09 September 2017

20 years ago today - Golden Investigator - 09 September 1997


09 Sept 1997
Hey,
I've officially been her in Russia about thrree weeks. My comp and I have our apartment now. We are in a new area that hasn't had missionaries before. There is no hot water so in the mornings, we boil water and put it in the tub. There are huge centrally located water heaters here. They heat entire neighborhoods then pipe it out to each section. Well apparently they are very old. (Over one hundred years old.) They need annual maintenance that requires the hot water to be shut down. So cold showers/baths it is.
The language is still confusing. When I listen, I understand about 35% of the words and sometimes I can get the gist of what they are talking about.
I am happy here. I am having fun. Every Monday we have family home evening. We go and play soccer or gatorball. Gatorball is a game the missionaries made up. It's like a cross between soccer and rugby, just without the physical contact. Every Tuesday and Thursday we teach English classes for service, which is very fun. Every Wednesday is P-day and we go rent a gym and play some more. Every Saturday we have a picnic with the members and we play there as well. So the only day we really work is Friday. We play a lot and I like it here. Right now we have an investigator named Volodia. He has joined a couple of other religions and has tons of religious literature and has actually read it all. He seems to me to be very receptive. Anyhow, everything is cool, riding on public transport sucks.
See-ya!

Finding Volodia:
One day, Morris decided to let me use my "Greenie fire" as he called it, to let me loose and contact wherever my heart lead me. I did as asked and within an hour, we landing on the perfect investigators doorstep. He answered the door so fast it was like he was waiting for us. He instantly invited us in to his humble apartment and wanted to know more. He had investigated many churches and had read any religious literature he could get his hands on. He showed us his library, it was the lower part of a daybed with no mattress. He rolled it out from under the bed and covering the entire bed frame were books stacked covering the entire space where a mattress would be. We told him who we were and why we were there, he instantly wanted to know more. We gave him a book of Mormon and he tried to pay us for it. I told him it was a gift, that we wouldn't take his money but asked him to read it. Sharing with him that through reading its pages, I had found much happiness. That what I found in its pages filled the void in my life that nothing else in this world could fill. That the joy it filled me with is why I decided to dedicate two years of my life.

Over the next several months, I was able to have many good discussions with Volodia. At first I didn't understand much. On the way home from discussions, Morris would relay to me the parts I didn't understand, I would research area's of his concern and since I didn't speak Russian very well, I'd use scriptures to communicate and address his concerns. I went through several companions during this time but was able to be there through every discussion with Volodia. I can honestly say, I've never met a more spiritually ready individual.

More to come about Volodia.


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