I am going to be in Donetsk until this Friday. One of the Zone Leaders in Center Kharkov is going to Bulgaria this week but when missionaries travel they aren't allowed to travel alone, so they sent me down here with him and they will just be moving me around throughout the week until Elder Straddling gets back from Bulgaria, then we'll get on a bus again and go back up to Kharkov. And then I'll be with Elder Schoen for this weekend and then he leaves on Sunday to go home and I'll stay with the Zone Leaders until mid-December when the next transfer is. My schedule is going to be crazy! Thanksgiving was great this week. We had a bunch of food (see the pictures) and just said what we were grateful for. This week was probably our best one in Cold Mountain so far! We got three new investigators through English practice! One of our investigators, Vladimir, called us randomly on Sunday and asked if we still taught English classes. We said yes but that we do it individually now and only speak about our Church but he was fine with it so we planned on Monday night to meet with him. Well he dogged us so it was a bummer. The next day we had no idea what we were going to do and didn't have any plans so we prayed that we would be able to meet with somebody and have a good lesson with them. We called Vladimir again and he said that he had to work late on Monday and that he could meet that night. So we met him at the branch and he brought a friend name Mixael (Mike) who also spoke English. The lesson was amazing. We talked about families and showed our pictures to them and then had them tell us about their families. And then we talked about prayer. We asked them some reasons why we pray and then talked about how we pray, that it's a conversation with God and that we don't say written prayers or anything, all from the heart. They were asking really good questions and we were able to answer them. We talked about how God always answers prayers but often it is not how we think they will be answered or in our own time. Mike asked, "How do I know if I receive an answer to a prayer?" So we read Moroni 10:3-5 and explained a little about the Holy Ghost. They seemed to understand. And then it was getting late so we asked if it was okay if we offered a prayer to close the meeting and so that they could see how we pray. They agreed. I said the prayer and then afterward it was silent for a minute. The Spirit was definitely there. Vladimir said "I feel really good right now. What is that feeling? Your prayer was so simple but powerful." And I said "That is the Holy Ghost" and it was amazing. The Spirit just filled the room and it was like a light bulb went off in each of their heads! I won't be teaching them this week unfortunately but Elder Schoen will so I hope that it goes good again. And the other investigator's name is Dima. He's in his 20s and we met him through street contacting. He's mostly interested in English and he brought one of his friends but his friend hardly understands English so we talked a lot of Russian to him. We'll see how our lessons go with them.
It sounds like you guys had a great week as well. Sounds like Thanksgiving was good. There is a possibility that we will be skyping for Christmas but they aren't sure yet. I will let you know for sure when APs and President are for sure. This week there was a baptism from one of the other Kharkov areas. An old babushka got baptized. She requested freezing cold water because it was "refreshing" and she didn't really understand the whole baptismal process haha so she got in the water and was like "OK. 1 2 3!" and like jumped up to go under hahaha and so the elder baptizing her just said the baptismal prayer really fast. And the font was filled too high so during all of this the water was draining out and making a loud sucking noise. It was awesome. And yesterday in church there was no piano player because the guy who plays is on the High Council so he only plays for them once a month so they were like "Can anyone play piano?!" So I played the hymns right hand only and threw some bass in here and there haha. It wasn't very good which I told the Branch President after and he's like "No, no that was just fine!!" So I have a feeling I'll be playing piano for them now when the guy doesn't come. Fun stuff! There's nothing like sight reading at its best by a kid who doesn't play piano!
Well, I hope you all have a great week! It is freezing in Donetsk, there was frost on the cars this morning and ice everywhere. It hasn't hit Kharkov yet but it will soon. I love you all very much and you are always in my prayers. Talk to you next week!
с любовью,
старейшина каун
украинская донецкая миссия
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