Possibly Insightful Ramblings

This week, although very slow lesson-wise, was an incredible testimony to me of how God always leads His missionaries. We had so many small experiences this week where we happened to be in exactly the right place at the right time to talk to somebody who was interested. Most of the time when we go contacting, people aren't interested in talking to us. (Especially when we go contacting on the street just outside our apartment where a new Protoslavny church is under construction - there are a lot of devoted Protoslavs around there.) Once in a while somebody will take our church or English-practice invitations, and sometimes somebody will even talk to us for 60 seconds when we stop them. But most of the time we just get the distinctive hand wave that means they're in a hurry and are not interested in whatever we are offering. So the best contacting comes often comes when people approach you with their questions, and that's what we experienced a lot this week. I'll share ...

We had city conference yesterday. Which, being translated, means something akin to stake conference or district conference, except we have neither a stake nor a district in my mission. All three branches in Dnepropetrovsk met together and President Nielsen (the mission president, but in the circumstances of my mission, the equivalent of the stake president) presided. It was such an incredible meeting! There were more members gathered in one place than I've seen in a long time, and there was such power as we sang and worshipped together. Including the 20ish missionaries, there were 112 people in the meeting. I very much loved being able to see so many people I know and love gathered in one place. The talks were wonderful! I particularly enjoyed a talk by one of the returned missionaries. She served in Samara, and she shared from her mission and of her love of missionary work. It was very motivational. President and Sister Nielsen spoke at the end. They go home next week, so this w...

Yesterday I got to go out to Povelgrad (that city of about 300,000 people that's about an hour outside of Dnepr) for church! That was definitely the best Sunday I've had in Ukraine. I was companion's with the senior sister in Dnepr, and we were accompanied by her husband and two elders. I love the drive to Povelgrad - it's a solid hour of driving through endless rolling fields bordered by trees. It's so neat how the city abruptly stops and you find yourself in the middle of a vast gorgeous landscape. I quite like it. Before the church meetings, we met with our little investigator, Vloda, who is 12 years old. She's best friends with Natasha Poved, who is a member, as is Sister Poved. I was a little nervous to be teaching a lesson on my own (as Sister Merrill know possibly 20 Russian words), but it went really well. (I'd been praying super hard for a long time for the gift of tongues, and I really felt it that day as I was able to communicate with the Poveds...

As of Friday, I am a fully official, legal representative of the Church in Ukraine! Yes! That definitely feels good. After a full transfer of not being able to approach people on the streets or in marshrutky, it's so liberating to now be able to talk to everybody. And to have everybody know that I represent the Savior because I bear His name on my tag. Pretty wonderful. The Visa trip to Bulgaria that made my legality possible was absolutely wonderful! I don't know how many more times in my life I'll get to visit three world capitals in one day with some of my best friends, so it was definitely a treat. It started Wednesday night when I stayed at the mission home with Sister Dimick (who was in my district at the MTC). It was a lot of fun to talk with her that night. The next morning we got up early and called a taxi. (It was my first phone call in Russian without my senior companion nearby to take over if things got out of hand, but I was able to successfully get the taxi ...