![]() Maia sent a letter of appreciation to the elders, praising them and their message. Having direct connection with college students that are actively interested in expanding their horizons and learning true ideas is a miracle for missionaries in Georgia.” We corrected several false notions about the Church, and they seemed to accept our explanations incredibly well. They were young and had heard a lot more about the Church than most Georgians we had met previously. 5 This led nicely to talking about the unprecedented religious freedom enjoyed by early Americans, which allowed for the Restoration of the gospel. Oaks’s April 2021 general conference address about the U.S. We then transitioned to talking about President Dallin H. We initially began our presentation by talking about the states we were from and answered questions. We thought for a while about how best to fit the gospel into an American government lecture. Jacob writes of that experience, “Maia had essentially asked my companion and me to be guest lecturers for her entire two-hour class period over Zoom. We connected online in November 2019, and in May 2021, she invited Jacob and his companion to teach in her American Studies university class. Maia Gorgadze is also a professor and a Fulbright Scholar. Nelson taught, “The Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it.” 4 I couldn’t have known, but the Lord of the Harvest did. ![]() How could I have possibly known that this college professor would not only meet with the missionaries but also invite them to talk about the gospel with her entire class. Nino encouraged everyone to go, and although none of them showed up, it was a valuable experience for us to have as newer missionaries.”Ī single contact on LinkedIn led to an entire college class hearing about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We ended by inviting the class to come to the branch Christmas program. We answered several questions that could have been seen as hostile in a non-classroom setting, but we were prepared with answers and all tension was defused. After a couple of the student presentations, we gave a short presentation on why we were in Georgia and the basics of the Church. ![]() Jacob writes of their class visit, “A couple weeks before Christmas, my companion and I visited Nino’s senior capstone class in person. She and I connected on LinkedIn in September 2019, and she met Jacob in November 2019, soon inviting him to teach in her university class. Nino Korkotadze is a professor of computer engineering and a Fulbright Scholar with international recognition for modeling neural networks for stroke diagnosis. As the Lord said, “Out of small things proceedeth that which is great.” 3 It is incredible to me that the Lord was able to use my small offering and turn it into unprecedented opportunities for Jacob and his companions to teach the gospel. What we experienced together gave me a stronger personal witness that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Harvest in a very personal way. ![]() I had no idea that reaching out on LinkedIn from my home in Anchorage, Alaska, would lead to what I consider significant experiences with Georgians. I saw these invitations as a natural way to keep my covenant to gather Israel. I let my Georgian LinkedIn contacts know that, if they would like, Jacob would be happy to meet with them after he arrived in their country. Over a period of weeks and months, it became very natural for my explanations to lead to an individual invitation to watch an event such as general conference or RootsTech, participate in the Light the World campaign, watch a TV interview of missionaries, or read a digital copy of the Book of Mormon. I learned to love the people and their historical and Christian heritage, of which they are so proud, maybe as much as Jacob did.Īlthough my intent was to learn about Georgia and help Jacob transition into a new culture, people were naturally curious about why Jacob would want to come to Georgia and learn their hard language. Little by little, over a period of 18 months, I connected with more than 560 people in Georgia from a variety of backgrounds, most of whom had English-language skills. These resources were very helpful in increasing my understanding of Jacob’s experiences in Georgia. ![]() I read most of the books they recommended and found the movies online and watched them with English subtitles. I received recommendations for many books, as well as for several classic Georgian movies that would help me understand the Georgian people. I asked for book recommendations in English that would help me learn Georgian history, culture, and language. With each introduction to Georgians on LinkedIn, I informed them that my son was moving to Georgia, and I wanted to learn about their country. ![]()
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