Those Russian missionaries. They baptize people.

Wow last saturday was our investigator's baptism. Him and a woman from the neighboring branch were both baptized that day and it was UNREAL. honestly i have never felt so purely happy in my life. 

Our friend... lets call him Frodo...

Frodo was literally glowing after his baptism. the next day he came to church in a white shirt and tie and after receiving the Gift of The Holy Ghost he gave me a smile i will never forget.

There is no greater work than the work of God. There is no greater feeling than helping a brother find the true and everlasting gospel of Christ. We all bore our testimonies afterward and i couldnt even speak haha let alone in Russian...

Elder Kuz'min, my new Russian Companion and i get along like bros. hes a super cool guy and way old in the mission. Its actually his last transfer before he goes home. I really enjoy serving with this guy. And he knows how to cook so we have been eating different things than spagetti every day haha.

It snows a lot here but its not THAT cold. I have a really nice hat too.

If i didnt send some of you personal emails this week im sorry i promise to do so next week.  Its really great to hear from you all. 

That has seriously been one of my greatest blessings here in russia. Hearing all of the good things happening back home.

I love all you Guys and i cant wait to skype home for Christmas.

only 9 days till christmas...

"ITS PRACTICALLY HERE!!!"

haha aight well thats all for now. Remember that this is the best season of the year because we celebrate the birth of the most important person of all. Our savior Jesus Christ.
and if you want to know more about Jesus Christ, email me, i have this great book about him.

From Russia With Love

the happiest Elder in Russia

Winter time is here...

So i have good news. THERES GUNNA BE A BAPTISM THIS SATURDAY.

in fact.

 

There could be 5 BAPTISMS!!!!!

Those russian missionaries.... They baptize people. ANd the best part is that one of our investigators is definately gunna be one of em. He passed the interview yesterday. Wish i could tell you guys his name.... We met him at a Shaurma stand if that helps....

Anyway he was basically just a gift from god. Call the fruits of good labor. We are so blessed here in russia. 

another cool thing... the ENSIGN might be doing an arcticle on the service so you could see me in a church magizine next month.

 

In other news... I am getting a new companion. Yes Elder Eliason is going to another city far far away and i am getting paired up with elder Kuzmine. And Yes. He is a Native Russian. Its his last transfer as a missionary and he gets to spend it with me. Lucky him.

Im kinda nervous about the whole native comp thing. Hopefully he's understaning of my primitive American ways... and hopefully i come out of this next transfer a whole heck of a lot better at Russian. Its gunna be a trip. thats for sure.

 

uuuuhhhhhhmmmmmmmm.......

 

Oh yeah. We watched ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE on saturday. that was awesome. I love christmas

 

From Russia with love

Elder Memmott

Russia Russia Russia

Highlights, We committed a person to baptism. please pray for it to work out.

We celebrated thanksgiving twice, Elder Eliason and I made awesome pioneer costumes...

We got to see one of our investigators pray for the first time in his whole life... wow that was something special.

it snowed a ton :D

it now gets dark at 5:00 pm

There is going to be a massive baptismal service on the 14th and the ensign is gunna do a article on us.

My companion is gunna get transferred to a different city soon

gunna miss him

we sang Christmas music on the street... sort of...

 

what else...

 

I Love this work...

I honestly see miracles EVERY DAY.

FASTING WORKS try it some time...

 

still alive... sorry about last week.

 

Send me pictures if you can manage it. I feel a little visually removed from the world. Russia is REALLY DIFFERENT LOOKING THAN AMERICA.

 

From Russia with Love.

Elder Memmott

To the general audience

This week was great.

Highlights were that my companion went on splits (meaning he switched companions for a short period of time) WITH A GIRL.

Bwaaaahahahahahahahahahahaaha 

 

Don't worry I spent the duration of the split with my District leader. They only did it cuz they both had to renew their visas and it was the most "efficient" way. Presidents orders I guess...

 

had a meeting with that woman me met on the street last week and We tried to teach her the restoration... It was difficult. She is very... energetic. It was honestly very hard to keep the conversation on topic haha. But It was good we did a lot of "how to begin teaching" with her. We really got to know her. And the best part is that we got a Referral of sorts. Her friend was curious about us and came and visited with us that night as well. She is Golden. They bot are super interested and really want to come to our sunday meetings. And now that the sisters have Both of their contact info and have gotten in touch with them some more Miracles can happen. Missionary work Works. Its as simple as that.

 

also last night I remembered that when I did Dancing with the stars I shared an elevator with Britany Spears... I think I touched her too... :D

 

Umm yeah so everything is awesome. I have high hopes for our Investigator. itll only be a couple of weeks before he gets baptized.

And I have been learning a lot about forgiveness. Forgiving yourself is hard but it is so important. Its part of Faith actually. Having enough faith in the atonement to move on from your past mistakes is a huge part of being a disciple of Christ.

 

Guess that's all for now.

 

Ma. I love you. Your a champion for going through that operation.

 

From Russia with Love

Elder Memmott

Wow

Ok so to start of the update we had "Culture Night" this week. Which means we went to see the Local Ballet do Giselle. It was good. I was impressed However I will say that Hillary still had better feet than any of them haha

 

The theatre that they performed in was also really cool. Old. like USSR status. It was sweet. and the guy who played Hanz had a beard so that was cool too. The lead male was initially nothing special but he brought it home in the second act. I think was cuz he wasn't wearing white tights anymore... always better hahha. I also got a kick out of explaining the ballet to the other missionaries. they were more than a bit lost... Classic.

 

Before that  Eliason and I helped with a service project which basically included putting together about 2 hundred sack lunches and then watching some Paralympics. It was a good day haha. We Met someone who claimed to be the "Best street hip hop dancer" in all of the mother land. and 2nd in the world....

umm....

 

In other news we had an awesome experience two nights ago.

 

We met a woman on the way home who was a little... distressed.

She spoke awesome English and wanted to talk to us. She actually said that she wanted to kill herself. We were understandably worried about her. After telling her who we were she said that she needed our help and that the way we could help her was to talk to her in English. So we Did. I proposed that we walk her home while we talk and she agreed. We talked about her life and her problems. About her pastimes and her interests. We tried to make her feel loved. We prayed with her and we gave her a pamphlet about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When she asked us why in the world we were here we testified of our faith in the savior and that we believe in his fully restored gospel.

 

And it worked! She felt a lot better than when we met her and she agreed to go home and stay off the street that night. She was so appreciative of our interest in her as a person and for the love we showed her.

She also is interested to know more about what we believe.

 

It just goes to show that the best way to do missionary work is simply to love people. You teach people by being a representative of Christ not just by teaching his doctrine.

 

This experience is the Highlight of my mission so far. and I know for a fact that the lord sent us to that woman because she needed us.

 

this is the best calling in the world. and there is no greater work on this earth.

 

Love you all.

 

Elder Memmott

GUESS WHAT?... I'M IN RUSSIA

So I added a couple more people to the group today... I hope by the end of my mission just about all of the people I know will be forcibly receiving this weekly email thingy...

 

This week was a GREAT one. One of the best. Its starting to get cold but im not scared or anything... We talked to a lot of people on the streets this week. Got a lot of peoples numbers too. It feels pretty good to have people say that they might be interested in the Gospel. It gives me hope. Its also funny to watch them try to figure out exactly what im saying.... Russians can make some pretty awesome faces haha.

 

Its funny our teaching pool has actually shrunk a lot it the last couple of days but there is this one guy... Remember I cant use his name because Russian law dictates that I am not allowed to use proper nouns whilst communicating with those across the borders of the Mother Land... but anyway hes Golden. He actually calls us to set up meetings and ask when activities are. He may or may not have set up a date in which he would be willing to take part in a saving ordinance.

 

This ordinance might have something to do with water....

Jesus did it...

It involved a guy named John the.....

 

I cant really say.... 

 

But im stoked. He set up the date on my Half Birthday. Well played God.

 

Also if anyone knows a kid Named Keyko....

Tell him a good friend of his would really like to hear from him. ME.

same goes for Marcquet,Chris, and Soa

 

gotta go

 

From Russia With Love

Elder Memmott

Life..

Hey everyone. Cool story I actually got to listen to conference!!! In english too. Woo. 

It was great. Best one of my whole life actually. Couldnt pic a favorite if i tried. Watching conference in Russian...

Not so hot. mostly gave me a headache and stuff. but i figure next April will be a lot more understandable on account of having more than 4 months of russian under the old beltskee.

Its official i have the best ties in the district. Just wanted to throw that in here.

Everything else is pretty good. We work really hard and we see miracles every day Normal mission stuff. But I do have a firm witness now of something a wise person told me the day before i left. Its when you decide to stay out and try to talk to two more people about Jesus Christ that you see the real progress. Its when you forget that you're only 19 and dont really speak Russian much and just teach and serve out of love for those around you that you see the power and love of God in your life. Its all about service. Its all about LOVE. 

yeah tallking about you Cory.

Another Wise man Told Me. "kill em with Kindness"

Most Russians think that i am from a cult or a "Sect". Sometimes they arent so nice... But its a fact that fire for fire is not the right way to fight this rejection. I couldnt even match their Mean anyway. Russians have got the mean thing down pat.

But Trying to have the true love of God is what gets me through all of the hard times. Trying to see these people as the Children of God they are Is the best thing i can do for both my Attitude and Work as a missionary. the Lords Way Works and Charity never Faileth (Moroni 7).

I guess that is all for me right now. Its kinda nutz im getting used to this life and i am loving it.

From Russia With Love. 

Elder Memmott

Testimony of the temple!

The temple is one of the most important things on this earth. Growing up I never quite understood what the temple was and what happened there. But as I was approaching my mission I went to a priesthood camp called Camp Helaman. One of the most significant things that I learned there was how important the temple is to our salvation and progress towards eternal life with our family, the Lord our savior and redeemer, and our Loving Heavenly Father. Covenanting and Receiving your endowments and being married and sealed in the temple are THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU CAN DO IN THIS LIFE. More important than serving a mission. More important than any temporal temporary pursuit. The temple is a house of eternity. The things you will do in the temple last. Forever.

The temple is also a house of learning. The Veil is thin in the temple and revelation comes easier and clearer there. I have learned so much more in the temple about the nature of the godhead and the Plan of Salvation than any where else.

I Love the Temple.

I know that everything done therin is sanctified and supported by the Holy power and Authority of God the Father.

You will experience a purer joy in the temple than in any place on this earth, because the temple is the closest thing we have to heaven on this earth.

Always keep yourself worthy to walk through its doors.

Always keep yourself worthy to worship in the house of the lord.

I love you all and know that you are great youth.

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Another Nadelia... (means week)

So Everything is going great at the moment. I have finally gotten to a point in Russian where I can almost confidently talk to people by my self and there for get their info to meet later and discuss the holy nature of God and other things like that.

Funny story, Elder Eliason is apparently extremely attractive to Russians cuz all the girls give him...       Looks.....               I might or might not be Jealous about it, Russian law doesn't allow me to that open about my emotions....

 

We have lots of new people that we are teaching right now and lots of hope for a new member or two before one of us leaves. I of course cant tell you the details on the off chance something... Bad... Happens to me.

 

But I will tell you of the wrestle I had before I received an understanding of the Russian language... #Enosjoke If you don't understand it its in this great book called the Book of Mormon and you should check it out. (its my favorite chapter)

 

Anyway... Russian is the hardest thing that I have ever tried to learn. Period. As Most of you know im not the most insanely intelligent person in the world and its hard for me to speak and understand with only 3 months of exposure to the language.

But I see the Miraculous power of god in every word that I speak. My whole mission is a miracle.

I love it.

I will hopefully be able to watch conference this week so I will give you updates the following Monday.

Love you all  I have no time haha

Elder Memmott

 

Heavenly Father

God rules. And he loves us. A lot.

This week was great. we worked hard and had some great success. We taught with the spirit and I felt and saw many miracles happen this week. Funny story I had to speak in church this week. hahaha it was hilarious but everyone said I did good. what else would they tell me though... oh yeah its Russia it I sucked they would have let me know. True story one of the other speakers this week totally called out some sisters in the congregation for talking while he was at the pulpit. Classic. haha

Another funny thing, The translation of the chorus of "Onward Christian Soldiers" doesn't say "With the Cross of Jesus going on before". It says "For Jesus We Would Sacrifice Ourselves"....

So Russian. classic.

 

Oh and tell Uncle shane and ryker that I met a guy named Mustafa the other day.

 

Rosaleeno, Shaleeno, Shaukpaws.... hahahahahahhahahahahaha

 

From Russia With Love

Elder Memmott

WOOO

Alright so this week was great.

Remember that guy that may or may not have worked for a Russian security organization... Well good news, he decided that the church health code (Word of Wisdom) is awesome and easy to live and wants to continue for the rest of his life. Booyah.

He also really wants to be baptized and everything that comes with that but there are some extraneous circumstances in the way at this time. He did agree to bring his wife in on the lessons tho.

STOKED.

In other news the other man we are working with that has the same name as our healthy friend up there just got out of the hospital and we were able to meet with him as well. He has some problems in believing in an afterlife and stuff so we are working on that. but he is smoking a lot less now which is amazing news.

 

We had 4 count em 4 lessons fall through this week. it was bogus. but we have faith and hope and the snickers bars here are even better than in America so its chill we can handle anything.

 

We are working with a new person as well this week. He, or she... Im not "allowed" to say (psshh) is younger than most of our investigators. A couple years younger than us. Super cool tho and has already been to church twice.

 

Fun fact. I saved a grandma this week. She had some sort of medical emergency so in the middle of our morning studies some Russian lady came to our door and screamed something at my that I almost understood. we then proceeded to help her carry this poor older person down 6 flights of stairs to an ambulance.

 

there was another Baptism this week and there will be another on Friday. they are all coming from the same city, which happens to be that incredibly polluted city I visited last week. The field is radioactive and ready to harvest there. Oh and one of the elders serving there is from PG. Elder Atterton. Classy guy.

 

Two new missionaries came to my area this week A sister from the MTC and an Elder from another city Hes from Beaver UT and you can totally tell. Its mildly hilarious.

Well that's about it for me this week. Don't worry I didn't get accosted or anything this time...

From Russia With Love

Elder Memmott

9/16/13

ok so i have No Time so im sorry this will be quick.

things that happened this week:

I got randomly choked on a bus. and no i did not agrivate him he just randomly choked me. true story.

one of MY contacts that i did by myself came to church. Awesome.

one of our investigators is sick but its bringing him close to god. we call him every night.

I visited a city that is so polluted that the average life expectancy for men is 40 and the death rate excceeds the birth rate by 200%

there is gunna be a BAPTISM today!!!!!!

i saw about 4 people without one of there legs and a guy without a thumb in one day.

they have hand cranked wheelchairs here. its tight.

I saw a dead guy.

Russia rules and believe it or not i feel the spirit every single day and i see miracles constantly.

From Russia with Love

Elder Memmott

Elder Memmott with his Mission President

Sept. 9, 2013

Guess what! I was just informed that I can no longer use the names of people places or things in my letters/emails back home. This also includes pictures, basically anything that can be classified as a noun is now secret and I cant talk about it. #Russia I guess. I'll be sure to keep you posted about all this its all new and strange to me.

Very generally, We were super sick this week. Actually Elder Eliason was... I got over it on Monday but his "problems" came back full force and we were quarantined to our Great and Spacious Apartment. Funny side note: our Apt, is actually huge. I'd send you pics... but I cant.

so there isn't a lot to talk about besides I started "Jesus The Christ" and I LOVE it. Jesus rules.

Language and teaching is coming. I talk to people by myself now sometimes and can glean the overall meaning of what most people are saying. Feels good. It all takes time. "give it time" Elder Eliason says that at least 15 times a day.

I am learning so much. I feel like I am being purified and separated from all of the old bad parts of myself. Its so true that you find the best parts of yourself while you are focused on other people. I see miracles all the time. I really do. And most of all I know that I am doing the right thing. Its always hard and we aren't always liked or excepted, but "the lord is my light. So why should I fear."

From Russia with Love

Elder Memmott