Calendars, Temples, and English Church

Sharisa has been on a mission for one year this week!
Here is a photo we had taken last February.

Things are going quite well in this lovely land of Simferopol. I quite love being a missionary - I'm not sure if I've mentioned that before. ;)

Tuesday afternoon we received a phone call from our branch president telling us he had a special gift from the branch that he wanted us to give to Valery. So that evening we stopped by the branch to chat with him and pick up this adorable Ukrainian calendar from the Church based on Alma 32. We were really touched that President would care enough about our little investigator family to be thinking up ways to serve them. (He's the best, in case anybody was wondering.) The next night, Sister Bates and I were contacting our way home from a rather frustrating lesson. Right in the middle of our passionate conversation on how there is and can only be one way back to God, we felt like we needed to stop and make some phone calls. So we paused on the dark, deserted street and began calling people. And as we stood there, who do you think walked out of the darkness and said, "hello, sisters"? Right - the only person that we've 'randomly' run into four times in the past two months on the streets of Simferopol. We excitedly began talking with Valery and he told us how his daughters are doing. (Little Nastia turned 2 yesterday! And Paulina won 3rd place in an English writing competition of 10th and 11th graders from the entire Crimea even though she's only in the 8th grade. Pretty cool, methinks.) We were able to set up a meeting with him for Saturday, and he was also really touched to know that the branch had been thinking about him and his family.

Saturday finally came (after one of the most opposition-filled days either Sister Bates or I have experienced - we decided that it had to be that way since opposition always comes right before a big blessing), and we were super excited for this lesson with Valery and his family. It was kind of funny, because the member we had called to come with us on the lesson (who is a long-time friend of Valery) had previously been asked by the elders to be on a lesson with them at the same time . . . but when he found out that his friend was investigating the church, he became super excited and asked if we could call the elders to release him from his previous obligation so he could come with us. ;) The lesson went well, and the Spirit was powerful. It wasn't completely ideal, however, and we ran out of time to invite them to be baptized. But we were able to invite them to pray to know if they need to be sealed in the temple as a family. (That's the only time I've ever invited somebody to be sealed before I've invited them to be baptized . . .) It makes me so happy to see Valery's face light up whenever we talk about the temple. He had such a positive experience in the Kyiv temple open house, that whenever that sacred building is mentioned, some of those feelings return to him. (This is the only investigator family I will probably ever teach that has one of those cube glass Kyiv temples sitting on their shelf.) This family is so ready! I want nothing more for them to be sealed in a year.

Yesterday was a pretty historic moment in the life of the Simferopol branch - we held the first-ever Sacrament meeting in English in this city. We've been working and preparing for this day for a long while, and we've spent a good deal of time recently talking to students at the universities here, inviting them to come to church and learn more. It's been a really good experience to spend so much time with the students, most of whom are from India and Africa. (It was also nothing short of an adventure for two little sister missionaries to carry a 50-odd pound [okay, maybe not that much - but after about 5 minutes it felt like that] table a mile through muddy paths from the branch to the university . . . That is probably a portion of my life which I would like to watch again and laugh about. Good times. And if I ever become a table engineer, I am going to put handles on all folding tables. That's all.)

The meeting itself was highly successful (although most of the people who promised us to come ended up not being able to make it), and everybody who was present felt the Spirit and wanted to learn more about the church. There were 11 investigators, 2 members (students whose native language is English - they're the main reason this group was started), the 8 missionaries, and 3 members from the Russian branch - the only time I've ever been in a church meeting where there are more investigators than members. It was really surprising to hear the Sacrament prayers in English and to sing in English, and I found myself trying to translate it back into Russian, since that clearly is the only language in which those things make sense. ;) I was particularly happy that Andrey (remember him? He's the one that read 50 pages of the Book of Mormon before our first lesson) was able to come! He's fluent in English, and since his work schedule doesn't allow him to attend the morning church service in Russian, the afternoon, English church service was the first one he's been able to attend. He felt the Spirit so strongly and was so completely happy after that experience and want to keep coming back. And even our good friend Victor (another native Ukrainian who is fluent in English) who has previously been rather uninterested in the church aside from English practice told us afterward that he agreed with what was said and that he felt joy at the meeting. And all of the English-speaking students loved it! We're going to start teaching two girls that came, and I'm really excited about that. We're hoping that we can get permission to hold this church service every week, because it was an incredibly effective, powerful experience.

I know with all of my heart that Jesus is the Christ. I know that He stands at the head of this church and that He loves and guides us. The Atonement is real, and it is powerful. I testify that there is power in the Atonement that can be found nowhere else - only Christ can change our hearts and our natures. And I am so grateful for the opportunity to see that change occur, both in myself and in the lives of those whom I love here in Ukraine. 

-Sharisa