Photos HOOORAY!

Hey everyone!

We kicked this week's bottom. It was a really amazing week. It's weird, I've noticed on my mission that I go through rough spots right when everyone else does, even though it's not connected at all. And the other way around, life is good for everyone at the same time, it seems like. I remember in February there was lots of hard stuff going on for me, and when I got letters from home it seemed like there was lots of hard stuff going on there, too. Not just for family, either. Kind of sort of same thing for last month (May). BUT, life is so good. I loved your email this week, it really reminded me of the good timez. It sounds like everybody is verr happay. Man, I love you so much! I have the best family on the earth. I got a whole bunch of letters this week, all from you. I eat that stuff up. Everybody is growing up and it's so weird. I LOVE that we have one boy in each priesthood quorum. That's pretty amazing, I think. Dad writes once a week and sends 'em, so when I get a bunch of mail about once a month, I've always got a little stock of letters with spiritual thoughts to go through. This week we had a Zone Conference and so all the mail from the office came down to Saratov. I haven't gotten a B-day package yet, but it might just barely be getting here and sitting in the office. I did get the book, by the by! Thanks mammy! Or dad, I don't know who's idea it was. I'll have to get some permission to read it because it's not part of the missionary library, but I'm sure they'll let me use it. That could really help me out, having all those examples and object lessons. Spot on, old chap. Spot on. Sam, I'm really sorry to hear about your companion! I hope things get working out. I'm realizing that I haven't really had a hard companion so far. There have been rough spots at times, but for the most part my companions have been great. And right now with Elder Barton, things are AWESOME. He's probably my favorite companion so far. Although it's hard to say, with Elder Bahr. And Kazakov. Man. I think you get hard companions because you're rock-solid. I really think your mission president trusts you. By the way I GOT YOUR LETTER. Thank you so much! I'm going to send you one today, I don't remember if I sent you one recently.

Man, what is new? I just feel real darn pumped up right now. Our Zone here in Saratov is exploding. We got a good amount of calls yesterday after church from missionaries all throughout the zone who were seeing a bunch of miracles. There was a lady who had a baptismal date who was meeting with the missionaries about a month ago but decided that nothing was going to help her so she stopped meeting with them. Then, yesterday, after a month with no contact, she showed up at church and said to the missionaries there that her life just got horrible once she stopped meeting, and that she realized that something big was missing. She took it as a big sign and told them that she wants to get baptized. There are a lot of other people who have fallen right into the missionaries' hands all throughout the zone, who are all very ready. Last Monday night, all our plans for the night fell through, and we just decided to find some people and have a prayer to know where to go. So we were contacting along a street by our house, and Elder Barton came up with the idea to stop by an auto shop. There's a man who works there that Elder Barton had talked to once or twice before I came to Saratov, and we decided it would be worth it to stop by and have a lesson with him. When we stopped by, he wasn't there, but there was a different guy there instead. He said that he had just started working there 2 days before, and that usually he never ever stayed in the shop as late as 7 o'clock. So that was a cool coincidence. We sat with him on the couch there and started talking to him in the shop. Once he found out we're Mormon, he got really interested because of a South Park episode he watched about Joseph Smith. So he ended up asking all the golden questions and got really interested and we taught him the entire first lesson. Thank you South Park? There was a calm feeling that came to the meeting when we talked about the first vision. I felt like I saw his face change when we started talking about that. He said that he doesn't believe in God because bad things happen to good people, but he softened up a lot after we talked to him about the Restoration. We went by a second time yesterday, about a week later, and he was excited to see us again. He wants us to come by whenever we want to chat because he says that he really likes talking with us. Our second lesson we talked a lot about Jesus Christ, about how everything that's unfair in life can be made right through the Atonement. We told him he could access that power through baptism, if he was willing to prepare for it. And he started asking, how do you get ready for baptism? And so we set a baptismal date with him for July 2nd, and now he's reading the Book of Mormon. It was amazing! At the end of the lesson he just kept telling us how much he loved talking to us because he feels really positive afterwards. That's a huge change! At first, he was saying that he would never really want to come to church, and that he doesn't believe in God, but after just two lessons, he's thinking about it and he even agreed to come to church next Sunday, and to get baptised in a few weeks! I feel like he was really led straight to us. Or us to him. The coincidences, man.

Anyways, sorry I spent so much time on that. That was a highlight. Another highlight was both zone leader council in Samara and zone conference. Conference was amazing! President talked about obedience in relation to the temple. He talked about some of the things that we covenanted to do when we were in the temple, and how they relate to missionary work. A mission is the perfect setting to prove to the Lord that you're willing to follow your temple covenants. When you are on a mission, you consecrate yourself for service to the Lord, and in doing so, you live by your temple covenants. Cool connection, right? Elder Barton and I were able to teach a break-out lesson after that, and a lot of missionaries said that it was really what they needed to hear. Which is cool because we had a few really cool WOW--REVELATION moments while we were preparing the lesson.

It's been a miraculous week! Life is sooooo gooooood. I love you so much, again. I'm thinking about how much my mission has already blessed me, and how much it has blessed us to come closer as a family. I'm with Sam, this is everything. You boys have no idea, seriously, what you're getting yourselves into. Don't you dare pass this up. Don't do it for Mom or Dad or the Bishop, do it for you, and for God. It will make you so happy, I can't even explain it. I love you! I pray for you all the time.

LOVE YOU
Alex.