The Gift of Tongues is real!

Well, Привет моя друза   (Priv-yet, Ma-ya Druz-ah) Hello my friends

This has been a crazy week. We haven't really been in Novokuznetsk for a very long time since I last wrote, but things have happened, but not very much.
The picture of me and the bag is me and a bag of  Мороженое (Moro-zhono-eeyeh) or ice cream. Ice cream sometimes comes in a bag, and you just cut the top and squeeze it out. Russia has amazing ice cream, which is weird, since it Siberia. Well, go figure.



Russian Ice Cream--Yum!

 The other picture was the game we played for family home evening. It was my turn to pick the game, so we played "Don't Eat Pete" and that was the board, which I drew myself. They don't have this game in Russia, and we called it "Не кушать Пётр" or (Neh koo-shut Pee-yoter)

Don't Eat Pete!

The greatest thing was that my first convert, Vladimir, received the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday. The priesthood is such a blessing in my life, and I am grateful to share it with others. It is really the power of God. It is wonderful to see him progress in the church. I did in fact give my talk about the Holy Ghost in Russian. I would never give a talk in English. It is very rare to find people that speak English, and we only give talks in Russian. Vladimir really appreciated it. He has become a very good friend to me. He has helped us out in teaching lessons, because we don't speak Russian, and that has been a life saver.
Oh, and also, Little Andre is getting baptized this Saturday, which will be the first young person baptized in Novokuznetsk. He will become the first deacon, which is crazy!
Our investigator, Nikolai, is having his interview on the 20th, and I hope everything will be well with him. We went over the baptismal questions with him for a lesson, and We went in real depth, and he said he had no concerns, questions, or problems, so we'll just see.
If you remember the name Vecheslav (which I doubt) we committed him to baptism, but he declined, because he felt he hasn't received an answer that this church is THE true church. Fortunately, he still wants to find out, and he is reading and praying. He knows that prayer is important, so we pray that he will receive the answer. But it made Elder Terry and I very sad when he declined. One thing that I love about this work, is that I have such a love for the people I teach. They are more than friends to me, and I want to share this gospel to them, because I know their lives will be better because of it. I want to help my friends. We love our investigators, and we pray that they will fully accept the gospel. Vecheslav has come to church a few times, and he has really contributed. He is such a great person, and I feel that he could in fact accept the gospel. We will still teach him, though it is frustrating with our language barrier.
During English club, I shared a spiritual thought about why we keep the commandments. I shared the scripture in the Book of Mormon about how those who follow the commandments are blessed temporarily and spiritually. I talked about though we have many commandments, we don't drink, smoke, we have to read the scriptures, come to church, and pay tithing. But I testified that my life is better because of it. I have eternal joy because of it. One person, named Vlad, came up to us to ask why we don't drink green or black tea. He is a really fit person, and he doesn't smoke, and he only drinks "a little". It is funny to hear people say that, because it sounds like they actually know that what they are doing is wrong, but they justify it, by saying they are doing only "a little". I told him, that I didn't actually know why we don't drink green or black tea, but that I follow the commandments. I also said how interesting it was that this revelation was given to us over 100 years ago, back when these things were totally fine. We have just realized that they are bad. I testified to him that it was indeed true, and I gave him a Word of Wisdom pamphlet. He also wanted one in English, so I gave him one that I brought, and I slipped my testimony in it, saying that how this gospel gives me eternal happiness, no matter what happens in life. I don't know what will happen, but I pray that it will be an open door for us.
When my companion was in Finland, I never stayed in the mission home. I stayed in the place known as the "Palace", which is just a really big apartment that is not as nice as the mission home. I only stayed overnight, because we went back to Novokuznetsk by train, and slept there as well. It was a exception, because Elder Terry needed to pick up the new missionary he would train, and there are only 4 missionaries in Novokuznetsk. Transfers are every six weeks as well, but that doesn't mean I will go to a different city every 6 weeks and have a new companion every 6 weeks. I could still stay with Elder Terry here in Novokuznetsk for another transfer.
Well that is all that I have for this week, tune in next week, and I should have more.

I love you all, please pray for our success.
I know that the Gift of Tongues is real.
Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles.

Elder Hoggan (The Siberian Messenger)