I am going to be getting some mittens
today, maybe some camel socks too. I
heard those are warm. The other day we went around contacting for an hour and a
half and it was very cold. I was wearing a pair of leggings, compression
shorts, 2 pairs of fluffy socks, boots with special insulating insoles, a beanie,
and an extra long sleeve shirt. And of course a big fluffy jacket too with a
hood :) I was warm except for my face and hands. If you keep your hands in your
pockets then they are warm, but if you need to pull your hand out for any
reason then it gets frozen pretty quick. Haha I had to make a couple phone calls and it was
freezingggg! Gloves are a must have... well I did have some but I sold them to
another elder who wanted some. He didn't have any :) Besides mittens are better than gloves
anyways. I can’t wait to get some.
This week we had President and Sister
Perkinson in town with the Patriarch, Elder Neuenschwander. We love the
Perkinsons. They are just very open and loving and funny in general. The
members cannot get enough of them.
Turns out that Elder Neuenschwander
lives in Utah but just flies to Russia to give Patriarchal blessings every few
months. He left this morning to go back to America. He is exhausted. I mentioned to him that my Grandpa is a
patriarch too in the valley and he served in Finland a few years ago. It turns out that Elder Neuenschwander served
in Finland, too! He is 77 or 78 years old and said he knew an Elder Woods back
in the day but doesn't remember anything specific. That’s pretty great! When the Perkinson’s flew they brought mail
and I got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa Woods. In the letter it mentioned
how Grandpa Woods served for 2 1/2 years and didn't go to the MTC because there
was none at that time. That was exactly what Elder Neuenschwander talked to us
about when we met with him this week. It was kind of like deja-vu to hear it
twice only days apart!
We deep-cleaned the branch before the
blessings and had to clean it every night too because the snow from peoples
boots tracks mud in and everything gets dirty. It is nearly impossible to keep
things clean here. I think it was well worth it though... everything turned out
great. What else... This week I ended up playing piano for the whole church
meeting. We were missing Elder Perry, who plays really great, but he is on a
Visa trip. The Branch President got sick and his wife didn't come, and I don't
think there are any other members who play the piano other than President
Soolemanovs wife. So I played for the
meetings. I also got to play a surprise
musical number with Sister Soolemanova. Please give a big thanks to all my piano
teachers I have had. Even though I wasn't very into it back then, it really is
a blessing to be able to play right now. I would encourage everyone to learn at
least 3 hymns. Opening hymn, sacrament hymn, and closing hymn. It really is a
great thing to know!
 |
| Playing Ping Pong during our dinner hour. Elder Tracy is pretty good, we have intense matches sometimes |
This week we found out transfers too
and Elder Gray is the only one from Irkutsk leaving. He is going to Khabarovsk
where he will be helping the branch. They are opening up a new area there and
Elder Gray is training a new missionary. Basically he is getting
"white-washed". The branch is pretty small there too so Elder Gray
will be doing lots of work :) He will do great. Elder Gray is a really great
missionary. The rest of us will still be the same. Elder Burningham will be coming in to replace
Elder Gray. I am still zone leader and that’s
about it. Not too many changes.
There is still some drama in the ward.
President Perkinson gave us a lesson when he was here about respect and how to
avoid arguments. The President taught
that if there is an argument, we should be smart enough to say "Alright
honey, you’re right I am sorry". It doesn't matter who is really right or
wrong. That isn't important. It is important to avoid the arguments because
they don't lead to anything useful. We thought that it was a fabulous lesson -
something the branch could really use. Then last night we went to visit a
member at their house and the husband said something and the wife said the
opposite. Turned out that the wife was right and the husband was wrong. Elder
Tracy jokingly said "Hey this is like what President taught us
today!" The husband then said "No she is still wrong and needs to
apologize to me". It is quite
frustrating... But we are focusing on the member’s strengths and trying to
compliment them when they do good. I will let you know what the results are in
a few weeks :)
I totally forgot that this week is
Thanksgiving! We are getting a party together for this weekend for the branch.
Some members want to play some turkey ball but there’s nowhere to play it :( We
will have to come up with something. I
am not sure what Russian dish you should make for Thanksgiving. Sour cabbage soup is big, borsch too, maybe
bread and butter and caviar, or holodiets. I can’t think of much more... They
don't have a giant variety here :)
I love you all! I hope you are all
doing honest self evaluations often to find out what you each need to do
better. I know that I often do it and I am a bit disappointed each time to see
how much farther I still have to go. Clarity is power, so we can't expect to
progress if we aren't being honest with ourselves on what we can and should do
better :) See you in 5 weeks or so on Skype!
Stay Frosty.
Elder Gardner
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