Matchmaking: My calling.

8/18/14

Yes. I know by the title you may be feeling some concern. Do not be alarmed. I am aware that my actual calling is to be a missionary. But this week, that included some matchmaking. I will explain in due time. We had the best week. Seriously. It was out of this world. It was unique because we had the entire week in our area. No splits, just two sister missionaries, one city, and a million miracles to find. The elders' investigators got baptized this week and it was miraculous. We don't have a font here so we go to a sauna and use their hot tub/pool thing. For a lot of the week we were preparing for the baptism and helping the investigators to be ready. And then on Saturday it happened! And it was wonderful. So perfect. In our branch we only have four Russians and two of them are out of town. The other 25 are all Armenian and only the Armenians were able to come to the baptism. Our branch is very young in the gospel but they are growing so fast. They are learning and doing and accomplishing so much. I just love them all and it's so amazing to see the strides they are making. All of that being said, our baptism was definitely an event to be remembered. Everyone was talking loudly and giving direction of where to stand and commenting about how deep the water is. But for the actual ordinance, everyone was quiet. Then, after the first person was baptized, the witness started clapping and then everyone else joined in. Hahah. My companion and I just smiled. I imagined it to be something like the people in Mosiah 18 felt: 

 10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into acovenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

 11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.

The elders did the actual ordinance and it went perfectly. There was a woman that owned the sauna there and she watched the baptism from the doorway. Afterwords, our cute members asked her if she wanted to be baptized too. Hahaha. She said no. But they were so eager to share the gospel. They are just too good. 

We also had a meeting with a member this week and she does makeup for a living. She did mine but used her makeup so it was all so dark. Soooo dark on me. I came away looking more like a Vegas Performer than a missionary. The great thing was that on the way home from that we saw some people from China who we wanted to talk to but we couldn't think of a way to approach them that wouldn't be creepy. So we ended up asking them to take our picture. It turned out really cool because we got one of their numbers and he came to church the next day. Miracle. 

And now. The moment you've all been waiting for: DATE NIGHT. So, we have this investigator. And there have been so many miracles surrounding her. We met her while contacting in a park that we had never been to and just decided to try one day. That was about three or four months ago. After that we had never been able to get in contact with her. Then one night about a month ago I was looking through the phone, saw her name, and felt that we should call her. So we called and it turned out that she could meet the next day! We met with her and found out that we were the first people she's really communicated with since moving here. She's darling and has the cutest baby. She is from Tajikistan and doesn't really have any friends here. So we were the happiest missionaries in all the world that we could be her first friends. It was also a miracle because we have a member who is also from Tajikistan and when we met with her we told her about him and she was really interested in meeting him. Then. Tragedy strikes when she doesn't answer any of our phone calls for the next month. Then, this week we saw her when she was getting on a bus and we were getting off so we didn't have any time to talk to her. So then our member from Tajikistan shows up to the baptism on Saturday and we tell him about our investigator and how she's from Tajikistan too and how she's so great. We also may or may not have slipped in that she was very beautiful and had no significant other... Uh. Yes. So we told him we would try to get a meeting with her and then he could come with us. And miracle of all miracles: SHE ANSWERED. The date... I mean meeting was set up for the following day. We decided to meet in a park that was about 20 minutes away from our house. All was going according to plan until we got on the wrong bus and then ended up waiting for the right one for 15 minutes. We showed up 20 minutes late and they both were already there. Our member was nervous to meet her but we built up his confidence and told him it would be great. When we found where she was he decided to hide by a car instead of coming up to meet her. So we greeted her and then turned around to find him "causally observing" a car a few yards away. We beckoned him over and they hit it off SO FAST. Real. She had been a little standoffish but warmed right up. He was perfect too. Somehow it ended up so that just they were talking with each other and my companion and I were sneakily trying to take pictures of them without them noticing. Normal. Then she took her baby out of the stroller because he was getting fussy. So then we ended up pushing the stroller and being on our own date with each other. Life of a sister missionary. Dates with my companion while also being a chaperone-nanny. It's a good thing. But the member was so good. He talked about the gospel with her and found out she had read some of the Book of Mormon. He also told her about missionaries and why we are. By this time we had already made it all the way around the park and it was getting late so we started to say our goodbyes. Earlier, my companion and I decided that if the member held the baby then their fate was sealed, it would be a done deal. THEN. The baby started to fuss in the investigator's arms and the member said, "He wants to come to me. He wants to come to me." AND HE HELD THE BABY. We died. A thousands deaths of excitement. So perfect. After she left we told the member our plan of how we wanted her to get baptized and then marry him in the temple. He's down for it so all systems are a go. Sister Missionaries, we are in the business of eternal families and doing well. Then on the way home we had to get a taxi because our bus wasn't coming and it was so late. We called for one and then right after our bus came. We decided not to get on it and said, "Maybe our taxi driver will be elect." We got in the taxi and sure enough the driver was so cool. She's a woman and has a baby and a husband. Everything went so well and we were able to ask her a question that really opened the way for the Gospel to be discussed. We got her contact and gave her a Restoration pamphlet. We'll see what happens. I love being a missionary. This is the best. I love you all! Have a good week. Love, Sister Harris