Lol jk gotcha. Still the same old same old. Still in quarantine.
BUT there was a great surprise :))))) guess who can go out of the house EVERYDAY to buy groceries now?!?!!
For the past 3 months, we have only been allowed out once a week to only buy groceries then return home. But now our mission president said we can go buy groceries every day in order to get out of the house :)) one day milk, the next day eggs, the next day huge gymnastic balls ;) We still arent allowed on the streets without a purpose (tbh dont know why. every other person here in rostov keeps telling us quarantine is over and is already on the streets. but not for our mission I guess :)))
Every day I hope I finally get the call I can go running again , or talk a walk through the "park" here or something like this. Mom I'm pretty sure my adhd is off the charts here in quarantine lol.
This past week was good. Lots and lots and lots of meeting people and facebook finding (also who knew it, but there are so many memes on the facebook world and wow so tempting miss that lol) and trying to keep busy. There is so much to do, and we don't quite have time for it all. Just keep going.
All of our investigators right now are at a standstill. So we are trying new things and praying about what they need and how we can help them continue along the covenant path. Any ideas-- lmk. Trying to fulfill that missionary purpose out here of course still. ;)
Аня (anya)- She is awesome!!! She is always so accepting and ready for whatever we teach her. We extended the baptismal invitation about 2 months ago. She told us she would be baptized with joy, but her parents are against it, and probably don't want her leaving the Russian Orthodox Church. So we have been praying and fasting with her to soften their hearts. But last week she told us she talked to them, and they said they dont approve and she won't be able to get baptized. So now me and Sister Keil are praying to figure out the next step and help her recognize how importance repentance, baptism, and the gift of the holy ghost are.
Даря (daria)- She is an awesome mom and is trying to push through mental repercussions of quitting smoking. She is very faithful as well and is always reading and praying and striving to live every commandment we have taught her. She attends institute, and every church meeting and activity. We extended the baptismal invitation as well about 2 months ago, and she told us she wants to get baptized, but doesnt see it happening at least until september. So we are slowly trying to work with her as well.
Илья (Iliya)- He is super fun! He always has amazing questions and thinks very hard about what he read. A lot of his questions aren't your "normal every day" questions. Me and sister keil often have to search for answers with him. We are trying to use the scriptures when we answer his questions, but sometimes we tell Илья that he just has to trust in God sometimes because we don't know all of his plan. He goes to church every week at his uncle's house. We asked him how he felt about baptism if he were to continue on this path, and he said he doesnt see why not. However he doesnt believe in the book of mormon. So we are trying to help him have a testimony and faith he is acting on before he gets to that step. So this past week (thank goodness we had a member there!!!) we talked about how important it is to find out truth for yourself. And the importance of the holy ghost. We have talked several times already about personal revelation and receiving answers, but this time was really good. I think he finally understood that if he wants an answer, he needs to read and pray every day, every day, every day. And ask with a sincere heart. And listen for an answer.
Олег (Oleg)- He has a wife and kids. Super great guy. He actually brought himself to church. The elders got his number. Never contacted him. He came to church again, me and Sister Fender got his number, gave it to the elders. They still never contacted him, and then about a month later quarantine happened and the elders got sent home. So. Then he reached out to a member here, and she reached out to the branch president, who then reached out to us. So we said, ok looks like we are teaching this guy now. It took about a month to finally schedule a lesson with him (he is very busy) and had a great lesson on the restoration with him. Sent him a book of mormon. Now we are just waiting for our next lesson :)) but that was like 2 or 3 weeks ago, so we are hoping soon to finally get another one scheduled.
Маша- She is the funniest and craziest little girl ever!! We have been teaching her for a while. She is afraid of the water and doesnt want to get baptized. If it didnt involve getting in the water, she would be fine with it. We are calling her sometimes during the week and playing a game with her or something like that, but we haven't had an actual lesson with her since quarantine started. Most of the time she doesnt listen and cant sit still that long while on the phone.
Anyways that's about it for our investigators right now. Hopefully we can get them moving along. Slow and steady wins the race I guess. We of course are also trying to work with less actives as well. That's a whole different email lol. But we are also trying to figure out the ministering in the central branch. Pretty much no one knows who has who, but it is probably because the leadership positions have been changed so often within the past year. So me and my comp are making sure that this is getting done, and people know who to help minister to.
Twice a week, we have a get together with the youth to do a lesson on Come Follow Me. I thought it would be a good idea and great way to keep the youth connected still while on quarantine, and would be good. We have been doing it since about the end of March. I talked to the district president, central and taganrog branch presidents, and a lot of the parents of the youth to help increase participation, but the turnout is still pretty much the same for Come Follow Me. I asked all the missionaries in our zone to follow up with their branch presidents and maybe the parents of youth in their branch, but I dont know if any of them have actually done it. I talked to our district a few weeks ago if we should cancel it because only 1-5 youth show up every time (average being about 3), but they said they want to keep doing it. So I dont know. I want to keep doing it, and of course helping one person is worth it. But I'm not sure if it's even helping one person. Lol.
Also transfers are coming up (whether that is in 4 days or 4 months, I dont know haha) but I LOVE Rostov. I know I have already been here 8 months, but I'm fine staying longer. Like I really would be fine being here for a long time. I have so much I need to do here still. Of course it would be nice if there were mountains around here or something like that, but other than that everything is fine. ;)
THE LORD IS WORKING. There are people prepared everywhere. It is our job to change our attitude and get to work. Every member a missionary. We watched this devotional this week, and it talks about how sometimes when you're gaining a testimony it is less about feeling all these things. But it is taking what you have felt, and acting on it. And while you are acting, then the Lord can start to use you and build your testimony even stronger. I think it is so true. An airplane cant take off until you've brought it onto the runway and already started driving super fast (maybe there is a technical term for that but tbh dont know lol). Same with the Lord. He can't help you take off until you've already got to the ru way and started trekking your way forward.
Сестра Каммингз
Ps. Sorry if there are typos in this. Typing on a phone is very hard. Lol.....
Pictures-
People on WhatsApp not answering our calls. It ends always with the last face you made and freezes. So the key is to get the timing just right.
An elder in our district is suddenly twins with Brad Wilcox
The outside:')
Hahahah traveled in the rain and got SOAKED after only like 2 seconds
Spotted the MTC comp 👀
The elders showing us their hats they've collected
Videos:
Trying some cold soup called akroshka. I had it once, yummy. Then we made it with the mission and with kvass. Nope. Never again.
One of the trips to the store this week, we bought huge gymnastic/sport balls to sit on during our lessons. 10/10 decision of course
No comments:
Post a Comment