Dear Beloved Family and Friends
Another week has flown by full of tests, trials, and happiness. First I guess I better start out by saying that we set a date of Baptism with Arstan, the beer selling guy! He finally showed up to a lesson! But, our real test is ahead of us with him because we are going to have to help him a lot before baptism to quite drinking and smoking and to find a new job that is much more flexible (and doesn't require selling beer :)). He is such a great guy and has even referred his 18 year old brother to us. We started meeting with the Brother and he is already starting to get interested, it is so interesting how you start to be able to tell what a person feels when they visit with you. For example, with him the beginning of the lesson seemed a little uncomfortable for him but as we started talking and getting into good discussions all of his nerves went away and by the end of the lesson he was asking right away when he could come back. These two brothers are really close and if we can affect one we will affect the other and in the end the entire family.
Ulan is doing good. This week we had two really good lessons about faith and prayer and repentance. Right now we are just focusing on trying to get him to experiment on these things so that he can gain greater faith in Jesus Christ and a testimony of the Book of Mormon. He is such a funny guy and has great desire... he is just lazy sometimes and doesn't get completely through the commitments that we give him. Nona is doing good, she didn't come to church again last Sunday, haha but she said this time she is definitely coming. I got her a ride again and this time they are coming to pick her up at her church, so they will be waiting outside for her. She better come this week!
I don't think I have ever explained our lessons with Nona but really they are quite funny. Nona used to be a teacher of English when she was younger and because of that she knows exactly what it is like to be a teacher. She always calls us "her boys" or "her teachers" and she is always "the student". Anyways, basically we sit down, talk about life and what happened this week, we pray, and then we answer questions that she has about the Book of Mormon. We plan a lesson for her, but usually we just end up answering her questions. She reads about 8 chapters every week so she always has plenty of questions. She is on her second time through the Book of Mormon and already in Jacob. But, her questions are basically what she dislikes about the Book of Mormon. Our lessons are always based on answering questions about things that she doesn't like. For example, "what is the exact route that the Jaradites took to get to the America's? Why don't the exact route they took and the exact ocean? It really is not convenient." " Why does Jesus Christ have so many names? Why can't they just say Jesus Christ... it would make things a lot easier." "What do you mean church leaders don't get paid? That is not true, my church pastor gets paid. You may not get paid in exact money but the church pays you in other ways like in food or paying for your house so that means that you get paid." Haha a lot of the time she is just complaining about a lot of things instead of focusing on the things that she likes or the verses which she liked. Last lesson I got really tired of all of the complaining and just talking about how much she doesn't like something so I gave her a blank piece of paper and told her to stop thinking about what she doesn't like about the Book of Mormon and start writing down things that she does like, for example certain verses and why. Haha she is such a funny lady! She has to start looking at what she does like if she is ever going to really gain a deep testimony about the Book of Mormon!
My companion received his kill papers yesterday. (that means his papers to go home, he leaves to go home in about one month) I really hope his thoughts of going home don't affect the work because we have a lot of stuff we have to do and finish up here before he leaves! My companion is such a strange guy. Russians are great! but, they are strange! But, at least I can say because of him my Russian is a lot better and getting better everyday! This week I have felt more confident than ever with the language! But, more than anything I am trying to not focus so much on the language as trying to get organized in the work, change myself, and build a stronger foundation that will last the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong I love the opportunity to learn a new language, but I want to gain more than just a new language here on my mission. I want to be the missionary that "my mom thinks I am" and the Lord knows I can be. Because of that, I am trying to focus more on studying, organizing, goal setting, and testing new things out. :) So far it working out well!
We are having a burst of success here in Kazakhstan! All of the four companionships here have a baptismal date with someone and all have close potential baptisms as well. The Lord is blessing us and the work is going on! We are finding and teaching and strengthening members! The work is great and I can't believe how fast it is going by! I love you all! Thank you for the many prayers, the love, and the support! Remember who you are!
Elder Weihing
No comments:
Post a Comment