It snowed in Moscow yesterday. It did not snow here. It did, however, rain an excessive amount. We are all eagerly waiting for the winter to come, some with slight dread and some with excitement. I for one am excited for the snow to come.
On the topic of our missionary work, things have been going along. A lot of our investigators have become less then interested or have inexplicably disappeared, thus we are now trying to find new investigators to teach. In a fortunate turn of events, this Sunday at church was good for both the sisters (our one companionship of sister missionaries) and us, seeing as we both got new investigators out of it. President Sorenson came down to visit with the branch members and to provide a little bit of instruction, and suddenly a ton of investigators showed up at the meeting. One man who we had never met before really loved the meeting and said that he would be interested in taking the lessons and considering baptism and another man showed up from a town 200 km outside of Ryazan. He was also interested in meeting with us (although I'm not quite sure how the logistics for that would work out.) Also, an older lady who we contacted outside of our branch on Tuesday showed up. We had given her a quick tour of our meeting house, and now the sisters and going to be teaching her. Thus, we now have some good new potential in our investigator pool. Otherwise things are business as usual. This transfer is coming closer and closer to its end and I can't believe that I have been in Ryazan for nearly 6 months! Time certainly does fly by.
Although the missionary work has been going well, this week we experienced what could be termed as a tragedy. Thursday was a scheduled zone conference for our zone, and Wednesday night Elder Merrill and I went to the bus station to buy tickets. While giving the sisters their tickets, Elder Ottley called us to tell us that one of our members, Sergei Markin, died Tuesday night from a brain aneurysm. I was completely shocked. He was in his forties and seemed to be in perfect health, but suddenly was gone. I was especially sad since he was one of my favorite members here in Ryazan, I felt like we had a really good relationship and were good friends. At first, it just seemed like some weird, dark joke, but that night the branch president, Vladimir, Elder Ottley, Elder Merrill and I went over to his house to talk about funeral arrangements with his mother, and sure enough, there he was, laying coldly and peaceful in a casket in his apartment building. The funeral was held on Thursday, so we didn't go to the zone conference, and we were able to give him full burial services according to our religious beliefs (after the Orthodox service, which his mother wanted). It was all a strange turn of events, almost an inverted world, since everything had happened so quickly. One day we are here, the next we are gone, or in the more ecclesiastical words of the Epistle of James: "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
Though Sergei's death was unexpected and sad, it gave me really time to think about the knowledge of the gospel. Death, it seems, brings everything into focus. You really have to ask yourself: "Do I really believe this? Do I really believe in life after death?" In the bleakness of the death of a friends, a person is backed up against the wall of faith, where, besides confronting their own mortality, they are confronted by a sudden need for the application of principles generally believed but rarely tested to such an extreme degree. Walking back from the funeral, and the cold burial spot where one of my friends now lays I could not help but think about every lesson I thought about the Plan of Salvation, and every investigator that I gave the promise of being able to see their friends and loved ones once again, and maybe it was the suddenness of the moment, or maybe the cold weather made me philosophical, but I had to ask myself: "Do you really believe that? Is their really a plan?" I would like to assert that I know that their is a plan. Death is not the end. All of our friends and family who have died have gone to another place, and we will see them again. Better yet, and most glorious, we will be able to all receive these bodies again, due to the infinite and wonderful resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the words of our prophet Thomas S. Monson: "My beloved brothers and sisters, in our hour of deepest sorrow, we can receive profound peace from the words of the angel that first Easter morning: “He is not here: for he is risen." He is risen! He is risen! Tell it out with joyful voice. He has burst his three days’ prison; Let the whole wide earth rejoice. Death is conquered; man is free. Christ has won the victory!" I know that Christ lives, and I know that we will all live. I know that God has a plan for us and that this Earth life is the time to prepare to meet them. Like the 2nd act of a three-act play, we have lived before, we live now and we will live again. This is my testimony.
It is an interesting juxtaposition comparing this weeks funeral to last weeks baptism, and that both were testimony building experiences, each in their own very different ways. What a strange time the mission can be. You can literally experience most of what can happen to a person in such a short time. I am glad as always to be a missionary and to have the opportunity to teach people this gospel and to give them hope for a better world or for life after this one.
Sorry if I got a little bleak, I would like to end on a happier note than reminiscing about a funeral. And thus, cue the happier note: Our member Vladimir is going to be going to America soon. We has begun making "west side" gang signs and calling himself a gangster (did I mention he is about 60 years old, short and wears thick coke-bottle glasses?). Our best quote from him is this period has been: "I'm a gangster, a gangster on pension!!" What a great guy!
Live long and prosper!
As Always,
Elder Zachery E. Brasier
Moscow Time