Monday, September 21, 2009

August 17 - Alla's Baptism

Hey Family,

I don't even know where to start, so much happened this week. It's probably been the best week of my mission so far. Everything has been amazing. We did a lot this week preparing for the baptism, and it was unbelievable. They were so ready. Once Alla came out of the water, she just stood there for a little bit, smiling as big as she could. She was glowing the whole rest of the day, she said that she didn't even walk home- she flew. There was such a strong spirit and everything went perfectly. The talks were great, and we 4 missionaries did a musical number that came out so good, way better than any time when we practiced it. We're so happy for Alla and Vladik, they are going to be great members. Also, earlier that day, there were 2 more baptisms, one was from our branch but they couldn't do it at 5 with our baptism. He is from Africa, there are a lot of Africans here and they are so cool. I am going to tell more about it in the letter that I send to Jesse. Then on Sunday, we gave all of them the Holy Ghost, and that was also amazing. You can tell they really understand the importance of it and how much it will help them.

Then that night, there was a fireside, for everyone, but mostly just young adults go. This district of 4 missionaries was supposed to be putting it on. Me and Elder Whitehead decided to take Vladic to it because we thought he would like it. So we went and it was getting time to start but the missionaries who were supposed to be putting it on still weren't there. So I called them and I guess they had just done the last one, and no one had told them about this. So by now, the meeting was already supposed to have started, but thank goodness Ukranians aren't punctual so it was that big of deal. We were talking with the Crittendens (the CES Senior couple) and a few of the youth there that were kind of in charge about what we were going to do. They were about to not do it and just tell the people to go back home. They reasoned it by saying there weren't many people there, but there turned out to be about 40 once we started. I didn't want that, so I tried to remember any old, cool firesides, and for some reason- not by coincidence- the only memory I could think of was Mom and Dad telling me about one of the adult stake conferences when Bro Hoskin was landing a plane or something and started talking to his co-pilot about the gosepl. So I said we could do funny scenarios and pull the member youth up to try and talk to people about the gospel. So me and a member youth, probably in his young 20's, brainstormed 4 scenarios then I just winged it. There were Africans there, so I just conducted and did everything in English while the member translated for me. I was just praying the whole time that it would turn out OK and they wouldn't hate it. And by some miracle, it turned out awesome. The loved it so much, everyone came up to me afterwards to tell me about how great it was. They were the perfect crowd to do it with. I was so, so grateful afterwards. So please send me any other cool fireside ideas, they come in handy.

Today, we are having the Crittenden bowl with all the missionaries in Harkov. The senior couple here, the Crittendens, are leaving next week, and they always say how they miss coaching sports, especially football, because that's what they did their whole lives. So I had the idea to have a big football game with all the missionaries, and have elder crittenden on one team and sister crittenden on another team. I asked if they were free this p-day and could do it, and they said of course. So I picked teams, then called the district leaders to tell each member of their district which team they are on. So now, half of the missionaries are wearing white t-shirts that say Sister Crittenden on the front, with a number and nickname on the back. And the other half are wearing red shirts with the same thing, except they have Elder Crittenden on it. It's going to be awesome, and the Crittenden's will love it. So this weekend and this whole week has been unbelievable, the best of my mission,.

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