Great week!

Dear Family,

Yesterday we passed our four week mark of arriving here. What a busy and amazing experience this has been! Overall it has been far better than we could have imagined. It is exhiliarating and exhausting. We are having amazing experiences, learning so much, and feeling the tender mercies of the Lord often.

Our two wonderful sister trainers.

This week our mission hosted a young adult conference for our mission and the two missions east of us. That is an enormous area. It was well attended with about 180 young adults. There were also many wonderful senior missionary couples from all three missions. They met at a beautiful resort up in the Ural Mountains, about an hour drive away. We went up Wednesday and spoke at the opening session. It means so much to these young people to be able to meet and associate with other young adults. So many of them live in very small branches. we returned Saturday for the final testimony meeting and for Dad to be the last speaker to wrap up the conference. He told about the Ito family and it touched everyone's heart. We really felt a powerful spirit as we sat on the stand looking into their faces. The Lord is raising up a new generation in Russia that will be able to move the church forward in a powerful way, a way that their parents simply could not do.

We met a wonderful young man from Kazakhstan who is so excited because his mission call should arrive any day. He has been a member of the church for one year. So many of the young people here who serve missions are very recent converts. We have a bunch of them in our mission and they are dedicated, hard working missionaries. When our transfers come out next week we will be getting a new assistant who is Russian. He is a wonderful, humble young man. We expect it to be noticed by the members with excitement because it is the first time that anyone can remember that one of the Russian missionaries has served in that position.

A young man from Kazakhstan who is excited to be a missionary soon.

Wednesday after we turned from the conference we picked up our assistants and drove to an outlying town, it is about a 45 minute drive. Previously there was a branch there but it was closed down a couple of years ago. When that happened quite a number of members quit coming. The assistants had set up appointments with 6 people, all but one of which were members who had become less active when their branch was closed down. The ride into Yekaterinburg is long and too expensive for some.

We had an extraordinary experience meeting with one young man who was an investigator several years ago. He is 28. He worked with the missionaries for several years but never joined the church. The assistants found him in the area book and when they called him, he agreed to meet with us. His name is Timofey. His apartment was typical, a living room about the size of our laundry room in Bountiful, a tiny kitchen and tiny bathroom. We sat on his bed, almost knee to knee with him. He offered us bananas to eat and Dad asked him to tell us what he thought of the church. He went into a rather long explanation of why he had not joined, that his work schedule was so demanding that he could not attend clear into Ekaterinburg, that when the missionaries were withdrawn from the town he lost interest in our church and began to go to other churches, that he was searching for the true church that would help him to truly know and worship the Savior. As he spoke the spirit came to us so clearly. In spite of his objections, we could feel such a strong spirit in him. I was so touched as I looked into his eyes that tears came. I could feel a noble spirit. I wondered if the others were feeling it too. When he finished his explanation, dad began to speak and it was clear he had felt very strong impressions. He told Timofey that The Lord was mindful of him and had a plan for him. He told him that there were three things that The Lord wanted him to do. I wondered how he would react, and was touched when he said he wanted to get a piece of paper to write these things down. Dad told him that he needed to read the Book of Mormon and pray sincerely to know that it is true. Then he needed to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. And third, The Lord wanted him to prepare to be a priesthood leader in this town and help the missionaries build up a branch. He told him that The Lord would use him as a Priesthood leader to bless the lives of the members of his branch, and that it would grow to be a strong and faithful congregation. When Dad finished and asked him what he thought, he surprised all of us by asking if he could pray. He offered the most heartfelt prayer, asking The Lord to help him to accomplish the three things, and to bless the area, and to help him find people who would be interested in receiving the message of the gospel. It felt like the prayer a bishop would say over his stewardship. The spirit was very strong and clear. It was a sweet and emotional experience for all of us. It was so easy to feel Heavenly Father's love for him. He clearly is of the blood of Israel, and will be a strong Priesthood leader and a great blessing in that town. We left with hugs and a promise to return. What an amazing and unexpected experience it was!

Our other visits were also tender. We visited Anna who is very old and feeble, in great pain, and will probably pass away this week. She has no family and lives in a tiny, dirty apartment. She was a strong member years ago, but now that there is no branch there and she has no family, there is no one to care for her. We noticed that she had very little food and sent the elders to get milk, yogurt and bread. She refused to eat it and also refused a Priesthood blessing because she said she had one before and it "didn't work". I felt impressed to ask her if we could sing a favorite hymn for her. Her eyes lit up and she asked for "I Am a Child of God". We sang In English because we didn't have a Russian hymn book, but she hummed along and seemed to appreciate hearing music that she loved. We offered a prayer with her. As we left our hearts were heavy. When she does pass away, it will be a wonderful day for her. I hope it comes soon. She will be relieved from pain and be able to feel the Saviors love for her

We visited a young single mother living in a terrible apartment with her daughter and renting out the living room at night for two Iranian people to sleep in. It is a bad situation for her but she needs the money. She can't afford the bus fare to attend church. We read the Book of Mormon with her and shared our testimonies. She is happy that dad is putting two missionaries back in the town to try and get a branch reestablished

We visited with a man, about 30 who has health problems, but is a priest in the aaronic priesthood. He was so touched that the mission president would come and visit him. He asked for a blessing which was very sweet and full of hope. He agreed to do all that he could to help the missionaries build a branch.

Our other visits were with three members who attend as much as they can, considering that it is a long bus ride into Ekaterinburg. One is a man who is physically handicapped. There are also two young women who just returned from serving missions in Moscow. The branch was closed while they were gone. They were so happy to think that there could be a branch reestablished in their town. We arrived home late but thankful for a wonderful day.

The members who will help us establish a branch again in their town.

We are grateful for the opportunity to serve here. It truly is a sacrifice to leave all of our wonderful family, but we know that our lives have been so blessed by the gospel and we are happy to do all that we can to bring those blessings to the dear people of Russia. I love being a missionary and appreciate more each day what all of our sons and sons in law have sacrificed to serve with all your hearts.

We miss you all and we love you to pieces!
Mom/Grandma