Will miss my old comps who are going home.

My watch was stolen when I fell asleep, back when I was companions with Elder Anthony coming back from Vyborg. I just kept forgetting to tell you until now. Elder Anthony was sitting on the seat behind me, and it was a 3 hour bus ride, so he dozed off too. Our belongings were safe, except for my watch...that I was wearing.

Thank you for the birthday gift! Also tell Grandma and Grandpa thank you too! That was really nice of them! You all didn't have to do anything for me! Thank you, I appreciate it.

We live about 25-30 minutes away from the other Elders, but our apartment building looks pretty nice on the outside, as we live above a business. You also can't tell how the apartment is inside from the outside, here in Russia.

 

I didn't know that Grisha's wife was expecting a baby! That's really cool! He called me after his temple trip to tell me that he bought me root beer and peanut butter from Finland and he wants to give it to me the next time he sees me. I will have to congratulate him on that! Grisha is the best. ha ha.

 

We will be having General Conference in 2 weeks, as they have to translate it into Russian.

 

Not alot has happened since Thursday... We did have a shocking experience that I didn't have time to tell about last week. We were walking down a street contacting, and we went around a building and immediately saw a group of people standing around a lady who you could tell was dead. There were a lot of policemen there, and they were looking for some sort of identification on her while all these people were standing around watching. We didn't go over too close, so we just walked around and we were both very quiet for a while and kind of shocked. We just thought about it for a little bit and knew that she was in a better place now, and then we felt peaceful about the whole thing. We are fine with it now, but at the time it was pretty shocking. I have been to funerals and had a lot of medical classes that helped prepare me for it. The biggest shock was just not expecting to see something like that. Elder Ash is okay too he says. He handled it really well.

 

Today we will be looking at some of the sights in St. Petersburg, with a lot of Elders who are going home at the end of the transfer. It will be weird to see them go! Will really miss my old companions, Elders Berven and Anthony; Broadhead, and Nelson... Weird.

 

Well, I'm out of time. I love you! God be with you unitl we meet again!

Love,

Blake

Happy To Serve With Elder Ash.

Hello! Bonjour! Salut! Privyet! Zrastvutye! Allo! Dobree Dyen! ZdarovHella! 'Sup! ( I can keep going if you want... :) ) ha ha. Good to hear from you as always... And I'll be talking with you again on Monday! Our P-days are being changed to Monday.

Jayden is going to Manchester? That's where my friend Kevin Ballantyne is on his mission! He'll be home soon, but maybe they will be able to see each other in the mission field at least really quickly. Ha ha. Tell them all CONGRATULATIONS for me!


Walk for NF? That's great! Do they have Runs? I'd gladly do a marathon or 2 when I get home for that. What kind of things is Meleea going to do for that?


The Branch President's name is Aleksay Yurkov, but I don't really know him yet. Only introduced myself to him... It's fun to have Elder Andersen in the Branch with me!  He's always fun to be around and he is really helpful. His companion is really cool too, Elder Woodard. He gave up baseball to come on his mission and he has a really strong testimony. He's my height, but he's huge! Really strong. I'd feel safe if he was my companion.


Ha ha. It's funny that Cody is teaching himself songs on the piano, because I have too! I've actually played a couple of times when we didn't have anyone else in Elder's Quorum or district meeting. ha ha


Nope... still can't think of anything that I need yet. I'll for sure let you know if I need something... Actually just thought of something. My watch got stolen the other day on the bus last transfer and forget about it because I just have the phone to look at for the time. I dozed off and when I woke up my watch was gone... They are good. REALLY GOOD. I was asleep maybe 5 minutes.

Well, it's been a little harder to pick up this area, as Elder Ash and I don't know the area very well. Our branch is 2/3 female, and we are serving in the sister's old area, so our area books are filled with female investigators. I've called around to find members of the Church that can meet with us, but most of them say "I'm busy or working until 8 o'clock everyday." Or "Let's agree on a time Sunday." and then leave before I can talk with them or don't come. I see what President Clark means that this area needs some reviving, and we are going to keep doing our part and help the members understand the importance of missionary work. Our district wants to be REALLY excited with the members, and help them see the joy in the missionary work that we receive, so we are planning on doing that... Once we can get a meeting or two.

So far the only people that we have been able to meet with are 2 former investigators. One is a retired war veteran and loves the missionaries, but the first thing he said to me at the meeting was," I won't be a Mormon. It's not a good thing to change your religion." And the other person doesn't follow through with his commitments. I think we won't work with him because a couple others have before and we are under the impression that he just wants to try to convert us... We do have a meeting scheduled with an investigator who came to church for tomorrow but it's with a female and we are still looking for someone else to come too. The other Elders in our area said that they can come for the meeting if we can't find someone, so we might have to do that. We've called all the members in the area books at least once and many from the former investigators, so we'll find some more meetings as time goes on.

We are happy and know that if we keep working, the Lord will bless us in our efforts. Elder Ash is already a really good missionary and I'm happy to be serving with him. Helped bring some of that "fire" from the MTC back to me, and I bet that will be a great asset to the branch too. He's really funny and reminds me of Cody a little bit. I miss Cody. 

Well. That's what's new with me. I love you all and miss you. I'm really glad to have come on my mission and to have served the Lord so far for this long. I can't explain the joy that I feel knowing about the Gospel of Christ, and I hope that more people will accept it. But the Lord gave us our choice and we have to want it for ourselves.

Keep Smiling! Be of Good Cheer!

Love,

Blake

Trainer!

Hello! Big changes in the mission have happened.

Yep... I was transfered and very sad to leave the Shoovalova Branch, but I served there for over 4 months, so I wasn't too surprised to find out I was leaving. I will miss Grisha, The Akulinin Family, Faik, and many others in that branch... But I'll probably see them sometime before I leave Russia, so it is okay. This last week was a lot of saying good-byes and see you laters to people too.

I am now the proud trainer of a new missionary fresh from the MTC! His name is Elder Jason Ash from Utah and he is a really nice missionary! We will be serving in the Nevsky Branch, which is in Center Zone. I have now served in all the Zone's of my mission. They have a new training schedule for new missionaries, so I will be with Elder Ash for 2 transfers. Excited!

Sounds like you all had fun when you went to Mirror Lake for the day. I show a couple of pictures to people here of miror lake, and everyone says that it is a beautiful place. Not many things like that here near St. Petersburg.

Wow! Tell congratulations to Kaylee and Tate from me! I think Tate's mission is the same as my friends Adam Fulmer and Chris Haacke? That'd be crazy if they served together! They won't regret serving a mission. I can promise that. :)

Surgeries and sickness are happening a lot at home right now aren't they... I hope everyone gets feeling better soon! Take care of the strep, Mom. Tell Grandma to get feeling better, along with Meleea!


I don't even know what you could do for me for my birthday. I can't think of anything right now... Sorry. Elder Loskutov's first name is Semyon. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COLE! Hope you had a good one, and be looking for that birthday letter.



I'll be happy to see you all back home, but I'm definitely not thinking about that until the time comes to go home though. It will be crazy to see Code again... it's been the longest that I haven't seen him or talked with him on the phone! It will be fun to see that! Ha hal

This last week in Shoovalova was a cool thing to see, as we saw a lot of potential investigators appear. First was after our meeting with Sister Akulinina, we were waiting for a tram to get home and our's wasn't coming, so we ended up taking a different route home and then that tram broke down. As we all were filing out of the tram, a young man named Sergey asked us if we were Mormon and we talked with him while walking home for about 45 minutes on the street. We got his number and plan to be meeting with him. More people than usual accepted Books of Mormon and we saw some less actives come to church that usually didn't come, and we were able to say goodbye to them. I was really appreciative of 2 less active brothers, Yuri and Vladimir, who said that they were very sad to see us go, because they felt the Spirit again in their home while we met with them and they said that they will miss us. We only met with these brothers twice, but I was touched by what they said. 


Goes to show that the Spirit helps you come closer to others than any other thing in the world... Including Vodka for Russians.

I'm excited to start serving with Elder Ash in Nevsky! It will take me a little bit to get used to the area, as I've never been here before and it is new for Elder Ash too of course. In fact, my whole district except Elder Wilde is new to the area... It will be fun. For the first time in over a year and a half, I am in Elder Andersen's district!! Elder Ash is going to be a good missionary! He dove right in to trying to learn as much Russian as possible, and he is already thinking of new ways we can help this branch and find new methods of sharing the important message of the Gospel with everyone.

Well, I've got to go! Love you all! Thanks for everything you do for me now and what you've done for me in the past. I thank God for all the people in my life that helped to form me into who I am.

Keep Smiling! Be of Good Cheer!

Love,

Blake

Transfers soon.

I'm doing well this week, thank you. Better than poor Elder Loskutov. He has had a head cold the last couple weeks and is really stuffed up... It hasn't come to me though. I'm as healthy as a horse. Random story I just remembered. We were running late to district meeting so Elder Loskutov ask to run up the metro escalators to get there faster and I said okay and ran up the stairs. When I looked back, he was only a 4th of the way up. He said that I "run like a horse" and that he thinks that  I "don't breath oxygen"  ha ha.

Code was preety excited to hear that I was coming home on the 26th. He sent me 3 emails pretty much just saying "YIPPEE" ha ha. I'm excited too! Haven't seen Cody or heard him for almost 2 years now... It will be exciting!

Christmas in January? Looks like we will be having a Russian Christmas then! (That's when they celebrate Christmas here) You don't have to wait for me to do Christmas... But I appreciate it!

Glad to hear KB likes school. It'll be fun to read with her when I get home, and she will be able to read with me... Except when I read in Russian.  Ha ha ha.


Let me know where Kaylee, Tate, and Jayden are going on their missions as soon as you hear! That'd be crazy if it was Russia!!!

Svetlana found you on facebook without me saying a word. I don't know how she did. She is the mother of the 1 Counselor and my friend hear in the Branch, Kostya. Their last name means "Shark". Ha ha. Cool huh? Kostya served in California and speaks perfect English, so I usually talk with him in English, and that's my nickname for him. Ha ha. We are going to Kostya's today for a meeting and to bring him brownies (today is his birthday) and we will be doing service for Svetlana on Friday... Don't know what yet... She didn't say. Just said that she has some service for us.

Tell Cole Happy Birthday for me and be expecting a card in the mail... Sorry. It will probably be in Russian and delayed... But that's the way the cookie crumbles.

I totally agree with what you said, Mom. My mission has been worth it and I've been blessed with how I've seen people grow by hearing the message of the Restored Gospel... both those that have heard it before and just forgot and those that have never heard it before. Maybe they don't want to come back to the Gospel fully yet, or they don't want to come to the waters of baptism to promise to God to follow Him, but they came a little closer, and the Lord was able to use little old me to do at least do a part of His plan with the people hear in St. Petersburg and it's environs surrounding it. He's doing all He can to help us... Just waiting for us to help ourselves. I've made lots of friends in the process, and who knows, maybe I'll hear from them later saying they have come the full way... or maybe I'll be able to help them "at the river."

Things are doing well here in Shoovalova branch, and are picking up. I suspect that we could be having a baptism here sometime soon. I can feel it. We are slowly finding potential investigators on the street through contacting. Unfortuantely, we haven't received too many referrals yet from the branch, only 1 actually, and he didn't want to meet with us, but we have been meeting with the branch leadership this last week, talking about how we can better serve them in their efforts for missionary work. I think the members want to help, but they are still pretty scared to introduce the Gospel to their friends, as many of them have tried and people don't respond very well sometimes, saying that only the Russian Orthodox is for them, or they are atheist.

We have a new investigator, Max, who is progressing pretty well. He went to English club for years before the law changed that forced us to get rid of it, and there he received a Book of Mormon and a DVD on the Restoration. He watched it, believed that Joseph Smith really could have seen God and that he did see God, came to Fontanka (a building we have on the Neva River where the young single adults have institute and activities), and there said he wanted to meet with the missionaries who are in his area. We've have 2 meetings so far and he says that he agrees with the truths that we are sharing with him. He is afraid to be baptized, as he works on stage and thinks that if other people knew he was Mormon, that would be a lot of trouble for him. He says they already don't like him since he doesn't drink and smoke, even though he is supposed to be a cowboy on stage. He agreed to read 2 Nephi 31 and pray about what the Lord wants him to do. Hoping and praying that everything works out with him. We plan on meeting with him with a member of the church in the next couple of days, and they have a lot in common, so it will help a lot.

This last week I was on a split with Elder Wiser from Texas. He is a good missionary, and wants to work hard. He is down on himself a little bit right now, as he says he just can't get the language down. I told him to just keep trying and he'll get it. I know he will. I was in the same position, and if I could do it he could do it. He is a smart guy, so he will do just fine.

I can't believe that transfers are already next week and we get transfer calls on Saturday! This transfer went by really fast! I think I'll be leaving here.. .we'll see.

Well, my times up. wanted to email Cody, but don't have time. I love you guys! You'll hear from me soon!
Be of Good Cheer and Keep Smiling!
Love,
Blake

If you have served your mission right, then it never really ends.

Things are going well here with Elder Loskutov and I. We are working hard and still getting along great with each other. 

Highlights from the past week:
I was on a split with Elder Nelson in Sesteretsk and there we met with a couple of grandmas and also a less active member named Ruslan after we played soccer with him.  During one of the meetings we were at the branch helping a grandma with her family history work and, Ruslan showed up at the branch. Ruslan has been meeting with the missionaries for some time, but never wanted to do anything about trying to come back to church. Well we invited him in and as we were sitting by the computer, Russlan said out of the blue, "I want to pass the sacrament. How can I do that?" Elder Nelson both got a shocked look on our face for a second, then told him that he needed to repent and come back to church to be able to do that. He said, "Okay, call the branch president. I'll meet with him tomorrow" and now he has started the repentance process! I don't do this story justice, but it was a true miracle to see!

The next day before we left we cut wood for a Babushka- Grandma, and that was really fun and eventful. Poor Elder Sherman almost cut off his finger- not good! The Babushka's neighbor had a chocolate lab that really wanted to play, so I got my dog fix. ha ha.

Lots of people agreed to meet with us this last week, and then dogged us or didn't want to later... I'm trying to find a way to achieve our goals, but it is really hard when your goals are dependant on other people's schedules, and their desire to meet with you. We aren't letting that stop us though and we are working hard, especially with less active members, as we don't have many investigators... yet. 

I was on a split with Elder Rasmusen from St. George, and he is a really cool Elder! He's had some hard things happen to him in his life, but has a great testimony and he works hard. He's pretty brave! The way he contacts people on the street makes you think he has been out here for a while. When I was with him we met with  a new investigator, and a less active. He is doing really good and will become a great missionary!

I don't know how to help one less active member who I have been working with for the pass 3 transfers. He loves the missionaries, and he knows the Church is true, but he doesn't want to come to church. He says he has other interests and that it is boring to him sometimes. Yesterday we had a meeting with him and both Elder Loskutov and I felt the Spirit very strongly and this less active said he did too. But he still didn't want to come back... Any ideas? We've talked with him about everything it seems.

About the date that I am going to go home on, I have decided on January 26th.  I can honestly say that I have worked hard on my mission, and I've put in the effort. I feel that the Lord will support whatever I decide, and He wants me to make the decision. Also, I think if you served your mission right, then it never really ends, you continue to serve throughout your life, just the type of service changes.

I've been sleeping better lately, and I'm doing well. :)

Did you get my card yet? I sent a card a little while ago, but never heard if you got it?

Glad to hear that the Code man is safe! Faik has been keeping me up to date with everything in New York, as he knows that Cody is serving there. That's crazy! Signs of the times! Sounds kind of exciting actually to be serving in New York right now... 

Meleea, I pray for you every night for your health and for you to have the strength to deal with the problems you are experiencing lately. I know the Lord is blessing you, and that it's because of your faith and the faith of others who pray for you!

Days are pretty rainy all the time now, and getting cooler. Don't see the sun very often, but it's not really cold yet. If it is like last year, it will just get really cold all of a sudden.

Haven't got much mail recently, but it's probably because I haven't written people much the last few transfers. Just NO time, especially as Z.L.!

I'm really glad to be serving my mission. I've learned a lot. I've come to understand better that this life has a silver lining, the promises of God are golden, and our potential is priceless, I love you all, and hope that you know this for yourself!

Gotta Run!  Peace!
Blake

President Clark gave me a blessing.

No worries. I understand that you were just worrying about me, and that is why you emailed President Clark. He is a really good mission President. Honestly, I think I know President Clark a billion times better than Presidnet Podvodov already (even though I liked him alot) and it hasn't even been two months. President Clark is also a really good mission president. He told me that he changed the date already and he wants me to think it through, but there is no shame at all if I want to go home in January to see Meleea and everyone. I'm still thinking things through about what day I'm going home. I will let you know as soon as I figure it out, though. He also gave me a good blessing, and I didn't know that I needed it so badly until he had given me one, and I felt so much better.


This week was escpecially busy for us as we were getting ready for Zone Conference and trying to do missionary work at the same time. On friday the south zone leaders gave us a new investigator (he  is from one of the "...stan" countries... I forget), and we gave him a Book of Mormon. We didn't have time for a long meeting, as he was going to work, only 15 minutes or so, but we should be meeting with him today again. :)
Saturday we had service at a dacha for a lady in the ward whose husband is not a member. Elder Loskutov and I chopped wood and staked it, while the sisters helped to weed, and other  members helped to burn weeds and clean up. Afterwards they had a picnic and Sister Parker and I were able to talk with this lady's husband in English, as he is practicing. The sister's are working with him through the wife, and I think the service we did for him really helped to strengthen the relationship/friendship between each other. 


Monday was a good day with meeting with some less active members. I guess technically they are active now, since the last month they have been coming to church, but we still feel that it is necessary to meet with them and help them to build their testimony back up. One of them is Faik, and he is going strong. One of my favorite people! Tuesday we had a good meeting with a former investigator. Very nice guy. He knows the Bible well, and is very pleasant to talk with. He is very polite and trys to listen to us. He has MANY concerns about the Book of Mormon, but he wants us to keep meeting with him! We hope that we can invite the Holy Ghost with us to help him gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. We also met with Grisha and talked about the story of Alma and Amulek, how they worked together to do missionary work.


And yesterday was Zone Confernce. My first one that we had to conduct and do training, so it was very different from all the other ones I've been on. Also the first one were most of it was English. I really enjoyed when we talked about the Doctrine of Christ. Through faith, we repent, make a covanant with God through baptism, endure to the end and receive eternal life.


In a nutshell, that was our week. I bought some Ecco's with the money that you sent. They are very practical. They should last a while, and they have a really hard sole, good for missionaries to walk for with. We were going to go to Petergof to see the fountains today with Elder Anthony, but plans got changed because he has to go into the office today. WE are probably just going to take it easy today. Relax and make some food.

I didn't hear that there was an earthquake in NY, but I'm glad to hear that Code is safe!

Well, I've got to run. Love you all back home! Thanks for the support and the love. Thanks for worrying about me. It shows you care! Just don't worry about me too much. ha ha. I've got the Lord with me, so I can do anything that comes my way.

Keep Smiling. Be of Good Cheer!

Love,

Blake

Busy week, but that is a good thing!

Busy week. But that is a good thing! ;)

I was thinking about an early date, but I heard that President Clark wants you to have a good reason like school to go home early. Also I want to say that I served the full 2 years. I wonder if there is a way to go home on my 2 year mark. But anyway, I've decided that the plan for now is to stay until my release date. The only reason I was thinking about coming home early was I'm just getting more and more tired, but that's nothing I can't handle. In high school, when I really had some bad sleeping problems, some days I would go to school and work, only having slept a couple hours. On my mission, I've just learned to appreciate naps!

We met with our investigator Galina, but unfortunately we decided it was time to drop her after that. She is a "student" of another religious institution, and it seems like she is trying to convert us. This wouldn't be unusual, except she doesn't want to try to listen to our side of things, and so the lessons lately are more of her telling us how things are, we listen to her, and when we say our point of view, she interrupts and says that we're wrong. She says her views are knowledge,and we only have belief. So yeah... We had to drop her. She doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon now either,... at least not yet.

We had some success meeting with less active members, but we also got stood up a lot this week by them... We were able to meet with a former Branch President who hasn't been to church in over 7 years, and he says he wants to come to the District Conference and to General Conference with us. 

We did a lot of service this week. First we fixed a grandma's window after she locked herself in her house and had to call a rescue team who cut through the window to get to her. We helped Brother Myakishev, a less active member, move some furniture in his apartment. We got to go to Vyborg to do a baptismal interview, so we did a split there. While we were there, we helped a family build a floor on a house they are building. The dad is American, and he used to be a contractor and sell wood, so the building plan was how we do it in America and I enjoyed helping him build it. It reminded me of working with Dad back home on all the houses and jobs. John Cummings, the dad there, speaks with a big Cowboy accent. I felt like I was in America! ha ha.

Elder Loskutov conducted the baptismal interview of Edward, who passed with flying colors and will be getting baptized. He is the husband of a member, but for a long time hasn't wanted anything to do with the Church until recently. I was on a split with Elder Manuel Brisillera? No idea how to spell his name in English. Italian name and he is from Oklahoma. He has been here less than a year, and I didn't really know him very well until the split. Cool guy! Very laid back, but not lazy and works hard.

We had a good lesson with Erjo, our Armenian investigator yesterday and got him interested on the subject of family. We didn't have time to go into it, as we were talking about faith with him up until the end, and he wants us to come back to talk about family.

Today I'm finally going to go buy some shoes- Eccos and if we have time we're heading to the Hermitage with Elders Berven and Gerard.  Next Wednesday will be my first Zone Conference as a Z.L. since we have them every 3 transfers, but this one got changed due to the switching of mission presidents.

I know that God lives. He loves us. He wants us to love Him. We can show our love for Him by keeping the commandments. Keeping the commandments helps to build our faith in them, and faith is the principle that God works upon. All things are done by faith. By keeping the commandments, you find out if the doctrines are true or if they aren't. I know this Church is true, because I've tried the doctrines, and they work.

President Clark is really nice, but the only time that I've really talked with him so far is the first day he was here, and at Zone council. He is really busy trying to get into the mission.

Well. I got to run. Love you all!

Thanks for everything!

Be of Good Cheer. Keep Smiling!

Love,

Blake