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.