April 9, 2012
Hello Everyone,
Well last week was a very busy week. We had the missionaries from the city of Tumen come down and have zone class. I was able to go on splits with some other missionaries. That was a fun experience. On thursday I got to go on a split with a native missionary from Ukraine. That was so awesome. I learned so much from him. I learned that the Russian language is so difficult ha. I was also able to go on slpits with a minnie(only serves for six weeks) missonary who is from another city in the mission. He didn't speak a lick of English, so that was a very interesting experience. It was a way good experience, I learned a ton from him. I wouldn't mind getting a native companion. I feel that my Russian would improve so much better. I went on three splits this last week, due to the fact that my companions passport was stolen in Finland. So he had to do some traveling this last week. But all in all this was a great week for missionary work. We are going to have a solid baptism date for Galena on the 19th of May (that one is for you Anna), we are way pumped to have a solid date for her. Hopefully she can be well enough to come to church. This week we are going to teach her about the importance of a prophet and then invite her to come and watch Conference at the branch building on Saturday. We will see how that goes.
Yesterday was Easter, thank you everyone for your emails. I can say that I had a great Easter Sunday here in Kurgan. President Rust came down on Saturday with his wife and the assistants. We had a apartment check....my first of the mission. So Elder Weber and I cleaned it up for like an hour before it went down. Let's just say that our apartment passed inspection. Sister Rust asked us if we always keep the apartment this clean. I couldnt lie to her so I told her that we cleaned the kitchen really well and took out the garbage ha. She was very impressed of how clean it was. President Rust wasn't a fan of the apartment. He said that we need to talk to the landlord and get some things fixed in it. For example the dry wall is coming off in the bathrooom right above the shower haha. He said if the landlord doen't get that fixed we are moving out and finding a new apartment. So we are going to have to give our landlord a call.
Sunday was really nice. Evan the guy I baptized passed the sacrament for his first time. It was so awesome to see. He is making so much progress in the gosple. I love him so much. After church President Rust talked to us missonaries and told us how grateful he was for us and our service here in kurgan. He told us that we werent forgotten being here in Kurgan (kurgan is kind of out of the mission). He told us that Kurgan is a very important place for the mission to flourish. He has a lot of faith in us missionaries here in Kurgan. I love my mission president. After church Elder Weber and I headed back home where we did some weekly planning and then we made a Russian dinner for Easter. We made Plov. I'm not quite sure how to explain it but it was good. After Plov we decided to make some Chocolate chip cookies. We found a really old reciepe book in the apartment and we were going through it and came upon "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie reciepe", we had to try it out. They definately werent the best, maybe due to the fact that missionaries made them but they were good. I had cookies and milk for breakfast this morning. I will probably have them tomorrow also haha. We doubled the recipe...Ooops.
This Easter was so awesome. Elder Weber and I had a really good time. I will never forget this Easter. I am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ that he suffered for all of us so that we could return back to Him and the Father. Through Him, He has given us the oppurtunity to be joint heirs of the Kingdom and Glory of God. I know that Christ has done so much for me, and that I will never be able to repay Him, but I can do all that I can to show my love for Him and His children. I am so thankful for this oppurtunity to serve a mission, to be able to serve our Lord and Redeemer.
Thank you all for your emails. I love reading them every Monday. Keep them coming.
Love,
Elder Flitton
"What a week!!"
April 16, 2012
Well this last week was a very busy one. First I will talk about all the missionary work we did. We met with our investigator Galena. She is progressing very slowly but she is progressing. She went in for surgery this last week so that we wont see her for another week or so. We are going to give her a call this weekend and see how she is doing. Hopefully she will be well and ready to come to church. Elder Weber and I talked to a lot of people this last week. We met a lot of interesting people. We got a lot of numbers so we are going to give them a call this week and hopefully get some meetings set up. We could use a new investigator. Last week we had a meeting at one of our members house. She had a friend over that wasn't a member. So I looked at my companion and gave him the nod...Its time for the first lesson, we are pulling in the big guns ha. We taught this lady about the Restoration and we talked about Joseph Smith and the things that he did. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon. She said that she would read it and pray about it. Elder Weber and I didn't plan on teaching the first lesson, but the Holy Ghost prompted me to do it and I did it. We learn from President Monson, never hesitate to act on a prompting from the spirit. This week we will try to meet with that woman and beging to teach her the Gosple of Jesus Christ.
This last week was transfer calls. My companion, Elder Weber will be leaving Kurgan and going to the city of Perm. I am staying in the city of Kurgan and getting a new companion. His name is Elder Eliason. I don't know much about him, but what I do know is that he is from the state of Indianna.... Maybe you know him dad ha. He has been serving in the office for the last 3 transfers so hopefully he will be ready to get back to missionary work. I am excited for the chance to be able to work with him. I am glad that the Lord wants me to stay in Kurgan a little longer. I have a lot more work to do here before I leave. I hope that I will be able to find those who are ready to come back to there Heavenly Father.
Last weekend we were priviliged to be able to watch General Conference. We watched it on the computer in the library at the Church. It was so awesome. The talks that were given were so great. That is direct revelation from God, therefore we need to follow there counsel. When President Monson walked to the pulpit the spirit slapped me right in the face(in a good way). I started to cry for some reason. The peace that I felt and the comfort that came to me is undescribable. We have a prophet that is called from God. Just like Moses, Abraham, Alma, Nephi and Joseph Smith were called, President Monson is called. He leads this church with the help of his Apostles. This church is built upon prophets and apostles. Why is this church flourshing and growing by the thousands? This is the Lords kingdom on earth. This is His church and He is at the head of it. Doesn't that bring comfort and peace knowing that we are on the right path to return to Him. From the words of Elder D. Todd Christofferson and I am paraphrasing.. Those who are not of our faith... come and find out for yourself, become of our faith. I am so grateful for this oppurtunity to serve the Lord here in Russia. I know that my Redeemer lives and that He loves each and every one of us. We need to do our duty as President Monson said. How will we respond when duty calls? I want to to serve the Lord with all I got because I know that there are people here who are ready to change and know their Redeemer. I love my Heavenly Father and I know that He is there for all of us.
Today I found about my Grandpa Wendy's death. I was so blessed to have known him. I remember when I was a little kid and I went to his house and made a cradle with him. He helped me make it and I still have that cradle today. I will never forget all the times that grandpa, my dad and I would go over to his house and watch football games. He sure had some funny commentary. I will never forget when he would sing to all of us as we sat around him. He is one of my heroes and I am so glad that he is home with Grandma Ann. It is comforting to know that he will be here in Russia with me, helping me out and cheering me up. I love my Grandpa Wendy.
Alright so with the emailing rules. Anyone can email me, but I can only write one email to my parents. So I will try to respond in the emails. Thank you all for your love and support. It means the world to me. I love you
Elder Flitton
"First week of the transfer"
April 22,2012
Well this last week was the first week of the transfer. It was really hard to say goodbye to Elder Weber. We have been serving together in Kurgan our whole mission. We were way lucky to be companions also. I learned so much from Elder Weber. We have been out for about the same time, he has one more transfer than me but we did a lot of great work in Kurgan. Elder Weber taught me how to see success in ways that the Lord wants you to see them. We had a hard time finding a new investigator but we did a lot of work with Less Actives. We were able to reacitivate one of the members in our area and we were able to meet with a lot of families. I really enjoyed my time with Elder Weber. Wednsday we got on a train to Yekaterinburg where we met our new companions. I really enjoy my new companion. His name is Elder Eliason, he is from the small city of Laurencberg Indianna. He has been out for quite a while. On Wednesday we went to Burger King in Yekaterinburg. It was so satisfying to eat a whopper and a large cup of coca cola. The burger king is so nice there. I felt like I was in a 6 star restaurant. I hope some day I will have the oppurtunity to serve in the city of Yekaterinburg so I can have burger king all the time....
Well we got back thursday morning and got straight to work. We did a lot of contacting this last week. We got a lot of numbers and we ahve a couple of potential investigators. Elder Eliason has been serving for awhile so he is pretty good at the language. I am so grateful for the chance to be able to learn from him. He has already taught me so much. I am very excited for this transfer. Good things are in store for us.
We had a lesson last week with Vera. She is the grandma that we saved from the ice a couple of months ago. We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ and then we invited her to be baptized on the 19 of May. She said yes! We then invited her to come to church and she agreed. She came to church yesterday with one of the members. It was so awesome. We still have a lot of work to do with her but we are having a lot of help from one of the members in the branch. I am so excited to see her progress and be prepared to be baptized on the 19th. That is going to be a great day becuase we have already two scheduled baptisms and it is Anna's birthday. I cant wait for that day.
Well I guess I will give an update on the city of Kurgan. It is starting to warm up very fast. President is still making us wear suits, so we sweat a ton. Some days are really warm and other days are really cold. The trees are starting to grow wich is awesome and the grass is starting to turn green. I havent seen green grass in forever. It is so great ha. I have really enjoyed serving here in Kurgan. The missionary work here is booming. We take a lot of buses to get to different places and we also do a lot of walking. Right now we spend most of our time finding and just talking to people on the street. We have met a lot of great people.
Thank you for all of your emails. I love reading them every pday. I love you all and miss you a lot. Oh yah I finally got my package!!! thank you so much. Tell the young mens thanks for their letters. Thanks mom again for the package. You are the best.
Love,
Elder Flitton
"The experiences of Elder Flitton in Kurgan"
April 30, 2012
How are you all doing? This last week has been a very busy week. We made it a goal to visit all of the little towns(villages) in our areas. We have a lot of little towns in our area. So every day we went to these towns. The funny thing is that we met more people and talked to more people on the journey there, then actually being in the little towns. It was a very different feeling going to these little villages. There was no one on the street. It is very hard to go and knock on doors becuase people have fences and in the yard they have very large dogs. Dogs here in Russia are really big. They look like the dog Kujo. Luckily I haven't had any run ins with big dogs...knock on wood. But the journeys this last week were really fun. We went to a place called clean field and we had to walk awhile and we met a man who was herding his cows and sheep. It was a very interesting chat with him. He was atheist and didn't want to know anything about God or Jesus so he started talking to us about America. He asked us if we had cows in America. I tried so hard not laugh but I lost it. We told him that we had a lot of cows in America, we told him that the cows in America are a lot bigger than the cows in Russia. This guys cow was very sick looking. He was baffled that we had cows and sheep in America. The guy got a new name that day. It is now the "Cow Master".
We met a lot of great people this week. We talked to a ton of people also. Elder Eliason is starting to adjust to life in Kurgan so that is good. We had meetings this week with our two investigators, Vera and Galena. They both went really well. Vera was earlier in the week, she has made a lot of progress. She says everytime that she really wants to be baptized. We still have some work to do with her but she is definately on the right path to baptism. She is so awesome. Our second lesson this week was with Galena. We haven't seen her for awhile becuase she went to get surgery. It was really good to meet with her. She is doing a lot better. Her health is improvign a lot wich is great. This means that she will be able to attend church. She promised that she would come yesterday but she didn't becuase she got really high blood pressure. We were really bummed. She felt really bad and she told us that she would come this week to church. Both of our investigators are doing very well. From the looks of it right now there will be a baptism on the 19th, I can' wait.
Things here in Kurgan are great. The weather is getting warmer very fast. It is very different because I am so used to wearing a big coat and extra socks. Now we are just outside in suits. It feels really different. The sun definately got to me last week. It isn't the best feeling to be sweating in a suit with a tie. President made a rule that we have to wear our suits. It will be a nice day when we are allowed to be outside without a suit. This weekend it rained a lot. I love the rain. I miss the smell of rain back home. The rain here has a very different smell and I'm not that big of a fan of it. The weather is improving and it is great to see. I love to see green grass and leafs on the trees.
So I want to throw a shout out to someone really specieal....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALLIE!!!!! Hope you had a great birthday! Sorry that it is a day late. I can't believe that you are 12 years old. I love you so much!
Just want to say thanks to all for all of the emails and all of the support that you give me. It helps so much to have a fan club back home cheering me on. I love my family so much. I am so thankful for my parents, sisters, grandmas and grandpas, aunt and uncles and cousins. I am so thankful that we can be together forever. I love the song Families can be Together Forever. I love to sing it in Russian also. I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father has given us the oppurtunity to live with our families for eternity after this life. I am so grateful for the temple. I miss the temple so much. I cant wait to go to Finland again. I love you all so much, thank you for everything that youdo for me.You mean a whole lot to me.
PS So mom mothers day is coming up. I really want to skype so make sure it is up and running. I will make an account and fill you in with more information next email. I love you!
Elder Flitton
MAY 7, 2012
Well last week was quite the week. Elder Eliason and I were very busy. The zone leaders came down from Tumen and we had zone class. We set some really great goals for the Siberian zone. We decided that we need to be more happy. We need to enjoy this work more. So everytime we see someone with a mullet we have to tell a miracle that we have seen to our companion. For some reason there are a lot of mullets in Russia, especially in the city of Kurgan. I might rock the mullet when I get home. We also got the new Russian Translation quad. President Rust bought us all one. It is so great. I am so grateful that I can read from the Book of Mormon in Russian and learn and feel the spirit from it. I love the Book of Mormon in English and Russian.
Last week we met with Vera and Galena both. We had some great lessons with them. There baptisms are on the 19th and that is coming up really soon. So that means that Galena had to come to church. She said that she would try to make it but she wasn't making any promises. So that night I pleaded with the Lord that Galena would come to church on Sunday. She came and my prayer was anwsered. I know that my Heavenly Father is there and that He loves His children so much. When I saw Galena at church my hear was comforted and I knew that my Father in Heaven heard my prayer.
This week we had some visitors from Moscow. Elder and Sister Huefner. They came to Kurgan to do an Audit for the branch. They came also to train us missionaries on how to do MLS program. They arrived on Saturday and they took us to the only restaurant in Kurgan. It was really good, I got a little taste of America. It was really weird to walk out of there and feel like your back in Russia ha. The food was great. I haven't been to a nice restaurant for quite a while. After dinner they trained us missionaries on how to do the MLS program. It is the church's program for records and all that fun stuff. They don't have a lot of Melchizedook priesthood holders so the missionaries with the branch president have to do the tithing. President wants to call a second counselor and clerk. Those will be missionaries being called to serve in those spots. It is really sad to be in a really small branch. There is just no acitve men to do this. So the responisibility falls on the missionaries.
Alright so I want to anwser all the questions that people have asked me.
Aunt jen's questions
1.How often are transfers? They are every six weeks.
2.Are Russians politically active? Very.. most russians don't like Putin though. A lot of Russians care about politics in America.
3.New investigators? We have been searching a lot to find new investigators. We have about three for potentials. We just have to set up meetings with them which is the hardest.
4.Do I need anything? I would love some simple multi vitamins
Love ya!
Grandma
1. How is the language coming along? The language is definatley coming along. I understand a lot and I can speak well. I still have a lot more to learn but I am making a lot of progress.
2.English club? Yes we do have English club. They are wanting to shut it down becuase we only do it to find new people to teach. Most missions aren't having success with it so they want to shut it down. We simply speak english the whole time and we do little activities.
Grandpa
1.What is new in Kuran? Nothing much, people are getting ready for the warm weather. A lot of people have little cottages in the countryside so they go there and spend time. The weather has been cloudy and rainy. It has been really cold lately.
2. Suits everyday? Yes we have to wear our suits every day. When it gets warmer than 22c we can take off the suits.
Mom
1. How are you? I am great mom thanks for asking.
2.Have you ran into the cow master? No
3.How is elder Eliason? He is doing great, he is a stud.
4.Are you getting along? Yes we are.
Dad
1.How are you Eating? I am eating a little to much...
2.Have you adjusted to the food well? I have adjusted quite well.
3Do you have to be careful in what you eat and Drink? Yes, we are only allowed to drink filtered water. We aren't allowed to eat fish here. Meat is cautioned ha.
4. Members invite you for dinner appointments? THere is one member. She is great, that is where we have the traditional Russian food.
5. How is the Kurgan branch? They are doing well. They are hanging in there.
Chan
1.Next time to go to Finland? My visa trip is scheduled for the first week of June. I can' wait.
2.Do you go somewhere else? Nope it is Finland every time.
3.Are you excited to talk to your family? :)
Well I hope I answered all of your questions. Thank you so much for all of your emails, I love to read and get caught up what is going on in Utah. I cant wait to call home on Sunday. I will be calling at 7:30pm Kurgan time. It is a 12 hour difference so sorry that it is early in the morning. Mom I sent you a request thing for skype. It is called the kurgan branch so just accept the request haha. I hope this all works out. I cant wait.
Oh and one more little Russian culture thing. This week is Victory Day. It is the second most celebrated holliday in Russia. We are goin to be inside all day on Wednesday so that should be a great time ha. One more reason for Russians to get drunk ha.
Well on that note I love you all. Talk to you on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your son,
Keat
"GREAT WEEK"
May 14, 2012
It was really good to see and talk to you guys last night. You all look so great. After the skype session it felt really weird that I had just seen and talked to my family. I really enjoyed that hou;r though. Thank you for all of your love and support.
Well last week went by really fast. It is already the 5th week in the transfer. It isso crazy to think that this transfer ends in two weeks. It feels like it just started. But last week was a great week. We have a baptism service this saturday for our investigator Vera. She had her interview with our district leader yesterday. She was really nervous, especially when he called President Rust. She didn't want to talk to president Rust because she was so scared/nervous to talk to him. But she did and she loved it. She loves president Rust now haha. I have really enjoyed teaching Vera. Shehas made so much progress in the gospel and it has been so awesome to withness it. She is so funny.Ilove having meetings withher because she just makes me laugh the whole time. She is such a gem.
Word about Galena is that she isn't ready for baptism. It was really hard when she told us that she wasn't ready. We will still be working with her though. I am really anxious to see her now and see if she will do the commitments that we give her. I know that someday she will be prepared and she will enter the waters of baptism. It has been a great blessing teaching Galena. She is so kind and loving.
Last week we had a in-day. It was the longest day of my life. The great thing about that day is that I got to take a very long nap. It was such a huge blessing ha. I needed one really bad, I was out for quite awhile. That night Elder Eliason and I bought some coke and we went outside on our balcony and sprayed it everywhere for the celebration. I almost felt like I won the world series spraying bubbly everywhere,but it was coke and I was on a balcony in Russia. Oh well.
This week Elder Eliason and I went on a journey to the northeren reaches of Ribkovo(a city in our area). We stood face to face with a huge Birch forest.... We decided that we would say a little prayer and bless the area for missionary work. We were probably the first missionaries in that area. It was really awesome. After we went into this birch forest and explored. There was a little neighborhood next to this forest and we decided to talk to some people but no one wanted to listen. We had been contacting for awhile and it felt like no one wanted totalkto us. It was kind of discouraging but we decided to goand knock on some doors. The first ten doors no one anwsered. So we knocked on the very last door and this lady anwsered. She was so interested in what we had to say and she said that she would come to church. Elder Eliason and I had just experienced a huge miracle. This lady was so prepared to hear what we had to say. We are so excited to talk more with her.
The weather today is so nice. Today is my first day in just a white shirt (short sleeved). It feels so great. Im about to get my "tan" on. I sure do miss working at the pool and getting a great tan. Now I get the missionary tan...I cant wait. Russians love the warm weather. They love to just be outside. Warmer weather brings out less clothes. I have seen some bizzare outfits. We defiantely stand out in our ties and white shirts. Love it.
Well it is time to anwser some questions now
Cameron
1. what is your favorite part of your mission? I have not a worry in the world. Every day I get to serve the Lord and do His work here in Russia.
Aunt Jen
You didn't ahve a question but I loved your attitude thing. It was so awesome. Thank you.
Mom
What did you think of Skyping? It was really awesome. It was kind of akward talking into a computer but I really enjoyed seeing you guys. I love you.
I cant wait for christmas.
Were you suprised to see Chan? I had a feeling that she was going to be there :) it was so good to see her.
Chan
How was the rest of your night and day? It was really strange feeling after skype. I cant believe that I talked to you guys. It was awesome. I was on cloud 9 as well. Today is great. It is pday so I am really excited for what this day is going to bring.
Thanks familly for all of the great support. It was such a blessing to talk to you guys last night. I cant wait for christmas. I love you guys so much. I will definately take a lot of pictures of the baptism on saturday. I love you.
Keaton
"Great week in Kurgan"
May 14, 2012
Well this last week was probably one of the best weeks on my mission so far. We were able to come into contact with a former investigator and she is wanting to hear the lessons again. She is really excited to hear about the Plan of Salvation. We are really excited to meet with her this week. Our last meeting with her she had a lot of great questions. She also prayed for us for the first time. It is such a spiritual experience to see someone pray for the first time and to ask Heavenly Father to give them an anwser to know if the church is true. It is such a great thing to witness. She is really excited for the second lesson. We are too.
Well the baptism on Saturday was so great. She said that she couldn't be baptized if it was in cold water. So us elders had a tea party before the baptism, we filled the font with hot water. It was a really long process but it worked. The water was warm for her. She came an hour early to try some of the baptism clothing on. She didn't know if she wanted sleeves or no sleeves. She asked for my oppinion and I said that she would look great in both of them ha. She then went and changed into the clothing and when she walked out of the changing room she looked like an angel. She was smiling and she looked so happy. She even did a little dance for us ha. It was so great to see her in white clothing. During the service we asked Evan to give a talk. It was so awesome to see him talk about baptism. He was only baptized 4 months ago and he is giving a talk. I was so proud of him. He has made so much progress. His talk was so simple that it was perfect. He bore his powerful testimony about his conversion and his baptism. It really touched my heart. Evan is such a great person. I was so blessed to be able to teach him and to baptize him. I love him. After his talk we went to the font. I helped Vera down into the water. She was really nervous. I reassured her that everything was going to be ok. As I raised my arm to the square I then said the prayer and baptized her. As she came out of the water she was smiling so big. She gave me a big hug and thanked me for all that I did. She then said that as I was saying the prayer that she felt so calm and peaceful. She then started to cry and gave me another great hug.
I know that this church is true. Here is evidence that it is the only true church. Vera is just another piece of evidence that I know that this church is true. I have seen her progress and come closer to her Father in Heaven. Her life has become so much happier. That is what happens when we choose to follow Christ. Our life becomes better and happier. I know with all of my heart that this is Heavenly Fathers church on earth today. Look at all of the great blessings we recieve everyday. Everyday try to find little miracles and I promise you that you will see and feel the presence of our Saviour and Father in Heaven more. I am so grateful for this chance to be able to serve here in the city of Kurgan. The church is world wide. The gosple will spread everywhere until it has reached every land, every home, every person. This is the Lord's work and I am so grateful for the oppurtunity to be a part of it.
Now question anwsering time....
Juliann-1 What area are you serving in? Yekaterinburg Russia (Kurgan)
2 When do you come home? I have got a long time before that... But around September 2013
Grandpa-
Do you know the Pocoks? I have met them once. I think they are serving in the city of Ufa but im not sure.
Grandma
Did you take any pictures of the village? No but I have pictures of other little villages.
What is Galenas last name? I don't know...ha I will ask her though.
Yes...:)
Have you got the package? NO i havent gotten it. Hopefully next week I will.
Chan
When do you know if you will serve in a new area? I believe I will get a call from my mission President on Saturday.. That is if I get transfered.
Well next week I will be going on my visa trip to Finland. I am really excited. I think while we are in Moscow we are going to go to Red Square. I am so excited. Thanks everyone for all of you emails. Thank you for all of the support. I love you so much.
Love you all
Elder Flitton
"Goodbye Kurgan"
May 28, 2012
Well this last week has been a very busy week. The biggest news from last week is that I will be leaving Kurgan. I will now be serving in the city of Perm with Elder Oneill. I can't believe that I am leaving Kurgan. When President Rust told me that I was being transfered to Perm, I was silent. I had no idea what to say. It was a very weird feeling. But I am way excited to go to the city of Perm. I am pumped to be able to serve with Elder Oneill. We were in the MTC together for a little. He is a great Elder and I am so excited for this next transfer.
Last week Elder Eliason went on his Visa trip, so I got to hang out with Zone leaders in Tumen. I had a great time up there. That is a very beautiful city. It is so different compaired to the city of Kurgan. When Elder Eliason got back from Finland we got on a bus back to Kurgan and made it just in time for the baptism that we were having. Our second counselor in the branch presidency baptized his daughter. It was really great to be there and see that. I know that this branch will grow and I really enjoy this oppurtunity to help with the progress.
Yesterday I was given the oppurtuntity to bear my testimony in sacrament. I really had no idea what to say when I got up there. I paused a little bit and just said a little prayer in my heart and asked my Father in Heaven to help me with what to say. The things that I wanted to say in my mind were being spoken, it just flowed. I know that my Father in Heaven heard my little prayer. He helped me out a lot and I was able to bear powerful testimony. I expressed my love for the branch and how much they helped me. I have learned so much here in Kurgan. I have learned so much about the gosple and about myself. I know that I was called from God to serve here in the city of Kurgan. This small little city in this huge country of Russia holds a special place in my heart. I will never forget the people of Kurgan and especially the people I have been given the oppurtunity to baptize. I have really enjoyed and cherished my time here in Kurgan.
Last night I was able to meet with Ivan, Vera and Sister N. She cooked a great Russian dinner for us and prepared a great dessert for us. After the meal we had a little testimony meeting. This meeting really touched my heart. I really do love this people. They are so special to me. I will miss them so much. When Ivan bore his testimony he just kept thanking us for all the great work that we did. He told me that he will never forget me and that he wants to visit America when I get home....:) Vera shared with us that she has started to share the gosple with her family. She started to cry when she said that she wants her daughter to be baptized. This work that I am doing is truly our Heavenly Fathers work. The gosple of Jesus Christ is so great. If people would just give faith a try and ask Heavenly Father for an anwser, I know that they will get one. They will get the anwser that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son. That through Joseph Smith, Jesus Christ restored His church on earth. Once they know that this church is true and they are baptized there lives will become so much better. They will have purpose in life. They will find true happiness. They will get happiness that the world can't give but happiness that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can give. That is true happiness. I have been blessed to feel this and I want everyone to feel it. I want my family to feel it and I want all of my friends to feel it. Just give it a try. If it can work with a 70 year old бабушка (grandma) who lives in a little city of Russia, it can work for anyone. I promise you that.
Tonight I will be getting on a bus to Tumen and then tomorrow morning will be flying to Moscow then Finland. I can't believe that it has already been three months since my last Visa trip. I am way excited to go. I love traveling, I hope later in life I can do more traveling. I am so excited for the chance to be able to go to the temple. Hopefully I will be able to have some time in Finland.
Well I just want to thank you all for your emails. I love you so much. Thank you for all of the great support back home. Thank you Mom and Dad for giving me this oppurunity to serve. I love you so much and I want you to know that you are great parents. Katie and Anna thank you for your emails. I hope that you have a great summer. BTW Happy Birthday Anna. I love you so much. I will send you somethin special. Love ya. Grandma and Grandpa thank you for the love and support. I love reading your emails every monday. I cant wait to get back and go golfing with you grandpa. Jen I love you. Thanks for being the greatest Aunt in the whole entire world. Chan thanks for the emails and the videos. I love them. U da best. And Garett you are a stud. You are going to be a great missionary when the time comes. Love you bro. Thanks again everyone.
Elder Flitton
And there you have it. The progress he is making and the work he is doing is more than any of us expected this quickly. We are so proud of his diligence and love for missionary work.
We love you, Elder!!
"Not one of you has thrown away your last chance. You can change, you can come back, you can claim mercy. Come unto the only One who can heal, and you will find peace."
Elder Patrick Kearon
