November 7, 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

Today hasn't been super busy as the week before, but still a really good one.  Our investigator couldn't make it this last Sunday, but we're meeting with him on Wednesday, and he's still very much progressing and it is super exciting to see.  He's a really good man.  This week I also had a couple meetings with our branch president just discussing different things, and callings (responsibilities) in the branch, and so on.  It's been hard for me to get things going on that front for a while now, but we've had some good talks and things are looking really good.  One of the things that I love about being in the branch presidency is that I'm kind of in touch with everyone in the ward.  There are such amazing people here.  This Sunday we had 3 members who haven't come to church in a while, 2 that have now come a couple weeks in a row, and before that hadn't come for several years, and one who came for the first time this week.  It was so wonderful to see the love that they all felt coming into church, not only the love of their Savior, but the love emanating from one another as well.  They really reached out, and 2 of them were able to stay all 3 hours.  And the one who hadn't come for a long time, exchanged numbers with a lot of the members and was just in a really good mood.  

I don't have a lot to report on from this week, plus we are in St. Petersburg for my visa trip, and I'm also getting my flu shot today.  OH, weird bit of news.  We just had our last visa trip with the sister volunteer in our group.  How crazy is that?!?  I feel so old.  Translating last week and all that fun stuff, I just feel like it's all coming to an end faster than I can keep up with it.  Also, did you get the video from our friend Alla of us breaking the bananas?  Can you pass that on to me as well as to everyone else who gets this email?  It was really funny, she's a long time investigator and owns a language school, we got permission from President Childs to volunteer there and he's really excited about it.  Anyway, we recorded some dialogues for her students, and then we showed her how to snap bananas in half and she thought it was so funny that she took a video.  We're really excited for service at her place, plus she's already known the "Elders" and "Sisters" for so long that she is always inviting people to our events.  

Well, that's really all I can think of right now for the week.  I'm really grateful for the opportunity to be serving in Kaliningrad.  It's been so very fun, and I'm having a great time with Elder Tribe.  I'll wrap up with one of my favorite verses, Mosiah 2:41 which reads: " And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

I know that's true and I love that promise :).  I love you all!

Love, 

Elder Belnap

P.S. So today we had to stop emails early, we're up in St. Petersburg and have been busy getting other necessary stuff done, anyway, halfway through emails we had to go get flu shots, and then go to the center of the city to the bible shop (haha, I feel like such a missionary writing that, "have to go to the bible shop") and we got to see a quite a bit of the sights as our p-day activity, many pics to come!  Anyway, it was super cool, and we had a snow storm, and I loved it so much.  Here are the pics