Hard Day

5 December 2004
"Man, I gave it all up today. What a way to have a good ending. Well, it was testimony meeting today, and I cried my guts like when I first came. It was an absolutely awesome meeting. All the Михайловы family shared their testimony. They all wanted their family to be sealed in the temple. Well, after the testimony meeting, we had the lesson. At the end of the lesson was my time. I just stood and cried, and then I finally said a few words. Well, they sang Бог с тобой доколе свидимся. I cried and sang with them. Well, we headed to Норья and had a good little meeting there with them. We ate and said goodbyes – not as hard as I didn't really know them. We ended the night with a visit to Ангелина и Лидия. They gave me socks and postcards. Лидия hugged me too – I let her. Well, we came home and now I am writing. 2 days left. I am just going to cry when I leave. It will be so hard to leave. Я Ижевск люблю!"

Testimonies

7 November 2004
"What an awesome testimony meeting we had today. It was way cool to hear and understand. Моша Михайлова bore her testimony about when she was baptized a year ago. She told that she knows that this church is true. I actually started to cry, but luckily not too bad."

Preach My Gospel

21 October 2004
"Another good day today. It was p-day, so we did all the things we needed to as well as got haircuts. It was a lot of fun to hear from my brother, and to eat like always. Tonight we had a meeting with Ольга и Настя. It was a lot of fun. Nothing from Meagan again so I take it she is getting married or something - who knows.

Today we got the new Preach My Gospel books. It is our new everything, and I love it. I am excited to teach again, and know that the new materials will help. It focuses on the restoration, and I know that that is the most important part of our message. I have a testimony about it that I want to share with everyone! The gospel is true! I love it, and the opportunity to share that with people."

Good Times

17 October 2004


"Talk about amazing meetings – that's what we had today. It was absolutely awesome. There was very few people at the meeting today in Ижевск, but it was still a good one. We heard testimonies from Zan and Mrs. Johnson, and that was awesome. We took a picture afterwards, and it was a lot of fun. I helped Галина today (deaf investigator). After the meeting we headed to Норья. There, we had another testimony meeting, and it was awesome. The spirit was amazing again. It's awesome how close members of the church are when they live so far apart!

On the trip to and from Норья, I talked with Марина (дочь Ангелины) and it was nice. She is awesome, and I want to help her to get baptized. She would be an awesome member. We have so much good here, and I love it! I know that the Lord has blessed us, and that all we have is from him. Ижевск is an amazing place, and I love the people here. I know that there will be a great branch here soon."

--Sorry about the crappy picture quality.

Americans

10 October 2004
"Well, today was amazing. We had sacrament and the 4 of us did everything. I talked about service in the church and about the importance of service in the church. After church we went to the other elders house before going to Норья. What an awesome experience we had there! There are like 13 people - students that is - here from Logan high. They were there at the meeting. Zan - there teacher and leader was also there.

Алексей и Ольга received the Holy Ghost, and that was absolutely awesome. The spirit was strong, and many tears were shed. We then had a testimony meeting in Russian and in English. The spirit was awesome! I remembered how I felt 2 months ago when I came to Russia. The total shock of what love these people have! It is so awesome! There is no question - the gospel is true! What an amazing thing it is that the Lord is helping the Russian people to find truth through youth from America - from Logan that is!

Oh yeah, it was nice to see some American faces here in Russia! I was in the circle and participated in the giving of the HG when Elder Watts gave it - what an awesome experience!"