"Pupils"

Andrew must have had a little more time than usual this to write today - love the longer emails!

Wow. It sure is the end of July. Man. I remember last July dragged by. This July lasted about 20 minutes. That also means that my first visa trip and my first time in the Kyiv temple were more than a year ago. Pretty nuts.

This morning we've been hanging out with E*. E* is a boss from the Dachney branch in Saratov. He's headed out on a mission. Elder Langston and I will be taking him to the airport tonight to drop him off; and he'll fly to Spain. When he finishes at the MTC there, he'll fly to Novisibirsk and serve for two years. He's seriously so awesome; he's going to be an amazing missionary.

It's been an amazing week. The pattern of success that Elder Langston and I seem to have always had together is continuing. Our key indicators were great last week (10 new investigators; and like 4 of them are progressing now, woot!), and we have lots of potential for baptism just learning and growing more and more in the area. Such amazing people we get to work with here. A* and M* are doing well; although A* didn't show up to church like he promised. We are also working still with S*; he's doing way well, too. We've been working with a guy named O* who speaks English and is one of the most Christian people I've ever met; but he doesn't associate himself with any one church. He's accepting the message really well. Also, on Thursday or Friday, we ended up finding a couple of youngish girls (19 years old) and one of them met with us again last night; her name is L* - she is progressing as well. But she doesn't get along very well with our member help/date buster, Y*. Y* is a dicey member who is like 22. She helps us all the time. I think I've told you about her; maybe not. Anyway, things got a little catty on that meeting, but we all pulled through. We always invite Y* whenever there might be a problem with the flirt factor.

Actually I'll go ahead and tell the story of how we found them, because it's pretty weird. We were contacting around Revolution Square (a street called Kuybysheva, as it happens). We were talking to a couple of 17-year-olds, a dude and his girlfriend, and they were way nice and interested. Suddenly, this random girl came up and asked me to step over and talk to her so she wouldn't interrupt our conversation. So I took a couple of steps over, and this girl introduced herself and asked us if she could have a Book of Mormon. I was like... "Yes. Yes you can." Turns out she knew missionaries a while ago and she was reading the Book of Mormon already. Her name is I*. Her friend, L* came up and was also pretty nice. Elder Langston finished teaching a few principles from the first lesson with the first couple, and said a closing prayer on the lesson with them, and then came to join me. I* and L* tried really hard to convince us to go to the beach with them. Not allowed, sorry. So we ended up just walking with them in the direction of our own apartment because it was already about 8:40. On the way, Elder Langston taught L* the first lesson, and I deflected endless waves of shameless, weird, extremely forwards flirting from I*. "Do you like Russian girls? Do you have a girlfriend? Do you have free time here, or do you have to be working all the time? Why can't you go to the beach?" She kept trying to slip into the "I am being escorted by you" position, but I wouldn't let her. But at the same time; she was way interested in the church; probably a third of her questions were about that. Anyway, we had a prayer with them and went home, and I was pretty freaked out. I* wasn't just being flirty, she was being downright way weird. We talked about it a little bit and Elder Langston said something like, "Did you notice her pupils?" I thought back... "Yeah... yeah. They were huge." Yeah. We figured she was probably high on something. Which is dang sad, because she's 19. Pretty messed-up world. We asked L* about it yesterday, who, while decidedly on the "flirty" end of the spectrum, was way more sane. Turns out, I* is taking some weird medicine stuff that is supposed to help her with her eyes, but L* says she's not using it right, and... pretty much yeah. We were right.

So I don't know if we'll meet with I* again. We'll have to see. For sure the gospel could help her get out of this trap before it gets really serious and bad. But I don't know what exactly her desires to meet are pointed at. In any case... we'll have Y* there for backup.

Other than that, we've been working on the transfer schedule. It's insane. I thought I had these things down; because I've made like 8 of them now. But we have 12 new missionaries, which means twelve trainers. So there's a point during the transfer that we have 12 new missionaries, 12 trainers, Elder Langston and I, the Woods, and President and Sister Sartori in one room for lunch. That's like half the mission. Nuts.

I always intend to sit down and collect all the questions you all ask before I get to the next P-day so I can answer them all, but I didn't get to it this week either. I'll try to remember what questions you asked and answer them:

Dad asked a bunch of times about what service we do, and I never answered. Well... lots of different kinds. We do lots of moving furniture. Lots of missionaries do yard work. Branch service activities are way varied. This week, we moved a piano down five flights of stairs and drove it to the branch, where we unloaded and placed it in the relief society room (a member donated it). Once, our branch went to this shelter for animals and cleaned up. Once, we went to this place where they did stuff that had to do with animals and special needs children, and just cleaned up the grounds. So... short answer; all sorts of stuff.

Cool study stuff: Elder Connell, the Elder from a senior couple of missionaries here, is teaching a class that is Book of Mormon study from kind of a literary standpoint, and it's all done in English with translation, so it draws a big crowd of investigators that are interested in learning English. He's been putting a big focus on chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. He's totally gotten way into it and he's allowed to use the internet and stuff, so he knows tons of stuff about it. Like, apparently a bunch of really big-time Bible scholars  found chiasmuses (chiasmii?) exactly like the ones in the Old Testament. Notable chiasmus: Alma 36 (I think tons of people know about that one, but it's sweet to study). I started a new project during personal study where I hunt down and tear them apart. You can find them a lot in parts of the Book of Mormon where it's the words of angels and stuff; like Mosiah 3. It's way rad. It reminds me of being in AP Lit again, and sometimes I find myself mentally preparing to write an FRQ about the chapter as I read. Like I just subconsciously come up with thesises (thesii?) [Editor's note:  It's theses, Andrew, and hopefully you're just kidding and it's not really the case that you've forgotten your English that much!  :-)  ]  as I write. That probably makes it sound less-than-extremely-spiritual, but it's actually way inspiring to see that God uses awesome literary techniques to help better deliver the point of His words to His children. Also, I am trying to figure out a way to include another word in this paragraph that has an irregular plural (pluralii?), but it's not working.

So. Keep on asking questions. I hope Steaver was awesome and free of dangerous bears attacking all the honey-head kids. Everyone is so... adults. It's weird. The Millward clan is running out of kids. We gotta start going on that next generation. Where are all the potty-humor jokes going to come from? Oh, yeah. The adults.

I'm anxiously awaiting that dictaphone and package in general. Thinking about it got me so spruced up about journals (also reading some old journal entries from earlier on my mission) that I started writing again. Heh. But it will be way better once I have the dictaphone. So. Question. What are dictaphones (dictaphonii?) called in English?

Funny story that I can't resist telling - I busted out my journal this week and read an entry from exactly a year ago the day I opened it (July 24, 2011). It said something to the effect of, "So I've been thinking about it, and I figure that in exactly one year from now, I should have crazy awesome, fluent Russian skills." Now that's what I call a good guess. I can't even remember a time in my life when I didn't know how to speak Russian. Man, Russian is so cool. I'm totally going to take Russian classes after my mission still. Too bad BYU discriminates against hardworking Russian missionaries and doesn't let them minor in Russian. But that's okay. Maybe I'll double-major.

Alright. I'm done. I haven't read your emails yet, but I'll try to answer any questions in there next week.

Thank you, I love you all!

Love,
Elder Broekhuijsen

Tearing It Up

It was nice to be able to read Andrew's email this morning at 5:45 - that's the way it's supposed to work!  :-)

I remember sitting in the internet cafe (which is actually a very distracting gaming place) in New City North, Tol'yatti this time a whole year ago next to Elder Kuzmin, being freaked out at how slowly June and July were going by. Well. That was a fast year.

I didn't read all your emails yet, but I skimmed and looked at the photos. Everyone looks so different! I wasn't expecting that at all. I guess I look a little bit different... which reminds me; I have photos to send. Don't let me forget. But it was good to see the gang all there at Steaver this year. Next year will be even better though. By a factor of Broekhuijsen^2. Ooh, that was grry. Oh, man. Also, Mel has a babe. We-he-he-heird. Also, Tyler has a soul patch. Swee-he-he-heet.

It's been a good week. Elder Langston and I have been absolutely tearing it up. We have a ton of investigators right now who have lots of potential. It's been awesome to see us more or less doing the same thing that we did when we were back in Bezimianski. I see lots of success in the near future. We even found a new investigator on the street on the way down here. Although I claim no credit for that one because he stopped us.

Last night, we set two baptismal dates with a wonderful Armenian family. They have an unrealistically cute baby.  Her name is M*. And she's so dang awesome. And a monkey. And only 10 months old. Crazy, huh?

We're also working with a guy named S* who is just one of the most sincere people I've ever met. He is most likely going to get baptized the same day my brother comes of age.

This week we have some visa trips, but not my group - so I just get to be the one answering calls at 2 in the morning because of passport control. Although the new guy there didn't give us any trouble last time. So I've got my fingers crossed for three consecutive days of a full night of sleep.

Hey, random question. Is it bad for your teeth to soak them in baking soda water? Somebody told me that would help me whiten them. Keeping teeth white in Russia is kind of hard. I'm thinking about giving this a whack.

I guess I can explain the other random attachments - firstly, we have the closest thing I've done to photography in far too long. 

That butterfly [Editor's note:  Yeah, it's a moth, Andrew - but still pretty!]  flew into our apartment (keeping the windows open 24/7 helps with maintaining a temperature of less than 293478 degrees kelvin). So I took a picture of it.

And the bird is a little finch that had a broken leg that a member took home with her after church to try to... I dunno. Put a cast on it? I actually heard it died, so if that's true, it's sad I guess. But it's a pretty rad looking bird.

Well, thanks for all the updates! The work goes on here in Samara. I feel like I probably had some interesting stories in particular to share with you, but I'm kind of drawing a blank. I gotta remember to write these things down. OR. I'll just speak them into my insanely awesome dictaphone. Yesterday Elder Langston and I ran away from a drunk person who wanted to fight us. I wonder if drunk people can really fight halfway decent? As in, could a drunk man hold his own against two insanely healthy and ripped (and sober) Elders? I guess there is no need for speculation - we'll never know.

Alright. Love you all! Have a wonderful day and week!

Love,
Elder Broekhuijsen

 

A Couple of Photos

Andrew's email this week was a little short, but he did send a couple of photos, so that helped make up for it!

Andrew didn't give us a description of this photo, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's a group of missionaries!  :-)  Obviously, you can pick out OUR favorite!

 Yes, I ate those fish. They weren't as gross as you think they are.

The statue in the picture is a guy named Kuybyshev. I guess he's some sort of hero or something. Anyway, there's a square named after him, called Ploshad Kuybysheva. Dad found a webcam a while ago that points at Ploshad Kuybysheva all day long, and every time we're in that area,I look up at the building that has the webcam mounted on it. Pretty weird that we can do that. The camera is totally just sitting right there.

News!

Sorry this is late - it actually arrived yesterday, but we were out of town until last night and I haven't had time to get this posted until now.

Hey family and friends -

I hope you've been having a good couple of weeks. Last Monday was kind of my baptism-by-fire week for running a transfer schedule all on my own before my next companion got down to help me. Ooh! I forgot. None of you know anything about the transfer yet. Ha. Let me tell you.

Elder Morris is spending his last cycle as a Zone Leader training a new Zone Leader (Elder Taylor) in Tol'yatti. They're doing really well right now. My new companion is... *drum roll* ... ELDER LANGSTON AGAIN! Yeah baby! I'm so pumped about it, it was hard not to tell you as soon as the transfer was decided. Anyway, he came down last Monday and we've just been sprinting ever since. I love all of my companions, but I definitely got the most/best/happiest missionary work done while I was with Elder Langston during the winter. It seems so far like we're in for a repeat performance, since we set a baptismal date like 3 days after he got down here. For whatever reason, we just work really, really well together. It's not likely that we'll be together still by Christmas calls, so you probably won't get to meet him until we have him up for dinner one of these days. Most likely I'll be here for another two transfers (3 as an absolute maximum) and then go be either Zone Leader or a District Leader somewhere else in the mission until... *gulp* the end. Gosh. I hate thinking about that. I just keep clinging to the idea that I still have until the winter is almost over. With the weather like it is these days, that seems like forever away. My only comfort.

So anyway, we're tearing it up here in good old Avrora West. I'm extremely pumped about it. Things are going great, even though we've been insanely busy. It's the GOOD kind of busy, when you don't have time to get bored, and you are forced to use your proselyting time as effectively as possible in between being out of town and taking care of administrative stuff.

On Saturday, we had a rather unique opportunity to be at a CCM Priesthood Meeting. President Sartori's regular translator (a member named S* who served his mission in the states) was unavailable, so we got to translate for 7 hours straight. It was pretty brain-melting. But we got to eat pizza. And it was super interesting to see just how much the Priesthood leaders here do for the church, worry about the members, etc. That is, it was interesting while I still had a brain inside of my skull to pay attention. After so many hours, all that was left was a slushy puddle of gray liquid with the sole ability to translate from Russian to English and back.

I'm going to attach a couple of photos, which means somebody will have to forward this to Melissa. Sorry, Melissa, you won't get this until the fam gets home to forward it. Sorry.

This morning, while we were eating breakfast at about 7:30ish (here), I was thinking about Steaver, and I realized that at that exact moment, you were all almost definitely sitting around a campfire with the fam. Lucky. But I was eating delicious toast with jam on it from a squeeze bag. Yes, you can buy jam in a squeeze bag here. And mayonaisse. Yes, it is 100 times better than using a jar.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week. Elder Langston and I are sure planning on it. Doubt you'll read this before it's too late, but pass on a big old привет to everyone at the Millward reunion.

Love,
Elder Broekhuijsen

:-(

Well, Andrew told us last week that today was going to be a busy day for him - it's looking like we might get skunked on email…  If we happen to get something later, I'll be sure to post it.

Photos and Everything…

It was fun to get some photos this morning - of course we prefer some with Andrew actually in them, but these are still nice!

I have good news. I'm going to be sending pictures this week. I have some bad news too though - I haven't read your emails yet, except Dad's, because I was hoping to see some 21.1 MP images in there :D So I'll probably send answers to any questions you asked next week.

So some pictures and explanations of pictures!

The Kyiv temple is still standing!

The Elders in our visa trip group.

I guess I should tell you about our visa trip. It was awesome. President Sartori didn't want Elder Morris and I in the same group this time, because last time we were both out of town at the same time for 26 hours, some problems came up I guess. Anyway, we headed to the airport at about 2:00 am, as usual, took a plane to Kyiv after only minor hassling at passport control, and arrived at the temple itself by 10:00am or so. We didn't have to get on the minibus back to the airport until 6:00pm, so we had 8 hours at the temple! It was so awesome. After that, we headed across the street to the store called Novus, where they have a big old food court in the back with all sorts of awesome cheap food, and had lunch for like 2 hours. Then we came back to the temple for a little over an hour, and moseyed on out to our bus, and flew straight back to Samara, where, flabbergastingly, passport control just asked a couple of questions and then let us through. That's the first time I've ever not had to pretend like a hick that doesn't speak Russian to get through. And usually it takes like 2 hours to get through, and this time it took like 30 minutes. So anyway, a sweet visa trip. I love the temple SO SO SO much and I'm giong to spend at least 24 hours a day there when I get back and have one 15 minutes away from my house.

Vyertalyotnaya Ploshadka

IMG_0012 - We had a branch activity with a few investigators up at a place called Vyertalyotnaya Ploshadka (Helicopter Field... kinda). It has an insanely beautiful view, as you can probably tell from this picture and IMG_0015. You can see Samara, Novokuybyshevsk, Chapayevsk, and Tol'yatti from there, in addition to the obviously awesome view of the Volga. That place is on my list of places to hit up again with a big camera and a tripod, and a decent time of day for lighting. I just can't choose between 4x5 Velvia + my homemade view camera, or digital. Guess I'll have to bring both :)

Train Station Sunset

There was just a really nice sunset when we were helping the Penza sisters with some luggage and boxes at a train station on their way home, and I happened to have my camera with me. Remind me to happen to have my camera with me more often.

So I'm looking forwards to the awesome dictaphone you bought; thanks so much for that! I also kind of cringe inside when I think about how long it's been since I've written in my journal. So I try to just not think about it. But this will be a good solution. So, due to the fact that the Russian Government isn't particularly fond of what could be construed as surveillance equipment being sent to American nationals within their borders, I'm interested to see how this goes.

All the more, [Editor's note:  I think he means "also" - maybe he's forgetting English a bit!]  I have been asked to request a supplement of Vitamin D3. Sister Sartori wants missionaries taking it, but there's nowhere to buy it in Russia. Apparently you can get it at Costco for pretty cheap. If that's an option, wonderful. If it's expensive or a hassle... I figure I've gotten through the first half of my mission without it. So. Sister Sartori did offer some tips though - she has noticed that the customs guys that tend to open packages from America are less suspicious when things like "pills," and "super high-tech audio spying gadgets" are "cushioned" in the package with other things like "Reeses Peanut Butter Cups" and "Reeses Fast-Breaks," and "Reeses Whipps," and "Reeses..." you get the point. Please do not take this as a pathetic ploy to pilfer your pantry. (Sorry, couldn't resist). I feel ungrateful asking for a bunch of stuff when you just barely sent me the awesomest package ever. But I am genuinely worried about this package getting detained (see: stolen by greedy people) before I ever see it. So let's take all the precautions we can. Sister Sartori also recommends stuffing the pills bottle with extra cotton or whatever so it doesn't make a rattling sound in the box, and listing the items that might cause trouble towards the middle of the declaration, rather than the beginning or end. Apparently she's a pro at getting various pills through the border now. So there's that.

Anyway, things are great here. Visa trips are over, transfers start getting in motion tomorrow, and we have Special Leadership Training and Zone Leader Council this week. Next week will be absolutely nuts with running the major movement day of the transfer, so I hope I'll have time to write a decent email. If so, I'll be sure to tell you what happened with the transfer and stuff. It's still a secret right now though.

Okay, well. Thanks for everything! I hope you all have a wonderful week! I'll hopefully be able to fill you in on our investigators and stuff more next week.

The church is true!

Love,
Elder Broekhuijsen