Epic week came about us this last week here in the Yekaterinburg Zone!
After our chores and internet we went straight back home to get changed out to play some football in the rain. We invited members and non members to come to the activity but only us and one of the other companionship's showed up. We ended up throwing the ball around and having a ton of college orientation groups come over and asking about who we were. Just by our appearance we stand out as Americans it seems. on the way there I was holding a football in my hands and a man turned to me and asked if I played rugby. I told him the only time I played rugby was on my knees with friends back home in high school. He laughed and was puzzled and recognized the slight American accent that I have. This guy was golden. We had a short conversation on the ride to the grove in the middle of the city about the church and then swapped numbers. The Lord puts many opportunities in our path when we obey with exactness. It was a good day and we ended it with a meeting with the man that wants to quit smoking but have decided to drop him as an investigator due to his behavior on lessons and not keeping any commitments that we give him. Unfortunately we had to conclude to such actions but there are many prepared souls out there to talk to.
We got a call from a new member to meet with his friend a second time this past week and teach him the Restoration in full. he kept his reading assignment and prays often due to his current faith. He is a really neat guy who at one time taught physics in the college around his house and has been searching for truth for a long time. It was a tough lesson after he contradicted a few of our principles that we were teaching and I felt like the referee between everyone in that room who were trying to take shots at each others faith. We quickly ended that meeting and went contacting. Lately, we have been talking to a ton of people during our contacting "power hours" and have received many blessing from that. We called up and down lists about everyday this week in order to get return appointments with them. Later that night we went on a fun little excursion to the town about an hour outside the city and there met with a member and his son who is now also a new investigator at us. The dad who was baptized this last June is really good at scaring me and on the lesson I did not feel confident but he is a really genuine member and awesome. I forgot to say the famous line at the end of our lesson, "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." He just about died laughing because he said that it was not allowed to forget such a simple phrase. Our relationship is ten times better now! ha-ha
This day had to be the funnest day of my week. I went on splits with Elder P in for the day. We had fun the whole day just doing the Lord's work and stopping by less actives was super hilarious. We were coming upon this big apartment building's entrance and there stood a pretty girl at the door who took a look at us and allowed us in. We ran inside and into to the elevator double checking the information on the ward list. Once we reached the floor we came to the outer door which led to the individual apartments and rang the door bell. We awaited for someone to come out and greet us.
There was commotion on the other side and at the same moment the girl was opening the door the elevator door opened up to our left and out came the girl. Apparently the stop by was that girl and
her friend who lived there as well. We just were sweating and communicated with them as fast as possible and set the return appointment. As the day came to a close our meetings had canceled on us and we took a look at our goals to have three meetings and knew that despite the rain we needed to go out and go contacting like crazy! So we did. My hands were freezing and we were soaking wet. You should have seen us buying treats for tea and everyone just looking at two joyful missionaries who gave out three books of Mormon in an hour. Accomplishment!
The rest of the week was fantastic! We met with President to talk about transfers and make area changes yet again to meet the qualifications of Yekat to meet its full potential. I am sorry this is short but we got a ton to do today and many more stories I can tell but I got time after my mission to tell a bunch to you all. I love you all and have a great week.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Sept 10, 2012
It is preperation day yet again!? This just proves that your mission goes by way too fast! The end of this last week has been great in going out and representing the Lord in every way possible. When the Spirit is burning within you, nothing can stop you from sharing your testimony. One of the things I have started to change is getting up at 5:45 to get in extra language study and doing the P90x program at 6:30am in the morning as well. Today was only the first day of changing up my routine but I believe that I will get a hold of it soon enough. haha Making changes and perfecting ourselves requires us to grow spiritually, mentally, and physically in order to reach your full potential.
We have been teaching one man here in Yekaterinburg for the past few weeks in order to get him ready to be baptized this upcoming Saturday. He has not smoked for about a week and wants to be baptized. Now we are just getting him to understand the ordinance within itself and grasp the concept of 'enduring to the end.' The theme of "enduring to the end," has rung within my thoughts for the past few days after I sent my last email full of vigor and enthusiasm for the work that I am participating in. I realized that maybe we need to do some muscle confusions for the natural man inside us in order to allow the light of the gospel grow within us. We have many opportunites to do so in our lives through scriptures study and prayer we can find the methods to align ourselves with the will of God. This takes quite a bit of humility and requires a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Of course, this does not mean you are weak or passive, but that we are good listeners and learners. We need to be teachable in order to hear the still small voice from the Holy Ghost teestify to us of things that we need to do. Everyday here in the mission field I get many promptings to do something good. By listening to that prompting, I have been talking to wonderful people on the streets, at meetings and on trasnport. I haven't allowed anything to hold me back. The man with his baptismal date coming up has recognized the need to be baptized, but it will mean nothing to him if he is not willing to continue to live by the commandments and teachings of our Savior.
I don't have enough fingers to count the times that my companion and I have had to state our purpose as missionaries to investigators. Doing so as quickly as possible opens up the doors to revelation for that person and to us in order to teach him needed principles. That is why it has been hard for a few people in our teaching pool to progress. Another investigator is going through a tough time in his life . Pray for him please! That was a testament to me that alcohol is really stupid and that was the cause of all of it. Him and his girlfriend consider us as friends and we are trying to get him to understand the need to be baptized with authority from God in order to receive repentance. We are baptized unto repentance!
I don't have enough fingers to count the times that my companion and I have had to state our purpose as missionaries to investigators. Doing so as quickly as possible opens up the doors to revelation for that person and to us in order to teach him needed principles. That is why it has been hard for a few people in our teaching pool to progress. Another investigator is going through a tough time in his life . Pray for him please! That was a testament to me that alcohol is really stupid and that was the cause of all of it. Him and his girlfriend consider us as friends and we are trying to get him to understand the need to be baptized with authority from God in order to receive repentance. We are baptized unto repentance!
I want to bear testimony that God loves every one of you. No matter the pain, sorrow, or guilt that we feel; we need to realize that it can be taken all away thanks to the EVERLASTING ATONEMENT! What a great gift. We must understand it and apply it to be on the path to receive all the blessings that our Heavenly Father has for each and everyone of us! Love you all.
Elder LeFevre
Sept 5, 2012
I feel so full of the Spirit everyday here in Russia. It doesn't matter where we are, we can always feel the love that comes from our Heavenly Father as we obey his voice. I have been learning about obedience every day of my mission it seems and how big of a law it is in the eternal aspect of things. After leaving Chelyabinsk, it has taken me a while to get a grasp upon where I am at in my mission and how I am anticipating in this amazing work. I love the calling that I have and the responsibility it brings as I stretch myself beyond measure to gain as much knowledge and experience as possible when exercising faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. This past week was the second week of this transfer and an opportunity to get a good start on accomplishing the goal that was set in our mission of 91 baptisms by the end of this year. As of now we have 52 baptisms to go and four months left. I found myself in the "rut" of things this last transfer and have been praying to receive answers on my prayers of what I need to do in order to keep developing talents in the language, teaching, and leadership qualities. Many things have changed in my attitude toward the work and in my relationship with my Heavenly Father. Many events in the past week were catalysts in the process of this mighty "change of heart" inside me and it started with bringing some light into my understanding.
This past week my companion and I having been working to get ten new investigators and two baptisms by the end of this transfer, however realized that we can do things better and have been aligning ourselves to live everything exactly obedient. I remember the three points of advice Uncle Clark gave to me after being set apart was, "OBEDIENCE, OBEDIENCE, OBEDIENCE!" The great thing about this advice is that it has a very eternal role and is first law in heaven. My companion and I are far from perfect, but we got a hold of ourselves and realized that every lesson we had in the past transfer could have been better and they could have been closer to baptism. Every meeting this past week has focused upon helping them keep their commitments and coming closer to baptism or dropped in order to find the elect. There are plenty of people to talk to. As the week approached to an end we had the privilege of meeting President and Sister Lawrence from the area presidency on Sunday 2nd of September at a special district conference. Chelyabinsk took a bus ride early that morning to come to the meeting at ten in the morning which consisted only of new members and investigators. The room was full. It was great to see the two investigators who had received baptism in my time of teaching them there and being reunited with smiles and words of gratitude. I cannot express the feeling of joy and love I felt as I saw one of them get the Melcesidic Priesthood and to know that the recent member is passing the sacrament. These are testaments to me of hard work, faith and obedience. These three principles are in our mission scripture and I assure you that I will be incorporating them every day of my life. The influence of the Holy Ghost was strengthened in those meetings listening to words of wisdom and truth from the Comforter. Little did I know that this was the beginning in order to prepare me to receive my answer to my prayers recently about, How can I keep myself progressing and become the man that I want to become at the end of my mission?"
Monday morning I came prepared to discuss on Zone Leader Council the goal of 91 baptisms with Pres. and Sister Rust, Pres. and Sis. Lawrence and all my brethren. Once we finished business, we opened discussion with President Lawrence suggesting many topics that we wanted to receive council and answers on in order to train and help our missionaries. We had many topics on the board and Elder B picked the first topic of discussion with 91 baptisms. It is the third quarter in a football game for us and we needed the help of our Heavenly Father to guide us through this. We all gathered on our knees and prayed to receive inspiration on how to accomplish this goal before the end of the year. We devised a four step system in which we will bring the powers of heaven to accomplish the task ahead. 1) Prayer/Fasting- This Friday, every missionary will fast in our mission to seek inspiration to find the 91, things which we can improve in obedience, and our personal sacrifice to the Lord in order to achieve all of our goals. 2) The sacrifice- I am a firm believer in personal sacrifice in order to grow, learn and achieve. I have many things in my mind right now which I can give up or do better and I am excited in finding out what the Lord wants me to do. 3) GO BOLD and do not put limitations on the Lord- I will be exercising faith in fulfilling my promises and living the higher law. Satan cannot bind my tongue! 4) I will participate in three baptisms by the end of the year. So be expecting pictures!! :) The Spirit was very strong and it was indescribable as we ended feeling the flame with in us burn with light of knowledge and truth to spread to our missionaries and to people everywhere. I had an interview with one of the coolest members of the Quorum of the Seventy and of course our awesome Mission President. They both inspire me very much to be the best I can and to internalize everything I learn here on my mission.
Tuesday, was an amazing Zone Conference with the pleasure of President Lawrence and Sis Lawrence presiding. We were taught by Sis. Lawrence on the subject of our calling and about our lineage. She knows the scriptures really well and can tell you any reference to back up her comments and lessons. My mind was melting with how much information I was given regarding the scriptures and our calling as missionaries. The Spirit was presiding the whole meeting and before we went down to lunch we were asked to present the idea and revelation received from our Zone Leader Council to the missionaries in our zone. Elder S and I just wanted to put on Braveheart paint and yell and grunt like men. Elder S led the presentation with the details and his testimony, and then we went down the line confirming what we received is true and we will be committed to the work. My hand clenched in a fist as I was shaking with so much love and excitement for everyone that I would come into contact with. The mission came on board with us and yesterday was an amazing start to a new slate as we all make changes in repentance and sacrifice to bring the blessings of heaven upon us in this mission. I don’t ask you all to join in the fastbecause that is against the rules, but I ask that you keep praying for me as I pray for every one of you! I love you all and the amazing influence you have had in my life. Help us pray for miracles in achieving our goal of 91 baptisms because I want you to be involved in my work. Your prayers are a great strength to me and to all the missionaries here. Good luck with school and know that obedience is the key to freedom.
This past week my companion and I having been working to get ten new investigators and two baptisms by the end of this transfer, however realized that we can do things better and have been aligning ourselves to live everything exactly obedient. I remember the three points of advice Uncle Clark gave to me after being set apart was, "OBEDIENCE, OBEDIENCE, OBEDIENCE!" The great thing about this advice is that it has a very eternal role and is first law in heaven. My companion and I are far from perfect, but we got a hold of ourselves and realized that every lesson we had in the past transfer could have been better and they could have been closer to baptism. Every meeting this past week has focused upon helping them keep their commitments and coming closer to baptism or dropped in order to find the elect. There are plenty of people to talk to. As the week approached to an end we had the privilege of meeting President and Sister Lawrence from the area presidency on Sunday 2nd of September at a special district conference. Chelyabinsk took a bus ride early that morning to come to the meeting at ten in the morning which consisted only of new members and investigators. The room was full. It was great to see the two investigators who had received baptism in my time of teaching them there and being reunited with smiles and words of gratitude. I cannot express the feeling of joy and love I felt as I saw one of them get the Melcesidic Priesthood and to know that the recent member is passing the sacrament. These are testaments to me of hard work, faith and obedience. These three principles are in our mission scripture and I assure you that I will be incorporating them every day of my life. The influence of the Holy Ghost was strengthened in those meetings listening to words of wisdom and truth from the Comforter. Little did I know that this was the beginning in order to prepare me to receive my answer to my prayers recently about, How can I keep myself progressing and become the man that I want to become at the end of my mission?"
Monday morning I came prepared to discuss on Zone Leader Council the goal of 91 baptisms with Pres. and Sister Rust, Pres. and Sis. Lawrence and all my brethren. Once we finished business, we opened discussion with President Lawrence suggesting many topics that we wanted to receive council and answers on in order to train and help our missionaries. We had many topics on the board and Elder B picked the first topic of discussion with 91 baptisms. It is the third quarter in a football game for us and we needed the help of our Heavenly Father to guide us through this. We all gathered on our knees and prayed to receive inspiration on how to accomplish this goal before the end of the year. We devised a four step system in which we will bring the powers of heaven to accomplish the task ahead. 1) Prayer/Fasting- This Friday, every missionary will fast in our mission to seek inspiration to find the 91, things which we can improve in obedience, and our personal sacrifice to the Lord in order to achieve all of our goals. 2) The sacrifice- I am a firm believer in personal sacrifice in order to grow, learn and achieve. I have many things in my mind right now which I can give up or do better and I am excited in finding out what the Lord wants me to do. 3) GO BOLD and do not put limitations on the Lord- I will be exercising faith in fulfilling my promises and living the higher law. Satan cannot bind my tongue! 4) I will participate in three baptisms by the end of the year. So be expecting pictures!! :) The Spirit was very strong and it was indescribable as we ended feeling the flame with in us burn with light of knowledge and truth to spread to our missionaries and to people everywhere. I had an interview with one of the coolest members of the Quorum of the Seventy and of course our awesome Mission President. They both inspire me very much to be the best I can and to internalize everything I learn here on my mission.
Tuesday, was an amazing Zone Conference with the pleasure of President Lawrence and Sis Lawrence presiding. We were taught by Sis. Lawrence on the subject of our calling and about our lineage. She knows the scriptures really well and can tell you any reference to back up her comments and lessons. My mind was melting with how much information I was given regarding the scriptures and our calling as missionaries. The Spirit was presiding the whole meeting and before we went down to lunch we were asked to present the idea and revelation received from our Zone Leader Council to the missionaries in our zone. Elder S and I just wanted to put on Braveheart paint and yell and grunt like men. Elder S led the presentation with the details and his testimony, and then we went down the line confirming what we received is true and we will be committed to the work. My hand clenched in a fist as I was shaking with so much love and excitement for everyone that I would come into contact with. The mission came on board with us and yesterday was an amazing start to a new slate as we all make changes in repentance and sacrifice to bring the blessings of heaven upon us in this mission. I don’t ask you all to join in the fastbecause that is against the rules, but I ask that you keep praying for me as I pray for every one of you! I love you all and the amazing influence you have had in my life. Help us pray for miracles in achieving our goal of 91 baptisms because I want you to be involved in my work. Your prayers are a great strength to me and to all the missionaries here. Good luck with school and know that obedience is the key to freedom.
Love Elder LeFevre
Monday, August 27, 2012
August 27, 2012
This past week was buckling down to get the job done and have fun while doing so. This past Monday, was super fun. Elder S and I decided to go play some american football out in the grove here in the city to attract some people to play with us. We started out there about five in the afternoon with just the missionaries and a few members playing with us to make a total of 8 people. After about a half of an hour, we invited some body builders that are there every monday. At first, they said no but during a break for some water they came over to us and started to talk with us. One of them spoke english and wanted to learn how to play football. We invited two of them into our group to join and play. In the end we had the whole group of bodybuilders trying to play a weird game of rugby/footbal mix. It was super fun!!
Tuesday rolled around and we met with some old investigators that may be showing some progress now that we had given them a break and others are falling off the map due to no progress. Then later last week we invited our awesome friends in the ward to play some card games with our investigators form the park and gave them a tour of the church and the first lesson. It was turning out to be a good week and these two guys that we found are legit.
This past week was just lined up with fun activities and having a good time doing the work of the Lord as always! :) We had a picnic with our investigator. It was totally fun and we had a cool rainbow appear too. We bought a ton of food and filled up on KBAC and juice while playing games. We visited a member's house on friday and taught a lesson and helped organize everything after the fridge broke there. It was just in time to stop by. We even taught alesson to a nonmember who was there visiting.
This past week was just lined up with fun activities and having a good time doing the work of the Lord as always! :) We had a picnic with our investigator. It was totally fun and we had a cool rainbow appear too. We bought a ton of food and filled up on KBAC and juice while playing games. We visited a member's house on friday and taught a lesson and helped organize everything after the fridge broke there. It was just in time to stop by. We even taught alesson to a nonmember who was there visiting.
Friday was zone class with the new zone and we got some fire in this zone thanks to all the great missionaries we have. I am excited to see the activities that we have planned work out and get the branch involved on it as well. Things are moving forward here in Yekateringburg and we set a baptismal date with an investigator. I love you all.
Love Elder LeFevre
August 20, 2012
This last week had to be one of the hardest for me and my companion. We only came out with six meetings this last week. We started off this last week having "Capture the Flag" and ultimate frisbee in the park with members and the senior couple last Monday for FHE. Unfortunately, no investigators came to our activity but some members and recent converts did! We had a good time and I came out victorious with the flag in my hand after both games!
Tuesday, We took the day contacting and then went down to D's house to have our dinner hour and helped him pack to get the train station on time in order to go to the young single adults conference in Krasnoyarsk. We all met up at the train station and handed off his bags to the people on the train and met up with some of my favorite people in the mission that were going to the conference as well. It was great to see everyone form Chelyabinsk and Perm. I love both of those cities!! The mission in general is full of cool young single adults. After wards, we were going to head down to a little town outside the city to visit a family there, but the meeting didn't work out and instead went out to eat at the japenese restaurant with some members and Elder and Sister C. We ended up doing the spiritual thought with them. It was super good and I enjoyed the free herbal tea they brought to us complimentary and the hot towels with fresh mint on them! It was awesome. It is cool serving in Asia/Russia!
Wednesday, was my visa trip and I left early in the morning with half of our group because we get the direct flight to Helsinki since we live in Yekaterinburg. I actually went to two endowment sessions and we had time to relax a bit and I memorized all the articles of faith in Russian. We also got to stop in TGI FRIDAYS for a good old coconut milkshake! You got to try one they are great. We came back Thursday morning at six and I went to bed quickly until about eleven o clock in the middle of the day. We made some amazing Plov and did weekly planning and Zone class planning all day it seemed like. It reminded me of the MTC!
Saturday was the day of the city celebration for Yekaterinburg and we were aloud to be outside and be amongst the crowds talking to people. It was fun being there and we met up with one of our investigators with his girlfriend. We played a quick game and had a thought and left to the church to have four meetings with our investigators. They all fell through unfortunately and we had a good coordination meeting with our branch mission leader. He talked about the miracles that happened on his mission in Novosabirsk when they decided to live by the white handbook completely. So lately, I have been going though the white handbook and writing things down that I could do better.
We had one new investigator this week and he showed up at church! That was the biggest miracle and yesterday the Lord blessed us with a meeting at an inactive's house. We decided to stop by and it worked out!! I love you all and may the force be with you! aka the Holy Ghost!
Love,
Elder LeFevre
Tuesday, We took the day contacting and then went down to D's house to have our dinner hour and helped him pack to get the train station on time in order to go to the young single adults conference in Krasnoyarsk. We all met up at the train station and handed off his bags to the people on the train and met up with some of my favorite people in the mission that were going to the conference as well. It was great to see everyone form Chelyabinsk and Perm. I love both of those cities!! The mission in general is full of cool young single adults. After wards, we were going to head down to a little town outside the city to visit a family there, but the meeting didn't work out and instead went out to eat at the japenese restaurant with some members and Elder and Sister C. We ended up doing the spiritual thought with them. It was super good and I enjoyed the free herbal tea they brought to us complimentary and the hot towels with fresh mint on them! It was awesome. It is cool serving in Asia/Russia!
Wednesday, was my visa trip and I left early in the morning with half of our group because we get the direct flight to Helsinki since we live in Yekaterinburg. I actually went to two endowment sessions and we had time to relax a bit and I memorized all the articles of faith in Russian. We also got to stop in TGI FRIDAYS for a good old coconut milkshake! You got to try one they are great. We came back Thursday morning at six and I went to bed quickly until about eleven o clock in the middle of the day. We made some amazing Plov and did weekly planning and Zone class planning all day it seemed like. It reminded me of the MTC!
Saturday was the day of the city celebration for Yekaterinburg and we were aloud to be outside and be amongst the crowds talking to people. It was fun being there and we met up with one of our investigators with his girlfriend. We played a quick game and had a thought and left to the church to have four meetings with our investigators. They all fell through unfortunately and we had a good coordination meeting with our branch mission leader. He talked about the miracles that happened on his mission in Novosabirsk when they decided to live by the white handbook completely. So lately, I have been going though the white handbook and writing things down that I could do better.
We had one new investigator this week and he showed up at church! That was the biggest miracle and yesterday the Lord blessed us with a meeting at an inactive's house. We decided to stop by and it worked out!! I love you all and may the force be with you! aka the Holy Ghost!
Love,
Elder LeFevre
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
August 13, 2012
It was definitely a week of turning around for the whole
zone and us as we hit our highest mark of meetings the whole transfer.
We have spent a lot of time on the streets talking to people and asking
them the questions of the soul. I really love contacting and am glad to
talk to everyone on the streets.
We like to throw out new ideas every week in order to get the zone excited and the work moving forward here in the Yekaterinburg Mission. One of the biggest highlights of this last week was the contacting blitz that my companion and I put together for the zone. (The Amazing Race) We had the senior couple, Elder and Sister C, and us standing at the check points contacting as the companionship's went to destinations completing tasks in collecting numbers and names for the awesome Elders in another area of the city. It turned out well as some companionship's got invited to teach a lesson in a home even! I had extra money on my MSF card and treated everyone for a ice cream cone in our zone and shared a spiritual thought on unity and us being a team. After that experience I felt the trust that Heavenly Father and President R have in me as a leader of the zone here in Yekaterinburg. The activity left smiles on everyone's' faces in seeing the accomplishments they made and overall loved the change up.
This past week however, has been tough because of the fact that we are trying to build our investigator pool up in this new area and trying to get to know people in this branch. It is tedious work, but we are continuing to be diligent in our efforts and complying to the rules and being obedient with exactness. The best view about what I do every week is the fact that it is all fun and by living the gospel and the rules everything works out. Missionary work should not be stressful and looked at as a job. In reality it is not a mind set that will be forgotten after the mission but a life style of representing what you believe and answering questions through your personal testimony of the truth. I have had fun this transfer and that includes the time in Chelyabinsk as well. I am glad to be apart of building the kingdom on this side of the world!
In the struggle for new investigators and adjusting to new apartments and transports, we have been blessed by our efforts from street contacting. We have some promising people on our list of names and have a list of people in the branch to go visit. I love the members here and the relationship that I have built with them. We have fun every week seeing many members and their nonmember friends on our weekly capture the flag activities and on lesson's at member's houses. We are laying the foundation for the future of our area. We have been celebrating our successes with tacos and listening to good old EFY music! ha-ha.. Oh and I learned how to make stuffed peppers last week. We made our own after having some at a member's house and they were the bomb! I am not just saying that as a hungry missionary, but in reality.
We had three member present meetings yesterday at D's house and played a quick game of Settlers of Zarahemla! I almost won. D won even while he was taking a little nap during the game! Next time it is my time to win! ha-ha.. We are having a great time in here and trying to stay out of the rain from time to time. ha-ha.. Seems that the Russian fall might come earlier this year!
Love you all and have a good last few weeks of summer until school starts!
Elder LeFevre
We like to throw out new ideas every week in order to get the zone excited and the work moving forward here in the Yekaterinburg Mission. One of the biggest highlights of this last week was the contacting blitz that my companion and I put together for the zone. (The Amazing Race) We had the senior couple, Elder and Sister C, and us standing at the check points contacting as the companionship's went to destinations completing tasks in collecting numbers and names for the awesome Elders in another area of the city. It turned out well as some companionship's got invited to teach a lesson in a home even! I had extra money on my MSF card and treated everyone for a ice cream cone in our zone and shared a spiritual thought on unity and us being a team. After that experience I felt the trust that Heavenly Father and President R have in me as a leader of the zone here in Yekaterinburg. The activity left smiles on everyone's' faces in seeing the accomplishments they made and overall loved the change up.
This past week however, has been tough because of the fact that we are trying to build our investigator pool up in this new area and trying to get to know people in this branch. It is tedious work, but we are continuing to be diligent in our efforts and complying to the rules and being obedient with exactness. The best view about what I do every week is the fact that it is all fun and by living the gospel and the rules everything works out. Missionary work should not be stressful and looked at as a job. In reality it is not a mind set that will be forgotten after the mission but a life style of representing what you believe and answering questions through your personal testimony of the truth. I have had fun this transfer and that includes the time in Chelyabinsk as well. I am glad to be apart of building the kingdom on this side of the world!
In the struggle for new investigators and adjusting to new apartments and transports, we have been blessed by our efforts from street contacting. We have some promising people on our list of names and have a list of people in the branch to go visit. I love the members here and the relationship that I have built with them. We have fun every week seeing many members and their nonmember friends on our weekly capture the flag activities and on lesson's at member's houses. We are laying the foundation for the future of our area. We have been celebrating our successes with tacos and listening to good old EFY music! ha-ha.. Oh and I learned how to make stuffed peppers last week. We made our own after having some at a member's house and they were the bomb! I am not just saying that as a hungry missionary, but in reality.
We had three member present meetings yesterday at D's house and played a quick game of Settlers of Zarahemla! I almost won. D won even while he was taking a little nap during the game! Next time it is my time to win! ha-ha.. We are having a great time in here and trying to stay out of the rain from time to time. ha-ha.. Seems that the Russian fall might come earlier this year!
Love you all and have a good last few weeks of summer until school starts!
Elder LeFevre
Monday, August 13, 2012
August 6, 2012
So I got my haircut today outside
our house where there was a giant poster of Keith Urban. This led me to
believing that they know what they are doing, but a couple of things
were lost
in the translation and she was not in a good mood so you may see some
pictures
of me in a Russian style hairdo. I told her the number and explained it
and yet she still went with it really short at the beginning and
left longer bangs. Yeah, picture that on Elder LeFevre! No worries, we
got it
all evened out before we left.
Yekaterinburg is doing great. It is different managing a big zone and our phone goes off nonstop it seems like. The week was really good and we had time to be out on the streets and talk to people, which I love to do everyday of the week. The Russian people are my favorite. We decided last week that we need to get ourselves really organized as leaders in order to compensate for all the decision making that we have to do and planning. During weekly planning, I had a great idea in my head of what to do as a zone on a contacting blitz, but integrated with a game and rules. We will be having the Amazing Race in our zone this Saturday in the seven key's area to boost their contacts and help them find new investigators. It is going to be awesome!! We will have six companionship's participating to complete tasks such as the number of street meetings on the way to each checkpoint. However there will be no roadblocks. Ha-ha.. that would be a waste of our time.
Last Monday we played baseball with a mini bat and taught our investigator and members here how to play baseball with some of the rules. It was awesome cause we were playing in the rain and now today it is blazing hot! The climate here is one of a kind. Before you know it there will be snow on the ground again and we will be living with no sunlight. I can't wait.
Time is flying by so fast and I love
the mission so much. We had a couple of other meetings last week with
some potential
investigators and we dropped others, because I will
refuse to
argue and debate on any religious subject. You can tell very quickly if
things
or meetings are going to be worth your time from the first few moments
of a
lesson. Right now we are getting referrals of a few members that we need
to
visit in our new area. It has been a slow transition in moving the first
group
of elders into their new apartment and then us and the sisters into our
old one. We will now be living with the assistants and have to travel
into our
area everyday. (We will be buying a sweet travel card! Souvenir.
Other than that, we went contacting a ton this past week and just trying to
find new people to teach and plan out cool activities to get the members
excited about missionary work and get to know them as well. We don't want this
feeling as if there were a giant wall in-between us and the members. Our area
is great and I feel that there is a ton of work that needs to be done in it
after we talked to Daniel and Pres. S. We have some the coolest members
in our area! I love starting off from scratch, but I am praying that we can get
more focused on our area and not working out other problems. The mission is
teaching me a lot about life and I cannot get enough learning about the gospel
of Jesus Christ our Redeemer every day!
Love you all!!
Elder LeFevre
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