Hello Everyone!
Wow! I can't believe that it has already been one year! Time really has flown by and now I am even more nervous because I know this next year is going to be going by faster than the first! I am so grateful for the experiences that I have had in this short year and especially for the things that I have learned. I really feel like I am a completely different person. It is amazing how much you can change in such a short time... before it was all about being with friends and laying back and relaxing. Now, I have concrete goals and barely get a time to rest. This has even caused my thinking process to completely change. How can I help this person? What are we going to be doing next? What should I ask this person? What should we teach? How can I become more like Christ? Should I turn left or right? What does this member need or this investigator need? Is this breaking a rule? What principle of the gospel does that relate to? How do I translate that into Russian? LIFE IS NOW FULL OF QUESTIONS! I have never thought like this in my entire life! I love it! Especially when I get answers to my questions! I love my mission!! :) Now one has been blessed more than I have!
Elder Smith and I had some good successful work this week. We found out that Irina, the investigator made for Elder Smith to teach, has already finished reading the Book of Mormon! She just has a few habits to get rid of and we have some things to teach her and I think that she will be ready for baptism. We also started teaching a family of four yesterday. They are amazing! That is one of my goals on my mission, to baptize a family, and I really am praying about this family! They are amazing! I will tell you about our lesson with them later in this letter. We have an investigator who has been coming for a very long time. He probably knows the Book of Mormon better than I do and the history of the Church better than anyone in Yaroslavl, but he has still not been baptized. His excuses include getting an answer from God about some questions or that he has service in the Catholic Church right now and he needs to wait until that is done. Honestly, I think it is because he drinks and smokes and doesn't know how to quit. But, he has been an eternal investigator and I am tired of eternal investigators after Nona so I am going to work my butt of with him! These people know that things are true but they refuse to take the one step that will bring them more happiness than they know... not understandable to me!! Elder Smith is a crazy guy! I am going to have some crazy stories to tell you about him when we get home! He is just.... funny!! We have been working hard and getting this city and Branch alive! But, all we can do is work and have faith that God will work with the hearts of these people through us! The work is amazing!!
Well, here is the story for the week! So, these is this couple by the name of Vladimir and Irina who sometimes come to church. Interestingly enough, Elder Malanin found them, my companion in Kazakhstan whose brother died. But, the only reason that they come to church, when they do, is because their kids love our church and always want to come here. They are members of another church here in Russia, I forgot what it is called. While I have been here in Yaroslavl they never came to church. Buy, finally last Sunday they came and I was able to really befriend them pretty well and set up a family home evening with them for last night. So, last night we went over to there house. We started out by playing "Don't Eat Pete", which even my companion had never heard of. In short, everyone loved it because it is full of candy and good stuff like that. We also made them cookies which we ate after the lesson. The lesson was great! We talked about the Plan of Salvation! They have been coming for long enough that of course they knew it pretty well, but they had tons of questions about it that they had never asked! We were able to answer most of their questions and even give them proofs from the Bible, which they believe in, to back up the plan. Then Vladimir told us his conversion story to his church that they are apart of right now. He said he was living in another city in Russia and he had been praying and praying so hard to find the truth and he didn't know what to do. Then, one day he was just walking on the street and someone random person just grabbed his shoulder and dragged him into a church to hear a discussion that was going on. He went in and was very interested in the discussion, he took that as a sign from God. Then he asked, "Why would God give me that answer and not lead me to your Church?" What do you say to a question like that? I had had this happen many more times on my mission and honestly speaking I have wondered the same thing myself. If people are honestly asking and seeking for truth why does God lead them somewhere else? It is a legit question! But, I just said the first thing that came to my mind.. "maybe you weren't ready. God gives a little here and a little there to help us grow. Maybe he was preparing you for this message. It is a like giving a new born baby meat... you can't do that. You have to give them milk and then slowly prepare them for more foods." He took that as a really legit answer and really started pondering and thinking about it. I could tell it really helped him and I know that if they will pray, like we committed them to do, they will know that this is what God has been preparing them for! It was a great lesson and the spirit was so strong! We could have spent hours just sitting there and talking about the Plan of Salvation and answering their questions!
Well I love you all! Thank you for the love and support! Remember who you are!
Elder Weihing :)
No comments:
Post a Comment