Like most missionaries, we struggled at first to find productive finding methods in isolation. After praying and seeking inspiration for how to move the work forward in our area, we decided to use our talents in Facebook finding. Both of us paint and inspiration struck one day to advertise our art as free gifts on the Facebook 'Buy and Sell groups.' We posted our paintings on probably every group in our city and got to work messaging people, who expressed an interest in receiving one.
Since posting the paintings and finding on Facebook, our teaching pool has greatly expanded. In particular, we started teaching two men, both of whom have since accepted an invitation for baptism! One is a young guy, who was immediately interested in the gospel. We started teaching him over video call and he has been progressing rapidly ever since. We have had daily contact with him since meeting and he is so excited about what he is learning. He asked if he could be a missionary too and he wants to share the gospel with his family members and friends. Around the same time, we found another man. Originally from Argentina, he is on a journey around the world as a result of a spiritual revelation. He settled down in Montenegro right before the start of the quarantine. He saw our painting of Jesus parting the darkness and felt an instant connection to it. We started teaching him and it has become clear that he has been searching for truth his entire life. This last week he also accepted an invitation to be baptized. Through tears he said, 'Tuesday, May 12th. That's the day that I found out that baptism is the path I've been searching for.' This experience has transformed the way we see and do our work.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in a training that the Lord has not forgotten about Europe and that in the future, missionary work in Europe would see a Renaissance. This is the beginning of that Renaissance. Facebook is flooded with creative videos, music, advertisements, and art from missionaries all over Europe and across the world. Missionaries are using their talents and personalities in order to find people on online platforms. Much like the Italian Renaissance, this Renaissance of missionary work is a catalyst for us to see the world and the work with brand new eyes. It is transforming our finding efforts. And it's working.
And after this is all over, we won't just return to what we were doing before quarantine. We're going to take what we've learned from this, we are going to continue to find people using technology. We're going to keep being creative. We're going to keep sharing artistic talents online. We are not going back to the 'Dark Ages' (so to speak) of missionary work. We are going to stay in the Renaissance.
Sister Andrews & Sister Dimas
Podgorica, Montenegro
Adriatic North Mission