Hi Everyone

August 15, 2016

Здравствуйте!

Hey everyone! Sorry this email is coming so late(actually, it's probably at a reasonable time in the morning over there, but it's like 7p.m here). I don't have a whole lot of time to email today, so I'll keep this email pretty short! This week has been way awesome! We've been having all kinds of way fun service activities! 

One of the members here, Kostya, called us and asked if we could help him tear up some concrete for him, so of course we said yes! We showed up expecting some sort of power tool or something like that to do it, but when we got there he literally handed us a giant metal pole that was somewhat pointed on end and flattened on the other and told us to go to work. I don't know what it's called in English, but in Russian it's called a лом. It took way long, and by the end we had some pretty sweet blisters on our hands, but we got the job done! The guy we did it for is actually a teacher at an English school here, so we were able to meet with him and he helped us a lot with our Russian, and gave us help with our accents! 

We also went down to an animal shelter and helped some people out there unload a big truck full of wooden planks, and hopefully next week we'll be coming back to build some dog houses! Other than that, not a whole lot has happened this week, and I don't really have a whole lot of time left to write, so I'll just call it good right there! I love you all, and hope everything is going great with you back there in the States or wherever you may be!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

Dustin's hands after doing concrete work!

Dustin has been enjoying cooking.  He is really enjoying it and is trying all sorts of new things!

Service

August 8, 2016

Здравствуйте!

Hey there everyone! Another super great week here in Russia! We're still looking all over the place for service opportunities, and trying to figure out how to adapt to all these changes that are taking place here, but we're having a great time doing it! We were able to head back to that same house where we got to use the scythe, and continue working on her yard! Her yard looks about 100 times better now that we're done with everything over there, and she's super appreciative of it. 

We also went over to a less active named Toma this week. She's super awesome, and has a firm testimony of the gospel, but she's paralyzed on her left side, so she can't really walk anywhere. We cleaned out a bunch of stuff in an old house on her property that's pretty much only held up by a stick and a couple of poles. 

We've been doing a lot of indexing here lately when we have absolutely nothing else to do, and I've been doing it in Russian, which has been pretty interesting. I've learned the older Russian alphabet used before the most recent language reform, and have pretty much gotten used to reading the cursive, which has been pretty fun! On the tops of all of the baptism, birth, and death records in Russia they used the really old alphabet, which looks pretty unrecognizable at first, but I've pretty much figured out all of the letters! That was pretty much our week though! Love you all, and hope all is well!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

The Moratorium is Almost Over

August 1, 2016

Привет!

Hey there everyone! This week's email is going to be pretty short as well, as we've pretty much been inside all week minus a few experiences that I'll explain later! But today is the last day of this little "freeze" so I'll hopefully have all kinds of way awesome stories to tell you all come next Monday! 

We've still been able to do some service though, which has been way fun! We went back to that house we were at last week where I learned how to use a scythe and finished everything up there, and it looks way awesome! We're hopefully going to plant a garden or do something there to make it look even better, because we have all kinds of time to do that now! 

This week we're also going over to a member named Toma, who's pretty much the coolest person ever! Every time we talk to her she tells us how smart we are, and that we're the best missionaries ever(which is what she says to everyone) but you always feel great after visiting her! Her house needs some major cleaning up, so we're pretty pumped to help her out! That's pretty much what's going on over here though! The work is still moving forward! We've got tons of baptisms lined up mission wide, and we'll only continue to have more! I love you all, and hope everything is going great with all of you!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

Volunteer Work

July 25, 2016

Здравствуйте!

Hey everyone! This week has been pretty uneventful, as may have been expected seeing as we're basically on holiday lockdown over here until next week! It's been a really awesome time to get a lot of things done that I usually don't have time for though! Our phone and area book are super organized, and we did a deep clean of our apartment, so everything is just awesome! 

I've had a lot of time to do some extra language study though, so that's been pretty awesome! I've got a stack of 125 new words that I wrote down this morning that I'm gonna try and learn today just to see if I can do it! Haha, other than that, not much has happened! 

We've had a couple of service opportunities this week that have been pretty entertaining! We went to do some yard work for a lady, and we she handed me a scythe and told me to go to work cutting down a huge field of weeds in her yard! It was pretty entertaining, and actually went pretty quick! Also, this week our zone leaders had me prepare a lesson on the history of Russia, and gave me a whole bunch of stuff to read and study, so I was able to learn a lot of really cool stuff about the culture here, and then share it with everyone else! To make it better. I showed up to teach it, and they had a Dr. Pepper with them! For those of you that don't know, Dr. Pepper is pretty much impossible to find over here, but apparently they know a place where you can buy some, and had heard that I really enjoy Dr. Pepper, so they bought me one! That's pretty much been this week though! I love you all, and hope everyone is doing well!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

Все мы доброволцы (We Are All Volunteers!)

July 18, 2016

Здравствуйте!

Привет всем! This week has been all kinds of exciting, with all kinds of changes! I'm now here in Center Rostov with Elder Boyer, and we're just having all kinds of fun! We're on the 15th floor in an apartment building that seriously looks like a 5 star hotel, and we have an elevator, so I'm incredibly grateful for that! 

For those of you that aren't aware, there is a new law that will be in action starting the 20th that will be changing the way we do missionary work over here. It is not my position to comment on all of the affects this law will have on us, or my personal opinions of it, and we still do not know all of the implications right now, so I'll keep commentary to a minimum in these emails. What we do know though, is that we will from this time forward be called volunteers, and not missionaries. It's going to be a bit of a strange transition, but all is well! We will still be able to work with members, and do service, so we'll be shifting our focus to those two activities more than everything. Street contacting, and speaking with others about religion outside of our church building will be prohibited as well. For the next 2 weeks as well, we will not be able to meet with any investigators except for those with a baptismal date as an additional precaution to protect us from any legal complications. 

There are other missions in the world with many similar restrictions as us, and they have similar baptismal rates, so there is nothing to fear! We'll just have to adapt and get creative! Other than that, not a whole lot has happened this week. We've been on the streets as much as humanly possible to build up as large of a pool of investigators as possible before the law hits, and today is our last day of contacting, so as soon as we finish e-mailing we're going to hit the streets again! 

I just want to let you all know how much I love you all, and that I really do pray for you often! Hope all is going well!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

View of the city from Elder Kempton's new Apt. in Rostov

Transfers and other News!

July 11, 2016

Здравствуйте!

Hi everyone! I'm gonna have to keep this e-mail a little bit short, we don't have a whole lot of time! This week I found out that I'm getting transferred to the Rostov Center branch which is super exciting! It'll be a pretty dramatic difference, seeing as there are 100+ people there(maybe more, I'm not sure)! It's going to be great! 

Other than that we received some news about a law that was passed just the other day that will have a bit of an impact on the way we do missionary work over here. Shortly, the law restricts us from speaking to people about religion on the streets or in there homes, so the only lessons we will be able to have will have to be at the branch. The church has issued the following statement on the matter, "The Church recognizes a new law will take effect in Russia on July 20, 2016 that will have an impact on missionary work. The Church will honor, sustain and obey the law. Missionaries will remain in Russia and will work within the requirements of these changes. The Church will further study and analyze the law and its impact as it goes into effect". 

While we are still waiting for more information on what we will be doing in the future and are not sure quite what this will mean for us, we know that this work will go forward. In closing, I'll just leave you with a quote from Joseph Smith, "The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." I know that these words are true, and that God will not forsake His children in this land. I love you all, and pray for you often! Hope all is well!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

Six Months Gone Already!

July 4, 2016

Здравствуйте!

Hello everybody! It's crazy to think I've already been out on my mission for 6 months, but I just hit that milestone a few days ago! Time is seriously just going way too fast! 

This week has been full of all kinds of really awesome experiences! We were finally able to meet with our recent convert вика(Vika) this Saturday! She's been super sick lately, but we were able to meet with her and give her a blessing! She seemed to really appreciate it, and said that she's been feeling better, which is just a small miracle for us! She's made so much progress over the past few months, and is now planning on making it to the temple the next time our mission is scheduled for temple trips! We're both just really excited for her and hope that she can continue to improve and stay strong! 

President and Sister Miner also made a pretty unexpected trip down here to Stavropol this weekend, which was super awesome for our branch! They were able to teach everyone how to give talks and prepare lessons, which is much needed for all the members in our branch. Everyone in attendance are converts, and most of them have never been to a bigger branch to see an example of what a talk should look like, or what a good lesson consists of, so everyone was really thankful to get some pointers on that, and hopefully the quality of our meetings will improve and get people more and more excited for church on Sundays! 

Ilgar is still doing well! He's still not been able to kick his smoking habit, but we're working with him every day to help him overcome it, and as soon as he does he'll become a baptized member of the church and be able to start helping us in greater capacities. 

Other than that, not a whole lot has happened over here this week! We're still having more and more lessons every week! We ended up as a mission teaching 302 lessons the week before last, which as an average of 9 lessons per companionship! It really is incredible to see the work going forward week after week! I'd just like to end with a humble testimony of the reality of Christ's atonement in our lives. I've seen the changes it has made, is still making, and will continue to make in my life, and in the lives of others, and I bear solemn witness that it is real, that Christ lives and cares deeply for each and every one of his children. 

I love you all, and hope all is well!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

Looks like Elder Kempton found the camel that wanders around the city

Trying out hats!

Stavropol looks so green and pretty!