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

28 October 2010

Many have wrong impression of who Mormons really are....

Hello! I think I always start my email with that... Oh well. So let's see... what's new here in Vyborg. This last Saturday we helped clean up all the leaves at the branch, along with sweep around the church and clean out the gutters and stuff with the branch for a ward project. They had salad and "sausages," but Russian sausages are nasty hot dogs... I tried one... Never again!! On Sunday, the branch had a day to help fellowship less active members of the ward that haven't been in a long time. Elder Domankskiy and I went with Evgeni Nadelev, who is soon going to be 18, so he is close to getting ready to serve a mission. He's a really good example to me. He is like most teenagers, or 20 year olds named Blake Larsen. He likes music and all the things I like usually, but he has a great testimony of Jesus Christ and the Gospel. I wish I could see him on a mission! On Tuesday after service at the castle and with Yawna, we had a meeting with a family in the ward who has a son who is 12, but didn't feel like he wanted to be baptized. We talked about baptism, what is means, and why we do it. We talked about how Jesus Christ who was perfect, was baptized by immersion and by one holding priesthood keys. He said he wants to get baptized, and we set a baptismal date with him! That makes 2 baptisms set for November 20th! Yesterday was an interesting day. We had a meeting set with an investigator who works at the castle. He finds the church very interesting and asks lots of questions, but I'm still not very sure how much of the message he accepts. He was pretty active in the Russian Orthodox church at one time. He is a really cool guy, though and has LOTS of wood carvings he has done at his house. They look like folk art. If I was a tourist and had money, I would buy one from him. We went to his house yesterday, but the wife said that he was drunk and sleeping... That was depressing. We got a meeting with a man that I met on the street when Elder Haggard was here... About 3 months ago. I contacted him on the street and he was pretty much the only person that talked with us that day. After that I hadn't heard from him until this last Sunday when he showed up to Church. He loved it! We had a meeting with him before English Club yesterday, and he really enjoyed our meeting too. He then stayed for English club. I'm really excited for to see how things work out with him. His name is Igor, and he works for an Italian restaurant here. Today we already had a meeting with another lady who we met on the street on Tuesday. We are really busy lately, so we even had a meeting on Preparation Day! That's a good thing though, right? She told us even when we were on the street that she is very interested in our church. We had a great meeting today, talking about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and baptism after we showed her around the church here, showing her all the classrooms and the sacrament hall. She accepted everything very well, and said she will be there on Sunday. She's not sure how here husband will like her going to "the Mormon Church" though... We get that a lot here... People don't even know who we are, but they have heard "false things" about us and instead of seeing for themselves, they just assume that we are bad. I am really starting to realize just how much God is helping all of us here on Earth. He has always been helping us, and always will... We just forget that sometimes. God loves us very strongly. His whole heart is full of love towards us. We know this by his words, which we can find in the Scriptures, and from revelation from Latter-day Prophets and Apostles. Every word found in these things are words of love. We can see how strongly someone loves their family, their neighbor, their friends, their enemies, and their God through the words they say and do... "... for out of the abundance of thy heart the mouth speaketh." (Matthew 12:34) Do we truely love everyone? If yes, our actions and words will mirror out heart. I want everyone back home to know how much I love them and miss them, and I hope to better mirror my love through my actions and words. The more I serve the people of Russia, the more I love them, and the more I love them, the more I serve them. I've been taught this before, but I didn't understand exactly what that meant... I'm just starting to learn exactly what the scriptures mean when they say the will of God is one eternal round... Again... Words don't come to me when I want to explain the feeling..Like Ammon, "... I cannot explain the smallest part of which I feel." I hope we all can learn to feel this unexplainable love... even if just a part. I know we can't comprehend or even feel the fullness of joy that Christ gives in this life, but one day, we will. I know that things will be okay, no matter what the challenges we are facing in our lives. God is always there. Times about to end. Dang it. I want to say so much more. Just remember I love and miss you all, and so does our Heavenly Father! Love, Blake

26 October 2010

Viva la Vida!

Listen to the song "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay. Someone translated just the words for President Podvodov, and he liked it! New mission theme song!

21 October 2010

Adventures Continue.....

Hello! It's good to hear from you again... I can't believe that it is already P-day again. Time is going by way too fast. So let's see... What's new for this week... This last week I had a Visa Trip to Estonia and that was fun to say the least. This time the driver didn't go across the boarder with us, so it was just me, Elders Gerard, Andersen, Hill, and Sister Lane. The Estonian government didn't like the fact that we were all Americans with 2 passports and tried to tell us that we couldn't have both of them. We told them that we weren't doing anything against the law and if they had any questions, they could check all the dates in our visas and see if they were correct, and they could call the mission visa department with questions. Elder Gerard and Sister Lane seemed to be a little worried when this happened, Elder Andersen seemed normal, and me and Elder Hill were trying not to laugh to be honest. Elder Hill's dad is the mission president in Croatia, and he said that this was the "first time" someone had a problem with that. We told them to check the dates on our visas on the computer, and they did and everything was okay... so they had to let us through, but they didn't seem too happy. We just crossed the boarder and came right back. This story is probably more entertaining to me than anyone else just because it happened to me! I think I set a record of how many people can flip me off in a day while I was in St. Petersburg... The city is definitely a lot different than Vyborg. I'm glad that I serve in Vyborg! Monday through Wednesday the Zone Leaders were in our area and I was on a split with Elder White, while Elder Domanskiy was on a split with Elder McCleary, both are from Seattle. It was the first time I've ever really met Elder White, and he is a cool guy too. I haven't really met anyone I don't like here serving on a mission with me. Both the Zone Leaders loved Vyborg and want to serve there sometime. I've been lucky to serve in Vyborg and K-grad. So our investigator who has a baptismal date named Roma I don't think is going to work... After we set the baptismal date with him he ignores our calls, and while on our split, Elders Domanskiy and McCleary saw him down the street and he quickly hid himself when he saw them.... It makes me sad because Roma is a really cool kid. I don't know why he doesn't want to talk with us, but I still pray for him and wish the best for him... Elder Domanskiy and McCleary did however set a baptismal date with an investigator named Katia for this transfer! Missionaries had met with her before I came to Vyborg, but she hasn't been living here up until just recently and that was our first meeting with her. While they were on a meeting with her, Elder White and I met with Vladimir, and investigator we met through English Club. He is in his 50's and comes to English every week. He is very interested in the church, but is very scientific and can't understand why people believe in God because he doesn't see the evidence. We talked about faith and how we can't see everything, but we can see the outcome of them. For instance, we can't see gravity, but we all stay on the ground because of it, and science has done experiments to help show gravity exists. It's the same with faith in God. We can't physically see Him, but we can see His works all around us, and we can experiment on the words in the scriptures to see if they are true... He listened to us and said we had a good point, but he didn't seem ready to try, it seemed to me. He wouldn't let us try to give him a commitment. I hope this interest that is growing in him about the church will soon turn into a desire to experiment on the word of God. So today Elder Domanskiy asked me to only speak English in the apartment to help him learn. I agreed to do that of course! ha ha. My Russian is no where near perfect, but Elder Domanskiy has helped a lot with the Russian, and people are saying that my Russian improved a ton last transfer. Just remembered a story I never told you. A couple weeks ago one of the 8 year olds in the branch was getting baptized, so we had to go and fill the font. Elder Domanskiy forgot to turn off the silent alarm and the police came... 2 1/2 hours later. If you think that Mormons are bad at being late to things, wait until you meet a Russian Mormon... ha ha! I'm kidding of course!! I love Russia! Just made me laugh that it took so long. Thanks for the pictures of Code!!!! He looks WAY different to me! I started writing a letter last week to send home with a couple pictures, but I still haven't finished it. Hopefully I will send it today... How does my blog have people from Germany and Brazil and stuff on it?... I'm confused... I thought it was a Facebook blog... I've been praying for dad to find a new job. I hope it all works out soon (of course you know that already) I know that it will soon enough. Shoes are still okay... I switch them back and forth every now and then seeing that I brought two pairs, but I know they aren't going to last my whole mission. Soon I can wear my winter boots. It's getting really rainy here, and colder, but still not as bad as I thought it would be. I will have to buy a better coat for winter probably. I'll find out how much they are? Only bought a normal winter hat. The only Russian hats I could find were half fake leather and half fur... I want one that is just all fur. I will keep looking! Well, got to run. Know that I love you all back home and that I am happy to serve a mission!! I'm learning more than I thought I would, especially about myself, and my relationship with my Father in Heaven and elder brother. Still haven't found the words to describe the feelings I feel that come from this Gospel, but all I can say is that God lives, LOVES us more than we can understand right now, and that he provided the way to not only find strength, peace, solace, joy, on earth, but to continue onward into eternity and become His eternal Children. Love, Blake

17 October 2010

I Love the Vyborg Branch!

Hello again!... From Vyborg!!!! :D I didn't get transfered to the office like everyone thought I would... Elder Anthony did. :) ha ha. I'm still serving in Vyborg, and I'm still with Elder Domanskiy. It is good. :) Elder Domanskiy really helps me a lot with Russian, and is a really good missionary. I think my Russian is really improving. I LOVE the branch here, and am really happy I'm staying. I had all the youth write in my journal just in case I was leaving, and they all wrote such nice things in there. Their friendship is genuine, and you can see the light in their eyes. I look forward to seeing the youth here become the leaders of the Church and seeing it grow here. Yeeeahh. The Code-man in the Bronx!! I can't really compare, because I've never been there, but I think the Bronx would be kind of like downtown St. Petersburg... but bigger. He has nothing to worry about. He's got angels on his right hand and his left, and the Almighty God has gone before him, the God of Israel is behind him. The only thing he has to worry about is getting толстее (fatter). Блинь! (Dang!... literally translated means "Pancake!") Just kidding!!! Cody does look a lot different though. So we are a little worried about our baptismal date with Roma... before we set it with him he was meeting with us 2 a week or so... But then we were in for a week and this week he is not answering his phone when we call... He answered once and just quickly said "I'm busy this week and hung up..." We haven't given up hope yet, but we are a little worried about it. I got your birthday card/letters! Thanks a ton! I showed the card to Elder Wilde from St. George, because he is a big hunter... Made him want to go hunting. ha ha. Tell K.B. she is becoming a little artist. :) So this Saturday I have a visa trip again. This week end I will be companions with Elder Andersen!!!!! :) (He's going to K-grad too, so I will have to tell him to say hi to people from me and have him check on a couple people, like Youlia for example.) I don't know where we are going yet. We will see. The driver will be either Brother Nekiferov from Vyborg, or Igor... Both really cool guys, but only Igor speaks English. Tell Kelsey thanks for the pictures she sent for my birthday, and tell both Kelsey and Liz thanks for the letters. They both like you guys back home a ton. Kelsey told me about Meleea offering her a ticket to Brad Paisley, and she said she almost cried because it was so nice. Also tell congrats to Amanda Wignall, Kels told me she is engaged! Have you heard much from Karl about BP? I heard he lost a ton of weight, and he sent me a birthday email, and said he STILL hasn't gotten a letter from me?! GRRRRR. Still haven't bought anything for my birthday, but we are going to look for a Russian hat today. The youth knew it was my birthday and they all wished me a good one. Elder Andersen also called to wish me happy birthday, and the Luna's told me happy birthday when I was in the office. My birthday was good! Don't worry! I think one of my happiest birthdays... because I celebrated it with the Lord. One of my favorite scripture passages right now is Ephesians 3:14-21. I love the apostle Paul. He was one of the worst of sinners, but became a great disciple of the Lord. He tells the Ephesians why he does the work he does for the Lord... "that they may know the love of Christ, which passeth all understanding..." (or something like that... don't quite have it memorized..in English) I miss my dog!!!! The other day a golden retriever that is the same color as Millie was walking through the park with his owner and he stopped and stared at me and started chattering his teeth and twisting his head like Millie does. You should send Millie to Russia!!! I'm having the greatest time on my mission. I can't believe it has already been 8 months!!! Before I know it, I'll be back at home and won't know what to do. I WILL come back to Russia someday after my mission. I know this Church is true. I know that Heavenly Father loves everyone of His children, and He is just waiting for us to look for Him. He wants us to learn things on our own, and that's why he doesn't do everything for us. The gift of free agency is a great opportunity, and the one of the greatest gifts, lower only to His Love, which is Eternal Life. I know that Satan exists, and that he uses all manner of ways to destroy us. I know the Savior will help us overcome anything though, if we believe in Him. Gotta run. times' almost up Love, Blake

10 October 2010

Be Humble and Trust in the Lord

Hi! I'm back in Vyborg! This past week was a crazy week serving in the office. Mainly doing stuff like translating newsletter for Sister Luna, answering the phone, burning conference cd's, bringing in mail and shipments of Liahona's (we finally go the Liahona for LAST conference), etc. Lots of language study for words I didnt know. ha ha. I was with Elder Shraeder, from Iowa. He's REALLY smart with computers and I see why he is serving in the office. He's a really nice guy. Reminds me of Cody! I had two meetings at night this week with Elder Shraeder, one with a guy named Piyoter, who is a Baptist investigating the church, and one with Sister Sentenina who is the smiliest old lady's I have ever met. She loved a picture I have of me and Millie, where it looks like Millie is smiling and wanted a copy. Tell Dad thanks for his letter. I'm jealous of him hunting! And I loved the words of encouragement. Letters are my favorite here!! I read a couple of really cool articles while I was in the office this week. Have you ever read the King Follet Sermon of Joseph Smith Jr.? Very cool! I advise you to read it! Joseph Smith talked about our potential to become like God, the nature of God, how we are literally His children, etc. One of my favourite talks ever. (Ensign, October 1994) Also read a really good talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks called "Strengths Can Lead to Our Downfall" ( I think...) I loved it because it talked about the importance of humility, and how Satan uses every aspect of our lives to try to work against us, both our strengths and our weaknesses, and that is why it is so important to be humble and trust in the Lord to help us. He talks about how people who maybe are over-zealous in one area of the church, and forget other doctrines of the church. It was given to students at BYU, but it was good to read as a missionary, because I think we sometimes have the same problem. Sometimes we get caught up on testifying and forget to listen to others, etc. Sorry... Don't really know what to report on this week... Transfers next week should be interesting. I don't want to leave Vyborg... I love the youth here! I admire them a lot and I know they are going to be amazing leaders of the church here someday, along with amazing missionaries. Vyborg is also a really beautiful place here in the fall. I know this church is true and that I am doing the right thing right now on my mission. I know the Lord has gone before me, and that he will bring others behind me to do the work here in Russia, and that even though maybe I don't see a lot of baptisms or mighty changes of heart, that I am planting seeds and helping to nourture and grow people's testimonies. I know that I have angels on my right hand and my left helping me always, and that we all have help from God in our lives, both members and non-members. God is no respector of persons and we should be the same. Love everyone that is around you! I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Love Blake!!!!