Well we had a crazy last week of August in the mission, particularly in the Saratov Zone. I wanted to share one awesome miracle we experienced that I know God gave us because of a whole zone full of faith and prayers. V* was baptized recently as I already told you, and his wife has since become interested in the churh. V*'s son, I*, was also basically a shoe-in for baptism, but we didn't see how it would happen in August, as he was out of town until Saturday the 3rd. Well, we didn't see how, but we knew it was possible. We had every companionship in the Zone praying specifically for a miracle to get I* home and taught in time to be baptized on August 31st. For whatever reason, he came home early from his camping trip. Tuesday the 30th. I happened to be on splits in Engels that day, where they live, so Elder Lythgoe and I dropped by and taught a lesson about prayer and getting answers. We taught I* that God had already picked a day for him to be baptized, and that I* could find out by praying. We committed him to pray that night and ask God which day he should be baptized. The next day, Elder Morris was down there with I* and they had one more lesson with him. This was about 6:00 on the 31st. When they followed up on our commitment to pray, he said, "Yes, I prayed." They asked if he got an answer, and when he answered in the affirmative, they kind of tentatively asked, "Okay then... which day do you want to be baptized?" I* thought for a minute, and then said, "I think I need to be baptized today." A series of other things happened that prevented I* from being baptized until Friday. But God answered our prayers. He finished our faith, and we've started off September strong with two baptisms in the first week. We saw miracles left and right this last week and the last few days of August, but I think this is my favorite one. I* is 13 years old and already the most mature kid I know (sorry, Garrett). And we're expecting his mother, O*, to get baptized in September as well. That means I will still be on my mission when this family goes to the temple to be sealed for all time and eternity. I'm so excited for that day.
I'm glad you got the pictures from Sister Kozlenko. She is such a fantastic member, and such a nice lady. Expect more pictures from her, for sure. The sad part about the watermelon pictures was that we were still fasting when she took those. So we didn't actually get to eat any of the delicious watermelon. As far as the translations go of what she sent, it's definitely the "miss you" one. The Russian phrase to say "I miss you" literally translates as "I am bored according to you." The verb fills both roles. So don't worry. The last thing that will happen to me on my mission is "getting bored."
[Editor's note: We had told him that when we received the first batch of photos, Jerome used some online software to translate the captions of the photos. It came out saying something like, "We love you very much and miss." Melissa used a different translator and got, "We love you and we are bored." Obviously, not all Russian translation software is created equal!]
Well this week we have transfers coming up. Already, Sister Kairys, a rock solid sister from Lithuania who was in the MTC with me has received hers. She'll be serving in Penza. I'm not expecting a transfer as generally Zone Leaders don't get assigned for one transfer and then dropped off the next. On the other hand though, there is a DESPERATE need for trainers in the mission. We have something like 10 missionaries going home, having finished their missions in one week, and we have another about 10 coming in fresh from the MTC, one of which is ELDER SWARTZ! I hope SO bad he gets put in Saratov... or at least that I get to see him somehow right when he comes in. I still can't believe sometimes that I'll get to serve with him for like a year and a half. I'll definitely let you know what goes down when he gets here.
Well that's about what I wanted to write this week. Since I have about 15 more minutes and I didn't forget my flash drive this week, I'll be hopefully sending a few photos home before I get off.
I love you all! Don't stress about Melissa not being home. She's exactly where she's supposed to be, and there's nothing sad about that. And pretty soon, before you know it, she'll be 6 months into her mission and I'll be halfway done and the time will just be flying by.
Melanie is pregnant,
Elder Broekhuijsen!
[Melanie is Andrew's cousin. We just let him know in our email to him this week that she is expecting, so apparently he thought it was good enough news to use it as a closing to his letter. He always has been an original…]
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