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