That Last Leg of the Race

Dearest Family & Friends,

So I've got a lot to let you know and not much time to do it in. We've been officially kicked out of the office so back to using internet cafe's to do internet and they always seem to skimp me on time. Anyway, all of the administration changes have been put into effect, and will be active starting next week with the end of this transfer. I have a new and rather unique assignment that I'll let you know about here in a bit but first of all...


This week has been quite an adventure, working hard with our investigator trying to help them to progress and gain that spark that'll ignite their testimony. We had planned to work with our investigator and help him to set a goal, a baptismal date. And we studied way hard, we prayed, fasted, and were very well prepared for the meeting with pavel. We were expecting to have to use quite a few scriptures and help him to understand how to recieve personal revelation a bit more and this is how the converstaion went.


EE- " hey, whats up?"


P- "Not much guys, I read the liahona you gave me about temples. That night I prayed before going to bed, and while I was a sleep I had a dream I was in the temple; dressed in all white. A man came up to me and took me aside, we had an interview and he told me the day that I needed to get baptized... does that normally happen?"


ES- (In English) " You've gotta be kidding me!"


Our whole lesson plan went out the window and we had a good long laugh. But now he has a goal, and something he's working for his fire's started and I have no doubt it will go through even if I'm not here to see it.


Saturday here in Novosibirsk was the Sibierian Festival of Running. Elder Stewart and I talked President Gibbons in to running the 5K with us. We didn't register the right way, We were supposed to get a doctors note, and permission from all of these people ha we just walked up to the registration booth and said, "hey we're American, and we wanna run the 5K."


They all flipped out and let us run for free and even gave us t-shirts that were supposed to be only for the half marathon relay. It was fun :) I'm way out of shape though, I kept telling myself I should be running this at a 6.30 pace but 6.59 isn't to bad for a fat kid.


It was an interesting/great experience, Standing at the start of the race, President Gibbons puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "this is the last race of your mission, leave it all out there." While, I was running I was thinking about my mission, and I kind of thought of it as a few huge rocks that the Lord has put me in front of and told me to get them moving. It started in Tomck, where when I started we hadn't had any baptisms in the city for 8 months. After 3 months of working hard the city became the top baptizing city in our mission. I was then transfred to Omck, which unfortunately was called "the armpit of the mission" at the time". After 9 months of work there the work began to progress and we started having success. Now I'm looking back, at my service as assistant and seeing the things that I've been able to help get started that are going to revolutionize the work here in Siberia. I feel that I've been able to in some small way get these rocks moving. Now I've got an even bigger one to work on.


In March of 2011, I had the opportunity to go with President Trejo to the smallest branch in our mission, Kemerovo. There are probably 4 semi-active members there, and our purpose in going was to announce that we would no longer be sending missionaries to the city of Kemerovo even part time as we had been. The members were devestated, and left the branch in tears. That same day a man who's been a member of the church for a year and a half moved from St. Petersburg to kemerovo because he felt he and his family needed too.Three months later he was given the Priesthood and set apart as branch president. This guy's been a member as long as I've been on my mission and he's the leader of a branch. The Lord calls he qualifies those he calls. This last transfer we decided we needed to re-open the city to fulltime missionary work.

I personally had been hoping to return to Omck, and finish my mission training a new missionary in a place where I knew. One day while driving with President Gibbons, he turned to me and with tears in his eyes said, "Elder Eborn, I want to keep you as an assistant for the rest of your mission, however I know the Lord needs you to help re-open Kemerovo." Talk about a big rock that needs to be moved.  I'll be taking a new missionary, Elder Conrad Carr, from Malibu California with me, where I will train him.

We'll be the only companionship of missionaries in the city and yesterday President Gibbons assigned me to serve as First Counselor in the Branch Presidency to help, support and train President Vladimir Filapov how to be a branch president.. So, this week I'll be heading out.


An Elder here in our mission, after finding out called me, and in a lowly voice said, "Elder Eborn, I was reading in the Doctrine and Coventants and I thought of you, I'd just like to share with you the words I read in D&C 31 (if you want to read it go a head it was really sweet an brought tears to my eyes. :)


I love this work, I love these people, and more importantly I love my Heavenly Father, and I'll do what he asks me to do.  Keep me in your prayers, I am going to so need it!


I love you.
liveSTRONG
Elder Eborn