We all have a raisin

The little English group Sacrament meeting has become one of my favorite things in the world. We are seeing an incredible amount of success as a result of this experiment. Within the next two weeks, at least four students from Africa will be baptized, joining the three African students who are currently members. And many more students are meeting with us and coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon. In addition, the Russian branch has gained enthusiasm as they've seen all these young people begin to come to English church. Yesterday, there were even more members at church in the Russian branch than I think I've ever seen there, and a few even stayed for the English Sacrament meeting. It's really exciting to see the miracles that are beginning to happen as a result of this English group. 

One of the students we have met and are working with because of English church is named Victoria. She's from Namibia and is one of the sweetest girls in the world. We had our first lesson with her Saturday night and the Spirit was so powerful as we testified to her of the power of the Book of Mormon. I was especially touched when, after we'd talked about the witness of the Holy Ghost confirming the truth of the Book of Mormon, she said, "Oh, I can't wait to feel that!" I can't wait for her to feel that, either! I've done some thinking about that interchange. There are many things in the world - such as medicines, diets, study plans - that, no matter how well-endorsed they are, simply don't work for everybody. But the Moroni's promise in the Book of Mormon is something that everybody, no matter who they are or where they are from or what their state in life is, can trust! I know that anybody who really wants to know that the Book of Mormon is true can receive a sure witness of it in the same way that I did. We can trust God completely - He always keeps His promises, and He has promised that any sincere seeker of truth who asks in faith can and will receive a witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I'm grateful that I can testify to anybody and everybody that I meet that if they will pray about the Book of Mormon they can know that it's true - and I don't need to worry that maybe this time God will decide not to answer the prayer and my investigator will never know that the book is true, but I can trust each and every one of them to the Source of all truth.

Last night, we had a special family history fireside which was quite enjoyable. The family history missionaries of the branch (an older couple from Simferopol who are absolutely wonderful!) did an excellent job of introducing the members and investigators to indexing and Family Search. Alice, a student from Nigeria, and I sat together during the fireside. Since she doesn't feel super confident with Russian (not to mention she doesn't know the LDS hymns yet) she wanted to sing in English. So she and I sang "Love at Home" in English while the rest of the congregation sang in Russian. And anybody who is familiar with the Russian hymnbook will know that that is not an ideal hymn to sing in both languages at once due to rhythm differences. But we made it, only slightly aggravating the poor senior (Engligh-speaking) missionary couple sitting in front of us who were trying to sing the Russian. ;) Alice was really interested by the whole thing and even started filling out her pedigree chart as we sat there. I have a firm testimony that family history is a sacred work. It truly is something that God wants us to be doing. I know that the Spirit of Elijah is real, for I have seen so many hearts softened and so many people's interest peaked by the topic of family history. God truly cares so much about the entire human family, and He wants us to learn all we can about our ancestors and be sealed to them in His holy temples. Missionary work and family history and temple work truly are one great redemptive work.

Apparently there is this Ukrainian saying that translates into English as "Everybody has a raisin." (It's okay - I don't really get it either.) But basically, it means that every person has something that is special and unique to them - like their little contribution to society, I suppose. The other night as we were contacting, we ran into our friend Lenid. He is one of those wonderful Ukrainians who just adores missionaries and will talk with them for as long as the little missionaries will allow. He has a Book of Mormon and loves it and reads it for 15 minutes each day, except that evening he told us that we had made him so happy that he was going to go home and read it for five times as long. (If you, like me, are asking why he has not yet been baptized, part of it is due to the fact that 95% of the time he spends talking with the missionaries, he is doing the talking. But I have hope that someday he will get baptized.) As we were talking with him, he even recounted to us how he had taken the Book of Mormon to work and put it on the table and watched to see who would read it. (We're convinced that if we gave him a box of copies of the Book of Mormon, they would all be distributed within a week. Maybe we'll try that.) But anyway, as Lenid gave us a nice little pep talk on the dark street, he asked us if he knew why we look alike. And indeed, that has been something we have pondered a good bit, considering how many strangers approach us and excitedly ask if we are twins or sisters, so we were interested to hear his assessment. Paraphrasing only slightly, he told us that Sister Bates and I have the same raisin - that we glow with the Spirit. (Considering we'd come to the conclusion that people think we're twins either because of our curly hair or the Spirit, we were pleased to know we'd been correct.) He talked about how all the missionaries he knows here radiate the Spirit like that and that God is very soon going to do a great work around the world through His missionaries. I was very impressed and moved by his insights - even this man who doesn't fully understand the scope of missionary work realizes that we are doing a special work and that God is working through us to bless the lives of His children. I know that this truly is the work of the Lord and that He is doing great things through the youthful missionaries of His church. And I am incredibly excited to see the growth of this missionary force! With the announcement of 58 new missions in the world (including one in L'viv!!!!! Hooray for Ukraine!!), it is evident that God is reaching out even more to bless His children through His servants who have gone forth, all of us bearing the same raisin of the Spirit.

- Sharisa