The Great Gig in the Sky

Hey guys! So I was transferred last week up to my new area in Northern Rostov on Tuesday, and I arrived there on Friday, after my visa trip and some other complications, which brings me to my bigger news for the week, one of our Elder Potter, a senior couple missionary, passed away last week in the morning when he went for a jog, his wife and him were on a walk and he started jogging so she sat down and waited for him to come back but he never did, she then left to search for him but by the time she found him he had already moved on to the other side, it was way hard to hear this news, the Potters are an awesome senior couple, they are in my visa group and would have been in my district here in Rostov. It's really hard to hear stuff like this not only because of the news within itself, but then you think and worry about your family and friends back home and then you start to worry a little bit about your own safety, because life is so precious, and you can lose it so easily. As I've said in the past, in a mission of about 30 Elders, everyone knows everyone, and when the death of a missionary happens like this everyone's gonna know about it and it's gonna hit hard for everyone. We thought about why it maybe happened or what went on, but God works in mysterious ways, and we don't always know when he will intervene and when he won't, and what parts of this mortal experience are parts of his plan and what are the result of the free agency of mankind, but in the end all we can do is try to keep the commandments and be good people, and trust in the gospel and follow the Lord, and at the end of the day, the Great Gig in the Sky rolls on. At the best, I would think that if there was anyone in this mission that had come to earth and accomplished the things he came to do, and was maybe ready to be taken so he could continue on the other side, it would have probably been Elder Potter.

Other than that there isn't much more news, my area seems pretty cool, and my comp is a good guy, I knew him in the MTC though, he was the group younger than me, and it was cool to be able to see his progress and my own while we were there and now when we are in the field. There isn't photo sending capacity at this internet club currently, but I'll see what I can do in the following weeks. Anyways, I'm looking forward to a fun transfer and it's good to finally be around people know! The branch president here is a good guy, he visited the Novorossyssk branch one day before I knew who he was, and I got a chance to talk to him, and I told him that I'll see him again if I ever serve in Severny (my area), and it was good to meet him. Little did I know that a few weeks later I was assigned to his branch haha, he's a good guy so I'm pumped to be able to work with him, and his Russian is very clean cut and formed, not mumbled, so it's a good learning experience to listen to him talk. So I'm good and I'll have to send some photos when I can get a chance, assuming that chance comes. I love you guys, have an awesome week! Stay safe, and keep the faith! Until next week!

-Elder Skene