Update, Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas on the mission is amazing.  The week was full and we accomplished so much. I have rarely felt the Spirit as strong as I did for so long this week. In order to get it all in, here's what we did this week:

-FHE with the YSA at a senior couple's home

-Exchanges with Elder Stevens (District Leader) in which we moved apartments, went to St. Basil's, quilted, walked through the Christmas village on Red Square, and tried some Georgian food

-Addiction Recovery Training

-Church finances training

-8 Elders in our tiny little apartment before mission conference

-Christmas Mission Conference

-Christmas Choir concert for pensioners

-Christmas Choir concert for an autism program

-Christmas Eve dinner and games with our Area 70's family, the Astashovs

-Skype home

Like I said, full! The mission conference was the best part. We heard from President and Sister McGhie, who talked about grace and being an answer to prayers, respectively. We also heard from our new area President, President Martino. We did musical numbers, and also a live nativity. The Spirit of Christ was overpowering! We also received the news that the rules had changed.

We are now able to teach members and non-members alike in member and non-member homes. We still can not contact or hand anything out, but we can talk about anything is asked. We also are not required to have members sit in on our investigator lessons, though it is very much encouraged. MERRY CHRISTMAS, ELDERS AND SISTERS!

This week our phone also broke, so in order to communicate with people, we had to run to the sisters' apartment and throw snowballs at their 5th floor window until a man finally lent us his phone and we got everything taken care of.

Thank you all for the love and support!

-- 

Elder Wilkins

Christmas Eve with the Astashovs (and Brother Durfey's tie):


Loren's tie:


Selfie with Elder Stevens (and Udy's tie):



Sisam's tie: