December 5, 2011

Hi Mom,

So I am glad that you enjoyed the pictures.  I will show you a lot more of them in 10 days.

It is funny to hear that you have had some weird weather because we are having some funny weather too.  It is supposed to be winter already, but we haven't had any snow and it is still fairly warm.  I am certainly enjoying it while we have it and hope it will hold out another ten days.    

It sounds like you had a marvelous stake conference and I am excited that you learned a lot.  The doctrines of Christ are basic, but essential for true happiness in this life and life eternal.  That is all that we as missionaries are here to teach, because that is what helps people to come unto Christ.  The doctrine is the why for everything that we do.  Christ is the only way.

So we had a really crazy week and I will give you a quick synopsis.  Honestly, not a lot is really happening, but there have been many tender mercies and little miracles for us here.  We had zone conference on Tuesday where we talked more about the principles we discussed at the leadership council a few weeks ago.  It was so powerful and really was the boost that I had been in need of.  My study became much better and I started to receive the revelation that I had needed. It was great and we are seeing results as we apply daily the principles that we discussed and learned.  We did some more service and also got up at 5 to do a couple hours of yoga the other day...that was fun.  The big surprise came on Wednesday when we found out that we were having a mini transfer on Saturday and that Elder Hubbell and I were going to split.  He is now training one of the new missionaries that came in and I will spend my last 11 days with Elder David Larsen from my MTC group.  We are going to have a lot of fun and get some great work done as we meet with people and continue to find many new investigators.  We are super excited.  I got to see some missionaries that I hadn't seen in a long time and it was really cool to see them one last time before I take off.  That was basically it.  We had a lot of fun and I am super excited to go forward. 

Well Mom, I love you.  I can't believe I will be home in 10 days.  It is tough, but exciting at the same time.  I am not sure if I will write next week, so you don't need to.  We will be busy from Monday on until we leave Wednesday morning.  

Thanks for everything.

Love,

Elder Jones

November 28, 2011

Hey Mom,

So I am going to tell you in advance that not much happened this week so this may be a shorter letter...anyway.

Caitlin said her week was fun and she was happy to make some money.  Chels will just have to deal for a couple more weeks and then she might have a crazy brother to keep her company too.  I am happy that you had a fun Thanksgiving though and that you had a substitute son there.  We had an opportunity to celebrate with some of the Americans in the international branch and then we got to go to the doctor because Elder Hubbell got something in his eye that actually scratched it.  Crazy.  That was fun though and it was cool to see Elder Wallis there too.  

I am kinda sad that I barely miss Stake Conference, but we have a zone conference tomorrow which will be awesome I am sure.  We had a primary program this week for the other ward too so two primary programs in two weeks made for some fun Sundays here.  Last Monday was awesome with the bishop and I am happy we got to go out there one more time.  That family is so awesome.  He has been a member for longer than Elder Hubbell has been alive...so he and his family are quite strong.  We had a couple of other good meetings this week, but it was honestly another tough week full of lots of opposition.  We tried a lot of different ideas and worked on ourselves and still didn't see any results, but they will come.  Honestly, there has been a lot of opposition in general, but that just means that the Lord is near and He has big things set up and Satan is doing all he can to hold us back.  We are going to keep on working diligently and the Lord will bless us.  I love being here and I know that God is our Eternal Head.  He is the source of all good that we see in this life and I know that His goal is to help us to become the best that we can - to become like Him.  I know that the Church was restored so that the Lord's great work could come forward and that only through obedience to the ordinances and laws of the gospel of Christ will we find true happiness here and eternal happiness in the kingdom of God.  

I love you Mom.  Thanks for your wonderful example and love.

Love,

Elder Jones.

 

 We have Valeriy's baptism

 Elder Hubbell

 Thanksgiving

 The Bishop's house

 

November 21, 2011

Hey Mom,

Thanks for putting money in the account.  I think that should be plenty as there are only a few more things I want to buy.  I only have a couple more p-days left and anyway, I don't want to spend too much money because I am sure that I will have a lot of stuff to buy at home to get set up for school.  And pictures are kinda a pain here.  I tried three weeks ago and last week and the computers were being slow and you know how much I hate that, so I gave up.  I have them on my hard drive and camera so I hope you can wait a couple more weeks.  

Haha, so Elder Cloward is certainly the same goofy young man, but I am sure that he is going to be a great missionary there.  (Elder Cloward is one of Ryan's friends and son #3 of our family, I sent Ryan his email he sent me last week.  He is serving in the Germany Berlin mission.)  I can't wait to get home and be able to send him some emails with some of the lessons that helped me most here.  I am sure that his mission is very similar to this one, except that the church is more established there.  But hey, we have a temple here...

I am glad to hear that you have things figured out with you callings and I am sure that will work out just fine.  But did you realize that the beginning of the month and the end of the month are pretty much the same time?   The real most effective way is the beginning and middle ;P  Visiting teaching is super important though so I am glad you are helping there.  The Elders quorum here is really trying to refocus on home teaching which is awesome.  I have certainly gained a testimony of the importance of home teaching out here.

So I can't believe Chels is driving.  (Chelsea got her drivers license last Friday.)  That is pretty cool I guess, but I am not sure if I will let her drive me around when I get back.  I am excited to hear about Nate too.  (Another friend who will be receiving his mission call this Wednesday.)  That is awesome and I am definitely happy to be there to see him go out.  He will be a great missionary I am sure.  The younger missionaries these days seem so much better than us so the MTC must be way better or something.

Well I don't really know what to say about this week.  It was full of opposition, but that is good, because it means the work is going forward.  We had a lot of opportunities to pray with people and help them feel the Spirit and we hope to see a lot come from it.  The ward is doing really well and I love the members here.  We are going to go to the bishop tonight I will get pictures of his cute family.  They are awesome and I am excited that they are growing,  The work is going well and I am excited to see what comes this week.  I love the Lord's work and I am so grateful to Him that He has allowed us to help.  I know that God lives and loves us and that Christ is our Savior.  He guides this Church today through the prophet Thomas Monson.  This is the true Church of Jesus Christ.  

I love you mom.  Have a wonderful week and a great Thanksgiving.

Love,

Elder Jones

November 14, 2011

Hey Mom,

So I am glad that you get letters from your other sons more often than you get them from me.  I wish I got letters from them as often as you seem to get them.  They are busy though which I understand so I can't be upset with them.

Chels is probably going to be a way better swimmer than me which is kinda embarrassing because I am twice as long and strong as her.  I am glad to hear that she is doing well and having fun there.  I definitely will have to get into to the water and learn how to swim again.  It has been like ten years since I really swam...weird.  Haha, that is funny that you lost your voice too this week.  I started losing mine last Saturday and then by Wednesday it was gone gone at district meeting.  That was funny.  Anyway, I am healthy again and just at the right time because winter has hit.  Our temps were in the thirties for the past few days and we got our first snowstorm - not much of a storm though.  Anyway, I am sorry that you got sick and I hope you relax a little and let yourself heal. 

That is cool that everyone will be out to see me get home.  I guess I will be sleeping on the floor or something, but after the mission I am not too concerned about where I sleep.  Not that I ever have been.  That is cool that I will get to see some of the family there when I get back.  And don't worry about the talk about home - it really doesn't affect me.  I am honestly quite converted to missionary work and on p-day I can get myself back into focus.  And I am way excited for all the people that will be coming back to Utah with me.  I have served around a lot of them and Sister Schmidt and I are in the same district right now.  Anyway, they are wonderful missionaries.

I sent a quick letter to Caitlin too and told her to get a hold of Sister Schmidt who will be going back to SUU and who said needs new friends because all her old friends got married :)  I love hearing from her.

Oh man, that is funny that you are already released from the Primary, but it is cool how that is how things can work out.  I am glad that you were able to help, even if only for a month.  The Relief Society is fun too I guess.  The Stake Nativity is always cool too so that is awesome.  Speaking of nativities, can you put more money on my card??  (I will explain the connection in a month if you remind me ;P)  By the way, I wouldn't call singing a talent of mine, just something I am not bad at.  

So this past week was honestly full of miracles amongst the trials.  We were continuing to struggle to find people to teach and each day we talked about what we were lacking. We prayed, studied, talked to our leaders, and even fasted and just continued to struggle. We knew there was something that we weren't doing and then we realized that we had stopped praying with people on the streets for the right reason. Instead of praying to help them have a good spiritual experience, we prayed just so that they could become new investigators, which isn't necessarily bad, but then we realized that we had started praying with less people. So last night after finishing our fast, we went out and just invited everyone to pray with us and we ended up praying with 4 people and got all of their contact info and also found two new investigators which was awesome. It was a really cool testimony builder.  We are ready this week to go out and hit the streets hard and we are going to reach the goals that we have set. I really have no doubts that we will be stopped. I am sure the adversary will work hard against us, but we are finally starting to figure it out and feel it too.  

That was Sunday night, but the miracles started Monday when we met with one of our investigators Valeriy.  He has been progressing well but was planning on going out of town again for a month while recovering from his surgery.  So as we talked about the importance of baptism and testified of it, he decided he wanted to be baptized.  So on Tuesday morning, we had a baptism!  Valeriy is doing really well and I am so excited for his future in the church.  He might be gone until I go home, but I will definitely stay in contact with him.  He is a great young man.  The Sisters also had a baptism on Saturday with a woman, Lyuba, who they met two weeks ago.  One of the recent converts just invited her to the church, and they didn't even know each other.  Lyuba asked Polina if she was a member and Polina said yes and then grabbed her and brought her to church.  It was awesome.  Lyuba is really nice and Elder Hubbell and I had the pleasure of teaching her once when the Sisters were sick at home.  She will be a good member too.  We are going to see another baptism next week with the Assistants investigator Petya.  He is a way awesome young man and I have no doubts he will be a leader here.  Anyway, the Lord is really blessing us for going out and doing the work.  I love this work so much and I am so thankful to be able to help the Lord rescue those who are currently lost.  The ward is really doing well and continuing to grow as they see us work hard and do all we can to help them.  I know that this work is a work of miracles.  The Lord truly does love every one of His children personally and will do all He can to help them come unto Him.  I know that Christ is our Savior. He is the reason that all of this is possible.  I know that He is central to our Heavenly Father's plan, and truly the center of all that we do.  I love Him so much.

Thanks mom for being such a great example.  I love you as well.

Love,

Elder Jones

November 7, 2011

Hey Mom,

So it is already the second week of November.  Ridiculous how fast the time goes.  I swear it is on fast forward right now.  Anyway, so the weather is cold but dry here and the days are getting shorter and shorter.  We switched our clocks a week ago already so it gets dark dark by 5.  Crazy.  I did get the package by the way and shared the candy with the district.  Good stuff.  Thanks a ton for all you sent :)  And yes, the missionaries put on the halloween party which was super stressful, but fun too.  I think everyone enjoyed it which is most important.  

That is cool that Chels is having fun and improving.  I will be swimming with her when I get home to keep/get in better shape.  I hate turns and strokes and stuff too so I will have to learn to do it right so I get a good workout.  That is good to hear that Chelsea is having fun, even if it is "kicking her butt."  Ugh, that soccer banquent sounds awful too.  I am glad you had a "relaxing" end of the week though and it is good to be busy, even if you only have one kid.  I agree with Dad on the saying no by the way.  You certainly need some time with him too.

So I am sure that the missionaries are going to do just great there in America - they will learn how to do missionary work correctly and then they will pick up the language just fine when they get here. (The missionaries going to Ukraine from the MTC who were supposed to leave last Wednesday were sent state side while they work out visa issues.)  I am way excited for them.  And they are unofficially going to be here in just four weeks so the moms shouldn't worry too much.  I think they can pretend that their missionaries are already here.  Yes they are trying to do temporary residence because the new visas are only 90 day visas, but I don't know how it works.  Luckily the church has people here in charge of that.  And there was a change in the law which changed the types of visas.  The only reason I know any of this is because I was in the office as this all happened.  I am confident it won't be a problem for too long.  The government just still doesn't know what they are doing exactly.

So yes, I know Eric Wunderlich is your cousin and it was funny to say, hey, I am related to that guy.  Anyway, the project was cool and I am happy that they are doing such a good work.  The people there were all really nice and though not too many of them seemed super interested now, I think it was a great experience and they all have great thoughts about the church instead of all the negative ones that get passed around.  

Gospel principles was really fun.  Russian and Ukrainian are quite different but you can definitely understand each other.  I think Vera (a co-worker of mine from Russia) would understand it just fine, especially if her Mom is Ukrainian and spoke it, but she would be surprised and confused a little I am sure.  The biggest thing is that the accents are way different and so people just get caught up on that.  My understanding of Russian is fine.  I could get along just fine in Moscow on vacation, but I certainly understand Ukrainian a lot better.  When I listen to Ukrainian, I understand it all.  I just get the idea when it is Russian.  A lot of people we talk to speak Russian though and we get along with them and teach them just fine so it is weird.  

So this week was a good one, even if it was really tough.  Let's just say that we laid a lot of seeds as we talked to and invited hundreds of people, but didn't really see much fruit yet.  We met some awesome people yesterday with whom we are going to meet throughout this week and I am excited to go forward.  I am honestly not ready to go home, only because I don't think about it and before I know it, it will be on me.  We are working hard and having fun together and I really think we will see some great successes over the upcoming weeks.  

Yesterday was an incredible day and it was really a cool experience for me personally.  It was stake conference weekend here and it was really cool.  One of our investigators went to both the Saturday and Sunday sessions and loved it.  He really is incredible and will be baptized, but there are some things that are holding him back, mostly that he isn't living anywhere near Kyiv right now.  He pays fast offerings, does family history and loves the Book of Mormon, but he still isn't baptized.  He will be though and will receive so many more blessings for it.  Anyway, on the Saturday session we sang in our mens choir in front of the stake adults and it was awesome.  It was a really powerful composition of Redeemer of Israel.  Way cool.  We will be singing in the International branch with the sisters in two weeks which will be fun too.  Sing sing.  Anyway, the Sunday session is what was really cool.  We had a Europe East areawide broadcast from the Church Headquarters.  Elder Clayton, Sister Thompson, Elder Oaks and President Ucthdorf all spoke and it was awesome.  I received a lot of great revelation and Elder Clayton's talk about families and marriage and whatnot was quite timely seeing as that is my next step in life.  Anyway, it was really great and we were so blessed to be a part of it.  And we got to listen to it in English which was awesome - Hooray for the International Branch.

Well, I think that is about all.  The work continues to move on and the Lord of the harvest is blessing us daily.  We literally witness miracles among others and with ourselves each and everyday which help to strengthen our faith.  I know that God lives.  He is our Heavenly Father and loves us so much.  I know that through prayer we can reach out to Him at anytime and I know that He always always answers our prayers.  I love you mom. Thanks for being AWESOME!

I love you,

Elder Jones

October 31, 2011

Hey Mom,

So Sister Leavitt (the member who called me last week from Ukraine) is probably one of the Leavitts, but they used to live here and she has some organization or something that she works with.  They brought Michael McClean out here for a week to talk to members and do some charity and she just saw us at church and asked for your number. 

Yeah, so honestly, I can't really control my weight right now, but it keeps going up and down but overall, I have lost 20 pounds on the mission.  Sorry.  And the Gilbert's syndrome is obviously not a problem.  It is genetic and apparently half the population carries at least one of the genes for it.  Not anything to worry about though, but my eyes are still a little yellowish.  My body will deal with it and the doctor just recommended that when I get back, I go to get my levels checked and see if it could be something else. 

So nothing is really happening with transfers.  Elder Hadley is out for his last transfer and Elder Johnson and Hofeling will be serving together as Assistants.  I am excited, because those two are awesome.  I will miss Elder Hadley, but I will be seeing him anyway back at the U so it is fine.  I will be staying with Elder Hubbell for my last transfer here in the Borshahivsky ward.  I didn't get the package by the way, but I think that I will get it when they pick up mail this week.  And yes, there was a change in the visas and the government laws and so the missionaries for this transfer are having trouble.  They will be coming December 5th though.  The change happened as I was leaving the office.  Now visas only last 90 days, but they can do temporary residence, but they are having trouble.  It doesn't affect me though.

I am glad that work is going well and that you are enjoying it.  Chels and Caitlin both said the concert was fun and that I will have to listen to Parachute when I am home.  We'll see.  Anyway, I am glad that they are both happy and doing ok.  Those silly girls with all their busyness.  

Dad said you cried :P  (Rob gave a talk yesterday in Sacrament Meeting about testimony and made me cry :P  They had the two new counselors speak.)  I think that is cool that they were able to speak and about such an important topic too - awesome.  And prayer is important too, especially for the Primary kids.  (I did sharing time yesterday on prayer.)  We are going to help with the Primary program here for the international branch.  There are only like 5 kids so it is more of a ward program, put together by the Primary.  It will be at the end of November.  Choir is fun, isn't it.  We are performing this weekend - our men's choir -  for stake conference.  Our choir has about 12 voices which is silly because there are a lot more men, but they just aren't coming out which is too bad.  It will be great though.  I love singing and cool hymn arrangements are always awesome.  Good luck with Rachel by the way.  (I was supposed to go help Rach unpack today on my day off, but they ended up with the flu so I didn't go.)  Have fun.

Well, the work is really going well here and we had a really cool week.  We helped with a wheelchair charity project thing which was really cool - we got to do some manual labor and translate for the LDS chairities reps from Salt Lake.  Apparently Eric Wunderlich is their boss or something...?  (He's my cousin.)  When the women mentioned his name, I thought it sounded familiar and then I remembered.  Anyway, there could be lots of them I guess.  The project was cool though even though it took a lot of time.  Good word about the church got out and three of the guys became new investigators.  On Saturday, we spent all day at the church for the project and then our Halloween party which we threw.  It was cool, even if stressful, and I really think everyone enjoyed it.  Sunday was awesome too and I loved the meetings.  I can certainly say though that I look forward to English again.  It was nice to be in an English class and more freely be able to share my thoughts.  Honestly, I had a "wow, I am in Ukraine" moment in our gospel principles class where half the class spoke Russian, the other half Ukrainian, and the teacher just spoke whatever she had just been spoken to in (does that make sense?).  And to make it even funnier, everyone understood each other perfectly.  That doesn't really happen anywhere else.

 

The work is going forward and we are continuing to find new families each week on the streets, tracting and with help of the members.  I think we should have some baptisms soon.  President is continuing to challenge and invite us to step it up and I am just glad that the missionaries I serve around are all willing to do so.  

I know that this Church is true.  Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer and only through Him can we be saved.  God lives and loves us and has revealed His plan for our happiness through living Prophets.  The priesthood of God is on the earth again!  This is all part of God's perfect plan for us.  I know these things are true.  

I love you Mom.  Have a great week and tell everyone that I love them.

Love,

Elder Jones

October 24, 2011

Hey Mom,

So I am glad that you were able to talk with Sister Leavitt.  (She is an American member who called me yesterday from Ukraine to say that she had been to the International Branch and seen Ryan and to report that he looks well.)  She is very nice and definitely would lie to you to make sure you don't worry.  Don't worry though, I am already putting weight back on for the winter.  I think I lost a lot of weight over the summer and I can see that some of my clothes are a little looser, but I am fine.  I went to the doctor to get some blood tests and I had an ultrasound too which was quite awkward.  All is well though.  They diagnosed me with something called constitutional hypatic dysfunction.  Pretty scary sounding, eh?  Actually it is just Gilbert's syndrome.  Does it run in the family?  Because it is a genetic disorder.  You can look it up online.  Elder Mayberry sent me info about it and there is absolutely nothing to worry about.  Just a harmless disorder that made my eyes yellowish for a week.  I do love to torture you as you know!  Honestly, I am healthy, eat well, and work out too so all will be fine.  

So I don't know anything about transfers.  We will find out next week, but I am hoping that I will stay in this ward. I do love this ward, the area and the missionaries here and hope I can continue to serve here.  Our transfer will be small because the missionaries aren't coming in from America - visa problems - but things will work out just fine.  I can't believe that I am going into my last transfer.  Tell Aunt Kathy thanks for the letter and package by the way.  I greatly appreciate her love.

Your job sounds...fun.  I would hate to have to count money, but if you can enjoy it, then that is good.  It sounds like there is at least some sort of variety...sort of.  I hope that all went well with the girls this past week.  Chels seems to be happy with swim, even though she said it is "kicking her butt."  Who in the world is Parachute by the way?

Hopefully things work out for Dad too.  Crazy old man.  I think it is funny that he spends so much time in a suit now.  We are in the same boat!

So Brother Harshbarger told me some things about the FBI and it certainly doesn't sound any less awesome.  Let's just say he loves his job.  I will have to look more into it when I get home.  Basketball went well and I didn't get too hurt.  President Klebingat's son broke his wrist playing basketball in school last week.  Lovely sport.  And I am super happy to hear about Jake and Nate's papers.

We are all healthy here.  No worries.  I love how random this letter is.  I just answer your questions as I go down...funny.

The work is going and we are finding new families to teach each day.  We are just trying to help everyone we talk to have a spiritual experience and this past week we prayed with tons of people on the streets and in their homes and helped them to feel the Spirit.  We will continue to find families each day and do all we can to help them progress towards baptism.  The wheel is going fast now as we find lots of new people and get rid of the ones that don't want to progress.  Prayer really is such a simple principle and each day we teach people what their relationship is with their Heavenly Father and then challenge them to pray with us right there. We pray and sincerely ask Heavenly Father to show his power and love to them and the Spirit is present every time.  As they feel that, they desire to meet and feel it again.  Such a simple, yet powerful principle - conversing with our Father.  Anyway, I have a lot of other things to do.  Tell the girls I love them, even though I didn't write.  I love you too mom. Thanks for all you do.  Have a wonderful week.

All My Love,

Elder Jones

October 17, 2011

Hey there mom,

So I am glad that you were willing to stay up late to write your son.  (Chels was on the computer until 11ish doing homework.)  And I guess that is good that Chelsea is doing her homework too :P  I am sorry that you don't have the same flexibility with your schedule, but I am sure it will be good to learn more skills.  As we know, that is really why we are here on the earth and all these skills will help us to endure to the end and become like God.  You just felt like you wanted something new and that is why you changed??  Or did the company ask?  Good luck and keep on learning!

The trek fireside sounds like a lot of fun too and I think that is awesome that Caitlin got a connection for a future job.  (One of the leaders from trek is the superintendent for the Granite School District and told Caitlin to send him her resume when she is close to graduating and he would look it over.)  That would stink for her to have to live and work in the Salt Lake area though :{  Ok, maybe not, but I wouldn't want to teach in a Utah school, but then again, I don't want to be a teacher at all.  Speaking of connections to future jobs, tomorrow we are going to play basketball with one of the members (Brother Harshbarger) of the international branch who has a referral for us.  He is here in Kyiv for only 90 days and gave an awesome talk yesterday.  But what I am trying to get at is that he works for the FBI and so I will talk to him a little about that tomorrow.  I am way excited though.  He and his wife and kid seem super awesome.

I am glad to hear that the program went well (The Primary program yesterday, I'm now back in Primary.) and I think that is cool that all went as planned.  That rarely happens.  That is cool that they enjoyed it and I am way happy that you love being around them.  Yesterday we had ward council at one of the members houses for the International Branch and their little kids love the missionaries.  I love kids too and I can't wait until I am not a missionary and don't have silly rules about kids. 

I hope that Chels has fun with her swim meet.  There is no doubt that swimming is a completely different sport (than soccer which explains why it tires her out so much) so I hope she isn't too hard on herself.  I would love to practice with her when I get home.  That would be great exercise for me and I would be able to push/support her.  By the way, random thought - how much of this letter will actually go onto the blog because most of this is  pretty random and not interesting or necessary for anyone other than you.  It is a good thing I am so far away and can't get embarassed by the silly things I probably say that are read by some random audience. (Yeah, isn't it a good thing :P)

In another side note, a member told me that I might have worms yesterday, but as far as I know, I don't have any of the main symptoms.  I thought I would just freak you out a little and I will let you know more once I talk to the doctor.  I feel fine though and I am not losing weight anymore which is good.  Granted 20 pounds is more than I had to lose in the first place.  Ha, well I will stop torturing you.  Honestly, don't worry because I am taking care of myself and I am healthy.

Well, this past week was full of contacting people on the streets and tracting which didn't help my companion's cold.  Elder Hubbell is a stud though and is doing better.  The freezing temps are annoying, but I guess it is good that I am already ready for winter.  My body is adjusted to the temps already.  I had a good exchange with Elder Shepherd, one of the new missionaries in the district here and we did good work.  We talked to hundreds of people and honestly, we don't have a lot of investigators right now, but all of them are super elect and desire to progress toward baptism so I hope we can help them receive a testimony and work towards opening the gates of eternal life for them.  We had two men just randomly show up to church yesterday and they both are so ready which is awesome!  This was an awesome week for me for learning too and I know that I still have a long way to go which is frustrating, but again, that is why we are here on the earth.  I realized that one of the biggest problems in this church is that too many people get caught up on the organization or the programs and forget about the purpose of the gospel.  The gospel is all about helping us make covenants and learn how to keep them to the end of our lives so that we can be prepared to enter into God's kingdom and receive all that He has.  It is all about the people.  God doesn't care about the organization - that isn't His work and glory.  His work and His glory in our eternal life.  As we go out and remember that all that we do is for the people, to help them to prepare for eternal life, then we have the drive that we need to do the work of the Lord.  That is what drives us to talk to every and to invite them to come unto Christ, the knowledge that only we can unlock the gates of eternal life through baptism and the other covenants and ordinances of the gospel.  I know that this is God's work and glory and we are only His servants in this great work.  I love this work.  I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ. 

I love you mom.  Have a great week.

Elder Jones

October 10, 2011

Hey Mom,

First off, sorry that my last two letters have been shorter.  I am going to try to stay focused today and write a good one (and I wrote less to everyone else).   So things are going great here.  We have had lots of fun p-days hanging out with the district and going shopping and whatnot (I mostly tell people what they should buy ;P).  We are going to take the rest of our p-day tomorrow and go to the Lavra and a museum or something which should be great.  I just love the missionaries here and have fun with them.  I will answer your other questions throughout the letter.

Thanks for the family update.  By the way, that picture that you sent me scares me so much.  Everyone has grown up and Chelsea especially seems to be growing up - that is really bad Mom!  That is good to hear that Josh is having fun down there and I hope he is preparing for a mission.  That is cool that Jeff is doing well too.  I have certainly not had those types of experiences here.  The biggest opposition we face is the alcohol.  People here are really nice though.  That is crazy that Megan is pregnant again. They are going to have a huge family.  Awesome!

I hope that all goes well with the program there. (I was just called into Primary and we have the program this Sunday.)  I am sure that you are going to be able to help things out there in the primary.  As long as the kids have fun, the parents will enjoy it and I have no doubts the Spirit will be there.  I always remember the way Christ talked about children in the Bible and Book of Mormon.  He will be happy no matter what.

Oh man, that dinner sounds awesome.  (I told him we had dinner group at our house this month and we did a soup night with potato cheese and a chicken tortilla soup.)  We eat deliciously here, but still, there are some things that I certainly don't make and that is one of them...ugh.  It has been freezing here too and I am wearing my winter coat today.  What is up with your new job at work?  What is this banking stuff? (No, you didn't tell me).  You sound like you will be perfect for it.

I think that Chelsea will be just fine there.  (She started swim team today.)  I already mentioned that she is growing up which is scary.  Those swim boys better stay away from her.  By the way, Priesthood session was my favorite by far (it was the only english one I saw uninterrupted).  It was jsut awesome and I learned so much from it.

About the international branch.  There are two families in it, both of which work in the embassy.  There is actually another that I haven't met who works for the FBI.  Then there are twently college girls who are here teaching english.  And then the temple couples too.  So it is a lot of fun.  We met with the President and his family, Powell, and had FHE and they are great.  We won't do much with them, but we are there to help. 

Anyway, so about our week.  Honestly it was full of lots of opposition with great spiritual highs and very low lows as well.  The schism between the world and the teachings of Christ is growing each day and it is honestly tough to face some of it.  We are working hard though and having fun though.  We are trying each day to go out and find someone new to teach.  The mission is really changing and the work is hastening here which is so cool.  Conference was incredible and I loved it so much.  I learned a ton and I know that the words which were spoken are true.  I can't wait to be able to study them out in detail.

The members are great here and I love them.  The investigators too. We have one progressing investigator with whom we met on Wednesday and President and Sister Klebingat were on the lesson.  It was so powerful and tonight we are doing a FHE with him at their house.  I really feel that he will be baptized and it is just a matter of him receiving a testimony.  He just needs to pray correctly and with true desire.  He was at Bro Alexander's baptism on Saturday which was so cool.  I was priviliged to be able to do the baptismal interview for him and I received such a strong spiritual confirmation that he is ready.  He received the Holy Ghost yesterday and the Spirit was super powerful and I know that he and his family are going to be so blessed.  Sister Tetyana was so happy.

Yesterday was cool as we had another investigator who came and loved conference.  He took so much from it and I feel that he really has potential too.  There are going to be a lot of baptisms here in the coming months.  In the evening, we went out because we really wanted to find a new investigator.  It was pouring rain and so we decided to go tracting and find a family.  We went to a lot of doors and didn't really have anything positive and then we knocked on one door and a father answered.  He wasn't interested at first, but we gave him a family proclamation and he said we can come back.  We wanted to pray with him right there and bless him and his family, but it didn't work out.  So we went to the next floor and on the last door, a young man asked who we were through the door, but then it went silent. We started to walk away and then he came out and we had a twenty minute discussion with him about family and God and how much God really loves him.  He didn't seem to want to find out more, but then we told him that we wanted to pray right there to bless him and his girlfriend and he accepted.  As we prayed the Spirit came so strongly and his entire countenance changed.  He took a Book of Mormon and we are going to go back later to see how he is doing.  Honestly, praying with them right there, on the street or in their homes and helping them to feel the Spirit is so important. President challenged all of us to do it yesterday and as a result the mission found the most investigators in one day that we have in as long as I can remember.  It was great.  I know that President Klebingat is called of God. He is here in this part of the Lord's vineyard to help us bring in a great harvest.  By the priesthood authority which is on the earth today, he is guiding us.  I know that Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's prophet on the earth today.  Jesus is the Christ and the Savior of the entire world.  God's work and glory is possible thanks only to our Savior and His loving Father who sent Him to perform His mission.  God lives and loves each of us individually. 

I love you mom.  Thanks for all you do.

All my love,

Elder Jones

October 3, 2011

Hey Mom,

So I didn't hear from Matt sadly, but it is ok.  Maybe he will call today.  Haha, and I was just joking about the number, but still, don't call!  And Sister Moore...I have seen her picture.  That is funny.  Anyway, we have known about her for a couple of months now.  It is funny how far in advance the office knows things.  I am sure she can find some returned Sisters on Facebook.  I bet there is even a kyiv ukraine mission group and whatnot so just have her look.  That was always an easy way to find things out when I was home.  I don't have any info though.  And Sister Park has some, but I am in no position to ask her so just have her look it up on facebook. She can look up Mackenzie Robinson I guess.  You can also email Sister Park if you want.

 

I am glad to hear that all went well with Grandpa's birthday.  That is cool that the party went well and you got to talk to everyone.  I hope that everyone was happy to be together and I hope that you get to see conference too.  Hmm, I am not sure what else to say.  What is Josh up to right now?  Is he going to college?  And how is Jeffery doing in Brazil?!? 

 

Hey, back to the primary!  That is way cool to hear ;P  I am sure that will be a great experience for you and I am sure that you will do just great with all your experience.  And yes, I heard about the temple in Provo.  That was the only thing I heard from conference, other than that it was absolutely awesome like always.  We are so blessed to have living prophets.  Oh how God loves us!  That is cool to hear about the other temples too that will bless those lands.

So we are now representing the international branch here.  I will tell you more next week, but it is basically all the Americans who are working here.  There were only a couple of people there so it will be fun.

Honestly, I want to watch part of conference and actually get pictures sent off this week (I sent them just as time expired and I don't think it processed), so I will hurry and finish.  We are doing well here and talking to tons of people everyday.  We are here to declare the Restoration of the gospel and Church of Christ and there is nothing more important for anyone to be doing than this, the Lord's work!  We didn't have a lot of lessons, but we had many great conversations and found a lot of people who said they would be interested.  It was a lot of fun and we are loving doing the work that God needs to be done.  The temple here is really blessing the land and everyday people are coming to it to find out more (sadly we aren't in the office to teach them anymore).  The Lord's hand is at work in this country and throughout the world.  I know that this is His work and His Glory and that we are all instruments in His hands.  Jesus Christ is our Savior and God is our Heavenly Father and the great mastermind of the plan of salvation.

Love,

Elder Jones

September 26, 2011

Hi Mom,

So as far as the Sister is concerned, what is her name.  (Someone going to his mission that leaves in November.)  I am sure I have already seen her name on our sheets.  Anyway, she definitely needs winter clothes and boots that are comfy.  Other than that, I don't really know.  Have her go to the missionary service page on lds.org and look at the clothing guidelines.  They have awesome in-depth stuff there for sisters.  It is definitely colder here though so tell her to be ready for the winter if she will be getting here in March or February.

 

So Dad told me that he wore dress clothes everyday almost and liked it.  You definitely get used to them when you wear them everyday.  He is growing up which is crazy, but cool ;)  I hope that he really is taking all he can out of the experience.  

Have a lot of fun in California and tell grandma and grandpa that I love them a lot.  Time is certainly going fast.  Can you believe that your dad is that old!  Cool.

I hope that you are super pumped and ready for General Conference.  It is going to be incredible and I am so happy that it is already here.  I may not read/see it in English til I am home, but it will be great either way.  I am glad to hear that all is well and that the talks were wonderful.  I will definitely read them when I get them.  Those are certainly great things to remember.  I really liked the points about sacrifice and the gospel.  Those are really important as they are parts of the covenants that we made in the temple.  I have thought and learned a lot about those covenants.

The less actives are continuing to do great here.  It is very important to just show them that we love them and help them to realize that they are a part of a bigger family.  It is certainly hard, but if we just pray, apply our faith and give them a chance, we are putting the burden of proof into their hands...or the ball into their court (that one makes more sense to me ;P).  Just continue to be friendly and try to invite them to dinner group, activities and church.  And yes, Sister Tatyana is super excited that Alexander is getting baptized.  That is just two weeks away now!

We will be listening to conference in two weeks which will be awesome.  They will be awesome sessions for sure.  We are just trying to work hard and be prepared for it.  We are applying our faith in ways that I didn't know how to before and the Lord is leading us to those that are ready.  Anyway, I am sorry, but I think I am almost out of time.  Life is great, the mission is going forward and the Lord's work is moving on.  We are going to have a miracle filled week!

I love you.  Have fun in California.

Elder Jones

 

September 19, 2011

Hey there Mom,

So I am glad to hear that Elder Sudbury wrote.  He is incredible and I am glad to hear that he is doing well.  I really hope to hear from him soon (I think I wrote that letter to him two months ago).  Anyway, he is marvelous and I am super happy that he is doing well and taking part in the Lord's work as well.  He is going to be a wonderful church leader someday...

I think that is funny that Dad just goes in casual clothes.  (He asked me what he wore to bishopric meetings during the week.)  I guess that there isn't anything wrong with that at all, but I just remember before all the bishopric would always wear more formal things for work and so they always had a suit jacket.  I am glad that he is really enjoying the work and that he is growing/feeling more comfortable.  I think he really understands how important it is to do the Lord's work and to follow the Spirit which is awesome.  He is going to do great with those men.  I think that is awesome that the ward is growing too.  Maybe they will be splitting it again in the near future and then Dad can be bishop ;)  Haha I am sure he would love that.

The choir is a lot of fun and for the part where I was singing the melody, I definitely was in my falsetto for some of it.  Luckily yesterday I got to sing the bass part for Praise to the Lord, The Almighty (or whatever that hymn is called in English [Славен Господь in Ukrainian]).  I was the only bass so it was exciting.  We have a professional singer in our ward too - a recent convert, who is amazing.

Hey mom...don't worry about whatever I said to Chelsea.  (I was referring to his comment in last week's letter where he said they would lounge around and talk about their crazy parents. :P)  I am sure that it can be tough to be a single child and that is basically what she is so I am glad that I will be able to save her from that.  Plus we will be able to practice soccer and we will see how much better she is than I am.  Chels and I will go out and find the neighborhood soccer kids and play with them.  Maybe that will work out.  Caitlin definitely is most social and she is continuing to be incredibly social down at school.  Good for her.  She said she has a new calling which will probably get her involved with lots of people and which scares me because she will probably meet more boys.  Ugh mom, she is growing up ;P

That is cool to hear about the family.  It is weird how fast it is growing and scary that you will be grandparents soon too ;)  (He's kidding folks.)  That picture of Doug and Karen's family was awesome and I am glad to see that they are happy.  Was that in front of their new house?    And that is cool that Chad and Rachel won't be too far.  Crazy!

Anyway, so I am sad that the Liahona is different from the Ensign.  I loved the September Liahona, but it had nothing from Elder Ballard.  So I just checked on LDS.org and of course, that talk you mentioned is only in the Ensign.  Anyway, so you will have to save a copy of it for me.  Sounds great.  President Klebingat has definitely gotten us to see the bigger picture and his vision of this mission is incredible.  The principles that he is teaching us will definitely help us with our futures which is exciting.  And while we are here, they are preparing us to perform miracles in this work.  Haha, and I like that you say we must stay in touch.  You would like that part most ;)  That is great council though and I am glad that we are so blessed to have Prophets who teach us the things necessary to be prepared for what is ahead.  We are truly so blessed and the Lord is doing all He can to make our path easier.

So Elder Hubbell is a great companion.  He is from Redlands, CA and has been out for four months or so.  He served in Chernivtsi before this so I didn't know him, but we are doing great and having fun.  He has a great desire and he is very smart so we are going to do some good work.  Answer, there are 6 missionaries - 3 companionships - in this ward which is the most for any ward in the mission.  Only Elder Hadley is Russian, but it really fluctuates a lot.  And no, we don't really live near each other, but we are all in the same area obviously.  Investigators are doing alright and we are trying to just find more right now.  We are talking to tons of people which is so much fun and just trying to share with them the truths that we know will change their lives.  Many of them aren't ready, but we have found lots of people who seem interested and lots of other people who are very nice.  It is so wonderful to walk down the street to a lesson and be able to smile and talk to others and invite them to come unto Christ.  There is one baptism scheduled here for the 8th of October too.  He is the husband of a member and he has been investigating for a while, but especially in the last month he has really started to progress a lot and he will be a great addition to the ward.  So the work is going on.  Plus there have been a couple less actives who have started coming to church and they are going to the temple now.  The atonement of Jesus Christ really can affect anyone who is just willing.  Another great blessing that we often talk about, but don't utilize as fully as we could.  And please feel free to give me more questions.  Look at how long this paragraph turned out.

Thank you so much for your wonderful example mom.  I love you very much and I am so grateful for all you do for me.  I know that this Church is true.  God lives and is our Heavenly Father.  We are his Spirit Children and all a special part of a great big family.

Love,

Elder Jones

September 12, 2011

Hi Mom,

 

So does dad usually wear a suit to his meetings?  I am sure that he is doing well and will be able to adjust fine.  Grandpa Chidister told me that you do need lots of sleep though, especially as you get older, so hopefully Dad can stay up with his sleep.  I am sure that he is growing and he absolutely loves working with Bishop Galli and Brother Emery so he will be just fine.  I think that is great that you got to go to a concert too on Friday.  Those are fun and it is important to be able to spend time with each other outside of the home.  Steven Nelson is incredible too - I completely agree.  I have listened to some of his music and some other music that he has had a part in and it is just beautiful.  Musical talent is certainly something I wish I had more of.   Speaking of music, our ward started a mens choir and yesterday we went to the practice.  There were only 9 of us total, four of who were missionaries (and one of the missionaries has to accompany us so we are half of the singing power).  It was awesome though and it will be beautiful.  I was singing tenor a little which was silly, but we had too many basses so I sang melody/tenor.  Whew!  I have got to love the experience ;)  I am glad to hear that all is well and that you are all happy back there. That is really what is most important - to be happy and share that love and happiness with others.  Good job on getting out and talking to lots of new people.  That is something I will have to do when I get home too.  Elder Nelson once said (and this is something that I really want to work on) that we need to strive everyday to expand our circle of friends.  That will give us more support and help us to do the Lord's work as we meet more and more people who are not of our faith.  What a blessing to be able to meet lots of new people!  That is one thing that I have loved about being on a mission.  By the way, is the ward growing at all, because it sounds to me like there are lots of new people.  If so, that will be cool.  At the same time, I don't know how long I will be going there anyway as I will probably want to head to a singles ward as soon as I get home.  I will have to talk to Bishop Galli about that and figure out what I need to do.

 

Ha, so I am sure that Caitlin will be just fine.  With all the companions I have had, each has had his strengths and weaknesses which I have had to deal with, and they have had to deal with me too so it is ok.  I am sure that she isn't the perfect roommate either, but she says they are having a great time together and I am sure they are all wonderful.  She has a lot of fun hanging out and so I hope she is actually getting her homework done ;P

 

Chelsea is certainly a champ and I am excited to be able to lounge around with her and talk about our crazy parents together.  She will probably be so busy that I will rarely see her anyway.  I am sure she will be fine though.  Hopefully all works out with swim and she gets to meet lots of new people, develop some talents and still get all of her work done.

 

Good luck with the transition to winter.  Summer is pretty much over here and the temperatures have been quite mild.  Long sleeve shirts everyday until today this past week.  I am having to get used to all the sweaters, hats and whatnot too with all the people we see ;)

 

I am glad that you had a good lesson in Relief Society.  Those are great lessons and it was cool that the members here remembered it and talked about it later.  We went to a member's house for lunch and their parents aren't members so we talked with them about the spirit world - cool stuff.  It is great to actually have a discussion too as a teacher instead of getting left hanging.

 

Ok, so about your questions...I think I am a little tired and so I won't be able to type anymore.  Sorry ;P

 

Just kidding, so the mission is not going to have office Elders anymore.  The Assistants will be doing a little more, the office couple will do more and the missionaries themselves will have to just be smart and get more things done on their own.  Honestly Elder Kashiwagi and I were just too efficient and we really didn't have a lot of work so the position isn't super necessary.  There will be some things that we will stop doing and other things will be figured out with time, but we for the most part are ready to go forward.  We are the first mission in this part of the world to not have office Elders and it was pretty revolutionary on President's end, but I think that the whole world will be moving to this sooner than they may realize.  We are officially done in the office, but we are here today to help out a little because one week wasn't enough transition time.  We also found out transfer information officially on Saturday.  Elder Kashiwagi will leave on Thursday and I will get my new companion, Elder Hubbell.  We will still be in this ward which is great and we will just work as full time Elders.  It will be awesome and I am very excited.  The work is really going to go forward.  We had one investigator at church yesterday who is doing well and a lot of non-members showed up so we were quite busy.  Then we did choir practice. Plus we had a PEC type meeting before church and Ward council afterward and we had a big part on both of those so we are quite exhausted.  Plus on Saturday, there was a baptism here.  The Sister's investigator Alexandra was baptized and it was great.  The work is just moving forward and it is awesome!

 

Thanks for all that you do mom.  I love you so much.  I know that this church is true and that God is our Heavenly Father.  Jesus Christ is our Savior.  I know that the Book of Mormon is God's word.  Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's prophet today and he leads this church by revelation. 

 

Love,

 

Elder Jones

September 4, 2011

Hi mom!

So Chelsea said that pretty much every week now you have a new family member coming in and that is why she doesn't always write me.  I think you need to tell the family that you don't want to see them anymore ;P  Ok, just kidding, I guess it is ok to have a good time with the family that you don't get to see as often.  That is a lot of fun and really that is what is most important for us here.

Dad mentioned that he was super nervous, but I am sure that he will do just fine with time.  (Rob conducted in Sacrament Meeting yesterday, their first week as a new bishopric.)  That is certainly a great experience for him and he really is going to learn so much.  He has already grown so much and I know that he will continue to grow.  I hope that his body gets used to staying up a little later too.  He is getting old so his body doesn't need as much sleep ;)  And he also mentioned grandpa's decision to be baptized.  I am so excited for him and I already told dad that he needs to make sure grandpa gets his temple recommend as soon as possible so we can do baptisms when I get home in the temple.  That will be an incredible experience.  I am just so happy that he has overcome those last barriers and is willing to prove to the Lord that he wants to follow Him.  That is going to be a special experience for him and I hope that you can be a part of it too, even if you don't go out to West Virginia.

I probably am just forgetting what the house looks like.  I could barely see the cabinets anyway, but still, they just seemed different.  Ha, and about the camera, I will have a legitimate excuse - college digital photography class that I am going to take my first semester home.  I wish I could take a picture of my camera and send it home - let's just say that I hope it makes it another 6 months.  I don't know what has happened because I certainly haven't treated it poorly.  It just took a beating with me carrying it in my bag I guess, even though it has a case.  It is getting the job done though and that is what is most important.  Hopefully next week I will send lots of new pictures with members and missionaries for you to see.  Good times!!

Caitlin sounds like she is doing great and she is really enjoying her roommates which is wonderful.  She is back into the groove of school, work and play and that is what she is happy with.  I am sure that she is growing up a little too which is kinda scary.  Who knows what my sisters are going to be doing when I get home...weird.  They are awesome though and I think that they are both going to be a little more mature than I remember them.  That is really scary to think about.  And I am sure that she doesn't need to worry too much about the whole seeing me when I get home.  She'll be fine if she waits one more day.  Oh and I will leave Kyiv on the 14th and get home on the 14th too...gotta love the time difference ;)  I don't know yet, but as soon as Sister Park gets the travel itinerary, she will send it to you so you can start planning.

That is funny that Chelsea failed her test.  (Chelsea didn't pass the driving test with her teacher because he said she needs to learn to stop at yellow lights when there is time.  He said she just needs to practice with us and we can call him when we think she is ready.)  I am sure she will be fine, but maybe you should get one of those drivers ed cars so you can stop for her at red lights.  That is certainly not the best habit to have - running yellow lights.  Especially here in Ukraine, there would be accidents because the other cars start on yellow lights.

That is so cool that Bryson is fourteen now.  He is such a good kid and I am super happy for him.  That is one of my favorite families in our ward.  It sounds like Scott is doing well too which is awesome.

Our church meeting was probably not as spiritual, but it was still good.  Enough said...we can read Talmadge next year together because I need to read Jesus the Christ too. 

Well, on our side we continue to see some miracles.  We had a great young man come to church yesterday and I feel like he is really progressing.  He wants to change his life and really does have incredible potential which is great.  He also wasn't planning on being here, but changed his plans so he could.  Miracle!  We have played ticket to ride the last two p-day (including today) which is fun.  I love spending time with the other missionaries here.  Oh and the biggest news of all...Elder Kashiwagi and I are officially the last office Elders in the history of the Ukraine Kyiv Mission.  We are finishing our work next week and then we are going to be changed to full time proselyting missionaries again.  Woohoo!!  We aren't going to be replaced and so I am really excited to see what will happen.  Things are really changing in this mission and I am very excited to see everything go forward. 

I love you Mom!  This work is true.  I know that Jesus Christ lives, loves us and has given us all that we need to return to our Heavenly Father.  All we need to do is humble ourselves, be patient, and faithfully do what He has asked of us.  The gospel is just so simple!

Love,

Elder Jones

August 29, 2011 - Photos

Here are some silly photos that we took and I figured you would like them because I am in them.

August 29, 2011

Hi Mom,

So Dad told me that all went well and that it was a really spiritual meeting which is cool.  (Rob was just called as the first counselor in the new ward bishopric.)  He also said he was stuck at the ward for a while which is good.  He better get used to that.  By the way, is he going to be doing finances every week?  His experience with it will help I guess.  I remember that Elder Belashov did that every week in Ivano so I always sat around for 30 minutes and got to talk to other people which was good, or do study.  I wish I had that kind of time to do study here because we get less than half of the time that I had there to study.  That is one of the challenges of being in the office.  I am glad that you got to spend that time with the family though, even though Dad was probably only there for half of it.

Your camera sounds incredible.  I have used an older version of that model and it is an awesome camera.  I can't wait to get home and "borrow" it for my weekend getaways or for class or whatever excuse I can come up with.  Happy birthday/Christmas/anniversary/whatever else!  Dad never did talk to me about it, but I am certainly fine with it.

So Caitlin told me a little about her week and she sounds like she is doing well, even with all the reading.  She said her brain hurts, but I am sure that she is doing ok.  I think it is silly that her boss doesn't let them do homework, and I think it is sillier that his name is Rob.  There is something about that name and job that just sounds familiar.  She told me a little about her roommate, but I told her she needs to tell me everything so we will see. They are getting along which is really good and I am happy that she is happy.  She had mentioned something about a study abroad and that would be a great experience for her.  Through BYU I believe, there is a program for young people to come here to Ukraine and teach English and I think that would also be a great experience for her.  There are certainly plenty of lower income students here and the girls that I have met that do it all seem to enjoy it.  Plus there is an international ward that they love and the temple not to far.  I honestly don't know how it works, but I believe that they are from BYU.  Anyway, I am sure that she will be able to figure it out.  Is she still working on generals or is she starting to work towards her major now?

Chelsea didn't write this week, but it sounds like all is going well.  It is good that she is just staying busy and I hope that she is having fun with sports and whatnot.  That is good that she decided to go to practice and everything too.  I think swim team would be good, but I am sure that would be tough for her too.  She would really need to commit to the practices and whatnot, and she certainly is starting late, but that would be cool for her.  I can't believe that she is already in her sophomore year.  I guess she really is growing up.

So yes, the philharmonia was fun and it was cool to be able to spend time with the district here. I love our missionaries and it is great to spend time with them when possible.  The district here is wonderful and full of so many great members which is great.  I love being able to support them, learn from them, and see their joy in the work.  This work is really the most fulfilling work that exists, because it is God's work.  Awesome how that works...

Thanks for the verse by the way; that is a great verse and I love it very much.  (Alma 37:35-37) Alma's counsel to his sons is incredible and there is so much for us to learn from it.  The power of prayer truly is immeasurable and when we remember to work always in the Lord's way, then all will be fine.  Also, what he says in verse 35 is so important.  I recently thought about the prophets and general authorities and all those men that just have a spiritual presence about them.  That spiritual stature is built by years of obedience to the Lord and the promptings of the Spirit.  They learned in their youth to keep the commandments and that has changed their life forever.  That is why we are so blessed to have awesome parents that taught us God's laws from childhood. 

The work is going well and we found a couple of new people to teach this week.  We still have more potential which is awesome.  The key is just to constantly find and to move quickly and when people really don't want to change, we just move on.  When we do that, the Lord will give us more people to work with.  The members are great too and we are still working with them as well.  We just need to keep improving and I am sure that the Lord will bless us.  This is His work and when we follow the Spirit to do as the Lord guides, then that is when we will have the most success and the most joy in this work.  I know that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.  He is the way, the only way, and true joy comes when we do as He did and follow His commandments.  I know that He loves us more than we can imagine and that is why he did all that He did for us

I love you,

Elder Jones

p.s.  Oh my goodness, I forgot that Luke is already leaving.  Give him a call and tell him a good luck and tell him to be obedient from me :)  I will write him when I get home I guess. 

August 22, 2011 - Photos

1.  The Philharmonia building thingy in Center Kyiv.

2.  Our awesome 2 dollar seats

3.  Some members from Lviv that were in Kyiv

4.  The Bishop and Elder Kashiwagi.  We helped the bishop again and then next pictures will show the work we did over a couple of weeks and the view from his house.

 

August 22, 2011

Hey there mom,

So I will try to respond to what you say and see if I figured out all that was going on, and then I will write about my week.

First off, what camera?  I honestly have no idea what you are talking about.  I think someone forgot to tell me something....that seems to be happening a lot these days - that is just one of the curses of being many a thousand miles away.  I am very confused because your birthday is still two months away, so I can't really figure out what gift you are receiving....hmm.  Well, let me know, because I am confused.  What kind is it?  You are right that we will be stealing it, because I think I will be taking a photography class at the U too because I don't want to take any other types of fine arts classes.  I do like photography a lot.  Fun fun...

It sounds like Chels had a pretty fun week, even if she isn't getting as much playing time as she may want.  Hopefully she understands that if she doesn't make it to practices, then the coach can't be expected to let her play a lot.  I bet there are a lot of good players there too.  I bet she was kinda stressed with all that she had to do this week, but her letter was good and she sounds happy.  She didn't mention her games though, like I figured she wouldn't, but that is ok.  I am glad that they won.   Anyway, I hope school works out well for her and she isn't too stressed.

Caitlin sounds way excited for school, her old friends, and her new job too.  I bet that she will have a lot of fun down there and hopefully she didn't forget too many things when she went down.  She said that she still hasn't really gotten to know her roommate which is funny, but I gave her homework to talk to her roommate and then to tell me all about her ;P  So you better follow up on that because I can't follow up until next week.  I think that she will have a great semester down there and have a lot of fun which is great.  She is growing up which is so weird to me.  I guess I will have to grow up too when I get back.  She still doesn't tell me much about what she wants to do in life - like for example, she mentioned some study abroad thing and says she would love to help people, but is she actually planning to do that?  Anyway, I hope that all goes well and that her new computer doesn't give her any problems.

I am glad to hear that you and Dad had a fun ride home and got to spend some time together.  Now that there are less kids in the house, you and him can go on more dates and spend more time together - that is good.  I will try not to take up too much of your time together when I get home ;L  Dad told me about the new calling too which is really exciting.  I bet he would have been pretty nervous, but that is cool that it is all working out and he is excited.  Look at how the week after we talk about his beard, he gets a phone call from the stake presidency.  I think it is a sign from Heavenly Father that it is going to have to go sometime!  Bishop Close is great, but I am excited for the new bishopric as well.  I think that it will be a great learning experience for the family and that Dad will grow a lot from it.  Hopefully he will be able to go a little longer without lunch.  I have gotten used to that on my mission and yesterday for example, we didn't eat until five.  He may have those types of days every once and a while haha.  I am really excited for him.

I am glad that you get/got to see your brother again.  Did they bring the kids back to the Y or something?  That is a lot of fun for them and I hope that you all had a good time together.

So that does seem like a pretty busy week for you.  We had a really crazy one too.  The beginning of the week we had a lot of things fall through, but we worked hard and were very busy.  On Thursday we took part of our P-day and as a district went to listen to a philharmonic symphony thingy which was awesome.  It was a lot of fun to be with the district and the music was incredible.  It was all Russian composers too so it was their own music.  Fun stuff.  Well, so like I said, we worked hard, but things were just falling through.  On Thursday, we had a leadership meeting with all the district leaders and zone leaders and there I received a lot of thoughts/revelation that helped me to focus even more on what we can do.  Even though everything we planned seemed to be changing, the Lord was blessing us with so many little miracles.  On Wednesday, as we were out in one of the villages, our lesson came late, but that gave us an hour to go around and we found an awesome woman who wants to meet sometime this week.  We gave her a Book of Mormon and she is so excited.  Then on Thursday, as we were at the symphony, we met an awesome Chinese man named Fei and got his number.  On Friday, we were planning on inviting a member to introduce the Sister missionaries to a girl that lives with her.  We planned a spiritual thought and then we were going to invite her to act, but when we got there, the girl was already sitting there, waiting to listen to us.  The member invited her to come in without us even having to ask.  That was such a miracle for us.  We got Lena's number and gave it to the Sisters and I think she really does have potential!   The miracles just kept coming as we kept working hard and by the end of the week, we had gotten so much done, even though we were super busy all week with office stuff.  It was truly incredible.  The Lord is leading us to people that are ready, members are excited and are inviting people to meet with us and others are just showing up and want to learn more.  It is awesome and this week is going to be a great one for us.  It is so incredible that the Lord is continually blessing us and it really is a testimony to us that the work is going forward.  As Alma taught his son Helaman, by small and simple means, the Lord bring about the salvation of many souls (Alma 37:6-7).  I know that this is the Lord's true church. I know that Jesus Christ is our Head and he is leading this work today.  The Gift of the Holy Ghost is real and He does guide us daily and we seek inspiration and listen for His promptings.  The Lord's work is moving forward and He is truly working through all of us to bring about His great work and glory.  I know that Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the Restoration and that Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet today.  God lives and His plan is real.  I know that He loves all of His children and that is why I am here.  I want to share that love with others and help them to receive all the blessings that the Father has to offer.

Love,

Elder Jones

August 15, 2011

Hi Mom,

So I can't believe that the summer is already over.  The girls are going back to school and the temperatures are still dropping for some reason...at least for us.  Yesterday was a hot one, but right now it is overcast and only 68 degrees.  Nothing like last August in Rivne.  That is cool that you were able to go up to Bear Lake and have a good time there and then make some yummy jam.  I do hope you save a little for me :)  I can't believe that you let Chelsea do that much driving and especially if it was the first time in the van.  (She drove the 50 miles around Bear Lake and then all the way home.)  You must be a lot less scared than when I was learning, because you definitely would not let me do that.  I am glad that you got to do a little more family history work too.  That is pretty exciting and it is always so interesting to learn more about your ancestors.  People here think it is incredible that I have some of the pioneer heritage in my blood and it certainly is a blessing to know that our ancestors did sacrifice so much for us.  We need to do our part to not give up, but to give all that we have ourselves to the Lord's work.  We even make that promise in the temple.  Anyway, on the other end of the spectrum, we have a different kind of pioneer with Dad, and I love sharing his conversion story too.  The members love it, and in turn, I love to hear what sacrifices they have made to become members too.

I hope that the girls can get all they need done and be ready to go back to school.  That is so crazy to think about how fast the summer went and that they will be back in the school routine in no time.  I hope that they have fun and don't take too long to transition back.  Let me know how Chelsea's soccer goes too, because she probably won't tell me.  We will see.

I love the Gallis and I am sure they gave wonderful talks.  There truly are so many different ways to serve and the Lord will find a way for it to happen.  I know that one of my life goals is to serve a full time mission with my wife some day.  It would be incredible to return to Ukraine or Russia if possible.  Tell dad that he is going to have to make the sacrifice some day.  (He's talking about Rob having to be clean shaven if we serve a mission.)  Heavenly Father will probably just make it happen by calling him to the bishopric or stake presidency or high council or something.  Honestly, I think he will just have to shave it sometime and then once he gets used to that, he will be just fine with it.  The problem is that he hasn't been clean shaven for 20ish years ;P

This last week was dubbed our snorkel week, the week that we are able to come up and get some air, but there ended up being a ton of crazy stuff and it was just as exhausting as the week before.  We had some missionaries go to Bulgaria, another missionary come into the mission, and I had a huge project that I had to get finished.  Plus we went out and did service and spent time working with the members and all sorts of other things and come Sunday night, I was just dead.  This week is going to be just as exhausting, but really that is ok, because that is what the Lord asks.  We are supposed to serve with all of our might, mind, heart, and strength, so being exhausted is just fine for me.  Plus I am getting the best sleep of my mission so it is totally worthwhile.  The ward council is still working really hard with us on bringing back the less actives and we are continuing to have success.  Yesterday a little girl was baptized in the ward and it was a way neat and spiritual experience for her and her mom.  The work is definitely going forward and the Lord is blessing everyone that is getting involved in it.  As we all show our faith and live worthy of the blessings that are available, the Lord is opening up the windows of heaven and letting a little more light shine down on the missionaries and members here.  We love the ward here so much and it is such a pleasure and privilege to work along side them and help them bring their lost brothers and sisters back.  We are blessed to have a large ward and a lot of great missionaries in it too.  It certainly makes the work a lot of fun to have so many people to work with.

I know that this is the Lord's work, and that all of us must make certain sacrifices in order to do all we can in this work.  God is our loving Heavenly Father, and He has sent each of us here for a specific purpose; so that we can receive a body, learn to become like Him, and dedicate ourselves to helping others to receive eternal life as well.  Jesus Christ is our Savior and has made it possible for all of us to return to live with our Heavenly Father.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is the way and as we follow his example, we are promised eternal life, along with those that we love.

Love,

Elder Jones

p.s. Wow! The family keeps growing....how's Caitlin doing on helping you become a grandmother?  What are her thoughts towards marriage and whatnot?  I am pretty sure that I will beat her to it...anyway, that is not important yet ;)

Some bragging on Ryan

Brother Jones,

Because the email was sent to all the parents, I could not tell you how much we enjoy your son.  He is cheerful, diligent, quick to serve, quick to accomplish a task, spiritually perceptive, and just a great Elder.  He has not only helped me understand Microsoft and Outlook much better, he often helps me with added insights to the Gospel.  We also worked with him in Ivano-Frankivsk, my husband and I having the assignment to visit that Branch monthly.  Thank you for raising such a fine young man and for sharing him with this Mission.

Have a great day,

Sister Park

Expected Return Date!

Dear Parents,

I know it is hard to believe, but in a few months, your missionary’s service here in the Ukraine Kyiv Mission will be completed. 

EXPECTED RETURN DATE:  14 December 2011

Missionaries thoughts turn more to home during this time.  Our goal is to help them remember that they served well and finished strong.  Thank you for your letters and other efforts to help them do this.  We are so grateful for the privilege of serving with such wonderful missionaries!  We have been in the office long enough to get to know and love each one of them!

Sister Park

Mission Secretary

Kyiv Ukraine Mission

s. Sofiivska Borshahivka

Kyevo-Svyatoshinskiy rayon

Kyivska oblast 08131

(044) 371-4080