A Conversation and a Book

Dear Family,

This week was kind of crazy. We started it off in St. Petesrsburg.

We said, "Good-bye" to the senior coulple that served in our area. I didn't know them all that well, but it was still a bit bitter sweet.

On Tuesday we had a Zone Conference. Elder Katcher of The 70 came. It was really cool. I got to talk to him for a bit and they want to come to Petro just for the sake of coming to Petro. I learned so much from this man. It was amazing to see what things I thought were set in stone becasue of what I had been told, but now I know that I can change them and this gives me much to work on. Ha! I love it!

On Wednesday, we had a split with the Zone Leader. Elder Fuller went with one companion and elder McElhaney and I went with the other. We had many conversations. We even had one with some Jehova's Whitnesses. It was interesting, but we spoke with them for too long. We didn't have enough time to talk to many people on the way home. I learned much about unity and pulling the weight. All things that I already knew, but they were just rienforced.

On Thurday we went to English group and it was pretty great. Three people showed up. A lady called and asked for infomation. She showed up with her 18 month old son. She wants him to learn English so she speaks to him in Russian and English. It was pretty great. The people here have amazing sotries.

On Friday, we were back in Petro. Friday was AMAZING! We were on a bus to the other side of our area wich is about 45 mins. on a bus. There were about 500 people on the 50 person bus. It was all fine, but I was face-to-face with a lady so instead of wasting time, I started talking to her about The Gospel. She understood most of what I said. It was mostly teriible Russian, but they won't correct you unless you ask. I always ask and they always are kind to me...haha! We spoke about the Restoration and about The Book of Mormon. I shared my testimiony and commited her to read it. She asked where and I told her to start with the Intro and the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I love reading his testimony! She said she would. I forgot to get her number but that is fine becasue she has The Book of Mormon and that is a blessing in itself.

We tracted a few people, but they weren't interested. One person asked if they could have The Book of Mormon and  we were happy to give it with our testimonies and a commitment to read it.

On the way back I spoke to three people. I spoke to one younger lady and she was really intersted. We spoke about The Restorationa and about God. I told her about the Book of Mormon and she said that she would read it. She wanted to meet later and talk about it so she gave me her name and mumber and I got off the bus. I just want to say that God is always with us!

On Saturday we had English. It was great! 5 people came. There are normally 1-2. After English, we were waiting at a bus stop and I started talking to a lady and it carried over until we were on the bus. We talked the whole way home. She wasnt all that interested, but she was listening. \i got off and we called it a night.

Sunday morning we got on the bus to go to Church and low and behold, there was that same lady from the night before on her way to work. I sat down we jsut started laughing! I continued from where I left off and then as I started to pull out the Book of Mormon, she said that she didn't need it. I just asked if we could talk about the book. She said that we could and so I gave a brief description and then my testimony of it. I asked if she would read it and pray about it to see if it was true. She said yes and took the book. I was so happy that The Spirit was able to touch her.

This is a testimony that God really does help all of us. He cares about us. I want to give you all a challange: Find one person this week and talk to them about the Gospel. Pray beforehand and then just trust in The Lord. I will be expecting to hear back on how that went next week. I love you all and I think of you often.

старейшина Hawkins

Russia, St. Petersburg Mission

Mailing Instructions:

Elder Collin James Hawkins

Russia St Petersburg Mission

Pr Malookhtinsky 16/1

POM 11-H, 12-H

Saint Petersburg 195112 

Russia

Uliya-Collin

Dear family and friends,

This week was pretty great! 

On Sunday we had a lesson in Elder's Quorum and I understood most of it. Hooray! I am beginning to understand more and more Russian. It is still hard to communicate with people. I will try to talk to some and they don't talk to me because I don't speak fluently. I don't need to right now because The Lord is on my side and He will help me communicate the things I need to. I don't have much time today, but will tomorrow. I do want to share an experience that I had this week though. 

We have been trying to find investigators, but we have met an uphill battle and we are making our way up the mountain. We have tried to meet with some of the ward member's and they too have been really busy so it has been hard. We met with the Elders Quorum President and his wife. Deema and seampra. They are fantastic. They have a really busy schedule, but always make room for Church. They went to the Temple twice last year. They have been trying to go, but it costs 3000 Euros. We pray for them. We went over and shared a spiritual thought with them and then asked if there was anything that we could do for them. They both asked if they could have a blessing. I was not asked to give the blessing, but one was in English because Seampra speaks Finnish and English. She has been hurting on her knee. I feel bad because all I could think about were Mom's knees. Deema's blessing was in Russian. He said that I needed to hear it so that I could have some practice...Haha! I love them to death. They are great. The Spirit touched me in both of the prayers. I am so blessed to be in Russia right now!

They other experience that I had was Sunday night. We were headed to St. Pete and while on the train I decided to talk to the man next to me about the gospel. I was on the Isle seat so it made it a bit difficult. I said a prayer before hand that I could say what I needed to. He was reading a book and I asked what type of book it was. I couldn't formulate it in proper Russian. He didn't understand and so he told me that. The girl in front of him spoke a bit of English so she translated. he wasn't interested in talking so I started talking to this other girl instead. Uliya is amazing, but has a busy life. She lives in Pskov, studies in Petrozavodsk, and teaches in St. Pete. We talked to her for and hour and then a Russian Orthodox man comes up and started discrediting all that we have said. It was kind of tough and then an interesting thing happened. She started defending The Church. She was Russian Orthodox, but she could tell that what we were saying was true. He promptly went away and then we kept talking. We started talking about the Plan of Salvation and she asked some pretty good questions. It was great. We got off the train and she invited us to ride the metro back with her. We were going in the opposite direction, but we got her name and number so that we could contact her later. 

This was such an amazing blessing. I couldn't speak to the one man, but through that trial came an even greater blessing. This is such an amazing concept of life. We will all have trials. It is up to us whether we let them beat us or whether we conquer them.

My companion said something interesting:

"Prayer is a WRESTLE with God to LOOSE your will"

This is so true. If we give up our will to The Father, We can do so much more than we can right now! 

I will be back on tomorrow. Sorry. This week is a bit crazy!

I love you all. God is GREAT! 

старейшина Hawkins

Russia, St. Petersburg Mission

Mailing Instructions:

Elder Collin James Hawkins

Russia St Petersburg Mission
Pr Malookhtinsky 16/1
POM 11-H, 12-H
Saint Petersburg 195112
Russia

All Is Well, All Is Well-Collin

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has definitely tested my faith. I have had so many great opportunities while I have been here in Petro. First off, On Tuesday, we were in St. Petersburg and we went contacting on the Metro. I spoke to a lady and got her name and number. It was great because even if she wasn't all that interested at first, she became interested by the end. She had to get off and so I went and spoke to another lady. She spoke English very well so we decided that she would speak in English and I would speak in Russian with her correcting me. She was some other religion and wasn't all that interested. I still tried tying in what she was talking about to Gospel principles. She and I spoke about her family and her love for her country. She was really interested in why I was there. I told her that I was a missionary and that I am here to share the gospel with everybody. She was astonished that I would leave America where I have all my freedoms and come to a country where I can't speak the language fluently. She said, "Are your parents both American?" I told her yes and that you supported my decision. She asked why I have stayed. I told her that the city is beautiful and the people are amazing! She laughed...She was just amazed. When we finished talking she kissed my cheek and gave me a piece of really good chocolate. She thanked me for allowing her to practice her English. My companions laughed that I got a kiss on my first week...That's not why I am here, but it was a funny story.

Thursday, we weren't able to talk to anybody. There wasn't a single person who wanted to hear what we had. Some missionaries would look at that and find the failure, but I have found that it is best if you find the good. The good in the situation is that God allowed the wind to stop blowing and the snow to stop falling so that we could talk to more people. Although we didn't find anybody, we shared the gospel and allowed them the chance to change. I love this work so much! God is so good to His missionaries.

Friday, we were able to go contacting and after all the unsuccessful tries, we taught 6 lessons. We couldn't see the blessings at first, but as it says in Ether 12, the blessings will not come until after the trial of your faith.

One of the lessons that I taught, I was able to give out a Book of Mormon. I love doing that! It is like handing somebody the keys to a brand-new car. God really does prepare His children.

Last night we were contacting and we stopped a man and he told  us that he wasn't interested. We then began to ask about him and he told us things that we could help with. We told him how The Gospel could help him with those things. He became interested in our church and in prophets. We gave him a Book of Mormon and told him that if he would read this book, he could be able to know that our church is true. We showed him Moroni 10: 3-5 and told him it is through prayer and The Holy Ghost that we can know. It was great.

Last night when we were almost to our apartment building, we saw a Schnauzer and I kind of got really happy! I asked the ladies where they had gotten it hoping that it had come from home, but they found it. It was a black and Silver male. with cropped ears. That was a tender mercy for me. I was feeling a bit sad this week, but I don't know why. I am better now!

Subject line:

I have learned to trust in The Lord. He is in all things and he loves us. I love how in Come Come Ye Saints it always ends with those words. "All is well, all is well." Trust in God, He will guide your paths. If you have a question talk to Him. It is a conversation so listen. Listen to His guidance. it is the best guidance that we can receive.

I have a request. Will you pray for us. We desperately need investigators and we aren't being able to find any. Please pray that we will  be directed to  those who are prepared. We could use some extra help.

I want you to know that I pray for you, I love you and God loves you. He gave us this world to live. Do so, but thank God for everything that you have because it all came from Him.

Until next week,

старейшина Hawkins

Russia, St. Petersburg Mission

Mailing Instructions:

Elder Collin James Hawkins

Russia St Petersburg Mission
Pr Malookhtinsky 16/1
POM 11-H, 12-H
Saint Petersburg 195112
Russia

Russian Winters-Collin

Dear Family and friedns,

First off I want to say that this week has deffinately had some downs, but the ups were so much greater. I have learned not to focus on the downs, but \i will share some of the funnier stories. 

I saw Drew off and it was so hard! I cried a bit too hard for that...haha! We left on Monday and it was all good. The flight from SLC to NYC was long, but I had a great conversation with an 11 year old boy. I said hello to him because I couldn't sleep. We started talking and then he kept askeing me about our church. I answered his questions knowing that we aren't supposed to talk to kids younger than 18. He was curious, but it was all good. NY was a disaster. Haha! it was so big and we were so small. It was a good experience though. We got to Russia and the first thing we did was go contacting. Can I just say that I love the Russian peopl? I do. The first lady that I spoke to couldn't understand me. Grantued I didn't know how to start a converstation. We took the Metro and then to the Mission Presiden'ts home. It was so nice! It felt like I was at home and all of my worries kind of just left me. 

We had a Greek Salad and then Borsh. We spoke about things to do and things not to do. We met the Assistants and then we went to bed. We woke up that morning and got a shower and clean. We meet our new companions. I am in a tri-panionship. Elder Hawkins, Elder Fuller, and Elder Makelhannie. (don't worry, it took me a while to even reemember.) I am in Petrazovodsk. and three days ago it was -22 Celcius. There was wind too! My face tried falling off a few tiems. I love talking to the people here. Contacting on the street and the busses is fun. Sometimes when I am talking ot one person and they get off, I move and talk to another. My companions think that I am some sort of crazy master ( I don't know how to say it in english). 

We were tracting and after no success we decided to pray. After we did, the first door that we knocked on opened the door and wanted to read the Book of Mormon. Then on the bus we gave out another. If I had any doubts in the power of prayer, it is all gone.  God answered our prayer and I thankt him for it every night. I am so greatful for this Gospel. 

On Saturday, we met with a potential investigator and he has been practicing Piano for 11 years. It showed how hard he workied. He played a Betooven peice that was at least 8 minutes long from memory. Improvised Jazz...How I wish that I could do that. We taught him about the Restoration, but he wasn't interested in the information. The Spirit was there though. We started off the disscussion by him playing Joseph Smith's First Prayer and we sang. He liked it. He likes us and wants to hang out with us. After we left there we got on the bus and I talked to a lady and she spoke a little English. I like to call those people, "Tender Mercies" I asked her if she wanted to come to an English group where she could practice her English. She said yes! 

On Sunday, they asked me to bare my testimony. We have an amazing branch of about 25 people. It is growing and I LOVE the members. I passed the sacrament. It was so amazing to see how greatful the people are for the Sacrament. We take it for grandted, but I have come to love the Sacrament in more than just one way. I tried speaking to all of the members and the youth. We taught the young men. and also Elders Quorum. I love teaching and constantly finding mistakes with my language so I can improve. After Church we stuck around and I found myself talking to the 2nd counselor in the Mission Presidency's son. He and I spoke about our favorite things. He is from St. Petersburg so I won't see him again unless I go to and serve in St. Pete. It was fun. He spoke to me in English and Russian and I spoke to him in French and Russian. I think I made a friend, but who knows. I thought that he was pretty cool.

After church we had dinner and then went trackting. We gave the Sacrament to an elderly lady and then went out. We had a lot of doors thrown in our face, but the Russians are really nice about it. The take on all of the guilt and say, " Excuse me, sorry" I think that they are great. We have to call and ask for the people to let us in. We were let in and then one Babushka let us in. We gave the the first lesson and then gave her a Book of Mormon. We made a plan to ge back on Thursday. Things are GREAT in Petrazodsk. I pray for you all every night. I hope you all know what kind of examples you are to me. I love you all. 

God is great, live is good, what else could I ask for? 

старейшина Hawkins

Russia, St. Petersburg Mission

Mailing Instructions:

Elder Collin James Hawkins

Russia St Petersburg Mission
Pr Malookhtinsky 16/1
POM 11-H, 12-H
Saint Petersburg 195112
Russia

Drew's Emails

December 9, 2015

Today i got to host new missionaries kind of made me sad to see them like that, and thought i was there at some point. I love it here and will be on a bit later i love you all. I will be sending letters

so yesterday was an interesting turn of events. actually the last few days have been a bit strange. i haven't had dinner since Sunday, found myself alone and naked outside my door with no way to get in, and Elder Reece got to see his family.well with that let me explain.

I went on an inter district split with Habel and Reece because i wanted to take a longer shower. We got out of the shower, and i headed to my room. I looked up and saw that my door was shut. I figured Elder Wallace had left it propped open like always. I walked up and gave the door a push and it was locked. I found myself in a bit of a pickle. It was me just in a towel and Habel. Neither of us could leave because hey i didnt have clothes and earlier that day someone shut our door while both of us were outside and so Wallace had the extra key from the front desk, and he was at choir. Things couldn't of been going worse. we tried picking the lock and i got the pins to lock but couldn't get the lock to turn. We tried sliding credit cards to push the lock, and even engineered some crazy stuff that i was pretty sure would open it. after an hour we accepted defeat.:( I had no where else to turn so i literally wore everyone elses clothes.   I wore Elder Reeces garments, suite pants, and Shirt. I wore Elder Habels socks and shoes. White nikes that say ball is life on them. And i wore elder reeces moms boyfriends belt. Oh and Elder ISOM's tie. Beggars cant be choosers, i found that out. When we went to the devotional everyone was looking at me like i was crazy, and i just about got kicked out by this Australian guy because i didnt have tags, suite coat or black shoes on. it was so crazy.

Then we went to district devotional review, my branch president wasn't the happiest man on earth, actually rather upset. I explained to him what happened and he seemed not to care. Then his councilor brother fristnick laughed so hard i thought he was going to die. it was suck a fun p-day eve. We haven't had dinner the last 2 days so i dont really know whats going on.

on that note i decided today for 20-25 min to figure out how to open theese doors with what i had. Oh boy did Habel and i do it.

1st- tie floss to envelope through hole

2-put through crack over top of door

drop to ground

3- pull it through bottom of door by hanger (wire)

4- make a loop of cord from a vaccume

5-tie floss on it, pull it up from under the door with the floss over the top  until you jiggle it on the door knob. 

6-rest it on the knob

7- give her a yank and shes open.. simple as that

my record is 3 min 36 sec

never will i be locked out again i made sure of that.

Collin's Emails

The Teacher Learns More than the Student 12/16/2015

Dear Family and Friends:

This week has been filled with many trials, blessing, and tender mercies. This week Drew and I were made District Leaders. This definitely is a time of growth for the both of us and I am glad that we are able to go through it together.  I know that I say it so many times in my emails home, but Drew and I have never been closer. Mom I am sorry for all the times that Drew and I fought. Please forgive us.

Things are getting better with all of us in my district. We are all still working on things, but I have faith that in the end all the things will work themselves out if we will all work hard at fixing them.

I have made a few friends that aren't going to Russia while I have been at the MTC. Do you remember the elder that I wrote about last week? The elders that we would always run into? Well I have become good friends with him. Mostly I like talking to him and he probably just talks to me becasue I don't stop. I don't know. What I do know is that he will be such a great missionary. In the short time that I have been here, he has taught me so much! He has a light about him that I can't explain. He is always happy and in turn, he helps others around him be happy. I love  him even though I don't know much about him. The last time I was able to talk to him before he went into the mission field, and as we were talking, he answered a question that I had, but I didn't know were to go for the answer. It is amazing to see how the Lord blesses us and answers our questions in His time and sometimes through means that we wouldn't otherwise think possible. I had to tell you about that blessing because it was a tender mercy. Sorry Elder Winkel if I made you feel awkward, but I had to tell home about ya! 

I am glad to hear that things at home are going well! I love you all and I pray for you every night. You are all examples to me and I look up to you all.

Update on Investigators:

Katya: Katya is AMAZING! She has had all the lessons and is going to be baptized this Saturday. I am so proud of her and I thank you all for you prayers for my investigators. They are really helping. Her faith is so Strong. in the words of the Savior, "In all of Zion (MTC) I have not seen such great faith" She knows the Lord loves her and also she knows that she is a daughter of God! 

Vitalli: Vitallli too has great faith! I have honestly been blessed. He has accepted our invitation to be baptized on January 02, 2016. We haven't taught him everything, but already I am able to see a change in heart. It is truly a spectacular sight to be able to watch somebody grow. I have see how the Spirit can soften a heart that has been hardened by the effects of time. I love this gospel because The Atonement WILL make everything right that is wrong in the world. 

Theo: We haven't been able to teach Theo for a weeek and a half. I think that the group of 6 elders that found him might have scared him away. I feel for him because I want him to be able to experience the happiness that we have because of this gospel. It makes me sad that we haven't been able to teach him. Will you continue to pray for him that we will be able to teach him this week? I have faith that the Lord is preparing him right now. 

This week I got to host the Senior couples. This time I helped and Elder and Sister Hawkins with their bags. We weren't related, but I always say, "Hi"  to them whenever I see them. I love the Senior Missionaries. This makes me really want to do this with my wife 40 years from now. 

At the temple this morning, we were having Breakfast and there was a sister who spoke Russian. I wanted to test out my language and so I went and spoke to her. She and I spoke back and forth for a bit and then I asked her what her name was. She said that her name was, "Jasmine, just like the flower. but prettier." I told her my name and She gaped at me. She said, "Many years ago in Armenia, we had an Elder Hawkins." My first though was to Eric. I don't remember exactly where he served, but if it was him, I am glad that the Hawkins name was honored so many years ago. She still remembered him to this day. That was kind of cool to experience.

Subject line: 

In our lesson with Vitalli, he said that he had finally spoken to his family about the gospel. This took so much faith, strength, and courage. I learned so much from that. I thanked him for his example. He was shocked and said that we were the example. I love him so much. Although he is much more difficult to teach becasue he asks so many questions, I love it becaue he is helping me learn, and also helping trust myself more. The "Teacher" really was taught by the, "Student".

Mom thank you so much for giving me the story about the donkey in the well. I have been able to use it at least twice this week.  No matter how much dirt the farmer tossed on that broken donkey, he shook it off and stepped up. There are so many ways that we can apply this in our lives. Please share that with others. It has helped me so much in my life. 

Я люблю всех. Я знаю что Бог Любит бас. Я знаю что Он жив. 

I love you all. I know that God loves you. I know that He lives

Go be great this week!

старейшина Hawkins

Russia, St. Petersburg Mission

December 23, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was so full of blessings and I was able to see, "The hand of God in all things". I did something different this week. I will tell you about everyday. I think that they are all very imporant.

Wednesday:

Wednesday great as always just because I was able to write home and I was able to talk to you all. Ususally we do TRC which is basically Home Teaching. We did this and taught about the gifts of The Spirit. The lesson went well and the Spirit was felt. After our lesson we were going to just go back to class and Elder Rindlisbacher suggetsted that we should stick around to talk to the man that is over TRC. He was on the phone, but he told us to wait a bit. A lady walked in and she asked where the painging of Jesus was. I had no idea, but we motioned her in the direction of the right painting. Just then Brother Brown got off the phone and started talking to us about how it went. It was great, but all I could focus on was this woman that had walked in. She had found the painting, but she would fidgit with her fingers and then she would look at us, back to the painting and back at us. 

Brother Brown finished and I told my companion that we should go talk to this lady. We wlaked over and we said, "You found it!" She said that she had, but she didnt know what the paining was depicting. It was of Jesus at the Second Coming. His arms outsretched, calling us all back to Him.

We talked to her for abit about the painting and also about some of her questions. After we had talked to her for a bit, we asked if she would like us to meet with her again. She said, "YES!" we made a plan for Saturday night and bid her a good night. When we were walking back to our class, Elder Rindlisbacher said something like, "You are so good at keeping your eyes open." I don't like to have this recognition, but it kind of felt good, not in a prideful way, but yeah.

Thursday;

Thrusday, we had a lesson with Vitalli. We taught him and the lesson went well. We extended an invitation to be baptized (a long time coming) and he accepted. He didn't want to set a day quite yet, but he would prepare himself. Great the mercies of God!

Friday:

1 Corinthinans 13:11

We interviewed Katya for her baptisim on Friday. She was ready and everything was in order. This was also a blessing of the Lord.

I looked up a few Mormon Messages and I came across a few.

      Reflections

      Until We Meet Again (Mom)

An interesting quote that I heard from a Russian convert, 

      "YOU must put on the mask and be saved before you can put it on others and CAN SAVE them."  

Saturday:

We taught Lisa (in English. She is a Gold tag). She knows Sign Language! I was really happy that I could realte to her that way. At the beginging of the lesson she did't want to pray at all. I said the prayer and we taught the lesson. When I could feel the Spirit tell me that she was feeling the Spirit, I asked her if she could feel the change in the room and what if felt like. She said, "It feels smooth in the inside." I told her that I felt the same thing and that this was the Spirit. She was so stunned and shocked that I could know when she was feeling it. At the end of the lesson, we asked her if she wanted to pray. The next thing she said was something that would create a question in my mind for the rest of the week. She said, "How can I say 'In the name of Jesus Christ' when I don't have that bond with him. What right (I don't know if that is the correct word) do I have to use His name?" We told her that she has every right and that she is a Daughter of God which allows her the ability to accept all blessings. 

Katya was baptized and Vitalli came to the baptisim.

After we had finished talking she agreed to pray. In her prayer she said, "God, it's me again. Thanks for listening to my prayers again and again." How many times do we take prayer for graunted? I have a new found love and appreciation for prayer. This week try to switch up your prayers. Pray as the Savior prayed.

Sunday:

On Sunday, our Branch President was released. I loved him so much. He helped me through some hard days. I felt a bit cheated, but was gratious for the chance that I was giving to know him.

Tudesday:

We got the PACKAGE!!! Thank you so much! I found Grandpa's cologne and jsut smelled it.  We didn't know whetther to wait or not so we chose the latter. 

I mailed home a package for you all for Christmas. I really hope you like it. It took a bit longer than I had expecteda dn I felt bad becasue we were missing out on Gym time. We came out of the store and then God's hand was shown forth. We ran into Theo! We shook hands and then he asked if we could teach him today at 12:00. We said yes and went on our way. I am so greatful for the Lord and His timing. 

Please pray for the people in Danensk, Ukraine. They need your prayers. No missionaries are being allowed into the country. Please pray for them all the time. I love them and wish that there was more I could do.

This is all for now. I love you and want you all to know That I have a firm testimony in our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Remember Him as we have this week for Christmas. Merry Christmas to all and to all a great day!

старейшина Hawkins

Russia, St. Petersburg Mission

Sorry guys. Today I was in a hurry and I did't correct my mistakes. My hands were freezing and they wouldn't type. We will just blame it on learning Russian...haha! Just don't judge too quickly.

старейшина Hawkins

Russia, St. Petersburg Mission

The Light of Christ- 12/30/2015

Friends and Family,

This week was a very good week for me in so many ways! On Wednesday we taught Lisa and she really wanted to hear what we had to say. We taught her about the Restoration and how it can help her with her family problems. She has one son who is Mormon and three sons who aren't. I love how anything in The Gospel can help any problem. The lesson went really well and she assigned her a chapter to read from the Book of Mormon. We met again on Saturday. She told us how things with her family are getting worse. She doesn't know what is going to happen. She fears that her grandchildren will be taken from her life is she continues down this path. We gave her comfort and told her how Satan will do all in his power to stop her from knowing the truth.  This hit with great impact. On Saturday we taught about the first half of the Plan of Salvation because we only had 30 minutes and we all like to talk. It went well, but she had a problem with what she read about The Spirit in 1 Nephi. She didn't think that the "Spirit" that Nephi was talking about was the same as what she was feeling. If it was, she didn't think that she could kill a man. This was a funny prospect for me. I had never though of that. We spoke about the Spirit and then finished teaching. She expressed her concerns about her family and the Spirit was prompting us both to promise a blessing. The blessing was this: As a representative of Jesus Christ we promise that if you will be true to the commitments that you make and  do all that you can to do what is right, God will preform a miracle in your life.  

This was so strange. I didn't really know why I was prompted to say those words, but I do know that the Spirit was there and He was the one speaking. Lisa asked how I could say, "We" I then turned to my companion and he said that he too had felt that prompting. We taught about the Atonement and how it can help her. We talked about it a bit more and then I had the prompting to ask her to be baptized. She said that it would be a good thing, but that she would think about it. We have an appointment with her today, wish us luck!

Update on other Investigators:

Vitalli: We discussed Baptism, but he isn't ready for Saturday. It makes me sad that we won't be able to baptize him, but I know that when we help him understand the Gospel, he will be able to know it is true and also find the want and the need to be baptized. Please pray for him. We taught him all of the things that need taught, but I have realized, we were just trying to get him baptized before we left. I was very humbled this week.  I love being humbled by The Lord because He never leaves us, He lets us try a new way first and when we ask for help, He steps in and gives us a little bit of help. He won't do it for us, but he won't forsake us either. I love Vitalli and I want him to love His Savior, but that won't happen unless we can teach him well enough. Please pray for him and also for us. 

Katya: We still haven't heard anything from her since she went home for Christmas. It is sad, but I have faith that she is keeping her covenants.

Damitri: We are teaching him and we just got through Apostasy. He is learning well, but it takes time. I understand that. Our lessons have gone well, but they could go better. We love him and are praying for him.

Theo: We bumped into Theo before Christmas, but we haven't been able to meet with him yet. I think my companion has given up on him, but I know that The Lord has a plan for him. If it is for us to plant the seed in Theo than we will do it. God will cause the seed to grow. 

Ariel: We have taught him about The Restoration and The Plan of Salvation, but he still doesn't understand how it will help him which is mainly our faults. We love him, but his family is struggling because his dad lives in Mexico and the rest live here. We know what that is like so will you pray for him and us so that we will be able to apply this gospel to his life and help Ariel to see its importance? I love teaching. It is my favorite part of the day!

Subject Line: We all have the light of Christ in us. It is what makes us people. I love this Gospel because it allows us to see God's hand in all things. I have a challenge. This week will you all get a notebook and write down all the things that God has blessed you with? Please do this. I know that if you will do this and then look at it Next Wednesday, you will see God's hand in your lives more and more. Please do this and then say a prayer of thanks for all the things on your list.

That is all that I have other than:

Whenever you feel inadequate or you feel like you can't do some thing because you are not skilled, or you don't have the words. Maybe you can't see that well and maybe you are too nervous to open your mouth. Remember who it is that created you. Who made your mouth, your eyes, your body. He loves you and will help make you into who you are to become. Don't ever feel afraid to do something because you don't feel you can. God will be with you always. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Here are a few of the happenings here. 

старейшина Hawkins

Russia, St. Petersburg Mission

Mailing Instructions:

Elder Collin James Hawkins

Russia St Petersburg Mission
Pr Malookhtinsky 16/1
POM 11-H, 12-H
Saint Petersburg 195112
Russia

Boys' Mailing Addresses In Russia

Mailing Instructions:

Elder Collin James Hawkins

Russia St Petersburg Mission
Pr Malookhtinsky 16/1
POM 11-H, 12-H
Saint Petersburg 195112  
Russia

I will post Drew's as soon as I get it.