So to start off, I guess I should say that we won't be having Thanksgiving this year. Yep, it's true. Sister H told me and Sister B on Saturday. It was a bit of a bummer at first, but now it's whatever. I just think, "Well it's not an Armenian holiday and so it really will feel like any other day." So....vochinch! :)
President Carlson wrote us:
"You have probably heard by now that the Area Presidency strongly advised us not to celebrate Thanksgiving as a mission. They feel we will be more effective if we were to have a normal proselyting day instead of celebrating an American holiday. In “Stripling Warrior” style, we continue to strive to be “exactly obedient” like they were and be consecrated in our obedience. As we consecrate ourselves, even more, and dedicate this coming Thursday to help the Lord as He hastens His work, we can expect many more miracles! As a mission we can watch the Lord pour out blessings upon us and we will truly have a day of Thanksgiving as we find many more people to teach. Lets make Thanksgiving Day a day of finding! Sacrifice truly does bring forth the blessings of heaven."
But with that being said, we're still making apple pie and pecan pie. And Sister H is going to make several pumpkin pies because she already got all the stuff. :) It's gonna be awesome!!
We might make some mashed potatoes on Thursday. Hey, you can still be a consecrated missionary and have mashed potatoes, right? ;)
Anyways, we have been seeing miracle after miracle this week. At the end of this past week, we had 11 BAPTISMAL DATES. But the numbers aren't nearly as important as the stories/people behind it. We have some incredible investigators who are progressing and will soon be baptized. What a miracle!
The biggest thing is that we have been finding like crazy. The Lord is blessing us to find so many different people.
Miracle of the week: An
We were having a first meeting with an investigator family when one of their neighbors came in. She was a bit taken aback that we were here. And then she started to be a bit "passive aggressive" and was accusingly looking at her neighbor An, who we were meeting with. I can't remember everything that she was asking/saying. It was pretty much the attitude of, "Oh, you're MORMONS. I know exactly who you are." She had that type of attitude. But our awesome investigator, An was saying, "Hey! You don't even know them. I've been to their church. It is a GREAT church." She was up there, defending the church like nobody's business. I was all like, "Woah..."
We were just trying to be nice and help her to maybe soften up her attitude towards us. We were saying, "You probably have heard a lot of things from other people about us, but maybe sometime we could show you our church, and show you what we really believe." She said, "No, no. I don't want to." By the end though, she really had softened up a ton. She said, "I don't agree with your church, but I can see that you're good girls."
Okay, here comes the miracle! So the next time that we were meeting with An, An said, "Az (the neighbor) and I were talking. I was telling her about the church, and now she wants to learn more."
Sister B. and I were all like, "Wait...what!!!!"
An said, "Yeah, I'm gonna call her up really fast so she can come over." Well, she called her, and Az came over! And the lesson was amazing. By the end of the lesson, Az was crying because the lesson had touched her. Az will now be being baptized on January 10th. It was SUCH a miracle. I love finding people to teach. Also, An, in the following visit had invited another neighbor to come to the lesson, and she is also interested in learning more about the gospel. An is on fire.
This is the best work ever!!
The other exciting thing is that we have a LOT of potential investigators. I don't know where all of these investigators are coming from. The Lord has been blessing us so incredibly much. I get a little bit sappy thinking about it. I love the Lord so much.
One of the area presidency, President Bennet, came down from Moscow. I loved the meeting so much. Wow. It was so inspirational. I think that the biggest take-away from that was realizing that the Lord was proud of me and of what we were doing. I feel like I need that type of reminder from him every now and again. :)
And last, but definitely not least, R was baptized and confirmed this week! It was amazing. The spirit was so strong. When we were preparing for the baptism, I was suddenly filled with the spirit as I realized what we were preparing for. For some reason, that baptism was one of the most powerful baptisms on my mission. There was such a sweet spirit there as this loving, wonderful girl from Russia was baptized. I loved it so much. I have the feeling that R is going to be a powerful force in bringing her family into the gospel. Such a miracle!
Such a wonderful week here in Vanadzor.
Love you all!!!
Sister Fielding
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