My 1st REAL "Incident"

So, Moms don't necessarily LOVE hearing about "incidents," but it is certainly comforting to know that Andrew is safe and being protected. And, of course, to him it's all part of the grand adventure! (He's still a teenager, after all…) :-)

It's been an eventful week. Today I'm trying a new approach where I just print off your emails and read them throughout the day and week so I have more time to write. Because there's a LOT to write around here.

Let's start things off with the epically awesome story of the week. It happened last night. My first REAL "incident." We were heading home from some emergency splits in Solnechney (another area). We spent all day down there because the elders there needed some help setting one more August baptismal date. It was about 8:00 or so and starting to get pretty dark. So we walked down to the general viscinity of the bus stop and asked a guy where the actual stop was because neither of us know that area particularly well. It quickly became apparent that he was both drunk, and inexplicably angry at us. He started yelling stuff at us. It was Russian, and presumably curse words because I didn't understand them (I have a goal to come home from Russia without knowing any such words). So as is the rule, we just started walking away. Of course, he started following us. So we sped up a little but he was still following us. We happened to locate the bus stop while he followed us through a park, and saw our bus pull up. So we started booking it to the bus, figuring we'd lose the drunk guy and head out. Well for a drunk guy he could run pretty fast. He tried to tackle me but basically missed and kinda face planted in the dirt. So we kept going and hopped on the bus and then looked back to see that he was back up and after us again. Before the doors closed on the bus, he got on and grabbed my companion. So we all together kinda shuffled up to the front. We kept saying, "Hey, somebody help us. This drunk guy is attacking us, we didn't do anything. Someone help us out." Meanwhile he's kind of like open-hand slapping my companion on the head and just kind of roughing him up. Everyone on the bus just kind of stared at us, so Elder Morris went up to the front doors and started trying to disengage this guy from him and get him off the bus. Anyway he lets go of him and starts on me. He grabs my throat and tries to throw me off the bus, so I figured I might as well take him with me. So we both fall out of the bus and I hop back on while he drunkenly tries to get up again. When he's standing again he for some reason gets really fixated on my nametag. He's like, "What the heck is this?" and grabs my entire shirt pocket and just rips it off and gets back on the bus again. So I bend down and start picking up all my stuff that fell out of my pocket, and the bus driver finally just is like, "Hey, get outta here," and pushes him off the bus again and shuts the door. Unfortunately, my nametag fell out of the bus. So the only nametag I have now is one that Elder Derby gave me before he went home that he had extra. So until the new tags I ordered get in, I'm Elder Derby. Cool!

Anyway. That was the cool story of the week. No need to worry about us. No harm done, not even a scratch. The Lord is absolutely protecting us. Satan right now is seeing how much good the missionaries are doing, particularly in Saratov. Saratov is on the absolute BRINK of getting a stake. And there is currently already a team of nine people searching out a spot of land for the church to buy and build a temple complex with a temple, a stake center, and a guest house. It's really freaking Satan out, and he knows that he stands NO CHANCE against God's power. So he keeps trying to scare us out of here by sending drunk guys after us and stuff like that. There have been record numbers of "incidents" in the Zone in the last two weeks. The good news is that the police here are starting to take us seriously now that we are submitting 3 or 4 cases a week through all the right legal channels. The other good news is that if Satan's flipping out, it means we're almost there. And as long as we're following the rules and not doing anything to provoke people when they get aggressive, the Lord is keeping us 100% safe. There have not been any incident injuries in the Zone for nearly a year, and that one only happened because the elders involved started fighting back (it was 6 against 2, so that didn't go so well). It's been insane. Elder Fearn, one of the district leaders here had a guy straight up wind up and just deck him in the face recently. He said he felt the impact, and it was really really hard, but he felt no pain and had no visible marks or swelling or repercussions at all from the hit. We're immune to the attacks of those who are in opposition to the kingdom of God. And it gets me pumped up.

In other news, L* is straight on track for baptism Saturday. V* actually moved back home to Engels (the city accross the Volga from Saratov, and another area in our Zone), but not before we set his baptismal date for tomorrow. That baptism will go through as well, although it will be the Engels elders who get to baptize him. V*'s son is also ready to be baptized, but is out of town this week, so will likely be baptized at the beginning of September instead. And miraculously, V*'s alcoholic wife has expressed interest in the church. She will likely be baptized in September or October, fixing all the family problems going on there and adding an entire family to the fantastic branch in Engels. There are miracles popping up around the Zone as fast as we can pray for them. Baptisms are coming out of the blue from mysterious sources. We found a hostel full of African Christian students who are interested in meeting with us and coming to church. Our mission found 158 new investigators last week. Everyone is so full of energy and the Lord is blessing us beyond our wildest dreams. The work is exhausting, but it's the best work I've ever done. What is more rewarding than watching people's problems dissolve as they integrate the Gospel into their lives, and then seeing the joy on their faces as they emerge out of the font, 100% clean? The investigators we're finding are better people than I am. The members here are 200% as strong as I was before my mission.

We had the Assistants over for splits last week and they taught me all sorts of things about administrating a Zone, finding people on the street, etc. The whole mission is full of faith that we're going to hit our goals this year. We're working harder than we ever have, and our success is off the charts.

And in not so many years down the road (possibly as few as two), I'm going to be sitting somewhere watching general conference, and President Monson is going to stand up at the pulpit and start announcing new temples. And he's going to say "Saratov, Russia." And I don't even know what I'm going to do. Take a victory lap around the block or something. I'm SO priviliged to be here right at the time where this mission completely just turned into gold and started baptizing left and right and bettering the lives of all people here. This is the part of God's plan for Russia where it turns from an awesome mission that is tough and doesn't see a lot of "success" (depending on how you define that word) into a mission that is popping up new stakes and getting temples built and stuff. I really think the first temple in Russia will be in Saratov. And I get to be a Zone Leader there while we're making the final push to get a stake here instead of a district. Russia is changing. It's becoming the next Brazil. I get to be here to witness and take part in that shift. I'm SO grateful for that opportunity.

I know this church is true. Nothing can ever change that. And no matter how many people who don't understand why we're here try to stop us, with words or with fists, I will keep spending every ounce of energy I have furthering the work of the Lord in this country and among this amazing people. And the only thing Satan can do is cry because his power is waning insanely quickly here. It's the Lord's turn to have all the influence in Russia.

I love you all. I'll hopefully have time to write some letters today to those of you who have been so faithful about writing me letters and DearElders, as long as we don't spend too long doing the conference call we want to do to pump up the Zone for the last week of August. I'm so thankful for your prayers and support. I feel it every day here when I somehow do things that my body and my brain can't do on their own.

Have an awesome week! I'm so excited for Melissa! I'll be praying for her! And I'll be sure to write her an email next week right before she goes into the MTC! Craziness!

Love,
Elder Derby

Life in Saratov

Judging by the length of the emails, Zone Leaders must have less time to write home. But we won't complain - it's always great to hear from Elder Broekhuijsen. Here are some selections from today's email.

So we're having some really awesome success here. L* is doing awesome. He is such a good man. He is sensitive to the Spirit. And he has such love and respect for Jesus Christ, it's awesome to see that in him. So far, he's right on track.

Our other baptismal date is for a man who was sent to us by God. His name is V*. His life has been tough lately and it's REALLY humbled him. He is currently living with his cousin, who is a rock solid member in our branch. We met with him and talked about the Restoration of the gospel. He accepted everything and committed to reading the Book of Mormon and praying to find out if it was true, and if Joseph Smith was really a prophet. Then we began talking about faith. Important note: this entire meeting was out on a patio, and they had cut up a watermelon for us all to eat while we talked. V* stopped me and said, "You want to know what faith is? I'll tell you what faith is. Faith is looking at this tiny seed, and believing that if you put it in the ground, you'll get a watermelon." Needless to say, we excitedly assigned him Alma 32 for that night's reading :D We met with him again yesterday after church. He thanked me profusely for giving him that chapter to read, and said it blew his mind. He said that for some reason on our first meeting, he really just felt for some reason like he should give me a watermelon seed, and couldn't explain why he felt that way. It was awesome. The man is golden. He said during third hour of church, "Man. I feel so good when I'm here. I wish I had already quit smoking by now so I could just get baptized like today." His son, I*, is also totally ready, but we haven't been able to extend him a date yet. I'll keep you updated here! I love it when you just KNOW that you've found one of the people that God has prepared for you. I love V* and L* so much, they're just rock-solid people. I often feel like members here and even investigators are better people than I am. That's one of the ways I know that the Lord has prepared them to receive the Gospel.

On some more... interesting... news. Saratov is definitely a rougher place to live than Tol'yatti. I never once, in 12 weeks in Tol'yatti, had a problem with a drunk person who was angry, or a punk kid who wanted to fight. But already, two weeks in here we've had some close shaves. A drunk guy stopped us and started yelling at us about how our church is ruining Russia. While Elder Morris was on splits with one of the brand new missionaries who got here two weeks ago in Zavodskoy (an area in the zone), the new missionary, Elder Elwood, walked up to a guy and said "Hello." Without a word, the guy pounded him in the face with his elbow. We also had a guy a couple of nights ago start yelling at us. So we left and stopped trying to talk to him, and he kicked me on my way out. He was being girly about it so it wasn't a big deal, but it is interesting to see the differences between here and New City. This is where the REAL adventures happen :)

Anyway. That's about it for now. Things are going really well. I'm loving the mission!

Love,
Elder Broekhuijsen

P.S. Got a haircut last week after email. The lady didn't listen to a word I said about how I wanted my hair. Well, no. She listened, and then told me that that would look stupid and she would do something better. Then she stopped listening when I began to protest. Well the popular hairstyle around here is really short, maybe 3 or 4 millimeters all around, except really long bangs. So I definitely have the "buzz cut with bangs that were really long but then got hacked off by scissors at my house a week ago" look going on right now. It's a good one.