a couple days ago. Those were pretty great. 

Last night, we had a lesson with on my favorite families, the Balkovs. This family wants us to meet with them every week. It's just a mom, an older son my age, and two younger kids at 10 and 12. The dad is in jail, so the family has been just having some rough times. We go there to help support them everyweek and have a little spiritual thought or fun lesson for them. They are seriously my absolute favorite families here. I prepared a spiritual thought using the big Nikon camera I got from Kellie's dad. I related every part of the camera to our purpose in life. They really had fun with it, and it made me happy. We made them these coconut pie things for them as well, which they seemed to like. Meeting with them is seriously the highlight of my week.

Service at the castle is the same old, same old. Moving books around and stuff. It's actually been absolutely unbearably hot here. It's like 40 degrees C or so, at 100 percent humidity. I don't think I have ever sweated as much as I have in my life, with the exception of that one time where Katie, Ryan, Josh, and I went into the steamroom at the Zumat ski resort this last Christmas. That was pretty dang hot. It's relaxed here a little bit, which is good. I am just afraid what -30 is gonna be like in this humidity.... We will see. I am going to be buying my winter stuff this fall. I can't find a thing here. They ain't gonna be selling huge jackets in this weather. haha

Anywho, Things are going by. I like my companion, but there are just things that I am trying to work out. I have definitely have been blessed with extreme patience, and I thank you, dear reader, for praying for me for that purpose. I definitely needed it. 

Anyway, I love you all. Like really. and to quote Albert, "Really?" "yes" "really, really?" "yes" "Like... really really really?" yes" "Really times infinite". That's how much I love you, family. Really times infinite.

Love,
Elder Tekulve

Russia and stuff

Well. I survived a week...

Interesting Fact #7: Well, I hope I can still keep this up every week since I am in here, but here we go. The interesting fact this week is about the light for the bathroom. I'm sorry I so easily jump to talking about bathroom talk, but's it interesting. Every single place I have seen, the light for the bathroom is outside the bathroom. It's on the wall outside the door. So at any time someone can turn the light off on you...

Well yes. Like I said. I survived a week. A lot of calm talking, and a lot of quietly getting my point across. He really ain't that bad of a companion. He totally rocks in lessons, and he contacts on the street like a pro. It's just the whole sharing-an-apartment-thing with him that makes it difficult. Let's just say that I have come to really realize that I am, indeed, a clean and organized person now. Mom, remember those days where my room was a mess? I promise those days are long over. If anyone remembers the time where I dormed with Bryan Collins my first semester at BYU, they can remember that I got lazier and lazier and my side of the room became just as worst as Bryan's side and it was a disaster. That nonesense is long gone. I find that I can't manage in unorganized places. It's kind of weird but true, and also kinda funny. It always reminds me of this talk I heard in the MTC: "The Spirit doesn't dwell in messy unorganized places". I forgot who said it, but it stuck, and I always think that. I am a little Mr. Clean now, minus the shiny scalp and minus the mus-kills.

Anywho, this week has just been interesting. A weird transitional one. Just trying to get used to Elder Balabanov, and his leadership, and just trying to get a tackle on this language. I have been doing most of the phone calls, which 2 weeks I was completely unable to do. I am beginning to understand a lot better, but I am no way comfortable with the language. I have the hardest time trying to speak than I do understanding it. But such will come. It just takes time and practice, and I have been practicing a lot with Elder Balabanov. He is from some city south of Rostov, Russia, or something like that. A very very very interesting guy. Keyword: very interesting.

But all and all, I am seeing this as a time to continue developing myself. To continue making myself a better person. Yes there were times already where my head was going to steam over, but I am growing, and I am learning how to be much more patient than I already was.

Well I think the most noteable thing \this week was that the branch here had a picnic. The thing was, however, was that as soon as we met together and left, it started to rain. It didn't just rain, though. It poured. And poured.. And lightnings and thunderings and all that great stuff. It was pretty awesome. But then, it just stopped. Gone. No more. So strange. But we all got together as a branch and hung out. I had to organize a frisbee golf game. I suppose all that work at Camelot working the mini gold paid off. That was just interesting. Trying to explain that to old Russians was pretty amusing.

Another noteable thing was that our Zone Leaders came to Vyborg on exchanges. The whole city of Vyborg has two missionaries, and I am one of them. So I hardly have seen other missionaries. I go back to St. Petersburg maybe 3 times a transfer (6 weeks), but I cherish every change I get to be with other missionaries. I went on a transfer with one of them and we go contacted. He had never seen the castle, so I took him to go see it. He really enjooyed it. And then we came back and we ate ice cream. I have to admit, Russia has some really tasty sweets. If you put some cookies, waffle-things, and icecream together, you got yourself some ambrosia, right there.
 
Another exciting note was that our recent convert, Igor Shevchenko, moved back from Svetagorsk. He is not longer working there as a pizza chef. I mean that's bad for him. He needs to look for a nother job and jobs are very limited here. But good for us in he sense that we can meet with him more. I pray things will continue to go well for him.

On Sunday, Yana (the girl in the wheelchair) wanted us to go take her to Church. So we did. I don't think I have ever sweated that much in my life. The weather here is pretty dang hot. You don't get burned or sunburned or anything, you just start pouring out sweat. That's a 100 percent humidity for you. But it was nice to have at church. Everyone at the branch really fellowshipped her. She loves the support of the branch. I don't blame her. The Vyborg branch is amazing. Speaking of which, I was talking to the Ward Mission Leader here, and I was talking to him about past missionaries. He remembers an Elder Thomas. He also said that he was one of the only missionaries he has heard speak that good of Russian. Good job Jason. 

Anywho. That's my week. I really enjoyed the pictures Katie. I am still quite confused about the first one, but I will let it slide for now. It looks like the make-yourself-look-old machine at Disneyland. 

Well I love you all. I pray for you all the time. 
Well, Gotta run!
All the best,
Elder Tekulve