Samara - Week 18 - "I'm grateful for a prophet"

December 1, 2014

All is well,

This is gonna be a really short letter! Sorry but today is going to be a crazy p-day :) got lots of errands to run!

This week we set TWO baptismal dates. WOW, and they are people that we have only recently been meeting with. One of them is L. While Sister Martinez and I were contacting this week we were getting into a really good conversation with a woman, then all of a sudden another woman came up and starting asking about who we were and what our books were about and we really thought it was a miracle that she was interested! Then to our disappointment I began to catch a familiar scent on her breath... yeah she was drunk. And the spirit totally left as she broke out into a broadway reinactment in front of us, singing at the top of her lungs. The first woman we were talking with excused herself and we tried to slowly break away from the drunk woman. We gave her a Book of Mormon and exchanged contact/telephone numbers and it seems to me that actually God delivered into our hands. Because we called her the next day, she was completely normal, and still wanted to meet with us. She's got A LOT of changes coming here way but it's going to make her life so sweet. Her name is L and she agreed to be baptized :) 

Also during church yesterday... I usually write down words that I can't understand, and then at night time I sit down and translate all of them. During sacrament meeting yesterday a member was talking to another member, one of them said that she's been feeling a little sick lately, and the other, who is an old grandmother replied to her and I guess said something offensive because the woman went running out of the room crying.... I got home and translated what the Grandmother said to make the member cry and she said, "Well maybe if you wouldn't gorge yourself with food all the time you wouldn't be so sick all the time!" Yikes... Sometimes Russians can be pretty brutal. 

First Presidency of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Meeting with a few of our investigators this week I just want to testify about how blessed we are that we have a living prophet. Some people really get confused by the scriptures and can't translate them correctly at all. Thanks to modern day prophets we don't have to read the scriptures and be completely confused all the time :) People who think that you LITERALLY have to be baptized 3 times by water, the spirit, and fire... people who don't understand that you have to have priesthood to do LIFE SAVING ordinances (for example I cannot baptize my companion!) I am grateful for prophets, otherwise we really would be tossed in the wind, wandering from one doctrine to another.

"Be Not Afraid" by Greg Olsen

I am grateful for my Savior and Redeemer. Sometimes I feel like I've dug myself a hole out here but time and time again my Redeemer has thrown a rope down into the pit and helps me out :) I have a testimony that if you do things that would make the Lord happy, it will make you happy :) I am so grateful for all the Lord has given to me, and because I have been given much I too must give. Therefore, I am in Russia.

Sorry this is so short! Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving :)

Sister Wilson

Questions about our modern day prophet?

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Samara - Week 17 - "The Greatest Miracle of All!"

Nov. 24, 2014

All is well,

I'll be spending another cycle down in lil Balakovo with my dear companion Sister Martinez. I'm excited to see who will be baptized this cycle, Heavenly Father has blessed us with a large teaching pool and I'm really anxious to see who he is preparing. Also on that note, the member Sv, who was baptized not to long ago, has actually been helping us on lessons. She's such a little fireball. She loves handing out invitations to people on the streets :) 

Sister Martinez and Sister Wilson eating their Thanksgiving dinner!

Oh man this week was full of the highest highs and the numbest numbs for me probably. My array of emotions has been pretty ridiculous here on the mission. However I am so grateful that I can always count on Christ when my mood goes down the toilet... he is my anchor and he is unwavering and unchanging. He always has a good mood, and he has overcome my bad mood, therefore I can rely on him to help me overcome my bad moods :)

Now for some miralces that we have seen. Most of them are pertaining to the members rather than investigators. At one point during the week all of our plans ending up falling through, however a member was still very persistant on being on the streets with us from 6-9:00. (Have I mentioned that our ward mission leader makes sure that the sisters in Balakovo are NEVER without a member from 6-9?) The member needed to take a bathrooom break so we called a member who lived nearby. When we walked in the door of the members house it became clear that we were not to come to her by coinsidence that night. She told us that she has nothing else to live for but pain and loneliness in her long 80 year old life. She is really losing sight of the point "enduring." She then pulled out of her closet a purse which contained the clothes that she wanted to be buried in. It sounded like she was thinking about ending her life short of what God wanted for her, and we spent the remainder of the night reading scriptures, praying, and lending comfort to our dear Babooshka. Heavenly Father is so mindful of his children. 

Saturday night we had a lesson with one of our dear sweet actives, E. She is married and has a child but the husband has always been against the church and refuses to let their son be baptized. Her husband's birthday was the very next day and it just so happened that we brought some famous american banana bread with us so we wished him a happy birthday with it :) On our lesson with E we focused on getting her back to church, so that she can take the sacrament and have the spirit with her throughout the week to lead and guide her and give her counsel according to the needs of her family. She came to church the next day with her little boy and texted us that night saying, "I have no idea why but my husband has agreed to come to sacrament meeting next week." She was overjoyed and so excited. She's been married to him about 7 or 8 years and that's the first time he's ever agreed to come to church. Heavenly Father is the master of changing hearts :) 

On the note of changing... I had an interview with President Schwab last week and he gave me some powerful insight...

When Jesus Christ lived on the earth every single miracle that he performed was the healing of something incurable. The deaf, the blind, the dead. But he mentioned that aside from all of that, the greatest miracle he has ever seen is the changing of a human heart. God is the one who made us, and truly only through him can we be changed.  

With another cycle here in little Balakovo I am really going to focus on giving it my all. I will love these members and strangers and investigators to death before I leave. I think Heavenly Father has seen my tendency to want to give up when I get "bored" or "tired"  he knows my tendency to give up when things get hard and he's not letting me back out! He really wants to transform such things into strengths. And that is what He wants to teach me right now; diligence :)

I wish you all a happy thanksgiving, and don't worry about me, I'm pretty sure Balakovo is one of the warmest cities in the mission right now, thankfully :)

with love,

Sister Wilson 

Samara - Week 16 - "You can't change your circumstances"

November 10, 2014

All is well :) 

....but I will be honest with you. I am getting a little bit tired. I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed, but it is okay, because that is helping me to rely on Christ. I am really learning what it means to rely on him when you have no more energy left both physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually. Know who is really good at helping me to conquer fears and doubts though? My dear companion. It's so good that we have companions. We work really well together in the fact that I will get a prompting and then immediately tell her, then when it comes down to actually doing it I am tempted to back out (embarrassing) and she says, "No let's do it!!" and you know what? We have seen SO many miracles by actually following through with such promptings. It really helps me when I just open my mouth and blurt out my promptings too, because I can't take back my words, she heard the prompting, and if I won't follow through with it, she will make sure we do :) 

We are seeing MIRACLES. And I have noticed so many of the times that Satan tries to drag us down right before they are about to happen, just like he did with our dear Joseph Smith. The most important part is that we end up following through with it in the end, just like he did. For example this week we had a 4 hour block for contacting, visiting less actives all along the way (oh how I love contacting! No sarcasm!) we focused the entire day on following promptings of the spirit, picking up our pace to talk to a woman, focusing on families (particularly women with stollers), and giving out church invitations. I feel that Heavenly Father gave us a confirmation that we were following through with HIS plans when we arrived at a less active's home and sadly... she wasn't home. We noticed her neighbors were standing outside their door though and we decided to talk to them instead, we asked if they knew the member and they said, "you mean her?" pointing behind us. We turned around and there was the less active :) our pathes crossed at just the right moment. She let us in her house and we invited her to start reading the Book of Mormon again. Well she invited us over last night, and she has been reading from the Book of Mormon! (I have to admit that I doubted that she would read, we just give out many commitments to people and they never follow them, how can I continue to have faith in these people? Actually that's right, I need to rely on Christ. That answers that question.) The less active, A., said that she read a verse she really liked about repentance. She knows that she needs to repent and the sad thing is that she is too afraid to face God, she doesn't feel worthy to pray. The ironic thing about repentance though and feeling worthy to pray... is that in order to recieve forgiveness you MUST pray. However let's remember that OUR Heavenly Father always has his arms open to us. Just like the story of the prodigal's son. 

This week I also learned a valuable lesson... there was a day during the week, early in the morning where we were waiting to receive permission to hold our planning session on another day, and we literally had NO other time to have it during the week, but we were still getting no calls or texts back. And because we weren't getting the permission we would have to go work outside contacting until we got permission. But I already knew what would happen, we'd take 10 minutes getting on all our gear... we'd be outside for 5 minutes, and then we'd get the "okay." I was getting very impatient with our system out here... and suddenly I turned into a child :) I couldn't stop complaining! You know what happened? We got all dressed up, and right as we were about to head out the door we got the permission text. Just like I knew would happen. I was beat red... I don't know what was with my mood that morning but my patience was at a zero. 

My companion and I sat down to plan, and she said to me, "Sister Wilson, can I be honest with you?" I already knew what she was going to say... "You have been complaining a lot today." I told her that I realized that and I was sincerely sorry for my sour attitude. I didn't want such an attitude! But it was definitely there. Then she said something that really changed my point of view, it hit me very hard. She told me, "On a mission, you don't have control over anything." She was completely right. This is time of our life Heavenly Father is literally completely in charge of our time, of our circumstances... I have heard that many times "You can't change your circumstances, but you can change your attitude." But I never understood it until now. We literally can't control whether our plans fall through, whether or not people will read the book of mormon, whether or not we will get permission to plan.... every single little thing is in the control of God. Once we understand that, once we trust him, we can have perspective in literally EVERYTHING. And that's what happened to me in that moment. I realized I didn't trust God! I was angry with my circumstances, when really I could have just put a smile on my face, said, "man this is silly, but I will be obedient, and I will be cheerful about it." I know God gave me that experience to choose whether or not I would take that situation and have a good attitude and laugh about it, or get frustrated and act like a big baby. Unfortunately I chose the latter... but I surely learned something from it :) and I am now putting my complaints on the table of sacrifice! I have realized that it is actually easier in the end not to complain at all. Complaints never make anything better anyway.

Also for those of you who have been praying that we will find a family... We found a family a little while ago, and we felt so blessed to have met them, a mother and a daughter and they were both SO interested. However when we tried to call them nothing worked out... their numbers didn't work. Well last night Sister Martinez and I were coming home from a lesson (and already late!) and we decided to run after a girl pushing a stroller. We gave her an invitation to church and told her to call us if she had any questions, we were about to start running home but she said, "actually I do have questions." We both turned around and then to our surprise we saw that it was the daughter that we'd met in the past. She is only 16 years old, but has a baby. She told us her daughter is blind, and I think she's got some questions for God right now :) She also told us that her number changed, but she is still interested in meeting us. We will be meeting with her today around 2 or 3 :) What a blessing! Thanks for all the prayers! I'll keep you updated.

Remember that we have a God of miracles!

Love you all :)

--Sister Brooklyn Wilson 

Samara - Week 15 - "See the Salvation of the Lord"

November 3, 2014

All is well,

This week was a little bit crazy. We didn't get to work in our area very much. But we had zone conference and it was wonderful :) President Klebingat (he spoke in general conference and is a VERY powerful speaker) came and spoke to us.

Elder Jörg Klebingat

Learn more about Elder Klebingat and read some of his recent talks HERE

At the end of the conference it was open to questions. I had a burning question in my heart so I raised my hand as quickly as I could :) "During planning we have impressions that we will baptize a certain amount of people in a cycle, we feel that these answers come from the spirit. If we are exercising faith and repenting, then why do we still fall short of those goals? Does that mean it is God's will, or does it mean we didn't exercise enough faith? What does it mean?" There were a few answers given (this doesn't just apply to missionaries setting goals, this applies to all). 

One answer: your goal was so good, it was pure, you had good intents, and God knew this. He confirmed your "goal" whether you would accomplish it or not, because he knew what you would accomplish in yourself while in the process. Goals push us to do things. He knew that goal would push us to be a better person, we would perfect ourselves in the process! Honestly God doesn't care that much about the end goal, he cares about what you do in order to reach it. 

The second answer: agency of others. Maybe that goal was really supposed to be so, we had every intention of accomplishing it. I think that God had the intent to help us accomplish it too. In fact, God's work and his glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. However, do you think that God is going to reach that goal? Sadly, the answer is no. He loves us so much, he wants that gift for every single human being. Salvation is free, but by using our free agency incorrectly we deny ourselves of that precious gift. Sometimes we also fall short, not because of God, but because of the actions of men. But don't let that get you down! Remember that God will never abandon you :) 

My companion and I studied Alma 37 today and were heavily impressed by the following verses. These scriptures are talking about the Liahona:

40 And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

 41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;

"if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, IT WAS DONE... nevertheless... they were slothful, and FORGOT to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey." How sad! All that they did was forget to exercise faith, and the marvelous works ceased. You know who wants us to forget? Satan. He uses forgetfulness as a weapon against us. He wants us to forget the feeling we get after we serve someone. He wants us to forget the joy that comes from self mastery as we are obedient to God's commandments. He wants us to forget that we need to rely on the Lord's power, not our own. He wants us to forget who we are. However, there is another source of power that counteracts Satan's influence, and that is the Holy Ghost. One of his roles is to help us remember. He gently reminds us who we are, and who Satan is. We will always have more power than Satan, we have a body! Who does he think he is anyways. 

Sister Martinez and I are doing wonderfully :) We're two happy peas in a pod, and we are working hard. And you know what? When we aren't, we recognize it, we repent, correct it, and move on. Repent and move on :)

We had made a goal to have 140 baptisms this year. I believe that we have about 60 baptisms left in the year. I want to share a small part of President's letter: 

"Satan knows what is about to happen and so do we! We have already far surpassed 2013's baptisms with two months still left to go. But to reach our mission's 2014 baptismal goal, every companionship will need to baptize two people by the end of the year. Can it be done? ABSOLUTELY!! We believe in a mighty "God of miracles" (Mormon 9:19) who created us and also worlds without number, who moves mountains, raises the dead and parts seas--who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. A God who "comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever" (Doctrine and Covenants 88:41). 

With two months and three days left until the end of the year, IT IS NOW "CRUNCH" TIME! It is time to give our very best, to work our hardest, to give everything we can! It is time to exercise even greater faith, to trust in God, and to cast out all doubts and fears. In a miraculous way, it is time for us, just as it was time for the Children of Israel standing before the Red Sea, to "fear not" and "see the salvation of the Lord" (Exodus 14:13). To those people, Moses said: "The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace" (Exodus 14:14)."

I love being here, I can't tell you how much I have seen myself grow. I am so uncomfortable all the time, I am being stretched. And it's good, because I am a natural man. And by being stretched, by going through some stress, I will be made perfect in the potter's hands. I trust my loving master. 

I love you all :) thanks for the support!

--Sister Brooklyn Wilson 

Samara - Week 14 - "Swallowed up in the Joy of Christ"

October 27, 2014

All is well,

Wow. I can't believe what can happen in one day on the mission. I feel like I gain an entire week's worth of experience in one day. 

We had our first snow in Russia. All I can say is that I really wish I would have worn a hat and mittens that day :) Everyone has been saying that there's never been such a cold October... and that it's going to be a very cold winter. However, I feel like people say that every year. 

This week while we were working with our amazing ward missionary leader, Zhenya, who is also one of my most beloved friends, he asked me, "Sister Wilson, have you seen Jurassic Park?" Of course I have... well Zhenya had a Jurassic Park dream, and said that everyone in his dream could stand still when the T-rex came marching around, everyone but me. I just couldn't stand still. I got a really good kick out of that :) 

ALSO, S. got baptized! It was an amazing day. Truly. The people at her baptism were Sister Martinez and I, the Elders, Zhenya, and another member. 7 people total. I actually think that the small crowd made it really special and personal for her. She was so nervous for the baptism, she's been worrying about it all week. Sister Martinez and I gave the talks. Mine was on the Holy Ghost, I read John 14:26, and as I was about to close I was prompted to read one more verse, verse 27: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. When I looked up at S. her eyes her filled with emotion and I know that it is because the Holy Ghost compelled me to read that scripture. He fulfilled his purpose as comforter, and Svetlana was filled with peace. And oh how happy she was after she was baptized! Just beaming. So clean :) A brand new beginning.

My companion and I have really been focusing on faith lately, and especially faith in Christ. At the beginning of this week every one of our possible plans fell through and we had a day of contacting. I don't know if it was the weather or what exactly it was... but people were being very onry with us that morning (actually they were being flat out rude to be honest). The day wasn't looking so bright. However, when we noticed that discouragement was beginning to sink in we decided to pray, and we prayed with faith in Christ, praying for and expecting to see a miracle. And not 3 minutes after that prayer we began to have success. We met 2 people who took Books of Mormon and want to meet with us again! Ol. and L. 

We had a return appointment with Ol. and had a small lesson about prayer, As we were about to leave her apartment she mentioned that her neighbor saw her Book of Mormon and he asked if Ol. knew where he could get one for himself. I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped, I thought that happened only happened in fairytales! (the funny thing is we met with another one of our investigators the next day and the exact same thing happened, she asked us for another Book of Mormon for her friend who is interested in reading it). And THEN the other day we called this woman, L., and she has already read 6 chapters from the Book of Mormon. Getting someone to read the Book of Mormon is not an easy thing, believe it or not. When people read the Book of Mormon on their own they are truly elect! People are becoming so interested in the gospel! 

This morning we read Alma 31:38

38 And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.

Those 2 people that we met that day have been so promising, we've continuted to see miracles through them. And it is because we prayed in faith. When we pray in faith our afflictions can be swallowed up in the joy of Christ, and oh how sweet is that joy! We were truly afflicted that day, our hearts were depressed and we were about to turn back, but we decided to pray with faith in Christ, and that made all the difference. 

I have a problem that's really not that big of a problem. Every night when I lay down to go to sleep I have the biggest smile on my face, I feel SO HAPPY. I am filled with the spirit as I lay down to go to sleep, I am filled with exceedingly GREAT joy, (the problem is that those emotions cause me to lay awake for 30 minutes because they're so magnificent haha) But why?! What have I done to deserve this? I can't believe the experiences we are having. I can't beileve the success we are seeing, and let me just say that it is NOT because of us. There is no way we could see these miracles on our own. We forget so many things, we are late a lot of the time, but our desires and intentions are so pure. And you know what? God sees those desires that we have and he runs with them! 

I came to an epiphany the other night while I was praying. The words of a talk came into my head, and I was reminded that God wants a servant, not a "great missionary" someone who wants to become a great missionary most likely wants the glory for himself. Someone who wants to be a servant wants to do what God wants done on earth. If God can trust us he can do AMAZING things with us, we literally become instruments in his hands. I want to share part of one of my favorite talks, it is called "The fourth missionary" :) 

"Just give it up. Surrender your will to him. Unconditionally. Withholding nothing. Turn it all over to him; all your desires, wishes, dreams, and hopes. Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you in perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid, and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Trust Him that He will make of your immeasurably more than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will creat of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man. He will create a God."

May we all strive to be a servant, rather than a great cook, a great mom, a great missionary, a great football player. Let us be a great servant. He can make of us so much more than we can make of ourselves. I know that. I know that with all my heart. He is the one who created us, he is the only one who can change us. Trust Him who loves you and knows you perfectly. 

Love,

Sister Brooklyn Wilson 

Welcome to my Home Sweet Home

Ever wonder what missionary apartments are like? 

Well, wonder no more! 

Sister Wilson has graciously invited us on a tour of her home.

Sitting Room

Bookcase

Kitchen

Bedroom and Bathroom

Work Station

There you have it .... A typical apartment in Samara Russia.

Sister Wilson's Humble, but Happy abode!

Samara - Week 13 - "When plans fall through"

October 20, 2014

All is well :)

Oh my goodness... you would not believe the miracles we had this week. I think I went to bed every single night this week with butterflies in my stomach, I was just so happy with each day, something miraculous has happened every day in this companionship. I love my companion so much, she is my best friend. So so sweet, and I trust her so much. I can't believe how much unity I have with my companion. We are pushing ourselves so hard and building each other up. We complement each other so well, things are going very well in this companionship to say the least. She is a tiny little Mexican girl, she has a very soft voice and seems super shy, but she loves to laugh. She just gives me so much courage, we are a perfect little happy companionship right now :)

Man, this was a crazy week. Our visa trip- it was SOOO good to see every one from the MTC, I was just so happy to see everyone and see how everyone is doing. I can't believe how much everyone has grown, it language, in maturity (haha) and it was also good to see Sister Palmer :) However, the actually visa trip got a little mixed up. One of the sister's visas didn't renew until the day AFTER our flight was set for. My companion ended up having to stay with her. Which means I got to spend a day working on the streets with Sister Palmer in Samara. We actually got permission and went to one of the senior couple's apartments and watched women's conference and priesthood, which was AMAZING. Not to mention their apartment is so nice... wow. I felt like I was at home, there's even a cute little fire place. They also fed us hot chocolate and ginger snaps. I wish we had a senior couple in Balakovo. 

Okay, now for the miralces. Or things that made me happy this week :)

One night this week all of our plans fell through, and isn't it so interesting how when our plans get scattered that's when I see God picking up all the scattered pieces and he puts HIS plan into action. One of the miracles was when Sister Martinez and I were on the bus. It was very crowded, my companion and I were sitting across the isle from each other and our member help was in between us in the "hall/isle" of the bus. I was very into my conversation with T, whose entire family got in a car crash a year ago, her husband and grand children were killed in the wreck. My heart was torn as I looked at the expression of grief on her face, I testified that God loves her and he doesn't want her to be sad, he wants her to turn to him and rely on him. Our member looked at me and told me that our bus stop was next. I wanted to get her number so we could explain the Plan of Salvation another day with her, but she couldn't write her number down fast enough! We got to the stop and I panicked a little bit, then the member told me that actually our stop was next. I breathed a sigh of relief and was able to write down her number. When we got off the bus I learned that my companion was also trying to write down the number of the person she was sitting next to, but still wasn't done writing it down as we pulled up to the bus stop. The member, standing between the two of us saw that we needed more time and had us ride one more bus stop so we could get their numbers. It was just so interesting to know that my companion was experiencing the same thing that I was sitting across from me. That was a miracle having the member there helping us watching us. 

Another night all of our plans once again fell through. Sister Martinez, the member, and I all prayed that we would still be able to see miracles that night. We decided to have a lesson with one of our long time investigators (she's been investigating a whole year now). We were a little bit hestitant on going by because we had no lesson planned for her, we knew we'd be relying on the spirit very heavily for that lesson. When we walked in, our investigator Sv had us sit down and she told us, "look at what I opened up to the other day." It was a scripture about baptism :) She said that she feels like she is getting closer and closer to baptism. Right then and there I testified that she is ready for baptism NOW, and then my companion invited her to be baptized on the 8th of November. I do believe that we had to push that question at least 5 more times, and then I had the thought to get on our knees with her right then, but some time passed while she was talking and it didn't feel right anymore to all pray together. However, I remembered that anything that says NOT to pray is from the devil. I raised my voice and said, "Sv, let's all pray about this together right here, on our knees." Reluctantly, she agreed, and we all got down on our knees before God. She offered such a sincere prayer, saying that she's been waiting and studying and praying for an answer, and that she knows he will give her one, and that she knows that he loves her. When we finished praying I asked Sv what she was feeling, and she said, "peace." My companion then testified that what she was feeling was from the Holy Ghost. Sv agreed to prepare for baptism on the 8th of November. However, when we were heading out the door she asked, "what if I want to be baptized later.... or even earlier?" we told her that we will pray about it with her together, and that her baptismal date can be adjusted if needed. 

The next day Sv came to church and announced to us that she wants to be baptized THIS Saturday. We were shocked! She said that she is getting this feeling like she can't wait until Nov. 8th. She keeps saying the thought keeps returning to her mind, "you are running out of time." She doesn't want to procrastinate anymore :) She doesn't know what that answer means exactly, whether it means that her life is literally going to be cut short, or if it's that she needs to get started on temple work for her family, or if it means that it's time for her to be baptized so she can start sharing the gospel with her family. For one reason or another she can't wait. This is a MIRACLE, we've been working with Sv for so long, and have put so much effort into teaching her and loving her. The time is now :) Russia is the new Brazil! It has been promised by general authories, the baptisms will be not doubling, not trippling, but will be increased by TEN. 

Get ready for some new miracles next week :) 

Love,

Sister Brooklyn Wilson