Where is the Time going?

May 5, 2016

Здравствуйте!

Hello everyone! Another week is gone and I'm still just as surprised as last week that it's already Monday again! This week has been full of a bunch of just really awesome experiences! We ended up having Zone Training up in Rostov this Tuesday, and it turns out that the Marshrutkas that we usually take aren't in operation on Mondays. All four of us elders here in Stavropol ended up taking a train on Monday night and getting in on Tuesday Morning. I don't understand how, but the trip is about 3 hours longer by train than it is by bus, so we left at 9 at night and rolled in at around 5 a.m. the next morning! The compartments have 4 beds in them, and pretty much no space for anything else, but it was still super cool! 

Zone training was super awesome, like always, and we got some good advice on how to contact families, so hopefully we'll see some more families in the coming weeks! Even though we did lose a few days, we were still able to get a lot done this week! We've been doing a lot more small shop contacting this week, and it's been pretty effective and pretty fun at the same time! There's a clothing store named White Brothers that we've gone to a few times, and have given the owner, Pavel, a Book of Mormon. We stopped by this week and he gave me a book from his personal collection of antique Russian books, and even though I can't read it right now, I'm excited to give it a read when I come home. We're pretty good friends with him now, and he even started following me on Instagram so I could follow him back and stay in touch when I get home, haha! He's a pretty awesome dude, and hopefully we'll be able to teach him some more! 

One of our other investigators, Ali, asked us to make him some pizza this week because he wanted to try "authentic American pizza". It was a pretty good time, and afterwards we were able to have a really awesome lesson with him. This week we decided to focus on some of the poorer areas of Stavropol, and we've been seeing a lot of success there! We met this really cool family that was working on their car, and they told us to come by anytime and share our message with them, so we'll be stopping by sometime tomorrow! I also had the opportunity to speak in Church again this week, which was pretty awesome! I think it went way better than when I first came, and while there were definitely still grammatical mistakes, there were way less! All around this week has just been super awesome, just like every week over here! 

I'll just leave you with a spiritual thought! I was reading in Alma 5 the other day, and verses 7-9 really just sort of hit me. This particular passage is Alma's words that he preached to the people throughout the land in an attempt to bring people back to the church.

 7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them.

8 And now I ask of you, my brethren, were they destroyed? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, they were not.

 9 And again I ask, were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed? I say unto you, Yea, they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love. And I say unto you that they are saved.

As a missionary, I'm priviliged to see this every day in my work. It's really incredible to watch my investigators as they are awakened from that "deep sleep" and come to recognize and rely on Christ as their Savior and Redeemer. I know that I testify of Christ and his Atonement often in these e-mails, but that is just because it is so central to all that we do here on this earth. I know that this church is true, and I know that Christ is at the head of it. I know that through the infinite atonement of Christ, the bands of death have been broken, and if we only humble ourselves enough to accept it, we can receive the greatest gift of all, Eternal Life. I love you all, and pray for you! Hope all is well!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)


(Pictures of Zone training in Rostov)

Victory Day!

5/9/2016

Здравствуйте!

Hello everyone!

It's been another great week here in Russia! This week's email is going to be a little bit short, we don't have a whole lot of time today. It's Victory Day over here and there's all kinds of parades and celebrations going on right now, and we were able to go attend some of them this morning in our p-day clothes so we blend in and don't draw attention to ourselves, haha! It was seriously such a cool experience! I can't even begin to describe it, but hopefully these pictures will give you a bit of an idea! 

In other news, one of our investigators has a baptismal date! His name is Nikolai, and he's just a really solid guy. He's one of the former investigators that we met while we were walking around one day, and he decided to start coming to church and meeting with us again. He's going to be baptized on the 4th of June if he's ready by then, and I really think he will be! He's already been baptized into two other churches, and is a little bit timid about being baptized again without being absolutely sure that it's the true church. He told us that he wants to know, and he understands that it's only through prayer and the book of Mormon that he's going to find that answer! It's super exciting to see him progress, and just gets me so pumped to keep working! This week we ended up having 9 lessons, which is a lot for us over here! We got 6 new investigators, and most of them seem pretty interested in meeting again and finding out more! I'll fill you in more next week, but that's really all I have time to write for now! 

I'll send more next week, but just know that I love and pray for you all! 

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

Happy Mother's Day (A Week Early!)

5/2/2016

Здравствуйте!

Hey everyone! Another week is gone, it's seriously crazy! This week has been full of all kinds of interesting and awesome experiences! People on the street have been a little crazy this week, and we've had quite a week. 

We're still running into former investigators from a few years ago on the streets, and we meet people pretty much every day that have had some sort of contact with the missionaries in the past. A lot of them attended our English group a couple of years ago, or just stopped and talked with them for a few minutes! Yesterday we were out contacting on the streets, and we took a really random path down a street we don't usually walk on, and out of nowhere this lady came up from behind us and started talking to us in English. We found out she had met with the missionaries three years ago, but both of them got transferred out of Stavropol, and she just didn't know who the new missionaries here were. She invited us over to her house that was about 2 minutes away and we were able to teach her the restoration. She seems super sincere about everything, and said she would pray about it! It's awesome to see the Lord preparing people for us every day, we just need to be in the right place at the right time! 

This email will be a bit shorter than usual, we just had a pretty long conversation about our church while we were sitting here emailing at the internet club, and he should be coming to church next Sunday! We were able to Skype home yesterday, and it was seriously the coolest thing ever! I'm so grateful for my family and the knowledge that I have that this life is not the end. My family is everything to me, I love them dearly, and all I want for the people here in Russia is to have the same thing with their families! That's really all I have time for, but I love you all, and pray for you! It's great hearing from you, and I hope all is well with everyone!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

Talking to Dustin over Skype!  It was the best!

Another Incredible Week

April 25, 2016

Здравствуйте!

Hey everyone! This week has been pretty interesting, just a lot of stuff has happened and it's all gone by so quick! 

I'll start off with some of the less exciting news. One of our investigators, Dima, is apparently somewhere in Ukraine right now. There were some problems with his documents(and now that I think about it, he was probably living in that attic so people couldn't find him), and he ended up having to go serve in the Ukrainian army. We've pretty much lost all contact with him, so we're just praying that he's able to find some church members over there. It's a little bit sad to see that he's gone, but we did everything we could, and I feel pretty strongly that he'll find the church again in the future! He's got his book of Mormon, and he reads and prays every day, so hopefully he'll stay strong! 

This week has been full of all kinds of other crazy awesome experiences though. We've run into 3 former investigators this week, that were taught a few years ago but all ended up getting dropped for one reason or another. One of them even ended up coming to church this Sunday, and we were able to teach him a lesson. It's so cool to see the Lord just put people in your path that he's been preparing for years. It really motivates you to talk with everyone. Who knows how much longer it would have been for him if we hadn't ended up talking with him that day. We also ended up having a meeting with a guy we contacted like 5 weeks ago, that has bailed on us pretty much 5 times. We happened to be at the branch for a district meeting, and he called pretty much the second we said amen to close the meeting. We met with him and had a really solid lesson, and the spirit was just really strong. He brought his friend with him as well, so we ended up getting another investigator out of it as well, and they both seem pretty sincere and willing to listen more to what we have to say. 

We've been trying to change up the way we contact a little bit this week, and we've been having a lot of fun with it. We'll just ask people random questions about Russia, or the Russian lifestyle, or if we see something we don't know how to say we'll just ask them how to say it. I've asked a couple of Бабушки(Grandmas) what the deal with all the pigeons here is, because there's tons of them here and people basically worship them. Seriously, don't mess with pigeons if you come to Russia. It turns out that the word for pigeon, and the word for dove are the same, so in the bible when it says that the Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove, Russians also interperet it as a pigeon. We've had tons of really awesome experiences like this, and had tons of just really awesome experiences. 

We talked to an older man on a park bench the other day, and he told us some of his stories from WW II. He started serving when he was 17, and from what I understood he was part of a group of soldiers that marched 66 kilometers through a desert without any water to overtake a camp of Japanese soldiers. He was just a really cool guy, and hopefully in the future we'll be able to chat with him again. Overall, this week has just been full of all kinds of really awesome experiences, and there's so many other things to write about, but I don't have a whole lot of time. 

I'll just leave you with something I read in Preach My Gospel this week that was sort of interesting to me. It was talking about the Book of Mormon, and he we can better use it in our work here. It mentioned the promise given in Moroni 10:3-5, that if we pray to know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, with real intent and a sincere heart, that we will receive an answer. Something interesting that it suggested we do is to apply this promise regularly, and to often reaffirm your testimony that the book is true. I've had the opportunity to do so this week, and the witness that the Holy Ghost bore to me is undeniable, and rekindled the testimony that I received when I first prayed for a confirmation of it's truthfulness. I know that this Church is Christ's church, and that we have the fulness of the gospel on the earth today. I love you all, and pray for you often! Hope all is well!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

Transfer One is already over?!?!

Здравствуйте!

Что такое (What)?!?!  Transfer one in field is officially over, and I'm having a hard time believing it! This week has been pretty good though! I'm not 100 percent sure what happened, but pretty much nobody would meet with us this week, we only ended up having 4 appointments! It's all good though, we had a ton of time on the streets and we ended up getting 25 numbers by the end of the week, and some advice from some of the other elders here on how to turn those numbers into lessons, so hopefully that'll work out for us! 

The meetings we did have were really great though! We met with one of our investigators named Дима this week, and he's now living in an attic in one of the poor-er areas here in Stavropopol, so that was a bit of an adventure, haha! I'll do my best to send some pictures today that I managed to take while he was grabbing something, but if not I'll do my best to describe it right now. It was just about tall enough in the middle to stand up straight, but other than that you had to bend over a little bit, and it pretty much felt like we were going to fall through the roof at any given second. He had all kinds of just random stuff up there, like a tomahawk, and a handsaw. If I didn't know him as well as I do, I probably would have been a little bit afraid, but he's a pretty harmless guy! Right now we're helping him quit smoking, and he told us today that divine help is real, and that the only reason he's doing as well as he is right now is because God is helping him. It's so awesome to see the change that this Gospel can have in the lives of other people. As missionaries we're privileged to see that change every day, and it's really just a humbling experience. We're working with another one of our investigators quit smoking right now as well, and it's really awesome to see the same change taking place in him. 

We also had the opportunity to meet with one of the recent converts in our word, named Vika. As we met with her she poured out her heart to us, about the struggles she's been having lately, and the toll it's taking on her testimony. The spirit was so strong as we talked with her, and testified to her of the reality of Christ and the help that He can be to her right now. We've started sending her scriptures to read every day, and will be meeting with her again soon to just see how she's doing. It's so hard to describe how incredible this work is, I really don't think it's possible for people to understand unless they've experienced it themselves. I'm pretty sure I say this a lot, but it really is humbling being out here. Every day, I'm just so thankful to be able to give up such a small part of my life to help my brothers and sisters here in Russia. And no matter how much work I put in, or how much I sacrifice, God just continues to bless me in such a way that I can never pay him back. It really is a great deal for us. That's pretty much been my week though, nothing else super interesting has happened! I'm sure there's plenty of just random weird stuff, but I'm starting to get used to that! 

I'll just leave you with a small spiritual thought, as usual! I was reading in 3 Nephi earlier this week, where Christ has first come and ministered unto the people on the American continent, and has just told them that he needs to leave but will return the next day. In Chapter 17, verse 3 it says, "And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them." I really sympathize with these people, and feel like I understand what they must have felt at that time. There have been so many times in my life when I've felt that Christ was with me, and I just never want that feeling to leave. My last week at the MTC we were sitting in the celestial room of the temple, and it sunk in that I was not going to be able to come back to one His temples for another two years. There was an overwhelming feeling of just being home, and as I walked out of those doors I think it was probably similar to the experience recorded in 3 Nephi. I'd just encourage you all to strive for that presence in your life, and value any time that you have to feel close to Christ. I love you all, and hope you're all doing well!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

Just a couple pics he sent.  I'm not sure where the first one is taken, but it looks like maybe at a meeting???

 He was really happy to see they have peanut butter there!

Another week is gone

4/11/2016


Здравствуйте!

Hey everyone! Another week has flown by over here in Russia. I had my first zone conference this week, so that was a bit of an experience! We hopped on a bus on Tuesday at around 3:30, and got off in Rostov at around 8:30. It was a bit of long ride, but I've been on longer, haha! It was cool getting to see more of what Russia looks like. It's super flat over here, it's really weird that I can't see mountains all the time, it's just a bunch of trees and grass, but it's all super beautiful. I got stopped by the police for the first time this week! We were getting of the bus in Rostov and they pulled us aside and checked our passports. They were pretty friendly about everything and was actually a lot less stressful than I imagined it being. Zone conference was super awesome, they gave us all kinds of really helpful advice on contacting on the streets and while we're on the Marshrutkas(Sort of like busses but a lot smaller and a let less concern for personal space). We lost about three days this week because of all of traveling and zone conference, but we went to work pretty much the second we got back to Rostov. We only ended up teaching 4 lessons this week, but we met a lot of people that will be meeting with us throughout this coming week, or so they say, haha! 

I've had a couple of really just random experiences this week, which is pretty normal over here! We were walking home Saturday night, and we stopped to talk to this guy that was walking what looked like a little dog. It turned out that it was actually a ferret, so he taught us how to say it Russian! We talked a little bit and ended up meeting with him yesterday and talking with him a little bit more. Apparently ferrets are pretty common over here, at least from what I understood, haha! He also said that hedgehogs were all over the place in the forests here, which is super weird. Russia is honestly the last place that I would have expected to find wild hedgehogs and ferrets, but apparently they're everywhere in Eastern Europe. I've also heard rumors that there's a camel here. Apparently somebody just rides it around and lets people take pictures with it. I haven't seen it yet, but 5 different people have told me to keep my eye out for it! If I find him, I'll definitely take a picture and send it home to everyone so you can all see, haha! I also found out that there's a huge park right in the middle of Stavropol that I previously had no idea existed. You have to go through this small gate, and it doesn't look like there's much inside if you're just looking at it from the outside, but it's seriously huge. There's a huge ferris wheel, tons of trees and grass, and even some turtles. I'll try and take some pictures in the coming weeks so you can all take a look at how cool it is! It was so weird though, I was starting to feel like I knew that city pretty well, but it turns out I don't, haha! 

That's pretty much it for this week, I'm sure there's tons of stuff that I forgot to write about, but so much happens here that its difficult to remember it all when I sit down to write! I'll just leave you with a scripture that I read this morning during my personal study. In Helaman chapter 4, the Nephites are starting to fall away, and are getting caught up in their pride. In verse 13 it says something that really just rung true to me. "And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands." It just makes sense to me, that when we're focused on everything we can do on our own, that we'll be left to do it on our own. We can get a lot done on our own, but with the help of Christ, we can go do all things. I'm so grateful for this gospel, and especially for the opportunity I have to be here in Russia sharing it with as many people as I can. I know that it's only with the help of God and Jesus Christ, that I'm able to do any of the things I'm doing right now. It's all going so fast too, it's already been a month since I've been here in Russia, and in just around 2 weeks I'll have been out for 4 months. I really do have a small amount of time here, to make as big an impact as I can. Realizing this makes me realize how much more I need to rely on the Lord. He has a plan for me here, and it's only when my will is swallowed up in His that I can bring that plan to pass. I hope you all are doing well, and I hope you know that I love you all!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)

It's almost been a month!!!!

4/4/2016

Здравствуйте!

I know I say this a lot, but it does not feel like it's been a week. I'll hit my month mark in Russia this week, which is absolutely insane to think about. There's no way that it's been that long, it feels like I just got here. It really puts things in perspective when you realize how short your time is here. We just entered week 5 of this transfer, and if I weren't in training there would be the possibility of me moving to a different area. It just really makes you want to not waste a single minute, and do everything you can to help as many people as you can. This week has been pretty awesome! We got 6 phone numbers on the streets one day after only being out there for just a couple of hours and they all seemed pretty interested! We get 3 or 4 usually, and that's when we're walking around pretty much all day, so that was pretty exciting! We had a lot of appointments scheduled, but pretty much everyone bailed on us, haha, it's just something I've got to get used to! We had seven all set up for yesterday, but only 3 of them actually happened! They were good though! 

One of the members of our English group seemed pretty interested in our message after coming a couple of times, and we taught him the first lesson (in English, which made it a little bit easier!) yesterday, and it was super awesome! We met with Дима(Dima) again yesterday, and he's making a lot of progress. He actually gave his copy of the Book of Mormon to his aunt, and she's going to come to church with us next week! He's such a cool guy, and just seems like he was ready to meet us and accept the gospel. 

I learned this week that they celebrate April Fool's Day in Russia too! We walked up to this couple on the street on April 1st and started talking to them, and they told us that we were really bad at imitating American accents and thought that we were just trying to pull a prank on them when we told them we were from America! We might be meeting with them later today, so it'll be fun to talk to them some more and laugh about how bad our accents are! It's still sort of difficult sometimes to understand people here, but I can pretty much hold my own in most of my conversations now, which is pretty nice! A lot of times though when we talk with older people they end up being drunk, and that makes it about 100 times more difficult to put together what they're talking about. Haha, earlier this week this man we started talking to out of nowhere went straight into the history of one of these buildings on the street next to us. He told us that it used to be a Mosque, and that at the same time every day they would all kneel down and start yelling. He then proceeded to give us a demonstration, and right there on the side walk knelt down and started making Rooster noises. It was really hard not to laugh, so we just ended the conversation as quickly as possible, gave him a pass along card and then walked away! It's so funny how often things like that happen here, almost every day when I go home I find myself laughing about how weird it is here, and how awesome it is that I get to experience it!

I'll just leave you all with a verse that I read a couple of days ago. I was studying in Alma, and was reading through the story of Aaron and the father of King Lamoni. After Alma finishes speaking, the king responds by saying, "What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy" If you look at that verse, it's really interesting to notice the number of times he says the word "I". He wasn't looking for God or Aaron to do all of the work for him, he was looking for what he needed to do to receive the blessings that Aaron had testified of. This gospel is a gospel of action. In order to receive the blessings that God has in store for us we need to do something first. We need to be asking, as the Father of King Lamoni, "What do I need to do Lord", or in the words of the young king from the New Testament, "What lack I yet?" As we humbly ask these questions, and listen patiently for a response from the spirit, it will be given us. I'd just like to testify of the reality of our Savior, and the fact that He lives. He is at the head of our church, guiding us through his chosen prophet and apostles. As we heed to their council and ponder on their words, we will recieve the answers, guidance, and blessings that we are looking for. I love you all and pray for you daily!

Until next time,

-Старейшина кэмптон

(Staryeshina Kempton)  


Pictures below:

The first three pics are from his 1st apartment in Stavropol.  It was super tiny and as you can see from the 3rd pic, now a bunch of rubble! 

 2nd Apartment in Stavropol.  He said it is sooooo much nicer, as you can see in the pics and he was happy they have Snickers there that are bigger than in America and cheaper...haha

Statue of a Solder in Russia.  He said it is awesome and that he hopes to get his picture taken in front of it.  I will post it if he does

 Entrance to their church building (aka the hobbit hole)