Seeing out of obsurity and darkness

I mentioned Ivan the blind man in my previous post. You all should know his full story.

Ivan (pronounced Ee-vahn), was some sort of optical scientist. He was happy, just another person in the People's Democratic Republic of Bulgaria. Then he lost his sight for no reason, and became angry at God. He said, "If God loved me, then why have I lost my sight?" He stopped believing, and because there was no religion he could not find his answers. Over time and the years Ivan's heart began to soften and he began to want to know God again. He began to search. And then a wall fell and he really could search for God.

Isa. 29: 18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.


This is an image I found on line, but it is truly how the sunsets looked in Plovdiv

It was a typical Thracian afternoon. The sun had just begun to set and had descended to that part of the sky where everything turns a bright fiery orange. It was stiflingly hot, there was no wind and no movement in the air. So when an orange car drove past me, I noticed the wind that kicked up in its wake. It didn't recall giving the car much thought other than I thought they were driving too fast for a neighborhood. I was walking far behind my companions on a dirt burm that was the sidewalk thinking about why I was in Bulgaria, and what I was really trying to do. I was really feeling sorry for myself, when a woman and a man stopped me. They grabbed my arm and asked me if I was a Hari Krisner. I knew enough Bulgarian to say "No." Then they started jabbering away in rapid Bulgarian, far past my 'zaiche' (greeny) ability to understand. I had to get my companions to come back. I yelled at them and waved. They ran the quarter of a mile back to me.

I quickly explained what was going on, and Sis King took over the conversation. Ivan and his friend Margarita were out for a drive. Ivan was blind so Margarita was explaining to him the sights. She mentioned there were "three girls from a religious sect walking on the road". He asked her to stop the car because he wanted to talk to them. And that's where they met me.

We explained to Ivan that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church, and that we had six lessons that taught about our beliefs. Ivan wanted to learn more. We took his name and address and told him, we'd give his name to the Elders that lived in his neighborhood.

The next Sunday Ivan was in Church, and the next week as well. Finally is was July and fast Sunday. In the LDS Church the first Sunday of the month is called Fast Sunday. We abstain from food and drink for two meals and then in our service, instead of having assigned talks (or sermons) the members can get up and share their testimonies of Christ. It was another hot day and Restaurant Kishinev, where we met for church was hotter inside. I was looking up at a slowly turing ceiling fan when Ivan stood up. His voice boomed, "Brothers and Sisters! I am Ivan and I am learning from Elder Madsen and Elder Mosdell about the Gospel. I know they have the spirit of God with them. I feel their presence when they come into my blok and when they are in my home." And then his voice became very quiet. "And I would like you to know that I am a candidate for baptism into the Church. I know it is true." I didn't understand much, but I understood that.

Ani and Ivan after their baptisim, July 30, 1995. Plovdiv, Bulgaria.


July 30, 1995 was here. Ani (our other investigator) and Ivan were being baptized. Ani was baptized first, by Georgi Lukov. Ivan was baptized second by Elder Madsen. Ivan was lead down to the edge of the pool by Elder Mosdell and slowly lowered himself into the water. The water was deep and came up to his chest -- we baptised in the public swimming pool, Vecen Mladost. Elder Madsen said the baptismal prayer and immersed him into the water. When he came out he was glowing with happiness and waded to the side of the pool and literally jumped out! He was so happy. I was so happy. We all were happy to see another person enter into the waters of baptism.

The next Sunday Ivan was sustained as a member of the Plovdiv Branch and was given the Aaronic Priesthood and then ordained an Priest. The next Sunday he sat up on the first row of the room with the other men and prepared to pass the sacrament. After the prayer was said, the brother that was sitting next to him took him by the hand and gently led him around the room so that he could pass the sacrament. They repeated this when the water was blessed. The third Sunday after his baptism Ivan sat at the sacrament table. He'd memorized the sacrament prayers. He knelt down and said the prayer over the bread. He'd had some of the male members of the branch help him memorize the sacrament and baptismal prayers. He'd also asked some of the members to read the Book of Mormon onto tape for him and my companion and I sung some of the hymns on to a tape for him to learn as well.

Ivan kept coming to church and I saw him grow in the Church as well. I left the area the early in 1996, and I don't know what ever happened to him. I hope that he is still coming and still an active member. The lesson that I learned from Ivan was that with God anyone can "see" the truth, if they are open to it. Ivan needed help to learn about the Gospel because of his sight, but he saw with his spiritual eyes the truth. I'm thankful that I was a small part of his conversion and was able to witness the miracle of his entrance to the Church.

Letters from Bulgaria: July 10, 1995

10th July 1995 (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)

Hey Family,

Hi, how are all of you out there in ARIZONA? Well, it's raining today. In fact it's been raining for 4 days which is good, because it's cool -- about 70 degrees, bad because we have to walk thru every mud puddle in Bulgaria to get from our house to the bus stop. But anyway, this week has been interesting. Tuesday was my birthday. We went out to eat at Verdi's, which is a pretty good Italian place and the menu is in English and it's air conditioned! I also bought myself an ice cream which was great! All the Elders went to McDonalds they wanted us to come but we were teaching so we dogged them.

In the morning we had a 4th of July picnic complete with all the following picnic foods which of course were substituted: potato salad (potato chips), fried chicken (chicken in a biscuit crackers), lemonade (koolade) and watermelon (jolly ranchers). We also ate our usual kislo milako (yogurt).

Plovdiv Center Quarter from the air

On Wednesday Sis. King had food poisoning from some pasta salad she made, so I stayed home with her. It just about drove me crazy staying inside all day. My comps are not the most domestically oriented people. Sis King likes to cook, but everything she makes turns out weird, so Sis Merrill and I don't eat it. Sis Merrill is funny, she's a very picky eater. They both don't like to pick up after themselves I get tired of the messy kitchen, so I usually wash the dishes 3xs a day. They say I'm not allowed to do chores today because I did everything last week, which is fine because it gives me more time to write letters.

So what did you all do on the 4th? I thought about you all day. How hot was it? Were the fireworks GREAT? We had our own fireworks -- a red candle! Our neighbors were playing the American National Anthem -- I don't know why, Bulgarians are weird.

THANK YOU -- for all the great treats in the birthday package and getting everyone to write me. That was so great. The shoes fit and my feet are happy!!

As far as a duty on the package, I don't think there was a problem, but I don't know because I'm not up in Sofia. Yes, small packages can get thru the regular mail, but do not decorate them at all. Make them as plain as possible and plan on about 2 months to get here. If you want to send $$ or pictures thru the pouch make sure they are secure in the envelope. It pretty much depends on the people in SLC, if they can tell. The pouch was late last week so we had double mail this week, except I had TRIPLE mail. My ZL was wondering what was up (hahahah). You are the best MOM!! And thank you for the marshmellows....I LOVE marshmellows!!


A Plovdiv neighborhood

Last night there was a baptism. Her name was Marianna. She's about 18ish and very sweet. It was really great. She was very afraid of the water, so that was a struggle for her. Also when she got into the pool the water came up tho her neck (about 5 ft), but it was still nice.

As far as our investigators go, our teaching pool totally fell apart so we are trying to find new people. We taught this lady last night that did not want us there. She thought we were communists. I don't understand why she asked us over then?! Our golden boy Nikolai is doggin us. Hopefully this week we'll be ble to meet with him and introduce him to the Elders. I did have a cool experience a few weeks ago. We were walking home and these pole said, "Excuse me". I didn't pay any attention to them, but they caught up with us and the woman grabbed my arm and they started jabbering in Bulgarian. By this time my comps were far away and I was screaming for them to come back. When they got back the man asked us if we were Hari Krishners, which amazed me because he is blind. We set up an appointment with him and the Elders and is getting baptized on July 30th. He had 3 discussions this week. He comes to church and last week he bore his testimony. He is really excited.

Anyway, I've got to wrap this ups. Take care and thanks for everything :)

Love JoycieB

Reading this reminded me we used to have our baptisims in a swimming pool, and that I need to tell you all about Ivan, the blind man. Sis King never did learn how to cook and Sis Merrill was transfered soon after this letter was sent. She made the best brownies in the whole world.