Book of Mormon Miracles

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 studies and lunch, we headed out to the park, the place we'd both felt a strong impression to contact. Almost as soon as we entered the park, we met two young woman. We began talking with them and it turned out that they are English teachers here in Simferopol. They were both very excited to take copies of the Book of Mormon and we set up a time to meet with them again. All four of us talked about how it was very apparent that this was not a coincidence that we met in the park, and it made me happy when one of the girls told us, "I have a feeling that we will become very good friends." I am also of that opinion. I love those two girls (Anya and Gegoosh) so much, and I really feel that someday they're going to join the church. After we finished that conversation, we continued on and talked to more people. In a few minutes, we met a mother with a young boy. And she wanted to read the Book of Mormon! Shortly after that, we met a grandmother with her grandson who also wanted to read the book! By that point, we had to run back home to get some more copies of the Book of Mormon. And as we headed back to the park, we met a mother of three who also accepted a Book of Mormon. And the miracles continued like that all day! One of my favorites was when we felt like we should go over by this wedding party in the park and talk to a grandfather with his grandchildren. He was very kind and also took a Book of Mormon. As we walked away from that conversation, we heard running footsteps behind us. A young man caught up with us and said, "Hey, you just gave my friend a book - can I have one, too?" So we explained the Book of Mormon to him as well, and he joyfully accepted a copy. I honestly have never in my life seen so many people so eager to accept the Book of Mormon - it was an incredible witness to me of the power of the Spirit when you testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. A couple of the other miracles we saw include running into a former investigator and a man we'd met a while ago who has been reading the Book of Mormon but gave us an incorrect phone number by accident.   

Saturday evening we had three lessons scheduled, and Reginald, one of the recent converts, had agreed to come with us on all of them. (When we called him the night before, we explained that we know he's a busy student and we didn't want to take a lot of his time, but that if he could come on a lesson or two, we'd be delighted. "Oh, I can come on all three!" was the heart-warming reply of this stalwart young man. So we ended up not giving his friend Tongai a chance that night to be on our lessons, but next time. I mean, you just can't say no to a recent convert who is on fire with the gospel and wants to spend his entire evening with the missionaries, can you? ;) ) Our first lesson ended up falling through, which was sad, but after the next lesson, we ran into one of Reginald's friends and started talking with him. And we ended up having a lesson with him right then and there! That was a tender mercy that we were able to meet that goal, even if it was in a different way than we expected. Reginald did an incredible job on those lessons! His testimony is so inspiring, and his conversion story is awe-inspiring. He's a reminder to me that God is truly working with and preparing His children to receive the restored gospel.

By the time we returned home Saturday, we had distributed 12 copies of the Book of Mormon!! I've definitely never seen that happen in one day before. And probably not even in an entire week. God truly knows and loves all of His children. He is looking out for them, and He is directing missionaries to them so that they can receive the joy of the restored gospel. I'm so grateful for His mercy! I know He loves the people of Ukraine even more than I do, and He wants them to accept this message even more than I do. I'm so grateful for the goodness of God that helped us not only to meet that challenge of our mission president, but allowed 12 more of His children to gain access to the book that will change their lives. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I love that book so much, and I know that we truly can come closer to God as we read and apply the teachings written there. I am so grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary and share the truth that I love so much with these people who are so dear to me.

-Sharisa