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

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.

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

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

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

What? No email?...

What? No email?... Oh well. That just means next week I get 2, right?

Oh and Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

 

This last week has been a really crazy week! So Russia came out with a new law that changed how we have to register where we live with the landlords here. Some landlords haven't agreed to do this with us, and the Pushkin Elders lost there apartment because of it and so this past week Elder Gillette has been on a split with me and Elder Svirskiy as a triple companionship. Elder Punderson and him are companions, so it was crazy working with them so they could meet up and go to their area. Elder Gillette has to leave today from our apartment because they were only able to register him at a different apartment. He was just staying with us until they got him registered. So that was kind of busy/stressful this week, but it wasn't so bad.

 

We had a REALLY good meeting with a former investigator who is interested in the church again. He is an African from Nigeria named John, and he wants to get baptized. He wasn't able to because he isn't married legally yet, and had to wait to get some documents from Nigeria which took about a year to get to him. He just got them last week, so they are working on doing the documents to get married legally so he can get baptized. He said that his soon-to-be wife wants to hear the lessons too, but hasn't yet. She is Russian and doesn't know any English, so John speaks Russian, English, and 3 other tribal languages in Nigeria. He taught us how to say some stuff in a language called Eboo? It's a cool sounding language. He is an awesome guy! He said that sometime in June they should have everything worked out with the documents, so I hope I can be in the city then to see his baptism! :)

On Wednesday, President took all the missionaries to see a play- Prince and the Pauper. He said it was because of our hard work last year. It was very interesting and partly a musical, but mostly just acting. I even understood most of what was said. Some parts were kind of different but I got to experience some different culture though. Nice of the president to take us. 

 

The branch here in Avtovo is a lot bigger than in Petergof. Maybe 60-70 active members here. Brother Igor Balashov who Mom knows, lives in my area. His son is the only active young man here in Avtovo, and is a really cool kid! He said he is will to always go to a meeting with us in the afternoons and he likes to help the missionaries.

 

There was a visitor and recent convert here from another branch, and I was teaching Sunday School about the gifts of the Holy Ghost when the visitor said he had the gifts of tounges and started yelling giberish. Luckily one sister missionary stepped in and talked to him about how that wasn't the gift of tounges... Most eventful Sunday School lesson in a while...

 

Well, I hope all is going well with you all at home. I miss you all and Love you very much. I'm Happy to be on my mission. I know this church is true. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I know that God loves us. I know that we are blessed when we repent and follow the commandments.

 

Keep Smiling, Be of Good Cheer, Peace be with You!

 

Love,

Blake

New Assignment~

Hello! Lots has happened this last week and I don't even know where to start.  Transfers happened and I have been called to serve in the city! I'm serving in the southern west area of St. Petersburg, which they call the Avtovo area. This area has been closed for a while, and has been opened up off and on, and me and my new companion are opening it up again. Our area is about 30 minutes by metro from the mission office.  I'm senior companion to Elder Andrei Svirskii from Ukraine.  This is only his second transfer here on the mission. He seems like he is a really nice, humble guy. He's pretty shy but he's cool though, and I look forward to serving with him. We live on the 13th floor of an apartment building and you can see pretty far. I've never realized how big St. Petersburg is until now.

Elder Berven is still in Petergof as our district leader, so I still will be talking with him every night and can tell him to say hi to people there in Petergof, so that's good. His new companion is Elder Wilde from St. George, Utah. Will miss Elder Berven. Great friend, great missionary! Before I left Petergof, I was able to make it around to all the members to say goodbye except for one.  I'm going to miss Petergof alot!  All the members are so nice and friendly, and since the branch is so small it just feels more like a little family meeting every week than a sacrament meeting, but I like that.  We also were able to meet with Vladimir and Sergey. Sergey was pretty sad to see me go, and we took some funny pictures because he wanted me to remember him as a fun person. I'm glad to have become his friend! When I met with Brother Silva who is from Cuba, that was the first time I was at his house, and he has a Lab named Nika who looks just like Shelby but black instead of chocolate color. I played with her while I was there and got my "dog fix" satisfied for a day. Ha ha. After that she wouldn't leave me alone and keep putting her head on my knee like Shelby used to do, and then when she realized I wasn't going to pet her anymore because we were busy talking, she laid down on my feet.  Brother Silva is a cool guy! He knows the Gospel like a General Authority would, and speaks English, Russian, and Spanish. He has some birds too at his house, all very bright colors that like to sing.

It's been really cold lately. REALLY COLD! A couple days ago during the evening it got down to -30, and President didn't want us to be on the streets... I've been living in a freezer for the past 3 months. Add the humidity and the wind factor, and that -30 feels like NEGATIVE DEATH sometimes. Bitter!

Did you get my letter yet, Dad? I sent one for your birthday, and it should be arriving there soon.  I just barely got a letter from Bishop Rose that was sent on my birthday. Tell him thank you! It was really nice of him to send that. Yes, I know that chapter well, Dad. "Oh, if I were an angel..." One of my favorites, after Alma 26 or 3 Nephi 17-20, especially the part when Christ is praying to Heavenly Father for us.

Today for P- day we are going to go play Floorball again. Maybe by the time I get home I will be able to play Hockey like a Russian?! ( they are pretty good, really good! )

I feel very blessed, as I already notice that I can talk better with Elder Svirskii better than I could back with Elder Domanksy. Somehow, I'm slowly learning this language... And that Somehow is the Lord. I couldn't do it without His help. I've realized that I can't do anything without His help. He's always willing to help me out, even though I have my weaknesses and inabilities and problems. I can't even describe it. I'm just happy that He is there.

Well, Love ya! Miss ya! I'll write again next week, but until then, BE HAPPY! Be of Good Cheer ( I have to give credit of this saying to Liz, since I stole it from her letters ha ha) Keep smiling! (from Grandpa Clifford)

Love,

Blake

One Year Mark~ Hump Day Today!!!!

Yellow!!!!!!
So I have now been on my mission for a year now!! I'm a "middle-aged missionary"! Ha ha. Weird to think about. It doesn't feel like it has been a year... I think that a year sounds like a long time, but before I know it it will be another year and I will be on my way home. You really don't need to send me anything for it, Mom but if you are going to send stuff, send music! I miss music, and I need some new stuff other than what I have. You know the allowed kind of music of course. Ha ha. Really though, you don't need to send me anything.

It's almost Valentine's Day, and as far as I know they don't have it in Russia. That's okay though. Valentine's Day is kind of a weird holiday.  Everyone calls it "a day of love," but isn't everyday supposed to be a day of love?

Yep, That's me and Elder Kyle Berven from Tampa, Florida in that picture from Zone Conference.  He's been a really good companion!  He acts just like Nate Booth, so I laughed when you sent me a picture of him. (By the way thanks for that picture! Nate does look older! And he's uber tan... I guess it is summer in Chile right now. It takes a month and a half to send letters to him... :( )

Thanks for your experience that you shared with me, Mom. That is really cool. That's one thing that I have learned on my mission is that he veil between us and those have gone on before us is a lot thinner than we think it is. I'm sure Uncle Bob has been teaching Nick for a while now and that's why he couldn't come see me when grandma and grandpa did. Still at the river.  When I read that I started crying right here in the library.

Tell Kels thanks for the pictures of her, Liz, and their new boyfriends. Ha ha. She sent me some pictures today and they both look so different. I'm sure I look different too though!

Well right now, I'm in St. Petersburg doing internet and afterwards a bunch of the missionaries are meeting at the office to play Floorball. (Hockey without the skates) I'm so excited because I haven't played a sport in who knows how long!!!!  I'm out of shape! I think I've lost so much weight because I've lost muscle. Yesterday Elder Berven and I had to run home because we had a late meeting and didn't want to be late getting home and I just realized how out of shape I'm in. Before my mission I could run for MILES with Millie-girl and yesterday I was tired after maybe 3/4 mile.  I miss running, but I'm definitely going ot do it when I get back!

This week in the branch Arseni Aumeister (the branch president's son) turned 12 and will be getting the Priesthood on Sunday. He is the first person in this branch to have been born in the church and receive the Priesthood! Awesome! Elder Berven and I made him a cake and I gave him a yo-yo for his birthday. He's a cool kid! Next year his little brother Klim, will be getting it too, so it's really exciting to see!

Other than that this, last week was kinda slow which is unusual. LOTS of people dogged us on our meetings, or just plain didn't want to meet with us... We're really trying hard though, and we're happy because we are doing the work of the Lord. :) Things will work out. Sergei found me on Facebook? He wasn't able to meet this week, but he did tell me over the phone, which is good so we did not miss an appointment. I'm sure he would be glad to talk to you, Mom, but he doesn't know English, so you will need a translator. Ha ha.

Transfers are next week. I have a feeling that I'm being transfered.... I'd love to stay in Petergof if I could, but I'll be fine wherever I go! I've really come to love the branch here, even if it is so tiny. It just means I can get to know everyone better. I'm happy to have met Sergei and Vladimir here too. They are both really close to accepting the Gospel, and I know that one day they will be baptized.

I sent Dad's birthday letter off yesterday (that was the soonest I could do it) so hopefully it makes it soon. I actually sent some pictures!!

Tell "Howdy" to Kiddo for me and give Millie and Forest a rub behind the ears for me. You can give it to Meleea and Cole, too, but I don't think they would appreciate it as much as Millie and Forest. Ha ha. Side note: I ALWAYS contact people if they have a dog, just so I can talk with them about their dog and play with it a little bit. I'm going through dog withdrawals!

Gotta run. Thanks for your love, your support, and your examples to me back home. I hope that I can be half of the example for others that my friends and family have been for me.

Be of Good Cheer and Keep Smiling!!

Love you tons!
Blake

Miracles don't bring faith...Faith Brings Miracles.

Well Hello There!
How is everything at home? Sounds like things have been pretty quiet back there other than blizzard's/ weddings and stuff. That's super weird that Brock and Maddie are getting married. I did not know that they were even dating? I just barely got Steph's wedding invite in the mail after 2 months because it had a big stamp on the envelope that said  "MISSENT TO SIERRE LIONE." The guy is either really tall, or Steph is standing on a lower step than he is in their picture? ha ha.  Tell her thank you and a big Congratualtions from me, and also to Brock and Maddie. Marty is in Houston? Isn't that were Ricky is? Maybe I'm confused. Either way, that is really cool that he is out on is mission now.

I pray for you all back home, and my friends on missions often. I know that things will work out, we just need to show our patience and faith in the Lord so He can bless us. God will not bless us if we don't show faith. Christ himself said among the people of Nazareth that he could not do any miracle among them because of the lack of their faith, and we learn in the Book of Ether that miracles come after the trial of your faith. Miracles don't bring faith, Faith Brings Miracles.

Keep on plugging with those resumes, Dad. I'm really sorry to hear that you haven't been feeling well, Mom. Wish I could help more than just my prayers. How's news with everyone else? Meleea? Cole? KB? How's Forest Gump doing? Is his hip feeling a little better? How's my Millie? I'm REALLY glad to hear that Kelsey's mom is doing better! I was really worried for there for a second.

This last week was a busy week. We had a really good meeting with Sergei about baptism, what it means, why we do it, etc. He told us that he has a desire to be baptized, but doesn't want to rush in to things quite yet. He wants to gain a testimony that is strong first, because he still doesn't quite know for sure yet if this church is true. He asked us how we know, and we shared our testimonies about the Book of Mormon, living propehts and personal revelation that comes through prayer with our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. He said he will read more and pray, and he is already reading it, so we are excited. I know that SOMEDAY he will come to the knowledge of the Gospel. I Know It.  Also an investigator who has been having problems with alcohol, has finally made a plan to quit and is working with us to do so. We are really excited about that! I'm glad to be serving with Elder Bervan. He is pretty much my clone because we like all the same things and have the same personality. Good team we are.

On Tuesday, we couldn't get a meeting, so we were contacting and trying to find members of the Church that hadn't been there in a while when an little old lady came up to us asking us where an address was? We soon found out that she had a bad memory (maybe Alzheimers or something), her name was Katia and had wandered away from home and was looking for it. We helped her find her house, but it took about an hour. She kept getting confused and wanting to turn back, even though we knew exactly the address were she said she lived. Her neighbor saw her coming and helped her the rest of the way home. I worry what would have happened to that grandma if we hadn't helped her, as it was getting dark by the time we brought her home and that night was really cold... I'm sure that wasn't an accident, and I thank the Lord for showing me that He remembers every one of His children, from the youngest baby to the oldest grandma Babushka, and wants us to help Him bless them and keep them safe.

On Wednesday we had a great Zone Conference, and we had President Manjas (don't know how to spell his name in English) come and talk to us about the importance of working with the members to of the wards to do missionary work. It was really good! I want to invite everyone at home to work with the missionaries in your wards and branches, because you are all very big assets to the missionaries, and I know I that I want to help the missionaries after my mission. I know the importance of it now.

What else is new here?  Elder Berven and I successfully made carrort cake the other day, along with tacos and pizza. I'll be sending Dad's birthday letter in the mail today, so be looking for it!

I've got to wrap it up. I love you all! Stay safe! Peace be unto you! Keep smiling! Be of Good Cheer!

GOD BE WITH YOU TIL WE MEET AGAIN.

Love,
BLake

This Week's Email...

Hello... I'd like to order a pizza please. Oh wait, this is an email...

Well, it sounds like you got the right Elder Bervan. Ha ha. He definitely has a big SMILE and is a happy guy!  He is already one of my favorite companions. Really good missionary, good with people, really fun and happy and doesn't take crap from people, etc. which is good! He speaks PERFECT Russian, I swear. Dadgummit, how did he get so good?  He's only a couple transfers older than I am too.  Don't worry Mom, we laugh alot! You ask me that every email.... We laugh and we are happy and having fun! Don't worry about me. :) Really. That's really cool that you talked to Sister LeBaron. I didn't know her very well, and that is probably why she thought that I was a quiet kid because we never really had a chance to talk to each other. From what I know about her though she is pretty nice and friendly though! Last transfer was my first transfer with sisters in my district, so I don't really know any of the sisters in the mission very well.

That picture of Cody was awesome! I didn't know that his companion is African American and when I saw him, I immediately thought about the wonderful Ghana Africans that we taught here and got jealous of Cody. I know it's not quite the same, but that's what I thought of. Good people. I know that Cody is having fun teaching with his companion.

That is ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE what happened to Kelsey's mom! Tell her that she is in my prayers. How often do you talk with Kels? Truly, tell her from me that I know that everything will be okay.

This last week was a busy week, and an eventful week with a split with the Zone Leaders, meetings with President, and I got sick... I will explain in a minute. We had to go to St. Petersburg on Monday and it was super busy there with alot of people so we pretty much were at the office or traveling all day... I did get KB's card for Christmas while I was there though! Tell Kiddo thanks from me! We had a split, and I was in Petergof with Elder Beck from California. He is a really cool kid! I think I've told you about him already? He is quite a funny kid and good missionary. We had a meeting with a couple of older ladies who are investigating the church and we watched the movie about the Restoration with them. We shared our testimonies and read in the Book of Mormon with them. They are really nice, sweet little ladies but they don't really understand what we are trying to teach them. They really believe in God though and they are such wonderful people. Good lesson in general and I enjoyed it.

I got sick on Saturday with a migraine... first one in about a year. I jinxed myself last week when I was telling you that I had not got sick for a while. It quickly when away by the end of the day so I was up and doing missionary work on Sunday, but on Saturday we couldn't really do much. I think I will be fine, but please pray for me that they don't come back like they used to. I think I might have got sick from some anti-worm pills that they have us take every now and then, just incase our filters don't get everything out of the water. I've heard a few other missionaries had some side-effects too.

Tell Karl hi for me, and thanks for putting up with me, BP and Cody before we all went on missions! Also tell Cody P. and Heidi congratultions on the baby for me! BP is going to be an uncle again. That is crazy awesome!

I looked for a birthday card for dad, but I couldn't find one that I liked for him. I will be sending some letters soon. That makes me sad that you and Cole never got those two letters that I sent. I did sent them before I sent Lee's card, so I blame the mail systems. Haha.

Next week we will be in Peter for Zone Conference, so P-day will be on Friday next week,  just so you know and don't worry.

It's starting to get colder here after a period of a little bit warmer weather. Everyone says about now is when it is going to start getting really cold. I think these thermals I got will do the trick though. Thanks again for sending them.

Yesterday, Elder Bervan and I had a really cool meeting with Sergei. We planned on talking about the Plan of Salvation, but he just wanted to talk about baptism. He said he is still waiting for an answer if this church is true, but he wanted to know what he should do if (when, I say) he finds his answer, what he needs to do. We talked about how baptism is a promise with God, what it symbolizes, and what we get after baptism through the gift of the Holy Ghost. I KNOW someday that Sergei will find the answer that this is true. He is a good guy!

Don't worry about me at all. I'm happy and well. I promise. I love you and miss you all and know that Jesus is the Christ who died for our sins and through Him and Him only can we return to our Heavenly Father and enjoy the blessings of Exaltation.  

Keep Smiling! Peace be with you! Be of Good Cheer!
Love
Blake.

~ Double click on the background to start music...

Last week's email...

Elder Bervan is feeling much better now, so I know that your prayers helped him. No I didn't get sick either. It's crazy, before my mission I used to get sick with migraines all the time, but when I got set apart, President Eckman blessed me to be healthy during my mission. In the MTC, I got a bad migraine and Elder Andersen blessed me to not have migraines on my mission, and now the only thing that I have had on my mission is a head cold that didn't really even make me feel sick, but was just a little annoying.

I'm glad Lee got my card! I wasn't sure if I had put enough postage on it. I will be sending one soon for Dad's birthday, too, so be ready! ha ha. Maybe this time I won't translate the Russian on it and that will be your Russian homework assignment. ha ha.

The weather here in Petergof is still pretty cold, but it's warmed up a little bit than it has been.  Everyone always says they get a warm spell, and then the coldest part of winter comes at end of Januray or early February, so we'll be looking to see that. I want to see it! Bring it on! Those thermals that you sent are really good, lots better than the Under Armour. They were made more for standing and walking and I think the Under Armour is more for running. I haven't been wearing the 180's because I need to wear a hat to cover my head, and if I wear both it's too hot. They will definitely be worn when it is warmer.

Elder Bervan is a sweet companion! We have alot in common, and he has a good sense of humor. He works hard, speaks Russian WAY good, and just is a good missionary/person in general. We like all the same kind of music, hobbies, movies etc, too. He is very easy to get a long with and we are having a good time.  We haven't really been able to meet with any investigators yet due to the Elder Bervan was sick, I had to go for visa trip, and we had a missionary training in Pete's on Tuesday. We have a meeting with Alexander tommorrow though, so pray for Alexander and for us to be able to help him.

The scriptures you sent for Noble got here, but another missionary's mom sent some too, so the one's you sent are being given to another African here. (I think his name is Cheapo. no joke that is his name) Either way, they are being given to someone who needs them and will use them. :)

Poor Forest! Why is the surgery so expensive for his hip?  Forest is a tough dog, so he will be okay. Who knows, it might get better on it's own soon. Just gotta have faith to heal! (I hope you can teach a dog to have faith. The Gospel is for every creature you know)

That's crazy to think that Elders Poulson and McCleary are going home so soon! Elder Poulson trained me and Elder McCleary trained Elder Andersen... I remember being with him and him saying that is was his year mark, and I thought that was so long still to go and now he's already going home... Crazy. Are you going to go to Washington to hear Elder McCleary?

Time sure is flying by, and I will be home before you know it!  Soon it will be my year mark on my mission... What is going on? ha ha.  Time sure is a precious gift that we need to learn how to use while we are here on this earth. I don't think I realized that until I came on my mission.

 I've learned a lot of things on my mission, but it would take to long to write them, but all the things I have learned stems from the facts that God is our Heavenly Father and He loves us! He made a plan to learn and grow on this earth, He never does anything to hinder us, but only to help us grow. He knows everything and He is always there, even when we feel like we are far from Him. He loves us so much! He gave us the agency and ability to chose for ourselves, which means we have the ability in participating in our own creation... WE get to choose who we will become.  If we want to become a Son or  Daughter of God. If we follow His teachings, we talk with our Father through prayer, and we apply the things He tells us in our lives, just like a father here on earth teaches his kid to ride a bike or helps a baby learn to walk. I hope that someday I will learn to walk like God. Sin makes us crawl though, and we need to everyday repent of our sins, and ask our Father to help us stand, and to support us as we walk.

 Keep Smiling! Peace be with you! Be of Good Cheer!


Love,
Blake.

Crazy Busy Week!

Hello!!
Ha ha. I thought you'd like that video, mom. I don't know why but for some reason while Sister Luna was recording me, I thought that it might not be allowed. After she did it though, I thought about it and now I realized that it is okay, but that is why I didn't really talk during the video. Nervous I guess. It just caught me off guard for a minute. Sorry, Mom! How on earth does Elder Andersen send so many pictures home?? I don't know how I can with this camera. I know you miss getting pictures. 

Well, this week started off pretty crazy! We got our transfers, and Elder Gerard is now Zone Leader in Center Zone! (Not surprised he went zone leader) We met with some branch members and with Sergei, Vladimir, and Alexander to say good-bye. They were all really good lessons, and they all were reluctant to see Elder Gerard leave. He is a really good missionary, and I think they all really saw that he just wanted to help them all find happiness in life. It was good serving with Elder Gerard. I will really miss him.Elder Berven from Florida is now my senior companion here in Petergof. He knows Russian really well, and he is really funny. I think he will be a good companion. Nice guy!

On Thursday, we had a visa trip again, so that is why P-day wasn't the usual and is now Saturday. We just walked around Estonia and got some food and stuff. We even made a snowman. ha ha. We got back from Estonia really late because the roads were really backed up due to accidents and snow. It was too far for both me and Elder Andersen to make it back to our areas so we had to stay the night in Peter with the South Zone Leaders. Our companions were on a split too in Elder Andersen's area. On Friday I was stuck in Peter waiting for my registration to be completed, so Elder Andersen and I did some contacting  and had lunch with the zone leaders. I would like to serve with Elder Andersen some time again. He is a really hard working missionary, and I laughed so much with him! Elder Berven got sick on Friday with a really bad sore thought and cold, and can barely talk right now. So Friday night he just went to bed about 7, and I just studied and worked on the area book and did all the phone calls for Elder Berven. He still is feeling kind of miserable today... Elder Luna and I gave him a blessing and that helped though.

I got your package! Thank you for the new thermals and the cereal! The soup will come in handy too because it also helps to keep us warm. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I also got your Christmas card and one from the Hammond's and a Christmas letter from Kels. It was all a great post Christmas surprise for me! I also enjoyed the Ensign in English that you sent from Oct. General Conference. I really liked the talk by Elder Uchtdorf about slowing down and focusing on the things that are truly important in life. I think I needed to hear that because sometimes I just try to stretch myself too thin here on my mission and I forget why I'm here in Russia. I don't remember what the message it is called you I think you should read it. I enjoyed it alot and took it to heart.

Lately I've realized just how Almighty God is. I don't know how to fully describe it, but I feel it. It's amazing for me to think about how we sin so easily, and when we repent God forgives us everytime, as long as we sincerely repent. It's amazing that He provided a way to return and live with Him, receiving the blessings of exaltation and glory that we can receive by living in His presence. All sinners and all indebted to Him, always. We can try all we can to do our best to repay God back, but we will always be indebted because He continually blesses us... And that is what love is. It's continually giving to others. It's focusing on others. It's sharing your time and your energy for others. Service for others.

Sounds like Cody is having fun in Conneticut. Tell him good luck for me! One year?!!!!!

Can you please do me a favor and contact B.P. for me somehow and tell him a little how I'm doing? Ask Karl to read my blog and pass along to B.P.? He emails me sometimes like today and tries to talk to me, I feel bad but I'm not allowed to email him back. I don't want him to think that I forgot about him though as I miss B.P.!

Well, gotta run. 

Love you all. Miss ya! Keep smiling. Be of Good Cheer!

From Russia with Love,
Blake

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Happy Russian Christmas!

Happy Russian Christmas!!!
Today is when the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas here.

Well, since New Year's is the biggest Russian holiday and they pretty much celebrate it for 2 weeks, transfers have been messed up and this transfer is going to be a week longer, next transfer will be a week shorter, so I will be finding out on Monday if I'm transfered. I truly hope that I can maybe stay here with Elder Gerard, because I feel like I just finally know the area and love it. It has been great being companions with him! We will see though...

All the kids loved the stickers, rings, bracelets, cool rubber bands, etc. that you sent, Mom! They thought I was the coolest missionary ever... I told them that you sent me all this stuff to give to them, and they said, well she is the coolest missionary mom ever then! Thank you!

New Year's was really fun here, but REALLY weird. We were allowed to stay up and watch the fireworks that EVERYONE does here at midnight, so pretty much everywhere around the apartment of the Z.L.'s we heard fireworks ALL night. We played Phase 10, and made ourselves sick on Christmas candy. Elder Gerard and I found out how to make a really good homemade pizza at the Z.L's, so we had homemade pizza too like you did back home!

New Year's day we went to one of the buildings the church owns here with our whole district, including Elder Punderson!! Happy he is back! The sisters made lots of food, and we just watched movies until 5, when we had to be back home. That was fun. The streets were EMPTY on New Year's, and I didn't feel like a missionary, for a minute. I then wrote Lee a letter, and I finally will be able to send it off today. (And I HAVE sent more than 3 letters... Probably didn't get to you?)

This week was pretty hard as far as meeting with investigators. Sergei said he didn't want to meet again just yet... He said he is still thinking things over and we gave him alot of information to think about. He said he wasn't meeting but just not right now, especially during the holiday season. Vladimir and Alexander both said no or didn't show when we set up appointments, so we did a LOT of contacting... ONE day we probably walked about 10 miles just for contacting....

I sure hope that K.B. is COMPLETELY over her croup!! That's awful! I'm very glad to hear that she is okay. I'll pray for her as I always do. Miss her!

Glad to hear that Lee had a fun birthday! Dance at the U.? Cool, cool! Who did she go with to dinner and the dance? I found a funny b-day card here in Russian, and translated it for her. HOPE SHE GETS THIS LETTER.

No I don't think that the hat, and scarf are dorky. They are plenty warm too. Thank you! You don't need to send more.  I usually were the scarf only wrapped around once and tucked in my coat, because since I'm already wearing a tie and the coat is also big, if I wrap it arond more than once it looks like I have a goiter or something! Ha ha.

Congratulations on a year mark, Cody!!! Mine will be in a month! That is so crazy!?

Don't worry Mom. I'm healthy, happy, and SMILING like Grandpa used to say to you! My letters are probably getting shorter just because I don't have as many things going on like I did, and also because President has been asking us to write more to him about our areas and investigators, so he can know how to help us better, so my letters to him have been a bit bigger.

Well, I love you all back home! I know that things get tough, but they just make me appreciate the small things in life more. Like when someone gives you a smile, or just realizing that I'm ME, and the Lord LOVES ME just the way I am. And since He loves me the way I am, I just want to make myself better and help others do this too, so we are more worthy of the Heavenly Love that He gives us! We will always owe him for this love, and I will always be grateful for that.

Peace be with you! Be of Good Cheer! Keep SMILING!!
LOVE,
Blake

Appreciate all the letters and support on my mission!

Yellow!! It was great to talk to you on Saturday. Everything is a blur, as our day was pretty busy on Christmas. I feel like I talked about nothing with you guys... Ha ha. Hope you liked talking with me anyway... Code said that you think I have an accent?... I don't believe it. ha ha. Often here people ask Elder Gerard and I if we are from Estonia or the Baltics, and say our accents are alike like their accents.  They think that my face looks like someone from the Baltics too... I still think I look very American and sound very American.

Please tell Grandma, Grandpa, and Liz "Spa-si-bah" for the Christmas cards. They came on Monday and were both very nice. I really appriciate their support for me on my mission, along with my family's of course. I don't know if I told that Paige Andersen also sent me a card? Tell her thanks too! That was really nice of her. Still waiting on your card you sent?

On Tuesday we had a really good meeting with Sergei. We FINALLY taught him all of the first lesson, as he is the kind of guy that asks a lot of questions. That's a good thing though. That means he wants to find the truth and wants to understand what we are saying. He really liked when we read the story of Jospeh Smith, and how he read in James 1:5 that you can ask God directly if something is true, or if you lack wisdom, that if we ask with real intent, we can all find the truth. He said he believes that our message is true, but he isn't sure if it is the only true church on the earth. We told him that we both have received this knowledge, and felt the power of the Holy Ghost testify that it is true, and that he can too. He said that he will definitely ask God if it is true. We haven't been able to talk to him since that meeting, but it was a really good.

Today we have a meeting with Vladimir, a long time investigator who can't give up smoking/drinking. He has a good testimony and accepts everything, just needs help with his addiction. I admire people who are trying to give addictions up. I've never really realized how hard it was until I came on my mission and saw peolple struggle with that kind of thing. I never was around that stuff before my mission, and I realized how much of a blessing that was. We know Vladimir can do it, and we know that the Lord will help him.

Tomorrow and the day after we will be staying with the zone leaders, as New Years here gets pretty crazy. We aren't allowed to be on the streets, so it will be a day of studying, writing letters, etc.

Just barely got your letter and only have 10 minutes left to type. Don't worry mom, I'm staying warm as I can be. I'm usually hot from all the layers, except my legs. They usually are still pretty cold!! Thank you for the other package, and I know you like to do that for me, but really you don't need to send me lots of stuff. I'm okay.

Well. Gotta run. Tell Lee HHHHHHAAAAPPPPPYYYY BBBBBBIIIIIIRRRRTTTTHHDDDDDAAAAYYYY!!!! on New Years!!! Remember, you are all in my prayers, and that the Lord is always around. I love you all alot and miss you! We'll see each other again before you know it.

Love,
Blake
aka....
Elder Blake T. Larsen