More Adventures!

We had an incredible first lesson this week with a woman named Lena. We met her contacting the previous week, and that in and of itself was kind of a neat story. (I don't remember if I already told this story, so I'm sorry if this is old news.) We were walking along a busy sidewalk and contacting. Quite frequently, when you try to contact in a busy area, you tend to somewhat aggravate the people who were behind you with your sudden stopping, so it is often not the best atmosphere for holding gospel conversations. But right after making the comment that this particular spot of the city was not going to be the most effective place for contacting, we stopped this older woman and began talking with her. She accepted a Book of Mormon and wanted to meet with us! So this week we met with her. She quite liked the Restoration and, although she said she needs to learn more before she will agree to be baptized, she promised to come to church as soon as her work schedule gives her a free Sunday. Then the next day, we received a call from her asking for our permission for her to bring her daughter to church with her and telling us that her daughter would also like to meet with us. Ура!

Unfortunately, we were not able to meet with either Valery or Olya this week, but that's okay - someday. :)

We had a really cool experience tracting. A little while ago, we'd been in a particular area, and I'd looked at a certain apartment building and felt really good about a certain stairwell of that building. We didn't get a chance that day to work in that stairwell, but I remembered that feeling and this week, when a lesson fell through and we had some unexpected time to tract, we went back to that stairwell. One of the first doors we rang was opened by this woman who looked familiar to both of us. But as missionaries, you talk to so many people each day that it's nigh unto impossible to remember how you know everybody. So luckily this woman herself made the connection. She excitedly told us that we had contacted her outside just yesterday and invited her to church. "It must be fate," she said, and we wholeheartedly agreed. She was sick at the time, but promised that she and her daughter would come to church. I quite like them and hope that they do someday come.

English practice this week was one of my favorite ones ever. (Quite possibly tied for first with the time that I told the class that I didn't know how to make a peanut butter sandwich and told them they had to give me detailed instructions on how to perform this task. They quickly learned that it was necessary to inform me how to do such things as unscrew a lid and *gently* spread peanut butter. Good times.) We split the class into two groups and had them perform skits. With little instruction from me, my group presented Victor with the Nobel Peace prize for his excellent scientific discovery in regard to penguins. I was beaming with pride. :) The people here in Simferopol are basically amazing!

- Sharisa