Subject: :) Hello Everyone!
Well I am still alive! Yaraslovl is still great! Elder Smith and I have been realizing how fast time is flying and how much stuff we have coming up. November is going to be a crazy month! We have an Elderly Couple coming to Yaroslovl, we have visa trips, we have splits in other cities to do baptismal interviews, we have leadership training in moscow and Zone Conference! Basically, it is going to be a crazy busy month and before I know it Christmas will be here! Wow time is not on my side!
Well, we tried to set two baptismal dates this past week but they didn't really work out. One person had a good reason and the second one is just scared. The First one was a guy named Sasha. He is a great guy and has been coming to our church for years to study about the mormons. He knows more about the church than most members do. He knows that this is the true church, knows that the Book of Mormon is true, knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and knows that we have a living prophet. But, he has one question he wants answered to we are waiting for President Wooley to come down and answer it for him and he is insisting that he come to church 5 times in a row before he gets baptized. Haha he is a great guy. The seconds name is Olga. She is the wife of a member and is actually more spiritual than the member. She is scared because she knows that baptism is a big decision and isn't something that you should just wake up and decide, she wants to study it out, pray and know from God, and then be baptized if she feels it is right. That is the right way to do it, but the problem is that she wont do it! She wont study, read, and pray! She knows how important it is, but she wont do it. Aka we have got a few delays at the moment and are working out some kinks. We figure there has to be more behind the scene than just her forgetting to do it. Our family is still doing great, their names are Vladimir and Irina. They are having problems with praying to know that our message is true. They don't think that they need to pray and think that as long as they are doing everything that they should and following the commandments then God will lead them in the right direction. That is completely right and we tried to explain that that is why we met, but that still just doesn't cut it for them. They need something else and want more answers to their deep questions. But, I know that when they do finally pray about what we have taught, they will get an answer as long as they are doing it with a sincere heart and ready to act upon the answer that they get! I really want to baptize a family on my mission and obviously that is every missionary's dream! Tomorrow Elder Smith and I also have a talent show that we are putting on and we are praying that people show up! It is going to be so funny and a really good time. We have some funny skits that we are going to do. I will video them and see what I can do about sending them to you :) Well you are an amazing family! Thank you for all of the love and support and prayers! The Church is true! Remember who you are!
Elder Weihing :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Subject: Hey Family
Another week in Mother Russia has come and gone! Since being in Russian I have seen a lot of really interesting things. It truly is remarkable how much of our time is wasted running into drunk people. You never know what you are going to see or happen!
Yaroslavl is great! It is getting really cold really fast! Snow is going to be here within the week I think.
We had a really good lesson with the family that we are teaching, Vladimir and Irina. They have a ton of questions and doubt and so we are working really hard to figure those out with them. This week was a big subject for them! Adam and Eve! A lot of people, at least here in Russia, have a big problem with 2 Nephi 2. Here it talks about opposition in all things is necessary and it talks about Adam and Eve falling was according the plan of God. They have argued and argued with past missionaries about this subject for a long time. So, what I did is get all ready with examples from the Bible. There are many verses that talk about evil and it's existence before the world. It talks about opposition in all things all over in the Bible. So, in short, we read the examples, gave examples and just talked. It was an amazing discussion! They talked about God and him only being good and we agreed with that. They talked about how he created Satan so how could he create something evil. We went back to evil always being there and about how God gives us free agency so Satan chose to be evil, God did not create him evil. In short, we had a very long discussion and then just testified over and over again bringing the spirit into the room. In the end, they couldn't argue with us because we answered every question and Vladimir even said that he is now starting to believe what we have to say! Wow! What an amazing experience! What confidence and knowledge we carry knowing that the spirit will always tell us what to say if we will just be patient and listen and prepare like we should!
So, this is the weird story of the week. Last week a referral was given to us from another city so we went out to find this lady a few days ago. When we got to her house she wasn't there so we just left our information and left. Well, yesterday I got a phone call from a screaming lady telling her that she doesn't want to come to church and that she doesn't want free help with english and all of this crazy stuff and I didn't really understand who it was or what the problem was. I thought that we had just run into her on the street and given her a free invitation, aka I was confused and just kept laughing and saying "It's ok you don't have to come to anything we just gave you an invitation and did sign a written agreement or anything." She got really mad and just yelled and hung up the phone. So, later last night Elder Smith gets a call from the police. Apparently, the lady was scared to death to leave her house because she was afraid that we were following her. So then it all clicked and I understood who had called me earlier that day and so we told the police that we wouldn't bother the lady and that was that. Just a random crazy experience this week. Other than that not too much is going on... we are just working on finding and organizing activities. Elder Smith and I are going to be doing some wacky talents for the talent show coming up. It is going to be pretty fun! Not too much else is going on! We have English Club with about 20 people coming regularly and a Catholic Priest approached us afterward and wants to start taking the lessons from us so that is cool.
I love you all and am grateful for your prayers and letters! You are the best! Remember who you are!
Elder Weihing :)
Another week in Mother Russia has come and gone! Since being in Russian I have seen a lot of really interesting things. It truly is remarkable how much of our time is wasted running into drunk people. You never know what you are going to see or happen!
Yaroslavl is great! It is getting really cold really fast! Snow is going to be here within the week I think.
We had a really good lesson with the family that we are teaching, Vladimir and Irina. They have a ton of questions and doubt and so we are working really hard to figure those out with them. This week was a big subject for them! Adam and Eve! A lot of people, at least here in Russia, have a big problem with 2 Nephi 2. Here it talks about opposition in all things is necessary and it talks about Adam and Eve falling was according the plan of God. They have argued and argued with past missionaries about this subject for a long time. So, what I did is get all ready with examples from the Bible. There are many verses that talk about evil and it's existence before the world. It talks about opposition in all things all over in the Bible. So, in short, we read the examples, gave examples and just talked. It was an amazing discussion! They talked about God and him only being good and we agreed with that. They talked about how he created Satan so how could he create something evil. We went back to evil always being there and about how God gives us free agency so Satan chose to be evil, God did not create him evil. In short, we had a very long discussion and then just testified over and over again bringing the spirit into the room. In the end, they couldn't argue with us because we answered every question and Vladimir even said that he is now starting to believe what we have to say! Wow! What an amazing experience! What confidence and knowledge we carry knowing that the spirit will always tell us what to say if we will just be patient and listen and prepare like we should!
So, this is the weird story of the week. Last week a referral was given to us from another city so we went out to find this lady a few days ago. When we got to her house she wasn't there so we just left our information and left. Well, yesterday I got a phone call from a screaming lady telling her that she doesn't want to come to church and that she doesn't want free help with english and all of this crazy stuff and I didn't really understand who it was or what the problem was. I thought that we had just run into her on the street and given her a free invitation, aka I was confused and just kept laughing and saying "It's ok you don't have to come to anything we just gave you an invitation and did sign a written agreement or anything." She got really mad and just yelled and hung up the phone. So, later last night Elder Smith gets a call from the police. Apparently, the lady was scared to death to leave her house because she was afraid that we were following her. So then it all clicked and I understood who had called me earlier that day and so we told the police that we wouldn't bother the lady and that was that. Just a random crazy experience this week. Other than that not too much is going on... we are just working on finding and organizing activities. Elder Smith and I are going to be doing some wacky talents for the talent show coming up. It is going to be pretty fun! Not too much else is going on! We have English Club with about 20 people coming regularly and a Catholic Priest approached us afterward and wants to start taking the lessons from us so that is cool.
I love you all and am grateful for your prayers and letters! You are the best! Remember who you are!
Elder Weihing :)
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Hello Everyone!
Wow! I can't believe that it has already been one year! Time really has flown by and now I am even more nervous because I know this next year is going to be going by faster than the first! I am so grateful for the experiences that I have had in this short year and especially for the things that I have learned. I really feel like I am a completely different person. It is amazing how much you can change in such a short time... before it was all about being with friends and laying back and relaxing. Now, I have concrete goals and barely get a time to rest. This has even caused my thinking process to completely change. How can I help this person? What are we going to be doing next? What should I ask this person? What should we teach? How can I become more like Christ? Should I turn left or right? What does this member need or this investigator need? Is this breaking a rule? What principle of the gospel does that relate to? How do I translate that into Russian? LIFE IS NOW FULL OF QUESTIONS! I have never thought like this in my entire life! I love it! Especially when I get answers to my questions! I love my mission!! :) Now one has been blessed more than I have!
Elder Smith and I had some good successful work this week. We found out that Irina, the investigator made for Elder Smith to teach, has already finished reading the Book of Mormon! She just has a few habits to get rid of and we have some things to teach her and I think that she will be ready for baptism. We also started teaching a family of four yesterday. They are amazing! That is one of my goals on my mission, to baptize a family, and I really am praying about this family! They are amazing! I will tell you about our lesson with them later in this letter. We have an investigator who has been coming for a very long time. He probably knows the Book of Mormon better than I do and the history of the Church better than anyone in Yaroslavl, but he has still not been baptized. His excuses include getting an answer from God about some questions or that he has service in the Catholic Church right now and he needs to wait until that is done. Honestly, I think it is because he drinks and smokes and doesn't know how to quit. But, he has been an eternal investigator and I am tired of eternal investigators after Nona so I am going to work my butt of with him! These people know that things are true but they refuse to take the one step that will bring them more happiness than they know... not understandable to me!! Elder Smith is a crazy guy! I am going to have some crazy stories to tell you about him when we get home! He is just.... funny!! We have been working hard and getting this city and Branch alive! But, all we can do is work and have faith that God will work with the hearts of these people through us! The work is amazing!!
Well, here is the story for the week! So, these is this couple by the name of Vladimir and Irina who sometimes come to church. Interestingly enough, Elder Malanin found them, my companion in Kazakhstan whose brother died. But, the only reason that they come to church, when they do, is because their kids love our church and always want to come here. They are members of another church here in Russia, I forgot what it is called. While I have been here in Yaroslavl they never came to church. Buy, finally last Sunday they came and I was able to really befriend them pretty well and set up a family home evening with them for last night. So, last night we went over to there house. We started out by playing "Don't Eat Pete", which even my companion had never heard of. In short, everyone loved it because it is full of candy and good stuff like that. We also made them cookies which we ate after the lesson. The lesson was great! We talked about the Plan of Salvation! They have been coming for long enough that of course they knew it pretty well, but they had tons of questions about it that they had never asked! We were able to answer most of their questions and even give them proofs from the Bible, which they believe in, to back up the plan. Then Vladimir told us his conversion story to his church that they are apart of right now. He said he was living in another city in Russia and he had been praying and praying so hard to find the truth and he didn't know what to do. Then, one day he was just walking on the street and someone random person just grabbed his shoulder and dragged him into a church to hear a discussion that was going on. He went in and was very interested in the discussion, he took that as a sign from God. Then he asked, "Why would God give me that answer and not lead me to your Church?" What do you say to a question like that? I had had this happen many more times on my mission and honestly speaking I have wondered the same thing myself. If people are honestly asking and seeking for truth why does God lead them somewhere else? It is a legit question! But, I just said the first thing that came to my mind.. "maybe you weren't ready. God gives a little here and a little there to help us grow. Maybe he was preparing you for this message. It is a like giving a new born baby meat... you can't do that. You have to give them milk and then slowly prepare them for more foods." He took that as a really legit answer and really started pondering and thinking about it. I could tell it really helped him and I know that if they will pray, like we committed them to do, they will know that this is what God has been preparing them for! It was a great lesson and the spirit was so strong! We could have spent hours just sitting there and talking about the Plan of Salvation and answering their questions!
Well I love you all! Thank you for the love and support! Remember who you are!
Elder Weihing :)
Wow! I can't believe that it has already been one year! Time really has flown by and now I am even more nervous because I know this next year is going to be going by faster than the first! I am so grateful for the experiences that I have had in this short year and especially for the things that I have learned. I really feel like I am a completely different person. It is amazing how much you can change in such a short time... before it was all about being with friends and laying back and relaxing. Now, I have concrete goals and barely get a time to rest. This has even caused my thinking process to completely change. How can I help this person? What are we going to be doing next? What should I ask this person? What should we teach? How can I become more like Christ? Should I turn left or right? What does this member need or this investigator need? Is this breaking a rule? What principle of the gospel does that relate to? How do I translate that into Russian? LIFE IS NOW FULL OF QUESTIONS! I have never thought like this in my entire life! I love it! Especially when I get answers to my questions! I love my mission!! :) Now one has been blessed more than I have!
Elder Smith and I had some good successful work this week. We found out that Irina, the investigator made for Elder Smith to teach, has already finished reading the Book of Mormon! She just has a few habits to get rid of and we have some things to teach her and I think that she will be ready for baptism. We also started teaching a family of four yesterday. They are amazing! That is one of my goals on my mission, to baptize a family, and I really am praying about this family! They are amazing! I will tell you about our lesson with them later in this letter. We have an investigator who has been coming for a very long time. He probably knows the Book of Mormon better than I do and the history of the Church better than anyone in Yaroslavl, but he has still not been baptized. His excuses include getting an answer from God about some questions or that he has service in the Catholic Church right now and he needs to wait until that is done. Honestly, I think it is because he drinks and smokes and doesn't know how to quit. But, he has been an eternal investigator and I am tired of eternal investigators after Nona so I am going to work my butt of with him! These people know that things are true but they refuse to take the one step that will bring them more happiness than they know... not understandable to me!! Elder Smith is a crazy guy! I am going to have some crazy stories to tell you about him when we get home! He is just.... funny!! We have been working hard and getting this city and Branch alive! But, all we can do is work and have faith that God will work with the hearts of these people through us! The work is amazing!!
Well, here is the story for the week! So, these is this couple by the name of Vladimir and Irina who sometimes come to church. Interestingly enough, Elder Malanin found them, my companion in Kazakhstan whose brother died. But, the only reason that they come to church, when they do, is because their kids love our church and always want to come here. They are members of another church here in Russia, I forgot what it is called. While I have been here in Yaroslavl they never came to church. Buy, finally last Sunday they came and I was able to really befriend them pretty well and set up a family home evening with them for last night. So, last night we went over to there house. We started out by playing "Don't Eat Pete", which even my companion had never heard of. In short, everyone loved it because it is full of candy and good stuff like that. We also made them cookies which we ate after the lesson. The lesson was great! We talked about the Plan of Salvation! They have been coming for long enough that of course they knew it pretty well, but they had tons of questions about it that they had never asked! We were able to answer most of their questions and even give them proofs from the Bible, which they believe in, to back up the plan. Then Vladimir told us his conversion story to his church that they are apart of right now. He said he was living in another city in Russia and he had been praying and praying so hard to find the truth and he didn't know what to do. Then, one day he was just walking on the street and someone random person just grabbed his shoulder and dragged him into a church to hear a discussion that was going on. He went in and was very interested in the discussion, he took that as a sign from God. Then he asked, "Why would God give me that answer and not lead me to your Church?" What do you say to a question like that? I had had this happen many more times on my mission and honestly speaking I have wondered the same thing myself. If people are honestly asking and seeking for truth why does God lead them somewhere else? It is a legit question! But, I just said the first thing that came to my mind.. "maybe you weren't ready. God gives a little here and a little there to help us grow. Maybe he was preparing you for this message. It is a like giving a new born baby meat... you can't do that. You have to give them milk and then slowly prepare them for more foods." He took that as a really legit answer and really started pondering and thinking about it. I could tell it really helped him and I know that if they will pray, like we committed them to do, they will know that this is what God has been preparing them for! It was a great lesson and the spirit was so strong! We could have spent hours just sitting there and talking about the Plan of Salvation and answering their questions!
Well I love you all! Thank you for the love and support! Remember who you are!
Elder Weihing :)
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Hello from Yaraslovl!
Well first and most important... it is getting dang cold here and fast! I can't imagine what winter is going to be like when there is snow on the ground! It has been raining a few times everyday and that coldness plus the rain has caused some cautions in the work. When people have to switch from the warm to the cold here in Russia it is like a Holiday.. they kinda of just take a few days off and don't do anything, that has made contacting a lot of fun! Only drunks have been on the street lately and experiences with them are a little less than miraculous!
Elder Smith and I went to Smolenks and worked with the Elders there. It was great to see Elder Bybee! But, I went on splits with his companion, Elder Hasbulen. Haha Elder Hasbulen is a semi pro basketball player here in Russia. In short, our day of service together was BALLIN! I really feel like this Zone that I am apart of is the best Zone in our mission. We have amazing dedicated missionaries. President Wooley gave us a commitment to give out 10 Books of Mormon a week and every single companionship in our Zone did that last week. We are the BOMB!
Elder Smith and I are still in finding mode! We are trying to show our faith by searching and hunting and at the same time keep up the Branch. We are trying to get to the core of the problem with the branch president and see what we can do. We are working to organize activities such as a sports day, family home evening, english club, and maybe a random food night where we can get together with investigators and members just for fun. We have good ideas for Yaroslavl!
Elder Smith and I also went to a school this week to help kids with English (our investigator is the teacher). It was awesome! Irina, our investigator, explained that it was these childrens first time ever seeing an American. Haha they were about 13 years old. They were all so scared!! It was so funny for me to see. We had to sing the National Anthem for them, which didn't go over so great. Overall, it was a fun experience though.
We also helped a member family move yesterday. I know that we have moved quite a few times, but here moving is so much worse! This family moved from an apartment on the seventh floor without elevators to an apartment on the fourth floor without elevators! It was a good workout!
The week has been pretty slow and it is finally getting cold! Pray for me and my companion to find those whom the Lord has chosen and prepared to find our message! Pray for the branch and especially for the Branch President, President Vanaev! I love you all! Remember who you are! :)
Elder Weihing
Well first and most important... it is getting dang cold here and fast! I can't imagine what winter is going to be like when there is snow on the ground! It has been raining a few times everyday and that coldness plus the rain has caused some cautions in the work. When people have to switch from the warm to the cold here in Russia it is like a Holiday.. they kinda of just take a few days off and don't do anything, that has made contacting a lot of fun! Only drunks have been on the street lately and experiences with them are a little less than miraculous!
Elder Smith and I went to Smolenks and worked with the Elders there. It was great to see Elder Bybee! But, I went on splits with his companion, Elder Hasbulen. Haha Elder Hasbulen is a semi pro basketball player here in Russia. In short, our day of service together was BALLIN! I really feel like this Zone that I am apart of is the best Zone in our mission. We have amazing dedicated missionaries. President Wooley gave us a commitment to give out 10 Books of Mormon a week and every single companionship in our Zone did that last week. We are the BOMB!
Elder Smith and I are still in finding mode! We are trying to show our faith by searching and hunting and at the same time keep up the Branch. We are trying to get to the core of the problem with the branch president and see what we can do. We are working to organize activities such as a sports day, family home evening, english club, and maybe a random food night where we can get together with investigators and members just for fun. We have good ideas for Yaroslavl!
Elder Smith and I also went to a school this week to help kids with English (our investigator is the teacher). It was awesome! Irina, our investigator, explained that it was these childrens first time ever seeing an American. Haha they were about 13 years old. They were all so scared!! It was so funny for me to see. We had to sing the National Anthem for them, which didn't go over so great. Overall, it was a fun experience though.
We also helped a member family move yesterday. I know that we have moved quite a few times, but here moving is so much worse! This family moved from an apartment on the seventh floor without elevators to an apartment on the fourth floor without elevators! It was a good workout!
The week has been pretty slow and it is finally getting cold! Pray for me and my companion to find those whom the Lord has chosen and prepared to find our message! Pray for the branch and especially for the Branch President, President Vanaev! I love you all! Remember who you are! :)
Elder Weihing
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