May 10, 2010

We had the chance to talk with Ryan for almost 1 1/2 hours on Mother's Day so his emails were short. He mainly sent pictures. One of the things he mentioned is that Elder Scott will be in Kyiv in 4 weeks to meet with the missionaries. He'll be going to Kyiv for the meeting. He also said that all the missionaries will be helping out for the temple open house in August for some period of time since they don't have enough volunteers. He also will be able to go to the temple dedication.

(1st email)
It was great to talk to you too but now it is time to get back to work ;P
Here are some pictures by the way...Number 1 is when we changed our filter. The white one is the one we put it I think ;)Number 2 is of Vova Polishuk at the top of a really tall tower we climbed.It was probably the most dangerous thing I have done on my mission but I didn't climb out to where Vova was which would have just been stupid. The rest are the pictures Vova took from the tower looking out over the city(2nd email)
Well Mom,
Here are the pictures that I took of the branch building in Lviv. It is an awesome building. I don't have any pictures of the city but that is ok for now. (Ryan told us in the phone conversation that Elder Holland had prophesied that some day a temple would be where the branch building is now. Ryan had zone conferences there last Friday.)
Well, I am probably going to send a letter to Elder Sudbury in a minute, but I just want to let you know that I love you...all of you, and that I am really thankful to be serving a mission right now. I know that this church is true. That Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and that through Him and only through Him, we can live with together eternally. I know that this is where I need to be right now and that the work here is going forward. The Lord's hand is in the work. I see it everyday. I have a strong testimony of the Temple too and I know that as I prepare people to go, and as you yourselves find the time to go, we will feel God and His Spirit more closely in our lives. The Temple is the House of God. I know that this time on Earth is for us to prepare to live with God and we need to do all we can to get there. Read the Book of Mormon everyday because it is the true word of God. The Book of Mormon is truly the most incredible book on the Earth. I love you all and I love Jesus Christ.

Love Elder Jones
P.S. I am into Mosiah again in my reading of the Book of Mormon. It is really so much fun that I cannot stop. I just read Abinadi's preaching to King Noah and his Priests and it is so full of doctrine. I know that it is true.

(3rd email)
Hey again,

So here are a few more photos. The video of the parade yesterday is too big to send but I will see if I can edit it down or something for next week. (It was V-E day.)

Number one is Elder Smith who is training Elder Fanning here in Rivne. Elder Monson asked him to pose :PTwo and Three are a statue of Bogdan Khmelniskty who was a famous warrior who always had a mace.Four and Five are Elder Fanning and Smith being themselves. And the camera that Elder Smith has is not his own - it belongs to a member here. (They had two more missionaries join them in Rivne last transfers. These two speak Russian.)