Week 30: I'm raising this storm

Yoooo! Hello everybody! Another week has already come and gone time on the mission is just starting to fly like crazy! I don't know what to think about it haha. Well, I get into a little bit of what we did this week I think to start!

So this week all started with Monday and we had P-day we got hair cuts and all was going good for us got some good food and then headed out to go do some contacting! It was kinda sketchy because it's still like pretty dark outside at night around 6 to 9ish but you know it still seems to be effective regardless you just run into drunk people sometimes but they're harmless haha. ( Actually funny side story: A week ago we were walking back from a morning lesson we had at the branch and these two guys were out in front of this bar super super drunk and it was like 10 a.m. or something. They kinda yell us down and stop us and ask us what we are doing. We go ahead and tell them and the one guy asks for a Book of Mormon and we give him one of course. His friend doesn't think he should take this book so he's trying to grab it to give it back to us. Then the guy asks us if we have more books and we tell him we only have one. But he sees another one in my hand and asks for that one two and so basically he just takes two of our Books of Mormon and then we actually don't have anymore and he sends us on our way. I hope he reads it haha.)

Tuesday we had our second lesson with Tatyana and Vova our Branch Mission Leader was there with us and it went pretty well actually! She hadn't read which was a bummer but she recommitted herself and will read this week. She didn't make it to church because she had work but she is still happy to meet with us and keep reading and praying so I think she will begin to progress even if it's just a little here and a little there.

Wednesday we had our first lesson with Galina we taught her 3 this week actually. She is the grandma of this part member family the Suhoi family. She is super funny haha she's just this older lady and doesn't do too much but she loves to meet and talk and joke around! We taught her with her family members there with us and all of our lessons were super powerful! She believes it's all true and she knows it is important for her! She says she's not quite ready to commit to baptism yet but we are going to keep working with her and she is going to keep reading and praying so I know that she will be ready here sometime soon!

Thursday we met with this guy out of the area book which is actually like only the 2 time that has ever worked out without them dogging us in my mission so that was actually really cool even if it didn't totally lead to anything. He was nice and happy to meet and talk but he wants to see evidence that the Book of Mormon is true we testified and told him that he can also find out for himself but he says he needs/wants like scientific evidence or another thing that shows that this really happened. We are gonna think about what we can do to help him to be more open but that's where we are at right now with Vladimir.

Friday I went on an exchange with Elder Stearns he's from San Diego he's awesome! We had a really good day and we taught a really cool lesson and found some new people to teach. So this one guy Vitali asked for our help the other day with this phone call he had to make in English and he wasn't confident enough in his abilities and while he was here with us his friends Dima and Zhenya came in and they started talking to me and they wanted to practice their English we talked about what we do here as missionaries with them and as Elder Stearns distracted Vitali who isn't really interested in learning more at all I was able to teach Dima and Zhenya the Restoration! It was super powerful and they are progressing well already!

Saturday was a cool day! In the morning I really felt like there was this one spot we needed to go to and so that's what we did and as we got there we met this man named Viktor and we ended up walking around town with him for like 30 minutes and telling about the church and what we do here as missionaries and we invited him to church and he came!! super cool we have a meeting with him set up now too so it was really cool to follow that prompting and see a new person to teach come out of it!

Sunday was also pretty cool! We had 5 investigators in church. The other Elder's are teaching this golden couple right now Sasha and Naustia and they're super awesome everyone in the branch is really excited about them and it's looking like they will be baptized soon! Sunday after sacrament meeting we usually have MCM with the branch mission leader and we still did this Sunday but I felt like we needed to go out like right after and contact for just a little bit even just a few minutes and so that's what we did and we were only out there for like 10 minutes but we met this man and told him what we do as missionaries and asked him if he believes in God and he said, "No, but I want too." And so you know we jumped on that! We got his number and he said he'd come to church! I'm excited about him as well.

Funny story this week. We met this guy on the street that was really just super weird. I think he was probably a little drunk too but he just talked super super slow. We asked him this question and he sat and stared at us for like 30 seconds before he answered. He like refused to believe we were from America and Norway and what now and could not accept that we would just gift him this book for free. Eventually, the wind started picking up and he drops the convo we were having as says, "I am raising this storm, do you believe me?" and we say, "umm, no." Haha, it was pretty weird.

Spiritual Thought for the week!

This week I was studying in Exodus about Moses and the people of Israel and I noticed how many people like Pharoah and even the Israelites see all these miracles and the hand of the Lord and later turn around and harden their hearts. I worry that maybe sometimes we do this maybe not in the same way but to a similar extent. In our lives, the Lord has blessed us in many ways we've had different spiritual experiences, tender mercies. As hardships and trials come in our lives we can turn to those experiences that we have had the blessings we have seen in our lives. We can lean on our past experiences and see all the many ways we have been blessed and how the Lord has shown his love to us. Don't forget the ways we've been blessed! Our Heavenly Father loves us and has a plan for us and gives us all things for our benefit!

Love,

Elder Halls