We
decided to brave the mosquitoes and walk through the forest. We bought
some Deep Woods Off at the store last week and put it to the test. I
only have two new bites so that's pretty good. We went right instead of
left into the forest and after 30 minutes decided to keep going
straight thinking we'd eventually run into our street again. We did run
into a street eventually, but after a couple of miles on the street,
realized it wasn't the street we thought it was. Evidently, the path in
the forest really went in an unknown diagonal direction and spit us out
on the complete other side of town. Two hours later we were safe at
home with tired legs and very dirty feet. "Adventure!"
We have had an interesting week. We have been able to
teach with the missionaries on several occasions with very different
experiences. We met with one 19-year old girl and watched the "Together
Forever" DVD. She was very touched. We asked her if she would say the
closing prayer, and she was too emotional to respond. It's interesting
to see how things affect people differently. Families are evidently
very important to her. We have actually met with her on several
occasions, but this is the first time she has shown any emotion. We'll
have to see how her interest continues. Another meeting we had was with
a 27-year old man who is the only surviving member of his family.
Sadly, this is not an uncommon thing here. He has desires for a family
so that his ancestral line continues but is afraid that he is getting
used to being alone. He has definite philosophies about God, and if we
can get him to recognize the truth of the restored gospel, he would be a
firm believer. He is the first person we have ever met with who
doesn't believe he needs God's mercy or forgiveness. He takes complete
responsibility for his actions and doesn't want God to forgive him.
What do you say to that? He continues to come to church and to meet
with the missionaries. Another of our investigators has never prayed in
his life and rejects our invitations to pray. He wants to wait until
he knows in his mind and his heart together that God is real. He has
met with missionaries off and on for five years, and we think the reason
he doesn't want to pray is that he's afraid he'll learn what he's been
taught is true and that he will have to change his life which he is not
wanting to do yet. We continually pray that the Lord will help us to
invite the Spirit into these people's lives. Our mission president
reminds us that our success is not through baptisms; it is helping
people to feel the Spirit. We definitely can see the wisdom in that and
have felt the Spirit witness itself on many occasions.
As for our cultural tidbits of the week, it is
getting light around 4 a.m. now. I haven't got to the point of wearing
night goggles yet, but I definitely am using earplugs to try and drown
out the birds chirping. We survived our week without hot water.
Apparently, in the Spring and just before Fall, they do something to
maintain the water pipes which results in a loss of hot water. Our
friends said there was a notice posted outside the building...a lot of
good that's going to do us!! Needless to say, our showers were very
fast and involved some whooping and hollering! I heated water on the
stove to do dishes and to wash my hair. Just like camping!! But we
can't complain knowing there are missionaries around the world who
probably never have hot water.
The Relief Society planned to have an "academia" at
our house this week. That's what they call their monthly activity. We
were going to make a traditional Russian calzone-type recipe, and each
sister was assigned to bring an ingredient. Elder Peterson went to
Sports Night, and I stayed home to host the sisters. Our
English-speaking members (a mom and her daughter) came and brought their
boiled potatoes, another sister came with makings for a Russian salad,
and one other sister came and left within the first 30 minutes because
she had to go home to take her medicine. After an hour had passed and
no one else showed up, we decided to eat what we had. Sister Valyentina
made her salad, I had made a fruit salad and brownies, the investigator
who came mixed the potatoes with an egg, dipped it in flour, and fried
them into potato pancakes. The five of us enjoyed our little feast:)
We continue to learn and grow. Some days we wonder
if we learn anything or are just withering away, but we recognize the
Lord's blessings every day and know he is blessing us, our family, those
with whom we serve, and others beyond our reach whom we might not even
be aware of.
1. Toliatti Zone Conference
2. Toliatti District Conference
