Hi everybody,
This week was transfer week, and I have a new companion! It was weird
saying good-bye to Sister Watts, and I couldn't really imagine having
anybody else as a companion, but it happened. We had several lessons
with members and took lots of pictures, and then on Wednesday, we woke up early in the morning to catch a 6:20 bus that took us to Artyom, where missionaries were all over trying to find their new companions. I saw Sister Brayton, said see ya later to Sister Watts and Sister Allen (Sister Watts's new companion, and she's finishing her training, and they're in Ussurisk), and met Sister Clark and picked up my new companion, Sister Isaac. We had another bus ride back to Nakhodka, and then we went straight to work!
Sister Isaac is so fun and unique. She's definitely different from
Sister Watts, and I love them both for different reasons. I'm so glad
that I had Sister Watts as my trainer, and I learned so much from her
about dedication and obedience and putting 100% in, and now that
Sister Isaac's here, I'm learning how to rely on each other and also
rely on the Lord. She is only a transfer older than I am, and we
actually met in the MTC. She's from Bountiful, Utah, and has a
brother serving in Japan. We both don't really know what we're doing
because we're so new, but we just laugh and do our best and talk A LOT
about what we think is going on. We're taking what comes and making
mistakes and just rolling with it, and somehow we see miracles.
When we got into Nakhodka on Wednesday, we took Sister Isaac's luggage to our apartment, ate lunch, and headed off to a lesson. Sister Isaac has no idea where we're going or who the people are here, so I'm in charge of leading and planning, and of course I got us on the wrong
bus. Thankfully, everything worked out, but we can already tell that
we're going to have a good time together figuring out how to survive
in Russia.
We had a lesson with Repeat, and something's changed with her. She's
been meeting with the senior couple in Nakhodka often, and this week
she said she's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know
that Joseph Smith is a prophet. She hasn't received an answer yet,
but she tells us that "Moscow wasn't built all at once." We also
walked with her to church yesterday (after giving her a back massage).
The Brintons were in Nakhodka yesterday, and we had amazing church
attendance. (Owl came, so she's still on track to be baptized on the
4th.) We're so excited for Repeat and pray that she receives an
answer to her prayers soon and that she gains a desire to be baptized.
Another night Sister Isaac and I visited an address that Sister Watts
and I visited many times without success (except for one time when the
grandma let us in and we had a short lesson), but this time the
granddaughter was there who's eighteen, and we talked with her and two of her friends. We had an amazing lesson on the Restoration. They
were all interested in what we had to say and had lots of questions
for us. They asked us for our number and said they would try to come
to English practice on Tuesday. They all became new investigators and
were super nice and friendly, and we can't wait to see them again.
Then we had a miracle this weekend. Sister Isaac and I were eating
dinner at the church on Friday night while someone was helping us with passport stuff, and that was when Institute class is. Red (one of the members) came in and talked with us and said she wanted us to have a lesson with her daughters. Their father is more open to baptism now (before he was against it and wouldn't give permission), but the two girls have been going to this different church and had some doubts and weren't sure if they wanted to be baptized. We set up a lesson for
the next day, and we talked about the plan of salvation and all the
blessings that come from being baptized. It was an AWESOME lesson,
definitely guided by the Spirit, and we extended the invitation to be
baptized, and now they have baptismal dates for April 25th. We're so
grateful to have front-row seats to the miracles God is working here
in Russia.
Happy spring to all, and have a great week!
Сестра Спрингер
This week was transfer week, and I have a new companion! It was weird
saying good-bye to Sister Watts, and I couldn't really imagine having
anybody else as a companion, but it happened. We had several lessons
with members and took lots of pictures, and then on Wednesday, we woke up early in the morning to catch a 6:20 bus that took us to Artyom, where missionaries were all over trying to find their new companions. I saw Sister Brayton, said see ya later to Sister Watts and Sister Allen (Sister Watts's new companion, and she's finishing her training, and they're in Ussurisk), and met Sister Clark and picked up my new companion, Sister Isaac. We had another bus ride back to Nakhodka, and then we went straight to work!
Sister Isaac is so fun and unique. She's definitely different from
Sister Watts, and I love them both for different reasons. I'm so glad
that I had Sister Watts as my trainer, and I learned so much from her
about dedication and obedience and putting 100% in, and now that
Sister Isaac's here, I'm learning how to rely on each other and also
rely on the Lord. She is only a transfer older than I am, and we
actually met in the MTC. She's from Bountiful, Utah, and has a
brother serving in Japan. We both don't really know what we're doing
because we're so new, but we just laugh and do our best and talk A LOT
about what we think is going on. We're taking what comes and making
mistakes and just rolling with it, and somehow we see miracles.
When we got into Nakhodka on Wednesday, we took Sister Isaac's luggage to our apartment, ate lunch, and headed off to a lesson. Sister Isaac has no idea where we're going or who the people are here, so I'm in charge of leading and planning, and of course I got us on the wrong
bus. Thankfully, everything worked out, but we can already tell that
we're going to have a good time together figuring out how to survive
in Russia.
We had a lesson with Repeat, and something's changed with her. She's
been meeting with the senior couple in Nakhodka often, and this week
she said she's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know
that Joseph Smith is a prophet. She hasn't received an answer yet,
but she tells us that "Moscow wasn't built all at once." We also
walked with her to church yesterday (after giving her a back massage).
The Brintons were in Nakhodka yesterday, and we had amazing church
attendance. (Owl came, so she's still on track to be baptized on the
4th.) We're so excited for Repeat and pray that she receives an
answer to her prayers soon and that she gains a desire to be baptized.
Another night Sister Isaac and I visited an address that Sister Watts
and I visited many times without success (except for one time when the
grandma let us in and we had a short lesson), but this time the
granddaughter was there who's eighteen, and we talked with her and two of her friends. We had an amazing lesson on the Restoration. They
were all interested in what we had to say and had lots of questions
for us. They asked us for our number and said they would try to come
to English practice on Tuesday. They all became new investigators and
were super nice and friendly, and we can't wait to see them again.
Then we had a miracle this weekend. Sister Isaac and I were eating
dinner at the church on Friday night while someone was helping us with passport stuff, and that was when Institute class is. Red (one of the members) came in and talked with us and said she wanted us to have a lesson with her daughters. Their father is more open to baptism now (before he was against it and wouldn't give permission), but the two girls have been going to this different church and had some doubts and weren't sure if they wanted to be baptized. We set up a lesson for
the next day, and we talked about the plan of salvation and all the
blessings that come from being baptized. It was an AWESOME lesson,
definitely guided by the Spirit, and we extended the invitation to be
baptized, and now they have baptismal dates for April 25th. We're so
grateful to have front-row seats to the miracles God is working here
in Russia.
Happy spring to all, and have a great week!
Сестра Спрингер