KRASNODAR

Hello from Krasnodar! 

It has been quite the week! 

First part of the week was the visa trip. Honestly I do not even know what days we were what, it is all a blur. We woke up at 4AM one day and flew from Rostov to Armenia then to Moscow and back to Rostov. We landed in Rostov at 2AM the next day so it was an exhausting trip. Armenia had some mountains, which were pretty cool and way nice people.  Armenia also had some good American Fast Food.

Thursday I hopped on a train and came down to Krasnodar! Let's just say Krasnodar could not be more different from Volzhky. Polar opposites. But I love it here so much! Krasnodar is a big, modern city and I am honestly so lucky to serve here!

My new companion is Elder T. from Novosibirsk, Russia! He is 22 years old and served in the Russian army as a paratrooper. He is a stud and has the greatest heart. He is taking great care of me and he speaks pretty good Russian haha. No but really it has been nothing short of incredible to see him do the work here in his native tongue. Let's just say everything goes a little smoother. 

We try to speak English in the apartment and Russian out on the streets. From what I hear, Elder T hardly knew any English before the mission and I am only his second American companion and he is already speaking English so well. It is way awesome and we both laugh so hard about our language mistakes and just funny sentences that happen when you are speaking a second language. Don't worry, the 1st thing I taught him was how to say "Go Rams" and "Go Utes" and now he just says them at random times, it is too good. It is really cool to be able to help each other out with the language. We already have a great friendship and I absolutely love serving with him. 

Saturday we got to do some service which I have not been able to do much of so far, so that felt great. We are helping a member's friend build a house. It was some good hard work, in some freezing cold weather. We will be going back this week to continue! 

Sunday was the best. The branch here is HUGE. They have their own big building with multiple floors and rooms which sounds stupid, I have not been use to that! There are lots of members here in Krasnodar and they were all so welcoming and loving. They were so excited to have a couple new missionaries! I felt the love and the Spirit so strong during sacrament meeting. It was different just sitting in the normal seats the whole meeting and listening to talks! I loved it!  In Volzhky we only had 2 hours of Church and here there is all 3 hours! Lots of great people, some speak English really well, I am excited to get to know them all better. 

I will end with a huge miracle from yesterday. The third hour of church had just ended and we walked downstairs by the main entrance and a guy walked in named Mihal. Apparently he was at church last week also, but no one really saw him. He said he had some time so we taught him the first lesson with a member present. Everything went really well and he seemed prepared. By the end, he committed to baptism on February 20th!! Honestly, when he said yes I started crying a little. Just felt so good and I had never seen someone commit to baptism before,  let alone so quickly. We were not even expected to meet Mihal yesterday but the Lord delivered him to us and now we will be working with him, towards baptism!

All is well in K-Dar! Till next week! Love to all of you!!  P.S. I may not be able to post many pictures for the next little bit.  I will when I can.  

-Elder Tucker//Старейшина Таккер

P.S. Forgot to tell you that, the Johnstons are the only senior couple in the mission and they live here in
Krasnodar.  They are from Utah, fun fact, Sister Johnston's maiden name is Tucker!!  They are such great people, we were able to watch a worldwide missionary broadcast at their apartment and Sister Johnston made us some great food.  I love them and I am happy they are here!!