President's Visit

Dear home,

This week flew by.  I guess that is nothing new.  President and Sister Perkinson came this week!  They interviewed all of us and Sister Perkinson brought cookies and other treats which were delicious!

Last Monday after we emailed you we went to the store called Moscow and did this ride type thing.  It was basically a roller coaster only it couldn't move forward or side to side, only rotate and go upside down and do flips.  It would have cost at least 15-20 dollars in America.  But in good old Russia, only 200 rubles, which is barely over 3 dollars.  That is one of the nice things about having a trainee, the things about Russia that make it unique and awesome I often forget about because that is just how it is, but Elder Roosa is constantly surprised by how cheap everything is haha.  I sometimes get annoyed when something is a little more that I think it should be but compared to the price in America it is a steal of a lifetime.  Grocery shopping will probably never be the same for me when I get home.  ладно.

Serving at K's is the best!  We get to chop wood for service!  I don't know if it is because I have been out here 10 months or what it is, but I absolutely love cutting wood!  And now that the weather is so nice, service is even more amazing!  He is from Malodovia and he spoke a little of his native tongue for us.  Cool language.

We keep on calling S and his phone keeps on making the beeping noise that we have no idea what it means.  We are afraid that because he is a sailor that he got called out to sea.  He was progressing so fast and wanted to follow the right path to God so badly.  We have no idea what happened.

Spring is here and the town knows it!  They are getting fountains set up and painting the city pretty colors and doing repairs on broken stuff.  And the weather is amazing with a little breeze and cool temperature!  I know it won't last long so I am trying to savor it while I still can!

We FINALLY watched General conference!  It was inspiring.  The talks were all great and I was really impressed with the choir this year.  For whatever session that the Logan choir sang, I saw a few people I know -  that was cool!  We watched the Saturday sessions in a different room in English but on Sunday we watched it in Russian with the members.  I could hear enough of the hushed English and understood enough of the Russian that I was able to get most of what they said out of it.  But conference truly is amazing on your mission!

Learned a truth while planning for an event.  We were planning for game night and in the past it has been good but we didn't ever get that many people so we tried to make it better.  The truth I learned is that a little extra work can make a huge difference.  We planned for it just a little longer and better and game night was way better than before.  The little things make the biggest difference.

Like I said at the top, President and his wife came and visited our branch.  They interviewed all of us and that was so cool.  He is so wise and I love talking to him!  He told me and the others to try to get a more natural approach to people and maybe not always go with the gospel approach, but just talk to people and ask them about them and try and get them to ask us why we are here instead of that being the first thing we say.  Me and Elder Roosa are going to start trying to find basketball courts to play at in the summer!  Russians are so bad at basketball so we should be fine.

That's it for this week.  I don't know if not a lot happened or if I just forgot everything but like I said this week flew.

I love you all!

Elder Wilding

 

(Pictures from President's visit - letter at bottom)

Elder's Wilding, Seibach, Hess, Artyom, Roosa, Branch President Zagarodny and President Perkinson

What the weather did to my umbrella

Dacha land

My way nice sweater

Statue  - - - Our view

Dacha land

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Letter from President and Sister Perkinson:
Dear Brother and Sister Wilding,

It has been a lovely day in Ussuryisk today! We were able to drive up from Vladivostok, which is about a couple of hours away, to visit the Branch. We want to report that we found the Branch in good hands! 

Ussuryisk is a wonderful town because it seems to be very family oriented with schools and play grounds all around the town. That is also true of the Ussuryisk Branch members who understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and honestly do their best to live it!

Today our Sacrament Meeting was the rebroadcast of the 186th General Conference. Saturday's session was rebroadcasted yesterday. We had 23 members in attendance including our wonderful missionaries! The members provided lunch for everyone!

It was a spiritual feast indeed! At lunch we asked some of the members to tell us what was their favorite part about what they had heard. Some of the sisters scrambled to find their notes and read their favorite parts to the rest of us! It is wonderful to recognize their desire to continue on this path of righteous living by following the guidance and council from our living prophets and apostles! 

We are grateful for your son and the time and talents that he is sharing here in Ussuryisk! Thank you for your many prayers in behalf of all of the missionaries around the world, and especially for your prayers in behalf of our Vladivostok Mission. 

Warmly,

President and Sister Perkinson

Vladivostok Russia Mission