The
stuff that falls from the trees, called pookh, isn't too fun:p We
were playing basketball last P-day and as I went up for a 540 behind the back
slam dunk I inhaled some pookh and got a piece stuck in my throat! Hahah it was
horrible:) We also saw some people lighting big piles of it on fire. They think
it is easier to burn it than to sweep it out of the way. This rain is helping
keep it down though. I am thankful!
This
week our pianist didn't show up for Church and I was the lucky individual who
got to play for sacrament meeting. I wouldn't say I am good yet, but definitely
improving:) I would reccomend that to all missionaries present and future.
Learn to play the piano! It is such a dissapointment having to sing without
accompaniment because most of the time, people don't sing very loudly or very
proudly. But as we know, you should always Sing Loud and Sing Proud! Music is
probably one of the best ways to invite the Holy Ghost too. We like to sing
sometimes at the beginning of our lessons when we meet with people and that is
always fun:)
This
week I didn't get to go to Ulan-Ude. The plans didn't work out because they are
coming to Irkutsk this week. There will be a big conference with President
Perkinson so us going to Ulan-Ude last week would have been excessive.
It
is great to be here in Russia, not much happened this week:) We met with some
less active members of the Church and they are going to their old Church. They
don't like our Church because its boring and they said they like their old
Church because there they get to dance and sing and basically party haha...
interestingggg:p
We
tried explaining to them that there is one true church on the Earth. We showed
them the verse in the Bible in Ephesians Chapter 4 verse 5. And it felt just
like in the Joseph Smith video. "If there is one Lord, one faith, and one
baptism then why do the churches all differ in their teachings? Shouldn't there
be one answer that is correct?" That is a really big problem here. We talk
to people all day, and nearly every person tells us "All churches are
true." We ask how that can be true and if they all teach something
different. For example, in the Pravoslavnee (Russian Orthodox) Church they say
that babies need to be baptized because of Adams sin. Sometimes it is called
original sin. In other churches they say that babies don't need to be baptized
because they haven't sinned. They are clean. We ask people which teaching is
true and do you know what they reply? "Both are true. You can't say that
one Church is wrong and one is right. It just depends on what you
believe." That doesn't make sense in my head. Do babies need to be
baptized or not? They don't seem to think there is an absolute truth in this
world.
It
reminds me of the talk given by D. Todd Christopherson in the October General
Conference of 2014. He said "To those who believe anything or everything could be true,
the declaration of objective, fixed, and universal truth feels like coercion—“I
shouldn’t be forced to believe something is true that I don’t like.” But that
does not change reality. Resenting the law of gravity won’t keep a person from
falling if he steps off a cliff. The same is true for eternal law and
justice."
I don't know how to better explain it than that:) There is one
true church of God on this earth. I hope you all have a wonderful week and stay
healthy:)
Stay Frosty,
Elder Gardner
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