Stake Conference

Well its getting pretty hot here. and its a lot more humid than vegas, so dont be expecting much of a break from the heat when you come. A couple things i was wondering if you could bring when you come- 2 first aid kits that are soft and kinda foldable that zipper up and have belt loops smaller than a piece of paper, if thats possible- the guard at the central building is all about those and you cant get anything like em here, he wants them for his grandkids.


Congrats to Zanna on graduating, she was the only one that we were worrying about, so good thats out of the way.

Today we went up to sergiyev pasad-a little town known for a huge temple splatter inside a big wall. really beautiful place, but we talked to some priests and they werent the nicest when they found out who we were. we went with the whole district. i didnt bring my camera cord so ill send ;pics next week. tell Brent that i said hi and that i expect him to be engaged by the time i get home. just kidding.

well i sure hope that you guys get those visas, that would be a bummer if you didnt make it cuz of that! Everyone is way excited to meet you.

so this week was way cool cuz elder Christofferson came and spoke to us, as well as President Rasband, Bishop Stevenson, And our area authorities. we had stake conference and thank heavens an investigator came! President Lawrence gave a talk on tithing and Elder Christofferson commented on what he said, and after the meeting our investigator (she is a young babushka from kyrgysia) said that she had a few questions but one that she wanted us to answer right then was "how can i pay tithing?" she said that even though she doesnt have money she wants to give something! she is way awesome and probably our only progressing investigator at the moment. everyone else has dropped off for one reason or another. that just always seems to happen-back to square one aka lots of contacting! thats what we have been doing this past week mostly, at least the weather is nice for it and there are actually people outside.

I am grateful for great parents who taught me well and awesome sisters who are way smarter than i am. I am grateful for the Gospel and what it has done and continues to do for our family as we prgress in this life together. The other day I have been on my mission for exactly 2 years. Wow, thats a long time to not see your entire family and everyone you had ever known for the first 19 years of your life. I am grateful for the blessings of serving a mission and contributing to the Lords work in gathering Israel in this part of the vineyard. I pray that My time spent here will have blessed these great people in some way. I saw Vitaly's mom at stake conference and she thanked me for helping Vitaly. He is doing really well on his mission. I asked her about doing an excursion when you guys come and she was excited for that.

well i need to get going, but have a great week and we will talk to you next week. Tell Uncle Eric Hello from President Lawrence.

Love Elder Paul

There Really is Life After Death

The work here continues. Last week we had some good meetings. We invited Damian to be baptized if he comes to know that the church is true through the Book of Mormon. He agreed, but not to a date yet. He didnt make it to church on sunday unfortunately-he has been having some troubles with money and so thats why he couldnt make it. We made him some breakfast and brought it over to him and he really appreciated it.


Nelson doesnt meet in the central building, but you will definitely get to see him. I dont remember if i told you or not that Sokolniki ward got moved to the central building because the rent ended on the old building and the owner didnt want to extend. so now every ward that i have served in is in the central building! that was a couple weeks ago, but i cant remeber to save my life if i told you or not. that will make visiting church very easy when you come!

So this past week we had a hard time meeting with our most progressing investigators mainly because of exams, but now that is all rapidly coming to an end so we will be more able to meet with people more often.

We met a guy yesterday who met the church in Kyrgystan but im thinking it was definitely not our mormon church, but another mormon church. Really weird thing, we asked him if he had a Book of Mormon and he said no, the only thing that they had in Russian at that time was Pages of the translation and not an actual book...and that was in 2002, also i dont know that we have ever had missionaries in Kyrgystan. so we gave him a Book of Mormon, but have yet to break the news to him that he probably has the wrong church in mind. way nice guy though.

Its definitely crazy hearing that everyone is getting home now...have you heard anything from Brent? I cant help but think that there really is life after death, and that before i know it, ill be dead. With a month left, i still have sufficient time to help a lot of people and to do a lot of good here, and thats what i intend to do. Thank you for your help and support and motivation for me to work my hardest to serve the Lord. I pray every day for my family and it is no surprise to me that Heavenly Father answers those prayers.

Have a great week! Love, Elder Paul

An Accordian is Coming Home

Well well well, glad to hear the old famdamily is doin swell. good luck on the half! I'm crossing my fingers on the visa thing, but somehow i know there wont be a problem. All's well that ends well. This week was a really great week with 3 new investigators! We met this awesome guy from Nigeria whose mom is american and he is here studying the old rooskie yazeek. he is Catholic and an awesome missionary! he shares the good news with everyone and the whole dorm knows him in half a week he is half way through the book of mormon and he is stoked about helping his whole dorm building learn about Jusus Christ with our help! He couldnt make it to church on sunday, but we are hoping next week will work. I really want to introduce him to Nelson! Really good things are happening right now, my spirits are high and the weather is perfect. We most likely will not bump into Vitaly in Peter cuz hes in an outer city, so thats a bummer. Sister Ryazanova and anton are already preparing for us and they want to invite us to dinner on the evening of the 13th, i figured that would be perfect. As far as gifts, some good ideas might be mugs that say something with Las Vegas on them and putting stuff in the mugs. i dunno.


So I was thinking of what kind of souvenir i could buy that would be really awesome and i figured i need to get an accordian, to make a long story short, It turns out some elders up in Z-grad were given an accordian a couple years ago from the landlady and nobody claimed it because the couldnt get it home, so i asked about it and they are gonna give it to me. I figure between the 6 of us there should be enough space to bring an accordian home.

We are going to ride bikes in the park with our district today so thatl be fun!

The late Elder Lex was in moscow last week and we bumped into him on P-day in moscow and he is AWESOME! he has a girlfriend and hes just the greatest guy!! And his family is just perfect. he also is one boy with three sisters.

So im running short on time, but good to talk to you! enjoy your week and take a dip in the old pool for me. and win that race too!
Love Elder Paul

The Work Rolls on in Mitischi!

Well, as far as the coins, thats great and for las vegas souvenirs maybe like 10 but it depends on what it is, it doesnt need to be anything too costly. So the new transfer starts on the first of June. on the 16th of june i will have been serving for 2 full years. Thats a really crazy thought. I never had even thought that the time of my mission wuld come and now its already almost over. especially that my homecoming talk is already scheduled.


Today is a rainy day, but its nice nonetheless. Later today Sister Lawrence is doing a devotional on Spiritual Gifts which i am stoked about. there was a great section in the book The Infinite Atonement about spiritual gifts that i loved.

Before the devotional, President Lawrence wanted to meet with me and Elder Samuelson pertaining to language study, so that will be good to see him.

This past week we met with an inactive member who has been inactive for 3 years and we got him excited about helping us with missionary work on member presents, hopefully by having him help us with missionary work, he will see the importance of coming back to church. This is also a good way to get member presents on our meetings because its very hard in our area to do that. We have a few investigators with great potential who we are working with. Also this week we went to an english club of a lady who lives in our area and helped with that. we met some great kids and talked about future plans, something i have been thinking about a lot lately.
Well Im short on time today, but know that all is well here and that the work rolls on here in Mitischi!
Love you guys! ELder Paul

Potential

Congratulations to Delaney on state! I will be there to cheer her on next year when they take 1st. As far as the Visas go, that sounds like a pain in the butt, but im sure it will all be worth it! I have had a couple requests of things from the US, either in a package or just to bring when you come. Big Red gum and some of the presidents dollar coins. And some souvenirs from las vegas would be a good idea too. I cant wait to introduce you all to the wonderful friends i have made, members and non-members. This last week we didnt see any new investigators, but we have great potential for the future. we met with a few members out at the far end of our area, another 30 min from moscow a city called Pushkina. I went out there on a split with Elder Clawson, and while we were along the side of a forest, his foot fell in a black mud hole and we had to wash it out in a dirty little stream and try to mask the smell for a meeting that we had soon after that. It was a good little split and we are working closer with the members in our area now. Everyone has given me about a thousand recomendations of what to do when you guys come and there is no way thet we will be able to do everything, but Vitaly Donosov's mom offered to take us on a tour through the kremlin, as she used to be a tour guide there. so maybe that will work out. Today ina few hours we will be going to moscow to play frisbee in the park with a bunch of investigators. I have only really played frisbee once on my mission, so it should be fun. I think I will get some KFC for lunch here in a few minutes. here they call kfc "Rostiks" for whatever reason. I have been eating a lot of Mak Dak lately, so its time for a change. we live right next to this mall and theres such great food here that i would much rather eat here sometimes than making stuff. I dream of mothers home cooked dishes. chicken supreme has been popping up in my mind a lot lately. and italian sodas. America definitely beats Russia in the snack competition. Ive been craving some goldfish and cheeseits and cheetos and white cheddar popcorn and raisinets and so on. maybe its agood thing they dont have all that here so my wallet wont go empty and my health wont get any worse. We had an open house this week in our ward and we had 4 investigators there and overall there were maybe ten non-members, so that was good. This week we will meet with an investigator and her son in law and try to start working with him to help him stop drinking. I havent had too much experience with that on my mission surprisingly, as everyone here drinks, but I figure most of the people that have been prepared to recieve the gospel dont have problems drinking. But thats not always the case. We also have a great investigator named Timur and we are hoping to help him quit smoking and drinking. He is a great kid 20 years old who we met throgh english club and hes stoked about coming to church, hes been twice, and he wants to increase his faith. great sincere guy. well time is up, so good luck this week, cant wait to hear from you next week! Love, ELder Paul

7 letters left!

Thank you to all who are supporting Mitch on his mission! There will only be 7 letters left! On the 8th Monday we (mom,dad, and sisters) will all be in Russia picking Mitchell up!

Sick Elder

Thats funny you metioned elder ellis, because i just had my last Visa trip a few days ago and I was in the same endowment session as him and we talked a little bit after. I have never bumped into elders from other missions in Kiev, so it was quite the coincidence. I cant say that i remember Elder Barnes, I was in the group before Elder Ellis, so i dont know that we met. but let him know that Elder Ellis is alive and well. In other news, right after the Visa trip i got sick and i have been sick for a few days now with a fever, headache, sick stomach. not too fun but i suppose it as bound to happen at some point . I should be better by tomorrow. News on the phone home. Im not going to be able to call you due to the fact that i will have skyping capabilities at the senior couple in our district. I will skype in to dewitt.paul at 7 oclock pm on sunday MY TIME. that might make it 9am sunday mrning your time but you will have to check. If something doent work with that send me an email before sunday and i will call you on my monday, but that should work. Im excited to talk to you! have a good week, I love you guys! Love Elder Paul