Marching band? Please!!!

Goodbye to some great friends.

This week was filled with a lot of work and service.

We went down to Novocherkassk this week and got five lessons in! It was awesome to be back there helping everyone. We met one of the less-actives that I used to work with named Brother Butko. He has a son named Arseni who would come each week without his parents, but then the branch president said he wasn't allowed to come without parents anymore. We wrote in the area book before I left that we could start working with them and get his dad to baptize him! That was the last entry in the area book, so we went over to their house and spoke to them about that. Arseni said he wanted to be baptized and so we will be working with them in the future.

Pounding the streets

Also, it was so great seeing Tanya again! She has read the Book of Mormon, the Gospel Principles Manuel, and is now reading in Doctrine and Covenants. She also bore her testimony yesterday for fast meeting! I was so impressed with her. She has changed so much. She is also bringing her grandson to church each week! He is about 12 and he says he likes church but does not want to be baptized. We will probably be meeting with him in the future too!

The other miracle we had was that we met with Viktor! He has been in the hospital since he got back from America. When we saw him he was covered in hives! I guess he is getting better and he wants to start meeting again with us. The hospital just started to let him leave on the weekends so he is going to come to church more often. Only problem is that he now lives in Shakti because he gets his treatment there. We might just start meeting over skype. He was so happy to be back in the branch and he helped all of the members clean the branch when he came down on Saturday.

Sopha, bad hair day

Unfortunately, we were unable to meet up with Diana because she was at sea! However, she will be moving to Rostov soon and we will start meeting with her then.

Another great miracle!! Brother Kushnarenko, at the end of branch council, says, "Oh! Before I forget! There is a family in Kamensk-Shaxtinski that is ready to be baptized." haha We were so pumped! I guess he has been working with the father in the family for a bit. We don't have too many details yet but we are excited to see what will happen with this!

Not everything is great. Alexander is rough. He was naked when we last visited him and he peed all over the floor in front of us. It was way sad. We helped him get dressed and fed him though. It is 100 degrees outside and even hotter in his house! Mom, that mini-fan you sent me has been a lifesaver! Still working with David and Georgi.

Mom and Dad, that was great seeing the picture of you two with Landon. To answer your question though, no, I haven’t grown two inches. Way to go, Landon! Also, so glad to hear about Ellie. She will be an awesome missionary. And Scott, I know you think marching band is hard, but no way is it harder than wrestling!!!

This was a crazy and busy week but it was so rewarding! A lot of things didn't work out, but we stayed busy and worked hard! It is weeks like these that make the mission great!

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​The church is true

Elder Weston

Local street gang