The Beginning of the End in Cold Mountain

Hello family! I hope that you've had a good week. It sounds like you did from your emails. This past week for me was crazy. It was really werid to see Elder Robison go after only a transfer with him. I really wanted to serve one more with him. I found out that he got made Zone Leader in Center Donetsk though so he's doing good. As for my new companion, I am now serving with Elder Frandsen. He is from South Jordan and went to Bingham High. He is three transfers older than me and will pass his year mark next month. We have been getting along okay with each other. I'm sure that we will have a good transfer. We have set two transfer goals that I really think we can achieve. The first is to have a baptism between us and the second is to strengthen all of the members in our area. There are some members that I have not met with yet and I've been here for a while now. I don't know why that is, I think that I just didn't know about them or something. So I hope that I can really meet with more members this transfer and continue to strengthen them. This past week was another trying one because our lessons that we had planned got cancelled again, including with Dima and Vova. Elder Robison and I wanted to get them on date before he left but they weren't able to meet at all due to work. I don't know how to avoid investigators dogging you on lessons! It's the biggest problem to deal with around the mission. I really hope that this next week is more successful. I am learning that numbers don't really mean anything at all. I grow in many ways everyday that numbers don't show. The mission is the best place to grow, that's for sure. I was thinking about where I was before my mission and where I am now and it's crazy to see the difference. I have a greater understanding of how the Church works and the difference that it makes in our lives.

I thought of some more package requests that would be awesome. Brown sugar pop-tarts, a set of measuring cups with cup and tbsp/tsp (I hear that every apartment either has them or doesn't), and a talk by President Packer called "Some Things Every Missionary Should Know." If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

There is an elder in my district named Elder Warner. He is a greenie and is being trained right now by Elder Fish. He has been having some crazy health problems and might have to go to Germay to get a surgery. We gave him the Sacrament and a blessing yesterday. What a blessing it is to have the restored Priesthood on the Earth and to be able to act in the name of God to bless those in need. That is something that a lot of people here don't understand. Only in this Church is the proper authority to do Priesthood ordinances. I am grateful for this knowledge and to hold the Priesthood.

And now for some comments/tidbits. I'm glad to hear that Stake Conference was a good one. It sounds like it was great. The new stake presidency will be a good one as well. That will be weird to come home to a different stake president. I've only ever known President Parry! But the stake sounds like it will still be in good hands. I passed my 7 month mark on my mission yesterday. I swear just last week was my 6 month mark! (That's when I got bit by that dog) Time seems to be flying by for me right now, which is scary because everyone tells me that the older you get on the mission the faster it goes by. Crazy stuff. I am wondering for next week if you can send me Grandma Kramer's recipe for crepes. That would be awesome. And I have a question for you about a carry-on. I didn't bring my carry-on because I thought that I could only have two bags and my carry-on counted as my bag but I found out that that's not how it works and that I can have three bags and my shoulder bag doesn't count as a carry-on. That being said, how much money does a carry-on cost in America? Because I found a good one here that would equal out to be $50. I'm not going to buy it until the end of this transfer probably. What are your thoughts on that? I'm going to use it to put all my books in when I get transferred and stuff because there isn't going to be a lot of room in my suitcases and it will just be easier.

Well, that's about it for this email. I love you all very much! Have a great week. Your always in my prayers and I hope that you are doing well. The Church is true and the mission is awesome! Talk to you next week!

с любовью,

старейшина каун

украинская донецкая миссия

ps - the picture is my last district with the Burr's. They are probably some of the nicest people that I know! I'm excited to have one more transfer with them.