Week 76 - Testifying

November 5, 2018

Hey Everyone.

Not a lot of time today to get this weekly out..

Halloween was good! We threw a little party and a bunch of people came, and we did some fun stuff. It's kinda stressful feeling like I have to be an activity planner and party planner with basically no resources but my own 2 hands (plus comp) without a Costco or Target nearby. But, we make do with what we have!! It actually ended up being pretty fun. 3 of the people who came ended up coming to church after we invited them all!! A mom and her daughter and her daughter's friend.

Speaking of coming to church, we had 29 people at Fast and Testimony Meeting, which I'm pretty sure is the most that I've ever seen in K-town. We're making some good progress. If I'm not mistaken, I believe 11 or 12 of those 29 were our investigators and other non members. 4 people from English Practice ended up coming!! My favorite part about English Practice and our other activities is the spiritual thought, hands down. We get an opportunity (taking turns each activity) to just stand up in front of everyone at the end and TESTIFY about something!! Some of the strongest spiritual moments on my mission are when I've stood in front of 20-30 people, none who are members of The Church, and I just get to testify about Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, The Plan of Salvation, and all the other good topics that we can talk about. This week we were playing the game 20 questions at the end, so I thought I'd relate the game into a spiritual thought so that it was more relatable and understandable to everyone there. The Spirit hit ME like a truck as soon as I testified that God hears us, and that He wants us to hear Him. I talked about how most of the time, we can get by on our own with the questions that we have. Some other times, we can turn to other people for more difficult ones. And then we all have certain questions that, for some reason whenever we get an answer from somebody, it doesn't quite satisfy the question 100%. We still feel like something is missing. Questions like why war exists, why bad things happen to good people, where we come from, why we're here, where we're going after death, and so on. For such questions, we have no choice but to turn to the One  who knows all. It can be such a comforting feeling just to know that one of Heavenly Father's characters is that He is all-knowing. Just as much as He is all-knowing, He is also all-loving in a perfect way that we as humans can not completely comprehend. Luckily, we can always turn to Him at any time about anything!! He will always hear us and always listen,  and in His own time and way, He always answers. What a beautiful principle prayer is!

This week we've made some great progress. We're having a lot more lessons, and things are going a lot smoother. Elder Howard's training is starting to get in the groove little by little! 2 of our investigators who are mother and son accepted a soft baptismal invitation, and I really think that they will be baptized this transfer. I'm so excited for them. I love teaching them. They're probably some of the funnest people I've ever taught on my mission!! Also, we have another one of our investigators who is the 11 year old daughter of a recently reactivated member who will hopefully be baptized this transfer too. The field is small, but white here in Khmelnytskyi!

We're reading from the Book of Mormon as a mission and finishing it before Christmas!! It's such an amazing experience to all of a sudden drop some of my other study plans and read the Book of Mormon in just as much time as it took for the Prophet Joseph Smith to translate it! We're focusing on looking at references to the Savior and His different names and titles used, His attributes in Himself and things He says, and also His attributes in all other people. And then most importantly, references to the Savior's Atonement. I cannot believe how often I am just constantly stopping and marking so many things and references to the Savior. I can say for myself that I know that the Book of Mormon is everything that it is claimed to be, as found in the introduction: "The Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." It's so true!!!

Have a great week. Read the Book of Mormon every day!!!

Protesters blocking traffic

--

Elder Dillon Stott

Vul. Yabluneva 1

S. Sofiivska Borshahivka

Kyivska oblast 08131

Ukraine