Russian Rappers and Breaking Tombs

Aloha!

Fun week, we got some more snow and did some fun service.  Our friend max showed us the parts that he bought for his computer that he is making himself and he bought all the most expensive parts he could.  This world was completely foreign to me but Lawrence seemed to understand what he was talking about.  We got fed twice this week. I honestly can't think of a Russian who has fed me who isn't a great cook.... everything I have got so far has been magically delicious.

We had to take down the Book of Mormon this week.  All the paint melted off and left his eerie blue ghost color on it and most people that passed thought it was a tomb stone.  It was a labor of love when we made it and it was sad to see her go down after all the hard work that we put into her.  We basically just javelened our ice breakers and shovels into her until she broke at the bottom and then a bigger problem started when all the surrounding snow was covered with blue paint. We had to shovel it all out and hope that a big snow plow comes and takes it away.  

One of our members brought her friends to game night. He is 16 years old and an aspiring rapper.  He showed us some of his stuff and despite the fact that I understood nothing that was said, it was pretty good.  Apparently rap is taking over Russia right now.  But in Russian you don't rap rap, you read rap.

I took part in an interesting service, we showed up at a cross country ski race thinking we could help by giving out medals or something but we ended up wearing huge animal costumes and they just wanted us to go around dancing and take pictures with people.  I'll try to send a picture!  I was a hedgehog, it was fun!

Well, that about does it for this week, I hear some big changes are coming up for use related to our schedule.  Hope you all have a fantastic week!  

Love

Elder Wilding

I'm the hedgehog with the big glasses, the head didn't come off unfortunately.

Picture with both of the constructors... Elder Wilding and Elder Lawrence

 

2 Russians, 2 Americans

Good day family!

Good first week of the transfer!  A lot of area book work and trying to find new investigators.  We have a good maybe 10-15 potentials we could try to work with.  All the rest in the area book were either tried in the past and aren't interested or не доступен (means not available and is an awful plague of Russia).  Hopefully some of these people will be interested.

We are thinking about taking the Book of Mormon this week.  In her full glory she only lasted about 2 days.  The paint started to melt off and the letters went with it.  Without the letters most people assume it is a tombstone.  We had a lot of people ask us about it when we were making it and gave a guy a number because of it but besides that we haven't got any interested people from it, at least not yet.  But despite all that, making it was way worth it!  We actually were planning on making a Bible right next to it to show that we believe in both, but it is just too hot here. ***

We received a new Russian sister to our mission, not only to our mission but to Sakhalin.  Considering that we have a Russian couple already serving here and that Sister Kapralova is staying, we are out numbered by the Russians.  And it's awesome!  This is going to do wonders for my language.  The sister is from Moscow and seems really smart.  We have a great district.

The Argyles (American family) had us over for lunch yesterday.  That was so tasty! They had BBQ sauce which I don't think I have had since the MTC. Speaking of food we made a nice batch of chum chum this week it it lasted us probably 4 days.  I might have to buy mass amounts of that sauce and fill my suit cases with it and bring it home.  If not I will have large withdrawals.

We haven't got much snow since last email.  The city has been going around and knocking down huge icicles.  They set barriers around big buildings on the main roads because it would ruin your day if one of those fell on you.      

Thanks for all your supports and love!

Elder Wilding

***Note from Mom - the current weather there is 14 below -  a heat wave!

)

SNOW HAS FINALLY COME

What's Up Everybody,

This has been if not the best, then one of the best weeks of my whole mission and quite possibly my life.  It started off being really really cold that provided the perfect environment for us to re-paint the Ice Book of Mormon. It froze on almost immediately after we applied it.  We finished it and I'll send pictures.  

Then after many miracles N was baptized!!!  His service was spiritual and uplifting and he told us that whole day after his baptism he felt indescribably happy.  One of the miracles we saw teaching him was the 21st of December when we committed him to quit smoking.  He would of been baptized in the past except for the fact that he just couldn't quit. On his way home after our lesson somebody asked him for a cigarette and he just gave him the whole box.  From that day he hasn't smoked.  We see how God prepared him becasue he said that this time it was easy to quit. Prayer and fasting really does work.  Then he got the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday, but he scared us to death because he showed up 20 minutes late and his phone wasn't working.  Everything worked out in the end though.

We finally got our first blizzard, honestly probably still less than you but the snow hasn't stopped yet and we'll see where that takes us.  I have so many pictures I need to send. I hope that makes up for the shortness of this letter.  As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Love 

Elder Wilding  

BAPTISM!!!

Stages of Ice Book of Mormon

Final product!!!

BLIZZARD!

Giant Snow Book of Mormon

The new year seems just as good as the last with high potential to be even better.  Most of our free time this week was spent on the title of this email.   A week ago revelation was received to build this thing, we built her out of snow and water, block by block until she stands in her majesty about 10 ice blocks high and 3 ice blocks wide.  I will make sure to send a picture.  

​​The giant Book of Mormon seemed absolutely perfect, all we had left to do was paint the outside cover blue and carve in "Книга Мормона".  And this is where everything went wrong.  We painted it and within 30 minutes almost all of it came off creating a huge mess of blue snow all around the base.  We tried a few other methods but that just made it worse.  It became a nightmare of a mess to clean up. Most people just ended up thinking that it was a grave stone, we are going to try to spray paint the "Книга Мормона" letters this week.

Nikolai is still doing awesome!  His baptism will be this Saturday.  Along with him we got a new investigator named R.  He has came to church like 4 times already but he has always been too busy to meet. He just loves sacrament meeting.

Our sacrament meeting was interesting to say the least, it was a fast and testimony meeting and a few people threw out their political views but the spirit was brought back into it at the end.

It is a great blessing to have the Severpuxins serving with us.  We do a mini MTC meeting with them every week.  They are the first senior couple to come out from our mission ever.  

The promises of Sakhalin snow have up to this point been nothing but lies. God is just teaching me to be patient I guess. I have been told that February ALWAYS gets tons of snow.  We'll see.

Hope everyone else had a great start to the new year!

Elder Wilding

 

Hey, where were you in 2016?... Russia (and also Korea)

2017 here we go!

I am in the same place that I Skyped you at last week.  Everything (basically) is closed so we had to write at the church.  Good week to end the year, on the morning of January 1st, practically nobody was on the street except for Asians, must be because they all celebrate Chinese New Years.

I don't have much time so i will summarize what happened:

• We served at a homeless shelter
• Nikolai is still on for the Jan. 14 and is in the North for the holidays
• Our SIM card didn't get paid, and we were without a phone for a day.  This work almost seems impossible without it
• We went sledding!  Only three members came, two under 9 and we were the only ones on the hill
• We started to build our large Book of Mormon out of snow
• We were able to stay out until 9 like normal
• There is a taxi ALWAYS in the same place outside our house

Our friend R came to church again!  He is talented at the piano, we are going to start teaching him this week.

Love you all!

Elder Wilding