Well a few of BIG things happened this week.
Numero Uno:
STEPHIN GOT BAPTIZED! I'm so proud of him! He was going back and forth not because he didn't know that the church was true, but because he was afraid his family wouldn't support him. When he initially met Sister Greenwood and I, they were very against him being baptized. He was afraid that he would be all alone in starting up the church in India with no one to support him. But a miracle happened. On Tuesday night Stephin skyped with his family. He was able to bare his testimony to them of why he wanted to be baptized again. About how Jesus Christ was baptized by immersion and he wanted to be baptized the way Jesus was. He wanted to fully follow Christ. Much to everyone's surprise, Stephin's dad said, "That's right. Go for it." His mom said, "Do what you feel like you need to." We had a lesson set up with him the next morning. He came in, sat down, and said, "A miracle has happened." And he told us everything that happened with his parents. Sister Lindquist and I just kind of sat there in amazed silence. I honestly don't really remember much of what happened after that. We somehow planned everything, and then we were on a train to Astrakhan for our visa trip. (more on that later)
And so, Stephin was baptized! After 6 months of meeting with us! And coming to church EVERY week. He's such a молодец. (I am unsure what the correct English word would be, so sorry.)
Numero Dos:
The visa trip! We went to Kazakhstan (shout out to Natalie!). It was a fun time. We did splits with the sisters in Astrakhan. It's a really cool city, very old. A lot of different nationalities live there. They have these beautiful canals all throughout the city. Here's a picture of Sister Lindquist and me on one of the canal bridges.
And Numero Tres:
I'm being transferred. After almost a year of serving in the same city, I'm being moved down south to the city of Krasnodar. My new companion's name is Sister Kennard. This is her last transfer, so I'll be "killing off" a companion (that's what it's called when your companion goes home). The good news is, Sister Montierth (with whom I've been serving my whole mission) is coming with me! And I'll be reunited with Sister Greenwood! She's down south in Krasnodar too. Not to mention one of my former zone leaders, Elder Barlocker, and another elder who served with me here in Volgograd, Elder Barnes. So, it's bound to be a good transfer.
It's been really difficult to say goodbye to Volgograd. It made me realize how temporary everything in life is. (Cue cheesy 80's music) Everything in life is meant to continually change to help you grow and learn. I've been studying a lot about that this week. About why we're here on Earth, and what exactly we're suppose to be doing here. My favorite scripture so far that I've found is Moses 1:39:
"For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and the eternal life of man."
God's whole purpose for us being here is for us to learn and become like Him. To perfect ourselves and become better than we were. And he gives us trials in our life to do just that. They can be very difficult, but He never leaves us alone. If we turn to Him, He will always help and guide us. We're His children, aren't we? So, although I'm leaving my beloved Volgograd, it's time for me to move on and learn more in a new place where I'll be able to help even more people.
Well, until next week! Hope your week is full of sunshine and sparkles!
Sister Jarvis
Elder Osborn rocking my sunglasses. (He's in my district here in V-grad. He's assigned to Tranktorni as well)
Freesia and Freda (some of the members from Ghana here for school) made us African food for 4th of July! Oh, also that's Elder Wride (one of my zone leaders) and Sister Kukla (one of the sisters in my district).
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