Welcome Elder Williams!

New comp, Elder Williams

I have loved training Elder Williams the last couple of days! He is working hard on the language. We have done a lot of studying because of the in-by-five rule for the week of New Years as well as the no use of transport. I am sure Elder Williams is just ready to go out and teach some lessons. In Novocherkassk, it is hard to go to a lesson when you can't use transport. We have a few lessons lined up for tomorrow and a potential lesson today.

On our way to see the Sobor.

Elder Williams was in a trio in the MTC, and that limited his opportunity to learn just a little. I am helping him as much as I can with that. It all comes down to just doing it. Oh, to answer your question, yes, I speak and teach often in church. Last week I was asked to lead Sunday School for the whole branch with a one-minute notice. It went really well though. Everyone participated and it was really fun. Morning study helps with those situations. Also, I probably speak in Sacrament meeting every 3-4 weeks. We try to get the members involved as much as possible.

The Sobor. Third largest church
in Russia.

Going along with that, Elder Williams was asked to speak in church on Sunday. The branch president wanted me to translate, but I had Elder Williams speak on his own. It turned out really good. Tanya, our recent convert, came up to me after and told me she thought she wouldn't understand at all but she ended up understanding him. I made sure Elder Williams heard that. I know that he is pretty self-conscious about speaking in Russian, though that barrier is going down. We have had a lot of study time together and he has a great desire to learn. He is still pretty tired, which is understandable, because we have been doing extra study and he is also jetlagged. He is overwhelmed, but that is just part of the first bit of your mission. He is doing great though! I am sure once we are able to fully do the work and be out past five and go on transport he will start feeling more of the joys of doing the work.

Welcome to your new home,
Elder Willaims

Because of transfers, I was in Rostov most of the week with the zone leaders, Zapadny Elders, and the APs. It was fun serving with them. I made sure to ask Elder Foote some advice on training. He is a professional because he has trained the last four newbies. A big piece of advice that he gave me was give them opportunities to learn. I will try and find a good balance between not overwhelming Elder Williams and giving him enough opportunities to learn.

Chillin with Elder Norton
and Elder Tucker before
transfers.

The church is refining some of the rules that were made since the law change. The rule about teaching in member’s homes was loosened a little. We were allowed to use our judgement before, but now we don’t have to stress about it so much. Also, we can now get people’s numbers on the street if we are talking to them and we are confident they are interested. That is really good!

Just some numbers from the end of the year - December was the highest baptizing month in the mission since President and Sister Miner arrived in July of 2015. There were seven baptisms with a number of other people preparing for January. For the year 2016, our mission surpassed the number of baptisms we had in 2015.  Молодец! At our peak, there were sixty-seven volunteers; we now have forty-eight plus two on mini-missions.

That about sums up my week! I need to get off, so good to hear from you guys! Love you so much!! Have a good week! (: Oh, and tell Elder Shumway I said hey!! haha

Love you!

Elder Weston

The newest Rustov
missionaries.