May 6, 2013 Христос воскрес (в России)!!!!!!!

Hello all!! Does this email title look eerily simiar to one about a month ago?  Well if you're wondering why, its because yesterday is when all of Russia finally decided that Christ has indeed been resurrected (Russian Orthodox Easter yesterday)!  So I hope you all learned from the last easter email the proper response to such a statement and all exclaimed joyfully "Воистину воскрес!!"

This week was both amazing and annoying.  Annoying because NO ONE decided to answer their phones this week - thus resulting in next to 0 appointments with any investigators/potentials. 

But so good in so many ways!  After email last week, we dashed off to Peter so my companion could get some souvenirs before he goes home next week.  We went to the "den of thieves" which I loved for a number of reasons.  1.  it's in the middle of the city (right behind the big famous cathedral which I will send another picture of) and I am in love with the city.  It's so beautiful.  Unreal sometimes.  2.  Since this is a ginormous tourist market (they only have souvenirs there - nothing else) I saw/heard some wonderful things.  I saw/heard people from England, France, Netherlands, I think Portugal, and of course, Germany!  It's so funny, everytime I hear anyone speaking German like that (tourists and such) I automatically just stop dead in my tracks and listen and smile to myself remembering when I was there staying with David and the rest of my non-blood related family and when they came to visit us this past summer.  I automatically go back and remember all those good times and it automatically puts me in a ridiculously good mood.  So, long story short, I loved going to that market thing.

Also this week, we went on splits with the Elders in Peterhof - I just love going on splits - its so fun!  And we got to do some more service this week!  The consierge guy at our branch building called us and asked if we could help him for a few hours - so of course, always looking for opportunities to do service, we gladly accepted.  We went over to the branch and just re-painted the parking lot lines on the parking lot.  It was really actually super fun.  It was just us 2 and one of the old guys who is one of the consierge people.  He was really funny and super nice.  That was a fun afternoon.  Then Saturday we went over to a less active's appartment and helped him move a piano from his appartment.  It was so heavy!   It fell on my foot coming down the stairs, but we finally got it out.  He was also really funny.  He's about 70ish I am guessing and he just kinda hobbled along side us telling us encouraging words as we drug this things across the parking lot to the dumpster.  Also really fun.  Service is just fun hahha.  Then Saturday night we were walking by the city "drunk bench" - there are drunk people who just sit there all day and watch people go past.  2 of the guys there told us to come talk to them, while we were talking to someone else, and we didn't so they came up to us, and started interrigating us.  The one who did most of the talking had like no teeth and I literally could not understand a single things he was saying.  He started getting angry at me and I played the whole "I don't understand Russian" card -  then he raised his cane to hit me with it but the member who was with us (talking to someone else at the time) saw and came over, told him to calm down and we just walked away.  Kinda funny, a little scary.  Most people that day were just not nice as it was the eve of a huge pravoslavnyi holiday and weren't really into talking with us.  Oh well. 

Now, the best part of the week!   I got a special visitor!!  If you've all been following my emails since the beginning (6 months ago now :O ), the name "Brother Kulikovskyi" may ring a familiar bell.  My Ukrainian MTC teacher, just happened to be in St. Petersburg this week!!!!!!!!  I got to see him and it was wonderful!!  While I was with him, he told me some "inside info" on happenings at the MTC.  I guess they have officially rented BYU buildings and some of the missionaries won't even be at the normal MTC except for like when general authorities come and stuff.  They will eat and have class and live some place not on the MTC campus.  They are doing this because of the increased number of missionaries.  When I was there at Christmas, they announced the official number of missionaries at the MTC was like 2,031 or something close to that.  This summer there will be over 8,000 missionaries at the Provo MTC and after summer he said the number will stay at around 6,000.  This according to an email he got recently from his bosses.  That is just absolutely incredible!!!!!  I'm actually in shock at the number of missionaries going to be there this summer, having just left there 3 months ago.  I don't know how hush hush this is, but I think he said he told me that the Russians will not be in the normal MTC, but in one of the places on BYU campus.  Apparently there are a ton of Russians there now!! So exciting!!  Anyways, that was my exciting news for the week! 

Hope you all had a great one too!!

Elder Robison

Elder Austin Robison and Brother Kulikovskyi

Old Russian Building