May 28, 2012

Cotton season is back and there is a ton of cotton flying everywhere like snow. Reminds me of last summer when I came to the country in Perm. This past week was a busy week for us here in Chelyabinsk with meetings, investigators, and a whacky visa trip! Oh, and by the way we got transfer calls from President R this past Saturday and our companionship is being split. Elder S is going to
be zone leader in Perm in my first area, while I am staying here in with Elder B as my new companion and fellow zone leader. It will be fun serving another transfer here. The members are
awesome and the zone is pretty much staying the same except we get a short term missionary from Per and now need to translate on meetings that will be conducted in English.

This past week we got a call from a member with a referral for her boyfriend and we got super excited setting up two meetings with him, and while I was in Finland he accepted a baptismal date. He is already reading the book of Mormon and praying. He came to church again this past week already in a suit and tie. He is super cool and we will be getting him ready for an awesome baptism by continuing to teach him. Then our other investigator is including the goals which he
has made on a list and implementing them in his actions to experience the blessings of living the gospel. We taught him that he needs to pray about Joseph Smith and about the Book of Mormon in order for him to gain greater strength and build his testimony.  He is doing awesome. V, our new member is getting involved in the branch at every opportunity possible from participating in class to preparing the sacrament. You couldn't have asked for a neater member. He is really happy that I get to stay and talk to him about engineering and science more and to help boost my vocabulary in that aspect!

The visa trip was alright and not really special. Elder A and I got up very early in the morning after going to bed at 10:00pm the night before. All tired and exhausted we get on the flight and sit behind
these guys that became friends at the bar before getting on the plane and ordered some more vodka for the plane ride. That was a sight to see! ha-ha. Then we all landed in Moscow and went to Red Square, which was shut down by a ton of police for some celebration going on and then we decided to just go eat Mc Donalds right next door for thirty minutes. We went out to the rally point and some of the other missionaries were late there. We went back through the metro and back to the electric train with our tickets and found out that some of us didn't buy tickets for the return trip. We missed the train and waited for the next and arrived at the airport fifty minutes until our flight! We ran and I mean literally ran to make it to print off our tickets and go through security and into the terminal. That was a miracle that we got on and made it without missing the flight. We arrived in Helsinki to know that we don't have that much time to go into the temple to do anything and relaxed in the hotel there. That was really nice. I got myself a huge liter of chocolate milk! Then we came back on Saturday and unfortunately we had to close English Group.

I am so happy I get to be in Chely for another transfer with the awesome members here and their great support and to be in the midst of great missionaries and a senior couple. The mission is awesome and the Russian language is super! Всего Хорошого! Я вас всех Люблю!
( Have a nice day! I love you all! )

Elder LeFevre

Summer is Back

Summer is back! Hurray! Everyday we have been running in the morning and dodging the huge mosquitoes that come buzzing in like B-52's! Watch out they go for the big arteries! ha-ha-ha.  Finally, we can wear some short sleeve white shirts with the warm weather. With all the traveling that we do here, longsleeves  are hot. This past week we had some great success in moving forward with some of our investigators and trying to accept a baptismal date. This past Monday, we had a FHE with a cool family in our area with the M's and a couple of other families. We ate well later the spiritual thought that we gave and then they pulled out UNO! Oh yeah! I was ready to play
some cards, because I haven't played cards in a long time. However, before we played we went over the rules to make sure everyone was on the same page. They started to tell the rules to us, which turned out to be totally different. They basically changed the rules completely around and everyone was arguing and playing for other people and it was chaos! CRAZIEST UNO GAME EVER!!!

Elder S and I then had a miracle and finally got a hold of the man who had a baptismal date back in April and checked up on him and his progress in the book of Mormon. He is doing well and then we tried to establish a baptismal date with him but then he said he wasn't too sure about the whole thing. Then our member on the meeting, Sister N, helped us out so much and him with his feeling of unworthiness to be baptized. Hey that is what we are her for to teach the principle then allow them to act upon the principle with obedience. It was a great meeting. This past Wednesday we planned splits with the elders in the Northwest area and I got to stay there with Elder A. We are trying to help that area out with investigators and meetings. Elder A and I went out and had a long day on the streets talking to people that were outside.

Our other investigator is still trying to enforce goals that he has written down to convince his wife to meet with us. He is doing well and quitting smoking all together in due time and has not drank alcohol for over a month. English Club is chug chug chugging along and looks like we will shut the program down due to lack of participants and new investigators. One man from English group is form Miass and we set up a meeting with him on the day that we were in Miass to meet him.  We left in the morning and got there in two hours by train. We sat on hard benches and enjoyed to the humid air and the constant stops along every little village to Miass. We arrived in Miass and met with Brother V, who was super happy to meet us. We arrived at a members house, where they hold sacrament meeting and sunday school to meet the active members there. We prepared and blessed the sacrament and then spoke! It was really humbling to see the group get together and weird to think that there was once a branch there. We then visited with a Sis and Bro. V.   Then we visited a young family and then had dinner with the S. We had a good time with the members. We then met with the investigator who is interested in English. We walked in and automatically we heard a bunch of giggling. Elder Smith and I looked at each other and immediately knew that this was an English club. We taught some lesson and then had a conversation with the man and his friends. Yesterday was a long day and we will be getting transfer calls this week! It will be interesting to see what happens. 

Love you all! Have a good week!

Elder LeFevre

May 14, 2012

This past week was a couple of big celebrations. Last wednesday, it was Victory Day in Russia and we had to stay inside all day unfortunately and could not see the demonstrations and the parade. I heard it was pretty cool but no worries it was a super great day to write a ton of letters! Then, Yesterday was Mother's Day and after the proselytizing day we got to Skype home! I loved telling the family some of the funny things I have seen and experienced.

 

This past week we spent a ton of time on the street talking to people and trying to reach our month's goal of finding a family. It is going well, as all of the companionships have been trying to receive more contacts for there potential investigator list. Collecting the names on our list this past week, I was calling old contacts and new contacts and organizing the lists and came across about four people that wanted to learn more about the gospel and our message! I was jumping for joy after I set up a few meetings to allow us to teach four lessons this past saturday. That was such a great day and I love teaching lessons and people in general. one of the guys that we talked to was a man around our age and an Atheist. He had questions every time we finished talking and tried questioning our testimonies and knowledge. After about two times of trying to explain what the Holy Ghost feels like we just bore testimony about the need for him to read the Book of Mormon and pray. Well, he said he would not pray right after we gave the commitment without a stutter. We might have some work ahead of us. haha Our progressing investigator is still trying to quit smoking and be an example of changing for the better for his wife. He has come a long way and now reads and prays regularly.

 

This week was great as we met new investigators and there are only two weeks left in the transfer. Time goes by super fast. I am super excited for summer and for the investigators who are coming towards baptism. Thanks for all the prayers, love and support from back home! Love you all! 

Elder LeFevre

Baptism, ZLC, and Service

Everything has been great here in Chelyabinsk and we have been enjoying the weather and the cool practices that have been going on at the Square of Revolution here around the statue of Lenin. Everyday, I just look around me and take in the fact that I am in Russia! Especially, while they have old tanks and jeeps getting into position for the big celebration. There were so many police officers on the street today. They had a ton of people running a marathon. 

This morning, we awoke to go running and then got ready to do some service at the hospital in the northern part of the city. I thought that we were going to help the kids in the hospital and that our investigator would be there to help us out. However, we ended up painting curbs around the buildings and the bases of all the trees. I asked Sister N, why they paint all the bases of the trees white and I got a legitimate answer from a few people. I don't know if all of you have seen some of my pictures and notice that the bases of the trees are white. It is to protect the trees from the rabbits who like to chew at the bark on the tree. I guess this was a practice to protect the trees from bugs too when they put a chemical in the paint. Now, however, they just do it because it has now become a thing of beauty. Tonight, we have another FHE at a family's house this time. 

Last, Monday Elder S and I planned to be on the street talking to people for quite some time, until we received a phone call from the M's requesting us to come over to be translators and accompany them on the surprise family home evening that took place. We ran on over there and picked up a few stones for an object lesson and some cookies. We came in just in time to give a spiritual thought on Christ being the rock of our foundation. 

This past week was a ton of running around with our heads cut off at some points. Tuesday, we had another baptism for our zone! It was a great baptism and we had the chance to sing a great children's hymn together before she was baptized. After that baptism, we jumped into the car with the assistants and President R to go to Yekaterinburg. We talked for a while, but then President stuck in a Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD and I fell asleep and before we knew it, we were at the office in Yekaterinburg. Zone Leader Council was great and the Spirit definitely was their as we put in our input and shared our testimonies with each other about the Gospel. Unfortunately, we had to take a bus back to Chelyabinsk, but nothing a little SUPER SNICKERS cannot fix. 

We came back late and went to bed, knowing that on Thursday we had service on the garden. For three hours we tilled the land with our hands and got rid of the weeds and old apples that had fallen and became rotten. Then a sister from the ward and I planted the potatoes in her garden. She treated us to some excellent soup and tea! I love doing service and enjoy just plain work, but however I am sore do to lack of that kind of physical work lately. Our investigator who was baptized last week is doing super well and we enjoy leading the after baptism lessons with him. Our other investigator has picked up smoking and we are continuing on working towards no drinking and smoking completely. it is super tough in trying to help him come closer to baptism when you have taught about everything but somethings just need to take time. Right now, we are just trying to gain more investigators, because they have either gone missing or we haven't had contact with them in quite some time. maybe it has to deal with the celebration that is going to take place as many go out to the dachas and meet with family. 

Love you all! I love the mission! Love all the support that you all give me!
Elder LeFevre

April 30, 2012

BAPTISM!!! Our investigator this past week got baptized, after he had been investigation for some time and it was a great experience for me to see how much someone changes when they live by the gospel! His countenance changed over the time that we have been in here in Chely and was willing to do whatever to be baptized. he was super happy on Sunday, especially after he received the Holy Ghost!! Putting his baptism was some work for us, however due to the fact we had problem after problem arise after we set the date with him. We announced the baptism a week in advance and somehow, we didn't get news of a Russian working day on the day of the baptism. So as we made calls to make sure that people were going to be there and those that were going to speak would be ready, we met with some "I am not going to make it!" it was frantic calls up until ten o'clock at night making sure we had support. President R came and saw the baptism and we had a better turn out than it looked like the night before the baptism. Elder S baptized him and I talked on baptism! We were super happy to see him participate in class actively already and just have a big smile!

This past week was great getting our investigator ready for baptism, but we faced problems with our other investigators in having trouble keeping in touch with them through the phone and on meetings. Basically, they are known as missing in action at the moment. We are trying hard to move forward in finding families and other people from the streets, as the weather begins to be more like summer and we are all happy to see the sun! After the baptism we went out to SUBWAY and treated ourselves to some foot long sandwiches, which actually came with a free half of a sandwich on top! Ha-ha. Everything was working out and our phone was silent after the baptism. What a sigh of relief for one second. Ha-ha. We are just trying to keep our area moving forward right now. We went on splits with the assistants before the baptism and made some Beach Body pancakes for the day that was ahead of us before we met V on the bus stop.

Today, we had our washing machine replaced by a new one. The landlady came with her friend and switched them out. I helped them prepare the washer to move out of the bathroom and began to unscrew the hose that was connected to the pipe in the back. Well, I forgot the turn off the water and i began to unscrew and then the water shot out like a fire hose onto the floor. I was fishing for the valve and trying to plug the pipe, but to no avail. So, I let the other guy handle it and finally, we found it in two minutes. They left after we cleaned up the water for a bit and then we got a knock on our door. There stood a grandma who lived right below us. She was not too happy needless to say due to the fact that the water had somehow leaked through the cracks in the concrete into her own bathroom! hahaha OOOPS!

Zone Leader Council is this week and I am trying to guess what will be there to eat because Sister R is in America, while she is getting a new passport. I am hoping tacos! This past Monday, we had a FHE at the M’s and they made tacos and they had some leftover meat and extra stuff after a few people didn't show up. In short, I ate 8 tacos! WOW I fasted the next day, I tell you what! Well, I love you all and I am so happy to be here in Russia! It is one legit place to experience and to serve. Speaking of service we got a farming job to do on the garden in the village this week. I will tell you all more about that next week.

Love,
Elder LeFevre

Quickly getting Hot

WOW!! It is getting hot very quickly here in Chely. It was as if Spring was one week and we just ran right into summer. The weather is awesome and allows Elder S and I to get out and exercise. We have been running everyday this past week with our Ward Mission Coordinator and his friend. He seems somewhat interested in learning more about our church and in playing some basketball with us. This past week was great as we have been awaking from the kind of hibernation of the winter into running to transport then up 10 to 18 story apartment buildings finding less active members and investigators. Takes me back to last summer in Пермь (Perm).  Elder S and I have been seeing the great success in our area rise from since the first transfer when we both walked into the area blind.

Our family home evening lesson last week went well with our investigator who came and enjoyed the good amount of refreshments at the apartment of the M,s. We talked about Jesus Christ, due to Easter in the Western World or the Catholic calendar. Иисус Воскрес!! (Jesus is Risen). The lesson went well as we bore our testimonies at the end about Jesus Christ. Later in the week we visited our other investigator, who said on General Conference that he wants to be baptized! YEAH!!! ...Maybe, we will see when we meet with him this week, but I have faith that he will be baptized and along with our other investigator next week. We will be booked with lessons getting them ready for that day!

This past week our Mission Ward Coordinator had a week off from the plant that he works at on the edge of town that makes all the electricity and hot water for the city! He drove us there with the M's one night and I got some cool pictures!! (which might come down the road, due to the fact that I am horrible at sending pictures.) We went running to addresses, as he was fully committed to helping us out and finding everyone on his home teaching list. Which is has about 500 names. We rode around with S and his car zipping everywhere in the city. It was fun being stuffed in the car with the M's. The M's ROCK! Zone Class was super good as we talked about finding and the need to be dedicated in order to succeed. Talked about Alma and Amulek in the prison and overcoming afflictions. 

This past week we saw Conference in Russian. We had it planned to be in English, but we had investigators come, who did not have anyone sit next to them, therefore we did. I picked up about twenty new good words to use in my daily life here in Russia. How cool is that. I thank the Lord every day for the opportunity to be here and all you back home for the support and guidance to lead me here. My favorite line from Conference was, "Just STOP it!!" - Elder Uchtdorf. We can put that in other terms and say, "Don't be hating'!" So, me and Elder S are waiting for the General Conference English edition to get in depth. 

Love you ALL! Всего Доброго!!  (All the Best)

Elder LeFevre

Great Week

What a great week in Chely. The sun is shining and it is time that I try to get a little more color on my legs as we go out and shoot some hoops for P-day. Lately, we have been getting into some crazy meetings both good and the others different. The sisters gave us a referral for a man they met on the street by a member's house and I decided to give him a call the other day after we went looking for one of our investigators with a baptismal date. The investigator that we were looking for lives in a dormitory set up where there are many families that share one apartment and each renter receives a room in that apartment. At first, I didn't realize that but we knocked on the door and another lady answered and had no idea who we were talking about. It surprises me that people didn't know their neighbors even when they live in the same apartment. So, after that little adventure I called the man on the phone and he was super interested in learning about out church! It turned our spirits right around, until the meeting actually happened between us. He had been reading and summarizing all the religions in the world for many years and now wanted to do the same with our religion. He had some really interesting theories but they weren't true and we ended up testifying to the man and sent him with a commitment to read. It was such a meeting of frustration, as the man wouldn't listen. After a bit, you just know that the person is not going to listen and therefore we had to end that meeting. 

However, our super awesome investigator who has a baptismal date for April is doing well. He is very accepting and loves the progress that he has made in coming closer to his Heavenly Father. This is the joy in missionary work and teaching. I love seeing the progress in others. This message helps everyone and it is true. This past week Elder S and I taught our zone the importance of using members on lessons with investigators and not being afraid to use them on the first meeting because this only ensures your purpose as a missionary. Therefore, we are only left to teach that person. 

I only had the chance to watch the Saturday session so far in English of general conference. It was super good and it was great to listen to talks on not being offended and how to move on being ACTIVE IN THE GOSPEL! "Be where you are supposed to be and do what you are supposed to do. Then, the Lord will bless you!" So true!! Tonight, we are having a Family Home Evening at the M's and a testimony meeting with our investigator. We are super excited and hoping all goes well! I love you all! Thanks for the hot sauce Uncle David and Aunt Melissa! My companion thinks I ruin the food every time I pull out one of my hot sauces and make sure that it causes my nose to run! ha-ha  

Love,

Elder LeFevre