Russia, I Can't Believe I Have Been Here For a Month

Woah so this week flew by!  

Hit my month mark in the beautiful land of Russia!  A week full of miracles.  We also had my first zone conference.

I had borche for the first time!  We went over to Slavas and taught him a lesson and his wife fed us borche!  Borche is delicious!  I never have been one to like soup but I like borche.  I also had another first.  I took the lead in a lesson!  It was on Adam and Eve and how we can't truly understand the atonement unless we understand our fate without Christ.  Elder Holland gave a great talk about it in last general conference.  I can't wait for general conference!  Elder Lyman is telling me it is so much better on your mission.  We watch it a week after you guys will because of some reason that I don't know.  They are doing something new now President Perkinson was saying, we are partaking of the sacrament and then watching conference instead of just skipping it that week.  In zone conference for a portion of it we watched a leadership meeting that happens before conference and in it Elder Holland said that the sacrament is the most personal ordinance we do in the church because it is the only one we repeat for ourselves.

I learned soooo much during zone conference!  A lot about the prophet Joseph Smith and how we need to teach about what makes us different than any other church and focus on the Book of Mormon.  But the main focus was on keeping the Sabbath Day holy and making it a delight.  That is what the 1st presidency and the quorum of the 12 apostles have been focusing on this year.  If we keep the Sabbath Day holy our faith will increase.   We met a man on the streets who was talking to us and asking why in all American movies everyone uses Apple products, he was cool though and we tried to get his phone number but he said he lost his phone.  When me and Elder Lyman contact it seems to go by fast.  He told me a quote his stake president told him before he left.  If you're not having fun, you're doing something wrong.  That is so true.  Yeah missions are hard and discouraging sometimes but you can always have fun and love them! 

 I'm blessed to be in Angarsk right now!  Ruselan is still working and can't be baptized yet but we taught a guy named Nikolai yesterday the Restoration.  He has already been to church twice but we could never find time to meet with him.  He is friends with one of the members and lives with him and really wants to be baptized.  He will be baptized 12 days from today!  God is preparing people like crazy here in Angarsk!  That was one miracle but the other big one was that we were sitting in church after and talking to president and the members (President Perkinson came to Angarsk Branch for church) and a family walks in.  A man, a woman and a child.  It was a family!  That's just what this branch needs!  The man is from Mexico and has served a mission, he speaks no Russian at all but speaks English and Spanish.  His wife also served a mission and used to live in Angarsk.  She speaks a ton of languages like Russian, English, Spanish, French and who knows what else.  They moved here like 2 days ago and thought church was at 1:30.  It is amazing that they came!  This branch needs strong members like them.  Sealed in the temple and he worked at the Mexico MTC for a long time.  My only question is why would they move to Angarsk haha?  God works in mysterious ways!

Met another man on the street and taught him a lesson in the church.  He was walking and I started talking to him and then Elder Lyman came in and asked him if he had time now we could teach him.  We taught him and scheduled a baptismal date.  He said he had no family in Angarsk and no job and was wandering the streets looking for something.  He found it!  He said he would come to church if he could but he didn't know what the next day or even the next hour.  Sad when peoples life is like that.

I am still loving Russia and trying to learn this language.  It's definitely not easy but also definitely possible!

I love you all!

Elder Wilding

Subway for lunch!

Sister Perkinson wrote about McKay:  This is one Happy Elder Missionary! A Happy missionary is a missionary that is choosing to work hard and enjoys the results of his labor!

The West Zone

Dear Sister Wilding,

Today has been filled with many blessings from Our Heavenly Father as he has inspired and has given many promptings for our West Zone Missionaries in Zone Conference! 

The Lord has a mighty work that He is depending on all of us to carry forth! It is an awesome responsibility! We have been blessed by each of the missionaries individual testimonies! In our Zone Conference we have focused on how to "teach in the Savior's Way", "teach the Book of Mormon as the Keystone" and the convincing "power of the Restoration"! We are visiting the new branches and helping train the auxiliaries, and sharing the importance of "Reverence and Preparation for the Sacrament". It being an ordinance that we renew for ourselves weekly! 

This is one Happy Elder Missionary! A Happy missionary is a missionary that is choosing to work hard and enjoys the results of his labor!

In preparation for our Subway lunch! What a great group! We feel truly blessed to be serving with these fine "Armies of Helaman"!

Thank you again for your love and support and your prayers in behalf of our Vladivostok Mission! We love your son!

Sincerely,
President and Sister Perkinson

Vladivostok Russia