Cross bows, Pork Chops, and Karma...

Mama, keep feeding those missionaries! Your "feeding missionaries Karma" theory is working! Last week we had a family invite us over for dinner, and they made pork chops! And a secret family recipe for cake. We had a really good lesson with them after dinner and we have really high hopes for them in the coming weeks. They even want to take us skiing!!!! Unfortunately that's not allowed. I attribute our success with them to your diligence in spoiling the missionaries back home. It’s just the exchange rate is 30 to 1 from US to Russian.Let’s see if we can't get a referral karma going? i would like that :)
That's the good news
Bad news...Transfers at the end of the week. I'm afraid I’m going to get transferred. I've not been anywhere longer than 3 cycles and we haven't had the best indicators. My companion so far has been transferred every cycle. i don't know if that works for or against my staying in Kazan. I'm not against moving to a different area... just after we get this family baptized.
This week was pretty uneventful aside from our dinner. My district all had visa trips, so i ended up spending a day in Novo-k. I was able to drop by a man we baptized in May and he gave me a white rabbit fur shopka! I’ve not seen any like it. Unfortunately it sheds like mad. But I’m not complaining!
Today we're actually going to the Kremlin again. I'm looking forward to it. I don't think I’m going to convince my companion its ok to go to the cross bow gallery they have there though. Maybe next companion?
Well, time is pretty much up
i love you all!
Love, Elder Ellis

2nd Christmas...

Happy Birthday Kendra!Merry Christmas! The second Christmas came and went pretty silently (as it often does in Russia) but i was able to open Christmas gifts on it! (I got the packages from mom and GRAND mother) I’m savoring the white fudge Oreos!.... The banana bread.... well.... it was more of a bacteria colony by the time i got it. But that’s ok, i do know how to make it :)
I got so many toys for Christmas! it made me quite happy. It's hard to find time to play with them all, but it's me... I’ll find the time! (my companion and I spent maybe an hour last Monday unhatching all the dino pills Kendra gave me before i left... they're now filling our sink! we told the zone leaders they couldn't use the sink when they came because of them.)
The highlight of the week was probably the New Year’s part we had on the 6th. MANY came and also a lot of investigators and less actives (we had 8 non-members) one of our investigators came with her mom and they invited us over for dinner with their whole family tonight! We're way excited about it... we just hope they aren't serving fish.
At the activity we once again participated in the play. This time not as wise men, but as minions! We got to play with the really cool toy guns that all Russian kids seem to have. (In the summer i often duck behind cars to avoid being shot by the imaginary bullets that kids always shoot us with... that really bugged one of my companions)
Elder Johnson and i get along pretty well. And, we teach really well together.... if only we had more people to teach! (We’re not very good at finding people.... at least not the "1 a day" expectation.
We've seen a few snow boarders walking home from the slopes lately. And there are always cross country skiers around town. Makes me disappointed I’ll be getting home in summer and won't be able to go skiing right away. I'm jealous of your present mom. I'll take canoe trip though. In just 6 months. Not sure how i feel about hitting my 6 month left mark today.
I've really enjoyed reading the conference edition Liahona lately. I remember watching a few of them in Russian and feeling the spirit during the talks and thinking I’d really want to get the full meaning in English. (i understood a lot, just there’s always a little missing when it’s in another language). I've been reading some of those talks lately and I’m understanding why i felt such a strong spirit when i listened to conference. It's the exact things that our investigators and i need at this time. Conference really is such a blessing.
My comp has a visa trip this week, so i'll be heading down with him. Another week on the bus. I'll be working in good ol' Novo-k while I’m down there. Hopefully I’ll see a couple members that i like from that branch when I’m there.
well, that's the time for today
love you all!
love, Elder Ellis

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Pictures as promised!

Happy 2012!My companion is started to get a little nervous for next December... not so much that he thinks the world is going to end... just a lot of Russians do. Fortunately I’ll be back in America when "the end of the world" rolls around.

Not a whole lot went on this week... Especially as far as meetings or finding new people to teach. We did have one meeting with an investigator! The curse is lifting? I think it's called "after the new year" curse. At least that's what I’m hoping it was.It's weird to think about that i spent all of 2011 out of America. I would say in Russia, but I’ve also been in Lithuania and Ukraine on visa trips.

I sent some pictures, hope you got them! They actually took up most of my time for today :/sorry so short, but pictures are worth 1000 words right?

love,Elder Ellis

Christmas!

I was planning on sending you a few pictures of my last Christmas in Russia, but i forgot my card reader on the washing machine. bleen.
but here are the captions
1. Our fireplace and Christmas Tree! I'm sure this could make it on the red and green show. We like to sit around the fireplace whenever we're home. Its so cool looking that it even makes us think that we getting warmth from it!
2. Christmas Party at the branch building. There's not enough primary kids to play all the parts... and since we're the foreigners, we gotta be the wise men!
Those captions would be more entertaining with the pictures... but we'll just let that build some anticipation for next weeks letters.

So, it was good talking to you all this morning! I'm not really sure what else to say today... even though i really didn't talk that much.

We haven't been having very much success lately. The two biggest things we try for are to find new investigators and having lessons with a member present. we're "expected" to find one new investigator a day, and about one member present lesson a day. We haven't found any in two weeks, and we haven't had a lesson with a member in 4. So thats a little rough. But i hope it'll turn around soon. Everyone should be less busy after new years. You would expect everyone to be more receptive around the holiday season... but when the focus is on getting drunk and presents on new years, and not the birth of Christ, it just makes everyone busy. Next comes the cold.

The good thing about Christmas being past is getting to eat all the stuff that was in my stocking. We always have good things to eat (candy bars etc.) but this last week anytime we got something we would just put it in out stockings. by the time Christmas morning rolled around we had forgotten what all was in there and so it was actually a surprise!

We finally got the November Liahona and i've quite glad to finally get to read the conference talks. it takes a while... especially since i fall asleep everytime i start reading anything... but i'm greatful to finally have that.

I did open my presents from my GRAND mother and sister. Thank you!!!

well, i do love you all. I'll be glad to be spending next Christmas with my family!

love,
Elder Ellis

Almost Christmas!

Hey family!Before i forget... I’ll be calling next Monday morning at 8 am. I believe that is 9 pm Sunday afternoon in Utah time. I hope that i get to talk to all of you for this :)
This week was pretty... eventful. We got on a bus Wednesday to head to samara, came back on Saturday after zone conference with a new companion, some supplies, a package from Kendra, one from GRAND mother, and finally some letters! I haven't gotten letters in over 6 weeks. Probably be another 6 weeks until i get any more. Being in Kazan does have its price. I've not read any yet, and i haven't opened the packages yet (Christmas is on sun day... so i figure I’ll just wait) we do need some boxes under our tree i made this morning. (The green duct tape really came in handy...)
Elder Johnson is my new companion. He's from Provo Utah. He’s tall and skinny, and drove a black moped. I think we're actually going to get along pretty well based off of the last 3 days I’ve known him. He likes cats. I haven't showed my collection of posters yet... but I’m sure once i do we'll be putting them up on the wall (none of my companions have allowed this so far!) He's been in Russia since May and of course speaks better Russian than i do. Elder Varkenten in our district is the only elder i know that doesn't speak better than i do. Which is rather sad since over 3/4 of our mission is less than a year out.
We've not been having much success lately overall. I’ve gone 3 weeks without having a single lesson with a member present. i think that’s a record. We have Rushania and Artur that are progressing towards baptism quite well. But they can only meet on Sunday. Other than that all the investigators we do have are sick, busy, or just fell off the face of the planet. So our weeks haven't been very successful as far as the indicators are concerned. It would also just help to have a full week in Kazan without any distractions. I’ve been gone every other week (to Toliatti or samara) for the last 6 weeks. And well, my companion has a visa trip coming up in a week or 2.
Well... i really don’t have much else to say.... i do love you all and will be happy to talk to you next week! I hope everyone has a great Christmas!
Love,Elder Ellis

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

Reindeer Games...

хелло фамилий!со и фигуред от вхат тхат буттон дос.. хмм... интересинг... унфортанателы и доньт кнов хов то гет ит бачк то енглиш леттерс... со иьлл юст старт а нев они...лове,Элдер Эллис

Kendra was kind enough to translate,
It says.... Hello family.So I figured out what that button does.... Interesting... Unfortunately I don't know how to get it back to English letters... So I’ll just start a new one. Love, elder Ellis.

That was English wording but spelled with Russian letters. And it’s not exact. If you sound it out you sound like a Russian who is working on their English. Like I'm pretty sure the word "just" comes out as "yoohst". With the oo part lower pitched rather than English higher pitched. Figured this would amuse you... Kendra

Back to Dustin...

Hello Family!I won't click that button anymore.It's been a pretty good week... not a whole lot to talk about.... not a whole lot of time.It was a pretty lame week as far as 'key indicators' go. We didn't have any lessons with members present, and we don't have any baptismal dates set up at the time. Our Turkish investigator that was supposed to get baptized this week dropped us. But.. We did have some other successes. We met with our Jewish investigator this week. It was a really great lesson. His questions and concerns were pretty legit, and we were able to answer on them quite well.
Being a Jew, he was a little concerned about the people of the book of Mormon not having the ancient writings (as in the records that the Old Testament... torrah... Koran... are based off of) Good thing God had Lehi forget the plates in Jerusalem so that 1 Nephi 3 emphasizes the importance of those and that they in fact DID have those records with them.
He believes that Christ suffered for sins, but he would rather suffer for his own sins, and not to put the price of his sins on Christ. We were able to explain that well, in fact he would have that opportunity to a degree, but he wouldn't be able to live in the Celestial Kingdom going that route. It was a good lesson. Hope to meet with him again soon.
Our investigator family came to church! Mother and son... friends of "the millers" in Utah. They seem a lot more normal when they are speaking in Russian and not their superior English language. It’s just weird when Russians bust out big English words and correct grammar that’s not commonly used... and all is a British accent. We’re hoping they can be baptized this month.
I bought Russian monopoly today. New Year’s Eve activity when we're stuck in the apartment.This week I’ll be in Toliatti while my companion goes on a visa trip.6 hour bumpy bus rides!
Well... I’m pretty much out of time.
I love you!
Love,Elder Ellis