The first was for Vera. Vera means "faith" in Russian. Vera saw the missionaries on the street one day and began talking with them. As they taught her, she was eager to hear everything they had to say. She began coming to church, family home evening and English practice, and soon wanted to be baptized. Since we don't have a baptismal font in Kherson, we rented a marchutka and took the branch members and investigators to Nickolyv, about an hour away, where they do have a font. Many of the Nickolyv branch members came to the baptism also, even though they had never met Vera - just to be supportive. The next day when she was confirmed, Vera described the experience in colors. She said a feeling flowed down from her head and into her heart and it was like her heart was being filled with white and gold.
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| Vera |
The next was Yuri. I have asked Yuri to write down his whole story, which I hope to share some day as it is fascinating, but for now just an outline. Yuri has said there were three distinct times when the Lord prepared him. Once working in a field with a large strong man, the man said something about God or spirituality to him, but he dismissed it. Then some time later his mother told him that there was more than just this life. He again dismissed his mother's thoughts and words. There was a third time, which I'll have to clarify with him. I also hope to get the rest of the story of meeting the missionaries. But after quite a while - perhaps a year or more - of reading and praying he wanted to be baptized. The date was set for a April Sunday morning about 9:00 am, just before the branch was due to watch the delayed broadcast of general conference. Yuri wanted to be baptized in the nearby river. The district leader inquired about using a very nice private beach near the church, but was told that he could not He then tried renting it, but was told that was impossible. There was another small public beach nearby, but it was peppered with all sorts of litter. So, the evening before the baptism, the missionaries gathered to clean up the beach to prepare a place for the baptism. We picked up 21 bags of trash.
The next morning we woke up to rain, but Yuri was not going to let that stop his baptism. We gathered on the walkway above the river, umbrellas in hand, only to discover that the steep dirt trail down to the beach was very muddy and slippery. There was no way most of the branch members would be able to get to the river. Assessing the situation, two of the branch members walked a short distance to talk with the guard who was watching over the private beach next door (the one Elder Hansen had tried to rent). After some talking, we were told we could use the private beach, right then, at no cost! (Tender mercies) This beach had stairs and changing stations to change into dry clothing after the baptism. It was beautiful! Also, during this time, the rain had completely stopped. We were able to hold a beautiful, memorable baptismal service that morning.
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| Gathering on the newly acquired beautiful private beach. |
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| Walking into the waters of baptism. |
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| Oh what joy filled my heart.... |
Next, Leoneda, the mother of a branch member and Volodia were baptized at the same time. Again, we rented a marchutka and drove with more investigators than members to Nickolyv. (Leoneda has leg problems and was not able to be baptized in the river.) Volodia received a testimony of the Book of Mormon almost immediately upon beginning to read it. I am anxious to find out more about the details of his conversion. The language differences require that we have an elder present for any in-depth conversation, so it sometimes takes longer to find out things, but smiles and warm eye contact say a lot :) Just before the baptism, as Volodia, Leoneda and the two elders were all dressed in white, I could understand Volodia as he said to me, in Russian, pointing to Leoneda and the elders, "They all look like angels." And so did he!
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| Angels "Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, acting in the authority which I have given you, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." D&C 68:8 |
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