The Lord Sent a Friend on a Hard Day

Sorry that I missed last week, there honestly wasn't much that happened. We went to Kyiv twice, went on an exchange, and just tried our best to find some more people to teach. Didn't work out exactly the way that we wanted it to, but hey, that's just the way contacting is sometimes.

Me at this train station. I just like the way it looked. You can catch a train from here to basically anywhere in Eastern Europe. 

This week has been pretty much the same. Work is going a little slow, but that's alright. Gives me a lot of time to try and work on my contacting skills! I've been trying a lot of Book of Mormon contacting and just straight up church card contacting and just trying to get people talking but it's not doing too great. I'll keep experimenting and figuring out what I need to do.

One thing that was tough was the Ukranian Independence day. We didn't realize exactly how big of a deal it was going to be and put in some contacting time in the evening - big mistake. The streets were empty except for one park in the center of town which was PACKED with people. We tried to contact but nobody was stopping and we got yelled at once or twice for being Americans speaking Russian. Oh well, we try our best.

I really love the branch here. The people are just so fun. The church is so small here so it makes the entire branch one big family. It's so fun to feel their love and to show it back.

I was having a tough day Sunday morning and was so not excited for church. I was just so tired and not ready to have to interact with members and be the example I need to be. When I got to the church, one of the members said "Hey, I've got a surprise for you." I'm like "What?" cause this is super random. She takes me into the kitchen and one of my best friends from Kyiv is there, my man Yaroslav. I love him so much and it truly changed my whole day. He really came up to Chernigov to visit his girlfriend, a member in our ward named Lara (also a great friend). When he saw me he said "I came up here just for you!" and Lara responded "No you did not, you came up here for me." He said "Alright, alright..." and then turned to me and whispered: "We both know why I really came up here big boy." One of the funniest moments of my life and became one of the greatest days I've had on my mission. I know that the Lord is in the details of everything and is always looking out for us. D&C 121:7-9 are so true. I witnessed that just yesterday, in our hardest times, sometimes God gives us our friends to bear us up, fulfilling the truthfulness of verse 9 in that section.

Yaroslav in the center, one of the greatest friends that I've made on my mission, Lara, his girlfriend, on the left, and a random assortment of her siblings/nieces.

We visited Lara's family last Monday, the Shavekos. They were the first members here in Chernigov and used to hold sacrament meeting in their house. They wanted me to get on the trampoline but I was way too frightened.

While I was in Kyiv I had the chance to play more Gatorball on Monday, a weird mix of handball and soccer. This is my friend Bogdan Peshkov who is a member in my old area. He served in Salt Lake on his mission and we like to invite him even though he doesn't like to play.

Me with Elder Gale on the left side, my MTC companion and great friend, and Elder Hart on the right, an awesome missionary who just returned home. We were on the metro heading back from zone conference.

Anyways, I love you all. I know that the gospel is true and that the Lord is gathering Israel! It's a wonderful blessing to be a part of the process. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Did you know shaking hands can be dangerous? At least in Ukraine

Me next to one of the coolest members in our branch, Yuri, who gave me this sweet haircut. 

This week has been an awesome week! We found a lot of work to do and have just filled up our time and because of that I am exhausted to say the least. There's not a lot of specific details to mention, so I'll just bring up some funny things about being a missionary in Ukraine:

- There is a random bottle of cognac in our apartment. Just a legitimate straight bottle of alcohol. The problem is, we can't get rid of it or else our landlord will make us pay for a new one. One thing about landlords in Ukraine, they understand that they're housing Americans and then search for every opportunity to exploit that. Anything that is thrown away and could have possibly belong to the landlord, and if they notice that it's missing, they will probably make you buy a new one. We just try to stay away from throwing away anything that looks like it might not be ours and just play it safe.

-  When it rains in Ukraine, your plans for the day are DESTROYED. I don't know what it is about Ukrainians and rain, but it means that they will cancel everything. So many times on my mission it's rained earlier in the day, we'll call somebody to make sure that they're still good for our lesson, and they'll say "I'm sorry, I just can't anymore. It rained earlier today." I guess it's a valid excuse here hahaha. I've also been on lessons with people we're teaching who say "I'm sorry, I just cannot pray today. The weather was just too bad." I love Ukrainians so much. They're people with personality and I love it.

Me and Elder Goethals (from Belgium) while we were on an exchange, standing next to an awesome WW2 memorial statue. 

- One of the weird things that people here will NEVER do is shake your hand through a doorway. Ukrainians believe that it means that later in life you will become enemies. Just one of the strange, Ukrainian superstitions. There are random other ones that only the grandmothers believe, but the handshake one everyone lives by because: "Better to be safe than sorry." This means, that if you stick your hand out to shake theirs through a doorway, they will first make an awkward step through the doorway, shake your hand, and then retreat back in. I'm supposed to remember to not offer a handshake through a doorway so as to not make them do this, but sometimes it's hard to remember.

- Teaching English here is really, really fun. There are some people with insanely good English. Some of the weird quirks is that they say some things that nobody really actually says in English. One of these things, for example, is if you ask someone how they're doing they'll say "Hmm, 50/50." or "So so." I guess that's just their way of saying "OK" or "Alright". I told my English class that nobody really says those responses in America and their minds were a little bit blown. I have a lot of fun playing English as a Second Language games with them. One of my favorites so far was writing a bunch of nouns on cards, having participants hold the card to their forehead without looking at what was on it, and then having to ask others questions in order to figure out what their noun is. It was really fun to play and watch. The most challenging one was the noun "Bull" and "Policeman". Luckily they figured it out, with a little bit of help.

Me next to a really old cannon overlooking Chernigov.

I just want to say that I'm so glad for my wonderful opportunity that I have to serve the Lord. I'm so grateful for my savior, Jesus Christ, and for everything that he has done for me. As I was reading my scriptures yesterday, I came across these wonderful verses in 2nd Nephi that reminded me yet again of the importance of Christ in our lives (2nd Nephi 31:20-21)

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a clove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.

I know that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can return to our Father in Heaven, and receive eternal life. As we try to meet with people and help them find the truth, sometimes I need to remind myself that I'm not trying to convince them that the Book of Mormon was true, or that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, but rather that Jesus Christ is our brother, our Savior, and Redeemer of the world. As we read in 2nd Nephi 33:10, it says:

10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.

When we believe in Christ, then we can believe that these are his words, and that this is the fullness of his gospel once again restored onto the Earth. I am so thankful for Jesus Christ, for his sacrifice for me, for my ability to spread his message of peace and happiness here in Ukraine. I love this wonderful gospel.

Love y'all

P.S. Me and Elder Pincock went to a Ukrainian restaurant, where they gave us free, complimentary shots with some bread. Needless to say, we enjoyed the tasty little bread. Nothing more.

Chernigov-August 5, 2019

August 5, 2019 Chernigov
This has been one of the craziest and best weeks of the mission. Sorry if this email is all over the place, but it's been kind of an all over the place week.

Me armed with my contacting gear standing next to some random statue of an angel next to an Orthodox church. (2 Kings 6:16)

The city of Chernigov is amazing (spelled Chernihiv with Ukranian pronunciation, in case that makes it easier to google)! It is really old and very beautiful. It has many very old churches, including a super old one right next to our church. One of the funny things about it is that it has a "lucky rock" on the outside wall, where if you go and rub the rock three times and make a wish, then it is sure to come true. Me and my companion rubbed it and hoped for some good contacting. I think that it worked. The area definitely speaks Russian a little cleaner, as in it isn't quite so intermingled with Ukranian which is a huge help to me. Makes things a lot easier to understand. It's really strange being the only missionaries here in the area, but it's kind of a fun adventure knowing that the whole city is ours! Anything we want to try, we can just go ahead and do. We'll try to make the most out of this wonderful opportunity. Elder Pincock has only been here 3 weeks more than I have, so we're basically both brand new. Pretty exciting!

Some traditional homemade Ukranian food! Not the things you usually see in restaurants, because these are the things that aren't necessarily the "crowd-pleasers". The first photo is of 'holodyets' which is meat covered in somewhat of a fat jello. It's a little different, but not too bad.

The branch here is definitely a lot different than the ward that I had in Kyiv. It has its advantages and disadvantages of course, but all I know is that I am so glad to serve here. The branch president is one of the kindest men that I have ever met. One thing that was a bit of a shocker - I was instantly made ward clerk my first Sunday here. The president showed us how to do tithing and fast offerings and everything yesterday. It's actually really tricky trying to read the Russian handwriting but I'm sure that it'll be good practice.

Me and my new companion, Elder Pincock, in front of the temple.

There have been so many tender mercies already it is crazy. The first one I would say has been English practice - one of my big ideas upon my arrival was to try and make our English Practice an effective way of finding people to teach. In the mission, English is one of the most common sources of baptisms. I focused a lot on English my first day here as I was contacting, and the next day I saw people come to English who I had contacted only the day previously! I was so excited and immediately began to pass sign-up sheets around for individual lessons, which consist of half English, half gospel. Some people reacted very positively and we have already began teaching a few. I have commited myself to doing everything possible that I can to finding these people. I know that they're out there, or else God would not have placed me here.
Another amazing tender mercy - somebody actually called us back! We were calling this random list of names and numbers that we found in our apartment and nothing came out of it. One of them called back though and we set up a lesson for right then! We immediately headed over and were so excited. Turns out it was some old guy who was a little crazy and kept asking us to please "talk without an accent"... Wasn't super interested in the gospel, but it was a sign to me that we're in the right place at the right time. There are people here who are prepared and it's our job to keep going around trying to find them.

I have a fun new "checklist" of things that I like ask myself before I make ANY decision now. The first thing I must ask is 1. Is the gospel of Jesus Christ true? Thankfully, I can say yes. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I have seen it work in my life and I know that it is only through Jesus Christ and his atonement that I may return to my wonderful Father in Heaven. 2. If I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, does that mean I will be happier if I follow it's teachings? Thankfully, this answer is also yes! If the gospel is true, it MUST mean that when I follow the example of our Savior and obey the commandments, it means that I will surely be much happier than if I were to not obey. This applies to all things, including the mission rules. It helps motivate me to contact, to do what's right, to focus on the right things, and has been a great help to me these last few days. The hardest days to resist temptation seem to be the times most recently after showing a bit of weakness. It seems that once Satan has realized that we have loosened our grip on the iron rod, he tries everything within his power to continue to pull us in the other direction and away from the iron rod. The atonement has become such a strong and powerful part of my testimony. Although we all make mistakes, and we don't always do exactly the right thing, we can always receive forgiveness for our wrongdoings, thanks to our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ. As I've been studying the atonement of the savior and what it means to me, I have been strongly reminded of the lyrics to the song "This is the Chirst" by James E. Faust:

I read His words, the words He prayed
While bearing sorrow in Gethsemane;
I feel His love, the price He paid.
How many drops of blood were spilled for me?

The thought that the Savior so willing, out of his love for me, spilt is own blood for me is almost heart breaking. I love Jesus Christ so much and I am so thankful for the sacrifice that he made for me. The idea that I will continue to add onto his pain on suffering as I continue to go throughout this life is so sad. It is almost unbelieavable that the perfect son of God was willing to do this for us - to take away our pains and our guilts, but Alma 7:11-12 gives us an explanation:

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and aafflictions and btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him adeath, that he may bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

I am so increasingly greatful to our Savior as my testimony of his atonement grows. I know that he lives, I know that he suffered for me so that I may still return to my Heavenly Father, no matter how imperfectly I stumble throughout this life. On my way to Chernigov on the bus I was very nervous, so I took the time to look up the atonement on the Gospel Library search and began to read some of the talks from the apostles and prophets. Suddenly, as I was reading, I was overcome with this feeeling of peace and comfort knowing that I am called of God, and that I am here for a reason, and he has a plan for me. I know that he loves each of us and that if we follow the counsel in Matthew 11:30 and take his yoke upon us then we shall be born up to withstand the trials that are placed before us. I know this is true, I know the gospel is true, and I am so glad for my opportunity to share it with the wonderful people of Chernigov.