What a fabulous week in Sevastopol! We started off with a family home evening with some members, natalia and youlia, and they invited some of their friends! oh i was so happy...we're really trying to help our members feel the joy of missionary work. I understand it's tough...i wasn't very good at being a member missionary before i left, so I'm in no place to judge...but i think once they experience it a little bit, they'll get addicted :)
We got this contact from church headquarters of this family that was in salt lake city...that they were really interested and wanted a book of mormon...ya hoo! well we finally got a hold of them and met the dad at his work...he ended up being the owner of this huge wine company...like big man rich guy..SO weird and different from what we're used to! He's read the Koran and a few other religious books and is anxious to read the book of mormon...i can't believe it! at the same time though, reading it without prayer is like showering without soap...We told him this, but we'll see. He said, "Ya know, you people have a real light about you...i can see it shining through your eyes." I'm glad I flipped my switch on that morning :)
Life is exciting with opposite extremes! We go from probably the wealthiest man in sevastopol to this run down dacha (a little house, not apartment, in the hills or out of the city) that hasn't been cleaned or taken care of for a billion years...but this is where our investigators mama lives. Irina, Oksana and Rosa...i think i mentioned them... but they really needed some help at the dacha on Saturday. I can't even describe this place...they kept on saying to us "Are you sure you want to come? You'll be scared!" Food everywhere, bugs and spideys everywhere, cats and dogs everywhere, and the cherry on top is a crazy drunk guy you lives there with the babyshka. So we tackled it! It was hilarious..Irina is SO ADHD and just talks and talks and starts doing 15 projects at once, Oksanas answer to everything we find is to throw it in the fire (that's how they get rid of garbage here...huge bonfires), and Cectpa K is fabulous, but such a girl. Babyshka was at the renok (market) and drunk man was drunk. So here i am, looking at this masterpiece of a dacha...and i remember back to costa rica construction, new zealand building, hugo...and have at it. We tore everything out of one of the rooms - carpet, furniture, the weirdest odds and ends, MASSIVE spideys! I was mixing some plaster and I felt what I thought was a hair on my neck...nope I pull out a spider as big as the palm of my hand from my shirt...ughhhhhhhh! But we scraped down the parts that were falling off the wall, repaired the holes, painted, (in the meantime oksana was burning everything we found...oh it was sooo funny :) Huge job but I loved it...even better, we were able to show irina and oksana they kind of people that we really are. They agreed to let little rosa spend time with us (she's 12) SHE IS INCRDIBLE! She came to our appt having read Alma 32 plus another 3 or 4 chapters...she marked the parts she liked and underlined what she didn't understand. We taught the plan of salvation...she asked questions like "So what if my dad, my mom, and me are all in different kingdoms? How can we be happy together?" She's a mature and smart girl...she really thinks about her life and her future and i know she will be a angel for her family. She already prays before every meal, tests in school..morning and night...she sets up her own appts with us...she loves the book of mormon and said when we asked her if she reads the bible, "Why? I have this!" She is just a breath of fresh air...she hasn't been affected by the filth of the world yet, shes open minded and strong...she's confident and smart...i am just beaming just thinking about her :)
We had family night with Ena (eena) last night with her two daughters and she invited her friend...so fun and lighthearted...we're here to bring together families! I hope she can she beyond our kind faces and god messages though and realize that this is her and her family's eternity!
Era. I'm learning a lot about her every day. She still smokes and I understand it's so hard to quit, but she won't try or accept help from us. She gets caught up in the complexity of the gospel, which does in fact exist if you see through the simplicity. She want's to understand everything, when we don't understand everything...faith would be pushed by the wayside if we understood and had proof for everything. We try and try to help her, but we can't break down her iron wall. I think we have to tell her she can't be baptized...we could continue to push back her date, but what would that be saying about these commandments and commitments that she isn't keeping? That we have all the time in the world to figure them out? It breaks my heart...Satan has such a hold on some of the people here that they can't even step back and examine their lives. My prayers for her will only be stronger and our effort will only be more...maybe telling her this will help her make some changes in her life.
Slavik (our baptism here) moved back to Hercon to the orphanage...he said that everyone there is giving him such a hard time and saying that he "joined some cult"...I hate satan. I hope he trips and falls and has a bad day. Aleksandra, the women who helped him, wants to take him to russia with her...we'll see.
Natalia, Sasha and Vladimir (that little miracle family we found) are moving to Russia. Slap in the face for us! It's better for Sasha there I guess...probably for his surgery or something...to tell you the truth, they are far from joining the church...but step by step...Natalia hasn't drunk for 2 weeks already...that's our miracle :)
Our Bransh President here is incredible...such a strong, hard-working christlike man...he's only been a member for 1 year. The Lord prepares people to be leaders! His son is the spitting image of Johnny...he's darker, but the same face, hair, body build, character...its crazy....
The weather is STILL warm! I wore a t-shirt and capris today... we went to фиолен (fiolen) so pretty... there are about 450 stairs down to a beautiful rocky beach...I love the black sea...i fell in it today...oops. haha...I was trying to block the elders from seeing the naked lady...haha....
MIssionary work...hmmm...you know I've made some goals for when I get home. I understand that I'm in the thick of the work right now and I love it, but keeping it alive and running is the key. It's acually our covenant with God. In Mosiah 18 it talks about our baptismal covenant...it's basically to represent God and help people that need it always...we made that covenant. So my goals are to be a ridiculously good visiting teacher...one on one service to gods children..thats how Christ did it, thats where miracles lie! Another one is to actually invite those people that I THINK about inviting to church or FHE or activities or whatever...thoughts are useless...actions are where the miracles lie! Another one is to seek out the broken hearted at church...I was reading to sermon on the mount yesterday and Christ himself lays it out...what benefit does it do to love your friends that already love you...to support your group that already support you? Seek out the little guys...thats where the miracles lie! So visiting teaching, inviting, and seeking out the broken hearted. Couple that with sharing what Christ shared and doing my best to be like Him... I think I might be able to keep the flame burning :) I'm trying my bestest to live by this now...I think our branch would really benfit from home/visting teaching...they don't want to do it...yet... :)
The gospel is true...the work is hard...it should be. because the reward is great! Have a happy happy happty holloweenie... send me pics! love you all so much... i hope you're all working hard...staying strong...sharing what you know. I'm bad at using words, but just pretent like I gave you all a massive bear hug...all better :)
love cectpa jonesy
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