Dear Mom,
This week was so good! Did I mention that our investigator that dropped us, Deon, came to church to hear Sister Schofield's talk last Sunday? We had never been able to get him to come before. The Schofields were supposed to leave the following Friday, but then their flight was cancelled. So the next day me and her went on splits while the other two sisters did their work. We actually ended up having another "lesson" with Deon. "I liked church. There was positive energy there," he told me as we walked to the park to sit down. Once we were there, Sister Schofield asked him to elaborate. "I was surprised. I have been to a lot of other churches, 25 years ago, I was going to a lot of different ones. Baptist, Evangelist, Jehovah's Witness, Seventh-Day Adventist...There was very strong, good energy there on Sunday." We asked him if he would come again and he said not every week but that he would come sometimes. I was so happy. We had him read Helaman 5:12 and he said, "That's true." Deon really is such a sweet, good man. Maybe we just paced him too fast from the beginning.
Later that day we went to the Asans so that Sister Schofield could say goodbye to them. I gave the lesson, which was about the story of Esther and how she was an example of bravery and relying on the Lord. We shared this scripture, "...Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."
We also made one last stop at the hospital to visit Zdravka. She had just gotten cataract surgery. We had her say the closing prayer as usual and she said, "I'm grateful for Schofield and Riddle, like my daughters I love them." Maybe Sister Schofield's flight was cancelled because the Lord wanted her to have the chance to say goodbye to absolutely everyone and tie up loose ends.
Meanwhile, Sister Barch and Hassell had an apparently amazing first lesson with a man named Zoran, who also goes by Kone. They also decided to give a man in a wheelchair a chocolate bar. He saw their nametags and excitedly showed them the logo on the back of his wheelchair, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I remember when I first got here hearing some snippet of conversation in which the Andersons talked about finishing up a project where they gave out free wheelchairs.
To back up a bit. Tuesday during district meeting Elder Barber and Sister Schofield both gave their final testimonies. The first Elder called (for his whole mission, not a transfer) to serve in Macedonia and the first Sister called to Macedonia. "This is my baby, so take care of it," Elder Barber told us. The night before he left I went over to his apartment and gave him a sandwich I made. He always told me "Make me a sandwich," whenever there were lulls in our conversations.
On Thursday the Sister Training Leaders from Gjakova came for exchanges and I got to work with Sister Boettinger again. We had a really good first lesson with an older man named Dragi in a cafe. For the first time I was able to use the part of the First Vision that I had memorized. Throughout the whole thing he kept saying, "Riddle, you surprise me." I don't know if we'll ever see him again, but at least I can say I gave that lesson all I had.
Saturday night we met with the Muslim man I met in Бит Пазар named Ismael. He was really nice and is reading the Book of Mormon, but he's not interested in the church. On Sunday we went and taught the Jehovah's Witness lady who works across from him, Nergus, at her home. She was likewise a really, really good lady. We met her husband and he had a good spirit about him as well. Likewise, though, I don't think we were able to stir up any interest in them. I think I'm good at finding religious people who are already comfortable in what they have, or people who are "searching" but not really looking to commit.
Never forget that God has never forgotten you.
Love,
Sister Riddle
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