Nikolai's Baptism--This is a gospel of happiness.

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been indeed one of the greatest weeks of my life! Let me tell you why...

First, an investigator by the name of Vlad went hunting for Cedar pine cones with his friends, and gave us some. He told us that we can eat the seeds inside, after boiling them for two hours. The boiling helps to get rid of the sap and makes the pine cones softer and easier to pick out the seeds. We tried it, and the pictures are the hilarious results. They were pretty tasty, almost like sunflower seeds. It was weird, to boil pine cones, and then eat them. It just was a wacky mission event.

The picture of the brownish lumps are my attempts to make no-bake cookies in Russia. They have no peanut butter, which is the saddest thing I have ever heard, and they have no measuring utensils. I also made a cake, but it turned into brownies. I brought them to English Club for the 5-year anniversary of the club. The funny thing was that they were the worst cookies I have ever made, but the people LOVED them! They were so excited, and they wanted the recipe. So Mom, in your next email, could you send me some recipes, desserts preferably, especially for homemade bread?

A little short note for English club. There are three groups in English club. First group doesn't know how to communicate in English, but they might know a few words or sentences. That is taught by Elder Sperry. Second group, taught by me, as my trainer taught when we were companions, knows more English, and they want to learn more words and grammar. They can communicate with us, and I have Kirill, one of our members, who translates for me. Third group, is entirely speaking English. They practice talking and they learn new things such as baseball, or cruises. I used to teach that with Elder Terry, but he teaches that with Elder Harrison. So that is English club in a nutshell.
As it was the 5th anniversary of English Club, it was also 5th anniversary of the opening of the gospel in Novokuznetsk. The tradition there is to go to this холм, or hill, and we have a devotional, cook chicken over a grill, and eat chicken and bread. It is probably the craziest thing, to see me in a suit, squatting on the ground and eating chicken and bread with no utensils on top of a hill. I think it's hilarious, but it was so much fun! The elders and I also sang Count your Many Blessings, jazz-style, and in Russian. The people really liked it. There were some wild cows there, which was cool.

Also this week, there was a group training for the whole mission. Missionaries would watch over skype as President Gibbons would give counsel. Novokuznetsk is so ghetto, though, that we listened over a cell phone. So we couldn't see any of the visual aids. It was funny to us, as he would ask, "Can everyone see that person in the corner of the picture?" and we didn't even know he was showing one. We just chuckled to ourselves.The reception wasn't the best, and some of it was garbled, but it was very good training. I know that President Gibbons is meant to be the mission president here.
My Russian has been coming along great, and my handwriting has improved. All Russians write in cursive, and so I have been practicing my writing by copying scriptures to help me memorize them. That scripture is 3 Nephi 27:19-20. Can you read it at all, even though it is in Russian?
But now I have saved the best for last. Saturday was the baptism of Nikolai. This was a very special one for me, as I was with Nikolai through every single lesson from the very beginning. I was fortunate to be the one to perform the ordinance for Karmakov Nikolai Viktorovich. We had originally planned for his baptism to be on Friday, as his work schedule is strange, as he works all day, then works from 5 in the evening to 11 the next morning, then the next day is free, and the cycle goes again. Friday he would work at 5, so we planned to have the baptism at 1. When scheduling the Lotus, there was a problem with renting the sauna, as we usually rented for Saturday, and Friday they have kids using the facilities to learn how to swim. Then Nikolai got a call from his boss, having him work on Friday. We got the news on Thursday, and of course my heart sunk. "What would happen? What do we do now?" But Heavenly Father in His infinite love, made it so that Nikolai wouldn't have to work on Saturday, or Sunday, making his baptism competely possible. So the baptism was very spiritual, and now Nikolai is the newest member of the church in Novokuznetsk.

He would constantly say, that he was very happy, and I could tell. He was always smiling, and he was talking and laughing with the other members of the church. I saw a change in his countenance, and he looked better. This gospel changes people, so that their brows aren't lined with worry, and their mouths hanging low turn into bright smiles. Their eyes light up, and the Light of Christ shines. That is the miracle of this gospel, is that it changes people for the better, and makes them so much happier. This gospel isn't just happiness, but a happiness that can never be taken away. He was very happy, and I was very happy too, because I had just gained another friend and brother in the gospel. As Christ said when he was teaching the people of the Ancient Americas, "Behold, my joy is full."

This is a gospel of happiness.
Miracles happen every day.
I love this work.
I love you all.

Elder Hoggan (The Siberian Messenger, Сибирский Посланник) See-beer-skee Pos-lah-neek

Karmakov Nikolai Viktorovich