Churikinhood Living

At the start of this week I said all of my goodbyes and wrote in a few members transfer journals.  We went over to a sweet families house on Monday for FHE and gave them one of my name-tags.  The mother has a tree that she made out of name-tags with probably already around 20-30 names.  I was honored to leave it there.  That leaves me down to my last and final name-tag that is magnetic.  I don't know what happened to my others, but maybe they will turn up one day.  Then the next day we taught R the Plan of Salvation (which went good) and ended up going to another family's house for dinner.  I played one of the kids in chess that almost feels like a little brother to me and he beat me, it wasn't even close.  I beat him last time and was planning on leaving with that winning streak but he insisted we played.  Serving with Elder Lawrence these last 2 transfers I consider some of the funnest of my whole mission.  It never really hit me that I was leaving until I was already gone.  I really miss Sakhalin.  

We flew in to Artyom on Wednesday day and traveled to Vlad to try and meet with a man that Elder Lawrence met on his plane to Russia.  He wasn't there unfortunately but we had Sharma so I was happy.  Then we flew to Korea the next morning and were able to get into two sessions and perform baptisms and confirmations. Actually, that was the first time I have ever baptized anyone. It was excellent being in the temple. It always gets me ready for what is coming next.  It is a great feeling.  The next morning the Nielsons (senior missionaries there who are from Brigham City) took us up to a little outside work out area.  It was a great trip!

We made it back the next day to the motherland safe and sound.  We finally made it to our apartment Thursday night.  We are in the area of Churkin also now as Churkinhood.  It is a good place.  Kinda away from the center of town.  It takes 40 min. by bus to drive to the church. The city is HUGE.  We take a lot of buses and a lot of our money goes to those bus drivers.  The city is super hilly and extremely windy.  I get sore just from walking around and it is much colder than Sakhalin.  The branch is amazing!  So many cool and nice people live here.  Apparently the activities we have get huge attendance.  I have heard a lot about his city and whether or not they are true only time will tell.  I'm happy to be here.  Being whitewashed is a little bit of a struggle.  We don't know any of the members or investigators and sometimes when we call they are a little confused.  Getting to know the city is a fun adventure.  We haven't got lost yet! Elder Bacon is great!  He is from Arizona and has been on the mission a little over a year.  He is a wiz with directions and only needs to be somewhere once in order to know how to get there again.  It is 100% thanks to him that we haven't got lost yet.

I love you guys!  

Elder Wilding

***The photos below are from McKay's Mission President's wife along with this note:

Here is our new Vladivostok District: Chapman, Gee, Barr, Carlson, Jameson, Wilding, DeSandre, Williams, Burningham and Bacon. 

We want to thank you for your part in preparing Elder Wilding to serve the Lord here with us! 

He is a good Elder and is now serving as the District Leader here. 

We thank you for your many prayers in our behalf! 

*(2nd photo)-Saturday we discovered a little secret! Several Vladivostok Priesthood Brethren were gathered at the church doing 

some secret crafts! We are not sure what they are for, but we have a hunch because in Russia "Women's Day" is soon!

Sincerely,
President and Sister Perkinson
Vladivostok Russia

These are from McKay: 

*I had to crop out the Russian

Moving Day, Branch Presidency, and Shopka in the Summer

Hello and welcome one and all!

Marvelous week in Ussuriysk with many ups and downs!  Namely, President Z, who thinks I look like John Kennedy made us borsch and I have gained 15 pounds.  I haven't gained 15 pounds in the year I have been out here, I gained it all in the last 2 months.  I don't know where all this weight is because it isn't visible but I think I know where it is coming from.  Since the establishment of our companionship me and Elder Staiger have been eating mass amounts of a glorious even heavenly food-chum chum.  Which was supposedly healthy considering that all it contains is rice, veggies, chicken and 2 sauce packets.  But to my surprise and awful dismay we discovered just this week that chum chum contains so much fat.  I was so sad to find the news.  It is the best thing I know how to make myself and it is turning me into a mess.  Of a sad truth, the more unhealthier the food is the better the taste and it's the same if you switch it around.  To battle this startling weight gain me and Elder Staiger hit the streets and went running.  I have never had more respect for mom...after only like 20 minutes I was dying and couldn't keep on going.  Oh well, some much for chum chum 3 times a week.

S (speaks English) had me proof read his college paper that was filled with a ton of huge words I don't even know and he was asking me if it is correct to use them in this context.  Haha I hope I helped him out but I was guessing on half of it.   Our spin trimmer has been turning out to be more of a nightmare than we hoped for.  Before it shook you to the core but now it won't even cut.  Whenever we try to get it started it goes and dies.  President Z took it from us yesterday and is going to take it into his shop to fix it.  Hope everything works out.

We moved out of my home for 6 months and somehow made it to our other apartment with all our things after a few taxi rides.  I wore my shopka when we moved just so that I didn't have to pack it and when I walked out of the house all eyes where on me.  I don't blame them though because anyone who would wear one of those in this heat is absolutely nuts!  I was dying of heat until I took it off.  Our new apartment is somehow always wet and humid.  I sleep on a pull out extension of the couch, not because my bed is bad but because for some weird reason I sleep like a baby on that couch. 

The new sisters that came are Sister Merrill (I was in the MTC with her) and Sister Blonquist (who knows a girl I went to high school with and one of Taylor's friends).  District Meeting was fun and we will have a fun District!  In church this week all the missionaries just got put in callings because of the new law and I am the acting First Counselor in the branch.  Me and A (the secretary) did a lot of work after church on MLS and LCR working with the finances and trying to get me into the branch, the latter with no success.  It's an amazing opportunity to be learning how these computer programs work.  Not many missions in the world have the opportunities that we have.

I will end this email with a  quote I memorized at the request of Elder Staiger.

"Being blessed with hope, let us, as disciples, reach out to all who, for whatever reason have moved away from the hope of the gospel.  Let us reach to lift those hands which hang hopelessly down"  - Neal A. Maxwell 

Love you all and pray that all is well with you!

Elder Wilding