December 20, 2010

Hey Mom,

I am glad to hear that things are going pretty well. Don't get too stressed out, it is Christmas time! I am glad that you made it to California just fine and hope that all is well with Grandma and Grandpa; tell them that I love them please, along with everyone else.

So the skype dealio..I still don't know exactly how it will work, but we are going to a member's house. We have already talked to him and so that will be fine. We will do the same thing that we already planned, maybe a little earlier, like 8:15ish PM, Ukrainian time will be best. It will probably be limited to an hour and a half tops so make sure you are ready with questions or whatever. As far as skype, I don't know what account I will be using, but make sure you are on there and I will find you for sure. It is going to be cool!

Christmas in Ukraine is a lot different. Yesterday they had a holiday Saint Mikolai who is their version of Santa. Kids got presents and were happy. The 25th is American Christmas and they kinda celebrate it together as families. Then, comes New Year and Ukrainian Christmas in January which are huge holidays and all the missionaries will be inside on New Years because they are so crazy and big here. The Ukrainians focus a lot on families though which is cool. The only problem with these Holidays is that everyone gets busy and doesn't want to meet until mid-January. But, everything is going well here.

So things here are picking up. Elder V is healthy and we are finally having a little success. We won't have a baptism here on Saturday, unless some miracle occurs, but, there are going to be TONS of them as a mission which is great. The mission has really exploded recently which is super awesome. We have a great new investigator, Vasil, and everything here is just awesome. The branch is starting to do a little better too which is great. Yesterday, one of the counselors of the Temple President was here and spoke to everyone on a combined sacrament meeting (both branches combined). There were tons of investigators there and total, more than I have ever seen at church in Lviv. Everything is just picking up here and we talk to tons of people and boldly invite them to act. We have had success caroling here which is really fun for us and great for others too. It is a great icebreaker and I love it. We also have focused on Christ with everyone, members and nonmembers and it is really just cool to see the success come. As we invite people to read the doctrines of Christ in the Book of Mormon and focus on that, they really become new people with a true faith in Christ.

Well, I probably have to go, but I wish you a wonderful week. Don't forget to get on Skype this Saturday and if I don't find you by 8:40ish, then go ahead and call ok. I love you Mom, you are truly the best.

'til Saturday,

Elder Jones