Letter #27 from Russia

Hello Family!! So this week has been a good one I would say... but not super successful. The flu was going around and I caught it, so that hindered the work all week. This week, we got to go to a Russian Opera called Yevgennii Onnegin. It was really good, but all I understood was pretty much the bare bones of the story line. It was very difficult to understand. haha! Also, we were in a Marshootka the other day, (minivan taxi) and I heard tengo la camisa negro on the radio and I kind of freaked out to myself. So we have been working with this guy named Makcim and he is really cool... but he randomly stopped answering our calls and stuff and we couldn't get a hold of him for a month! We thought that he probably just heard dumb things about us and was avoiding us, but we kept calling anyway every once in a while. Well, we finally got a hold of him. Turns out he got shot in the back twice and had to get a kidney transplant and other operations and will probably be in the hospital for a month or two longer. We were so happy to learn he still wanted to meet, but it's kind of a bummer our investigator got shot... He had a sketchy job, but we didn't think it was that sketchy. Mary! That is Crazy that you are training and opening a new area in your third cycle! I want to know are you whitewashing (re-opening a formerly closed area), or completely opening it fresh? That would be crazy if you were doing it fresh! Man, you are so lucky slash unlucky! of course you would though! I think that's weird that you're only in your third cycle... I'm already in my 5th, almost 6th cycle. And I'm coming up on my year mark in two months! I've been out for 10 months already... Wow, time really is short here. I was thrilled to learn about Matt going to Russia! I think that is insane that missionaries used to get so many baptisms! The people were just so thirsty for religion back then... So lucky! At this point it's pretty established that Pravaslavnie religion is what's cool. The church is still growing, but 50 baptisms? Our leaders have said that we can get 1 a month. And I believe them, but it doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a miracle if it happened. It is so difficult to get people to make commitments. Other than actual baptism, it's easy to get them to be a member. Too many people would rather just join it as a club rather than a religion. So I was thinking about Jesus Christ this morning and read in Mark 10: 33-34. they mocked him, scourged him, spat upon him, and killed him, but on the third day he did rise again. It really hit me today when I was thinking about that. Jesus Christ didn't let anything stop him from completing his mission. Not the entire forces of Satan. Not death. Not anything! When ever I am tired, I just need to remember what Jesus Christ probably felt like after three days of being DEAD... yet he got up and got to work. Yeah... I can definitely keep working. Sticks and stones may break his bones, but death will never stop him. I have to go! I love you all! Elder Svortz!