This week has had some great miracles, which I think was definitely kicked off with talking to the Slovak lady while e-mailing last week. When there's a good start like that, you know the rest of the week will have miracles as well. What essentially happened was that I heard her speaking Slovak with her mother, asked where they were from (in Slovak, which shocked them), then got into a conversation that led to her asking if I would be willing to teach her boyfriend some Slovak because she found it hard to explain (Elder Sindylek had the same problem with me) and the university here only offers Czech. I haven't met with them yet, but I'll let you know what happens whenever things work out there.
We had the best miracles over the weekend, I think. Mi and Ma (the couple referred from the Elder's quorum President) passed their baptismal interviews this Saturday, and it was a miracle in itself. Ma has been very solid, reading her scriptures diligently, giving up coffee in exchange for Ovaltine (the stuff really works great--counting her husband, that makes four people who've had no problem swapping it for coffee), and overall being excited and set on her baptism. Then, the night before her interview, multiple barriers suddenly popped up. Her mother called from Slovakia and told her that it wasn't right to be baptized into this church, that it would be a sin. She then had a frightening dream about people dying and being destroyed because of her baptism. When we came to do her interview, she told us about these things and let us know she wasn't sure if she still wanted to be baptized. We read some scriptures with her and calmed her down, reminding her that she had always had only good feelings while we've taught her, and that good things are from God. We also let her know that Satan doesn't want her to be baptized and will do whatever he can to stop it, the dream and resistance from her mother being evidence of that. We invited her to go and pray about it while we did her husband's interview, sending the Book of Mormon with her. Mi passed, and when she came back in we asked how she was feeling. She said that she had prayed, and that she received an answer from God that where her husband goes, she should go also. She said that she would be baptized, and passed her interview with brilliant answers. We encouraged her to keep her connection with God strong and constant through prayer and scripture study, as well as coming to church on Sunday, warning her that the obstacles weren't over. Well, come Sunday morning she almost didn't make it to church because of some barriers that came up, just as anticipated, but we worked out a way for her to come with help from some fantastic English members. At church, she had a great experience, and all of her children but D were able to come as well. N was also supposed to be baptized this coming Saturday, but she dropped her interview on Saturday, saying that she wanted to come to church more first. I was honestly expecting after that no attendance from her at church, but she ended up coming despite having thrown up all night long. On top of that, she brought one of Mi and Ma's children with her who otherwise wouldn't have made it. Also at church were M and A from Doncaster, the wife and daughter of a solid member who drives from there every week. It was A's first time at church, and she absolutely loved it, telling me several times that she would for sure be coming next week. We had a couple lessons with them over the weekend, and they are now to the point of being ready for their own baptismal interview, scheduled to happen this coming Saturday. We had as well four member youth at church, two boys and two girls, which was so good to see. I hope they get back into the habit of attending every week.
So there you have it--my week's greatest highlights. I'm excited for this week's baptism and baptismal interviews; keep the people in your prayers. You're always in mine. I love you so much and hope you have an awesome week!
Elder Brown
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