Date
October 1, 2018
Area
Новгород
Companion
Mortenson
Week 26 - Happy 6 Months to Me!!
Всем добрый день!!
(Good day everyone!!)
Happy 6 Months to me!! I've been out on a mission for 6 Months (on Wednesday)... Really weird!! It doesn't even feel that long ago!! It's also weird to think about being 1/4 of the way done with my mission.... Kind of makes me sad. Anyway, I send you like 10 more emails, and then before we all know it it'll be my year mark! ;) ;) Шучу!! (Just kidding!!) It's been an absolute honor to be out here for the past 6 months, and I would not trade that time for anything else in the World. I'm so grateful to have been able to spend this time in Новгород!!! I love this little town and all of the amazing members here in this small little branch!!
My Russian Fact of the Week is about the cold(er) weather! So whenever we go out to talk to people we always start out by asking them a question. My question for this week was about the weather, and asking them if it was "холодно" (cold) or "прохладно" (chilly). Every time they said that "прохладно" (cool) was better to describe the weather--even though I was freezing!! They will also often criticize you if you aren't wearing a thick enough coat, and tell you that you need to dress warmer... haha! Also, you probably shouldn't wear a шапка (hat) unless it’s at least -10 degrees Celsius (about 14 degrees Fahrenheit)... It's definitely been an experience trying to dress warmer, layering all of my clothing, so that I have several layers on (sweater, suit jacket, and heavier coat...). I can't imagine how much colder it can get, but I think it'll get really cold......
This week we met with Виктория (Victoria). She had some pretty big concerns during one of our meetings, but I honestly didn't understand a word she said.... (it was really bad), but the meeting ended well, because we talked about Temples and showed her a couple videos about temples. I feel like I'm getting better at teaching--especially this week! I started, during my personal study, going through Preach My Gospel, and started making small lessons plans for all of the topics in there. That's been REALLY helpful for me to be able to prepare lessons like that. On Sunday we had a meeting with our Missionary Coordination Leader, and I was supposed to give a spiritual thought to him... I thought about the lessons I had prepared, picked one, picked one of the scriptures (which I had also already listed for that lesson), and literally within 2 minutes I had a small lesson plan! That was REALLY nice!
This week both me and Elder Mortensen were sick. So we spent almost all of Wednesday and Thursday inside resting up and getting better... It was a really slow week: only 4 lessons total with people... But those lessons were with new people we started teaching! Артур and Ихсан. (Arthur and Ihsan) They are both of different religions (Jehovah's Witness and Muslim) and they have some VERY HARD questions about the Bible and about Religion... It's good experience though. It makes it so I need to prepare for their lessons and their questions.
On Saturday we had Institute with Наташа and Виктория! (Natasha and Victoria) That was good. Also, on Sunday we were saved at the last minute by Brother Антипов and Анна Ивановна, both who agreed to speak at the last minute. We told them to pick their own topics, and they picked "We are Children of God" and "Revelation" respectively. Truly inspired! They were great talks for Виктория to hear!
General Conference is right around the corner!!! I'm super stoked and I hope that you are too!! I cannot tell you how many times I have re-read the words of President Nelson, and how many times I have tried to become better at receiving revelation in my life. I am still not perfect, but I am eternally grateful that I have been able to have the opportunity to read the words of a living prophet! My dad sent me of a story of a lesson he had had in church a few weeks ago. The lesson told a story of a lady who had a nonmember friend who was interested in the church and asked what made the church different from other churches. One of the things that the member listed was that we have a prophet who lives and guides us. The nonmember asked, "what has the prophet told or taught you lately?" The member couldn't come to a clear answer for the lady. The nonmember said to her that if she believed in a living prophet then she probably would want to know everything that the living prophet says!
This has definitely been true for me! And I hope that it is true for you too! Want to know EVERYTHING that the living prophet says! But don't simply know; LIVE the words he speaks, because they truly are the words of God. I testify of that! I promise you that if you will listen to his words, and try to follow them more exactly, you will be blessed with peace, protection, and power in your life! Это я знаю. Об этом я свидетельствую. Во имя Иисуса Христа, Аминь.
-- Старейшина Шервуд