Transferring to Novochurkosk

Splits with Elder Norton

Haha that is fun to hear about grandpa. I don't think I will ever want to travel alone, though I do think I will be a little more into that when I get home. I think I might save up sometime and get a Canon DSLR. I think it would be really cool to travel a lot and take pictures and do things with the GoPro. We will see what happens though. It sounds like you and dad are as much involved with the church as I am now that you have a demanding calling. And you work for the church, mom! haha Maybe we will both be weird by the time I get home so at least I will have one person in the family that likes me.

So, yeah, first things first. Did mom’s sweet and sour chicken win last week? Of course it did. First place. haha Funny thing is, the sister’s cinnamon rolls took last! They were way good, but the double smack daddy was way good too! Still, sweet and sour ruled! I am making it again for Olga today because she loved it so much.

Dinner at  Brother Peters' house.

This week has been a bit crazy and we haven’t had enough time to work with a lot of people, it is also very hard to work with investigators because we can’t invite them to a spiritual event, we can only have members do that. So unfortunately we haven't had any success with Karoon or Nana. It has been super cold though! haha It has been so sudden! I think I might actually get to feel a real Russian winter this year!

Two strangers broke into
my apartment and stole
the pajamas you gave me
Mom. Sorry.

Dad, I have been studying a little about self-control. There is a really great verse, in fact it is a chapter you told me I should read when I was back in middle school. I remember I was kind of feeling bad, feeling like I wasn't liked or paid as much attention as Paige and Scott. So you told me about Alma's last words to Shiblon, the middle child. All Shiblon got was two pages, or maybe a page-and-a-half, where his brothers both got about seven. I remember it teaching me a really good lesson about trust. Alma trusted Shiblon enough to just tell him a bit. This is a lot like the Holy Ghost for me, sometimes it feels like he doesn’t talk to me at all.  Anyways, what I studied in chapter 38 verse 12:

Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.

Got the package mom! Sickest
tie ever!! Thanks!!!

The interesting part of this verse for me is where it talks about bridling your passions.  Elder Shoenfeld is awesome. He taught me about what a bridle was! It is something that you put in a horse’s mouth to control it. It makes the head move, and then the body follows the head. This is really cool. There is so much you can do to apply it to us and controlling ourselves. The bridle only moves the head, not actually the whole body. So if we can just shut up (put a bridle in our mouths) get our head in the right place, start walking, we'll be able to know where we are supposed to be. In the end, if we strip ourselves of pride, the person using the bridle is God leading us where we are supposed to be.

Diner at the Golvenkovs. They served
holedets (jello fat)

Oh, yeah, I am getting transferred to the Rostov Zone. I’ll be in another small branch an hour or two away from Center. The city is called Novochurkosk. I will be serving with Elder Reeser, who just got out of training! I don't know too much about him. All I know is that he went to school with Elder Osborn at Provo high!

My district. Asta, guys. Yes some of
us are matching. Didn't plan that.

Funny thing, when I got the call about my transfer I answer the phone and president says “Hey, I have great news for you. You are staying in Volgograd. Elder Burwell, you are really going to enjoy serving with Elder Foote.” That is when I said, “President, this is Elder Weston.” President then said, “Well, I got some good news for you too! You are going to Novochurkosk!” haha It was pretty funny.

Anyways, as I was thinking about the transfer that day I got super sad about it. I really haven't changed an area to the point where I would stop seeing the people. I've seen Red Army at district conferences and stuff. So receiving this transfer was really hard. I really didn't want to leave all these people that I have made friends with.

Grandma, this is going to be my
new apartment. I need you to
fly out and fix it up a little.

The next day was splits with the zone leaders. I got to be with Elder Norton, which was great because we have become really good friends. Anyways, that morning I decided to study about progress. In the index of the Book of Mormon, when you look up progress it only mentions three verses. One of them is Alma 37:41

Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;

Service selfie

I thought about this a bit. In this verse it is talking about Lehi's family and their progression toward the promised land. So I figured that I could probably learn more about progression by studying Lehi's family towards the promised land. So I asked myself what are small means?

When reading about Nephi and his dealings with his brothers, I've thought a lot about why Laman and Lemuel were such terrible people. They saw an angel and still rebelled against their brother? It just doesn't make sense. While thinking about this I read chapter 7 verses 9 through 12.

How is it that ye have not hearkened unto the word of the Lord?How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord? Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us, in delivering us out of the hands of Laban, and also that we should obtain the record? Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.

Battle wound from service at
Alexays.

So why did they forget? I think it comes down to what Alma mentioned when he was talking to his son Helaman; through small means do we show our faith. Even just by reading the scriptures and praying with a sincere heart can help us remember our conversion. Laman and Lemuel both traveled across the same plains and deserts (trials) but Nephi depended and had faith in the Lord.  If we are remembering our conversion and acting on faith then we are progressing.

So I shared this with Elder Norton during companion study and he actually ended up more or less studying the same thing. He told me that feeling God's love is how you feel the comfort that you are progressing. So during the split I was hoping that I would feel that.

This is something we do in our
mission - transfer journals.  A
couple sisters got transferred. I like
to get creative and do pop ups.

The day was a pretty normal day, nothing too out of the ordinary. We met with Mishell, a French speaker from Africa and then we met with Vincent from Ghana. Both lessons were awesome and very spiritual. At the end of the day we had a bit of extra time so we made banana bread for some less actives. We went over but they were not home. So we started to head back home. That is when a random thought came to me to go to the underpass by the zone leader’s house and give it to the old deaf man that always sits there. So we went there and he was sitting there in the rain. We gave the bread to him and walking back to the apartment we both kind of stayed quiet. When we got home we went over the split and I talked about what we learned that day. I noticed how interesting it was that as I was expecting to feel God's love for me, I ended up feeling God's love for different people. Elder Norton and I looked back on the day and even though we didn't have anything too big that happened, it felt like a perfect day.

Yeah, so I really enjoyed serving with Elder Norton this weekend. He helped me feel a lot better about the coming transfer and that going to Novochurkosk is the exact next step I need to take in order to progress in my missionary work here.

It has been a great week. I love you all so much.(: Have a good week!

Elder Weston

Last time at Highway. With my bros.