August 18 2014

Hey all!

So we had a little bit of a stressful week this week. One of our investigator's, L's, husband came in from Ukraine. As the week went on, we heard that he had been living in Ukraine with another woman, and that he had three children with her. He brought his girlfriend with him here.

He came and divorced his former wife (L) and then we found out that he was trying to get the rights for the children. We were happy that they were divorced because he was really an unsavory person, but we were really concerned for the kids. We thought that they needed their mom! 

We visited her house on Saturday with the H's (our senior couple). She seemed really tense, and kept looking out the window. We asked what was going on. She said that she was waiting for her husband. She didn't want him to come up to the house. She was going to meet him below. Well, he came up, and just started yelling at her like crazy! We were in the other room. We felt super awkward, but we weren't sure if we should leave or stay. We said a prayer, and then decided to leave. 

So we were here, biting our nails, waiting for the verdict from the state. On Sunday, we found out that he lost. He wasn't getting the kids! Hooray! He went back to Ukraine with his girlfriend

So that means, that L and her two kids can be baptized as long as we don't run into any other problems!! Yay!! That was a HUGE relief. Such a tender blessing. 

We also have been trying to strengthen our less-actives. We went over and helped T and J with their wool. They are such characters! All Armenians have this wool, and they sew fabric around it to make warm blankets for the winter. They clean them every summer. Well, T had thrown them in the washing machine (which she wasn't supposed to do, I guess) and as a result all the wool had clumped together. So, just like you would do with cotton balls to make "snow", we were stretching out the wool. It was way fun!

Also, things are progressing really well with G, our eight year-old investigator. He is so great! He and his brothers just LOVE us. We make the lessons fun--it's just like primary! So great! Last time, his mom asked him to go and grab something. Before he left he turned to me and said, "Sister Fielding, If you start playing a game, call for me, and I'll run right back!!" Hahaha It was so funny.

That's a tender mercy too because his dad wasn't sure that he wanted him to be baptized. Here's the story in a nutshell: N, his wife has been a member for years and years. The dad has been taught a lot, but isn't ready to be baptized. But he wants to baptize his three sons. So, you see the problem here? He can't baptize his sons if he's not baptized and doesn't have the priesthood. So we worked with him, and he gave us permission to teach G. Tender mercy! And the husband has been softening up every time we come over. It helps when his wife is an angel, and that the kids love us. Hah

Things are good overall. We're trying to hang on to the people that we have and also find more. I've got good hopes for the future!!

Love you all!

Sister Fielding

1. My first fresh fig!

2. Doing wool at one of our members' house!