Too Exciting Better Than Too Boring

Elder Anderson and I took a trip to Barnaul this week. We left on Monday evening. Worked all day Tuesday and Wednesday and came back Thursday morning. It was really cool. There are only 4 elders in the whole city and that's all. Both of the companionships are a brand new missionary and a trainer. I spent the first day with Elder Smith, my buddy from the MTC who is training now, so obviously that was really cool. and the second day I was with Elder Duncan who is new, that brought back some memories. I feel much more suited to be a trainer now than I did during the 3rd transfer (sorry Elder Hyde). Elder Duncan and I taught a sweet first lesson. A young guy in his 20s invited us over to kinda get to know us a little more. We change over and say hey we want to teach a lesson about what we believe and why we are here. He says sure, and his mom was around in the kitchen so we just took a shot and asked her if she wanted to join us. She said, "Sure that would be interesting, would that be ok if I sew while I listen?" We said, "Sure of course." Anyway we start teaching and the whole entire time she put her sewing stuff down and just had her eyes glued and was super active in like answering questions and stuff. It was a really ideal first lesson and they accepted to read and pray and come to church so I hope that turns out well for them.

Yeah, so that was the highlight of the week. Also a funny story- we went to visit and teach a member, Brother Mihael and we had a really good lesson, he's doing missionary work so we kinda helped him out. Then that night we get a call from Brother Paval and he wants to go home teaching with us the next day. We said great, we meet him that night and we set off to find the house. We are just following him along and we walk all the way down to the end of a muddy road where there are small houses and the street ends and he says "oops we must have the wrong street," so he makes a call, and wanders off and we follow him for a good half an hour trying to find this house. I finally ask him, "wait, who are we going to home teach?" and he says "oh, Brother Mihael. Haha we felt so dumb, because we knew exactly where it was but we had no idea who we were going to and we were just following him around. Anyway, we made it and had a good home teaching visit.

This next week will be interesting. We have a presentation at leadership training on Wednesday that we have been working on and need to finish up. Then the Europe East Area doctor is coming in to tour Novosibirsk and we are supposed to schedule appointments with various clinics and hospitals and take him around on tours so he will know where we can send our missionaries to. That will be quite interesting. I've been studying up on all kinds of medical terms and stuff this week, but It will still be extremely hard to translate, so hopefully Dr. Hatch (who is supposedly a radiologist) wants to do mostly looking and not very much question asking.

Well I think that's all. Things are really going well and exciting here, a little too exciting sometimes, but that's better than too boring.

How is the Hunger Games movie? I bet it's either super awesome, or terrible. I think that would be hard to make because it's already so epic in my mind that it would be a disappointment, so let me know.

That's cool that James is subbing for you, I bet he's a really good teacher too.

Well love you Mom,

Elder Topham

Me in Barnaul cooking lunch with Elders Rich and Smith.

Us with Marina and the Webbs at their apartment. This is yesterday after church when she was confirmed.

Choir practice with all of our MTC-mates

Picture of our missionary choir for conference

Soon--A Stake in Siberia!

This week was really good, and really busy. We picked up the new missionaries and spent a couple days with them, we had a baptism on Saturday, and the huge district conference was on Sunday.

The new missionaries came in Wednesday morning so we went with President Gibbons and President Gushin to go pick them up. We brought them back, had breakfast, then let them sleep for a while. We came back to the mission home that night and had dinner with them and did a little orientation devotional type thing. It was really cool, we just kind of explained a little bit about what happens here, and about all of the cities, it was cool, but all the new missionaries were really tired. The next morning we did a little training meeting with President and the trainers, and Elder Anderson and I cooked blini for all of the trainers and all of the new missionaries. Then we did the second part of the orientation where we introduced them to their trainers and went over the training program. It was really cool because at the end, President had all of the trainers and all of the new missionaries bear their testimonies. And those 5 new missionaries are awesome. They will be a really strong group for sure. Then we took them out to eat lunch. We went to a really standard Russian restaurant. It was cool they got to try some basic Russian foods like borscht. I also ordered some haladyets so that everyone could try some. It was actually way better than the stuff we had that one time at the member's house, and they gave us a bunch of bread with it so it was actually really good. Pretty much everyone tried it and most people even liked it. It was a fun time. Then we just brought everyone back to the office to do some of the boring orientation stuff and we sent them off on buses and trains. So it was really cool and really fun to meet all of the new missionaries and answer some of their questions. One of them went to Tomsk, but other than him I've never even been where they are serving.

The baptism on Saturday went great. Sergei had to baptize her twice because her knee popped out of the water the first time, but everything worked out. It was a really nice service. Marina has an amazingly strong testimony for the short time that she has been exposed to the church, it's really cool to see.

Right before Marina's Baptism...Elder Anderson, Marina, Sergei (who baptized her), and me.

The big District conference yesterday was also awesome. President Gibbons dissolved the three districts in the mission and combined them into one super district that takes up all of the boundaries of the mission. With all of that area, there are enough members and priesthood leaders for a stake. So he called a full district presidency and high council, and soon everything will be organized just like a stake, then soon after that it will be very easy for the brethren to create a stake here. It's really cool and yesterday was a really historical occasion for the church in Siberia. We spent a lot of time throughout the week preparing for it with President. One of the really memorable parts for me was when President Gibbons, and the mission presidency (which includes the new district president) had Elder Anderson and I come in and give our opinions on a few brethren from the areas we served and their capability to serve in positions like the high council. I was kinda nervous even because they were really listening to us and valuing our advice. Also, during the course of the week we went with President and the new district president to check out the conference hall in the hotel that we were renting, and kinda help get things set up for Sunday. We hauled the piano from the branch to the hotel on Sunday. I sang in the missionary choir during the conference, and that was sweet. Then this was interesting, all of these members came in from different cities, so Pres wanted to set them all apart right after the conference. so it was pretty crazy, we had to close of a section of the hall and get people out of there, then get the right people in there and kinda guard the doors so they didn't get interrupted, so that was also pretty crazy and fun.

MTC group before District Conference, only without Elder Harris.

So yeah those were definitely the main highlights of the week. Tonight we are going to Barnaul to work with the Elders there for a couple days, two of the new missionaries are there and we will do exchanges on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thanks Mom, you take care of me too much and sent me too much stuff. But hey, I thought of one thing that I would like that wouldn't be too hard. If you could email me my line of authority, that would be cool. And if you have a second, Elder Anderson has a little flow chart of his that's sweet. It has a picture of Jesus, then the apostles, then Joseph Smith and a couple other early apostle portraits, then it gets to actual pictures of people like his grandpa. It's really cool and I would like to have something like that if you ever have a second. Thanks. Love you.

Elder Topham

Me being awesome as usual.

Me

A Good Amount of Work

Well Hello,

So this had been a very fun week. I got into Novo Tuesday Evening. Then Wednesday Morning Elder A and I went with President to take the 3 departing missionaries to the airport and pick up one sister missionary. (There should have been 5 elders and 2 sisters but the Americans got delayed a week so it was only the one native sister who came from Spain). So we picked her up and did the little orientation and introduction with her at the mission home. And because she only came from Spain, she didn't want to sleep all day so we took her and Sister Trottier to the bus station and sent them off to Tomsk that afternoon. It was fun, but also tough to give the orientation to a Russian sister. I assume when the elders come this week and we do it again when they are still all wide eyed and amazed by everything, it will be easier.

I got both packages right when I got in! Haha it's funny that I always get two at a time even though they are sent at different times. They were awesome. I love the clothes, the shirts look really nice and I love the tie. It's been warm so I haven't worn the sweater yet. Then of course thanks for all the food and treats. Elder Anderson and I are really set now, because of those packages, a couple missionaries went home and left some American goodies in the apartment, and especially because of this interesting story. Ryan Miller, who played volleyball for BYU and the US Olympic team, was playing professionally for the Novosibirsk team and living here. The assistants, about a week ago, went over to his house, and he told them that the season ended and he was going back to the States and he gave them all his awesome food that he had shipped from America for him. Big Costco packs of pancake mix, trail mix, maple syrup, peanut butter, it's awesome. So we have a good supply of everything. Even the things I told you last week in the email, Mom, we have all of those and Elder Stuart left like 10 packs of notecards, so basically I don't need anything, food, seasonings, anything. So unless you already sent the package don't worry about it.

So Mom and Dad, I talked to President about you coming to Russia, official policy in the handbook is that it is discouraged, but allowed as long as you arrange all of the travel, and I'm with you at all times, and that's pretty much it. President said if you wanted to do it we could. I think I need to now look into when my go home date is, and when my visa will expire, because I've heard also that sometimes missionaries' visas expire the next day after they were supposed to go home, so I'll look into that and give you more info.

So I'm kind of been getting up to speed on what its going to be the schedule here as an assistant. Basically, we meet with President twice a week on Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Thursdays we also call the Zone leaders with him. We do some random assignments, and do the new missionary orientation when they come in, and have major roles in all the leadership trainings, but other than that, we have a normal schedule. He says he wants the assistants to build up an awesome area so that they can bring in other missionaries when we do exchanges so they can see what the ideal area looks like. So for the most part we will be staying here and be spending most of our time just doing regular missionary work. But he also said that in the next transfer or two he wants us to go to all of the cities with him really to get to see what it's like there, and how the work is going, and just work with those elders for a couple days. So that will be awesome and I'm really looking forward to that. As far as getting our area going, that will take a good amount of work, there is really only 1 solid investigator right now. The good news is that she will be baptized this week. I've only had a couple meetings with her and she was ready to go when I got her, we just helped her keep going and do the baptismal interview.

I really love being able to spend time with President on a regular basis, he is always really inspiring and uplifting. We had a cool experience that only strengthened my testimony that he is truly inspired. We were at the airport just standing in the check-in line with the 3 departing missionaries and all talking together. The new missionary was supposed to come in about half an hour later. But President just kind of stops in the middle of the conversation and says I'm going to go check the other side of the airport. So he walks around the corner and comes back like a minute later with the new sister missionary who had gotten in way ahead of schedule. There were no boards there telling the landings schedule or announcements or anything, he's just that legit.

So my new companion, Elder Anderson, is awesome. He is just a really awesome and humble guy, and he is a workhorse. He was the Utah 5A shot put champion his senior year. He showed me some of his old pictures and he used to bic his head bald every three days, and I thought he was intimidating now, but man he looked scary. But really he's just a big teddy bear and he's awesome to live with, he keeps everything really clean and neat and is just really easy to get along with. So he's awesome and we are going to really have fun together.

Saturday we went with Elder Davis and Terry and helped Aleksei start fixing his roof and cleaning up some of the fire damage, it was really fun, and I think the other elders are going to pick him back up and teach him again.

And Friday the Webbs threw a little birthday party for Elder Terry and I at the end of district meeting, so that was awesome too. It was cool, I had like 4 different birthday parties here. In Tomsk - 1. the fiesta and 2. my actual birthday when Elder Vargin made me a poster. 3. When I got my packages the next day, and when I came off the bus Elder Harrison was standing there with a big banner that said "Happy Birthday," so that was awesome. And 4 at district meeting, so they've been taking care of me.

Well that's all, hope I answered all the questions.

Elder Topham



Elder A and me



Birthday Party and district meeting for Elder Terry and me (We have the same birthday. Sisters Djurich and Holmes also pictured (At the Webb's apartment)

Me, Aleksei, Elder Anderson and Elder Davis, and Fyodor at Aleksei's after we helped with the roof

Elders Davis, Terry and I on Aleksei's roof. we were using those two beams as a ramp to pull up other large beams with ropes.

Me studying in Tomsk

Me cooking in Tomsk

Can't Deny the Spirit

Hey, how's it going?  Thanks for all the Happy Birthday Emails.  I got a bunch this week, it was really cool.  Looks like a bunch of random friends noticed on Facebook that its my birthday and decided to email me, so that's really cool.

 

Well we had a really solid last week in Tomsk. A few investigators really came around this week and started to make progress.

 

First Yusup, he's a really sweet investigator, we called him from the area book, missionaries had just contacted him on the street a few years earlier.  He's a professor at one of the universities here and has a family.  He's awesome to teach because he listens really well and just soaks everything in.  Also, he really has a desire to change his life.  We've already taught him the first three lessons and he came to church yesterday (more on that below).

 

We also met this younger guy, Sergei who we've only been able to teach the first lesson, but we dropped by him at work, he also came to church.

 

Then there is Yegor.  He's a little older than me. He's from out in the countryside and he's an awesome investigator too because he really wants to change his life, and he already has, just from the time that we started meeting with him.  We can't go to his apartment to teach him, and he says he doesn't have enough money to go to the branch on the bus, so we have been meeting him outside and teaching him.  It's good it's not too cold out any more.  It's funny the last three lessons we've had with him have been in the evening when the sun is setting in romantic locations like along the river bank, and up on the hill that overlooks the city.  But they have been really beautiful spiritual settings.  He wants to be baptized and we set a goal with him for the 31 of March.

 

Also, Yuri.  He's a baptist and he really likes us.  On our second meeting at the beginning he said, "I really like you guys, but I read a book that my preacher gave me about you guys and I don't think I believe the same way you do."  The title of the book was "Deceivers" and Mormons were the first chapter, then like 20 other religions.  Elder Vargin asked if we could borrow it, and we read through it.  Elder V went through with a pencil and corrected things. The good thing is that Yuri can't deny the spirit that he feels in our lessons, and that will help him find out truth.

 

So at church yesterday we had two brand new first time investigators come, which is awesome. But it was fast and testimony meeting and there were 2 awkward "testimonies"...  I think Yusup might have gotten turned off by that.  But as long as he felt the spirit during the sacrament and the other testimonies we'll get him back there.

 

Yesterday I went to the polls with Elder Vargin.  The wouldn't let him vote because he didn't have the right paperwork for someone outside of Tomsk, even though he called last week and asked and made sure everything was good for him to vote.. The system here isn't very clean.  But it was cool to see what voting is like in Russia.

 

Well that's pretty much it. I'm really sad to be leaving all of those awesome people here, and we'll see what next week will be like.