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Wow, it's been a really busy week!! Ever since our mission has launched Facebook advertising, we have had lessons left and right. Most of the lessons are at the request of doing English practice, but as we end each practice with a spiritual thought, great success has come!! We have been able to grasp the interest of a few people insomuch that they have wanted a Book of Mormon!! We have met up and handed out three!! It's been so long since we have been able to go out and give a Book of Mormon to someone, and the feeling was so surreal! We have honestly been meeting with and having amazing lessons with amazing people recently.
So, it's pretty crazy over here, about every single store has opened back up, the number of people on the streets has drastically increased, and people walking around with masks has been decreasing. Interesting stuff! I am starting to see what Sumy looks like more alive. The trees have all turned green and it looks so pretty, and the weather has for sure been warming up.
I finally no longer sit freezing in our apartment haha. And a little fun fact, this is our 10th week of quarantine here in Ukraine!! Wooo!! The quarantine is supposed to completely "lift" (I say it like "lift" because people are already acting like it's lifted) on the 22nd! Aside from that, transfers also came!! Elder Olsen and I will be remaining here!
I finally no longer sit freezing in our apartment haha. And a little fun fact, this is our 10th week of quarantine here in Ukraine!! Wooo!! The quarantine is supposed to completely "lift" (I say it like "lift" because people are already acting like it's lifted) on the 22nd! Aside from that, transfers also came!! Elder Olsen and I will be remaining here!
Fun little story from the week! We tried to meet the Sisters at our senior couples apartment since they are out of the country. It's way nice and in the middle of both of us. We walked there, and it began to rain down on us. We finally got to the apartment, which was still a 30 min walk. When we get there, the key doesn't work for the door! We assume we may have the wrong door and start trying other ones. Well, that quickly turned into an attempted breaking-and-entering-looking kinda scene!! Two people stepped out from their apartment as we attempted to open up their door!! That was fun to explain!! 😂 In short... we never found the right apartment. Well, we found the apartment that the neighbors told us it was supposed to be, but the keys wouldn't work. We ended up finally giving up and moving the meeting to the Sisters' apartment. The next day my thighs were hurting from walking up and down the apartment stairs like 10 times, trying to find the right door 😂. I gotta start working out more lol.
Aside from that, a bird flew into the sisters apartment later that week. The best part is she had her head out the window when it all went down, letting out a spider, and didn't even see as the bird flew over her head into the apartment. The video was pretty hysterical 😂. If you can get a hold of the video, I would suggest you watch. Sister Olson was the G.O.A.T. and grabbed it in a towel and let it out. AYOOOO 😂.
We, also, bought some shrimp this week in Hope's to have some shrimp pasta!! I opened the bag and the shrimp were all still in once piece. Tail, shell, brains, eyes, legs, more legs. I had to dissect them. By the time I watched myself pull the brain from the body, I decided it was a good time to abort the idea of shrimp pasta lol. The birds seemed to like the shrimp though!!
Also, we finally took the time to finish this puzzle!! It had been sitting on the table for a while, so we just went ahead and tackled it Haha.
And lastly, I had another exchange with Elder Wilson, our other Zone Leader!! It was so great!! We discussed faith a lot, which is about what I even want to share with you guys today!!
Aside from that, a bird flew into the sisters apartment later that week. The best part is she had her head out the window when it all went down, letting out a spider, and didn't even see as the bird flew over her head into the apartment. The video was pretty hysterical 😂. If you can get a hold of the video, I would suggest you watch. Sister Olson was the G.O.A.T. and grabbed it in a towel and let it out. AYOOOO 😂.
We, also, bought some shrimp this week in Hope's to have some shrimp pasta!! I opened the bag and the shrimp were all still in once piece. Tail, shell, brains, eyes, legs, more legs. I had to dissect them. By the time I watched myself pull the brain from the body, I decided it was a good time to abort the idea of shrimp pasta lol. The birds seemed to like the shrimp though!!
Also, we finally took the time to finish this puzzle!! It had been sitting on the table for a while, so we just went ahead and tackled it Haha.
And lastly, I had another exchange with Elder Wilson, our other Zone Leader!! It was so great!! We discussed faith a lot, which is about what I even want to share with you guys today!!
I want to start of with some brief scriptures from my studies. To start, I have selected a few scriptures from Doctrine and Covenants 63 Versus 7 through 12. They read as follows...
7 And he that seeketh signs shall see signs, but not unto salvation.
8 Verily, I say unto you, there are those among you who seek signs, and there have been such even from the beginning;
9 But, behold, faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe.
10 Yea, signs come by faith, not by the will of men, nor as they please, but by the will of God.
11 Yea, signs come by faith, unto mighty works, for without faith no man pleaseth God; and with whom God is angry he is not well pleased; wherefore, unto such he showeth no signs, only in wrath unto their condemnation.
12 Wherefore, I, the Lord, am not pleased with those among you who have sought after signs and wonders for faith, and not for the good of men unto my glory.
As I read this, I quickly remembered Ether 12. If it were convenient, I would literally copy and paste that whole chapter into this email, but unfortunately I would lose all of you as soon as you scrolled down and saw that. HOWEVER, I strongly encourage you to find some time and go read that chapter, in relation to D&C 63:7-12. However, right here and now, I do hope to capture your attention in one verse from Ether 12...
6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.
Moroni continues by then listing out multiple occurrences where mighty prophets throughout the Book of Mormon were not given signs, witnesses, or miracles, until after their faith. I think that this is so important for us to understand in today's time. Whenever we want something, we want it at the snap of our finger. When we are being converted unto the gospel of Christ, we want that answer, that confirmation, that sign, given to us at the slightest of a snap. However, it doesn't work like this, has never worked like that, and will never work like that, so don't bargain on half-hearted prayers and studies, and then get upset that your answer doesn't come in the Amazon Prime overnight delivery package deal the very next day. These answers, or "packages," they come and they come in the Lord's own due time. Maybe the measure of our faith speeds up how quickly the Lord chooses to reward us, I don't know, but when he decides to continue to make us be patient and wait for those answers, that is when we have even more of a reason to hold on to our faith, even stronger than before. I know this is hard for us to deal with sometimes, especially at a time in which we are now experiencing, but I promise you those answers will come. Personally, I have been waiting on answers to certain things for the past 19 years, and they still haven't come. You would think that would make it tough for me to sit here and tell you they would then if I myself am still waiting after all this time, right? At first, I would have told you yes, that is impossible, but now, no, I tell you this with firmness, and more so, promise to you that answers will come. Through time, especially the time on my mission, my faith in such a subject has grown so much. If the Lord wants me to wait until the last day to receive answers to my questions, then so be it, because all things will be answered through the will of the Lord, and not through our own. I think the sooner we realize that the better. I am willing to sit through this life, on the principles of faith, hope, and charity, and allow that to be my bargain. We have all stepped through the veil and into this life, with faith. Although that may have been forgotten as we crossed over, it is still something we can find and still hold onto, knowing that on the other side of the veil, remains the hand of the Lord, as it always has and will. I ask that we have faith in that and to continue to have faith that those answers that we so strongly desire will come, but by our faith and good works.
Lastly, I want to share a quick story from my week. As I was packing my bag, getting ready to leave for the Sisters' apartment this week, I kept having this tiny little thought in my head that I needed to grab our last three pamphlets (pamphlets containing the first three lessons, The Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and Gospel of Jesus Christ). I disregarded the thought over and over and over again. I usually had always brought them around, but we have never since had the opportunity to hand them out since we aren't allowed to street contact yet. The thought continued to remain, and I gave in and went with it, grabbing the pamphlets and packing them away into my bag. We headed off to the Sisters' apartment for District Council, and the thought of the pamphlets left my mind. We arrived at the Sisters' (after all the commotion that I talked about earlier in the email), and conducted council. By the end of council, it had gotten pretty late and we were tired, so we decided to order a taxi and ride home. The taxi pulled up, we got in, and started off. Initially the man driving us was pretty silent, couldn't really get much out of him. We asked him questions about his life, and he just gave negative responses, saying he was unhappy. I would say, "I love this city, it's so pretty, all the trees are so green now." His response, "I don't like this place." My response back, "I do!! It's great!!" lol. We asked him what his goal in life was, he said he had none, and that his time for happiness had already come and gone. Midway into the ride, I had two thoughts jump into my head. The first thought, "Bring up the gospel." It was short and simple. The second thought, "Don't say anything about the gospel, he knows you're missionaries and he is dreading the idea that you guys might bring the gospel up any second and try to talk about it, don't do it." I withheld from saying anything, and then soon after, the Preach My Gospel section, "Talk with Everyone," shot into my head, along with the thought to again, "Talk to him about it." Right as the thought was telling me to say nothing came back to me, I disregarded it and started asking him questions about the Book or Mormon. We discussed it the duration of the ride home. As we came to a stop, he kept us in the car to keep talking for a little longer. I showed him a copy of the Book of Mormon, walked through a description of it, talked about Joseph Smith, how it works with the Bible, and so on. I then asked if he would like to take it. He explained that the book looked big and wouldn't have time to read it, and for that reason didn't want it. Immediately after he said, "If you have something shorter, like a brochure, I will take that and try to read those." Then and there was when the pamphlets I had put into my bag came into use. We gladly gave him all three, and he gladly accepted them and wrote down our number.
To pull from this story... To be honest with you all, I usually consider things to be "coincidences" rather than God given instances. However, I had no doubt that this was no coincidence. I know that little prompting to pick up those pamphlets and bring them with me was from God. It was a TINY thought, so small. I know that if we listen closely for the prompting of the Spirit, we can feel, hear, or witness them. Listening to that prompting was a sign of faith to God, in which a reward came. I realize that this was just a small little experience that I had, but as it's written In Alma 37:6 - "...but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass..." I don't know whether or not that man is going to have a burning desire to know more. I don't know if he is going to call our number or even end up reading those pamphlets. What I do know is I did what God wanted me to do and listened to his promoting. I do know that I can have faith for that man. And I do know, that if that man chooses to listen to the promptings of God as well, he will find the answers he needs, through faith. What he chooses to do is in his hands, just like us. I propose that we choose to have faith, act on that faith, and be patient, and only then will miracles and signs come upon us due to our faith. Focus on your faith, and God will do great things.
Now if you made it to this point in my letter, I congratulate you!! I know it was a little long!! But вот.
Love you all tons!! Have faith!!
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