June 17, 2013 -- The Blessing of Heaven

There are moments in my life when I almost feel overwhelmed by the amount of blessings God is pouring out on me, and I only pray that I can be worthy of them. This week was one of those times. Of course, there were those moments of intense opposition that cause you to wonder where to even go from that point, but those were far outweighed by the bountiful manifestations of the Lord's hand.

This Tuseday we were able to have a first lesson with a woman named Tanya. Sister Burgoyne and I had met her in a miraculous manner in an underground crosswalk a few weeks ago, and as we talked this week she expressed to us how much she loves what she has read so far in the Book of Mormon. We talked about the power of the Book of Mormon and the worth of our message, and it was evident that she was interested. She accepted our invitation to baptism on 6 July, and together we filled out a calendar outlining what she would need to do to prepare for her baptism. Sister Esplin and I left that lesson slightly shocked and completely overjoyed. A couple days later we had another lesson with her, and she really loved the story of Joseph Smith. It was really exciting to see how the Lord has prepared this woman to accept baptism. I was excited when she expressed to us that she knows that the opposition that has come into her life in the past few days is from the adversary who doesn't want her to come closer to God. It's always reassuring when they are able to see that the opposition is not a sign that they should stop meeting with us, but rather that they need to continuing progressing now more than ever. 

On Wednesday Vika told us that she wants to prepare for baptism on 16 July! I love her so much, and I pray with all my heart that she will be able to prepare for and be baptized on that date. She is so sincere in her search for truth, and I am so grateful to be able to be a part of the process of teaching her. 

On Thursday we went out to Sevastopol to meet with a woman named Lina. She had meet two or three years ago with missionaries there and knew right from the start that this church was true. She loves the Book of Mormon, and she still vividly remembers the feelings she had when she first heard the story of Joseph Smith. I'm not entirely sure why she lost contact with the church for a couple weeks, but she is very excited to be back. On the lesson, she told us that she would get baptized that very day, but that she didn't know very much yet. We promised we would help her learn everything she needed to, and we set a baptismal date for 20 July. Again, I was just amazed to see how God has been preparing people for baptism, just like He promised in our missionary call letter that He would do. I pray I can be the missionary I need to be in order to help these wonderful daughters of God enter the waters of baptism. 

This week we were also able to do a lot of service for church members, ranging from cherry-harvesting to cleaning to helping our branch president's family move. I have to say, the six full-time missionaries, President and Sister Solodovnik and their son Pasha made quite the sight as we carried boxes, bags, and other such moving-implements the five-minute walk between their old and new apartments. The neighbors found it quite amusing as we came back and forth several times laden with the contents of the Solodovniks' apartment. I really love that family, and I'm really glad we had the opportunity to serve them and spend time with them. 

At English practice on Friday we talked about poetry, and it was the best ever! I had the delight of quoting Robert Frost and analyzing his works with my class. And the best part was at the end where everybody wrote a poem. I was astounded by the quality of poetry that my students produced! Poetry is hard enough to write in your native language, let alone in a foreign tongue. But each of them did an incredible job and inspired us and made us laugh by turns as they read their works for the class. There are few things in this world more fulfilling than creating something, and I think we were able to share that with our students on Friday night.

I want you all to know that I know that Christ lives. He truly is our Savior and Redeemer, and He stands at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am so grateful for His love and for His great atoning sacrifice. Through Him we truly can find peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come. He lives!

- Sister Nay