Monday, August 3, 2009

Sister Galina


We went with Elders Brown and Ellsworth to visit wonderful Sister Galina at her apartment over the weekend. We told her we were bringing dinner, but she had cooked everything--chicken and mashed potatoes and two salads! She had the Elders bring in a small bench from the balcony that acted as our table.

A chain-smoker who spent her career teaching Marxist philosophy and scientific atheism at a university, she joined the Church in 1995. The Elders began teaching her and she read the Book of Mormon, but the turning point came when they gave her a blessing to help her quit smoking. (Elder Brigham Shelly). She lost interest in her beloved cigarettes overnight. She says she realized, "God is there."

With her great intellect she's proved to be a wonderful student of the Book of Mormon, Church history, and doctrine.

Furthermore, she's very creative. She has made a delightful set of "quiet books" for children with excellent handwork and clever details. Sister McEvoy loved the artistic, tasteful touches all over her book-crowded two-room apartment.

7 comments:

Hermana Whitehead said...

Wow! That is an awesome story and one that you'll never forget. What a privilege it must be to know this great woman and such a lesson for us all to never peg God's children into certain holes, no matter what they are or do.

I can understand her friendship and admiration of you, Donna.

kaibert said...

... quite a turn ...

Mendon Packs said...

What a neat story! Thank you for sharing it!

Dena said...

What a beautiful woman. Thanks for sharing.

R-Eight said...

I love the picture of you on the bottom of this post. I know that look.

JoAn Ellsworth L's Worth labradoodles are so Worth it. said...

hi, I am Elder Ellsworth's Mom. It is so fun to see your blog. Thank you so much for doing one. We feel so much closer to our son now. Such an amazing story, and so great you are there and being a part of it. Give our love to Elder Ellsworth. Eric and JoAn Ellsworth

Mom in Mendon said...

Sister Ellsworth, Thanks for writing. We're all grateful to have wonderful Elder Ellsworth working among us. He's doing great!
We only blog as often as we feel like we can take the time so you'll have to excuse the dry spells. : )
Love, Sister McEvoy