6.13.11 Update

Hey all! Here are some words straight from the man himself. Sounds like he's still doing well!

So we often have meetings fall through. Probably 50% of our meetings that we set, we get stood up or something of the sort happens. For that reason, we have backup plans for almost every hour of the day. This week, as part of a backup plan, we ended up at the house of a recent convert and his family (who are all members, though not so recenly converted). Our convert's name is E*. He was baptized just before I got to Russia, so that's cool. He's 32, and he lives with his 20-something brother A*, his dad Va*, and his Mom M* That's pretty normal in Russia. People don't usually move out as early as they do here. Anyway, this family is like half Russian, half Armenian or something. I dunno. But they're all super awesome. And currently, Va*'s grandson from one of his other daughters is staying with them. His name is Ma*, and he's mostly Armenian. He's ridiculous. He's 8 years old, and hilarious. He speaks fluent Armenian of course, mostly fluent Russian (faaaaaar better than mine), and is learning English in school. So there's that. But he's also kind of like this hyperactive awesome kid who doesn't really know how to sit still or stop talking, and it's the funniest thing ever.

Anyway, we went over to their house to do a family home evening sort of thing. I spent all day trying to come up with some game we could play so that it wasn't just a dry lecture in half Russian (CT. Walton), and half broken Russian with a really heavy accent (CT. Broekhuijsen). I basically gave up and just decided to play hangman with little candies for every time someone guessed a correct letter. Well first off, the candies were insane good. Obscenely good. Found out later they were chocolate with creme brulee inside. I don't really even know what creme brulee is, but I'm going to eat it more in life now. A lot more. Turns out, hangman is a HIT. Not just for 8 year old Armenian boys, but for Russians in general. The entire family was SO into it. And Ma* was over the moon about having candy. We all took turns coming up with a word for everyone else to guess, and it was hilarious. In English, if someone guesses a correct letter, we just say like... I dunno... "Yes." Or something. In Russian, they invariably said, "There exists such a letter." That is a literal translation, but it's funny. I can still hear Marat's voice in my head screaming "EST TAKOY BOOKVA!!!" (THERE IS SUCH A LETTER!) Every time someone guessed one in his word (which turned out not to be a word in any known language. Also he kept saying that letters we guessed were incorrect, when they weren't. But yeah.)

So that was a blast.

So this week was a week full of miracles. Our Mission President has challenged each companionship to find one new investigator every single day. For a person to become a new investigator, they need to be taught at least one principle from a lesson, and then for the "lesson" to be considered kosher (bad word choice?), there needs to be a prayer. Finally, a specific return appointment needs to be set. So the recommended approach is talking to people. Those who are interested we'll get to know a bit, then teach them a principle that applies to their life from what we learn about them, and then invite them to pray with us right there on the street, then take their info and set up a tentative return date and time. Well. It works! But the first miracle this week was when I decided I was going to first, have the faith that we COULD find a new investigator every day. The last week, almost every day we set the goal of 1 new investigator, and then recorded the result of 0 new investigators. It was getting frustrating. I realized that it's because I haven't been doing my part. The fact that I'm pretty bad at Russian is no longer a good enough excuse for me not to open my mouth. So I went crazy on Monday. I was talking to EVERYONE. I didn't find a new investigator though. CT Zuber, who is currently an office Elder in Aurora, called us halfway through the day with a referral from online. It was a guy named V*. Well those are cool because if someone found our site and wanted to hear more, we don't have to do anything but show up, and usually they're really prepared people. So we went to his house. Nobody answered the door, so we left a card with our info and a little note. Then we left. Right before we walked out of the building, V* and his mom showed up in the doorway of the building. So we went back up to their apartment and had a lesson. They are GOLDEN. They committed to a baptismal date in the first lesson. Since then, we've met with them like 4 or 5 times, (including twice yesterday), and they are going to be baptized on Thursday. It's amazing. They are both currently very devout baptists (to the point where they have a picture of a Baptist apostle hanging on their wall, who looks kind of like Cisco from DS9). They pray like baptists, with a lot of "Lord, Lord," and arm waving and stuff, which is awesome. But everything is great. They're the nicest people ever. Things are looking good.
Visa trip! I should have one in early August. That's a ways out, so I haven't thought about it much. But it will be to Kiev, and I WILL get to go to the Kiev temple. Woot!
Well. I'm down to one minute. Love you all! Keep the faith! The church is true! I'm so glad I get to see what it can do for families! No matter where people are in life, this gospel helps. Always.

Love,
Elder Broekhuijsen