Happy
P-day! I have some really good news, I finally found my tights, they
were in a box on the balcony, I'm not sure how they got there, but I'm
glad I found them. In not so good news, I had to use them because it is
so cold here! Winter is coming super quickly!
Cold weather!!!
In
other good news, Saturday was September 27th! MY 18th MONTH MARK! :) I
can't even believe it! :) It was a really good day... I'll tell you all
about it! :)
Elder Grochmal, Sister Lee and I
celebrating 18 months after the baptism :)
Overall,
this week was super good! I just can't believe how fast everything is
coming to an end. The days are flying by super fast. Anytime that I am
with the members, they ask me what I will do when I get home and what I
will miss and what I am excited to see. It's freaking me out! But it's
so good! Last week, I did some shopping and got some books in Russian,
including Pushkin stories and the Hunger Games in russian! I had to hide
them away in my suitcase so that I wouldn't be tempted to read them :)
Me and kitten :)
I
can't believe that I have been on my mission for 18 months. It's so
weird how time flies so quickly, I seriously feel like I have only been a
missionary for maybe 6 or 8 months. But it's already been so much
longer. Right now, I am reading the Book of Mormon and trying to finish
it before I go home. Right now, I am in Alma and on Saturday, I read
Alma 26, where Ammon talks about his missionary service. That chapter
hit me so strongly and I reflected on my missionary service. Just like
Ammon, I was filled with gratitude to God for all the amazing
opportunities that I have had on my mission and all the lessons that I
have learned and for the person that God has helped me become. As I
thought about the last few weeks that I have left, I thought of a soccer
analogy. You know how in soccer, they play for the regulation 90
minutes, and then after that time ends, they have the added time, or
bonus time? I feel like right now, I have entered that bonus time! In
all the soccer games that I have seen, the players always give
everything that they have during that last time, and they play their
best defense and offense. Teams oftentimes score and have great plays
during those last few minutes. And it is the same for me! This is the
last few "minutes", the last sprint to the end. I know that the Lord
still has work for me to do here, and together we make an unstoppable
team! So it's just time to give everything that I have, to work as hard
as I can, and to do all that I can to help the Lord's work progress here
in Ukraine! It's a great time to be a missionary! :)
As
I read Alma 26, I was really touched verse 16, where it says, "I cannot
say the smallest part which I feel". I thought of moments on my
mission, where I have learned something or felt the Spirit super
strongly, and then no matter how hard I try, I can't write about it or
talk about it in a way that does it justice. Ammon felt that same way!
And as I reflected on that, I realized that these feelings can't be
described because they aren't earthly feelings. When we feel the Spirit
so strongly or we are taught through revelation, those are heavenly
feelings that we are feeling. The natural man doesn't understand those
feelings and using our limited earthly knowledge, we can't explain how
we are feeling. We are so lucky that we can still experience those
feelings from time to time, as we work on becoming those heavenly
creatures.
I
had a moment this week, where I felt some of those feelings. On
Saturday, we took Sergey with us to a baptism. Before the baptism, we
took him out to eat with a senior couple (the MacLeods) and they did a
great job telling him about how they came to the church and learned
about the gospel. He was so shocked that they had 30 grandchildren :)
haha. Then after lunch, we went to the baptism. There was a lot of
missionaries there, which Sergey loved. He wants to serve a mission, so
he always asks why missionaries chose to serve and why they are members
of this church. But the best part was the actual baptism. The spirit was
so strong. After the closing prayer, I leaned over to Sergey and asked
him how he was feeling right at that very moment. He said that he felt
peaceful, and I told him, 'that is the Holy Ghost speaking to you". and
then I asked him about baptism, and he said that he thinks that he will
be baptized!!!!!!!!!!! Right now he is praying to know if he should be
baptized on the 11th of October. That happens to be my last Saturday in
Ukraine, so that would be ideal :) I hope he receives that answer, but I
know that the Lord has His plan for Sergey, so whatever happens will be
great :)
As
I was reading the Book of Mormon this week, I made a really cool
connection. As I was studying more about discipleship, I noticed a
pattern in the Book of Mormon, where anytime that someone comes to know
and understand the Atonement, they start immediately to share the
gospel. And they share it forever, with all their heart and strength.
You can see it all over the Book of Mormon (for example- Alma the
Younger (Alma 36:24) , King Lamoni (Alma 19:31), King Lamoni's father
(Alma 22:23), Alma the Elder (Mosiah 18:1) and more!) Once they repent
and use the Atonement, they can't help but share the gospel. It talks
about that same thing in Preach My Gospel when it says that, "As your
understanding of the Atonement increases, your desire to share the
gospel will increase". I realized that if I want to be a better
missionary, I need to constantly increase my understanding of the
Atonement and apply the Atonement in my life. If I want the members to
share the gospel, I need to help them understand and apply the
Atonement. I feel like so many Saints have a knowledge of the Atonement,
but we don't use it in our lives as much as we could! I feel like there
is so much power from the Atonement that the vast majority of members
don't know how to use. Alma talks about how the knowledge of the
Atonement helped him to endure through all his trials. He must have
relied on the power of the Atonement while watching the women and
children burn, while praying for his son to repent, while watching the
people harden their hearts and fall away. I learned that I can
absolutely rely on the power of the Atonement to overcome my trials and
hard times. I want to more fully apply the power of the Atonement me, to
strengthen me beyond my own strength. And I want to help the people
here understand that power as well!
I watched part of the Women's Meeting, It was super good! I felt so much sisterhood love ;)
Darn
it, I had more that I wanted to say, but we are being told we have to
leave :( Oh well, I'll tell you it all soon enough! :)
I LOVE YOU! Don't forget to watch general conference this week! Especially Saturday Afternoon, :) :) :) :)
Love,
Sister Kati Ford
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