April 12, 2011

Hi Mom,

So I got the package and it was stuffed.  Thanks!  It wasn't too fun to carry it home from Lviv, but that's ok.  I am glad that you liked the pictures and I will try to send more in the next couple of weeks.  

So spring has started here for sure, but that means that everyday we are getting rain with the occasional hail or snow mix.  It certainly makes missionary work interesting, but it is also cool to see the rebirth of everything.  This country is so beautiful in the spring.  Thanks for thinking ahead with the dining room table, by the way.  (I told him we bought a new dining room table that will easily seat eight - all the kids and their spouses, so they need to live close by.  A big thanks to Mom and Dad Chidester for the Christmas money to fund the purchase.)  Hopefully I don't go too far.

So thanks so much for sending the Fourth Missionary talk.  I will print it off eventually, but for now, it is fine.  This talk is so incredible and has totally changed my view on the mission and what I am here to do.  I love the scripture, 3 Nephi 27:27 - "what manner of men ought ye to be?"  We are here to become like Christ.  That is why he performed the atonement, to make that possible.  Life is hard and the mission is one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I have no doubts whatsoever that this is the most important thing I have ever done.  I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for this opportunity.

Hmm, favorite scripture is a tough question.  I have so many of them.  I love 2 Nephi 31:19-21.  Also 3 Nephi 27:27 and Alma 26, the whole chapter.  3 Nephi 5:13 is a new favorite of mine too.  Anyway, I am sorry, but I can't really pick one.

So it is great to be back in Ivano and I am so happy that I got to see Zhanna.  She is so awesome and she is doing great.  I have a lot of work to do here and a short time to do it, so I am going to try and be extra diligent while I am here.

I got to watch conference this past weekend in Ukrainian and then yesterday in Lviv at our conference they gave us cds with conference so I will listen in English now.  Once the Liahona comes, I will study that too.  I haven't seen or read Priesthood yet, but I printed off the talks from the First Presidency so I will read those soon.  This conference was just incredible and I can't wait to continue to study it.

Thanks mom for all you do.  Thanks for your great example in following our Savior and His prophet.  I know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of God, called of Him to lead this church.  I know that we are here to become like our Savior and thanks to the atonement, that is possible.  Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.  He atoned to redeem us from our sins, and to give us the strength we need to reach our potential, become like Him and truly be happy.  I know He lives.

Love,

Elder Jones

April 4, 2011 - Photos

Well, now that I am in Ivano, the internet club works just fine so here are some photos from the last week.

1. Some of the members in Lviv

2. Elder Wallis and I on top of a tower in Lviv

3. Yura (George) and I.  He just got baptized this past Saturday in Lviv.  Sadly I wasn't there to see it, but I know he is going to be a great member.

4 and 5.  Members and missionaries in Lviv at the train station on the day we left

6. Elder Wallis and Saltmarsh in Kyiv, waiting for transfers

Enjoy!

April 4, 2011 - To Mom and excerpts from letter to Caitlin

Mom,

So the statue was Taras Shevchenko, the Ukrainian hero and poet in downtown (center) Lviv.  I think I took that photo in December which is why it was so gray.

 

I haven't gotten the package yet.  If it comes by the weekend, I will get it next Monday because we will have a conference then, and if not, then it will be at the end of the transfer probably.

By the way, I bought a hard drive this week from another missionary and so I am going to back all of my stuff up on that.

 

Well, this past week was a pretty crazy one.  On Tuesday, we found out that Elder Wallis and I, along with Elder Larsen and Elder Clemmens, all got transferred out of Lviv.  We closed the one apartment because they were taking our companionship out, but I thought I was just going to go to the other apartment with Elder Saltmarsh for the next transfer.  I was wrong.  So we got all of our stuff packed up and on Wednesday night, we headed into Kyiv for transfers.  On Thursday, we had a big transfer meeting with about 3/4 of the mission there and I was convinced I would be going somewhere in Kyiv.  I was wrong again.  They passed all the Kyiv areas and then got out west where I've been my whole mission.  I ended up getting assigned in Ivano-Frankivsk again, with Elder Belashov again...what a shock.  I was so incredibly surprised to hear my name called with his.  I honestly don't understand it, but I am really happy to be back and excited for what's up ahead.

 

On Saturday, we had a country wide "Helping Hands" day and here in Ivano we repainted and repaired a children's playground area thing.  It was a neat experience and fun to be able to get out and work.  Sunday was really cool as well as I got to see some members and Zhanna, our recent convert who is doing really well.  I am super happy to be back here and work with them again.  Oh and Elder Belashov is the branch president here so it will be a lot of fun to see how that goes.

 

I am so excited for conference which we will watch next week.  I bet it was absolutely incredible and I am sure it will be really cool to see, whether in English or Ukrainian.  I am glad to hear that you enjoyed it.  Elder Grow spoke to us in the MTC so I am excited to hear his talk.  Conference is always such an opportunity to receive revelation and guidance and so I am really excited to hear it and figure out how I can become even more like our Savior.  

 

By the way, there is a talk I read recently called "The fourth Missionary" by Elder Larry Corbridge of the Seventy.  It was absolutely incredible and has truly changed my mission and my life.  I don't know if you can find it anywhere on the internet, but if you could find it and then send me a copy, that would be so great.  Thanks.

 

Mom, thanks for all you do.  I am so happy that you are happy and that all is well.  I am so thankful for your testimony which truly strengthens mine daily.  I know that this church is true.  Jesus Christ is our Savior and has made it possible for us to fulfill our potential.  We are here to become like Him and I know that as we live the gospel, we are indeed fulfilling our purpose.  True happiness comes through Christ and His gospel and I know this, because I am truly happy right now.  I know that this is the work of the Lord and we are all here to help in it.  The worth of each soul is great in the sight of God so we must all do our part to bring these souls, including our own, to Him.  I know that Thomas Monson is a prophet, called of God to lead His Church.  Follow his words and example and we will always have that happiness that we are here to find.  I love you Mom.

 

All my Love,

Elder Jones

 

Excerpts from letter to Caitlin:

I am glad to hear that you have your recommend up to date.  I got to go to the temple this past week which was awesome.  It was a great opportunity and I love the spiritual recharge I get every time I go.  This work is really exhausting, especially spiritually, and so the temple is one of the best places for missionaries to go.

Oh, and Elder Sudbury totally passed a hi to me the other week.  Our mission office elders called him because they had a referral for them and he was like, hey my friend is in that mission, so he told the Elders to call me and say hi.  Anyway, I am sure he is doing great work down there in Mexico.

Photo

Ryan with Аліна Вовкович

March 28, 2011

Hey Mom,

First off, I don't know if I am supposed to use that website.  (I asked if he could upload pictures to snapfish.)  We are only allowed to use this email one and lds.org so I am not sure if I should do that and anyway, while I am here in Lviv, it won't make a difference because for some reason, pictures just don't upload here at all.  It is a pain, but I have them and I am buying an hard drive from another missionary this week so I can back them up there for now.  Don't worry, I will send pictures eventually.  For now, just know that Lviv and the members/missionaries here are all looking good ;)  I'll figure out what we can do with that soon.

So I feel you with the spring thing because it decided to snow here too.  We were doing a sports day when all of the sudden the temps dropped a good 10 degrees and the snow came.  It is pretty chilly now, but it is going to be ridiculously hot soon so I willing to be patient.  As a missionary, you can't do much to beat the heat, but you can always put on more clothes.  And I believe you with the snow on the mountains.  If you could send me some pictures of the snowy mountains or the temple or other cool things from America, that would be appreciated.  I love printing off pictures from home and showing people.  Maybe some cool lacrosse ones too if you can.  Thanks mom!

And Chelsea did mention Bear Lake, but I made her promise to stay in touch with you so that you aren't too lonely. (Chelsea and Caitlin will be working at the Boy Scout Bear Lake Aquatics Base this summer.)  I think it will be an incredible experience for her and she'll meet tons of great kids up there which is important.  I am excited for her.  And dad told me that you two are planning on going to the temple weekly which will be so good too.  Summer is going to be awesome!  

Wow mom, the greenie comment wasn't too nice.  (We had the missionaries over for dinner and I mentioned the one was a greenie, he has only been out of the MTC for two weeks.)  I am still pretty green too even though I have been out a year.  I bet that those missionaries are great and I am happy that you had an opportunity to feed them.  I bet it is hard for them to get to know members, but they are definitely lucky that they have so many to work with.  How big is their area?

Let everyone know that I am really grateful for their support.  I was thinking about the ward yesterday and I do love everyone there.

So it is transfer week here so I will let you know what is going on.  We are closing our apartment here so we are pretty busy and I am going to have to pack everything, but I don't know if I am leaving the city or not yet because there are other areas.  It has been a bit of a hassle because I haven't been able to stay as focused as I need to be on the work, but it will be fine I am sure.  I am really excited to see what happens.  I am pretty sure Elder Wallis and I are done, but it was a great transfer with him and I learned a lot.

Well mom, I want you to know that I love you so much.  I know that this is the only true church on the earth.  I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He loves us perfectly.  God is our Father and He knows each of us personally.  I have a testimony that God's plan is perfect and through it, we all can become perfect as well.  Thanks for all you do.

Love,

Elder Jones

March 21, 2011

Hey Mom,

Zone Conference this past week was absolutely incredible.  Elder and Sister Lawrence came and gave incredible talks and training and I am just so excited and ready to go forward and use what I learned.  I still am trying to figure out what exactly I need to do here, but I certainly got some great guidance from that meeting.  We are so lucky to receive instruction from all these inspired men and women who receive revelation specifically for us as missionaries.  I think of President Steinagel and all that he does for us and it is just a miracle.  Honestly, it all testifies of how perfect the church is.  I am so thankful for the fact that God still gives us revelation daily and that we can receive such perfect guidance from the prophets.  I am really looking forward to conference.  

To answer your question, here in Lviv I have only gone to another city once, when I went to Ivano.  Usually when I go on exchanges, it is with other Elders in our district here.  Elder Wallis went to Lutsk last week so Elder Larsen (from the MTC) and I were here together for two days.  We do exchanges fairly regularly, but only the zone leaders go to other cities to train other district leaders. Anyway, here in western Ukraine it is pretty fun because it takes at least 3 hours to get between cities.   The work is going ok and we found these two new investigators, brothers, who are searching for God which is great.  We gave them a Book of Mormon and we will probably talk about baptism soon so I am excited.  It has been really hard here in Lviv, but we are talking to lots of people and the blessings are certainly coming.  We are just here to invite people and teach them as best they can.  As 2 Nephi 2 teaches us, we all have agency and there are influences that entice us to choose either the one or the other.  The thing that we know is that the one way is to choose Christ and eternal life, while the other way leads to eternal captivity.  We teach the doctrine of Christ to help these people use their agency as best as they can.  That is truly what changes and what entices to do good, and so that is what we focus on as we teach.  The missionary department came out with some new focuses last year and that has really helped us as missionaries to know what we must do to help more people come unto Christ through baptism.

Thanks Mom for all you do.  You are so incredible.  I am so happy that you have taught me so well.  I know that without you, I wouldn't be the person I am.  Because you have taught me of Christ and to trust in him, I know what I must do.  I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  He truly lived a perfect life and then suffered and died for all of us so that we can become perfected.  By having faith in Him, we learn and grow and mold our character.  We need to make right choices and as we do so, we will always be happy.  I know that true happiness comes through Jesus Christ.  Even though this is a difficult work, I am happy because I am doing what Jesus taught.  He is our Savior and Teacher, our Master and our Brother and only through Him can we achieve what we truly want in life.  I know that He lives and loves us.

Love,

Elder Jones

March 14, 2011

Hey Mom,

So I did hear about the earthquake, but didn't realize it was that big.  Crazy!  I wrote to Caitlin and Dad about it and said something along these lines. What are you doing to prepare for the future?  President Steinagel has talked a lot recently about how the second coming is really really close.  President Steinagel recently said it will be within 30 years, without a doubt, but he thinks it will be much sooner.  That is so incredible.  The earthquake in Japan is another sign that Christ is coming soon and we need to prepare.  On my mission, I have really learned what I want from life and I know that which is important right now and I always think about how I can be prepared for the future.  As long as we just do what we have always been told to do, then we will be fine, but it is awesome to think that the end is so close.  Anyway, I just want you to think a little about that and how we can prepare.  I am just so happy that God has given us the knowledge that we need to be prepared.  Anyway, so it is crazy to think about, but we really do need to prepare and now because the end is close.

The temple was awesome and I can't wait to go back.  I am definitely going to make that a weekly habit after the mission.  The two sessions I have done were both in Russian, but I used headphones for an english translation.  I will do Ukrainian next time I think to try it.  It is really cool though.  Thanks for the support too.  I have allowed some things to frustrate me recently, but it is good to remember that the Lord is happy with what I am trying to do and that I am making an impact.  I know I am and I am glad that I have this great opportunity.

I am glad that you enjoyed your lesson at church.  I can't wait until I am home and able to enjoys Sundays again.  Honestly, on the mission they are hard because we have to work the whole time and everything is in a different language and it is just hard.  Luckily we will have zone conference this week and that will be an awesome opportunity to receive some guidance. It is so great that we do have our sabbath day and other opportunities to learn and grow each week, not to mention the study we can do personally and as a family.  It is just great that the Lord loves us enough that He has made it so easy for us to prepare for the future.  We just have to do our part and give in to the will of the Father and we will never have to worry.  I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He loves us.  We are here because He has given us a chance to receive the fulness of happiness.  It is possible through the gospel of Christ.  This is His Church and Kingdom on the earth.  I know this is true.  

I love you,

Elder Jones