Happy New Year

 

December 28, 2020

 

ოკეი მეგობრებო,

 

We just had a wonderful Christmas, but being in a post-Soviet country, we still have a couple of days before the big holiday of the year. In a couple of days, the curfew will be lifted for one night only. I'm not sure that this will be needed since in past years the metro and other public transport are completely empty for about 36 hours. That's a fun tradition. Let's take another. Oh boy, I can't wait for Santa to come on New Year's Eve. And now that I have the expectations for fireworks, I'm really excited. I have to tell you again, last year I saw far more fireworks than all the previous fireworks I had seen in my life. They aren't the coolest or fanciest, but quantity certainly makes up for quality in this case. 

 

As we enter into the year that I return from my mission, let's give an update on how much longer I have. Approximately 170 days. 23% left. That's right. Some of you may see that as a long time. Others of you will certainly view this as the home stretch. Regardless of where you stand, this alignment of the new year and my 18-month mark makes this the perfect opportunity to look at a few things I've done and things that have happened throughout my time as a missionary. I thought of making a list for you all, but I figured I wouldn't bore you with all the little things. If you REALLY want to know, I can supply you with a non-comprehensive list.  A lot of things happen. I've done a lot, but it is mostly routine for me. Whether or not something is actually unique, I just knew it as something that comes with being a missionary.  I've said it once, and I shall continue to say it. My expectations were shattered as soon as I read that I was assigned to serve in the Armenia/Georgia Mission and that I would prepare to teach in the Georgian language. My mind was opened on the 29th of January almost two years ago. That has been the theme of my mission. The continual shattering of expectations. Luckily, I expect that now. Things may happen that I don't anticipate, but it takes a lot to surprise me. What does this mean? It means that I can just keep going. I'm not interrupted in my normal flow of things. This has been a great blessing this year because of the frequency at which things change right now.

 

My last little bit is again on the scriptures. As of a couple days ago, I finished reading the Old Testament. That means I have read the whole Bible. I have read every word of the standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is 2468 pages. For some reference that is about the same length as The Lord of the Rings and War and Peace combined. As a matter of coincidence, I've heard both the Bible and Book of Mormon compared to each of those books, and while I've not read either, I can guarantee you can learn more from the scriptures than either The Lord of the Rings or War and Peace. I don't remember when I started reading the Bible, but I know it took me less than eight months. If you read 3 chapters a day, you can read it in 13 months. Read the scriptures. Study them. Figure out the truths that are taught. I recommend reading The Book of Mormon because it's shorter and simpler. It teaches about Christ, just as the Bible does. Just read the scriptures. Make it a habit. Do it with your family. It'll enrich your life. If you've been reading my emails lately and you haven't even considered reading in the scriptures, do it. Do an experiment. Look for good when you read. You'll find it.

 

Anyway, I hope you all find love, hope, and knowledge this new year. If you strive for it, you'll find all three. Until next time. 

--უხუცესი ფიშერი 

 

Pranked by the Government

 December 21, 2020

გამარჯობა, გენაცვალეთ! 

 

I have three big pieces of news:

 

1. Remember when I told you all that we would be going to Armenia? Ya, that's not happening anymore. Contrary to the usual pattern of governments doing things very slowly, Georgia very quickly changed their mind and decided to allow foreigners to stay in the country until 1 July. That keeps me safe until I go home. The three of us were all pretty disappointed when we heard, but it's definitely better for us to be here in Georgia. What would we do in Armenia with Armenia speaking companions? It would make things harder. Honestly, missionaries down in Yerevan seemed more torn up about it than us. That actually cheered us up a bit. 

 

2. Daviti was baptized! (This honestly should be number 1, but setting the record straight seemed important, just in case some of you don't read the email every week.) This was very special for us because we found, taught, and baptized him. It's rare for missionaries to be there through the full process. It was a very nice service. Only six of us were in attendance with plenty more joining over Zoom. President Kikiani baptized and confirmed his son which was very special to see. Elder Herr and Elder Springer spoke and I translated the meeting. It was a good time. A much easier translation than my previous attempts despite my being out of practice. Daviti shared a brief but powerful testimony about how he knows that the decision he made was correct. It took him time to come to it, but he finally did. 

 

3. The Doctrine and Covenants is fully published in Georgian online! This is one more step to getting the Book of Mormon printed in Georgian. Maybe I'll see it on my mission, but I won't hold my breath on that. 

 

4. Here's just a fact that isn't news. Christmas is this week! You all know that it's the most wonderful time of the year. What an amazing thing for such a cold, dark, gloomy time of the year to be so full of joy. What a paradox for the shortest and darkest days of the year to be accompanied by pure white snow. It is not only the pureness of snow but at this time is often when we find time to drink and share the pure milk of human kindness. Let us be patient, meek, charitable, wise, and joyous for the next week, and, if you're up to it, for the next month or year or decade. 

 

Well, read your scriptures, pray with your family, and have a Merry Christmas! 

 

--უხუცესი ფიშერი 

Time to Leave Georgia

 December 14, 2020

დობილებო, ძმობილებო, მეგობრებო!

Well, I've been reading lots of email subject lines from sister missionaries that were in the MTC with me with very similar subject lines to my own. Mine, however, does not have the same connotation because I am not going home. Let me give you a bit of background.

Here in Georgia, Americans don't need a visa to stay in the country. We can stay for a year without any problems. Since we are here for 17-22 months, we just need to cross the border halfway through our missions. Elder Herr and I were in Armenia last year for Christmas, so we are coming up on that year point where we have to cross a border. Leaving is easy but coming back isn't for us since we aren't business travelers, remote workers, or students. Since obeying the law is important, we'll be going down to Armenia for 4-8 weeks until our applications to reenter the country are approved. Can I tell you how excited I am to live with other people? Unbelievably excited! I have nothing against them as roommates, but they are more than roommates. We literally spend every waking moment together. We are coming up on 9 months of that. Those of you familiar with human biology know that that is enough time to have a baby. 

To be clear, I'm not comparing our experience to pregnancy in any way other than the length of time. The other two might be willing to compare it to the pain, but you can bring it up with them.

Anyway, this week was good. When teaching a lesson on commandments to Davit I made a connection. Jesus taught that the two great commandments are to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. He says that all the other commandments hang upon those two. Well, if this is true, then why do we have other commandments? There are many answers to this, but this is the one that occurred to me in the lesson. We don't actually have a good idea of what is important to God. At least without the commandments. They give us an idea of how we can show our love. As we continue to live in accordance with those commandments, we learn more about Heavenly Father and improve our relationship with him. What a wonderful thing!

That's the week. Have a good one all. Read your scriptures. Say your prayers. Be good. See you soon. 

--უხუცესი ფიშერი 

Christmas Time Is Here

 December 11, 2020

We (Elder Springer, Elder Herr, and I) have been celebrating Christmas over here since November 1st.  The three of us have been living together for the last 8 1/2 months. I've been spending all my non-sleeping time with either Elder Springer or Elder Herr for the same amount of time. 

The three of us would not deny that it had been a tough time. We need some Christmas. Luckily this year, we have a way better environment to celebrate. If you remember last year, we only had a 2D (paper) tree on our wall. If you take a look at our living room this year, you'll notice an upgrade. We may be getting a nice New Year's gift too, but we won't be sure about that for a couple more days. Stay tuned.

 

We are preparing for our friend Davit to be baptized on December 20th. This is super exciting because the is the first person that any of us have taught from start to finish. He is so awesome. He has made some awesome spiritual growth and, even better, he has grown his relationship with his dad. He'll be having his interview on Wednesday and if he passes, he'll be ready to be baptized the following Sunday. The service will only be us three, Davit and his dad who is also the branch president. We're all very excited.

Anyway. Hopefully this next Monday, we'll have some more news. In the meantime, read "A Christmas Carol" and, of course, read the scriptures. Bye! 

 

--უხუცესი ფიშერი 

Some Guesses and Some Gratitude

November 23, 2020

გამარჯობა მეგობრებო,

We're still here in Georgia waiting for something to change. While we've been busy for a big positive change to occur, we have had a mix of developments. The size and quality of these changes vary, so I'll let you all form your own opinions on them. Feel free to send some clarifying questions if you feel I didn't give enough information for you to form an opinion.

We are back in Stage 0 meaning we cannot meet with anyone in person. We are basically back where we were in March/April-ish, BUT with some important differences. 1) There are only three of us. 2) We only have two apartments to worry about. 3) We have a lot more structure to work with in terms of missionary work, Facebook being the biggest. We are continuing to meet with President Alex for language tutoring, but with some extreme social distancing. Other than that, our number of meetings has severely decreased because people just don't like meeting with the missionaries over video. In-person is absolutely superior I guess.

We also put up some decorations for Christmas. We have a lot more than I had last year, and it really just brightens up the apartment and brightens our spirits. Christmas music has also been in the background a lot lately. One more bit of positivity.

Elections here in Georgia caused some unrest. Just about everyone we talked to, for weeks, was really upset. Because there was talk of fraud going around in both the state of Georgia and over here, we saw some videos of people confusing the population of the country with the state and being worried about massive fraud. ABC also used footage of a voting station here in Georgia when talking about the race in the state. Lots of confusion. I think we should just call this country Sakartvelo. It would make it easier for everyone.

In speaking with the mission leadership, we have some guesses for when missionaries will be coming back to Georgia. The Area Presidency thinks between January and March (there is literally no way). President Picard thinks June. Well, there is a bit of a time discrepancy there. President Picard is also considering bringing us down to Armenia until new missionaries come back (the current possibility of this is about 1%). Now, if you hear about these possibilities for the first time from the leadership in Armenia, you might be compelled to be pretty upset and worried and sad. Unfortunately, this was the reaction of my companions. Elders Springer and Herr did not consider either of these things to be realistic possibilities. I, however, did count these to be possible. Now that someone said them out loud, it makes it more real, but having the idea in my head for months made it a lot easier to not be devastatingly upset. I've just had more time to consider the positives and negatives of the situations. I have more guesses for those possible futures. If I go the rest of my mission with no new missionaries, I'll be fine. I've been considering it for months. As time goes on it is just more and more realistic. We have contact with the Elders and Sisters that will be coming. I may not meet them on their missions, but I can still answer questions. I can still organize the resources for them to use, both language and otherwise, for when they get here. I'll do what I can with the resources we have. I can do my best to make sure that everything is in the best order it can be before I leave in June.

To end, we have gratitude. What a great thing to express. What an easy thing to express. What a hard thing to express. Sure I'm thankful for "all my many blessings", but do I recognize what these blessings are? Let's go through a few:

-my cheap Georgian trombone

-the written language

-the spoken word

-international postal services

-pens

-stairs

-elevators

-innovators

-laws

-Georgian 

-English to Georgian dictionaries

-wheels

Ya, the vast majority of this list we might take for granted. I would even say that most of these should be taken for granted, but that in no way should stop us from recognizing our gratitude for them. Anyway, let's show some more gratitude this week. Okay? Great, sounds good.

--უხუცესი ფიშერი 

 River going through Tbilisi

Georgian church near our apartment

One More Hold-up

 October 26, 2020

ძვირფასო მეგობრებო,

 

First off, here's another update on Sister Mafi. On her way to Yerevan from Paris, the Picard's got word that Sister Mafi's flight to Tonga was canceled. She is now in Armenia with the other two sisters. Right now, it looks like she'll be there until December. She has been saying from the very beginning that she thinks she'll be going home in December. It looks like she will be correct on that front.

 

What else is new? Well, we're back to Phase 1 and we will probably be back in Phase 0 in the next couple of weeks. That means not only that we can't use public transportation, but we will be stuck back in self-isolation. The case numbers here in Georgia are bad, but elections are also coming up at the end of the month. There is talk that after the election, the government will put the country in a nationwide lockdown again. That's really unlucky, but at least this time around, we have more tools at our disposal for missionary work.  We'll be getting a laptop soon for the apartment, making it even easier to do missionary work in quarantine.

 

My studies are moving along well. I've now finished reading "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage, The New Testament, and I have begun reading the book of Isaiah. In getting through Psalms there were some wonderful prophecies and beautiful prayers. Growing up, I never viewed Psalms as very great. They certainly are not all on the same level. Proverbs are the same. It's an interesting book and has some great maxims, but some are just not good and some are just really repetitive. Ecclesiastes has a few good passages. Songs of Solomon are just terrible. The difference between Songs of Solomon and Isaiah is so vast, I almost can't describe it and I will not try in this email. I will say that the chapters of Isaiah that are found in the Book of Mormon are especially great and understandable. I highly recommend the Bible. I even more highly recommend the Book of Mormon. The scriptures sure are great.

 

The work is good and the work is sweet. Have a great week and a great month. See you soon!

 

--Elder Fisher

 

Study Time

 October 20, 2020

Lots of time is spent studying especially since we moved back to Phase 1 this week.  (This means no public transportation - we walk everywhere.  No meeting in people's homes - only outside or at the church.)  More time will be spent with online teaching and proselyting again.

Playing the "chocolate chip General Conference trivia game" with the Herr family

Little Teeny Update

 October 19, 2020

 Dearest მეგობრებო!

A couple weeks ago, President Picard made an outstanding move. Some of you may be aware that there is currently a hot conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Well, as we all know, governments care about wars. Soooo, President Picard used this conflict as leverage to get Sister Mafi to the top of the list of getting Tongan citizens home. Let's fast forward to today when we get a call from the Picards saying that Sister Mafi will be leaving tomorrow morning for Yerevan. Now we're down to 3 Elders in the country. We're one step closer to getting missionaries back here.

--Elder Fisher 

Last four Georgian missionaries at dinner ...

and in the park

 Final day with Sister Mafi before she flies to Armenia.

 

We Will Still Weep for Zion

 October 4, 2020

Dearest All, 

This week we had some good meetings:

Darejani- This is a sister that Sisters Gehring and Workman met back in November. She was very interested in the Gospel and loves the Book of Mormon. She believes strongly in the prophets of the Georgian Orthodox church and has a big problem with proxy baptism. She does however have a great relationship with Mzia, the Relief Society president, and President Kikiani, the branch president. When we met with her we had dinner with her and her granddaughter, Salome. We shared a message about General Conference and said she would watch it in Georgian, so we will send it to her next week. Salome also offered to help us with Georgian by sending us some tests based on her secondary school exit exam prep book. It should be fun and helpful for us. 

Lado- He is still working to prepare for baptism. We taught about prophets and sustaining them. He was very excited for Conference and he stayed up to watch every session live in Russian. We gave him the October 2014 talk by President Nelson about sustaining the prophets. It explains the process and necessity of it very well. He was equally excited to read that. We also asked him to pray about the assurance of having modern prophets called of God. This was one of his apprehensions when we went over the baptismal questions. Certainly, he will receive an answer in the affirmative. 

Lado the Jehovah's Witness- One young man, 18, that we connected with through the Facebook page. He has read the entire Book of Mormon and loves it, but he does not believe it to be the word of God. Likewise, he does not believe Joseph Smith to be a prophet, nor does he believe that Christ and God appeared to him. He does however think it is good literature that was in some way inspired of God. He was however very insistent when we met with him that The Book of Mormon could not be scripture comparable to the Bible. We gave him some challenges, but we likely will not meet with him again any time soon. 

General Conference was a needed experience for me. It was an absolute delight to hear those serving under the divine mantle God has given. The talks given on Zion were especially interesting to me because that is a topic that has guided many of my studies over the past few months. After a couple mentions of it, I felt the timeliness of my studies and of this conference with all that is going on in the world. I may have shared this before with you, but I will say it again. The short time while I was in a district with Elder Nilsson, Sister Gehring, and Sister Workman was a Zion-like experience. The others may not agree with my assessment, but hear me out you three. Certainly, there is much we lacked, but the effort was there. We were unified in so much. Even in the disagreements we had, we listened with openness. We did not discount each other's ideas. Love abounded. This occurred on a small scale. It was a circumstance that was difficult to replicate. While the number of us here in Georgia is the same as was in my previous experience, working towards being of one heart and one mind is more difficult. The effort with us four is there, but we are all in very different places. As long as that effort increases, we are certainly on the right track. I feel that the effort is increasing because it certainly has increased since we began being together three months ago. 

For me, Zion and Israel were topics of great interest, but there were other major topics that stuck out that I'm certain are applicable to each of you. Mercy, repentance, trials and refinement, patience, progress and tolerance, and many more. The words of the prophets are always needed. Sometimes they are of good cheer, sometimes they are of chastisement, but each one is needed. Whether or not you decide to listen to or read the addresses given in General Conference you can always turn to the scriptures. No matter the medium by which we take in the words of God, we'll be helped. Just be good boys and good girls. 

სიყვარულით, 

უხუცესი ფიშერი 

On September 14, 2020 We visited Chronicle of Georgia (or Temka Rocks as the missionaries call it.)  This is a monument of huge pillars of rock with Bible stories carved.  The monument overlooks Tbilisi and the Tbilisi Sea.   We went early in the morning to watch the sunrise. 

Monument to Saint George

Language study at President Alex's home.

  

Two Evenings and an Afternoon with a General Authority

 September 14, 2020

Two Evenings and an Afternoon with a General Authority

გამარჯობა ყველას! 

So, we've gone through ups and downs this week. For a couple days, we thought Sister Mafi would be going down to Armenia. Well, she didn’t, and she won't until after the elections on Halloween. Remember the politics here are super weird. They have protests all the time about something or other. I never know. If I weren't leaving in 9 months, I might care a bit more. 

The crowning event of the last couple weeks was the devotionals with Elder and Sister Bednar. We had three meetings with him. One with all the missionaries from the Eastern European Area, one for the branch leadership in the Armenia/Georgia Mission and one for general membership of the mission. In the last year, I've grown to love Elder Bednar and the way he teaches. In listening to his devotionals and reading his talks, I've come to recognize a number of principles that I associate with him. He touched on almost all of them in the missionary meeting and all the remaining ones in the other two meetings. Here is my list that I've come up with:

-conversion to the Lord vs. testimony

-the gift of discernment (+being quick to observe)

-person revelation (specifically "hearing what isn't said")

-doctrine, principle, application

-meekness

-just being a good boy or a good girl

-faith in connection with other doctrines/principles

-effective teaching methods (always by example) 

-the Character of Christ 

He didn't explicitly speak on all of these and in fact he taught much more. I simply enjoy these themes a lot. That is one thing I've noticed is common among good teachers. They will always go back to their main themes. Brother Brad Wilcox, Brother Hugh Nibley, Elder McConkie, President Oaks, President Nelson, etc. They have material from decade to decade and you'll notice a cluster of common themes. The number of themes may not be small, but there's a noticeable focus. Not only does this site their passion and knowledge of the doctrines and principles, but it is a testament that what they teach is true. It doesn't become obsolete and there is always more to be taught.  Is there better evidence of an eternal truth?

There isn't much else to say. Study the scriptures. Bye. 

--Elder Fisher 

 

On the metro

Barbeque at President Alex village home

 

Joshua 3:5

 August 31, 2020

ჩემო ძვირფასო მეგობრებო,

I've got some wonderful language news. We have a private Georgian tutor now! We meet every day except for Sundays (and possibly Mondays) and it's been great. We've been meeting every day for just about a week. I wasn't sure I would enjoy it very much, but he does a great job. There is a noticeable improvement in my language abilities in just this past week. He doesn't go hard on explaining principles because that is not what we need. We need practice and correction. He comes up with creative ways to teach us phrases and words. His kids have joined us to do some kindergarten level worksheets and telling jokes/riddles in Georgian. Oh how fun it is to see the tiniest children surpass us four in Georgian. Our assignment each night is to watch an episode of a show called შუა ქალაქში or Middle of the City. It is literally Georgian Friends. I have never actually watched a full episode of Friends, but the font for the credits is the same, the scene changes are similar, the logo is the same, and the music is similar. It's also very family-friendly other than some fairly heavy drinking.  It's Georgian so it still counts as family-friendly. It is a great way to wind down each night without too much winding down because it still takes effort to listen. 

A couple weeks ago, President Picard asked us to liken a particular scripture to our lives. Joshua 3:5 says "...Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." Naturally, we hung that verse up in Georgian all around the apartment so that we can internalize it and memorize it. The wonders are present when we put in the work to consecrate ourselves. One day, in particular, stands out. Thursday is always a busy day since we have weekly planning and the zone call. Because the call was 5 hours long, we were fully expecting to have little time to do much "real missionary work". After the call, we met with our friend Lado and taught him about the priesthood. Afterward, we went to eat dinner with him. While we went up the escalator, Elder Herr noticed an elderly woman with three heavy bags and offered to help. We took the bags to her home and as we walked and talked we discovered that she used to learn with the sister missionaries a number of years ago. 

Later that night, after our language study with our tutor, we took a bus to the metro and Elder Springer had a wonderful conversation with one of the workers. She knew we were members of the Church and seemed very knowledgeable of the Bible. The first words in the Church's name in Georgian is "The Latter-days'", so that part sticks out to Georgians and they are more than willing to talk about it. Unfortunately, we completely neglected to get her number, but we're sure that we will run into her again if we continue studying with the tutor at a consistent time. 

The third wonder was right after we dropped Sister Mafi off at her apartment. We stopped by a little bakeshop to get a chada (a dense, dry baked good from Armenia). The ladies working there asked why we were dressed so nicely and how we knew Georgian so well. We explained that we are missionaries, how long we've been here, and all the usual things. They said they'd be interested in joining our in-person English group when it starts up and gave us two free chadas (best chada I've ever had; neither dense nor dry). These three things may not be extremely incredible as I described them, but to us, they together represent the fulfillment of a promise given by our loving God. 

This week we had a wonderful second meeting with our good friend Merab.  He is a referral from Nukri, the first counselor in the Avlabari Branch presidency. As we planned to teach him this week, it seemed very apparent to us all that we need to extend a baptismal date to him. Both he and Nukri have very clearly voiced his desire to become a member of the church and be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We taught the Plan of Salvation and he did not disagree with anything. He takes the Book of Mormon to be scripture and knows the Bible better than anyone that any of us have met. To him, it was a given that he would be baptized, and he accepted a date for November 1st.  He is a genuine follower of Christ. He knows the Bible to be the word of God and loves what he has read in the Book of Mormon. With his spiritual capacity, we think he will receive a clear answer to his inquiring prayers on the Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph Smith. Even with our knowledge that Merab would likely accept the invitation to be baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, we still view it as a wonder and a mercy.

Lastly, we received some great news this week! Elder Bednar of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles will be holding a devotional for the missionaries of the Europe East area. When I heard about it, I broke into a huge smile because I have come to appreciate Elder Bednar's teaching style over the last 14 months. I'm very excited to hear an Apostle of the Lord address us. This is an incredible opportunity to learn and ask questions, two skills that are absolutely essential in this life.

Learn and ask. And look out for the miracles. The wonders are there because God is a God of miracles.

--უხუცესი ფიშერი 

Elder Springer and Elder Herr sick in the elevator

Me with a dead hedgehog

The three of us trying to see if we left our keys in the backyard of the church.