Week 12?

It has been the best week of my mission so far! This week it's just been pouring buckets, so our sports night with the YSA got cancelled, but we had lots of other things to do.

Monday we got haircuts, and I was terrified because I don't, y'know, speak Russian? The guy just asked "Same?" in Russian and didn't wait for an answer, he just went to work. But he ended up asking for our phone number to practice English and the haircuts look good. In Russia, the government has a copyright on the Bible, so there are no King James versions and only one place in Moscow to get them, Bible World. And that's how we spent Preparation day.

This is Jake's new fancy leather zippered Russian Bible

We've been working on a word of wisdom puppet show to perform at schools and fairs in Moscow, and that is just dandy. It's a good thing the voices are prerecorded, otherwise we would slaughter it (and get made fun of by elementary schoolers. No one wants that.)

We had exchanges with the other Elders in our district and that was a slow day. We had four or so backup plans and every single one fell through. Most of our investigators dropped off the grid this week, so we are focusing on inactive members.

We had a family history seminar, and then Sunday swung around. Sundays are the best. After church, there was a YSA activity. We had 4 less actives and a nonmember come. It was awesome to get to know them, and I am finally starting to understand spoken Russian. I am so blessed that my calling as a volunteer is to make friends and bring them to church. I love the YSA here. On a side note, four of them just got mission calls, all to serve here in Russia!

This week I was struck by the versatility of the church. In places like Utah, where there is plenty of support, there are lots of faith promoting programs to supplement worship. In places like Russia, where the church is young, those programs aren't always available but no one suffers for it. If someone needs the ARP (addiction recovery program), they will put a group together or work one on one. There is no YSA ward, but the group is very tight knit.

May the Lord bless you as you follow Him!

-- 

Elder Wilkins