Beautiful Russia!

Beautiful Russia!


Our great friend, Roma made dinner for us!

Our great friend, Roma made dinner for us!

Elder Rasmussen is very excited to see real food!

Elder Rasmussen is very excited to see real food!


Companion and friend, Elder Jake Rasmussen

Companion and friend, Elder Jake Rasmussen


Trifecta's Last Time In Estonia

Trifecta's Last Time In Estonia

With my wonderful friend, Faik.

With my wonderful friend, Faik.

Sunrise, at One P.M.

Sunrise, at One P.M.

Petrozadovsk District

Petrozadovsk District

Lake at Petrozavodsk

Lake at Petrozavodsk


North Zone Conference Nov. 2011

North Zone Conference Nov. 2011

Thanksgiving Dinner 2011

Thanksgiving Dinner 2011

First Zone Conference with President Clark

First Zone Conference with President Clark

Neva River Fall 2011

Neva River Fall 2011

Visa trip, Oct 1st 2011

Visa trip, Oct 1st 2011

Oh my aching jaw...

Oh my aching jaw...

Hermitage Museum on P-day!

Hermitage Museum on P-day!

Me, Svetlana and Elder Loskutov

Me, Svetlana and Elder Loskutov

Birthday lunch with Kostya

Birthday lunch with Kostya

My friend, Grisha

My friend, Grisha

Service for Babushka

Service for Babushka

MTC Missionaries in Estonia

MTC Missionaries in Estonia

Waiting in Estonia...

Waiting in Estonia...


Visit from Elder Russell M. Nelson

Visit from Elder Russell M. Nelson

Elders Larsen and Anthony

Elders Larsen and Anthony

Our MTC teacher surprise visit!

Our MTC teacher surprise visit!


Podvodov family gave powerful talks!

Podvodov family gave powerful talks!
Pskov, Russia Branch


Vyborg Castle

Vyborg Castle

St Olaf's Castle Where We Do Service Work

St Olaf's Castle Where We Do Service Work

Beautiful Vyborg on the Sea of Finland

Beautiful Vyborg on the Sea of Finland

Vyborg

Vyborg

Misty day in Kaliningrad

Misty day in Kaliningrad

Kaliningrad District May 2010

Kaliningrad District May 2010

Russian MTC Group

Russian MTC Group

Russian MTC Zone at Provo Temple

Russian MTC Zone at Provo Temple

10 June 2010

There is an unknown reader group called "Badge of Love" that links anything Russian to their site. I hope they will ask permission here before they copy anything from this blog. Thank you!

Hello from St. Petersburg

Dear Mum, Hello! Wow. Lots to going on right now. I don't know how Cody only sends a few lines?! I always have too much to talk about. Well it's the start of the new transfer and Elder Poulson and I are still comps in K-grad. The other elders are moving out and we are getting Elder Antony and a mini missionary in their place. Elder Poulson trained him too. Weird huh? We won't have a senior couple in our area, and Elder Poulson and I moved into their apartment. It's a nice apartment. It's in more of a suburban area that is closer to the branch. We live across the street from an old Russian Orthodox church with a really nice garden by it. I like it a lot. There is a small little room with a desk to the side of the living room/study area, and on the whole wall is printed an image of New York and sunset at that bridge that connects Brooklyn and Ellis Island! Think of Cody every time I see it!! Other elders apartment was flooded, so it has to have repairs, and the day we were moving out of our first apartment, the people upstairs flooded their apartment and it started to leak through the ceiling of our apartment! Way ironic. Glad we don't have to deal with that apartment, but Elder Antony will. Poor Elder Antony! He was going to be with me and Elder Poulson in a triple, but then at the last minute a mini missionary came. (They are just members of the church here in Russia who come serve for a transfer in an area.) so he was put with him instead. Work is getting harder. Youlia, our only real investigator, called us crying last thursday and said her husband forbids her to hear the lessons anymore. She was so sad!!! She loves the church and the people there, and reads the Book of Mormon everyday for 30 minutes or more. She also is almost done with the Gospel Principles manuel and is just so accepting of everything, and we were just about to ask her to be baptized and set a date. She always refers to the church as "our church" as if she is already a member. She is still really good friends with us, and I know she will become a member of the church when the time is right. Í'm just sad that her husband never would agree to meet us with her, and then he read all of the lies on the internet about us and forbid her to do anything. We planted the seed, and we'll just have to trust in the Lord. He will direct her path. Well, even though we are staying the transfer in K-grad, as of right now I am in St. Petersburg. We came because this Saturday and Sunday Elder L. Tom Perry will be speaking to our mission, and so we had to fly in on Tuesday, because that was the easiest time they could schedule airplanes and stuff i guess due to transfers. We are here until next Tuesday, and are staying with Elder Beck and Elder Melnik. Elder Beck is from California, and is a really nice guy! I made friends with him really fast. Elder Melnick is from Ukraine, and also very nice! To be honest, I think i like St Pete's better than K-grad! It's not as humid, the streets are paved better and a lot wider and the city just seems more open. Lots more things to see actually than in Kaliningrad like gardens or squares, and there is actually quite alot of old, cool looking buildings and churches still here in St. Petes too, and most areas are just as clean or cleaner. It doesn't get dark here until like 1 or 2 in the morning though! So weird. Not going to lie. and it's only going to get worse. It is still pretty light at night in K-grad, but not like it is here. Last night we met with a doctor that is a member of the branch here in Pete and he made us some weird soup. Had like pickles, bananas, macaroni, and who knows what. weirdest stuff i've ever eaten! He was really nice and smart! He speaks Russian, English, and Chinese! He has just a normal apartment though, which was cool. He doesn't need unneccesary things in his life to be happy. I'm super glad to hear that Liz got my letter, but I'm wondering why Kim hasn't gotten my letter yet? What about Kelsey? Haven't gotten a lot of mail here either. Earlier last transfer the only mail I got was a couple Dear Elders from Liz. The only mail I got this week was a short Dear Elder from Kim saying that she needed my address in New York!! Ha ha!!! She got me mixed up with Cody, and a Dear Elder from Kelsey. She says you are awesome for helping her with her wisdom teeth! Oh wow. I didn't even get to say half of what i wanted to say, but I need to email president and then go get some food for the rest of the week here in Petes. I decided metros are cool!! Well, I love you all and miss you alot!! One thing my mission has really taught me so far is how great my life was back home because of the people I had in my life. I have a great family and friends and a great place to live, more than I deserve!! Tell everyone that, okay? God is blessing me, and He will bless you if you look for Him. Trust in Him with all you do and you will be happy. He makes our weaknesses strong, our burdens light, and our hearts not just filled with joy, but BRIM WITH JOY, overflowing!! I think that's why we cry when we feel the spirit. It's gotta go somewhere, right? ;) Love ya! Peace and success to you! Love, Blake

05 June 2010

Branch visit from the Cooks

*Email from a wonderful couple, Steve & Vera Cook from SLC, who attended the LDS church in Kaliningrad, Russia, May 2010. Dear Mr. and Mrs. Gillett, Mr. and Mrs. Broadhead, Mr. and Mrs. Poulson and Mr. and Mrs. Larsen, I will take just a moment and introduce myself and let you know how we came to take these pictures and talk with your sons. My name is Steve Cook and my wife is Vera and we live in Salt Lake City. We were in Kaliningrad just over a week ago and while there we went to church at the branch. I think everyone was very surprised to us when we walked in and your sons were in attendance and greeted with smiles and I think the were a pleased to have some Americans coming to church, it was a good excuse for them to be able to speak some English. The branch building in Kaliningrad is a very nice building in a nice part of the city. My wife and I were surprised at how big the building was. I think there was a mixed group of about 50 people in attendance. I hope I don't make a mistake here but forgive me if I do, I believe that it was Elder Larsen who had been there the longest and he translated the service for us and did an excellent job. Afterward we assembled outside in beautiful weather and I took these pictures. After the service was over we said our goodbye's and separated with Vera and I walking a couple of blocks to an ATM machine where I tried to withdraw some Roubles so that we could pay our hotel bill. This ATM machine did not have on option for English so everything was displayed in Russian. I was not able to make the machine work and after a couple of tries we decided to walk back to the branch building to see if any of the elders were still there. When we walked back all four of them were just leaving and two volunteered to walk with us to the ATM and see if they could help. We walked back and one of them translated the Russian for us which in effect said that "this bank had deactivated my card and that this machine was preventing us from getting any cash." We tried my wife's card and got the same response. Thankfully the machine did return our credit cards. Without the help of the missionaries we would not have had a clue of what was wrong. Next we ask them some information as to what the bus cost and how we needed to pay for that. Steve and Vera Cook This picture was taken on May 23, 2010 outside the church in Kaliningrad, Russia All of the elders were doing fine and were very helpful to us. May 23, 2010, Kaliningrad, Russia The "who's who" of Americans in Kaliningrad. Luckily later in the day we found another ATM machine that did accept our card and worked without a problem. I told the kids that I wanted to send these pictures to their parents and they had give me your email addresses. I had intended to send these out earlier but my wife and I picked up an particularly bad cold on our last day of the trip and yesterday was the first day that I really could function well. Now why were Vera and I in Russia? My wife was born in Koenigsberg in 1943 and became a refugee during the war and she and her family were forced to leave Koenigsberg when she was just one year old. She had all of her family stories about Koenigsberg but wanted to see the city and if possible the building that she was born in. We made that our vacation goal this year. Vera was born less than a half mile from the branch building, and we found the address of her former home. We took pictures of the building and the area for other relatives. We found Kaliningrad to be a beautiful city, the people were friendly and exceptionally helpful when we could make ourselves understood. We had beautiful weather and meeting your sons was just and additional joyful expericence. Steve

Letter from Elder Punderson

From Linda Punderson on May 20th. 2010, talking about Elder Josh Punderson~ "My son went on an exchange with your son this week, and I thought you'd love to read what he wrote :) "First things first, I would love to serve in Kaliningrad sometime haha! Oh man, that place is beautiful! Its a little piece of Germany that Russia snagged in WWII. It's a lot like St. Petersburg but a lot cleaner and not everyone is in a hurry, which is cool. I was on an exchange with Elder Larsen, and he's rad, and I got lots of respect for him. The kid ate a good size piece of bread with big chunks of hollodets on it haha! Oh man, it was way funny, but he earned the man-of-the-month award haha. And if you're not sure what hollodets is, it's really nasty Russian food. It's this jelly stuff from the bones of animals, usually beef, pork, or chicken, and then there's chunks of meat and other crap in there, and it is soooo gross hahah oh my. You could check that out on the internet if you want. He didn't throw up or anything, so he will be able to handle anything here foodwise."

03 June 2010

Drennan's leaving for Utah

Hi Mum. Sounds like things are improving back home, slowly but surely. The Lord is blessing me, and I can handle anything you have to tell me. I have a feeling that you aren't saying everything that's happening at home?! How are Lee & Cole? Tell Lee to make me a cake and send it to Russia! I miss normal food! I'm getting better at cooking, but still not as good as food back home of course and the groceries here are hard to find. I found some normal milk that isn't as expensive as Finnish milk though. It's from Poland. Don't know why it would be cheaper? I expect to get the snail mail from you and Kiddo sometime in the middle of next transfer. I'll find out on Monday if I'm staying here in K-grad or if I'm transfering. I bet I'm transfering. If I do transfer, then my next P-day will be in a new area and I will let you know where I am, alright? They usually send new missionaries to new places for their first couple transfers. It's been pretty good here in Kaliningrad, and I wouldn't mind staying!! Me and Elder Poulson get along pretty well. He is a nice guy, a really good guy and he makes friends with all the members really easily. He is really good at Russian! We're just starting to get a couple people who are actually interested in the church and progressing in the lessons, so If I stay, I won't be disappointed at all! Today the Drennans, the senior couple in our district, left for China for a week to visit their daughter who lives there and then they are coming home to Salt Lake after that. They are really nice and have been like our grandparents here in Kaliningrad. I'll miss talking to them! I gave them your email to get in contact with you because I thought you'd like to meet someone from my mission. Very, very nice people! It's felt way hot here in Kaliningrad. It's about 80 degrees here, but the humidity is a monster! I'm used to dry Utah weather. Whoo!! It's been a pretty busy week meeting with lots of members to try to get more help from them to find people, put that on top of service and stuff we did this week and our normal meetings with Roma and Youlia ( that lady we met on the street and is really interested in the church. She comes to every activity and asks us lots of questions. She even brings her friend Poulina). Pretty busy week, but it's gone by pretty fast. Russian is still way hard! I'm slowly learning the language with the help of prayer and mercies from the Lord. Sometimes I have no idea how i was able to convey my message to people or understand what people were saying to me, because I'm terrible at Russian still. I'll learn this language with the Lord's help but that's the only way I will! People are surprised how I speak only being here a month, but it's not me that's doing it. The Lord is blessing me with the gift of tongues when I need it. I'll be happy if I know this language by the time my mission is over. Ha ha! I just study all day and my brain is so tired at night. I'll do my part and the Lord will do His, according to my faith in Him. Can you do me a favor ? I want to get Nate Reidheads address for his mission in England. Can you ask him for it. Or you can ask Liz. She'd have it. I just want to write him letter. He goes there soon. Also please remember to send some recipes! Snail mail will be sent within the next week or two. Love you all! Make sure everyone is told that and they remember that. I mean it!! Give Kiddo a big hug from me. Millie-girl and Forest too. Love, Blake aka THE Elder Larsen ;)