Changes in a World of Changing Values

Privet family!

Thank you all for your emails, prayers, and love. It always means so much to me. It's weird that it's P-day again but it's been a good one so far. I bet you're all wondering who my new companion is? Well, I was pretty surprised at transfer meeting because I thought I'd be training but I am now serving with Elder Harris from Kaysville, UT! He is pretty cool and we get along just fine. He played percussion for several years and knows Gerrit (Elder Seymour) pretty well! So it's a small world. And for the first time in a long time, he is older than me in mission age, only by 1 transfer though. So he's in Elder Robison's and Bolingbroke's group going home at the end of May. SO if I stay in Mariupol next transfer I will be his last companion. Pretty sure I will but transfers have been changing all the time so it's hard to say. President Podvodov talked about this at transfer day and said that transfers were changed several times due to many different factors and he felt instantly who needed to be changed and with who. He asked us to all pray about our new companions though because the mission at this time is truly how the Lord wants it. I prayed and feel that this is true. Elder Harris is a hard worker and we seem to have the same views about a lot of things so I'm excited to work with him. We decided that we want to put a focus on working with part-member families because there are several of those here on Left Bank. This transfer is only going to be 4 weeks because of some scheduling things with Salt Lake so it's going to fly out the window. Our zone is pretty unique right now. Elder Harris and I together, missionaries at the end of their missions, Elder Bolingbroke and Fife, also going home in May and a greenie, and Sisters Erekson and Armknekt, going home in July with me and August. Basically we're an old district except for Elder Fife, but this also means we will have a lot of experience. But right now it's only us elders because Sister Erekson was still sick at transfers so they put her in Donetsk to recover fully from whatever Mariupol did to her (super bad air quality because of the factories) but then at the same time a new sister serving in Makeevka had had enough and went home so they put the sisters that should be here in Makeevka in a threesome and the APs are looking for a mini-missionary to serve in Makeevka but if they don't find any then it will just be us elders here this transfer. Interesting stuff. Sorry I just realized I've been ranting on and on and maybe it's boring to you but it's whats going through my mind right now haha.

The only investigator I have to give an update on is Denis. He's doing good but now his mom doesn't want him coming to Church until summer. And her other concern is that Denis won't make it to church, let alone stay for three hours because he can't sit up straight. So we've been thinking that maybe everything we've been telling his mom is coming off just things WE want to see happen, not what Denis wants and have asked Denis to explain his feelings to his mom. Tomorrow we have another lesson and are bringing our branch mission leader along so that he can meet him and maybe add some insight to the situation. There're a lot of things that go into play, like after baptism will he come to church every week, who will make sure that happens, etc. He is ready for baptism, no doubt, but we're running into a wall now it seems. This upcoming week looks promising, we've talked to several people on the phone (just old contacts and investigators) who are interested in meeting with us. Basically we just need to get out and really work the area, something that Sanger and I couldn't do. We're hoping to find several new investigators and really get the work moving.

Now for some comments/tidbits. No, I don't know who all will be flying home with me from other missions. And we can't leave the airport anymore on trips, so my flights home will just be sitting in airports and waiting for the next flights unfortunately. I really wanted to go to the Kiev Temple again but someday I'll make it back here. And it snowed a lot here yesterday, I forgot to mention this. The roads were really bad because there's no snow plows or anything like that. Most of the snow has melted for the most part already but people say winter will be here until April now. I thought we were done with winter! And for our district meeting Saturday we had a lesson about family history. It's a lesson I'd like to share with you all in FHE when I get back. But we got on the family history website, as well as createfan.com. We still have a few more family names to find but it's really cool to see all of the generations of family go back. I want to get more into family history when I get home. And you may have been wondering this the whole time you've been reading my email - but the title of this week's email is from Preach My Gospel because the world gets darker and darker and darker every day.

I love you all and hope that you have a great week! Know that you're always in my prayers and I think about you often. The church is true, I know it with all my heart. I'll talk to you all next week!

с любовью,

Старейшина Каун

Украинская Донецкая Миссия

I GOT MY FLIGHT PLANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHURCH TRAVEL CWT DATE 13MARCH13

50 EAST NORTH TEMPLE ST AGENT VH/PE BOOKING REF 8B6SHL

SALT LAKE CITY UT 84150

TELEPHONE: 801 240-5111 ARMKNECHT/MEGAN BET 278893-R

FAX : 801-240-5115 BORGET/BRANDON RICH 237371-R

HODGSON/KYLER KALIL 243632-R

MISSIONARY TRAVEL KEOWN/TAYLOR BRENT 219641-R

UKRAINE DONETSK MISSION

SERVICE DATE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE

_____________________ _____ ______________ ______________ _______ ______

UKRAINE INTL AIRLINES 09JUL DONETSK KIEV 710A 820A

PS 48 TUESDAY INTERNATIONAL BORYSPIL INTL

Y ECONOMY TERMINAL B

NON SMOKING NON STOP

RESERVATION CONFIRMED 1:10 DURATION

AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737 ALL SERIES PASSENGER

DELTA AIR LINES 09JUL KIEV AMSTERDAM 200P 400P

DL 9467 TUESDAY BORYSPIL INTL SCHIPHOL AIRPO

K ECONOMY TERMINAL D

NON SMOKING DINNER NON STOP

RESERVATION CONFIRMED 3:00 DURATION

KL 1386 FLIGHT OPERATED BY KL KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLIN

AIRCRAFT OWNER: KL KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES

AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737 ALL SERIES PASSENGER

DELTA AIR LINES 09JUL AMSTERDAM DETROIT MI 510P 725P

DL 249 TUESDAY SCHIPHOL AIRPO DETROIT METRO

K ECONOMY TERMINAL EM

NON SMOKING DINNER NON STOP

RESERVATION CONFIRMED 8:15 DURATION

AIRCRAFT: BOEING 777-200/300

DELTA AIR LINES 09JUL DETROIT MI SALT LAKE C UT 945P 1137P

DL 1349 TUESDAY DETROIT METRO SALT LAKE CITY

K ECONOMY TERMINAL EM TERMINAL 2

NON SMOKING NON STOP

RESERVATION CONFIRMED 3:52 DURATION

AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A320-100/200

RESERVATION NUMBER(S) DL/HAEPGV KL/8B6SHL PS/R0PTW

Where Did the Transfer Go?!

Privet family!

WOW so a lot has happened in these past 10 days. Maybe too much that I can't include everything but here's the main things -

Transfer calls came out last night and Elder Sanger got one for some reason! We were both pretty shocked. I'm kind of sick of 1 transfer companions. We learned so much together even though we were inside a lot and were planning on really getting out this next transfer and working Left Bank like nobody's business now that his ankle is almost healed. But everything happens for a reason of course and our thoughts aren't the Lord's so all you can do is accept it and move on. I have a feeling I'm going to train again. Tomorrow we're going to Donetsk for transfer meeting and then I'll get my new comp. Whoever it is I hope we get along really well and he's ready to work the hardest he ever has. Also from the district Sister Wagers got transferred so we'll be getting a new sister down here as well. Such is life on the mission, you get attached and then you have to start all over again. Elder Sanger and I got along very well from the beginning. I feel like I've known him my whole life. He taught me some good lessons though, mainly to expect the best and plan for the worst. Also to do everything you can, regardless of the circumstances. I'll miss him a lot.

Denis is doing good, we moved his date to April 13 now. We hope it warms up soon so that he may come to church. If not, we'll move it again. He's heard all the lessons and seems to remember them for the most part when we ask him questions. He's almost done with 2 Nephi. We've been getting out a little bit and walking around for an hour at a time with Sanger and were blessed to find some promising contacts. We also found a new investigator. His name is Zaor, from Armenia. He's about 60 years old and is pretty believing guy. And we're really pushing to work with Olya, Nina's friend. She came to the Gushins' FHE and loved it, we watched the Restoration film and said she feels like Joseph Smith on a search for the true church. We haven't been able to meet with her yet because she's really busy but when we do we can both see her getting baptized.

Now for some comments/tidbits. First, could you get me Doug Wolf's address at the U? I want to send him a postcard before I get back. And I got an email from the percussion department and the percussion concert is April 2 if you're interested in going. I'm glad you enjoyed the pics, I'll try to send a few each week like I usually do. It's annoying when the computer places don't have the right hookups. Thanks so much for the Easter package stuff, I will enjoy that I'm sure whenever it gets here. You guys are the best! I sent you all an email with my flight plans, can you believe that?!?! Crazy stuff!!!!! And we received news from President Campero - he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.. so sad. He is waiting for the results to come back and the doctor told him he can probably return at the end of March, early April. This Saturday we're going to fast for him that all goes well. He seems to be taking it fine in his emails he sends us but it's still really sad. The Lord will keep him healthy though, I'm sure of this. And on Monday Elder Frandsen's group went home! It's so weird that he's gone. He's my second companion to be home now, and next transfer Elder Robison is going home and will be my 3rd. I'm getting old! Also, I talked with Elder Schoen and he got married back in January!!! Crazy stuff. Elder Frandsen's homecoming by the way is March 31. He said he'll have his mom call you with the info and stuff, you should definitely go if you can.

I'm all out of time now but know that I love you all so very much and am grateful for your prayers and love. There's nowhere else I'd rather be than here at this time in my life. I know that this Church is true and has been restored through Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and contains the answers that we need to solve our problems and come closer to Christ. Have an excellent week and I'll talk to you later!

с любовью,

Старейшина Каун

Украинская Донецкая Миссия

ps - read together Alma 44:3-5. I read these verses this past week and found them very insightful.

Another Week in Mariupol

Privet family!

Another week has come and gone, it's pretty weird to me for some reason. This past week has been good, I have a few experiences I'd like to share with you.

The biggest event was Zone Leader's Council in Russian with President Podvodov. Tuesday night Elder Sanger and I bussed up to Donetsk and stayed with the APs then Wednesday was our council all day. I was asked to prepare the spiritual thought which was really stressing me out preparing for it because the spiritual thought influences the whole council because very little planning goes into it, it's mostly driven by the spirit. So I was feeling a lot of pressure getting it ready and prayed that I'd know exactly which topic to talk about. (This was Sunday night the APs told me I had to give the thought) So in my studies I prayed and felt very strongly that I needed to talk about success and what that all entails on a mission. I used page 10 of Preach My Gospel and a few verses from Alma 26:23-24, 27-28, 30. These verses talk about the results of the missions of the sons of Mosiah, their successes and trials, and compare very easily with our mission. My time came to present the thought and it went very smoothly and everyone added good comments, especially President Podvodov about getting called to be a mission president and no one understanding what that even meant and calling him foolish for wasting three years of his life. My spiritual thought really guided the rest of the meeting as we talked about different successes of the mission and what we can do to have more success and trust from the members and non-members. The biggest thing is going to be striving to have members present on all lessons and an increased focus on our Russian abilities. You may be surprised to know that after Preach My Gospel came out missionaries' language capabilities plummeted because the lessons weren't memorized and so baptisms went down. So we're making a bigger push of more responsible study and application of the language. We will be trying to memorize 10 words a day and a verse from the scriptures. It's pretty tough but I think it will help us out a ton. ZLC all in all was much better than I expected and a spiritual experience for me, even though it was in Russian.

This morning Elder Sanger called the doctor in Kiev and he told him that he can lose the crutches and start walking on his own! So we've been walking around today without them and things are going well so far. This past week we were blessed to get some promising contacts on the street and we are really hopeful they will turn out for us this week. Now that Sanger is walking without crutches we'll be on the streets much more often and talking to more people, it will be an amazing week!

Nina is doing great, we met with her last night and talked about her family tree and sharing the gospel with friends and family. She is already doing this and invited her friend to church with her yesterday named Olya. She also came to her baptism. She is really interested to meet with us and so later this week we'll have a lesson. She could possibly be baptized quickly, she just seems to have that look that she is ready to listen. So Nina is well on her way to being the best 73 year old member missionary that I know! And progress with Denis, we've basically taught him everything now and are reviewing the lessons. We set a new date for April 13 to baptize him. When the weather gets warmer his mom said he can come to church so basically everything is dependant of the weather. We are also trying to work with his mom. She sat on a lesson for 10 min but then left. She's really nice, just isn't too interested in listening right now.

Now for some quick comments/tidbits. No we didn't change clocks yet. I think that will be next week. It is getting warmer, about 50 degrees F now, so this is good. Its been raining and is super foggy right now. President Campero is waiting for his doctor appt. and will probably be there a few more weeks.

I love you all and wish you a great week! I'm so thankful for the experiences I'm having here and for your love and support for me. This church is true, I know it with all my heart. Talk to you next week!

с любовью,

Старейшина Каун

Украинская Донецкая Миссия

Week of Miracles on Left Bank

Privet family!

Thanks for all the love and updates from the week. Send everyone my love and that I'll be seeing them pretty soon. This past week was our best yet so I'll start from the top.

NINA GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!!!

We didn't even plan for this to happen but here's the whole story. So we met with Nina on Monday night and had President Gushin with us. We talked about temples and family history work, especially baptisms for the dead and sealings. (She's been wondering how to go to the temple and what goes on there) It was a good lesson and at the end we brought up her baptism again and how she felt. She said again that she wanted to still inform her children about it and wait. At this point on the lesson President had to go so he left and we stayed. During this period of time we racked our brains for a scripture to share or something that would move the lesson forward. I remembered that before leaving the house I had looked at Alma 7:14-16. I had forgotten this the whole lesson but when it came back to memory I turned there and suggested that we go with it. So Nina came back into the room and we shared these verses with her. She really liked them. Elder Sanger then said something like "Nina, you are ready for baptism and the longer you put it off the longer you live without the gift of the Holy Ghost. But when you get this gift though, it will be easier to talk to your kids and explain everything." She agreed then I added "Yeah, and the longer you wait the more time you give Satan to tempt you to fail." Then Sanger added "So waiting is from Satan, getting baptized soon is from God." The Spirit was strong and testified to her right there that she needed to get baptized and was ready. She then said, "OK, you're right, I've just been putting it off and putting it off but I've just been living without the gift of the Holy Ghost. I want to be baptized." It was one of the most spiritual lessons I've had on my mission. We put her on date for Saturday, March 2, then after the lesson called branch President and the mission leader and got the service organized. Friday night the APs came down to interview her and start a split with us and she passed everything fine then Saturday was the baptism! Brat Valeri Gushin baptized her and there was a great turnout and spirit present. Elder Sanger and I gave her a picture of Christ and some flowers, which she was very grateful for. And then yesterday she was confirmed the newest member in Mariupol! This makes 4 baptisms in Mariupol this year already, and last year total they had 3. She even bore her first testimony afterward for Fast Sunday as well as Brat Valeri about missionary work and Preach My Gospel. Awesome stuff. The work is starting to take off here. From this experience I've learned a few things. One, the importance of involving members in the whole baptismal process. Brat Valeri introduced her to the sisters, they taught her the first half and we finished the second half. We had members on every lesson and had Brat Valeri baptize her. And now she's getting ready to go to Kiev and do baptisms/submit names. She's an amazing lady. I feel very blessed to have played a small role in her baptism. The second thing I've learned is something that Elder Mironchenko told me about on our split. As you serve your companion and really focus on having Christlke love for him, then He'll bless you with people to teach. As we serve and do what we can the Lord blesses us.

We also are soon hoping to get Denis baptized. His mom gave the OK for him to get baptized but he can't come to church until it gets warmer in several weeks. We will start re-teaching the lessons again just to review and go from there. Also this last week on our split with the APs we were able to get in contact with some former invetigators that Elder Mironchenko taught when he was a greenie here. We are hopeful that we can start teaching them the lessons again and get them to church.

 

Now for some comments/tidbits. President Campero is doing good, he's waiting for his results and then will probably have surgery. In his place is President Podvodov, President's first counselor. He was mission president in Saint Petersburg and got back right when I came into country. This Wednesday I have Zone Leader's Council again so we'll be making the trip to Donetsk. And the meeting will only be in Russian so it's going to be interesting because the Podvodov's don't know any English! I did hear about all the new missions created. Did you hear that there's a new one in Ukraine? It will be the Lviv Mission, it is Western Ukraine and will balance out Kiev a little bit.  Also Elder Bolingbroke's greenie is finally coming to Ukraine tomorrow. He's been serving with a native from Kharkov and we're happy to finally have a full district of English speakers so we'll have a new member of the zone/district this week. I went on a split with the Kharkov elder last Tuesday, it was fine it's just super hard living with a Ukrainian I'm not gonna lie. There is just a different mindset about everything. And Happy March! I realized that at the end of this week will be my 2 year mark of opening up my call... that was quick. So celebrate for me by getting a Wendy's frosty or something haha. And I will order that egg for us.

I love you all so very much and wish you a great week! Know that you are in my prayers always and I think about you often. I'm so grateful to be here at this time and for the experiences I'm gaining every day, every transfer. This truly is a marvelous work that we are all involved in. I know that God lives. Jesus is the Christ. And His church has been restored through Joseph Smith. I'll talk to you next week!
 

с любовью,

Старейшина Каун

Украинская Донецкая Миссия