Good Week in Russia, Bad Week in America

Dear family and friends,

It was really great to talk to you on Christmas!  It was something that I really took for granted before.  My Christmas was great and fun!  The weather is starting to warm up here a little bit.  Had a good English practice : Christmas Edition.

We set an baptismal date for Egor this week and if all goes well Yuri will get baptized tomorrow.  Elder Lyman and Sumner are teaching him right now but me and Elder Lyman found him and it is great to see him progress in his faith.  He had to come to church this Sunday if he wanted to get baptized.  We were all worried when sacrament started without Yuri.  But we just placed it in the hands of the Lord and he showed up!   It was a miracle!

Me and Elder Sumner were on splits this week and had an outstanding day.  I swear the streets were prepared for us because of how many people we were able to talk to and share our message and receive their numbers.  I wasn't really sure how it was going to go at first but it was one of the best contacting days I have had on my whole mission!

My Christmas was awesome!  We were hoping and praying that we could do some service on Christmas.  We couldn't find anything and just planned to contact and do what we always do.  But while we were planning Egor called us and asked us to help him with a pemont (repair) on a wall in his house.  When we arrived I saw chunks of broken wall scattered all over the floor and Egor with a dumbbell in his hand smashing the wall.  It was quite a site and he told us in broken English,  "This is man work".  We ended up throwing the broken wall out of his window that is 2 stories up.  It was fun.

On Christmas Eve we bought a ton of Twixes and some brownie mix and made Twix brownies.  I will send some pictures it was a glorious creation and it tasted so good except the Twixes got a little burnt.  We also watched Mr. Kruger's Christmas that I found in Vlad and brought it here and wrapped it up and put it under our Christmas tree like a present.  It was great to watch and feel the true meaning of Christmas.

The weather has been pretty cold but it has started to warm up.  I think the coldest it got was -35.  I just about got frost bite but it was cool feeling a cold that I have never felt before in my whole life.  The nice thing about the cold is that you can just keep on putting clothes to get warm but with the heat you can only take off so much.

The reason my email say bad week in America is because the Panthers lost.  Dang it.  I thought they were going to have the perfect season.  At least we have the Superbowl we can still win.

Sorry this letter is so short!  I'll try to do better!  I am having a great time out here!  I love it!  I wish everyone a happy new year!

Elder Wilding

Siberia

For you Mom

Our Stockings

Thy son

Twix Brownies

Cooking

Thine son

Korea

Korean Temple

*From Elder Wilding's mom:
The Skype that almost didn't happen.

After waiting for almost two hours from the set time to Skype on Christmas Day we received this email :

Dear Parents,

Living here in Russia is an amazing opportunity, each new day brings a new experience and challenges. Today in the USA its Christmas, the magic is all around you.  Your missionary has been looking forward to this day for a long time, that once or twice a year experience to “Phone Home” however the internet here is not as reliable as we would like, and today unfortunately has been one of those days.

If you are receiving this email it’s because your missionary has called us, Elder and/or Sister Anderson and they have been disappointed and frustrated in trying to reach you! We are very sorry for this inconvenience. They Love You! They are Safe! And believe me when I say they wish they could be “Home for the Holidays”. But they are serving the Lord and today Christmas Day they will be acting as a servant of Christ, sharing the gospel with those who need them EVEN more than you do.

Wishing you and your family,

Merry Christmas!

Elder & Sister Anderson

For and in behalf of,

Elder Wilding

We were pretty let down but decided to be positive and pray that he was not feeling worse than we were since he is the one so far away from home.  Then we received this email about an hour later: 
Hello this is Elder Lyman from Angarsk. We've been having some problems. We Your sons will be calling from skype in about an hour to 2 hours.

 He looked SO great and sounded even better!  He is happy and immersed in the Lord's work!  We couldn't be prouder of this boy!  Best Christmas present ever!