Mission Tour with President and Sister Lawrence

On May 3, President and Sister Lawrence arrived from Moscow for our first mission tour! We eagerly awaited their arrival. President Lawrence is currently the Eastern European Area President, is a General Authority, and formerly presided over the Russia Novosibirsk Mission. It was during his service as Mission President that the beautiful Ulan-Ude church building came to be. Now Ulan-Ude as well as Irkutsk is part of our mission. What a blessing it is to the people of Ulan-Ude to have that beautiful facility where they can meet.

Our mission tour started out in Vladivostok with the Mission Leadership Council (formerly called Zone Leader Council). This was the first ever meeting which involved two sister missionary trainers: Sister Hesley and Sister Gates. We are so pleased to have an ever-increasing number of sister missionaries. When we arrived in the mission last July, there were 4 sister missionaries. As of August 7, there will be 20...a set of sisters in each of the 9 zones, plus a second set of sisters in Vladivostok. The MLC was held at the Mission Home. NOTE: In Russia, people always remove their shoes upon entering a person's dom. It certainly keeps the floors cleaner!

 President Lawrence did an amazing job leading the discussion.

 It's always fun (and work!) to feed a large group of missionaries. 

It warms our hearts to see them enjoy their meal.

On the stand before the start of the Primorskiy Kray Conference, May 5. Members and investigators from Nakhodka, Vladivostok, Artyom, and Ussuriysk Branches attended. The conference was held at the Hotel Hyundai in downtown Vladivostok in the Ballroom. It is a beautiful hotel. We had planned on 120 attendees. The hotel personnel hustled and added another 56 chairs as people kept coming. We totaled 176 attendees at the conference.

Pick out your favorite missionary! If they are serving in the South or North Zones (Nakhodka, Vlad, Artyom, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk, or Sakhalin), your missionary should be in this picture. What a great group of very choice elders and sisters...the best in the world (best includes the West Zone too!)

Sister Brinton conducted the Missionary Choir made up of North and South Zones in "We'll Bring the World His Truth". They all sang in Russian and for memory. It set the tone for the meeting as they sang with a powerful spirit.

On Monday was Zone Conference. Sister Lawrence presented an amazing discussion on the "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel". She made the case that the tribes were scattered to the "north" and what is "north" of Israel? Russia and Scandinavia among other lands. We are working amongst the Ten Lost Tribes and our missionaries are involved in the gathering of those tribes in the last days. Each of our Russian missionaries stood and shared the tribe they are from: Dan, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, Isaachar, and Zebulon. One Russian missionary is from Ephraim as are the majority of the U.S. missionaries. It was an intriguing discussion.

Sister Lawrence showed the "symbols" for the 13 Tribes. There is no tribe of Joseph, rather two tribes represent Joseph through Ephraim and Manasseh...Joseph's two sons.

Sister Chandler kept the interviews moving efficiently.

 Elder Owens, current Assistant, did a role play with President Brinton on "inviting people to baptism"

President Brinton stressed the importance of obedience. President Lawrence taught about the importance of faith and defined what a "consecrated missionary" is.

Pres. and Sister Brinton with Elder Barney, Zone Leader in Ussuriysk

En route to the West Zone Conference held in Irkutsk, Pres. Brinton and Pres. Lawrence enjoy the moment.

 At West Zone Conference, President let the missionaries know how pleased we are with their incredible efforts.

 West Zone Conference missionaries enjoyed "all you can eat" pizza and juice! No one does juice better than Russians! It is delicious!

 Sisters Morgan and Braithwaite, Elders Tanner and Adams sang a beautiful hymn quartet.

 Sister Lawrence who is a gospel scholar, answered endless questions of our missionaries on any gospel topic they asked. She even threw in comments on the "devil" and on "angels". It was an amazing evening!

At the New Member meeting, President Lawrence asked new converts to share how they came to know the gospel is true. Missionaries lined the walls of the room. It was an impressive site and the spirit was powerful.

The Mission Tour lasted an entire week. It filled all of us with renewed excitement and focus as missionaries. We are united in our goals to bring souls unto Christ. How grateful we are for President and Sister Lawrence, their examples, and all we learned from them. We pray for the Lord's choicest blessings to be upon them as they serve the people of Eastern Europe and Russia.