Some days are busier than others

I'll be the first one to tell you, missions are not easy. Especially missions where you can't just buckle in and go to work contacting. We do a lot of really good things here, but the reality is that when we don't have a meeting, we are just trying our best to follow the spirit and be effective. This was one of those weeks. Agency, as much as it is a blessing, can be a real pest. We had almost every single one of our appointments cancel this week with just a few hours notice. Sometimes there were legitimiate reasons, other times, someone "wasn't feeling it". It's on those days you have to get down on your knees, and ask the Lord what He wants you to learn from those experiences. That's not an easy thing either. You do your best, and when you fall short (as we all do every day) you trust the Savior's grace to carry you the rest of the way.

It was a bit of a slow week. On Tuesday, I was in Riga all day, getting my new documents. It was the last time I will get on a plane before going home. Thursday I had a split with the Voronezh district leader, Elder Beck, and met with a woman named Sveta. She is the ward family-history coordinator, so we wanted to talk to her about some opportunities to use family history as a resource to find people to teach. She also told us some cool stories from her mission (she was the first sister missionary from Russia). Friday we met with a potential investigator, Maxim, and gave him a tour of the ward building. He asked a ton of questions, and said he was really interested in what we believed. We are planning on beginning to teach him this week.

Saturday, there was a volleyball master class for the stake, so we took the opportunity to get some less actives and potential investigators there. Both Yegor and Vladimir Nastenko came, and we had a great time. That night, we went to a dinner appointment with the Smiths, and Russia's coolest family, the Shichini.

Sunday, Marat and Ilia both flaked on us for church. But Marat sent me a big long text about how he is ready to make some serious changes in his life, so I have high hopes. Ilia also asks when we are meeting every time I text him, so as soon as he has a day off, we'll meet and have a talk about the Sabbath day :)

All in all, it was not a bad week. We are just trying to see where we can improve in having opportunities to teach, and getting solid appointments that don't cancel every single week. Despite the challenges and setbacks, we aren't discouraged, but are using it as an opportunity to stretch our faith.

The book is blue, the Gospel is true!

Elder Wilkins

Also, check out this great pic of Elder Wilkins wearing his "study tie" and making pasta carbonara with stewed horse meat. Enjoy.

Old New Years

И одного ещё не хватало!

What's up friends and family? Christmas and New Years round two was pretty tame, compared with round 1.

Tuesday, Elder Richardson and I were with the assistants on exchanges. I was with Elder Kelly. We sat in on their district meeting, had a lesson, and had a long discussion about how to do effective less-active work. We sprinted out the door the next morning carrying about 10 water filters for the rest of our zone, to make it to the center of Moscow in time for our interviews with President. From there, we went to our own district meeting, and had a dinner appointment with two families, where we had a discussion about the power that comes from keeping covenants.

Thursday was a busy one. Our building was actually broken into on Monday, after someone tarred all the door handles on Sunday. So we had to go through this big long process of getting new keys for our new doors, and we barely made it to our evening appointment on time. We took Elder Smith with us to meet with the bishop's family. Since our bishop is from South America, he and Elder Smith just started going in Spanish. A gospel discussion in three languages has a really interesting dynamic, let me tell you. We closed our meeting asking the bishop to check out chapter 13 of PMG (Working with ward and stake leaders) and get back to us about how we can better combine our efforts with those of the ward.

Friday, the Tula/Kaluga Elders came in for exchanges, and I was with Elder Heywood. One of the cool things about being a zone leader and going on so many exchanges is you get to see what the gospel does not just for the people you teach, but for the other missionaries. It was a special opportunity to see how much Elder Heywood and I have both grown since we served together.

We were really looking forward to Sunday, since Ilia, Marat, and Ira were all supposed to be at church. To our disappointment, none of them were there. Marat had come down with some kind of bug, so he didn't bring Ira, and Ilia didn't even answer the phone. However, we did see a miracle in that a member used his only day off THIS MONTH to come to church. Andrei is a superstar.

In other new, the book is blue, the gospel is true. Keep it classy.

Elder Wilkins

Fireworks Round 17

So if you are out of the loop, I'll give a short explanation for the title. In Russia, there are two Christmases and two New Years. So the holidays extend from December 24 to January 14-three straight weeks of fireworks and drunks on the street. The fireworks don't stop during the day either, it's like a constant rumbling, almost as if we were in a war zone of something. Happy holidays, good luck sleeping as we carpet bomb your apartment block.

It was a really successful week. We met the non-member husband of one of our actives, and started building a friendship with him, so we can teach him. We also made huge headway with Ira, Marat's friend. Marat is finally on board with getting her to church and immersed in the gospel. At dinner on Friday, she agreed to come to church this coming Sunday! I'm super pumped to see how she likes it, since she seems so prepared. Hopefully, Marat's involvement in the process will lead him to being a little more active, and inviting more friends.

Wednesday we had MLC at the McGhie's home. We had really enlightening discussions about topics like humility, the power of honoring our agreements and covenants with God, and how to effectively plan each day. The last thing we talked about is how to reach our mission goal of 10 baptisms a month. We, as a council, decided to make it a matter of prayer and study, and we each agreed to read PMG in it's entirety in 10 days. That's a lot of reading hahaha.

The book is blue, the gospel is true!

Read your scriptures this morning.

-Elder Wilkins

New Year, New Me (Jan 1)

С Новым Годом!

Happy New Year's everyone! Since New Year's in Russia is as big as Christmas in the States, it was kind of a hectic week.

A new couple just moved into our ward from Kiev, so we were able to meet with them. Their names are Sasha and Lena, and they are hysterical. Sasha actually served a mission in Moscow a few years back, so we are hoping he has some ins to help us find some new people to teach here!

We found out on Friday that our investigator Ilya, ended up in the hospital. He was working so hard to finish his workload that he ran himself into the ground, had some extreme kind of fatigue in the muscles of his hand, and had to get surgery. So he spent the holiday by himself in a military hospital. Woohoo, right? But he told us he should be out of there early this week, so we are hoping and praying for the best.

Sunday by far was the best day. We went a met with the family of one of the counselors in the bishopric, the Schichinyi. We had a phenomenal lesson with them, and then we helped them and some of the youth and YSA of the stake prepare for the New Year's Party at their house. Pic attached.

All in all, not a bad week.

The book is blue, the gospel is true!

Elder Wilkins

CHRISTMAS

С Наступающим!

If you have any thoughts about how hard Christmas must be for missionaries, don't worry! It is the world's best thing. The cooking isn't quite as well done, but the spirit of Christmas is strong. There is no better way to celebrate the birth of the Savior, than by sharing the good news of His Gospel!

Monday, Elder Radle and met up with Oleg, my convert from University, to play ping pong for awhile. I didn't realize how long it had been since I had seen him, until I actually saw him! For those who are wondering, he is still slowly making his way back. He hasn't been to church again yet, but he spends a lot of time with the Elders, so he is doing well. That night, we went to the Christmas Village on Red Square with one of our senior missionary couples, the Larsens.

Tuesday, we helped a member remodel a room in his apartment. He is the only active member in his family, all his kids and his wife are inactive on the verge of anti. We were blessed to see his and their hearts opened through service. Wednesday, I was on splits with Elder Webb again on a split, and we had a few good meetings with some potential investigators.

Thursday was our Christmas Mission Conference! It is always a blast to get everyone together, feel the Spirit, and catch up with people you haven't seen in months. Elder Radle and I split up, and I got my new companion, Elder Richardson. I also said goodbye to my trainer, Elder Morris, who goes home at the end of this week. Elder Richardson is pretty cool. He's from Northern California, and we've had the same opinion on every topic of conversation so far, so we're in for a good time.

Saturday was the ward Christmas party and talent show, where we combined with the University branch. I was shocked at how many people were there, and I only knew probably half of them (crazy, considering I have served in both place). That means we had a ton of non-members and less-actives there! it was a huge success, and the best part was, no one made Elder Wilkins sing this year :)

Merry Christmas!

3 Nephi 1:13-14

Elder Wilkins

Seven Days Have Come and Gone...

Good morning everyone! Happy holidays!

It was a really busy week. One of the really promising potentials I met on the street last transfer, Yegor, finally made it out of the hospital after his surgery, and texted me right away saying he wanted to meet! I am really looking forward to that, and he should be coming to the ward Christmas party with his girlfriend, so this week is hopefully the week. Ilya, unfortunately, was slammed with work all week long. He was so busy, we didn't see him at all, and only heard from him once. But he is reading the Book of Mormon and praying still, which is a great sign!

We finally, after months of trying, managed to get a meeting with our inactive Ward Mission Leader, Andrei. He is still trying to get on a mission in January, so we are trying to help him (as gently as possible) understand that he can't go on a mission until he is a active member. Needless to say, calling a new ward mission leader is in the works. Gotta take baby steps with people sometimes.

Friday I was on a split with Elder Bushlaev, and Saturday, transfer calls came. Elder Radle is leaving, and I am getting Elder Richardson, an Elder who came into the mission right after I did. He has a reputation for being a really hard working Elder, so I am looking forward to getting down to work with him this week. Later that night, a group of Elders was assigned to give a short Christmas concert at the stake primary activity. We killed it. The crowd was going wild.

Sunday, I spent the day in Podolsk again, and when I got back to Moscow, we went straight to ward council to set some goals and plans for the next year.

Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

Merry Christmas!

Elder Wilkins

It's Winter (Dec 11)

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! It was a good one. A little strange being out of the teens, because I feel like I just finished high school in May, but what do you do?

I was super pleased with the week Elder Radle and I had, but more than that, I know the Lord was pleased with it. We kept teaching Ilya, and he is keeping commitments and accepting everything so naturally. We were a little worried when he didn't come to church, but he had a work emergency show up. He called us as soon as he was free, and told us to come to the branch so we could meet.

We also had MCl (mission leadership council) this week at the home of the McGhies. We gathered for some training and to exchange ideas about what is working, what we can do better, and so forth. Using Preach My Gospel even more in our work was a big takeaway for myself and for Elder Radle, so when we got home that night, we immediately opened it up. Within minutes of beginning a serious study, we made some headway on some challenges we've been seeing in our work, which was a huge blessing.

Thursday we had exchanges with the other Elders in our district, and I got to go out and teach with Elder Webb. It was an interesting dynamic having him plan and lead the day, but he did a great job. We talked a lot about the faith to accept God's will in the attitude of "but if not...".

Friday, we went to a steakhouse with one of my favorite members in Kahovski, Marat. We made a lot of progress with his friend he wants to introduce to the gospel, so it was a double success. We are seeing the work grow!

The book is blue, the Gospel is true!

Elder Wilkins

Ft in the pics:

The cheesecake the sisters made for my birthday

Lunch with Marat

The cake