Very, Very Beknownst

Heads up:  There's a pretty gross photo at the end of this blog.  I know - I could have left it out, but it has such a great story that goes with it…

Dobry Den.

It's Elder Broekhuijsen here. Which is good, because if it wasn't me, that would be kinda weird, probably.

We've had a good/crazy week. I guess you could say that about just about every week of anybody's mission, ever. But there you go.

I'll start off by attaching pictures and giving you some descriptions.

This is me and Elder Rosell. He is right now on an airplane, headed home to Carlsbad, California. Just finished his mission. He's super super awesome and really hilarious.

Funny story about Elder Rosell. On a missionary's last day on the mission, (it's always a Sunday), he goes to the mission home and has dinner with President and Sister Sartori. Anyway, Elders Morris and I were headed down to the office yesterday evening to drop off Elder Rosell, and we figured we'd have one more incident for Elder Rosell on the way down. So we randomly ran into not one, but two investigators (who have probably never even met each other) right in the same spot on the way down on a busy intersection (Kuybysheva and Nekrasovskaya, for those of you playing at home with Google Earth). And we were already running kind of late, so I just really quickly explained that we were in a hurry, and we started walking away, when suddenly, a very large, very drunk man, in a fit of gallant and inebriated chivalry, charged across the street into the scene. As near as we can figure, we think he was trying to barge into us, but missed, because he ran right past us but just about brushed my shirt. He LITERALLY shouted "Don't worry, I'll save you!" to our investigators (both middle-aged women), and then started yelling at us and got into a boxing stance. So we rolled our eyes and started laughing (we were already walking away, remember?) but he followed us and grabbed my shoulder. I shrugged him off and told him to go away, and he started cussing us out and stuff, and so Elder Morris sighed and was like, "Well, we're in a hurry anyways, I guess we better run." The rules are, we're supposed to run away when drunk people get aggressive anyway, so we just ran down Kuybysheva and onto Leningradskaya and I guess he chased us for a while, but wasted people are neither the most threatening nor the most diligent pursuers in the world, so we lost him without any trouble. So once again, drunk people inflicting themselves on society and making their alcoholism everyone else's problem strikes again. I have no problem with drunk people that just want to sit at home and get drunk. That's their deal. My problem is drunk people who get involved in other people's affairs for no reason. But that's okay. I've cooled off. Life goes on. And Elder Rosell now has a really awesome memory of the last 10 minutes of proselyting time on his mission :D

This is me on exchanges with Elder Anderson, the senior Tol'yatti Zone Leader. Back in New City North! Woot! My hometown. And I'm chilling with V*, my home boy, and A*, his girlfriend (who is a member from early childhood), and V*, who is a boss member as well (I think she's going to BYU Provo in the next few months to learn English and go to college. V* got the Melchizidek Priesthood a few weeks ago. YEAH BABY! Oh, man. I was so pumped when I found out.

So the reason this week has been crazy is because we were already getting the transfer schedule finalized, which involves 4 people going home and 5 people coming in (all sisters). So of course, as per tradition, as soon as we finalized the transfer schedule, a whole bunch of stuff happened. This time it took the form of an Elder deciding he'd had enough and he was headed home. Sad day. It also screwed everything up. Not that that matters very much in comparison, but it was still unpleasant. There's also a Visa Trip happening tomorrow and we're going to pick up all those sisters tomorrow night around 11:00ish.

Our investigators are doing great. We haven't been able to meet with A* and M* this week because they're really busy, and so were we. But T* came to church for the 4th time in a row, and just loves it. It's awesome, because you can see her conversion happening before your very eyes. She's getting happier and more open and just relaxed as a person, and she's a textbook case of Lehi's dream. I'll explain. Yesterday when we ran into her, she was with a friend, and she pulled me aside super fast and told me that her friend isn't very happy in life and she wants to introduce her to us because she thinks this message will help her. So we met them both out in the park about two hours later and it was like the most book-perfect referral hand-off meeting that Preach My Gospel could ever have imagined. So now G* is a new investigator, and T* was like testifying to her and just really realizing just how much she wants to share the white fruit that she partook of herself not long ago! Man. She's going to get baptized in June for sure. 

This is my planner this cycle. Explaining the Russian parts on it would take enough explanation to render the jokes unfunny, so I'll refrain. Just enjoy the fact that Twilight followed me to Russia.

Alrighty.... remember that one time when I told you the sad/gross story of a boiled egg that sat, unbeknownst to us, under our oven for a week? And then after we got back from exchanges and stepped into our apartment, the egg had become VERY VERY beknownst? This is that egg. You should have seen the reactions of the sisters in our district when I showed them on Friday. Gosh, even looking at that picture gets me feeling queasy remembering the smell.

Okay. Well, I'm out of exciting stories. I'm glad that Melissa has had enough experience with drugs now to decide it's not her thing. I'm glad Joshua and Garrett haven't lost any of their zeal for games. That mouse and keyboard sounds like a SICK combo. I'm glad school is out (didn't school already get out once on my mission?). I'm glad that Dad and I are going to rent Zeiss lenses and go on a road trip to Glacier National Park sometime during the spring or summer of 2013. I'm glad that you haven't sent my package yet, because now, if it will fit, you can include a bag of Hint of Lime chips (I finally figured out my biggest American food craving). I'm glad that I got over my cold after a few days. I'm glad that Garrett looks like a total punk with straightened hair. I'm glad that Mom thinks "The Music We Made" is as desperately sad a song as I do.

Have a fun summer! It's going to be over before anyone knows it. Elder Morris is down to his last 3 months. What the heck? Luckily, I just barely got here, and it's far too early to be worrying about time on my mission.

Have a wonderful day!

Love,
Elder Broekhuijsen