Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, all you yankees! 

This will be a quick one this week, I apologize in advance. :)

President and Sister Lattin came to town this week! They brought good tidings of great joy. I got a few letters (Thanks to Mom, the Millers, and Jen Armitstead. I love you all), and a Christmas package! I'm way excited. That thing was heavy. 

I had a number of interviews with President while he was here, one of them being an ecclesiastical interview. He took one look at the paper, and threw it back at me. Yes, the man is an impulsive one. He's not too happy about the fact that the horizon of my mission is drawing nigh, but what can you do about it.

The other day we were on a trolley bus, and I noticed a man looking at my Book of Mormon. I smiled, and asked him if he wanted to read it. He was reading the cover, the inside, and flipping through the pages and handed it back. He asked if I had anything smaller he could read. I gave him a small pamphlet that briefly explains our church and the history of it. He contemplated how small it was, and then asked how much it would cost to buy my book. I smiled and told him it was a gift from God, and I handed it to him. The look in his eyes was like a small boy on Christmas morning. He whispered, "It couldn't be." He held that book so close, and the joy in his eyes was too much for me to handle. I started tearing up. He then said, "This feels like a pure drink of water." I had to laugh, because I'd never gotten that response before. Oh, I love these humble people!

We went to English club this week at the Library. We were ten minutes late, and as we walked in, one of the main guys said, "We were just talking about you. Sit down, we've got some questions." 

Question after question about Temples, baptism, the Restoration, Book of Mormon, tithing, word of wisdom, eternal families, and even profanity came up. 

"What's the worst word you can say? For example, you're hammering something, and you hit your thumb. What comes out of your mouth?"

"Dang it....?"

Everyone started cracking up.
The questions continued for an hour and a half. Everyone seemed to have a previous connection to, or knowledge of Mormons, and they were all equally fascinated. Not a single one was in the corner silently stewing or rolling their eyes. 

One man asked me if I could help another guy in the class quit his addiction to cigarettes. The guy started laughing and said, "I'm not addicted to cigarettes. I'm addicted to vodka. I enjoy cigarettes." Ha, oh boy. 

Another man from Australia (He's also in the Peace Corps), said that he was invited to attend a temple open house in Australia. He said it was absolutely stunning, and he went into every room that they'd allow him to go into. He was curious beyond belief. I seriously love awesome people who are interested.

One man came up to us afterward saying he wanted to meet and learn more.
Another girl was interested in what she had to do in order to be baptized.

And another man came up and said, "I was born and raised in an Orthodox family, but I will come to church on Sunday. I am open to changing my mind."

"Well, we're here to change it."

"Good. See you Sunday. Tell Katja I say hello."

Already knows a member. Hallelujah.

One girl asked us if we thought there could be one church on earth to unite all the Christians. I told her that I honestly knew that the Church of Jesus Christ was that one church. The more I talked about it, the more everyone became interested. We've really got it all. It's wonderful. 

I hope you all have a great week being thankful for this restored, true church on earth. I love you all. 

Give thanks. Eat Turkey. Pray over your pie.

Love,
Sister Webber

On dreams, discouragement, and Jdubs.

I'm pretty overwhelmed. With a number of things.

I'm overwhelmed at how loved I am.
I'm overwhelmed that I have so many people praying for me.

I'm overwhelmed that I had 50 (count em) emails from people who are supporting me.

You're the greatest.

It's always best to stay pretty vague with things that are hard, and to be detailed with things that are incredible, so I'll focus on the positive. :)

This week, I'll get a little more personal.

Each night when I go to sleep, I ask for a very specific blessing. I ask that my dreams will bring me peace, happiness, and encouragement to face the next day with a smile, and with a little extra something to keep me going. I haven't done this my whole life, or even my whole mission, but about two weeks ago I realized that it could possibly be something that the Lord would want for me. So I do that. And it happens, because I need it. And this week, one of the most memorable dreams was of my best friend Madison Rose. I even woke myself up multiple times because I was laughing so hard (awesome for me, creepy for my companion). We were serving as companions in a trio with another sister in my mission, and it was a blast.

Oh, if Madi and I could be companions. We'd be the best dynamic duo there ever was. I've debated visiting the NC after I get home just so I can go on splits with her. Member Presents, Baby!

Anyway.

This week we found an English Practice group in the library by our house, which is run by an American who is in the Peace Corps. His name is Daniel, and he's from Indiana. He refers to us as his "Marmans" (with his little Indiana accent. Warshington. Mom, you'd get a kick out of his sayings). We gained a nice little following to OUR English Practice afterward. Nice.

We found a family this week! We called a girl from the potential list, and went out to her little village outside of the city. It took us 2 days to figure out how to get there, because we got off the bus 20 minutes early, but when we made it, it was awesome! We got to know the family, and we had to go before we could even really share anything. It was a little disappointing. But while we were waiting for the bus, the mom was asking us more questions about our faith. Her 11 year old was hugging me to keep warm, and she said, "Tell me a story from your church." So I told her the Joseph Smith story, and at the end I said, "And that's how the church of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth again." And the little girl who was hugging me had wide eyes and said, "Whoa." Then her mom said, "In your religion, are you allowed to dance?" I said yes, and I think that sealed the deal. These are my kind of people. We're going back on Wednesday.

The other night, we were coming back from a ward activity, and we were about to get into our apartment door when I noticed a lady light up when she saw us. I turned back and started talking to her, and within a few seconds she told me she was a JW. We started talking, and I shared with her the message of the Restoration and about modern-day prophets. She was fascinated, and wanted to know more. She openly wanted to meet with us. A Jehovah's Witness. I told her that our purpose was to become like God, and to live with him again. She stopped. Again? Yes. As in we lived with him before? Yes.
Then the bible opened....aaaaannnd the rest is history. I was really frustrated after talking to her. More than I probably had been my whole mission. It was a number of things that had been building up for a while, but it hit me hard. Once I got inside, I just started crying, and couldn't stop for a long time. I woke up the next morning and was still feeling terrible about it, about myself, about my ability to be a good missionary...and a few other things. This woman just seemed so interested, and then the conversation shifted, and I felt so defeated. I had some very specific thoughts come to me about the situation, but it was still hard. 

The next day in church, a member of the mission presidency was there. He started talking, and all of a sudden he changed subjects and started talking about Jehovah's Witnesses. Literally the first time I'd ever heard a member talk about JW's. He said, "These people are so nice, so wonderful. They live what they believe, they are so dedicated, and they are very honest, loving, diligent people. But they cannot accept the gospel, because they have closed themselves off to modern-day revelation. They will not, and they cannot accept the true gospel under the beliefs that they have. 

This hit me so hard. It was straight from Heavenly Father, and I was overwhelmed that he would answer my little pleadings and help me to see that I'm doing just fine as one of His servants. 

This church is true. I promise. 

Thanks for all your prayers. I love you all so much.

Love Sister Kate Webber

ps. Thanks for sending me the video of Harrison singing. Amen to Quincy's question:
"Who knew Bud could sing?" 

I didn't even recognize his super deep voice. He's changed so much since I left. What a man. Mr. Star of the School Musical. I can't wait to watch that when I get home. Harrison, be prepared to sing all your songs for me one day. I love you. Everyone said you did a great job! :)

Miracles

First, an answer to a question from the famous Lacey Cramer Bleazard. She's apparently the member missionary of the century, and my answer to her question is YES. I get really nervous/excited every Sunday waiting for my investigators to come! Speaking of which....cool story:

We were on exchanges this week, again. I do that a lot these days. (The number of sisters in this mission is increasing each transfer. We are officially at even numbers in the L'viv Ukraine Mission! When I came into the mission, there were only 7 or 8 ukrainian sisters. Crazy.)

Anyway. 

I was with Sister Lewis, and it was getting late. We wanted to go find a recent convert who had recently gone missing, and all we had was her street name. We looked it up on the map, and there wasn't a street in the city with that name. There was one similar to that, and it was out in the middle of the forest...and it didn't feel right to go out there. But we both wanted to find her so bad! We eventually decided to go downtown on the walking street. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's usually in the center of the city, and it's a place where cars can't go (hence the name), and there are a bunch of touristy shops. People go there just to walk up and down, and relax. It's a lovely place to be.
We were walking, and there weren't a whole lot of people out. The lights were adorable, the buildings on either side were very western european, and there was a man down the path who was playing smooth jazz on his saxophone. Very Midnight in Paris-esque. It was romantic. And I put a passalong card with 5 hrn (approx70cents) in his hat. The worth of souls is great, alright? We were gushing about how beautiful it was, and how incredible this town felt. We were all starry-eyed and happy, and we were coming up on a small group of people. One man leaned out toward us and said, "Hey girls, can I have your number?" I just shrugged him off, because I thought he was just hitting on us, but Sister Lewis turns and said with a big smile, "What did you say?" His reply, "Can I have the number to your church? Someone gave me a card to your church a long time ago, but I lost it and don't have the address anymore." 

What?!

So we stopped and started talking to them. There was a woman there, and she said, "Give me your brochures." So I gave her our Family Proclamation, Living Christ, Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and told her about the Book of Mormon. They seemed extremely interested, and I was sort of weirded out by how interested they were, and they were all really normal, too (Sounds bad...but you know). I was trying to figure out if they were being sincere, but it was just a group of young adults, who were obviously searching for something in their lives.

As we were talking to them, there was a woman who came up and hugged Sister Lewis from behind. It was none other than the recent convert who we wanted to find. OH MY. Talk about being in the exact spot we were supposed to be, at the perfect time. Sis Lewis got her number, and the lady was so happy to see us. It was a miracle.

We kept talking to the young group of people, and the man said, "I see you around town all the time. And I just can't figure out what is going on. You have magic in your eyes. I can't explain it. It makes me want to do whatever you ask me to do." And he proceeded to put both hands out, and walked like a zombie. The guys with him were cracking up, and I was just so amused, and confused. They had to go, and we didn't get their number. But it was an interesting conversation.

We walked back the same way we came, and a young man stopped us and said, in English, "Hey, can I have your number?" The two of us just looked at each other, and then he said, "I want to come to your church, I just don't remember at what time you start. What's the church address again?" Oh my word. What the heck.

So then, to answer Lacey's question. I was at church...waiting. So excited, and really curious. 

Church started, and I didn't see anyone that I had talked to. After the meeting, I stood up, and I saw none other than the Zombie guy with his girlfriend. They came up and asked if they could meet with missionaries and know more. Seriously, I was dying of happiness. They are so cool! 

We saw so many little miracles this week, and I'm constantly in awe of the miracles wrought in each of our lives. We just need to be ready to receive them. 

Life is good. The word is true. The work is moving.
Thanks for all your love and support. All of you.

ily,

Sister Kate Webber

ps. 

So, an elder told me that when you're where I am at the mission (3 transfers left), you do the Doctrine &Covenants challenge. You read a chapter of the book each day until the end of your mission, and you will finish the day before you go home. You can start from the back, or start at the beginning...whichever you prefer....but I'm already 5 chapters down today. If anyone wants to read the Doctrine and Covenants along with me, go for it. :) I'll be excited if someone does it with me

Ladybug

I seriously am so grateful for the emails! You all are incredible, and I'm so happy that I have the most wonderful friends and family! The support keeps me going on hard days!

We started the week out with exchanges again. We had another inception exchange, and Sister Lewis came with me. She's just my little go-to when we have emergencies. It was Sister Bennion from Beaverton, and Sister Moffitt from Tempe. Ps. Sister Moffitt's parents graduated from USC, and her little brother went there before his mission as a trumpet player in the marching band! How cool is that?! Kindred sisters. She went to Stanford though, so she's a little bit smart. 

Anyway, my exchanges were in Chernivtsi, I let them come to my city so I could work here for a change. We had an incredible meeting with one of our golden investigators, which brought her meetings for the week up to 3. Can you believe it? I can. Because she's awesome. 

Dad wanted more info on meetings and investigators, so I'll give you the details.

I've told you about our investigator a little. Her sister lives in Florida with her husband, and they're both members. She's friends with all the young single adults in the branch, and she has been associated with the church for 10 years now. She never met with missionaries seriously until I came around. I found her in the Potential investigator list, and called her up. When I first met with her, I thought, "Ehhh...she doesn't seem too interested." We met with her twice that first week, and then she got pushed to the back burners for about 3 weeks because I had zone conference, leadership conference, exchanges, transfers, and then had to go to L'viv for an emergency transfer. Anyway. 

Fast forward three weeks, and we started meeting with her again. Each week we've had at least 2 meetings, and we've basically talked about everything there is to talk about. We're getting into pretty deep stuff, like talking about the Mosaic Law vs Higher Law, and the levels of the celestial kingdom, temples, church history, and things like that. She's reading the Book of Mormon every single day, and she even fasted on Sunday! She's all ready for baptism, but the only hang up is that she has to come to church consistently. She lives an hour outside of town, and buses are rare on Sundays.

I was talking to her best friend who is an active member of the ward, and she said, "I just find this all weird. She's known about the church for 10 years, and I talk to her about it all the time. She's never once been interested in learning more, or reading the scriptures until you came along."

For some reason, there are just certain people that you're meant to meet on your mission. 

Last night we were on walking street downtown, and we saw a cute little lady sitting on a bench. We sat next to her and started talking, and got into a wonderful conversation. Short, powerful statements confound the wise. She looked truly enlightened by the Spirit, and after I told her about the restoration and the keys of the kingdom on earth to get back to our Father in Heaven, she drew a long breath, and looked me straight in the eyes. She said, "Ladybug (that's their cutsie name for girls....it's adorable in Ukrainian. Probably one of my favorite things), I'm pretty sure you're right. I'm old, and my legs don't work very well. But I'll be here on this same bench every night. Come to me and tell me more every day." 

You can bet the love that our Savior has for her was pulsing through me. I couldn't even contain how much I already loved this woman. 

I also got a wonderful call from the Lutsk sisters saying that one of our investigators (who was supposed to get baptized in August with me and Sister Dunford), will be getting baptized! Her brother gave the green light, and they'll just finish teaching her the few lessons we had left, and she'll be a member of the church! :) I'm so happy about that. :) 

Also, in case anyone was wondering. My personal study is getting pretty intense these days. I was reading all the accounts in the scriptures about people who saw God. I'm studying the nature of the people, the events leading up to that, and the situations surrounding the appearance. It's been enlightening.

There was a scripture in Exodus. 24:11 to be exact that said in the middle, 

"Also, they saw God."

Um. What? Oh by the way, they were so righteous and dutiful that they got to see the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Not a big deal. 

No.....huge deal.

The scriptures are truly fascinating. I had to gently rebuke someone earlier this week for saying the scriptures were "a little dry, too deep, and kinda boring." When I feel strongly about something, everyone knows it. I feel strongly that the scriptures are the key that God has given us to open the gates of heaven for revelation to flow freely from our Father to us. Why someone would neglect that is officially beyond me. 

But anyway. :) Happy November everyone.

I love you all. So much.

Love Sister Ukrainian Webber