As of now I have officially been working in the office for a full week! Now you may be asking yourself: What exactly does that entail? I shall explain.
Pretty much Elder Lantukh and I are in charge of the logistical operations of our rather complex mission. Thus, we are responsible for buying train tickets, making sure missionaries get where they want to be, make sure that they stay legal with the Russian government and make sure all of the technical aspects of our mission work. The last item is my main job. Basically, I am in charge of the technology of the mission, i.e. making sure the computers, iPod's and all other technical assets of our mission function as they should. This last week we were quite busy due to the transfer that just occurred. We had to make sure that 20+ missionaries left their cities, came to Moscow and got to their new cities without problems or delay. This was quite the task. Otherwise, we just make sure the mission runs and every weekend we go to one of the other cities to help out and keep our missionary skills sharp. This week we went to Tver for two days, which is a city close to Moscow on the Volga River. It was fun to see a different city and also go and contact in a new location. It was quite enjoyable I must say.
One of my favorite parts about working in the office is that I get to see a lot of the other missionaries from the mission, so I get to stay in contact with my friends more often. I also have been able to see all of my old companions and I realized how lucky I was to have the companions that I did. Even though some of them really pushed my buttons, they all helped me grow in different ways and now we are all good friends, even if our time together had been kind of rough. My companionship with Elder Lantukh has been going well. We were able to sort out a lot of the problems with our old companionship and it really helps that I speak much better Russian now, since he pretty much refuses to speak English to anybody, only if they absolutely do not understand Russian. So that fact has really helped us get along better, and I know exactly what he doesn't like, so I can avoid doing those things. Thus, things have been slightly better, but we also don't talk to each other very much since we both have our office work to get done. Also (because I forgot to mention this) a fresh batch of greenies (new missionaries) came in this week. I love new missionaries because they have so much energy and enthusiasm after being couped up in the MTC for 11 weeks. Everything for them is a new experience and the things I take for granted about Russia are fascinating to them. They also speak pretty bad Russian, which limits their amount of things they can say, thus they cut to the gospel pretty quite while contacting. To illustrate my point I will share a story. On Tuesday Elder Olsen, his greenie (Elder Browning) and I went contacting and also went to find an ATM for some money. We went into one of the stores and I stopped and glanced at the movie stand near the ATM and the worker their asked if I wanted anything. Of course I responded with a curt: "No" and went about my business. However Elder Browning, ready for some action, quickly said: "We are missionaries from America have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon." Just like that, right to the punch. I kind of laughed and shook my head while withdrawing money but before I knew it, Elder Olsen and Elder Browning were talking to this random guy at the video stand about our church and actually gave him baptismal commitment in a way. I really realized how important it is to talk to everyone I see and I decided to have more greenie like enthusiasm. Greenies are just a lot of fun. (In an interesting note one greenie, Elder Simmons, followed this blog so he knew all about my mission already. I guess the only information he could find about our mission was on this blog. The good old paranoia returned for a little bit when I found this out!)
Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot to report since our week has been pretty booked with our work and I haven't had much time to go and explore Moscow. However, the other day we did go on Arbat Street and ate Wendys. Mmmm.... I really enjoy Wendys. Also since the weather is better all the street bands come out with their generators, amplifiers, electric guitars, drum kits and a whole lot of bravery. Honestly, most of them don't sound very good at all, but I give credit to anybody who will go set up on a street corner and give a free concert (I give even more respect for the bands that actually sound good!)
Last night I saw my first Russian lightning storm. It was incredibly cool since I love lightning anyways. Something about seeing gigantic discharges of atmospheric static electricity puts me in a reflective mood. As I sat watching lightning and looking at the highway that runs right by our apartment, I really realized my own smallness. There are so many people in the world it is overwhelming to have the responsibility to teach and preach the word of God. I just can't get to all of them! That day I had gotten three contacts and given out two Book of Mormons and thought that that I had done pretty good, but compared to the 8 million or so people in Moscow that is nothing! I really understood the saying of Alma: "O that I were an angel.. that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God.. and cry repentance unto every people." (Alma 29:1) It really is overwhelming to realize how big missionary work is, and I just enjoyed that reflective moment while watching one of my favorite natural phenomenon. I decided to work even harder to teach and reach those few people who do fall in my way every day.
Really that's all I have right now to say. I enjoy being in Moscow. My old love for big cities has been rekindled. Although I enjoyed the sleepy quietness of Smolensk, I feel more at home in the buzzing metropolis of Moscow, winding my way through the labyrinthine Metro subway system and being dwarfed by the shockingly ominous neo-classicalism of the Seven Sisters (or Stalin's high-rises). Being in this great world city has been such a thrill for me, I love being in the one of the centers of civilization, and the biggest city in this vast country of Russia. Being in the big city is truly a great experience!
As Always,
Elder Zachery Brasier
PS- A good scripture: Doctrine and Covenants 132:49 :" For I am the Lord thy God, and will be with thee even unto the end of the world, and through all eternity; for verily I seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare a throne for you in the kingdom of my Father, with Abraham your father."
PPS: I just got back from a visa trip in Kyiv, Ukraine, and returned with some more Ukrainian money! The weather is great right now in Ukraine! I have been travelling a lot lately.
Moscow Time
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