Possibly Insightful Ramblings

I apologize that this reference will be lost on all but about three of the people who will read this. But sometimes, as you sit down in front of the computer on Monday and think back across the past week, you ask yourself, "What just happened?" And a voice sounding a lot like Sister Myers answers you and says, "A  lot ." Yep. That's about how this week was. It might necessitate a chronological run-down. Monday morning Sister Bates and I waited very patiently for our taxi that never came to take us to the train station. So we called a second taxi. (Cool thing - as we were waiting and praying that we wouldn't miss our train to Dnepr, a former investigator walked by! It was really cool to get to see her for a minute. So God's hand is even in taxi drivers forgetting about two little American girls.) Our taxi eventually came and we made it to the train station with enough time to eat McDonalds with our district. And then came the sevenish hour train-ride ...

We had an incredibly miraculous week. More so than usual, even. We had a zone conference here on Thursday. In the course of that, President VanBruggen challenged each companionship to give ten copies of the Book of Mormon by Sunday night. This was a pretty lofty goal, but we were all excited about it and we all agreed. Our work on the challenge began that evening after the completion of the conference. On our way home from a lesson, we met a nice young woman who eagerly accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. We were feeling fairly good about our ability to meet the goal, looking at the three full working days ahead of us. Friday, however, was a bit of a rough day and despite our efforts, nobody wanted to take a Book of Mormon. Still exercising faith, however, we set a goal for Saturday to give our six copies of the Book of Mormon. I don't think I have ever seen so many miracles within an eight-hour period in my life. Saturday might deserve its own paragraph. After stu...

This Saturday we had the miraculous opportunity of witnessing two Zimbabwean brothers enter the waters of baptism. Reginald and Tongai were two of the happiest little converts I have ever seen! The Spirit was so strong as the branch rallied together in support of these students and the covenants they made with God. It is such an incredible blessing to watch the church grow here. There are now 6 members of the English soon-to-be group/branch, with some more soon to join. God truly is preparing the hearts of the children of men to accept His gospel. Last night we had a lesson with one of the active sisters in the branch. We'd felt for a while like we needed to meet with her and help her get excited about missionary work. After a powerful lesson (in which I found answers to some personal questions - I think that's one sign of an exceptional lesson), she asked us why we had picked that topic to discuss that night. We explained that we'd felt prompted to and talked about ...

It is an incredible blessing to see the kingdom of the Lord growing in this little corner of the world. It's amazing to see people's lives change as they accept the restored gospel and come closer to the Savior Jesus Christ. I feel like we saw a lot of that here this week, and it made me quite excited! On Saturday, a medical student named Eric (from Cameroon) was baptized! It was an incredible experience to watch his friend Evalday (from Ghana) baptize him. The Spirit was so strong as members and investigators from at least three other countries gathered to take part in this sacred ordinance. The Ukrainian members of the branch especially got fired up about the baptism - it very much rekindled their enthusiasm for missionary work, and yesterday at church there were more people in attendance than I have seen for a while. It was especially touching to listen to Eric bear his testimony after his baptism - he said it in French, which was then translated by Evalday into English, ...