Not my favorite week

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a good week this time around. Ours could have better.

So, our investigator Andriy was doing great. He passed his baptismal interview, accepted everything we taught him, understood everything perfectly (he would repeat back whatever we taught in his own words, and then expound on it all perfectly), and was really excited for baptism. We realized that the branch president had been out of town for several weeks and that Andriy didn't really know him, so we decided to let them get to know each other a little better. On Friday--the day before his baptism--we went and picked him up and walked over to our branch president's work. On the way, Andriy told us about how earlier that day a rich man that he used to go drinking with offered to buy him free drinks that day if he'd just start drinking with him again (there's a tradition here that you can't drink alone, you have to have friends--the best number is at least 3--otherwise, you're considered an alcoholic). He then handed Andriy a large beer bottle and left to go buy something for himself. Andriy told us that he set down the bottle in front of the store and literally ran home.

We showed up to the branch president's work in high spirits. Then, the president came and, without so much as a cursory introduction, began to very rudely interrogate him, accusing him of having no actual testimony of the Book of Mormon and of not being prepared for baptism. We left in shock, and Andriy told us that he had some praying to do. The next time we talked, he told us that he didn't feel ready for baptism any time soon.

We've talked to a lot of members and missionaries since then, and almost without exception it's been agreed that he not only had no authority to do the "interview," he had no right to such an aggressive and rude approach, and that our investigator was prepared. We've been in complete shock since then. How will he react to any other investigators who may be ready for baptism?

Well, in other news, we're heading to Ivano on exchanges again this Tuesday, so that'll be a good chance to get my mind off things for a little bit.

Well, I hope everyone has a good week. I love you all!

--Elder Hurst