Slowish Week!

Hello again! So this week as the last there isn't much to report due to the new floor getting put in and they are almost done now so we can go back to normal life but on the flipside is we find out transfers this friday, I wanna stay here for sure and do another transfer with Elder Gill but at the very least I hope I don't leave, I love the members here, there is a lot of cool and active youth, the area has some awesome stuff in it, it's in Rostov in the middle of the action, the apartment is pretty cool now, and we have Timernik, the biggest rinok in the mission close to our house. The main thing that's difficult about Serverny is just the contacting, haha which is a big part of missionary work but I would for sure want to do another one here and I would also want to stay because of the packages coming, it's really difficult to transfer and have a package with you or deal with having to pick it up later on but if I stay it would be ideal for that situation, but we'll see what happens, it's not about where I wanna be it's where the Lord wants me to be, but I'm hoping that I'm wanting the same thing here does for this next transfer, but next week I'll let you guys know. Other than that this week we met with members, made a mormonad that I'll try to send if I get a chance, and had a party at the branch with the youth, all of which were awesome and good times! I'll be sure to keep you all in the loop on everything that's happening here and this week I send my package to you guys, it's totally finished. So stay safe and have an awesome week! I love you!

-Elder Skene

Sick Week!

Hey! So this email will be pretty short as there isn't much to report on, I'll try to send some photos but this was kinda a sick week like as in I was feeling pretty but it's nothing to worry about, I'm fine, but I'm starting to feel better now and should be pretty normal this week, I don't know what it was but it just felt like a cold maybe, but we try to stay pretty clean here so I am left to guess as to what it was from. We don't have to new floor yet, that will have to be this week now, but if I can send photos either this week or the next I will try to take some before and after photos and just some photos of the apartment to send you guys. We'll see what happens though. Things are still moving forward with our investigators and we are looking forward to this week, besides having to stay in while the floor gets put in I guess, but who knows haha maybe it will be good times haha. To answer Dad's question, I haven't talked to Brad since Novo, I think I'm just gonna see how he is doing after I get back. My package to you guys is just about finished and I'll be sending it this week or next, so in case I leave Rostov it will already be in the mail. That's about it for this week, stay safe and thanks for everything! I love you guys! May the Force be with You!

-Elder Skene

High Numbers!

Hey everyone! So this email will be shorter due to time but things here are pretty good and we had a lot of success this week, we got 18 lessons, and are still working with our investigators, but we haven't made permanent success yet if that makes sense, like baptism, but things are pretty good though. This week will probably be slower though because we have to stay inside for a while because we are getting a new floor haha so it will be way cool, but no we don't have hot water for some reason, but we'll see what happens, hopefully it doesn't last more than a day or two. Other than that this week felt kinda slower but things were pretty good, I don't have any crazy stories though but I'm loving learning more about the gospel and learning more Russian. I am really liking the language more and more, and the Gift of Tongues is for sure real, I'm so thank full that God has allowed me and others to be able to speak, read, and write as much as he allowed us to, it's interesting to see how things change over time and how I seriously sometimes have trouble with English haha, I can't wait to watch some Russian movies when I get back and speak some Russian for you guys, and if you guys come to Russia or if we go sometime when I get home it will be awesome to take you around and go places, it's definitely worth visiting, but all in all things are pretty good and moving forward. I love you guys, have a great week, and stay safe, Happy Anniversary!

-Elder Skene

A Russian Blessing!

Hey guys! So this week was pretty interesting. Things went pretty standard and we met with some of our investigators, but on Saturday and Sunday things got pretty intense. We met a random guy who lived in the US for like 20 years who speaks English almost without an accent who wants to maybe meet with us, a guy wanted to take Elder Gill's name tag and started shoving us around and we then just walked away and he threw his subway sandwich at us haha, a guy was passed out and needed an ambulance on the steps of the branch building right before district meeting, and then we gave a total of 4 blessings on Sunday, and of course they were all in the Russian which was awesome.

This was the first time I have ever given a blessing of comfort or healing, and it was in Russian! Good story right? We gave two at church, one with oil and one without, and then after church we went with a member to the hospital to bless a younger kid in our branch named Nikita and then we blessed a Nurse their and talked about the Gospel with the hospital staff and got a number and taught a lesson there with some members. As the Nurse we blessed got up she had tears in her eyes, and the spirit was so strong, It felt like the spirit was with us so much on Sunday, and I guess the spirit is with you the most when you are trying your hardest to extend yourself to others and truly be an instrument in Christ's hands to accomplish his purposes, and it's amazing to see how people can be prepared for things through the Lord or by experiences, maybe even some experiences that he helped come to fruition to help shape that person, and change them, I feel like he does that to us so much as missionaries, and it feels like so many of our mission experiences are just for us and only us, and the Lord has them play out in just the right way to change us or humble us or bless us like he wants too. I love this Gospel and how it has changed others that I've seen and how it continues to change all of us, even if sometimes we don't realize it, the hard part is sometimes those changes have had to be through hard circumstances, but as we continue to grow and learn I hope that the Lord will bless all of us. Things are rolling forward and we'll have to see what is in store next week! I love you guys, have a great week and stay safe! Until next Monday!

-Elder Skene

Another Week Gone By!

Hey everyone! So this week turned out to be pretty interesting as it was pretty cooled down at the start of the week, now the temperature has gone back up a bit but things are still more mild which is better for us, here the temperature seems to stay pretty consistent through the day and night, it reminds of me of summer nights back home, and how much I loved the summers before I left. So the news for this week, we have 5 people we are working with 2 of which are a couple, Andrei and Eva we see them about once a week and they are way cool, a random lady who showed up at church, a man named Yuri from Ukraine, he's a stud and comes to English club and is reading the book of Mormon, and a Serbian named Lubomeer. So we have to see what happens as we continue to work with them! That's about all the news from this week though, we are doing pretty good and continuing to do missionary work as usual. In your personal emails I tried to update you more on what's new so you'll have to take a look at those to see how the mission is progressing. I forgot that Dad's birthday is next week, not this one haha, but I'll be sending you guys a Christmas package, hopefully that will make up for all the holidays I'm missing, one question for all you though, I don't know what happened to my HDMI cables when I left, they all just turned up in different parts of the house, they are all grey and one is orange and black, let me know if you see them around outside of my room haha. That's about it for this week, I love you guys, stay safe and have an awesome week!

-Elder Skene

A quick email this week!

Hey so still no picture capabilities, we went to a different internet club, but it's still not possible, they don't use windows operating system in these clubs and the comps are pretty restricted compared to what we had in Novo, but we'll see what happens I guess. I say this is a quick letter because I've been able to talk to you guys through email and I'd rather do that. This week we just worked a lot, had a lot of fun, and got to meet some cool people, we play ping pong once or twice a week at the branch building which is cool, and I still get to play piano sometimes which is awesome. We are around other missionaries about twice a week generally, and we get to be in on the action of service projects and parties at the President's house, which is good. The transfer is over now but I'm staying another with Elder Gill in Severny, the transfer call was last Friday, so this week was pretty good and we were able to work with investigators and members and it was just a pretty fun week all around. I gotta go but I love you guys. Thanks for everything! I'll talk to you more in my main emails, have a great week, and stay safe!

-Elder Skene

Still No Photos!

Hey! So as the title says I still won't be sending photos due to the conditions of the internet club here, we need to go to a different one, but for us that's a far away trip, maybe an hour or so by a bus, because we live the northern area of Rostov, it's a concrete jungle to be honest, but we'll see what we can do. But like I was saying last week, we are better now and pretty normal, we are working and moving forward, it was an odd transfer mostly because we were both pretty much bed ridden for at least half of it, but time moves forward and we are doing better. The apartment here is better and things are good. There isn't much to report this week but we did have a good work schedule and we were able to meet with some people and teach on the streets. We also had splits with zone leaders and that was a good time. Ha, ha these letters are probably pretty boring lately, it's just haven't had many major events happen yet, but we are having good times and getting work done. I can't wait till I can tell you guys all about this when I'm home, ha, ha only 14 months left right? Well I'll have to get to your personal emails, but I hope you guys have an awesome week! Stay safe! I love you!

-Elder Skene