Pictures

So I'm sending these from Igor's computer.  Enjoy.
Temple at night, the Lviv branch building with me, another with Elder Valdivieso (Ryan's companion), and the Lviv opera house.  (They went to the opera, obviously.)

Have fun.  Love,

Elder Jones

 

So me with a Soviet shopka, me with Santa, the District on Christmas, and Yuriy's baptism.

Well, I love you.

Elder Jones

 

January 10, 2011

Hey Mom,

So first off, good luck with work.  I can't believe you are working 8 straight days, that is killer. We don't really even do that as missionaries because Sunday and Mondays here are always a little more relaxed.  Oh and I was wondering, how much money do I have on my card?  We went to the opera here for a cultural night which was way cool, but cost a little also.  Anyway, I was just wondering. 

I am happy to hear the package got there fine.  Thanks for getting those letters to friends figured out.  And thanks for passing the stuff to Margot. I hope you all enjoy what I sent.  I don't even remember everything that I sent, but I hope everyone is happy with something.  Oh and please pass a huge thanks to the Grahams for their generosity, and also to everyone else who has been so nice.  I would try to write letters, but I barely have time to do that at all.  Keep a list though of people that help if you can and I will definitely write eventually, even if it is after I return.

The Lord is truly so kind to us and I have learned that it all depends on our faithfulness.  As we keep the commandments, he blesses us so greatly.  It may not always be the way we expect it, but he does every time, and right now it is obvious that he is blessing us by softening others' hearts.

Have fun with your Family History class.  We just started a new temple prep/family history class here and Stas, the one who let us use his computer, will be doing the family history portion.  We are going to go over and help him with some stuff this week.  I am sure that your class will be fine, no matter who is there.  Just keep on preparing and you will learn so much and you will be able to help whomever may come to your class.  Oh and say hello to Kathy from me.  I hope all is well with them.  I am glad to hear that Josh is doing his Eagle Project.  I guess before we know it, he will be a missionary.

So missionary life here is going fine.  A new transfer is starting today and Elder V and I will be together again for 6 more weeks.  We did a lot of work with members this week which was great.  I truly love the members here; they are so amazing.  Also, we found a cool new investigator, Yuri, and we are going to go to him in an hour to teach him some more.  Hopefully he will come to church this week which will be a great experience. Also, Yaroslav is doing ok.  We talked about baptism and he is considering it. Sadly he got sick and couldn't come to church, but I think all will be fine with him.  The work is starting to pick up a little here which is great.

So thanks for sharing that verse from Timothy.  (2 Timothy 1:7-8 in case you are wondering.)  That is a good one and I really love Paul's epistles to Timothy. Timothy was his good friend, really like a son, and Paul taught him so many wise counsels that apply to everyone who is serving the Lord, which conveniently is almost all of us.  I love Paul's writing as it is all about Christ and how we can become more like Him.  That is why I love the Book of Mormon so much - it testifies so much of Christ, who we all must rely on.  Jesus Christ literally means everything to us and only through Him can we truly be happy.  That is why God has given us all that He has, to help us to learn to trust in Christ and turn to Him so that we can be saved.  It is incredible that God loves us so much, that He created this perfect plan.  We can't fail if we just apply it to our lives.  I love the gospel so much and I love my Savior who has taught us this gospel.  And I love my wonderful parents and all others who have taught me and helped me to get to this point.  Thanks for everything that you have done to help me to know of Christ, to whom I need to turn at all times.  

Well, again Mom, I love you.  You are truly the best mom ever.

With Love,

Elder Jones

January 3, 2011

Happy New Year Mom,

Anyway, so it sounds like you all had a great adventure in California.  I can't wait until I get to go again, it will be tons of fun.  28 people at that house is a ton.  I hope Dad had fun cooking.  Let me know how grandpa is doing too.  I hope all is well there.  By the way, are Mark and Debbie living across the street from Grandma and Grandpa now?  I thought you mentioned that they found a house there, but never heard anything else.  Well, I am glad that you all had fun and got home safely.

I am glad that Sunday was good too.  We had a great one here, even though we were at the church forever for meetings and whatnot.  I ended up teaching both Sunday school and Elder quorum which was fun I guess.  It was certainly a challenge, but an assignment that I was happy to fulfill.  Oh and "Jesus the Christ," would be a great book to do a discussion about, but I bet that reading it with Dad would be so much fun too.  I have read a little, but don't have time at all to study it so I probably won't while I am out here.  Good luck with your family history class.  Stas, the member whose computer we used, will be starting one here too so I am excited for that. It is way good for non-members who are interested in their families.  Lots of people really have the spirit of Elijah these days.

Everything here is going well.  We found a good new investigator this week who came to church and wants to change his life.  We are going to work towards a baptismal date with him this week I hope.  The branch members here are awesome and I love them so much.  I hope to be able to strengthen them a lot and help them get to the temple.  And as far as my getting to the temple, we are allowed to go once a transfer here, but I am not in Kyiv which is a problem.  I will have plenty of opportunities though so I am not at all worried.  Whenever it comes, I just wants to be ready for the experience.

So Mom, I love you.  Don't worry about me being gone.  I am being blessed so greatly here and I know that you are too.  I am glad that you have felt the love of so many others.  I have less than a year left which absolutely scares me.  It is going by soooo fast and before we know it, I will be finishing up, but in the time I have left, I have some big goals and desires.  Mostly, I just want to continue to build my love for these people here. They are so great and I love them so much and want to help them to have the happiness that I am having right now.  I know that this is only possible through our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I love studying the Doctrine of Christ in the Book of Mormon.  All of the prophets from Lehi and Nephi, to Jacob, Alma, Mormon and Moroni, they all testified of Christ.  Studying those words, the words of Christ, is truly an incredible gift.  I know that this is the rod that helps us to be happy and to return to our loving Heavenly Father, who created all of this for us.  I love you very much Mom.

With love,

Elder Jones

January 3, 2011 - To Dad

Hey Dad,

So I am glad to hear that you had a good and safe trip back to SLC.  We have had some crazy experiences traveling on the buses here in the snow and some of them aren't very defensive drivers, but I have never seen them get in accidents.  Sometimes is just scary when everyone is piled in and there is no room and the driver is flying on cobblestone roads.  

Anyway, so everything is going well here and we are having fun.  We found a cool new investigator who came to church this week and he is finally reading the Book of Mormon too so he is slowly progressing.  We are thinking of extending a baptismal commitment on our next meeting on Tuesday.  Other than that we haven't done much.  I am warm and happy and healthy.

We have gotten to go around town a little to see some sights, but that is mostly just while we are proselyting.  This city is pretty beautiful and I love the old buildings.  Very European.

We were inside for all of New Year's Day and the Evening before because people get a little drunk here so we were told to stay inside.  We stayed with some of the other Elders and had a fun time setting goals and watching a football game even.  We were given a game and two movies to watch.  Also, Elder Woodbury and I got to talking about all of his crazy adventures.  He is such an outdoorsy guy and he has climbed tons of peaks in Idaho (he's from Moscow), Colorado and all those surrounding states.  He also worked at the Outdoor Program in Rexburg at BYU-I from 2007 to 2009 so maybe you know some of his co-workers.  He also wanted to know if you know a guy named Mike Baiser.  He is from Moscow apparently.  Anyway, Elder Woodbury thinks it is so cool that you run the Outdoor Program at the U.  Also, he wants to know if you have e-mailed Dan Turner yet.

Well, I love you Dad.  I am grateful for your awesome example.  Good luck with all of the VA trips and the HP group stuff along with work.  And have a wonderful new year.  Before you know it, I will be home - I have less than a year left now, yikes!

Love you,

Elder Jones

December 27, 2010

We were able to talk with Ryan for Christmas so his email was extremely short.  He was going to email Christmas wishes to friends and family instead.  The great thing was we were able to skype with Ryan for Christmas.  He went to a member's home and used their computer.  It was great to see his smiling face and see how well he is doing.  We had a great time talking for about an hour and a half and were able to see his companion as well.  He is doing well.  They had gone to a baptism earlier in the day in L'viv and were excited about that.  He is healthy and happy which is all that matters.  The bum did open is Christmas stocking before Christmas though. :P

I've been asking for pictures lately but the internet club in L'viv is difficult to work with when it comes to sending pictures.  He did send the mission's Thanksgiving picture below.  He is in the back row by the right edge of the temple with his glasses on (which he pretty much wears all the time because it is easier on his eyes there) and two over to the right is Sean, his high school friend.

Here is his short and sweet note.

Hey Mom,

So I am glad to hear that you had a crazy week. I hope you enjoyed it. I tried to get pictures on, but this internet club just doesn't work. I just sent a letter to grandpa and grandma Chidester. I testified about baptism and the gospel so I hope that grandpa starts to work more towards that. He says they have been working with the Sisters for 6 months now and he just finished doctrine and convenants. Really, it seems that all he needs to do right now is make the decision and be baptized into the only true church on the earth. Anyway, I hope you have a good week. When are you going back? Be safe, whenever it is. And tell everyone I love them please.

I love you Mom,

Elder Jones

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

December 13, 2010

Hey Mom,

So I heard that you got a little sick this week.  I hope that you are feeling better and allowing yourself to rest so that you can get healthy.  It is not fun to be sick!  Oh and I will be after Elder Valdivieso so don't worry about time.  We will be able to talk for about as long as you want to talk.

So things here have been going better, but still really slowly here in Lviv.  We are just having lots of troubles finding people and it is getting really frustrating at times, but we are going out and doing it.  The weather here has been crazy, cold and wet and snowy pretty much all week.  It is fun though to fight through it.  And I will be fine this winter for sure.  I still haven't even pulled out the thermals and I am feeling fine so don't worry about me freezing.  Elder V has still been fighting a cough, but he is getting better.  We go out and work hard everyday.  By the way, why do you ask about tracting?  I have gone once here, but it is super ineffective and most missionaries don't do it except for a last resort.  It is the worst way to do missionary work.  Members and investigators are the best ways to finds others.  Oh and the apartment here is really neat, not special, but cozy and enough.  The only problem is that I don't have a pillow, but I actually prefer it that way.  Oh, and the boots are awesome.  They are super warm and protect from the wet and snow.  The clothes are all fine.

So I am working on sending pictures, but we have just been hurried recently.  I will try to make the time, ok.

So I hope that you have a wonderful week and a safe drive to California.  Tell Grandma and Grandpa that I love them and say a big thanks for the money.  That is so nice of them.  I will probably buy some gloves here soon - like liners I mean, because the ones I have are falling apart already.  We just use our hands a lot so they are getting beat up.

Well, I love you Mom.  I am grateful for your wonderful Christlike example and all you have to help me be here.  I know that you and Dad have sacrificed a lot and you have no idea how much that means to me.  Thanks for all that you do.  I love you.

With Love,

Elder Jones