Be Faithful Unto the End

Shalom!

It's starting to get cold outside. That's a funny thing to say while you're living in Siberia... We were out without our jackets going to get groceries today and some бабушка got all up in our faces about not wearing coats. I guess it's that time of the year when all the leaves start to fall and the streets start turning to ice. It’s weird to think that I won't be here to see the thaw this next year.

This city is so beautiful, there are trees all down the streets that are full of orange and yellow leaves and the weather is wonderful to гулять. So we've been taking advantage of it before the winter hits to talk to people on the street and share our message. It was pretty good we've found a lot of people who want to meet with us and also are getting ready to start an English club here in Kemerovo. It's been fun; we're basically starting from the ground up so we get to decide everything. Some of my friends from Omck found out that I got sent here and sent me a whole group of contacts, friends of theirs in Kemerovo they wanted us to meet with and we've been able to find some new investigators from it.

Elder Carr has used one of his new favorite phrases quite a bit this last week, "when you know this is true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?" and then he smiles :). He's a great guy and is a great missionary. Plus, he makes me laugh way hard. We were on a bus the other day and I was talking to a man and Elder Carr went to this бабушка and asked if she believed in God. She asked him immediately are you a Jehovah’s Witness? I heard it in the back of the bus and knew Elder Carr didn't know what she was saying, and before I could yell out "no", He smiles and says, “Yeah, I have a testimony of it” it was a good thing we got off on the next bus stop and I explained to him what had happened and we had a good laugh at it. Being a Trainer is a lot of fun, I remember how Elder Lambson use to just laugh at the things I would do while I was trying to get my feet on the ground. I'm sure it's kind of like how Dad must have felt with me for the last 19 years of my life, just sitting back and laughing as I lived and learned.

We have quite a few people that we've found this week that want to meet with us. It's been amazing people just seem to be flopping in our lap. We were invited to dinner last night by a lady who wanted us to come and meet her family and share our message with them. It was honestly, the first time I've ever had that happen on my mission. We also had another lady walk into the branch 3 minutes before sacrament meeting and ask “what is this building? I felt like I needed to come in here for some reason so I did”. We invited her to stay for sacrament and to meet with us afterwards. During sacrament I looked up at her and she had a huge smile on her face and tears rolling down her cheeks. Afterwards, we met with her and she told us how she'd left the православная church and didn't know what to do, but that she found our church and everything just felt so right. Elder Carr invited her to be baptized as well. Ha that's my boy ;). There are miracles here every day, I love this city. I don't know what it is or why, but I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be.

After last week, I was a little discouraged and I'm sorry if it seemed like I was down, but I was reading in D&C 31 again (It sees to bring peace to my soul for some reason). I love the words that are in the very last verse. "Be faithful unto the end, and lo, I am with you. These words are not of man nor men, but of Me even Jesus Christ, your Redeemer.." Whether we're one of 2 missionaries in a city of half million people in the middle of Siberia, playing volleyball, studying in college, working hard, or getting ready to run a marathon. I know that we are never alone. He's always near.

I love you guys :) thanks for everything. Were heading to Novo this week for a training and will be back by the end of the week! Keep us in your prayers.

liveSTRONG
Старейшина Иборн

Dad- Good luck this weekend Badger just remember...... “Run Dammit!”
Mom - Love you mommy :)

A Lot of Work to Do

Sounds like you guys already know about Elder Carr, he's a stud, I love him to death. The first day we were together he caught a pigeon and asked what it was called and stopped every person he saw and then would say, '' uhh.." and turn to me. His Russian is very good for just getting here. He loves to stop people and ask them if they've surfed and then shows them his pictures and says, " the only thing that makes me happier than surfing is the gospel". I have no doubt he's goint to be an amazing missionary.

So Thursday last week Elder Carr and I loaded up all of our stuff on to a bus and headed off to Kemerovo, we had no phone, no nothing ha just the address of our apartment and the keys to the branch. I wasn't to worried I figured we'd figure it out on the way, but we ended up getting into a conversation with a man on the bus about the gospel and in the space of 5 hours were able to teach him basically all the missionary lessons Elder Carr was stoked. We pulled into the bus station switched numbers and he took off. We're hoping to meet with him this week some time. Our Visa registrar met us at the bus station to our surprise and helped us get everything taken care of and even took us to get some groceries for the next few days. Elder Carr crashed as soon as his head hit the bed. I sure remember how that felt. Elder Lambson and I  also shotgunned and area but didn't open a city. I laid awake most of the night just wrestling with my thoughts and trying to figure out what we need to do, where we need to start, and how is the best way to help this city explode with the gospel.

We were able to take care of all of the things we needed and get our apartment in order and then hit the streets we set up a meeting with President Filapov who is the branch president here.  He's a good guy, has a strong testimony, is worthy to be the the branch president and he's ready to work. Sunday we came an hour early for presidency meeting to discuss the members and how to help those we need to and got ready for sacrament meeting. I sat and studied my scriptures and these verses from Mormon 6 kept popping in to my head. So I opened up and read verses 17-20.

17 O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!
18 Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I amourn your loss.
19 O ye afair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have bfallen!
20 But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return.

I thought to myself why did I think of those verses? They're all sad and not very happy. Then 11 o clock came around. and the only people in sacrament meeting were President Filapov, Elder Carr, and myself. President Filapov just kind of put his head down and didn't know what to do. I told him President if no one comes let's partake of the sacrament, and then I have some thought's I'd like to share. 20 minutes later it was still just us. So I blessed and Elder carr passed the sacrament to the 3 of us the I opened up my scriptures and read those verses that had pressed on my mind. In a city of half a million people, only 3 partook of the sacrament this Sunday  We have a lot of work to do and I am grateful the Lord is with us to do it.

Keep us and the people in Russia in your prayers
I love you guys,

liveSTRONG
Elder Eborn

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

Things Are Not Always As They Seem

Sounds like you all have had a pretty busy weekend. It's always fun to do a little manual labor that is for sure. Every time we get a chance to do some actual service, not just English Club, we jump at the opportunity! So I hope you're all enjoying and working hard.

This last week for me was an interesting one. We traveled to Omck and went on splits with every companionship of Elders there. They've been having a hard time... I felt that when I left 6 months ago we had just got the ball started to move with the work there but with new missionaries getting their bearings it takes some time to get in the groove of things and tear it up. Plus,every companionship of Elders in the city has had some type of medical emergency in the last transfer. So we got to go back and spend a few days working with the companionships there and also did some training at their district meeting. The district meeting with the whole zone was cool and all but what I really enjoyed was being able to have some one on one time with the elders there. Talking about how the work is going, how they're feeling, and to just spend some time with them. They are amazing missionaries. The last 6 months I've been able to do a lot of administrative things, so it was nice to do the ministry side of things. Maybe next transfer will hold something different for me. I'll let you know next week whats up but, I'll say that this unfortunately was my last trip to Omck as a "Elder Eborn"..

While I was on splits I got to work with a young elder. He's in his third transfer, and doing awesome. It was interesting their one investigator in the area is an excommunicated member who's on her way back to the church and, is working with the elders. I had the opportunity to be on a meeting with this Elder and teach this young lady.

She was not very excited that I was there, and gave me a hard time that I wasn't Elder Sargsyan, who she's use to working with. We started to talk, and I just kept quiet letting my companion start off with the lesson  that he'd prepared. We were talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and, how through the Atonement of Christ we can be cleansed from all of our sins. When we started to talk about  repentance, she sat back looked at us and said, "what do you two know about repentance... you're 20 years old, were born and raised in the church, and are here just to mark off that you served a mission, so you can go home and get married... You don't know anything."

My young comp didn't know what to say and looked at me. I sat there in silence trying to think of what i could say to this woman. Then, I found myself reaching into my bag and pulling out the picture of my family that I always have with me. I showed it to her, And she said, "wow, yet another perfect Mormon family.. I bet your mom waited for your dad on his mission right?'' 

Things are not always as they seem....I then began to tell her about us, and about some of the things we've gone through. I told her about my Mom, and about what happened to our family,what we have experienced.. I looked her in the eye as she began to cry and I said, " The Atonement is real, I've never killed anyone, I've never committed adultery, but I know the Atonement is real if we allow it to work".

I've had some pretty spiritual experiences out here serving but this one made me really cry pretty hard. I'm not a crier (at least I try not to be). I'm really grateful that our we have a Savior, and that His Atonement is real. It was as if He were standing in the room with us from that point on.

I don't know what will happen with that sister, I'll probably never see her again, but for some reason I feel that that 30 minute meeting was one of the reasons I was sent here.

The rest of the week went well, we  finished up in Omck and came back to Novo for the last time. We've got a lot of changes coming our way here in Siberia, and I'm glad I can be a part of them. We met with President Gibbons and got the final preparations figured out for the big administration shift that will start next transfer.

It'll be effecting me pretty major.  We had a great meeting with another investigator, who had just returned from young single adults conference. He had no idea that the goal of the conference was to get as many young single adults married as possible ha. He came back and complained about these girls following him around the whole time and giggling ha. But, he, it seems, has gotten his answer :). He came to our meeting in a white shirt and tie, with just a glow in his face, a light with in him. He said, " I think I've learned how the Holy Ghost communicates with me.." with a big grin on his face. We're looking forward to meeting with him and helping him get ready for baptism here in the near future we're hoping!

Elder Eborn and Elder Stewart

trying to give the dinosaur a Book of Mormom

Well that's about it for this week... We've got ZLC this week and also Elder Stewart and I are searching for a new apartment. so yeah! Thats what we're up too! You're probably sick of reading my junk any way ha. We've only got 3 months left so enjoy the peace and quiet while I'm not around!! ;) I love you guys. Have a great week!!

liveSTRONG

Старейшина Иборн! 

Mom - Alright 1/2 time sounds like a plan. Don't worry I'll get  you some матрёшки. I'm planning on getting some items as well as some шапки. and some cheaper little things for everyone else. The suit thing, I'll probably be alright Russian suits are just way legit and super cheap. So I'll keep an eye out.