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

31 March 2011

Grateful for Elder and Sister Luna.


Hello! Howdy! 'Sup? Hi! ETC!

First of all I just want to say that I AM HAPPY! Truly.  I won't lie, there are moments when things are really hard too.  Missions are a mix of emotions, but overall it is one of joy. It's like the people of Mosiah when they received the record of Ether. They were filled with joy to know more of the will of God, but sorrow for their brothers. On my mission, I feel happy to be able to serve God and see the Gospel in the lives of others, but also sad when I see that people don't want to accept it. I feel kind of like Alma, when he prayed to the Lord when he was serving amongst the Zoramites. He said unto the Lord "Behold... their souls are precious..." but he knew that the Lord would strenghten him and his brothers as they served amongst them. My scripture right now is Alma 26:37 "Now my brothern, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen"

I will admit though... I have been focusing on the negative in my emails lately. I just read them and I'm sorry. I'll focus more on the good. I read a good talk by President Uchtdorf about focusing on the good in last months Liahona. You should read it. Elder Luna called me last week after you sent him an email saying that I wasn't as happy as usual and he was really worried. I told him I'm just fine, just sometimes there are disappointments on the mission. He was glad to hear it and told me that if I ever want to talk, I can call him anytime. I'm going to miss the Luna's when they leave. They are my parents here in Russia! Elder Luna is so humble and Sister Luna is so fun and bubbly. They both have great testimonies and so much love for the missionaries!

Well transfers came and left, and I am still serving with Elder Loskutov in Pskov, which I'm glad. The branch is really small, but the 5 active members of the branch have a lot of faith and I really enjoy serving with them. President Aleksay is a really young branch president, but he does a good job. The only thing that changed in our district was Elder Nielsen left Novgorod, Elder Gillete is now serving in Novgorod with Elder Ilin... Elder Nielsen was the district leader... and now President Podvodov made Me district leader... Which means if people have questions they ask me and if I don't know, I ask the zl's. Also means I'm in charge of training in the District. Zone leaders for us are Elder Beck and Elder Berven. I was really excited to hear that Elder Berven was the ZL. He is a really good missionary, companion, and it was a fun transfer to serve with him.

The email is smaller than normal, as I put in some pictures. Pictures say a thousand words, right? Pictures include district meeting last transfer with the ZL's, the branch here in Pskov when President came to give a talk, me at a monument here in Pskov for Alexander Nevskiy, me in Petergof with Brother Silva from Cuba his dog, and his daughter, Our district when I served with Elder Berven, and me with Elder Hill jumping in the air while we were in Estonia.

Keep praying for Alexander and Olga. They are really close to gaining testimonies, I can feel it. They are great people and I'm really glad to know them. They love everything we teach them, just need some help to exercise the faith to find out for themselves that it is really true.

Well I gotta run. Putting pictures on took a while. I love you all. I hope you are happy at home. I hope you feel God's love in your life, and I hope you feel this for other people.

Be of Good Cheer. Keep Smiling!
With Love,
Blake

24 March 2011

Sometimes there is alot of hate in the world. I do not understand it.


Yellow from Blake-ski,
I'm doing well here in Pskov. Things get hard and sometimes discouraging on the mission, but don't worry. I'm happy. I know that the Lord loves me and that I have great family and friends back home who are praying for me and who want me to succeed. It is the last P-day of the transfer and I'm pretty sure that I will be staying here next transfer, but I'm not sure if Elder Loskutov is going to be with me next transfer. I just think that I'm going to be here for a few transfers because President was kidding around with me about it. To be honest, this was one of the harder weeks this transfer. I think I set a record of how many people told me to go back to America, and that there are people here that wouldn't think twice they saw me die... There is one guy we have seen mulitple times on the street and every time he asks me if I'm willing to die for Jesus... Sometimes there is alot of hate in the world... I don't understand it. This last week wasn't as successful as other weeks, as we had meetings fall through more than usual, and it was our turn to travel to Novgorod for district meeting. It's a 4 hour bus ride there, and on the way back the bus driver was really slow and made lots of stops, so over all we were on a bus for 9 1/2 hours on Tuesday... We didn't even have time to contact that day.

Going to got get a haircut finally today. I've needed one for a while, but keep forgetting. We are getting haircuts from our investigator Olga today as she works at a barber shop.

I gave a talk on Sunday about the importance of prayer in our lives. I always knew that prayer was important in our lives, but never understood like I do now on my mission. Think of all the great things that can come/ have overcome through prayer. We receive a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we express our feelings with God, and we feel peace and love from Him. Joseph Smith received revelation about the restoration of the Gospel and God and Jesus appeared to him, and most importantly of all, Jesus Christ prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane to take upon Himself the sins and pains of the world so we, through repentance and faith may return to our Heavenly Father. Prayer is wonderful.

Kallie was shy when the primary sang happy birthday to her?... Is KB turning shy? I don't remember her being shy when I was home... Tell Kiddo Happy Birthday from Elder Blakey in Russia! Next Birthday I will be there for sure!

Cody said in his email that he knows of someone getting married? Who is getting married?

At district meeting I got a short letter from Skyler Orris, a newsletter from the Blackburns in the ward, and a letter from my friend Sarah Mackliet. They made me very happy to see and read of course, but you can never have a shortage of letters! Hint hint. Pictures are good too...

I'm going to try to put some more pictures on today, since I don't know what else to write about and a picture says a thousand words.

Love you all. Miss you! Praying for you! Fix your heart. Be of Good Cheer! Keep Smiling!
Love,
Blake

The computer won't read my camera memory card... grrrrr.

17 March 2011

Happy St. Paddy's Day!


Hello! It's been a busy week again, as it always is here on the mission.

Well, I didn't have time to tell you last week, but you would be proud of my handy work here, Mom and Dad. There is a grandma~Babushka here that missionaries have done service for a long time, but she has never really had the missionary lessons. Well, we went over there dressed in suits, not knowing that she had never had the lessons. She was surprised, but she listened to us and loved it. She then asked if we knew anyone who could do tilework, as she needed some done in her bathroom. I said I could, so 2 weeks ago I laid the tile, and last week I did the grouting for her, while we talked to her about the Gospel. She was very happy that we did that for her, and she is really interested in the gospel. She has alot of questions.  She gets confused really easily, and we had to repeat a lot of what we said, but it was good.

President came to the branch and his family spoke on Sunday. It was really great as we had a couple there who are investigating the Church, and they really liked it. President and Sister Podvodov helped us to fellowship them after the meeting too. President's sons, Daniel and Stefan gave better talks than even a lot of the members here, even the one's that have been in the church a long time. They were very good talks.

President told me that I probably will be in Pskov for 3 transfers, but I don't know if he was kidding with me or not... We will find out. Ha ha! 

Monday we met with Alexander and Olga (the couple that was there on Sunday) and invited them to be baptized. They both love the church, but they don't know if they have a testimony yet, so they said they would pray about it and continue to read the Book of Mormon and come to church. The branch president here, President Alexey was there and a really big help on the lesson.

That's really all that has happened that is new with me this week. We had a few people dog us on the lessons and didn't show up, or call and said that they couldn't meet or didn't want to anymore... But that's okay. Normal things. We're trying our best and that is all we can do! Like it says in D&C 124, we do all we can and things still don't work out as they were expected to, God still accepts your offering, and it is counted to you as if you did it.

My motto right now is Psalms 111: 5-7 "A good man sheweth favor and lendeth. He will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved forever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." I think that is what the world needs more than anything, including me. We just need to trust that the Lord knows what is going on, and that it is all part of His plan.

Oh, I just realized that I never sent anything to Liz or Kels for their birthdays! Can you wish them a HAPPY BIRTHDAY for me? I remembered them a while ago, but never got around to sending a letter... As usual. Ha ha.

THAT'S GREAT, Dad. I hope things works out. I'm not surprised in the least that Meleea won tickets to the Jazz game. She wins everything. Kallie should be getting a letter soon from me, hopefully.

Well I gotta run. I want to try to put some pictures on here, as my companion has a thing that can do it. We'll see if it works.

"Old Irish Blessing"~ May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand." 

Love you all. Keep Smiling! Be of Good Cheer! Fix your Heart! Trust in the Lord!

Love
Blake

10 March 2011

Needing the Spirit.


Hello! It's great to hear from ya again.

Thanks for the pictures of Codski and Sky and Grandma. Grandma would have been 87 today? Wow. You look like grandma in that picture, Mom from when she was really young. Tell Skyler hi for me. I haven't heard from her in a while, and haven't sent a letter to her in a while either. Oops. I'm backed up when it comes to writing letters to people so I don't hear from people as often anymore.  I did hear from Matt, Nate Reidhead, Liz, and Kels about a month ago. If I've gotten any letters recently, I haven't been able to grab them from the office. I sent Kiddo a birthday letter just for her last week, so hopefully she gets it in time. The little monkey can't wait for her birthday, can she? Wish I could be there for it but I will be next year.

The weather here is slowly starting to warm up, if you can call it that. Snow is melting slowly, but it still snows every other day and ice is still everywhere. I heard that it will be like that until at least the begining of April.

First of all I just want to testify about the power of prayer, the scriptures, and the peace that comes from the Holy Ghost. Today I had a really cool experience. You are right, Mom, and Dad. I have been putting too much pressure on myself. I think it is because we aren't seeing results like we did last year, so President hasn't been very happy with that and asking missionaries to rethink why they are here on their missions. I think I took it all too seriously and put way too much pressure on myself to get results and forgot to work more with the Spirit. I have been praying about how to better do missionary work, and about how to better recognize the Spirit. I've also been kind of down, asking myself if I can really do this as we work really hard and no results? Today I prayed to have Heavenly Father just tell me what He wants me to know. I then opened my scriptures randomly and it was on Doctrine and Covenants Section 50. I felt a sense of peace come upon me as I read the words in this section. It talks about how satan tempts us, about how we can recognize the Spirit, what we should ask for in our prayers, how we can't bear all things. As we grow from grace to grace, we learn how to bear all things. 

This last week we had a split in Novgorod, and I was with Elder Nielsen. He was Elder Gerard's trainer. He is a really good missionary! I don't quite understand why Pskov and Novgorod are in the same district. It's a 4 hour bus ride between each other, so every other week we take turns traveling to each other for district meeting. It takes a lot of time... 

We had a meeting with a pastor from a church here in Pskov. He invited us to meet with him and we didn't know that he was the pastor of a church, and we showed up to the address and walked into the building to find out that it was a church and he was the pastor. I was reminded of the scripture that says to go into their synagogues, reasoning with the people. We had a good lesson, and he was very nice and polite and didn't argue with us, but said he couldn't believe it just yet. His friend was there too and he really liked it. 

Sorry. I wasn't able to type half of what I wanted to say. The internet took forever to get started here, and is going really slowly. I will start writing more letters home so you can hear more from me.

I love you all! I need to run. Thanks for everything. Miss you.

Love,
Blake

03 March 2011

Emergency Transfer to Pskov~


Well, you can disregard what I said about me serving in St. Petersburg... I've been transferred! You heard that Elder Andersen has been having a bad intestinal infection? Well it's getting worse, and they want him to serve closer to the clinics in St. Petersburg so they can figure out what is up. 

I got a call on Sunday morning right before me and Elder Svirskiy were going to head out the door to go and pick up the Africans to take them to church. It was the AP's and they said that I needed to pack immediately and come to the office, as I was being transfered to Pskov. It is a city about 5 1/2 hours south of St. Petersburg, in the place of Elder Nick Andersen, so he can see the doctors there. So I packed all my stuff, called the zone leaders to tell them they needed to pick up the Africans, we went to the office, which is the same building for the branch in that area. Brother Balashov drove me and President down to Pskov where we helped Elder Andersen switch with me.... My new companion is Elder Loskutov from Russia. He is from a small island that is near Japan and he is 6 months on the mission. He looks alot like B.P., and I think if B.P. spoke Russian they would sound the same! Acts a little like him too, sometimes. He is 22 years old, and has the same birthday as me and Cody.  Elder Svirskiy will be with the office elders until Elder Andersen is feeling better, and then they will serve together in Avtovo. Elder Andersen will be with the AP's while he sees the doctors... Yeah, CRAZY WEEK! Hope Elder Andersen feels better soon!! 

Elder Andersen was not happy to leave Pskov, and he really felt bad because I had to leave my area for him, but I told him it's no biggie for me, and it's not. The most important thing is that HE is healthy on the mission!! I see why he was sad to leave Pskov though. Cool place.

Pskov is a lot like Utah in the aspect that you walk 10 minutes from any church and you will be at another church, except here they are Orthodox. Our branch building here is even across the street from an Orthodox church. The branch is small here, only about 8 active members. The branch president's name is Aleksay and he is only 27 years old. Elder Loskutov knows him because he served on that island for his mission. Small world!

The apartment here is really nice... Maybe the best in the mission. It looks like an American home on the inside. Pskov is a good looking area. Lots of parks everywhere, lots of old architechture, squares, bridges, etc. A lot better than the city. I got sick of all the building in the city after only a week. This kind of reminds me of Vyborg a little bit.

I did get your email last week, but didn't have time to send you something saying I got it. Thanks for the email of course.:)

Thanks for the pics of Brae. Looks like he is having fun! He got shot at?!!! That's crazy! Tell his mom to tell him hi for me!

Thanks for the advice, Dad. I needed to hear that. I sometimes don't want to think about things before my mission because I don't want to get homesick, but I don't want to be a robot and just go through the motions here or forget about stuff back home. It's good to hear that it's okay to think about home as long as you don't dwell on it.

I will be sending a letter to Kallie Brooke this week or the next, depending on when I can find the time to write one out and go to the post office.  Tell Meleea good luck on the country music tickets, with her luck she'll win! She wins all those things, I swear. She deserves to win though!  

Have you heard about BP lately? How is he doing?

You ask very often if you can send me something and I have a request. Can you send me an American Frisbee? President Aumeister in Petergof wants one, as they "don't make them like they do there" he says.

Well gotta run and write a letter to President.

Take care of yourselves! Have fun! Keep smiling! Be of Good Cheer! "Paka" (Bye)
Love,
Blake