August 2, 2010

Hey Mom,

So maybe I should start writing you first because I never seem to leave myself with much time. To answer some of your questions (I am unsure about which quesitons you meant from last week, but we will see. Um, anyway, Elder Powell (Ryan's new companion.)  He is from Mesa, Arizona and is the youngest of three. His sister is getting married on the 5th and his brother is probably going to school. His brother served in Samara, Russia and got back about a year ago. He is really funny and is super sarcastic, which is funny when he is around Ukrainians (many of them don't understand sarcasm). Hmm, as far as letters (I asked who he had received letters from), I get them from the family, from the mission, from Elder Sudbury, and then sometimes one more. I need to write Jacob though. I have been awful at writing to him. Also, I don't have any other family members addresses, other than grandparents'. The pouch is annoying too, because I can only get that mail once every 6 weeks. I haven't gotten much though. Next, so the open house (for the Kyiv temple) does start this week, on Saturday. We find out on Thursday which two of us will go there first. The language is still super hard. I am finally comfortable enough to talk with people and understand them just fine. It is weird though, because not everyone here speaks the language I learned. There is a lot of Russian, or a mix of Russian and Ukrainian too which always makes conversations fun. I love the language though, even though it is super hard. The pictures...the one with me in front of the church is with a member, Roman. He is now living in Kyiv, but he is one of my favorite people here. The one in the field is a branch activity and the streets are just random pictures around Rivne.

Anyway, wow, that was a lot of questions. So here is a question I have for you. I was thinking about it this week and thought I would ask you. So, all those years ago, when Chelsea fell in the pond, what were your thoughts as that whole thing played out. Do you remember what helped you get through the hard moments and how Heavenly Father helped you? I would like to know what you thought and felt.

So I am glad to hear that your family history class went so well. I really enjoyed the quote from President Eyring that you sent last week.  ( President Henry B. Eyring said, "Many of your deceased ancestors will have received a testimony that the message of the missionaries is true. When you received that testimony you could ask the missionaries for baptism. But those who are in the spirit world cannot. The ordinances you so cherish are offered only in this world. Someone in this world must go to a holy temple and accept the covenants on behalf of the person in the spirit world. That is why we are under obligation to find the names of our ancestors and ensure that they are offered by us what they cannot receive there without our help.")   It is so important for us to get those names of our ancestors ready or they won't be able to receive the blessings that are in store for them. Many of them probably already have a testimony and they are only waiting for us to get to the temple and do their work. That is what I have tried to share with the members here. It is so necessary, especially as the temple is nearing completion, to prepare ourselves to go to the temple. We must all be worthy to go to the temple and take part in the blessings that are promised us. We first must go to do those ordinances for ourselves, so that we can be saved. But, once we have done that, we can't stop. We need to go forward, living worthily to go and perform those ordinances for the billions of others who have not yet received it. As the Lord promises in Doctrine & Covenants 18, if we labor to bring just one person to His kingdom, our joy will be so great, but if we bring many to Him, oh how much greater will it be! It is our duty to make plans and set goals to get to the temple as often as possible so that we can bring our ancestors to the Lord's fold.

I have a strong testimony of the temple and I am so excited for the Kyiv temple which will soon open. I know that temples are literally houses of the Lord. There we enter covenants that can bring us protection from all the dangers of the world. I know that as we continue to go to the temple to do the work for our ancestors, we will feel the love of God greater and be more prepared to face our daily challenges. I know that the Lord visits His temples and there we can receive revelation and be endowed with power. I know that we can be together as a family forever through the temple.

With Love,
Elder Jones