You Could Say That It's Cold

Good Day Everyone!

It has been another successful and fun week.  I'm so glad I am still in Angarsk.  The language it still a struggle but it is coming!  Thanks everyone for the letters, it is a delight to read them all!

This week we had some sick elders.  On Monday Elder De Sandre got sick.  On Tuesday Elder Sumner got sick.  And on Wednesday Elder Lyman got sick.  Luckily, actually by the grace and mercy of God I was spared from the sickness.  Just like I was in the MTC when everyone got sick who was in my room.  Heavenly Father has truly blessed me with good health like I was promised.  It's a huge testimony builder for me and a miracle.  Even with everyone sick I only had to stay in on Monday.  That was okay though because it was only for 3 hours that we would have been proselyting and I got a lot of Russian studies in.  I went out with Elder Lyman on Tuesday and it just like the old days.  On Wednesday Elder De Sandre was healthy again so we went out when the other elders recovered.  Everyone is healthy now and going to work.

I don't know it was kinda weird this week we talked with so many Jehovah Witnesses.  I have been surprised by how many I have met in Russia.  We were walking home with a member and I asked them if they have fallen this winter and it was like magic, right when I said that the member fell haha.  

The temperature dial right before we left the house was between -38 and -39.  When I go out my shopka and scarf just freeze up way bad and I'll try to take a picture and send it next week because it is pretty cool looking.  About every time I go out this week my eye lashes have froze.  It is a really cool feeling.  But right when we go inside everything melts.  My guess is that it got -40 Celsius in the night and that is actually -40 Fahrenheit as well.  It's good though.  I can say I know what cold is.  But honestly when we layer up we are perfectly warm.  We just have to go in stores or others places every once in while.

We had a really good lesson with Egor this week.  He came to the church and we simply read a chapter of the Book of Mormon and bore our testimony of the truthfulness and expounded on the chapter a little bit.  He told us he would read everyday.  He is a really special guy going through some hard things right now and could use the good news of the gospel.  We are lucky to be teaching him.

OK, I know I said this last week but I am actually going to send a ton of pictures this week!

I love this mission of mine!

Love Elder Wilding

Your son at Lake Baikal

Welcome to the throne

Hotel in Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Beautiful Blue Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Beautiful blue Lake Baikal and my way nice hat

Lake Baikal

Me just loving Baikal

Me and Elder Lyman at Lake Baikal

Just a taste of what it gets like getting gains in the frozen tundra

In center or в центр

In center or в центр

Approaching Santa's ice sleigh reindeer from the front and frozen trees

Tell Bryce I say, "peace"...

New Years

Our way nice set up

Nesting dolls

Baikal

Wow it is already time to write again!  

We went to Baikal today.  It is a beautiful place there.  I drank the water right out of the massive lake.  The water was so clear.  Baikal is so huge!  It looks just like the ocean.  If only we had fishing poles.  After looking at the lake and taking pictures we went to the main reneek and I bought a nesting doll for you mom (it's purple) and a few other things.  We also ate плов which is like fried rice and chicken and pork and also шашлыки which is like a shish kabob.  The food was good then we hopped on a taxi back to Irkutsk and from there a bus back to Angarsk.  It was fun and I would definitely want to go again but it is in total four hours of travel so it isn't something you want to do every p-day.  

I almost forgot, this week was New Years. HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!  The Russians love it so much.  It is their favorite holiday.  it is basically Christmas for them.  They still have Christmas but it isn't as anticipated for as New Years.  When we went out on New Years the streets were basically empty, I guess everybody partied a little too hard the night before.  Seriously it was odd how few people were on the streets, we took a tramby and we were the only ones on it and they are usually loaded.  It was still fun to be what you could of called a ghost town.  We had to go in at 5 pm.  We did weekly planning in that time instead of doing it on Friday.  And then we played ping pong the rest of the time.  Somebody sent Elder Lyman a mini ping pong net and a ball and two small paddles.  So naturally we moved our kitchen table into the living room and had tournaments of ping pong.  You need to send me one of those mom!  The whole time we played we could hear fireworks outside and could see a few.  It is actually kind of funny because they celebrate for about 10 days.  It starts on New Years and ends a little after Christmas (Jan 7th).  So we will be out contacting and fireworks will be going off behind you or in front of you.  It is so fun!  I wish it was like this all the time!

The struggle this week is that I have been losing stuff like crazy.  I lost my book that I have been keeping for 19 weeks about what happens in the week so right now I am having trouble remembering.  i also lost a hacky sack Elder De Sandres  mom gave to me for Christmas and just yesterday I lost my planner.  It was a good time to lose it I guess though because we were on our last day but this is just getting out of hand (literally!). 

It has been getting warmer and we have been on the streets a lot so that is a blessing.  The transfer ended this week and all four of us elders are staying here in Angarsk but the sisters are both out of here but are staying together and going to Khabarovsk I think.  I get to train Elder De Sandre for 6 more weeks which I am excited for.  Oh I just remembered something!  Last night when we were calling the sisters like we do every night they didn't pick up and their phone was native stupen.  So me and Elder Lyman figured that we would run over to their place to just make sure everything was OK.  We ran there and once we got there this police car pulled up with his lights on and asked what we were doing and Elder Lyman told him we were checking on our friends.  They asked for our documents and we gave them to them and everything worked out, they thought it was a little strange that we were running at 10:30 at night but everything was fine.  We called the sisters through the door phone but it was just ringing and nobody was answering.  Then the sisters called us and said that somebody was outside of their door calling their room haha.  They could see us through their window but thought that we were somebody different.  We told them it was us and they were so glad because they were so scared before they knew.  Haha that was the first time I have had a police even talk to me my whole mission.  They were really good guys though.

Well sorry I can't really remember much else that happened but I am going to buy another notebook so that I will next time.  Tell Weston поздравляю for me.

I love you all!

Elder Wilding