June 27 Update

As always, Monday morning started out great for us as we received an email from our favorite Elder. Thanks to all of you who have been so good to write to him. We love knowing that he has the support of so many family members and friends. Without further ado, here's what Elder Broekhuijsen had to say for this week!

Hey Family and Friends!

It was a good week. But really long for some reason. I didn't take very good "notes" throughout the week on things I wanted to write home about, but I'll just write what I can remember. But this email will probably be shorter... hehe.

So as you predicted, being with Elder Kuzmin is REALLY crunching my language skills. I've noticed SO much improvement over the last week, which is actually really nice. Of course I was improving while I was with CT. Walton, but since 75% of the talking I do (at least) is with my companion, it helps that most of it is in Russian. I get a lot more practice this way. So I'm not where I want to be yet, but I'm getting there at a respectable rate. I'm glad Heavenly Father put me with a native on my SECOND cycle though, because this much Russian would have destroyed my brain on the first cycle. Sometimes I finish a conversation with Elder Kuzmin, and then realize that it was all in Russian and I didn't even realize it. It's awesome when that happens. Because usually I have to hear what is said, translate it roughly into English in my head, and derive whatever bits of meaning I can get out of that, skipping over words I didn't know how to translate, etc. So I think I'm starting to finally make that paradigm-shift into hearing Russian and understanding meaning, rather than hearing Russian and translating into English and then understanding meaning. So the language is coming along.

This week we had a couple of cool things happen. First of all, we had a day where we went and met with a man out of the area book. He was super awesome. Super Christian (some Protestant church), but very open to hearing more restored truths. He was also LIVING how he thought he should, which was awesome. He spends several hours every week doing service for free at this center that runs a bunch of free showers for the homeless. Awesome awesome guy. So he became a new investigator. Directly after that, we went to go meet with a referral we receieved; a lady named T* who's probably about 50. Well, when we showed up to the meeting, she had two friends with her who wanted to hear about our beliefs as well. They are all great Christians as well (Orthodox) and were all super accepting. So in short, we found 4 new REALLY GOOD investigators within like 3 hours. Woot!

Yesterday was kind of the opposite situation. We had three meetings planned, all of which fell through. So we did a marathon 7 hour block of street contacting because we couldn't set up meetings with anyone. And somehow we didn't find a single new investigator. We did find a lady who was some religion kind of like Hari Krisha, although she firmly denied that she was Hari Krishna. She asked Elder Kuzmin "how long have you been in this system?" Which we eventually figured out meant, "how old are you?" Because she believed in reincarnation. But anyway. She was super nice I guess. Just wanted to talk a lot more than she wanted to listen. Then we met a man who said he prays every day that America gets destroyed. Lol. (whoa, I just used "lol" for the first time in like 4 months). Then we met a man on the way home who really really wanted to argue with us about why our church wasn't true. He was obviously not interested in hearing more, but whenever we tried to excuse ourselves, he said "No, no, I'm not finished," and continued his rant. It went on for 30 minutes. So. I'm not sure what we did wrong yesterday. Maybe it was just a test of patience or something. But I was pretty happy to hit the pillow by the time that happened :) Oh, well. As the Russians say, "Buivaet," (bwee-vai-et). "It happens."

So. Hopefully everything is still going well there. CT. Kuzmin has been having some problems with plantar warts since the beginning of his mission. Today we're going to go to the doctor and get them frozen again, which means no walking for him the rest of the day, and likely none tomorrow as well. We'll see how it works out. But I'll be sitting a lot today I think.

Thanks for your prayers! Don't worry about things here. Of course there are hard days, but they don't bother me really. There's too much good stuff happening here to focus on the bad stuff.

Word.

Love,

Elder Broekhuijsen

6.20.11 Update

Andrew's mom here. Melissa is trying to teach me how to do this, since she probably won't be able to do it from Boston! Here are some excerpts from today's email from our favorite Elder.

MELISSA GOT HER MISSION CALL! SHE IS GOING TO BOSTON! AH!!!!!!!!

I won't lie - I was hoping you would go somewhere Russian-speaking. But every mission is the best mission in the world for the missionaries that are there. Why else would God send them to those missions? Besides... when I thought about you going somewhere Russian speaking, it never felt quite right to hope for it. I don't know if that makes sense, but... yeah. Okay. Well, CONGRATULATIONS! And we're going to be getting home super close together! My "projected" (see, "inaccurate and it's really just a placeholder, mostly") departure date from here is March 11, 2013. But I won't know until much later in the mission. But we'll be getting home practically the same time. That is a dream come true. Plus you don't have to wait forever to go to the MTC. Plus you won't be there long enough to get sick of it (probably)! Well congratulations! I'm so excited for you! The mission is the hardest thing I have ever done, by FAR. But also the best. I have improved more in the last 4 months than probably I have in the last like 4 years before the mission.

So, there was Zone Conference on Friday in Samara. It was fantastic! It was so cool to see a bunch of people! Ct. Angerhofer and Ross from the MTC are in my Zone already, but this Conference happened to be a combined Zone Conference with Tol'yatti and Samara zones together, so I got to see a lot of people. It was great! They're doing well. Interestingly enough, Ct. Johnson (who was in the Saratov zone) got transferred to Schloozavoy (IN OUR DISTRICT!) with Ct. Derby, who you probably remember from previous emails. So they're awesome. I'm still in New City, but Ct. Walton, sadly, was transferred to Kazan, which is in the Samara zone. He will be finishing training Elder Angerhofer, interestingly enough. My new companion is a native Russian from St. Petersburg named Ct. Kuzmin! (Kooz-MEEN) He is so so so so so funny and awesome. He speaks fluent English, luckily for me (although I've noticed a big change in how well I speak and understand Russian in the past 3 days already). President Sartori says he thinks I was put with a native so I can really crank it up on the language skills, because he feels like I will likely be training either next cycle or the one following. So that's kind of scary, but still awesome. I feel better and better about the language every day; it's wonderful. Like yesterday! I had a 30-minute conversation with a guy on the street. Which was basically just a really long Bible-bash. Not that that's good. I didn't catch every word, but I could always tell what he was talking about, etc. He didn't accept the Book of Mormon I tried to give him ("I only believe in the Bible, and that's it"), but while he wasn't looking, I snuck a Church Invitation with our information on it to his wife... hee hee. She seemed a lot more interested, just a lot quieter than him. I think she really felt the spirit while we talked to them. So who knows... that might go somewhere someday.

I love it here. I feel comfortable living here, basically. I was so scared to have a native Russian companion, but it's all good. He's amazing. I love being in a district with all my friends - the Zone Leaders who I already know, the Sister missionaries who I already know, Elder Derby and Elder Johnson, and now Elder Kuzmin. Tol'yatti is currently the single highest baptizing city in the entire Europe East area. I'm SO blessed and lucky to be here for another cycle (and who knows? Maybe another after that!) I was talking to a recently-returned Russian missionary who served in St. Petersburg, but lives in Saratov (he was in Tol'yatti to visit his grandmother, and came to our branch on Sunday). He said that the Samara mission is like Zion of the Europe East Area and the St. Petersburg mission is like Babylon. I heard all sorts of ridiculous stories, and I'm SO glad I don't have to put up with any kind of stupid drama or contention or anything here in the Samara mission. I LOVE it here.

So how are things going back home? We've still been having bipolar weather between super rainy and windy and super hot and sunny. Apparently this is kind of just how this area of Russia works until probably later in August... haha. Of course I know that it's freezing in the winter, but part of me doesn't really believe it... like winter is just this myth that everyone talks about. A story. I bet that will be an interesting kick in the pants when I wake up and it's 40 below.

I don't really know what else to say. I love being a missionary. The church is true. Even when things go south with investigators sometimes, it's still the best work ever.

Woot.

Elder Broekhuijsen

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

6.6.11 Update

We got an e-mail from Andrew this morning! We're so happy that he hasn't lost his sense of humor. Enjoy some clips! Oh - and please write him! He loves getting letters.

Hey everyone!

Well a less eventful week I would say, but there's still lots to talk about of course! First off, sounds like all the rainy weather you were having down there finally made its way to Tol'yatti. It's been raining pretty much nonstop since like Friday here. Luckily, my trusty Samsonite umbrella hasn't yet let me down. But I did learn that it's not big enough for three elders to hide under. Just in case anyone was wondering.

So, little tidbit. As I've mentioned, we do email in a gaming center. And the guy sitting next to me is totally playing Dota. I figured Kurt, Erik, and Joshua and Garrett would probably appreciate that. It's even popular in Russia!

Oh. I just remembered. You may or may not have heard on the news that there was apparently quite a large explosion in Izhevsk yesterday or today or somewhere around then. Well we're all supposed to write home and say don't worry. Tol'yatti is about 500 miles away from Izhevsk, so no worries there. As far as I know, none of the missionaries that are currently assigned to the Izhevsk area were injured either. Izhevsk is where the AK company is found - (as in AK-47). They make tons of weapons and stuff. So that explains the explosion, I guess. Anyway, yeah. No worries.

So last P-day after email, I went to the flea market and got a couple of spicy new ties for about $11 each. Woot! Don't worry, I'm not going to blow all your money on ties. But I have to buy SOME of them while I'm here :P Besides, Russian ties are awesome. They all have these crazy cool patterns and colors and stuff.

I'm happy to hear my mail finally started showing up! I got some mail as well last week from the mission office. There were some more recent Dear Elders (from around May 20, I believe... please continue to write the date in the DearElder when you send it because it doesn't appear anywhere on the envelope or anything) and a letter from Robin that got sent through the pouch and got here just fine. Oh! And I got that DearElder that had the quote from Bryce Taylor. Bryce, you are awesome. Everything you say is like pure gold.

Oh! So on Saturday, the Old City elders had a baptism! It was awesome; the first one I've seen so far here. Although we have a baptism of our own coming up this Friday if everything goes through. So that should be awesome! Her name is C*. We met with her on Friday outside on a bench and taught the law of tithing and went through the baptismal interview questions to get an idea for how well she understands everything she needs to. Around the end of the lesson, two kittens (one orange and stripey and one white with grey patches) DEFINITELY didn't come up to the bench and start chasing this little flying bugs around. Although, rest assured, if that HAD happened, we definitely would not have stopped and played with them for 20 minutes. That would have been childish.

That's about all I can think to write. Thanks for the pictures from Captiol Reef, Dad! They were great to look at. Tell Blake he's the bomb.com. Everyone else - you're cool too. And please write me letters or DearElders. I enjoy getting those. Mail in the MTC was awesome. Mail in the field is pure magic. It reminds me that America still exists, where the water out of the tap doesn't have worms, and the toilets aren't super weird. Haha. Just kidding. Don't worry. I don't really miss America that much. Russia is awesome. I have no complaints here!

Love you all. You're the best. Have an awesome week! I know I will.

Love,
Elder Broekhuijsen

Double Update!

Hey everyone! Here are some portions from Andrew's latest e-mail home, and some pictures! We got our first snail mail from Andrew this past week, and he sent home some pictures. Now that we know the system works, hopefully we'll be getting some more pictures regularly.

Enjoy! (like last week, the Russians' names will be starred out for privacy)

Oh, man. I had some stories this week. First of all. I was on splits with Elder Derby on Wednesday, and at lunch, we were calling Potential Investigators to try and set up an appointment. There was a Uzebekistanian family who invited us over. She lived down in South New City (you'll notice looking at Google Maps that there's kind of a triangle spot in the upper-right, and a square in the lower-left of New City), so we had to take a bus for about 25 minutes or so to get there. We also called a member, Brother G*, to meet us there so he could sit in on the lesson (teaching with members present is highly encouraged). So we got there and walked into the apartment, and the Hazaikas (landladies... who basically sit on the first floor all day and watch the entrance so no drunks come in and sleep or something) was like... "Hey! What are you doing here?" We said we had a meeting with a family and gave her the name and apartment number. (The name of our investigator was T*). She was like, "That's not correct. There is not a T*living in this apartment." CT. Derby asked if we could just go up and check anyway because we were like 90% sure our address was right. She said "I'm telling you, there's nobody here named T*. Get out." So we left back onto the street and called this lady again. Her daughter who is like 16 or so answered and said that T* was coming home and would be there in 10 or 15 minutes, and meanwhile we should come up. And our address was definitely right. So as soon as we went back into the apartment building, not one, but TWO Hazaikas started yelling at us. It was like she went through Mitosis while we were outside. Two evil Babooshkas screaming at us all this stuff like "We said to get out! What are you doing back in here! We don't want Jehovah's Witnesses in this apartment!" We explained that we weren't J-Dubs, and that we had checked the address and it was correct. The whole time, they never stopped yelling. "No! No! Get out! You're not welcome here! You can't come in!" So CT. Derby was like, "Hey! She invited us up?" Nope. "We don't believe you! Get out of here!" It was getting pretty intense. So CT. Derby dials the number again and gives our phone to the evil Hazaikas. "Look! Ask them! They invited us up!" The daughter picks up and one of the evil grandmas starts grilling her while the other one continues to yell at us. "Who is this! Tell me right now, who is this?! What is your name? Who did you invite up to your apartment? What is your apartment number?" Apparently the daughter answered these questions exactly how we expected she would, because Evil Babooskha #1 immediately changes tack, realizing that it's really obvious she's wrong about everything. "For what? Why do you want to talk to the Mormons?" But she was yelling it all rude and stuff. CT. Derby got kind of mad and was like, "Hey! Don't be mean to her." And he grabbed the phone and hung up. The he was like, "Okay. They invited us up. We're going." And we started walking towards the lift. But the evil grandmas literally blocked the corridor to the lift and started yelling about how they were going to call the cops on us. "No, no, no! Get out, right now!" They were super jerks. Well the cops here don't like Mormons very much, and we figured if they showed up they would probably just automatically side with the Hazaikas. So we left. And sent our member home. And took a 25 minute bus ride back to our area of the city. It took me like 30 minutes to cool down. I was so angry. Not that I really cared that I had been wronged, but because here's this lovely family who wants to meet with the missionaries and hear our message, and these two evil babooshkas who don't know why we're here or anything just auto-rejected us and denied the family the chance to meet with us.

Anyway. We'll be meeting with them tonight. If the evil Babooshas are there again, we'll probably just call the family and ask them to come out and meet on a bench with us. But it should be an adventure either way.

Other than that... what's news that would be cool for people there to here? Oh! So basically every cat in this city (there are like 403287 of them) is pregnant. Except the ones that have already had kittens. They are EVERYWHERE. Unfortunately, most of the cats here have ringworm, so we're not supposed to touch them. Bummer.

Also, I finally got some mail this week. It appears that all of it came in the sack. There were a few DearElders from the beginning of May that had outdated info in them. Let me know if you get my letters, BTW. But for everyone else... DearElders DO come! Also I got a letter from Brynne dated 29.04.11 that evidently was addressed to the MTC, and then I'm guessing sent through the pouch, because there's only 1 American standard stamp on it, and it still got here. So pouch mail is going to be the cheapest option, and it's probably not really any slower than mailing directly to the mission office, since they just give us mail kind of "as they can." So like, when the Assistants come down to do exchanges with the Zone Leaders, we get whatever mail was in the office when they left.

Love you all! Love it here in Russia. We are probably going to have a baptism this coming Saturday, so I'll let you know if that goes through in a week. The church is true! God answers prayers!

Love,
Elder Broekhuijsen

Andrew calls this the "Super Snickers". It is huge (obviously) and has hazelnuts in addition to the peanuts - yum!

Some Russian money

Andrew wanted us to see what his living conditions are like - this is his companion, C.T. Walton writing a letter in their apartment.

Their beds. Looks like they're doing pretty well!