So basically this week has flown by yet again. It's crazy how the time goes by. This past week we reached several of our goals we set, I think it was the best week of my mission as far as attaining goals set. Among some of the goals reached are that we have a progressing investigator and we found two new investigators. We also found some good contacts on the street who were really interested in meeting. One was a nice older lady and another was a younger guy who we basically taught the whole first lesson to on the street because he asked how our church was different than the Jehovah's Witnesses. We also met a guy on Saturday night I think who wanted a Bible but we don't carry Bibles so we gave him a Book of Mormon and set up with him for tonight. His name's Dennis and he has a family. And we talked to this greeter in front of a restaurant on the street. His name is Nikolai and at first wasn't too interested in our message but we've gone back a few times and he's sparking some interest so we'll see what happens with him. There are always people interested to listen, it's all about attitude and opening your mouth. At the beginning of my mission I didn't like talking to people on the street and always feared it but now I don't mind it at all. Of course it's still scary sometimes but I have a lot more confidence now and it's something I've been working at. But this past week we've just been doing our best to find people to teach and like I said already we found two new investigators. One is a former investigator named Andrei. He is a chemical engineer and has read the Book of Mormon one time already. We are going to talk about baptism tonight with him because our last lesson didn't quite go as planned. And you might remember me talking about a lady a few weeks ago named Larissa? Well we set up a lesson with her last night and we ended up teaching her older daughter the first lesson instead of Larissa. Her daughter's name is Aksana and is probably 30ish. She attends a church called The Church of Victory with a pastor and priests and whatnot. But it was a pretty good lesson and she said she will read the Book of Mormon and pray about it so we'll see what happens with her. She has some concerns but everybody we teach has concerns so it's nothing new. I think she'll turn into a good investigator. And this past week we also met with our investigator Vladimir. He has agreed to pray about the Book of Mormon which is a huge step for him. When Elder Harrison and I first taught him he didn't even want to talk about the Book of Mormon so we're praying for him to receive an answer. He's 62 years old and likes talking about religion. Our next step with him is to get him to Church and ask him to be baptized of course. He met with sister missionaries one year ago but from what we understand kind of got scared about baptism. So we're just taking it slow with him. We have a lesson with him this Wednesday so hopefully all goes well.
I'm really like the office, it's a great area. We have lots of area to cover because the APs don't have an area anymore but it's awesome because there's tons of people to call in the area books and lots of new investigators to meet with. Plus the office isn't bad at all. We work Tuesdays and Wednesdays but we're basically here everyday because we eat lunch and dinner here and do weekly planning and district meeting so it's our second home. And I think I've talked a little about the people that work in the office but I don't remember so here's some info. Brother Vilakonov is the mission driver for President Campero. He used to be a mafia driver no joke haha. He was also a branch president here in Donetsk but has since been released. He does stuff with the books and apartments. There's also three people who work with visas and registration stuff. Tatiana, Aleksei, and Dima. Tatiana isn't a member but knows registration stuff inside and out so I guess the church just hired her early on. She's nice, always really busy. Aleksei just got called to be the branch Sunday school president yesterday. He's pretty cool. And Dima is a returned missionary who served in Kiev and he just got married. I don't really know them all that well I just talk to them now and then during the day. And then there's Sister Irina haha. Sister Irina is a babushka who was going to serve a Kiev Temple mission but then something didn't work out so she serves in the office a few days a week. She is really hard to understand because all old people are haha and she just says crazy stuff but she's great though. I've started to read the Book of Mormon in Russian with her for language study. It's going really well. I have a goal to finish reading the whole Russian triple before my mission's over. It's a good goal, I will achieve it near the end if I keep reading everyday. And then of course President is in the office when he's in town and Sister Lydia comes in three times a week to make us food. The office is a great place!
Now for some comments/tidbits. This Friday is the big ONE YEAR MARK! I can't believe it's almost here. It doesn't even seem like a year has gone by at all. Maybe for you but not for me. I've been thinking a lot about this past year and everything that has happened. My life has been completely changed and I know that Heavenly Father has blessed all of us so much. The mission is an amazing thing. I don't know where I'd be without it. I'm so grateful to all of you and for your love and support to me. I just hope and pray that I can do the things that I'm supposed to and accomplish what I need to. Every day is a blessing that God gives us to bless the lives of others. I know this to be true.
Well family, have a great week and keep on keepin on, okay? I love you all and the Church is true!
с любовью,
старейшина каун
украинская донецкая миссия
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