Ok so I know that Thanksgiving has passed but I totally forgot last week so I have to say Happy Thanksgiving this week! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know I had a good one compared to last years Thanksgiving in the MTC! We had investigators and members over at the Forsyths and we ate some dang good food! The only thing we were missing was some good old American Football and a classic Thanksgiving nap! But, it was still great!
So of course this week has been crazy yet again! The temperature has dropped fast and today it is -21 C and bitter cold! I hear it will only be getting colder! I go out side and it physically hurts my lungs to breath through my mouth or my nose turns into an icicle if I breath through my nose so I don't know which one to do! But, I had a sweet coat from Kazakhstan that keeps me pretty warm so no worries there.
Right now we have three investigators who are ready to be baptized. We are literally just waiting on them because there is nothing else to do! But, currently Elder Smith and I gave up big sacrifices and asked the Lord to intervene so we will see what miracles we will see in the not to distant future! I could sure use grandpas heavenly help right now with these people! There is Olga, Olessa, and Sasha. I will explain what happened with Olga a little bit later but Olessa is in a stand still because she is going to be getting married soon so that has preoccupied her mind obviously. Sasha, we found out this week, is studying to become a Catholic Priest. He was raised at Catholic and baptized by his granny in England, but he found out that our church is true. He knows it is true, but doesn't know what to do because he doesn't want to hurt his granny. He just has a few things to figure out inside before he can make that step towards baptism. All three of these people are ready to be baptized, they have just not made the decision quite yet!
So Olga... this is the wife of a current less active member. We had a very very strong lesson this week with Olga! She asked the question about the Holy Ghost and exactly what it feels like before baptism and after you receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We focused an entire two hours on answering this question! Olga know what the Holy Ghost feels like. She has recognized it in her life. She has had a very good life and she herself said that she has not had anything horrible every happen to her. She knows that warm and comforting feeling that God gives her. Because of that she doesn't understand the difference it will be after getting the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We thought of a pretty cool idea to explain it. We had Sister Forsyth make some banana bread and we brought it over. We started out the lesson asking her if she wanted a gift that we had for her. Of course she said yes. We started teaching and had Sister Forsyth relate a story of how she had felt the Holy Ghost after baptism. It brought a great atmosphere for the lesson. After the story we asked her if she wanted her gift again. Of course she answered yes and so we let her see her gift and then took it away. We kept teaching and talked about and read verses from the scriptures about the Holy Ghost. After that we asked her again if she wanted her gift and she said yes. She took of the banana bread and let her smell it and then took it away. They talked about how good it looked and smelt. We talked again about the holy ghost and we all testified and related person stories. The Spirit was really strong! After that we asked her if she wanted her gift again and she said yes. We explained that we can explain exactly the difference between feeling the Holy Ghost after and before baptism. But, what she feels right now is only a taste or a glimpse of what she could have. We talked about the Holy Ghost being a gift and that it is free for everyone, but there is a second part of giving a gift... receiving the gift. She took the banana bread and we all ate it. We committed her to baptism and she said that she was still praying about it. We asked her how she felt. She said that she always felt the Spirit when we were here. She didn't take that as an answer. We asked her to pray about baptism in front of us at the end of the lesson and she did. She still said she had to pray about it more. We offered to give her a blessing and she allowed us. We gave her a blessing and then asked her how she felt. She said that she felt such power and warmth and love surround her during the blessing. She said that she still had to pray about baptism! What and experience! The Spirit was so strong and she recognized it every single time! She knows what she needs to do.. but for some reason is still holding back!
Well.. the work is still going forward! Winter is here and now people are really going to be mad when we want to stop and talk to them on the street! Haha it is going to be awesome! This week the President is coming and we are going to be hunting down a Russian Orthodox Priest which we helped with service and see if we can get a meeting with him. We do not have a good relationship with that church in Russia and we are trying to build one! Thank you all for your love and your support and especially for your prayers! I love you all! Remember who you are! :)
Elder Weihing
Friday, December 3, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
I was glad that I was able to call and talk to you guys this week. It was hard to hear about grandpa's death and I needed to hear how things were going. It sounds like everyone is doing fine. I have been praying a lot for grandma and I hope that she is doing better. I can't imagine how she must feel! But, when I get home in a year or so I will take care of her! Obviously I have been thinking a lot about grandpa and all that he taught me and I am starting to come to the conclusion that he taught me at a young age. "When you get bucked off a horse you get back on again." Hard times come, but we always have a choice. We just have to get back on that horse and ride it until the end without any fears or doubts! I am hoping more than ever that I can carry my name with more pride and put extra energy into the work that am given to do. Grandpa would want that from me and I can give him that.
Well, yet another crazy week! We are slowly making progress with about fours investigators, thanks to the Forsyths. We were finally able to meet with Vladimir and Irina, the family, and they loved meeting the Forsyths. This could be a break through with them because the Forsyths bring an amazingly bright spirit with them. Olga, nonmember to an inactive, has also showed tons of progress because of their help! It is amazing to see how much more inspiration and bewilderment she gets from seeing a Senior Couple instead of us young Elders. She has really shown interest in feeling the Holy Ghost and really trying to recognize those feelings that God gives to her. We made a diary and wrote our testimonies in it and gave it to her to start taking note of those special experiences that she has. We are hoping this will help her to more quickly get an answer to baptism. Olessa has started praying about baptism as well. She is getting married soon and is planning on bringing her future husband to church next week! She has a problem with smoking so that is our next crossroad with her! She is a very inspirational young lady who grew up an orphan and has traveled poor all around russia finally settling in a small town and now has found the church! The people you meet in russia!
Well, it is finally starting to snow and get freezing cold here! Time to bust out the winter jacket and hit the streets! It is hard to talk in the cold, not only will we have bad accents but now bad accents and stumbled frozen words. well the week has been good and I am looking forward to see that we can get accomplished this week! Thanks for the prayers! Remember who you are!
Elder Weihing
Я люоблю вас
Well, yet another crazy week! We are slowly making progress with about fours investigators, thanks to the Forsyths. We were finally able to meet with Vladimir and Irina, the family, and they loved meeting the Forsyths. This could be a break through with them because the Forsyths bring an amazingly bright spirit with them. Olga, nonmember to an inactive, has also showed tons of progress because of their help! It is amazing to see how much more inspiration and bewilderment she gets from seeing a Senior Couple instead of us young Elders. She has really shown interest in feeling the Holy Ghost and really trying to recognize those feelings that God gives to her. We made a diary and wrote our testimonies in it and gave it to her to start taking note of those special experiences that she has. We are hoping this will help her to more quickly get an answer to baptism. Olessa has started praying about baptism as well. She is getting married soon and is planning on bringing her future husband to church next week! She has a problem with smoking so that is our next crossroad with her! She is a very inspirational young lady who grew up an orphan and has traveled poor all around russia finally settling in a small town and now has found the church! The people you meet in russia!
Well, it is finally starting to snow and get freezing cold here! Time to bust out the winter jacket and hit the streets! It is hard to talk in the cold, not only will we have bad accents but now bad accents and stumbled frozen words. well the week has been good and I am looking forward to see that we can get accomplished this week! Thanks for the prayers! Remember who you are!
Elder Weihing
Я люоблю вас
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