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
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