Don't cry for me, Ukraiiina. Truth is, I never meant to leave you.

Well.

Where to begin.

Yesterday during church I was overcome with feelings of love and admiration for this branch, for these people that I have had the chance to serve around, and for this country. I listened as each person got up to bear their testimony of this great work. I wish everyone could hear a testimony meeting filled exclusively with converts to the church. They bear strong, real, firm testimony of their Savior, of the Restored Gospel, of the Book of Mormon, and of the love of God.

I began to tear up, knowing that my time in Ukraine was coming to a close. I didn't realize that I would be going home so soon....

President called me early this morning with the news that I'll be home this week.

He asked me if I could be on the next train to L'viv, and I told him that I would leave first thing tomorrow. I just couldn't imagine leaving my mission on a note like that, and I have a few people I wanted to hug and kiss goodbye before they unexpectedly remove me from what has been my home for the last 7 months.

Due to this war, of sorts, that is happening around the country, my heart is breaking. I have grown to love these people more than I ever imagined. I not only have a deep love for them, but I feel as if a large part of my heart has been filled with Ukraine. It will never go away. I will never really "leave" this country. I LOVE UKRAINE. I am so devastated right now, and I can't even think straight.

This morning I had a very tender experience, and I know that the Lord is mindful of me. And astonishingly enough, I am very at peace. It's beyond belief.

I don't even know where to start. This mission experience has been the ride of my life. It has been remarkable beyond words, and I am so very grateful that my Father in Heaven knew that I needed this. He knew that I would love this more than any other mortal experience to this point. He knew that I needed the people here. He always knows best. He always seems to orchestrate my life, and lead me down unknown paths to stretch me, to try my faith, and to give me the chance to put my full trust in Him.

I am a different person than when I left. I will forever be changed by the people of Ukraine. I love these people so much, and am grateful to them for their love, and their child-like desire to follow their Savior. Their example inspires me each day. May the Lord bless this nation, and these people, that the work may continue to roll forth.

This is the Lord's work. I am honored to be a servant of Him.

З Богом,

Sister Kathryn Webber

Revolutionary

Earlier this week, I woke up with the following lyrics in my mind. Forgive my Babylon for a moment:

"It's a great day to be alive! I know the sun's still shining when I close my eyes. It's a hard time in the neighborhood, but why can't every day be just this good?!"

Amidst all the turmoil going on in my neck of the woods, I still was able to find joy in this great work. Right now I have two choices: 1.) I could tell you what's really going on in this beloved country that i love, because I know most of you all have access to TV and internet. or 2.) I could ignore all that and write about my daily musings of missionary work.

Why not both? Here we go.

Monday: Speaking of revolutionary....The skype call with Anna and Madi went as planned. She is a gem, and was tickled to be able to speak to me in Ukrainian. Return appointment: CHECK! Also, the fact that the members of Quorum of the Twelve have heard about this meeting comes as a shock to me...but it's really cool at the same time. No pressure to do my best, right? I'm excited to teach her again next Monday. :)

Tuesday: The craziness escalated in the country. We were at our Library English Club, and the Peace Corps rep left the room for a minute, and came back in and sat next to me and said, "Just thought I'd let you know. I've been alerted to go pack my things and be ready for evacuation. You might be getting a similar call from your people."

Wednesday: We were told that no one was allowed to leave their cities.

Thursday: We received a phone call at 6:20 in the morning checking to see if we were okay. The Area Presidency asked that every missionary be accounted for. Emergency plans were made in case cell service went down. This raised a few concerns and we started to organize our things to be able to be ready to leave at any moment. We had our 72 hour kits all ready,  as well as our emergency funds. We went to English club, and the rep had already evacuated the country. The ATM's weren't working, and people were gathering all around town. Everyone we talked to told us we needed to go home, and stay home. We received a call from President that we needed to go to the store and have at least a week's worth of food in case people started to raid grocery stores.

Friday: Protesting was happening all around the city. I got really sick this day, and we weren't able to go outside....but we heard lots of things going on right outside our apartment. Maybe it was a good thing we stayed in.

Saturday: I got word that we'll be able to stay in Ukraine. :)

For all those concerned. The missionaries are fine. The ones in Kiev were confined to their apartments, appropriately so, and here in the west, things are getting more peaceful. I have never felt like my safety was in jeopardy, and I trust the inspiration of church leaders. We're being obedient, and wise, and mature, and doing all we can to lay low. Our investigators are all doing great and meeting with us, and we're being really blessed to have peace in our hearts about everything happening around us.

We had a movie night on Saturday in the church and showed the new version of the Prophet of the Restoration. I was really impressed with the way they put it all together, and they did a great job at explaining things better to nonmembers. We had a decent turn out, and got a new investigator out of it! :)

Also. We were advertising for English this week, and we were holding up a poster. We had these two guys approach us, and they spoke perfect English. We got talking, and it turns out that they are Muslim, and from Turkey! One guy said he lived in America for a year, and said, "I went there and was hoping I was going to meet Mormons, but I never saw a single one! I had heard so many great things about them, and I really just wanted to see what they were like in real life. I hear that you are great people." He went on about how people in his religion sometimes miss the point of religion, and they get violent, burning books and rioting. He said, "If I were to take your Book and burn it right in front of you, you'd probably just pray for me. That's the type of people you are. I love it!" I told him that we have a branch in his hometown Istanbul, and he said he really wanted to go check it out. He said he was leaving to go back the next day, but he ended with saying, "Who knew I had to come all the way out in the middle of no where in Ukraine to finally meet a couple of Mormons. This wasn't a coincidence."

I don't know what it is about me and Turkish people....but I'm a fan. There are definitely some incredible people there.
I can't believe that I'm living in this country! I LOVE IT! 

I love you all. Thanks for the many prayers and support. It's a real blessing in my life. :)

Love,
Sister Webber

ps. Pray for Ukraine.

Locked In

It feels like last Monday was part of last century. I don't even know where to begin.

First, Madi and I got all things figured out in order to teach Anna the Ukrainian Babusya in North Carolina! We recorded a little video over skype in Ukrainian for her to have a little idea of what I'd be talking to her about, and Madi said she was so fascinated. I'm really excited about this. I don't even know how to put it into words, but it's all going down today at 5:30 (my time). So COOL! Maybe I'll even get to teach her in real life in a few weeks. Madi, pray that you get to stay there next transfer! :)

This week we had "Sports Day" indoors, and it was just me, my companion, and our Tennis Champion. Naturally, we played table tennis. I went up against Tennis Champ for 3 rounds, and one of the rounds I played left handed...and came within 2 points of beating her. I'll take that as a personal win. It was so much fun. We then taught her about baptism, and she was 100% on board. We're just waiting for the Mom's Stamp of Approval. She came to church yesterday, and participated in Gospel Principles, and then LOVED Young Women's....our young women's teacher is straight from heaven. She's one of my favorite people on the planet, and she made our friend feel right at home.

I got to do exchanges this week in our city, and we had a marvelous time together. I really love the two other sisters in Chernivtsi. I always learn so much from exchanges. Mostly, that I need to lighten up a little more (though I've come a really long way on my mission in that regard....). We had a really great time together.

We showed "On the Lord's Errand" to one of our investigators this week, and she loved it! Afterward she said, "I think I'm going to watch this again in a few days." She's been having a hard time swallowing the idea of a modern-day prophet, and I think we made a step in the right direction.

Also, BIG NEWS! Chernivtsi has their very own Sister Missionary! She leaves on a train today, and her mission is in Russia. She's such a bright light, and I'm so proud of her. We're all going to see her off at the train station in about an hour! :) I'm so excited for her! I was able to be here when she got her mission call back in November, and I'm so grateful that I am still here to see her leave. I never thought that would happen. 

Last night we had a bit of a situation. We decided to visit this cute little old Babusya and she talked our ears off. After about an hour, she was telling us how her grandson left, and never came back, but before he left, he locked one of the rooms in her apartment. She was saying how it kind of scares her because she can't get into it, and she doesn't know where he is or when he's coming back, and she doesn't like living alone. As she was showing us the door, it was starting to freak me out. What on earth is behind that door? She then was trying to convince us to stay the night, and I kept protesting. Then she was telling us we should move in with her, and going on and on. She kept talking about how she didn't want us to leave, and how she really was scared, and I just kept getting this little alarmed feeling that we needed to leave. So I ended our conversation and got up to go. She made her way up to the door and said, "Oh no, where are my keys?"
The door was locked from the inside.
She started looking around and saying how she couldn't find her keys, and I shot a look at my companion, and she looked worried and said, "I'm not even going to tell you what I'm thinking right now." I said, "If we're being held hostage, I'm calling the elders."
The woman made her rounds around her tiny little apartment twice, and finally said, "I can't find my keys." I couldn't tell if she was smiling or not.

Cue Psycho violins! 

I told her that I was going to help her, and I went straight back to her bedroom and saw the keys laying out in the open....not saying anything, I grabbed the keys, and gave them to her, thinking, "If you were trying to keep us here...you could've at least hid them." We left in a hurry.
My companion then proceeded to tell me the synopsis of the Psycho movie, and I got really scared. I kept looking around my shoulder and freaking out (very Nacho Libre-esque when the dead guy wakes up), and then I made her tell me a story with a happy ending. I had a weird nightmare last night, but it surprisingly had nothing to do with being held hostage. I blame it on eating way too late.

Anyway. Those were the highlights of my week. Take it for what it's worth.

I hope you all know that I love you. :) 

Love,
The Ukrainian Sister Webber

Sisters Webber times 2

Teaching from Ukraine
Kate, Madi and Anya

Cute missionaries

Going on splits - who would have thought that could happen?

Modern day missionary work - Love technology!!

Сестра Вебер & Sister Webber!

So much to say! Thanks for all the emails everyone. Here's another long one. Man, I'm on a roll! You're welcome, Mom. ;) 

The big news of the day is that I get to be cyber-companions with my rockstar sister, Madison Rose Webber this transfer! Thanks to her finding a house full of Ukrainians, our Mission Presidents, and modern technology, I get to fulfill my unrealistic dream of getting to "serve" with my best friend! Couldn't be happier. :) Honestly, best news ever.

Also, I think President is trying to become my best friend. He told me this morning that he wanted me and Sister Olds to go on exchanges in Kmelnitskiy, and Lutsk (her first area, and my first area) this transfer. I almost cried, and then I almost died of happiness. I can't even handle all this good news in one morning! AH! :) :) Dreams really do come true.

This week was great. We had many meetings this week with investigators, and they are all moving right along. We even had people calling us to meet, and that hardly ever happens. The other sisters in the city were busy at a time that we had two meetings set up with investigators, and so we had to meet with both of them at the same time. They were acquaintances, but I was still sort of nervous to do a double lesson. It ended up being an incredible experience, because it was our golden young man from India, and our Ukrainian Tennis Champion, and they both speak English. She had a few concerns, and he jumped in and said, "Look, keep reading the Book of Mormon, and keep meeting with the sisters. This will bring you more peace in your life than you've ever felt. Don't worry about it. They're not trying to convince you. This is real, and true. You just need to be patient enough to find out for yourself. Keep it up, you're doing great."

We met with the Tennis champ the next day with a member, and she had so many great questions from the Book of Mormon. She wanted to know why people were ashamed for taking the fruit from the Tree of Life. "Why did they care what anyone thought, if it was the right thing to do?" When she prayed after the lesson, my heart was about to burst. She was talking to Heavenly Father as if He was in the room. I was so humbled by her sincere prayer. The people we're teaching are actually teaching me.

We had a great word of wisdom lesson with another investigator, and she is just super awesome. We decided to read all the way through section 89 in Doctrine and Covenants, and it was really cool to see how she lit up throughout the chapter. At the end we committed her to live it, and we told her we'd give up something that we love this month to be able to relate. I chose chocolate, and that was a bad idea...but it's been cool to be able to feel a sense of empathy for people who love their black tea. Ha:)

President and Sister Lattin came to town on Saturday, and we were able to have a meeting with one of our brilliant investigators who speaks English like a native. It was a cool experience, because she normally has some really good (aka DIFFICULT) questions for us, and she definitely has done her research on a lot of doctrine. I'm pretty black and white, and it doesn't always sit well with everyone, but President was able to answer her questions with such wisdom and poise, and the love of God filled the room as he spoke. I was in awe of how much love Heavenly Father had for this precious daughter of His. I couldn't believe how much love I felt for her, thanks to the Spirit that was there. It was one of the top 10 moments of my mission, for sure. I was so grateful for that experience.

Madi told me about a 40 day fast that her mission is doing. I brought it up to my district, and we're doing that this transfer. You fast from something physically, mentally, and then add something spiritual that you weren't doing before (if I understood correctly). I chose to add reading from the Book of Mormon daily, since I hadn't been doing that every single day. I have a goal to finish it before the end of my mission, meaning that I have to read 13 pages a day. Yikes! But it's been really cool to read through at that pace, and I've gotten so much more out of the story line. I did it last year when President Klebingat challenged the mission to read the Book of Mormon together, and I was able to read it twice in the 10 weeks he gave us. I highly recommend it. In one of the margins I had written, "In times of trial, it is better to turn to the Lord rather than doubt the fact that he is guiding your life." I think that was an inspired statement, and it really hit me this time around. I pondered on that for quite some time.

Oh! Yesterday, all eight missionaries in the city sang a musical number in sacrament meeting. President requested that we put something together, and Elder Schindler and I arranged a really awesome number. It sounded incredible, and it was definitely a tear-jerker. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. We sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer to the tune of Come Thou Fount...but there was a mash-up in the middle. I'll have to describe it to you in person one day, because it was so cool. Ah! I love the power of music so much! 

Something funny that happened this week: Yesterday while I was playing prelude before Sacrament Meeting, one of the elders came up to me saying he was assigned to give the newborn in the branch a baby blessing. I laughed really hard, and told him good luck, and then I asked him if he'd ever blessed a baby before. His response: "What is wrong with you? Of course I haven't!" Haha, I didn't realize that it implied that he had a child of his own.

Well....I think that's all for today. I love you all. I miss you so much. And I love my mission.

Love, 

Sister Webber

PS. Quincy - Happy Birthday this week, I can't believe you're already 17. Have fun on your big date! Love you! (I have a card for you....it will get to you one day)

Baptization

This week I was on pins and needles about transfer calls. It's been the first time since my very first transfer that I had absolutely no idea what my fate would be. On Friday I said to the elders, "Is this what you feel like every transfer?! This is AWFUL!" I was praying so hard to be able to stay, or at least to be able to feel at peace for wherever I would go. Transfers can be a traumatic experience as a missionary. You get 4 days to go say goodbye to everyone you've ever loved and met in the last 6 months, and for me....that was just not a happy thought. 

So before I tell you, I was studying about the Book of Mormon, in Doctrine and Covenants, about what the Lord said about it. It was interesting. He said something to the effect that he allowed the writings of the prophets and disciples to come forth in this generation because the prophets prayed for that to happen. I thought about how cool of an idea that was, and how sometimes the Lord just lets things happen because we have a burning desire for them to happen. And look, we have the Book of Mormon to carry around the world and spread the news that Jesus is our Savior and loves us. It's incredible. 

So with that in mind, I started praying. I knew that my fate had already been decided for where i was going, but I asked if I could just stay in Chernivtsi. I've been here for 4 transfers already, and yes, it's only my second area on my mission, but I wanted it so badly. Saturday rolled around, and the district leader called, and guess what. My prayers were answered. I'm staying. Unbelievable. The Lord knows me, and wants me to just have an incredible last transfer, in the city of miracles. I love this place like it's my home!

Lots of things happened this week. First, it was Elder Stephenson's last week. I've had the chance to serve with him for a total of 6 transfers on my mission! NINE MONTHS! That's more than half my time in country. He's like little brother status. We're great pals. In his last district meeting, he talked about lessons he's learned on his mission, and something stuck out to me. He advised, "Don't play the mind game, 'Did I do what I needed to do here?' Because that is from Satan. If you worked hard, and did your best, rest assured you did your part." He also said, referring to sibling relationships but connecting it to companion relationships, that his mother used to always tell him, "Your job isn't to fix them. Your job is to love them. My job is to fix them." I thought that was good advice. I'm sure God sometimes tries to tell us that about our relationships with others.

We had a Mexican Party on Saturday which was a hit! We made pinatas, tacos, played games, and had a blast. We had more people there who weren't members, then actual members of the church. It was so fun! Two of the elders busted out a violin and guitar and sang a mexican duet, and everyone thought that Elder Schindler was Mexican after that. My little asian from the MTC is a pretty convincing hispanic.

Well, we had the chastity lesson with two of our favorites. It was going nowhere fast, and then all of a sudden one of the girls said, "You know, it's like being faithful to your future spouse. It makes sense." she later said, "Our body is a precious gift from God, and we need to act righteously to be able to show him we respect God and ourselves." I was like a proud mama. Phew.

Also. We have a golden child on our hands. He's about 23, and we found him at our English club (the one in the library) about a month ago. We met with him once in the church and he was super interested in baptism. We finally had the chance to meet with him again, and he said, "Look, before we start, I want you to know that I just want to follow Christ and his teachings. You're going to help me, right?" He grew up as a Hindu, but has a pretty good idea of Christianity. We began talking about Joseph Smith, and he's been reading the Book of Mormon religiously. We showed him the 20 minute version of the Restoration film, and he was so into it. It was the first time I had watched it in English in a while (he's a native English speaker), and I was so touched by it. I have it practically memorized in Ukrainian, but not in English, so there were things that stuck out to me that normally don't. This man was really feeling for Joseph. Whenever a preacher would say something that was pessimistic, he'd say, "Man, he should just leave that congregation!" or "That is definitely not from God." and then when Joseph's dad told Joseph that he needed to ask God, our investigator said, "But how do you ASK GOD?!" I smiled and said it was coming up. When Joseph knelt down to pray, and the light began descending on him, our investigator said, "What?! Did that happen?! Wow!" Haha. This continued on through the movie, and I was excited for him to see Joseph's father get baptized. It turned to the shot, and shows him in the river, and right before they put him in the water, the man got really excited and said, "IS THAT BAPTIZATION?!!!" He was STOKED. He made me pause it and then he asked, "What happens to him next?! What does he do after that?!" I was taken so aback by his excitement and started giggling, and told him about the gift of the Holy Ghost, and that he could feel this great feeling always. He said, "YES! I feel so good right now! I want this always!" I then said, "Well, will you prepare yourself to be baptized on March 1st?" 

"YES, I am so excited!! I can't wait! March 1st. Sounds great!" We all started laughing and were so excited, and I was just taken by surprise. I've been so used to the Ukrainian reactions to the first lesson, and they've never been close to the excitement and the joy this man was feeling. It was definitely a new experience for me! 

We invited him to pray at the end, and he said, "Okay! How do I do it?" I told him that we address Heavenly Father, ask him for blessings, thank him for blessings, and close in the name of Jesus Christ. "That's when I say Amen, right?" Right.

He then gave the sweetest prayer I've ever heard. Hearing someone pray out loud in their own words for the very first time is one of the tender mercies of my mission. It's the best thing on the planet.

I was smiling like a crazy person. This kid is seriously golden. We gave him an English Hymnal and he asked if these were our carols, and wanted us to teach him one. My companion played "Come Follow Me" While I sang it, and his eyes got real big and he said, "Can you sing it again? I'll sing it with you this time. But don't sing louder than me, because I want to learn it. I want to sing this in church next week, will they let me? Lets do it together." I don't do duets. But I've made exceptions in the past. :)

I got to do exchanges one last time! The weather was bad, and the other sisters in the city couldn't make it up to Ivano, so I got to go out with them for two days this week. It was a lovely time. While on exchanges, I was in a little cafe, and we hear a man speaking English. We went up and talked to him, and within 2 seconds I pinpointed his accent. He was from Holland! His accent made me miss my trainer so bad. I love you, Sister Van!

Also. Mom. That card you sent me with the afro was killer. I showed it to everyone in the church, and all the men were cracking up at the picture, but when I tried to translate the inside, they were just blankly staring at me. "American Humor" was the response of one of them. It was killer. I couldn't stop crying. Hahaha.

Speaking of which, the 3 sisters in the city here heard my "real laugh" and one of them fell on the ground she was laughing so hard, and the one who made me laugh said, "I'll never make Sister Webber laugh again." I've been successful at keeping that tucked away, but sometimes you just gotta have a good laugh, ya know?

Okay, I'm a fan of taking taxis when it's bone-chilling, and we took a taxi the other day, and the second I sat down and looked at my driver, we both went, "Ohhhhhhhhh!!" it was the same taxi driver we had a few weeks back, and we had a great conversation last time and I gave him a Family Proclamation. I asked him if he read it, and he pulled it right out and said, "Yes, but it was way too short. Can I have your book too?" Um. Yes.

I have a confession to make. I'm starting to get a little bit awkward. I've done an excellent job my entire mission of not being awkward, but it's happening. I think it's because I don't know what to do with sarcasm anymore. I used to be able to dish it back to people, but now I just have no idea what to say to people who aren't nice. The other day I was making announcements in front of our english practice group, about 30 people, and they were being all sarcastic and snippy at me. I just stood up there thinking, "Well, I could be sassy, or i could just not say anything...." And the longer I took to contemplate it, the more sassy they were being, and then Elder Schindler starts making his way up to the front, and he comes and stands in front of me and says, "Sit down. Just sit down." and then I quietly walked back to my seat and sat down....it was so awkward. And I thought, "It's happening....." OH NO. Haha...so that's a treat. Get ready for that one! You all best be purging yourselves of your sarcastic ways, or I don't know what we'll talk about.

Anyway. I decided to not write anyone back this week, so that's why this email is so long. Don't get your hopes up that this will happen every time. I just combined 20 different emails that I would've individually sent out, and put it all in here. That's why it doesn't flow, or make any sense. But there's something for everyone here.

Well, I love you all. Thanks for your support and your love. I'm just really grateful for you all.

Love
Sister Webber

Ps. Natasha (my Ukrainian sister) says "Hi", Mom. You'll meet her on skype one day. And Natasha's probably reading this on my blog that she found, so, Privit Natasha! Ya Tebe Duzhe Leublue. :)

Sister Webber and Sister Olds

Snow, snow everywhere.......yuck 

Our mexican fiesta night

Hola amigos!

I'm Fine.....

For all who are reading this: 

Things are good, and I'm safe. No, I'm not locked up in my apartment, nor am I avoiding being hit by rocks and tear gas. There are things going on in our city, but I'm just really happy I'm safe in the L'viv Mission, that's all I can say. 

I came across a really awesome quote:

"The work will never be concluded until our Lord and Master says, "It is enough." There are lives to brighten. There are hearts to touch. There are souls to save." 

That was from our beloved Prophet Thomas S. Monson from the recent conference. I just love that. It gives me a lot of hope that the work will continue on until the Savior comes again...that no man or government can hault the work of the Lord. That no missionary leaving the field will conclude the work. It will continue.

Also, I was watching The Prophet of the Restoration this week, and at the end it shows a shot of the heavens after Joseph is killed, and you hear the voice of Joseph uttering the words,

"My Lord my God."

I thought I was going to die with the amount of love, deep honor, and respect that filled me for the Prophet Joseph. I was completely overcome with the strongest emotions.

John Taylor said it best when he wrote that the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants cost the "best blood of the 19th century". 

The thought came to me this morning during personal study that maybe I was led to teach our investigator to learn a thing or two about Joseph Smith. I had a testimony of him, and I knew he was a prophet, but the conviction of, and gratitude for this incredible man has grown over the last month as I've searched high and low in church history for more info on him.

Anyway, our investigator is doing great, but she's still got a few hang ups. Please pray for her! We're really pulling for her to be ready to be baptized next month.

This week I get my final transfer call. I honestly can't believe it, but I'm really excited to hear what's going to happen. I secretly have in my heart what I want to happen, but I'll just keep that to myself. Also, Mom, stop being so trunky, okay? The members are telling me how trunky my mom is on facebook, Haha. :) But I love you, and I miss you!!

Thanks for all the support. And I'm also grateful that Dallin writes me every week so I can continue wiping tears from my face. Killer, I tell ya. What a hoot.

I LOVE YOU ALL! Don't you doubt it one bit. 

Love, 

Sister Webber

It's Snowing

It's snowing. It probably has something to do with the fact that I was sort of bragging in my last email that it wasn't cold yet. But I don't believe in superstitions. 

Well, today my heart is full. I am so overwhelmed and happy for the miracles that took place this weekend. Namely, Grandma getting baptized and Grandpa becoming and Elder. I'm so excited to be able to talk with everyone in person about the many miracles that have taken place in the last year in order for this day to be possible. All weekend I kept saying, "Only a few more hours until she's baptized!" "She's probably getting confirmed right now!!" Ahhhh! Life is so good, isn't it? The gospel is true!! Thank you so much for all the pictures! 

This week was exceptional. We had exchanges with none other than Sister Olds! Three weeks ago, I was "dethroned" as Sister Training Leader after 7 months, and my best mission friend became my new STL....meaning we get to do exchanges. Sister Olds came with me on Thursday and we met with our golden investigator. We read Alma 32 together and talked about the seed growing into a strong-rooted tree. She made a lot of great comparisons, and at the end I asked her to be baptized. Her eyes got really big, and she asked a lot of questions excitedly, and then finally she said, "Okay, sure! Cool! Thanks!" Best reaction I've ever gotten. She attended institute with us, where we talked about none other than Alma 32. There are no coincidences. Only little tender mercies. She looked at me at the start of the lesson with amusement and I said, "Just inspiration from God, that's all." :) 

On Thursday, Sister Ruldolphi (my companion) was on exchanges and went to the local English Club at the Library. We have several potential investigators who are interested in the church there. One is from India, and requested an English Book of Mormon. She saw him waiting outside the library with a friend, and she gave him the Book of Mormon. He went back inside to grab his things, and the sisters stayed with his friend to talk to her. Apparently while he went inside, he said, "Look what the sisters gave me!" and held up the book. Someone in the room from America said, "The only thing that book is good for is burning!" Oh my. He responded back, "I don't believe that. I'm going to read it." 

We met with him yesterday, and he said, "I read from your book. It really touched me, and I felt something special. I've read so many things from other religions, and I have never felt this about anything I've read yet. It really speaks to me. I believe this is from God." We continued talking to him, and he wants to meet with us again. As we were leaving, he saw a painting of Christ being baptized by John the Baptist. He asked us what it was, and we explained baptism to him. I said, "Would you like to be baptized?" He said, "Well, obviously. I don't know why I wouldn't!" 

Spiritually sensitive people really exist. I'm super excited about it. 

This week was great, and full of tender mercies. I felt the love my Father in Heaven has for me, for our family, and for those we are teaching. It is a real power, and it is divine. 

I love you all, and can't wait to hear back from you! :) 

Love Sister Kate Webber