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

This is The Azov Sea, Huh?

Privet family!

I can't believe another week has gone by. For some reason this past one was very fast. This week wasn't exactly the best going by numbers but the work is definitely progressing forward. To be honest these first few weeks in Mariupol have been some of the toughest on my mission because Elder Sanger can't walk around too much so we spend time inside working the area book and trying to get in touch with former investigators and not a lot of time on the streets talking to people. I don't blame him for not wanting to walk around all day on crutches because he needs to keep his foot resting as much as possible but it's tough when we're both the type of missionaries that go out and get things done if this makes sense. However, through all the setbacks we have been blessed with two investigators that will hopefully be baptized soon, Nina and Denis.

Nina - You know Nina, a very sweet babushka who is a referral from Valeri Gooshin. She has come to church every week and is totally ready for baptism, she just wants to talk to her family about everything and make sure they're on the same page. Yesterday at church she really enjoyed sacrament and was feeling the spirit strongly. I sat next to her and she turned to me afterward and said "Sorry I cry all the time when I come to church, I just can't keep the tears back." I told her that people just feel the spirit differently and that she shouldn't be sorry haha. She talked to Elder Sanger about her baptism and invited us to come over for a lesson tonight. We really hope we can put her on a baptismal date again and baptize her soon. We will also be talking about temples/family history work.

Denis - I don't remember what I've told you about Denis but he's a very humble guy who is handicapped due to years of hard drug usage. Elder Sanger and I weren't sure how much he understands because he's just really slow in answering and moving but from our two lessons this week we both know now that he is definitely able to get baptized and understands the lessons we teach. I've been doing a little study on D&C 20:37 and the requirements of baptism and as long as they can repent and make the needed changes to their lives and are humble enough then they can be baptized. We both prayed about Denis and like I said from teaching him we both feel that he understands and has the capacity to repent, he's just very slow. He has read the entire Bible and is currently reading (as of Friday) Jacob 5. He wants to get baptized but now there are a few other problems we need to overcome - 1) He needs to come to church. For this to happen we'll need to get a taxi or use a member's car to drive him to church and then use his wheelchair because he can't move on his own. Also, his mom doesn't want him going to church while it's cold outside.. And 2) His mom needs to get on board with us. She doesn't sit on lessons, she's just home every 4 days from work to open the door for us to come in and teach him. We told her he has a desire to be baptized and she said "Well he's already been baptized, why do you want to baptize him again? We tried to explain it a few different ways without offending her and finally Ruslan (recent convert that comes with us on lessons) said that 'He wants to be a member of our church and to do that needs to get baptized.' She seemed to understand kind of and said she'll think about. We invited her to sit on the next lesson but she doesn't really want to. She's a super nice lady though. But somehow things will work out, they always do. We'll be teaching him tithing and fasting this week and then he just needs to hear a few basic commandments that he probably already keeps and he's heard everything. His date is March 16 but we might move it back based on things.

We also found another investigator, Lilia. She is Ruslan's mom and has met with missionaries before, last summer. She's a member of the Charismastic church, (not really sure what that even is haha) and they do things such as read the Bible, have Holy Ghost, and speak in tongues. We listened to her talk for a very long time and then we got in a little bit about how the Bible teaches WHAT Christ did and the Book of Mormon teaches WHY. She seemed to like this and committed to read Alma 32 about faith. It would be extremely difficult being a recent convert in Ukraine, I'm not gonna lie. Ruslan is 22 and investigated for a year and got baptized in December. He's now a branch missionary and comes with us a lot. But his mom isn't on the same page as him. She's glad that he found God through the Mormon church but that's as far as that goes. The biggest concern that everyone has here is that "Bog adin" or "there's only one God and it doesn't matter which path you take to get to him. He gives everyone a different way and loves all His children. God is in your heart." We suggested that maybe they can read together. We'll see how she's doing this week.

Now for some comments/tidbits. Yesterday for the first time on my mission we went to a Ukrainian concert! A member in the branch, Nadezhda, sings with a choir and the sister's investigator, Natsha, conducts the choir and they announced it and invited everyone to come. We went with Nina and a less-active on Left Bank, as well as Ruslan and our district and the Gooshins. It was pretty cool, they had a small orchestra pit and played traditional Ukrainian music, as well as Spanish and French songs. It made me miss playing at home! Don't get too worried but President Campero is in SLC right now at a hospital doing some health stuff. He'll be there for three weeks and will hopefully return back. What he needs done can't be done here. Keep him in your prayers. I will tell the Gooshins that you say thanks, they are awesome members. Mom, you probably won't believe the things I like now hahaha. I basically eat everything, I've found a liking to many things I used to hate. "Fell outta the club" is a missionary phrase here in Donetsk. I will tell you what that means after I get home :) I just talked to the elders in Daky today and found out a few things - Lera, the 15 year old we taught is getting baptized this Saturday! And one of the Africans I taught with Efoshkin is getting baptized this Saturday as well, plus the sisters investigator there. Makeevka is doing good! And final thing, you talked about wanting some good souvenirs for the family. Mariupol branch has a sister who paints beautiful wooden eggs with whatever you want on it. They cost $50. I am thinking of getting one for us but need your suggestions. My idea is a Salt Lake Temple with our picture on the back with "Together Forever" in Russian. Tell me what you think, the sister can do pretty much anything.

I love you all and wish you an awesome week! Know that you are in my prayers and that I think about you all often. Talk to you next week!

с любовью,

Старейшина Каун

Украинская Донецкая Миссия

Yep, I Fell Outta the Club

Privet family!
 

Wow, I can't believe my first week has come and gone already. It was definitely not what either of us expected/would wish on anybody. Beginning of the week was fine, we did get pizza with James and Shelly (they invited us again tonight for the final time, they're leaving tomorrow and everything's in order with their adoption). And then Tuesday is where things got bad.. for breakfast I had a banana that we bought at the store but it turned out to be unripe, still green. I didn't think it was that green but I shouldnt've eaten it. I felt progressively worse throughout the whole day but was still going fine though. We had a lesson with an investigator named Denis, then a recent convert lesson with Ruslan and family night with President Gushin's family. By famiy night though I was in a bad way, like chills and headache and stomach pain. At the end of the FHE branch president's dad asked me if I was alright and I said I had a headache and then everyone just started going crazy and worrying and all of a sudden he got out a blood pressure thing and was taking my reading!! He said that I had a really bad reading because my heart was beating super fast and then asked me what I had been eating. They found out about the banana and said I shouldn't ever eat the bananas here in Mariupol because they're death! So it was probably the most interesting FHE I've ever been to haha. But we came home, I felt like crap, then slept. In the middle of the night I felt awful and couldn't sleep and threw up, but that felt good though. So now it was Wednesday and I woke up feeling like a train ran over me. Basically Wednesday I slept on and off and when I wasn't sleeping I was in the bathroom, it was bad! And I wanted to study but had a bad headache all day so it was miserable. And then Thursday Elder Sanger started having the same symptoms as me and we were both going in and out of the bathroom. Even worse! Thursday I felt better though because my headache went away. And Friday we planned on getting back to normal but Sanger started throwing up Friday morning so Friday was out as well. We called the doctor in Kiev and he had us drink a concoction of water, salt, sugar, and baking soda. It was nasty but helped us stay hydrated. And then Saturday we basically got back to normal for the most part, had district meeting and talked to people again on the streets. Through this all though Elder Sanger and I did some great bonding though, maybe the best bonding at the start of any of my companionships haha. But please don't worry about us, we're back to normal now except for Sanger still being on crutches. He still has 4 more weeks of that. The branch has been SUPER HELPFUL especially President Gushin and his family, they bought things for us and made sure we were fine. But yeah, not anything I would wish on anyone. I think the banana started it but I really had the flu though because I passed it to Sanger. Fun times.
 

Not regarding this though, we had progress with investigators and building the relationship with the branch.
 

Nina - She is beyond ready for baptism BUT she doesn't want to get baptized until her family understands her decision. This means Saturday isn't going to happen. She said it will be soon and wants some time. She'll make it :)
 

Denis - He is an invalid that the sisters found through contacting his mom on the street. He is 35 and did some hardcore drug usage in his life and is now a vegetable. He can't move on his own and sits at home all day. It's so sad. We weren't sure about his level of understanding because he wants to get baptized but one of the requirements of this of course is repentance so we prayed and studied about this topic and his situation and met with him again last night. We both felt that he has good enough understanding to repent sincerely and follow Jesus Christ. We set a baptismal date for him for March 16! We will need to get him to church somehow, probably carry him into a car and then get a wheelchair, but we're faithful this can work out. He's super humble and enjoys our meetings. I hope he can get baptized!
 

Now for some comments/tidbits. The Mariupol branch is gung ho about missionary work, it's amazing. The members absolutely love missionaries and are willing and ready to help. We are getting to know a recent convert named Ruslan very well. He got baptized 2 months ago, is now a branch missionary as of yesterday and came on 2 lessons with us after church. He's 22 and wants to go on a mission. Awesome! We're very grateful for the members of this branch, I hope we can do a ton of work and help several people come to the waters of baptism. Mom, tomorrow I'm starting my D&C Countdown. Start at the official letter #2 and read a section everyday backwards. It's scary I've only got the D&C left for time. I'm doing my best everyday to use time wisely and learn the things of importance. That's crazy about the meteor in Russia! I did not hear about this, first time.
 

I love you all so very much! Thank you for your love, prayers, and support. Have an excellent week and I'll talk to you later!
 

с любовью,

Старейшина Каун

Украинская Донецкая Миссия
 

(from Mariupol) with love,

Elder Keown

Ukraine Donetsk Mission