Ben's senior picture looks great! That's crazy he's a senior! Only 6
more months (or 7?) and he can start his papers!! (sorry mom for
bringing that to your attention..).
Well it's been a week
full of trudging in the mud and getting caught in the rain. Thankfully,
those are two things that I love, and actually, despite the weather,
we've had some sweet successes. The first of which has to do with that
guy we meet from Madagascar. His name is B..... The first time I saw
B.... was right outside of our apartment a couple of P-days ago. He and I
met eyes, I saw a light go off and I knew Sister Moffatt and I were in
trouble. He was one of the construction workers working on the courtyard
right outside our dome and for the next week as we walked out of the
complex we were greeted by B..... yelling at us things like "do you know
english?" and such things I cared not to remember or repeat. Not that
it was terrible really but Sister Moffatt and I have learn to ignore the
likes of those of men. So for a week we continued to ignore him until
finally two weeks he came up to us and just said, "hey, I actually want
to just talk to you. Like seriously." So we stopped and then realized
that dang, he really is serious, really cool, and down to meet.
So we exchange numbers, the whole bit, still a little bit wary of how it
was going to play out (men we teach always seem to have some underlying
agenda, which is really annoying). We met with him and had a good How
To Begin Teaching lesson with him then the next time we met on the Volga
and he brought his friends along with him. :) So then Sister Moffatt
and I start to begin teaching them and he walks off and starts wandering
along the Volga. Next thing you know, he comes back with a girl names
K..... We were like hey, how do you know each other? and they were like
we just met! He brought her to us so that we could teach her! Not only
is B.... an awesome investigator, but he's a pretty good missionary too!
The only thing is that he's the guitarist for the local Salvation Army
church christian band. Which is stinking cool but at the same time it's
not because he plays at the same time as church. But he's very sincerely
searching for the truth and wants to know if there could really be a
prophet today. He said that there are many corrupt men in his country
that have claimed to be prophets in order to take power. I know he will
see that Joseph Smith is different. We taught him the Restoration on Friday before district meeting at the mission office. It was one of the
most natural lessons I've taught but we unfortunately never got to the
First Vision. ...but I kept trying to get it there but it just never
did. Maybe it just is meant to be taught at a different time when he's
thought a little more about the prophet thing. And since he was taught
at the office and we ran a little late he got to meet all the
missionaries and even President Schuab!
There, I told you about one of our investigators that I'm really excited about and I hope I didn't jinx anything. ;)
Other
great news-- we met with my favorite member family ever-- the котляров
(kotlarov) family twice this week. Sister Kotlarov, their son, Arkoti
and daughter, Dasha, are all active but their dad, Sasha, is not because
he works ALL the time. President Blinkov (branch president) asked us to
meet with them with Sasha in order to talk about their goal of
going to the temple. This is the dream of all Russian members, to go to
the temple in Kiev, and many members do get there, the really active,
well-off members even once a year. But sadly, the Kotlarovs just don't
have the means to get there and they're struggling to pay tithing and
it's just so hard to sit there, look in Sasha's blood-shot tired eyes
and say, "you need to give all you have--the Lord requires all you have
in order to gain the highest of blessings." How can I, a young woman
never having known the fragility of financial insecurity have the guts
to say such things to a man who has lived? A man who already gives
everything for his children, and I know it's for them because I saw the
way that he loves them and is proud of them. They play cheerfully in the
hall where the guitars--Arkoti's most prized talent--are displayed. I
desire so badly for them go to the temple to be sealed! I love them so
much!! Sister Kotlarov is a funny, chatty woman who likes to help us out
and has offered to help us with our Russian. Arkoti is a sarcastic,
witty little guy who just turned 14. He always is dying to play the
guitar for us, which he just started learning and is somehow excellent
at. He actually played a little bit of Black Sabbath for President and
Sister Sartori at their farewell fireside, but don't worry, it's was on
acoustic and actually fairly reverent. Cute Dasha is around 10 and says
the most beautiful prayers you ever did hear. (I do have a soft spot for
children speaking Russian though.. :) ) She likes playing around with
her brother and is also musically inclined, but we have yet to hear a
performance from her.
Sister Moffatt and I fasted with them yesterday for them to find a
way for them to get to the temple, whether that means Sasha finds a new
job or some other sort of miracle. I wish I could do more that just
fast! I would do anything for them!
Thing is, this trial is but a moment. Someday there will be a temple in Samara. Or maybe Saratov. Or even eventually both.
President
Schuab testified in Sacrament meeting yesterday. He said that while he
was recovering from surgery (you know he had surgery right??) he had a
lot of time to think. And from how he said it, "think" meant a lot more
than just "think." Anyway, he said that he has come to know that there
with be many temples in Russia, and that there will be a stake in
Samara and Saratov. Man, when he said that I just wept. Many temples.
MANY! I suppose I should develop a bit more faith. and some more
patience too.
That's it for this week. I love you, my gorgeous, wonderful family! I'm so blessed and so are you!
Sister Johnson
Russian
Tidbit: They're afraid of getting dirty. At sport day I tend to sit on
the floor, but here is this custom to put something like a grocery bag
down or a sweater before you sit on the ground or a bench that is
dirty.
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