2025(26) Faith Leap - Chapter 16: Half Way to Home

 2025(26) Faith Leap - Chapter 16: Half Way to Home

As with most things in life, I find myself asking "How are we already halfway through our time here?" while, simultaneously asking, "How are we only halfway through our time here?". 🤪  It feels like we've been here forever and that June will never come, while also feeling like we have so much we have yet to accomplish and such little time in which to do it.

"...he that hath faith to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed. He who hath faith to see shall see. He who hath faith to hear shall hear. The lame who hath faith to leap shall leap." - D&C 42:48-51.

"We will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them." - Abraham 3:25

Appointed and Prove. These principles seem to be the over-arching message of every Old Testament story I’ve read recently.

Does anyone else wonder why we see mighty miracles in the scriptures, yet the message of our day seems to always include a caveat: "expect miracles, but expect that what you expect the miracle to look like will be incorrect, and likely not big like you hope"? 

I regularly label my trials as "Goliaths" - it is a go-to story that I like to lean on to remind me of God's power. It didn't matter how big Goliath was, or how small or inexperienced David was. With God, nothing is impossible. But I have often wondered how David walked out to that battle knowing it was God's will, and not just his own, that he defeat Goliath? The prayer I have uttered more often in my life than any other is "I know you can. I just don't know if you will. Please help my unbelief…"

I feel like the timing of my recent “Goliaths”, and the release of David (the movie by Angel Studios) was divinely orchestrated. (If you haven't seen in yet, you need to!) For the first time ever, it struck me that David was appointed to be king of Israel before the encounter with Goliath. How did David know the battle with Goliath was the Lord's? Because God had already revealed His will to David that his life mission included being king of Israel. In order for David to fulfill that mission, he and Israel both had to survive. 

As soon I a realized this, I suddenly saw this pattern everywhere: 

Abraham, as he led Isaac to the sacrifice, told his servants that they would return, and told Isaac that the Lord will provide a sacrifice. Perhaps this was Abraham not wanting to have to reveal to any of them what the Lord was asking of him. (That is certainly how I have always interpreted it). Or, perhaps this was Abraham expecting a mighty miracle because he knew that God had promised him a posterity through Isaac - which meant God's will was that Isaac live to have a family. Abraham may not have known how it would happen - whether his hand would be stayed or, after the sacrifice, Isaac would be resurrected, or what? Through this proving, Abraham was gifted all of the promises in the Abrahamic covenant. I can’t help but wonder if Abraham’s remarkable blessing came because of a combination of his perfect obedience and his perfect trust - despite not seeing how the two could coexist, but choosing to allow them to all the same?

Returning to the story of David in 1 Sam 16-17, we also learn:

• David was appointed in the first place, because God saw his good/pure heart: confidence before God requires knowing we are in good standing with Him through striving to be obedient to all the crazy hard things He asks of us in our proving, and by living our covenants and repenting daily.
• God had delivered David previously from the lion and the bear: God builds our confidence in Him by giving us experiences that prove He can and does - contributing to helping us to believe He will. (The lion and bear required action, but were not avoidable. David could have chosen not to volunteer/engage with Goliath and may or may not have suffered any visible consequence from that - depending on if someone else stepped up in his place. I want to ponder on that more...)
• David laid aside the armor and weapons offered him to use the tools that he had already proved. I really appreciate this reassurance. Were the armor and weapons bad/wrong? No - use by someone who had experience/training with them would have been exactly the right answer for them in addressing the problem at hand. But God had not previously directed David on a path that gave him experience with those tools. He'd given him experience with a sling and stones - so that was the right answer for David. Trusting God in a proving trial (to help us become/get to where we need to be for the mission we've been given), means trusting the experience He has already given us (maybe a certain medical approach, language, career path, educational path, family circumstances, etc.), if we've sought to follow Him, we can trust our experience to be enough/exactly what we need for facing our proving. 
• In summary, when David walked out onto that field, he went armed with a pure heart, gratitude for - and recognition of - God's previous help, and trust in how God had prepared him, and in the promises He had made that were yet to be seen. And then he set a single stone in motion, and his miracle came.

Like David and Goliath, sometimes the miracle comes right away. More often, it seems to come after a mighty proving. Even David later lived on the run for his life for a season while he was still awaiting his appointment as king. 

God revealed to Joseph in two visions that he was appointed to rule over his family. That definitely didn't happen prior to his being sold as a slave by his brothers. As with the others, God proved to be faithful - He helped Joseph fulfill his life mission. But the road to that appointment was laden with trials that, in the moment, felt like the opposite of fulfillment. Joseph likely could not have been the leader he was when the appointment was fulfilled, without the depths he endured first. God knew he needed the character refinement (Think about it: the golden child in his fancy coat who often was the informer to Dad is then told he will rule over his brothers? How could a boy in that position not have a bit of an ego? We honor Joseph for his forgiveness and humility to his family at the end of his story, but slavery and false imprisonment might have been needed experiences that helped him become the man who could respond that way. And each of his "set-backs" were actually job-training for eventually managing the kingdom). 

God revealing Joseph's appointment as ruler over his family could be seen in two ways: as God dangling the carrot and granting false hope and abandonment through years of trial. Or a gift to give Joseph hope that the trials necessary to helping him get to where he needed to be would pass, strengthening his faith through them.

A large part of my recent trial has been feeling like, through my Patriarchal Blessing, I know some of the things to which I have been appointed, and I have been given specific promises still yet to be fulfilled, with my current burdens feeling like they are pulling me farther away from being able to accomplish my missions, rather than closer. I will admit that I have wrestled with the first interpretation: knowing God doesn't lie, but feeling pretty abandoned and manipulated. But, as I have leaned in to Father and His word, I have felt Him tutoring me in the proving process, and reassuring me that He is faithful. Though I am currently in the pit with Joseph, or walking up the mountain with Abraham, I, like them, know to what I am appointed and learning how to get to the point where I can pray, "I know you will"

Highlights:

• Baptism #4 at the Waters of Mormon
• Our faithful EQ President and his Dad moving to serve
• BYU, President Camille Johnson, a Bear, and amazing bite of food in Tbilisi
• Historical Firsts in the Branch, including a calling for me as Young Women and Primary President
• Homemade vehicle, paper airplane trick-shot, soviet car appliance jenga, and more in the fun stuff

Prayer Requests:

• Many people have asked how things are in Georgia, being sandwiched between two major conflicts now. We haven't noticed much of an impact to anything here yet. I guess most notable is that, because we are plugged in to social media sites in Georgia, and our devices detect our location, we may be seeing more pro-Iran propaganda than we would have at home? According to these reports, the U.S. has no chance, and the war will be over in a few weeks (basically the same thing that the U.S. is reporting, but in reverse...) The latest that we heard was that Iran bombed Turkey and Azerbaijan - both are countries that border Georgia. It is hard to know what is truth. We, like much of the world, are praying that all of the wars end. I believe I've mentioned before that Georgia recently passed a law that makes it more difficult for refugees to find employment, thus protecting their own citizens employment opportunities. I think this is wisdom in Georgia. They allow just about anyone to come. It can be a safe-haven. But they do not incentivise them by giving them government handouts, and now by giving their own people employment priority. Despite that, though, because it is safe, it is anticipated that there will be a flood of Iranian refugees from the South, just as there has been of Russians and Ukrainians from the North. Georgia is bursting at the seams as it is...I guess my prayer request is along these lines: Pray for the wars to end. Pray for the people affected by the wars. Pray for the people who are being displaced, and pray for the countries who receive them - that God will bless them with the abundance they need to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and house the homeless. 

Details:

4th Baptism!

Kutaisi had their third baptism (4th in the Branch) since our arrival. Is this not the most beautiful baptismal location?!? Very Waters of Mormon-esque. But way colder. 🥶 Our friend, Boris, is such an impressive person. All it took was in introduction to The Church and he was self-driven to learn everything he could, as fast as he could. He told the missionaries that he'd learned about baptism and wanted to be baptized before they even had a chance to have a lesson about it. And anyone who is willing to be dunked in a frigid winter river has unquestionable commitment. As seems to be the pattern, God again parted the constant rain clouds just long enough for a beautiful baptismal day.

Speaking of Next-Level Commitment:

We finally have an Elder's Quorum President! Timofey, and his Dad, Grigory, are also next-level faithful. They had a home in the mountains - about an hour away from Church. The bus fair was often more than they could afford to pay, so they were unable to attend church most weeks. One day, Grigory had a dream that told him he needed to sell his house. (This is a house that he has spent years fixing up with his own hands, in the country where he loved the wide open space, and cultivating the land). Without leadership knowing about this, leadership called Timofey in to talk about the feasibility of calling him as Elder's Quorum President. Trusting that the combination of both of these things meant that God wanted them closer to Batumi, and for Timofey to make himself available to serve, they sold their beloved home (it sold crazy fast), and they bought a tiny apartment in the city (for anyone who ever visited our Orem home, their entire apartment is about the same size as our kitchen and dining room were). Grigory has completely worn out 7 copies of the Book of Mormon since he joined The Church over 30 years ago. His testimony of this volume of scripture is indescribably powerful.  Their example of consecration is awe-inspiring.

President Camille Johnson in Tbilisi

Camille Johnson, General Relief Society President, visited Georgia last weekend! She held a special meeting for all of the Sisters in Georgia, and invited all of the Branch Presidents and their wives to a dinner afterward. Tbilisi is a 5 hour drive from us, so we were originally not planning to make the trip. But shifted our plans last minute, when the Spirit directed us that it would be important for us to be there. We are grateful we went.

Because I know you have been dying to know: we counted this trip and there were exactly 30 tunnels that we went through between Chakvi and Tbilisi. You will not believe what we saw just as we approached Tbilisi city limits! Having lived in Provo/Orem for 16 of our 17 years of marriage, we are so accustomed to this image that we were well past the car before it registered that WE JUST SAW A BYU DECAL STICKER in THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA!?!? Richard tried to slow down enough to let the car catch up to us, but it wasn't to be. But all of us saw it and can attest that it looked identical to the one below, with the exception of lines of weathering through it. What a fun Love Note from Heavenly Father, akin to Parker Stong's Jr Jazz Jersey. 💗

Our AirBnb was a long drive up narrow roads that, in the United States, would never be considered anything but one-way roads but that, true to Georgian-style, were not only two-way, they also allowed parking. It was in the neighborhood where Richard lived for a large part of his mission. It was fun for all of us to drive down memory lane (it was too cold to walk), and reminisce about the apartment that flooded, the African Prince that joined (and left 😢) The Church, the grocery store in a member's front room...good times. We love to document the quirks about the places we stay. This AirBnB had bold wallpaper on every wall, and the shower drain emptied onto the tile floor, that then drained in the center of the bathroom. 😅 We spent a lot more time in the kitchen and bathroom than normal because, unlike the frozen tile in the remainder of the house, the hot water pipes ran under the floor to the sinks - so these tiles remained toasty warm.

Sister Johnson's message was beautiful. She actually told us that she'd decided to share some of what she shared in the Relief Society Broadcast that was just released Church-wide. (She gave us permission to share that Georgia heard it first 😉). Relief Societies across the globe should be gathering/inviting members to watch the Broadcast sometime this March. I am excited to listen to her message again - together with additional insight from the other members of the Relief Society Presidency. It was also an absolute blessing to gather with the other Sisters in Georgia and to feel the strength of their numbers and devotion.

We are certain that one of the reasons it was important for us to make the trip to Georgia this weekend was to see our dear friend, Raisa, again. Raisa joined The Church before Richard was a missionary here. She was around for what Richard calls, The Branch Revolution: In a nutshell, the big division developed among the members in Georgia associated with a change in welfare policies and harsh accusations of Branch Leadership. The Missionaries were caught in the cross-fire and didn't know who to believe. The contention came to a head one fateful Sunday when, during Sacrament meeting, a group of members hijacked the meeting and forced missionaries and others out of the building. It was a really difficult time for everyone here. To this day, Richard doesn't know all of what was and was not true. As with every conflict, everyone felt they were in the right, and many people were hurt in the fall-out. Raisa was one of those. She still believes firmly in the Restored Gospel, but it has felt impossible for her to trust Church leadership again. She didn't think she would ever return to attending. But she accepted our invitation to attend the meeting with Sister Johnson, and the Spirit worked within her. She has requested that her destroyed record be recreated, and feels she is ready to be among the saints again. 💗

Our dinner with Sister Johnson was at a restaurant that is approached from the back, down an unlit alley. When you get around to the front of the building, you walk under a lovely hanging-vine archway, through a quaint garden, into a fancy dining hall. Just another thing our fellow Branch President would describe as "Georgian Nonsense". But, honestly, I think it is one of the things that contributes to Georgia's charm: I love that they don't have to have everything "just so", and I admire that they figure out how to make things work. The entrance to your building is on a cliff, so they to get to it is from behind? No problem - the excitement you feel wondering if the end of the dark alley will lead to a restaurant, or an awaiting attacker (or both) will give you a good appetite for your dinner. 😅 (To be fair, that fear comes from movie theatrics and not from Georgian statistics. I actually feel very safe in Georgia - even in the big city. Georgians have maintained an admirably moral society).

When Richard worked for the Missionary Department, he ran a pilot that included his original mission (Russia Yekaterinburg). The Mission Leaders at the time were the Ustyuzhaninovs (I think I spelled that correctly?). President Ustyuzhaninov came to Salt Lake at some point during the pilot - so Richard had met him in person briefly. But it was a nice surprise to see each other again as the Ustyuzhaninovs are now serving in the Area Presidency here. His first name is just as difficult to say as his last name, so he invited the kids to call him "Bear" - on account of him running from a bear while picking berries in his childhood. They are a fun couple. The two in the back on our side of the table are Georgian natives who have just been called as Branch President and Counselor. They are both gracious, disciplined, insightful - and single. It is interesting: When Richard served as a missionary, they were a lot of women members - the men were few and far between. There has been a complete 180 degree reversal: now the men outnumber the women 3 to 1 - with that difference being even wider for the Young Adults. Hopefully, we can start finding some wonderful young women to even things out a little.

We looked ahead at the menu and learned that this restaurant surprisingly labels all of the Gluten-Free options! This is the first I've seen that in Georgia! Tragically, we arrived late (We took the kids, and our new Relief Society President back to the AirBnb, and then had a difficult time finding parking. Everyone else either arrived by taxi, or has red Embassy license plates - which gives them permission to park anywhere they want.) Rather than ordering individual dishes, our special reservation dinner ordered family-style, and everyone else had dished before we arrived. There was plenty of food left, but most of it contained gluten, or had been touched by bread. So I only got a few bites of dinner. But they were among the best bites of food I have had in Georgia. Definitely the BEST dolma (seasoned meat wrapped in grape leaves) and Ajapsandali (vegetable stew with eggplant) that I have ever had. (Anyone who visits us in Tbilisi, we will be sure to take you!). My sweetheart made me a second-dinner when we returned to the AirBnb.

Sister Johnson was scheduled to conduct a full weekend of Broadcast meetings for Youth, Young Single Adults, Church Leaders, and Women from Armenia. Sadly, we received word on Friday morning that the conference was canceled due to Sister Johnson needing to fly home to Utah. We do not know the circumstances, but our prayers are with her.

The last notable part of our trip was on the drive home: during our pitstop, the kids wanted Wendy's. Richard agreed to pay for it on the condition that they be brave and do the talking themselves in Georgian. (You order at a kiosk, but they showed their number and picked up the food without help).

Historical Firsts in Batumi Branch

At our Youth Activity on Saturday, we had our first-ever planning meeting. The youth did a great job of coming prepared with ideas and were surprisingly willing to volunteer to lead activities. Our Kutaisi youth joined us via video call which, while not ideal, worked fine. We are happy they could participate. To set the tone for our planning, we split the group into two and gave them random objects, a theme, and 10 minutes to come up with a skit that used what they were given. It definitely stretched a lot of comfort zones. Gratefully, our kids' are well acclimated to simulations and challenges, so they led out and everyone else warmed up pretty quickly. They were quite creative! Our debrief was amazing - drawing connections to our activity planning such as: the uncomfortable can turn out to be fun, being grateful to those willing to lead, everyone is going to bring different things to the table and we can find ways for them all to work together well, supporting and rolling with others' ideas, etc.

On Sunday, we announced that we are pushing our Sunday meeting times back an hour so that they match the Kutaisi group. This will allow us to have a Youth Sunday class a couple of times a month with our Kutaisi youth (who are siblings who would like more youth interaction).

Also, Sunday was the first time we have split into separate classes for Relief Society and Elder's Quorum! (For historical accuracy, I think they technically split two times before this. It is the first we've done it since we came, and the first time it is going to be consistent). Fitting that our first Relief Society meeting was held on International Women's Day. (The Branch Presidency gave all of the women and girls in the branch a tulip. Richard miraculously bought the exact number we needed for our friends and visitors - having purchased extra, just in case.)

Today we also implemented reciting the Youth Themes into our Youth & Primary lesson, and issued our first challenge: 30/300 Day Feast on the Words of Christ (After they've studied the scriptures for 30 days, they get an individual treat. Collectively, after our study days total to 300 days, we will have a feast in class). Oh, yeah: We have the first official Young Women's/Primary President in the Branch. Now I get to attend Branch Counsel with Richard. 😉

Tomorrow is transfers and we said goodbye to 4 of our missionaries. This is the first opportunity I've had to truly appreciate how hard missionary transfers are on our new members and investigating friends. When people find the courage to make mighty changes in their lives as they accept the gospel, it is no surprise that they become so attached to these tremendous young missionaries. They cling to the missionaries' testimonies as they are taking those proverbial first steps - just as a toddler clings to their parent's fingers as they work to find their footing. And, just as the parent eventually has to choose to let go and let their toddler go-it on their own, there is wisdom in moving the missionaries around, but it doesn't make it any less hard. To help with this transition, Richard has done a great job of encouraging our missionaries to find members to be their investigator's friends, and the missionaries have done a great job of responding to this invitation. We learned that both of our Sisters are being transferred. But, miraculously, just this week, they got together with our friends, the Ayalas, and the friend they are teaching, Ana (Georgian native who is such a light!) Ana and Marina Ayala became fast friends! - Which eases the heart-ache of seeing the Sisters go. We love our missionaries so much! Who are the missionaries in your area teaching? Could they use an invite from you?

And now for some of the Fun Stuff

Street-legal is a lot more creative in Georgia than in the States. I was almost hesitant to show this picture to CJ. No doubt he will be tempted to ship his welder and make his own vehicle while here...

Miss threw this paper airplane and it landed just so that it balanced on the light switch. Unduplicatable!

Speaking of car decals: This is a popular one in Georgia. The Wiper blade looks like the cat's tail waving back and forth. My question is: do they sell the decal with the wiper blade? Or sell the tail separately? Or, when you have to replace the wiper blade, do you either have to buy a whole new decal every time, or just have a tailless cat?... And Speaking of wiper blades: ours went flying off in the middle of a downpour. That was fun. Gratefully, it was on my side and not the driver's side.

We had another full day without power/heat. Cooked potatoes in the ash like Nona taught us. We're pretty much pros at brown-outs now.

So, there was some mix up (on our end) about when our dinner with Sister Johnson was being held. We were literally all dressed up and on our way to the restaurant when we learned we weren't invited to the one being held that night - it was the next night. We happened to be in the neighborhood with the first Georgia branch building, so we went on a date to find it. Located on an extremely humble street - all shacks with piecemeal roofs and no heat, the building has been painted bright yellow, with a colorful wall around it. It looks to be a daycare now. Seeing these places stirs a lot of emotion and memories for Richard.

Sausage links like you see in cartoons

These old soviet cars are always driving through Tbilisi with someone speaking through an unintelligible loudspeaker. They came through our neighborhood multiple times a week during our last trip, and Richard was never able to figure out what they were saying. Thanks to Natalia, we finally know!: They are asking to haul off your old appliances. And then we saw how they do it: no need for a trailer; just strap them to the top of the car. 😲

After reading Elder Farias' invitation to his missionaries to study the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes everyday, Richard and I have decided to accept this challenge for our couple's study. I don't know why it still amazes me that the Book of Mormon is so instantly edifying. Especially in contrast to the Old Testament. Not that the Old Testament is bad. (I'm actually truly loving it and seeing all sorts of never-been-noticed insights this time around). I think the difference is that I have to work harder in the Old Testament. Kind of like the contrast between eating a pomegranate versus a peach: both are delicious. The pomegranate takes a lot more work and time to enjoy, while the peach is instantly tasty and hydrating. I am especially loving studying the Book of Mormon with Richard and debriefing together as we read. He sees so much that I do not - and vise versa. The other day, while we were studying, Kroc brought us breakfast in bed - completely unprompted!  

After that kind of service, how can I not let Kroc have a call-out? He specifically asked for this picture. He watches for these mannequins on the ski lift each time we drive from the health food store to the church. (Which is a few times a month because we like to kill two birds with one stone while we are in the city).

If you stayed until the end, you are a trooper! Sorry this turned into such a novel!