Kazan Week 6 - "Investigators!"

September 21, 2015

All is well :) 

Well first I'll answer the question, how is my health? Sooo a miracle happened. I am completely healed. Zero trace of ulcer. Monday night I was feeling like a champion and asked if we could go out and work. We got the go :) And I've had no pain since Monday. Normally is takes about 2 weeks for the pain to go away, and about 4-6 weeks for it to heal completely. I feel like I never even had an ulcer now. It's gone :) So hallelujah and thanks for all your prayers! 

However... it was super hard getting back into the work this week. It's like running a marathon and then stopping for a while and then starting again. But Heavenly Father helped cheer me on and I'm running at full speed again :) 

About a month ago my companion and I were going through the area book and making some calls. Poor Sister Neilsen is terrified of using the phone (her mean trainer has her on the phone a lot) but she called a girl named S and thanks to Sister Neilsen's courageous phone call we got a lesson with her! She is 27 and is the neice of a new convert (who is now less active sadly) but her teaching record said that she's not really too interested in talking about God. On the lesson we focused on the gospel blesses families, she seemed a little stiff during the lesson, but she felt the spirit and promised to come to church. Ever since that lesson S has been coming to church every Sunday for 3 weeks! 

This week we had a meeting set up at 2:00 to take a walk with her around the Kremlin. Sister Neilsen and I prayed and did role plays to know how to bring up religion with her more naturally during this walk. Well... as we were walking amongst many churches I non-chalantly asked her, "did you go to church when you were little?" And the rest is history. The Spirit took over and she opened right up to us. She told us how her father is an alcoholic and how she can't stand him when he's drunk and that although she didn't grow up in a believing family, she wants her future family to be religious. She said that she knows that religion makes families happy because it teaches us how to properly love one another. She doesn't drink coffee or smoke or even drink tea. She is already living the word of wisdom because she has a testimony of it! Also she mentioned how amazing her life has been since she's been coming to church. She's making more money, and her clients are much nicer. While she was talking I was just in shock. I was totally not expecting this. Then she told us that she needs our help, because she wants to be baptized, but she needs to know the doctrine of our church better, and asked if she could meet with us twice a week (haaaaallelujah by my guest!) She said that previously she hasn't been interested to meet with the missionaries, but she feels ready now. I was sooo ecstatic. Probably way more than she was. Because she's young and beautiful and so normal and cool! And God loves her :) 

 After our walk she offered to drive us home. She also thinks that she got a good parking spot thanks to us ;) She has such a nice car.... and I was in paradise driving home. She may or may not have put in a John Mayer CD while we drove. The weather was beautiful and so we rolled down the windows and I almost cried it felt so good. I miss taking drives so badly. But man, what a good day, we love her so much! S is awesome :)

That night was a member's birthday/talent show and soooo many of his friends came and so many member's friends came. We were just rolling in potential investigators. It was so fun getting to know all these people and helping them to see that we are completely normal :) It's really nice leaving good impressions with people.

For the talent show I played a piano piece and it was just a nightmare hahahahaha AHHH. I was so nervous and I was sooo not expecting that many people?! I've played it before at baptisms and it wasn't a problem, but this time was awful. Also I forgot to pray before I played.... so I think that's why it went so bad. Everyone was really nice though and thanked me for the attempt :) There was soooo much food there.... awful. Pretty sure I gained 20 pounds in one night. But heeey there'll be more of me to love when I'm home :):):) I promised myself that I would be one of those sisters that wouldn't gain weight on their missions... ha.. ha.. haaaa... yeah right. It's all good. I've got a few months to trim down. 

We have other investigators that we've continued to meet with, Li, Z, and a Russian grandmother named R. The members in our branch are amazing. I love them so much. There's an elderly woman named G who is always willing to help on lessons and is so motherly. There are Y and Lo, who are my FAVORITE, man I wish I could just hang out with them sometimes. Y is always willing to help us on lessons and L has this completely dry sense of humor and a deep voice that makes everything she says so much funnier. 

All is well in Kazan :) Heavenly Father was really generous to us this week. Today at 3:00 we are heading down to Toliatti for a zone training! Yaaaay! We get to stay with Sister Twede and her companion. We are literally out of money because we've been spending it all on medicine and transportation... we have 10,000 rubles worth of refunds to send up to the office, yikes. 

This week in my letter to president I expressed a lack of hope that I've been having. I feel like I have a lot of doubt and fear for the future. This is what he wrote me in reply, "Thank you Sister Wilson. You said something really important. You said : "I feel that I have hope for the future, but not much faith." Things like the future (what will happen) are what we should have hope for. What we should have faith in is NOT the future, but in Jesus Christ. In other words, have hope that everything will work out well in the future, and have faith in Christ that HE will make it so. Leave the logistics and the specifics and the "hows" in His hands. Trust me that all will work out well! The Lord takes care of His returned missionaries, and He will take care of you! just worry about the work for now, and look forward to Him helping you down the road!" It's really what I needed to hear. My faith needs to be in Christ that he is making a beautiful future for Sister Wilson and that I need not be afraid :) He's in control. 

Sorry this was eons long. Loooove,

сестра вилсон.