kresteetsya...

Well, not a bad week. Spent a good portion of it on a bus between Toliatti and Kazan again. The best part was getting stuck for two hours. They don't clear the roads very well and lots of wrecks happen out in the middle of nowhere with help a couple hours away.
Funny lesson we had yesterday. We were meeting with our investigators who know 'the millers' from Utah and trying to set up a baptismal date. They prefer to speak to us in English. They speak quite well, but once in a while the true meaning doesn't quite make it through. We were teaching them the message of the restoration, (paraphrase) talking about how when Christ lived on the earth he called 12 apostles and gave them priesthood authority for baptism and to lead the church. Christ also gave us the perfect example of what we should do to return to live with God. Christ himself, as an example to us, was baptized. After Christ ascended to heaven, people began to reject the apostles and even killed many of them, creating another period of apostasy and the loss of priesthood authority. But 200 years ago, Priesthood authority was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. Along with it, the Church of Jesus Christ was restored in these, the latter days. Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by priesthood authority?this really confused them. They couldn't figure out why we were Mormons if Christ himself was BAPTIST... and why were we inviting them to become BAPTIST? i finally caught on and translated 'to be baptized' to 'kresteetsya' ( and "Baptist" to "Bapteest") They are praying about it and will hopefully be baptizED on Christmas eve.So that was the good from the week.oh, I'm staying in Kazan another cycle!Bad part:Elder Bearden is being transferred! I'll be with Elder Johnson next cycle.... he's from Utah. He’s been here since May. That’s all i know about him. I’m a little nervous. And sad that Elder Bearden is leaving... we're practically blood brothers! We tried to call up the line to get permission to actually do the deed.. But the assistants told us that it was forbidden to become blood brothers. I never read that in the white handbook......
well...
my fall count is 1.
love,
Elder Ellis