100 Days Plus

What a week!  So fun!

I think you saw the pictures of the hammock we made!  IT'S AWESOME!  

We had a lesson with a man named Denil this week and he has been taking the missionary lessons for a long time and we read a chapter with him in the Book of Mormon.  Mosiah 4.  After reading the chapter he said I have now come to the conclusion that we were created by aliens.  Haha what?  Then he drew that whole plan of salvation or at least what he thinks.  Then he also said that he believes that the universe is God and we got created by atoms rubbing together.  To be honest he has no idea what he believes.  He was vacationing in Thailand for the past month or so and that is why we haven't met with him till now.  Everyone in Russia goes and vacations in Thailand it seems.  

We got home and I had just started to take some of my clothes off and get ready to prepare and eat dinner, when Elder Lyman got a phone call from an investigator saying that they wanted to meet.  We had the rest of our day planned out so the only time to meet would be during our dinner hour.  We agreed to meet instead of eat.  Had an awesome lesson with him and then went to the other lessons we had planned.  The Lord always provides for those in his service.  At our last appointment the lady we were teaching fed us.  Even little things like just getting a meal because we chose to skip a meal, the Lord is always with us to provide tender mercies and even mighty miracles.

A patriarch is coming to our mission in November and since this branch is so new, nobody has their patriarchal blessings.  They are all way excited! 

Elder Lyman told me something that his stake president told him before he left on him mission that I really like, "If you're not having fun you're doing something wrong."  For some reason I feel like I sent this last week.  If I did, I'm sorry.  I really like that though.

Nikolai is going to be baptized this Saturday!  YEAH!!!!  He lives with 2 members and that is the best environment for an investigator to be in.  He accepts everything great and says he will live it.   His baptism is going to be awesome!  We have fasted for him and pray for him a lot!  He has been incredibly prepared by the Lord!

My Russian is really improving!  It was like a light switch!  I was just studying one day and for some reason cases just starting making a ton of sense to me!  The gift of tongues is real!  I can speak way better now!  Especially in prayers!  I like learning the language a lot more now because I can understand why it is the way it is!

In Russia it is considered bad luck if you whistle indoors.  We were at this grandma's house with the sisters and one of the sisters just has a habit for whistling.  She did it and the grandma smacked her fork so hard down on her plate that it almost broke!  She got so mad at her haha!  Then a little while later she whistled again on accident and she got even more mad haha!  She said you won't be doing that once all your money is gone and no one will want to marry you haha.   She really doesn't like it.

All in all another fantastic week in Russia!!!  Great place!  Blessed to be able to serve here!

I love you all 

Elder Wilding 

VLAD AT NIGHT

VLAD DURING THE DAY

View from the mission home in Vladivostok

KOREAN AIRPORT

ANGARSK

IRKUTSK

Whoa!  And, check out the billboard.

We made a hammock!

My study place (he always had an organized desk!)

Our plan of salvation and our crazy investigator's plan

Hari Krishna (doing service)

View from our apartment

Bank haha???

Forest

Me and Elder Lyman

People do this when they get married I think

xpam (temple)

 

I've Been Here For Almost a Month!

I can't really figure out pictures sorry!  But hopefully I'll figure it out eventually.  Fun week!  Last P-Day we went to a Pravaslavni temple.  They are big and there is absolutely no place to sit.  There are a lot of cool paintings inside but they wouldn't allow us to take pictures inside.  I got a lot of cool pictures of the outside though!  We made salsa this week!  Sadly it seems that all of our appointments have been falling through but so is missionary work I guess.

We meet a man named V'larry on the street the other day.  He is an atheist but agreed to talk with us more and seemed like a really great guy.  Hopefully we will be able to meet with him this week because we couldn't meet with him this past week.  We found him in Center.  Basically every Russian town (or at least the ones I have been in) has a place called Center where all the stores are and other important buildings and where the most people are.  We go there a lot to contact.  We take buses a whole lot but also walk a ton because we are trying to not spend a ton on buses.  The buses we take to Irkutsk are about 80 rubles a person (I think the ruble is at 68 for every American dollar) and it is about an hour long ride but we get reimbursed for the long ones.  They are pretty fun to ride!

I now know how to ask for referrals!  And they actually understand me!  It's really exciting when the people actually understand me!  Especially when I say a whole statement!  My average day is wake up at 6:30. Workout/shower/eat breakfast.  Then 3 hours of study and sometimes an extra hour because of training.  Then we eat lunch.  After that we hit the streets and either teach or contact til usually 5.  Eat dinner than go contact and teach again until 9.  Then planning and that's my average day.  On Tuesday we have service which is usually Hari Krishna.  Monday and Wednesday are institute which is taught by a member that we sometimes participate in.  Friday is game night! And Saturday is sports night!

Ruselan wasn't baptized.  He got a new job that makes him work from 7-10 everyday with no days off.  We have to push back his baptismal date probably about a month until they finish with the project they are working on.  It's sad but he says he reads the Book of Mormon every time he has a chance so we are we still really excited for his baptism to happen!

I was thinking about how my mission is the biggest mission in the world and I am as faraway as possible from the mission home.  That means that me and Elder Lyman are the farthest missionaries away from the mission home in any mission in the whole world!  Crazy that I am in Siberia right now!  I hope I get to stay in Angarsk for the winter but who knows how it will all work out.  We have zone conference this week and I'm excited for that!

Love,

Elder Wilding  

PS sorry I didn't send this earlier, in an attempt to send pictures it somehow closed my email and wouldn't let me log back in.

RUSSSIAIAIAIUIAAA

I love Russia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

It sounds like Spanish to me haha!  We went to that book store and found the Count of Monte Cristo.  It is 2 books in Russia.  Weird.  I also found the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and had to resist from buying it right there.  That would be a lot of weight to carry for 2 years!  Can you send me some cool family history stories?  I was surprised when one of the members asked who was the first person to join the church in my family.  Didn't think they would ask stuff like that in Russia.  Also there is a book called "Combination Reference" By Eldin Ricks that my companion has that is really good for talks and stuff.  If you send me a package I would like that in it.  I was in Irkutsk for 3 days this week.  Elder Lyman (William Grant but he goes by Grant) was on his Visa trip and his plane got delayed or something.  It was super fun though!  Elder Protopovov is our zone leader and I was with him and Elder Gardiner.  Elder P is from Moscow and way cool!  

I heard that the world cup is in Russia in 2018, so that's happening then.  I'm definitely coming back for that!  Something that surprised me is how many Subways (fast food chains) there are everywhere.  So many!  It's basically the same except their lettuce looks like death.  I gave my first blessing this week!  Sister Wilson was sick (the one Taylor knows) and she asked me to perform the blessing which was cool!  I was nervous but she got better so I guess it went well haha.  We played ping pong!  Elder Lyman is way good!  The branch president said he wants to play with us but he wasn't there.  

I had to give a talk in church this week.  My second week here and they make me speak.  Haha crazy Russians.  It went good!  Elder Lyamn helped a ton with translating it.  I made spaghetti and Elder Lyman is teaching me so much.  We are going to buy a ton of fruits today and make a ton of smoothies!  I ate a whole half of watermelon.  I have never done that before, it was great!  He just cut it in half and we went to town on the watermelon.  Our investigator Rueslan is progressing quickly!  We had his baptism scheduled this week but somebody in ward council said something that she heard so we may have to push it back but hopefully everything works out.  Rueslan called us or maybe we called him and said that when he meets with us he is inspired by our faith and loves meeting with us and after we leave he doesn't know why, but he says he just feels good and wants to do what is right!  That's a testimony to me of the power of the Holy Ghost!

We got a referral from the Zone Leader about a woman who wanted a Book of Mormon is Angarstk.  We had the address and went and looked forever for the address but nobody in Russia knows the street names.  We looked it up on the computer and it said the place didn't exist.  Haha hopefully we can find her and give her the Book of Mormon.  There is a man in the branch named Slava and he is a genius.  He has been a member since January and has already read the Book of Mormon like 4 times.  Read the bible 8 times and knows everything.  He has a photographic memory.  He was going through his scriptures with us and almost every verse was marked haha.  He has read the Koran and all these other books of scripture from weird religions and is just a genius.  Makes me glad he chose our church because he has investigated so many others.

It's funny.  Some people on the street will say "Hello" to us and laugh way hard about it.  They think it is so cool they know some English haha.  They think they are way cool when they say it haha!

Have you looked on the map where I am?  I am in like the middle of Russia.  I'm as far away as possible from the mission home.  I am in Siberia.  And I love it!

Love

Старейшиа Уилдинг

P.S.  What time is it when I email you?