Hey Mom,
So happy Fourth of July to you as well. I completely forgot about it until after I wrote last week and so then we decided to go celebrate along with the Assistants and we got a burger at McDonald's. That is about the most American thing we could get. So how are Kathy, Dean and Josh doing? I am excited to see them again when I get back. It sounds like you had a lot of fun together, even if you allowed yourself to get fried. (Kathy, Dean, Josh, Rachel and boys and I spent the day at Ogden at the farmers market and I ended up with a good sunburn.) It is a lot of fun to be able to see all of the family isn't it. I also have no tan by the way, because it has been so wet and overcast here...and because I am a missionary and have so many clothes. It is getting really hot here though which is fun, but tough at the same time. I don't know if I like a cold summer or hot summer more. So, do you have pictures or not? (My batteries died on my camera.) I was confused by what you said. I hope you do ;) Oh and that is cool that Randi and Monique are pregnant. Grandma and Grandpa's family is getting so big. How many great-grandkids are there now?
So that is crazy that Caitlin's computer has been such a piece of junk. I am sad that it hasn't been working for her. I haven't heard from her for a month now, so I don't know what is going on. Why isn't Caitlin getting enough sleep? I think that my mission has taught me that 11 is about as late as I can get to bed....getting up early and then going to bed early is truly a correct principle. I am probably going to be waking up at 5:30 or so at home to get an hour of exercise and then an hour of study in each morning. That is the best way to start off a day. I am glad that all is going well and that you are staying busy, and it sounds like you are doing as President Uchtdorf taught and focusing on the important things. Anyway, keep on staying busy and having fun there, even if it is just the two of you - that means you have more time to go to the temple, right?
Hey, so who was the convert that spoke? Is he/she originally baptized in the Garden Park Ward and was it a member's friend or just someone the missionaries found or what? That is cool to hear that the work is still going on there at home as well. I am glad that it was a good meeting and that you all got to hear Sam as he spoke about his wonderful mission experiences. Members really are the key all over the world, and members referrals have an incredibly higher chance of both getting baptized and staying active in the church. I know that President Klebingat has some great plans to make member/missionary relationships even stronger and luckily here in the Borshahivsky ward, we are some of the privileged few to test out his ideas in the stake where he doesn't have as much say in member missionary work. He is already working very well with the Stake President and it is exciting. We had a great meeting yesterday with our Bishop and started to coordinate some of those plans that we want to get rolling here and it is so very exciting to see that the work is just going on.
We had a pretty good week and found a couple more new investigators and Igor is still coming along. He probably won't be ready as fast as we were hoping, but he is already building great relationships with some of the members and he is slowly starting to understand what Christ is asking us to do. Also, another investigator of ours came to church yesterday and he loved it. He has a young family and we are hoping to be able to teach them. Also, we had a huge miracle - three hours of church in the newly renovated chapel. It was sad that we went for so many months without three hours of church, but we are finally back and ready to receive all the blessings of church. We had a member of the stake Presidency talk about that and how we need to prepare each week and it was really good. It is tough, because most of the meetings are in Russian and I am not used to it, but it is good practice too and I need it.
We also have a couple of inactive members that we have gotten in with the past two weeks and we are starting to build relations with them and it is so wonderful. They are awesome and although they have their problems, I feel that God has led us to them for a reason and we are going to be able to help them make the fundamental changes that must be made. I love working with members and getting to know them and serve them.
So yes, President Klebingat has three children, Katja (17), Daniel (15) and Alexander (11, I think) and they are all really cool. They are all going to be in school here in the Kyiv International School where Katja and Daniel went about 6 years ago when President Klebingat lived and worked here in Kyiv. The Steinagel children went there also and there are lots of members that work there too. President Klebingat has some big goals, which I don't really know yet, but he is definitely going to lead us to be very successful in God's work. We have been able to eat lunch with him a few times already and it is always so cool to just listen to his ideas and plans for the future. He went to Lviv and Odessa this last week and has met all of the missionaries now, and this week I think we will see a little more of him. I will let you know more as I find out more.
Thanks for being such a good mom. I love you so much. I know that this Church is true, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that Joseph Smith is the Prophet through which God restored His true Church. Thomas S. Monson leads the Church today, and this work is God's great work and glory. How lucky we are to be a part of it!
Love,
Elder Jones
Monday, July 18, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
July 4, 2011 Photo
Here is a fourth of July picture with the Assistants, Elder Hadley (taking the picture) and Elder Sorenson.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
July 4, 2011
Hi Mom,
So I am glad to hear that you and dad are doing alright, even if tired from a busy week. Ours was really busy too, but I am so excited that I am not too tired. It is good that you had a fun time with the family and got to reconnect with people that you haven't seen in a while. That is always really nice. I bet that you had a good time and weren't as antisocial as dad was. It's ok though. I am glad that you had a fun time and then were able to spend time with the family on Sunday. When are grandma and grandpa going back? And how are they doing anyway?
So I am glad that it was a good weekend and that you got to see the girls. It sounds like they are having a pretty good time up at the camp; well at least Chelsea is. I haven't heard from Caitlin, but it is ok. I am sure that she is pretty tired and busy. I hope that next weekend isn't too lonely for you with an empty house. I think that is cool that they are having a great time up there and that all is going well. I hope they have a lot of fun and the cots aren't too bad for them. Many missionaries slept on worse...but I guess today it is a little different. We all have decent beds most of the time.
Tell Sam hi from me. I told everyone else to tell him hi too, so I guess it will be a race ;) I am glad that he is doing so well and I am excited for him.
So last week was an awesome week for us. We had some good meetings with members and our investigators and on Tuesday, Igor accepted a baptismal date. He is so excited to find out more and to be able to receive the blessings that the Lord wants to give him. He chose the 21st of July and so we are really excited for him. We are going to meet tonight to talk more about what he needs to do to be ready. He is a really interesting man and I feel like there are a few things that we are going to need to emphasize to really help prepare him, but he already has a relationship with a couple of members families now. There were fourteen of us at that family home evening by the way. It was pretty crazy. Getting the members involved is really so important though and we are so much more blessed when we do so. They can relate with the investigators a lot better, speak the language a lot better, and have the same conversion essentially as our investigators. The Apostles really emphasized it when they created Preach My Gospel and there are entire sections about working with members. It really is a central part of missionary work.
The weather is great here and I think it is going to warm up in about ten days. The rain keeps coming and it has been cool which is nice, but really weird too. I don't know if I like the cold summer too much, just because it isn't what I expect. Eventually we are going to have a hot summer here, but probably not until the end.
President Klebingat and his family are incredible. President Steinagel was incredible and really prepared the mission for President Klebingat and all that he wants to do. We are really going to get moving and see some incredible jumps in the success here. He is a very spiritual man and when he feels that the Lord wants him to do something, he will do it. His conversion story is incredible and really too long to tell, but the Lord's hand was truly in it. Everything from when President Klebingat was baptized to his call as a mission president was done because it was the Lord's will. As he explained it, tender mercy after tender mercy is what has turned him into the person he is. Anyway, I would tell you more, but I honestly don't have time.
I love you mom and if you ask some questions I will tell you more about President and his family. He has three children by the way who are here with him. Oh and President Steinagel really loved the slide show.
Anyway, this gospel is true. The Church is Jesus Christ's Church and He is our Leader. I know that He lives and that He loves each and everyone of us, because I feel that love daily.
Love,
Elder Jones
So I am glad to hear that you and dad are doing alright, even if tired from a busy week. Ours was really busy too, but I am so excited that I am not too tired. It is good that you had a fun time with the family and got to reconnect with people that you haven't seen in a while. That is always really nice. I bet that you had a good time and weren't as antisocial as dad was. It's ok though. I am glad that you had a fun time and then were able to spend time with the family on Sunday. When are grandma and grandpa going back? And how are they doing anyway?
So I am glad that it was a good weekend and that you got to see the girls. It sounds like they are having a pretty good time up at the camp; well at least Chelsea is. I haven't heard from Caitlin, but it is ok. I am sure that she is pretty tired and busy. I hope that next weekend isn't too lonely for you with an empty house. I think that is cool that they are having a great time up there and that all is going well. I hope they have a lot of fun and the cots aren't too bad for them. Many missionaries slept on worse...but I guess today it is a little different. We all have decent beds most of the time.
Tell Sam hi from me. I told everyone else to tell him hi too, so I guess it will be a race ;) I am glad that he is doing so well and I am excited for him.
So last week was an awesome week for us. We had some good meetings with members and our investigators and on Tuesday, Igor accepted a baptismal date. He is so excited to find out more and to be able to receive the blessings that the Lord wants to give him. He chose the 21st of July and so we are really excited for him. We are going to meet tonight to talk more about what he needs to do to be ready. He is a really interesting man and I feel like there are a few things that we are going to need to emphasize to really help prepare him, but he already has a relationship with a couple of members families now. There were fourteen of us at that family home evening by the way. It was pretty crazy. Getting the members involved is really so important though and we are so much more blessed when we do so. They can relate with the investigators a lot better, speak the language a lot better, and have the same conversion essentially as our investigators. The Apostles really emphasized it when they created Preach My Gospel and there are entire sections about working with members. It really is a central part of missionary work.
The weather is great here and I think it is going to warm up in about ten days. The rain keeps coming and it has been cool which is nice, but really weird too. I don't know if I like the cold summer too much, just because it isn't what I expect. Eventually we are going to have a hot summer here, but probably not until the end.
President Klebingat and his family are incredible. President Steinagel was incredible and really prepared the mission for President Klebingat and all that he wants to do. We are really going to get moving and see some incredible jumps in the success here. He is a very spiritual man and when he feels that the Lord wants him to do something, he will do it. His conversion story is incredible and really too long to tell, but the Lord's hand was truly in it. Everything from when President Klebingat was baptized to his call as a mission president was done because it was the Lord's will. As he explained it, tender mercy after tender mercy is what has turned him into the person he is. Anyway, I would tell you more, but I honestly don't have time.
I love you mom and if you ask some questions I will tell you more about President and his family. He has three children by the way who are here with him. Oh and President Steinagel really loved the slide show.
Anyway, this gospel is true. The Church is Jesus Christ's Church and He is our Leader. I know that He lives and that He loves each and everyone of us, because I feel that love daily.
Love,
Elder Jones
Monday, June 27, 2011
June 27, 2011
Hey mom,
I didn't get Caitlin's letter, but I will write her a quick one so don't worry. How does Chelsea get home every weekend by the way? Tell grandma and grandpa hi from me. Let them know that I love them and that all is going well. I hope they have a good time up in Preston visiting family. That is probably a pretty special opportunity for them to go back to their hometown, isn't it...I hope that the family reunion goes well. I don't even know anyone on the Hawkes side very well, but that is cool that everyone is getting together. When was the last reunion? And yeah, you're right, I am a little bigger now.
Wow, so you and dad are the barbeque champs if you got to do it last week and this week. Fun stuff. It is always great to be able to get together with the other members and talk with them. I think that visiting members is one of my favorite things here in Ukraine, but especially here in Kyiv. They are literal pioneers and many of the members that we visit have been members for anywhere from 10 to 20 years which is awesome. Tonight we are doing a FHE at a members house with one of our new investigators which will be so great. It is so cool that the members here are willing to help fellowship investigators and help us as missionaries to teach. So cool. Anyway, I will tell you more later. I can't believe that they messed up with your blood. That doesn't sound fun at all. How did they miss the vein? Ужас! That doesn't sound fun. What do they use blood platelets for anyway, because they don't last very long. Maybe for surgeries I guess. I am glad that it was a good week though and that you stayed busy. I love being busy.
I am glad to hear that stake conference went well. I miss having those and may not get one here in Kyiv. They had one just before I came here so the next one will probably be in November and I may not be in Kyiv for that. Plus, I still haven't had a normal Sunday here. We have had a month and a half now of only sacrament meeting. It is crazy, but the renovations should be done soon so I am hopeful that we will finally have a normal Sunday next week. It makes it fun trying to talk to all the members when you have one meeting and that is it. I am glad that it was a good conference though and I can't wait to see all of our leaders again when I get back. And it is cool to hear from Seventies, isn't it? It sounds like it was a great conference.
Things here are going along wetly... :) It rained for much of the week and it has been cold too. Four straight days of steady rain made for a tough weekend of missionary work, but we actually had some success which is awesome. Vadim is doing ok and is progressing slowly. It is honestly hard for us as missionaries to be patient with people when they aren't deciding to get baptized right away, because we know that baptism is necessary and that they can't procrastinate the day of their repentance, or their baptism, but when investigators are doing what we ask, then we just have to be patient. Vadim is reading and trying to find out if it is true, but because of work, he hasn't been able to make it to church which will be a huge step for him. We have another meeting tonight so we will see what happens there, but we have faith in him. Also, we found three new investigators last week which was cool. Two of them seem very elect as they have been searching for God and really want to know if this is the true church. One of them, Julia, really was excited about the Book of Mormon as is ready to read it and find out more about it. Then yesterday, Igor, a guy who came to the temple by himself the other day, came to church too by himself and loved the meeting. I sat with him and it went really well. He is so cool and is excited to meet and we are meeting with him at the members house tonight. So the work is moving forward. President Klebingat is coming on Thursday and then President Steinagel leaves the next day. We are going to have a luncheon thingy on Thursday with the office staff to get to know the Klebingats and Elder Kashiwagi and I are going to show President Steinagel and his family a slideshow of pictures that the missionaries sent in. It will be a going away gift for him, and for the Klebingats, it will introduce them to the missionaries which is cool. Elder Kashiwagi spent last week putting it together last week. Anyway, so we have a lot of things going on here.
Oh and that family is the Melnichuk family and their son is serving in Russia. His sister came up to me yesterday and had me write him a little note because she is sending him a letter and wanted other people that he knew to write to him. It was neat.
Well, I got distracted in the middle of writing to you and lost all of my time so I will have to finish up. I love you mom. Thanks for all you do. I know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ and that He lives and loves us. He is the only way and as we go on and do as he taught, we will receive all the promised blessings, including that our family will be together forever.
I love you,
Elder Jones
I didn't get Caitlin's letter, but I will write her a quick one so don't worry. How does Chelsea get home every weekend by the way? Tell grandma and grandpa hi from me. Let them know that I love them and that all is going well. I hope they have a good time up in Preston visiting family. That is probably a pretty special opportunity for them to go back to their hometown, isn't it...I hope that the family reunion goes well. I don't even know anyone on the Hawkes side very well, but that is cool that everyone is getting together. When was the last reunion? And yeah, you're right, I am a little bigger now.
Wow, so you and dad are the barbeque champs if you got to do it last week and this week. Fun stuff. It is always great to be able to get together with the other members and talk with them. I think that visiting members is one of my favorite things here in Ukraine, but especially here in Kyiv. They are literal pioneers and many of the members that we visit have been members for anywhere from 10 to 20 years which is awesome. Tonight we are doing a FHE at a members house with one of our new investigators which will be so great. It is so cool that the members here are willing to help fellowship investigators and help us as missionaries to teach. So cool. Anyway, I will tell you more later. I can't believe that they messed up with your blood. That doesn't sound fun at all. How did they miss the vein? Ужас! That doesn't sound fun. What do they use blood platelets for anyway, because they don't last very long. Maybe for surgeries I guess. I am glad that it was a good week though and that you stayed busy. I love being busy.
I am glad to hear that stake conference went well. I miss having those and may not get one here in Kyiv. They had one just before I came here so the next one will probably be in November and I may not be in Kyiv for that. Plus, I still haven't had a normal Sunday here. We have had a month and a half now of only sacrament meeting. It is crazy, but the renovations should be done soon so I am hopeful that we will finally have a normal Sunday next week. It makes it fun trying to talk to all the members when you have one meeting and that is it. I am glad that it was a good conference though and I can't wait to see all of our leaders again when I get back. And it is cool to hear from Seventies, isn't it? It sounds like it was a great conference.
Things here are going along wetly... :) It rained for much of the week and it has been cold too. Four straight days of steady rain made for a tough weekend of missionary work, but we actually had some success which is awesome. Vadim is doing ok and is progressing slowly. It is honestly hard for us as missionaries to be patient with people when they aren't deciding to get baptized right away, because we know that baptism is necessary and that they can't procrastinate the day of their repentance, or their baptism, but when investigators are doing what we ask, then we just have to be patient. Vadim is reading and trying to find out if it is true, but because of work, he hasn't been able to make it to church which will be a huge step for him. We have another meeting tonight so we will see what happens there, but we have faith in him. Also, we found three new investigators last week which was cool. Two of them seem very elect as they have been searching for God and really want to know if this is the true church. One of them, Julia, really was excited about the Book of Mormon as is ready to read it and find out more about it. Then yesterday, Igor, a guy who came to the temple by himself the other day, came to church too by himself and loved the meeting. I sat with him and it went really well. He is so cool and is excited to meet and we are meeting with him at the members house tonight. So the work is moving forward. President Klebingat is coming on Thursday and then President Steinagel leaves the next day. We are going to have a luncheon thingy on Thursday with the office staff to get to know the Klebingats and Elder Kashiwagi and I are going to show President Steinagel and his family a slideshow of pictures that the missionaries sent in. It will be a going away gift for him, and for the Klebingats, it will introduce them to the missionaries which is cool. Elder Kashiwagi spent last week putting it together last week. Anyway, so we have a lot of things going on here.
Oh and that family is the Melnichuk family and their son is serving in Russia. His sister came up to me yesterday and had me write him a little note because she is sending him a letter and wanted other people that he knew to write to him. It was neat.
Well, I got distracted in the middle of writing to you and lost all of my time so I will have to finish up. I love you mom. Thanks for all you do. I know that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ and that He lives and loves us. He is the only way and as we go on and do as he taught, we will receive all the promised blessings, including that our family will be together forever.
I love you,
Elder Jones
Monday, June 20, 2011
June 20, 2011
Mom,
So it was awesome to see my group again for sure. I love them all so much and I am so happy that all of us are out here working so hard and having so much fun. It is truly a miracle that all of us have stayed out and not only that, but successfully worked here. Sister Robinson is leaving in two days which is going to be so weird. I am going to see all of those leaving missionaries and it is just going to be strange to see them all, especially because I know a lot of them. I am coming up on my last four transfers which means I have a lot of work to do. We are going to be extra busy here in the office as well with so many people leaving and coming and with transfers this week.
So my allergies got a lot better this past week. I think it is finally passing. Also, we super super deep cleaned our already clean apartment which helped a lot. No matter how much we try to keep it clean, it still seems to get dusty though so we'll see how it holds up. I am glad to hear that the girls are having a fun time and that all is going well up there. They both wrote and seemed way happy which is so cool. That is why we're here isn't it, to have joy, so I am glad to hear that it is working out for them. Chelsea is going to have a great experience I am sure. I told Chelsea that the reason you are able to do such a boring and tiring job is because you love us and want us to be happy, am I right? Maybe that was just a wild guess, but I told her that ;) I hope they have an awesome summer up there and get to know a lot of new people.
That is cool that Amanda got a job at SVU. Tell her congrats for that and for finishing her masters program. That is really cool for her and it will be a great experience for sure. There are lots of members up there too, right? I bet it will work out great for her.
I am not too worried about having a bed for Christmas. I have been lucky on the mission and had some pretty good beds, but I had an awful couch thing in Lviv, so I will be fine. Plus I will hopefully be so exhausted that it won't be a problem at all. I am excited to see the grandparents and talk to them. I have been really bad at writing them, but it is just because I don't have time. Oh well....hopefully they still know I love them.
We have lots of extra places in our apartment and mats and an inflatable bed for missionaries that are coming in. We had two stay with us last night and may have more tonight, but it will be just fine. There are 14 missionaries going home on Wednesday which is going to be crazy. This last week was my busiest week yet and this upcoming one will be just as crazy, but I am happy. It is so nice to be busy here and it makes the office time go by super fast. We have a lot of stuff for transfer to do and so I think it will be crazy, but fun. We had a great Sunday evening which was super cool. We got a lot of stuff done and got a new investigator which was cool. He is a member's husband and we have another part member family that we are going to start working with. I was with their son in the MTC which is way cool and I met the daughter and non-member father yesterday too. We have another investigator, Vadim, who is doing ok, but hasn't been able to make it to church. Tonight we are going to have a really good lesson and talk about baptism so we'll see what happens there. We have a return missionary who is going to come help us on the lesson and I'm really excited. The work is slowly picking up here and we are getting to know the members better which is so great. It is just a lot of fun and I am really excited for the next couple of transfers.
I am glad that you had fun leading music again. Sister Park and I talked about that a little (she is very musically talented), and she thinks that it will be a great experience too. Learning new skills is always a good thing - that is part of why we're here! I certainly have had to do a lot of things out here which I normally wouldn't do, but it is very worthwhile.
Well, I need to get the newsletter done, but thanks for being such an incredible mom. I too know that this Church is true. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that God is our Eternal Father. The Plan of Salvation is real and I know that we are all here because we chose to follow it and become like our Heavenly Father. This is the Lord's work and I know this is what I need to be doing right now, so that His Children here in Ukraine can receive the same knowledge that we have and all the blessings that God is waiting to give us.
I love you,
Elder Jones
So it was awesome to see my group again for sure. I love them all so much and I am so happy that all of us are out here working so hard and having so much fun. It is truly a miracle that all of us have stayed out and not only that, but successfully worked here. Sister Robinson is leaving in two days which is going to be so weird. I am going to see all of those leaving missionaries and it is just going to be strange to see them all, especially because I know a lot of them. I am coming up on my last four transfers which means I have a lot of work to do. We are going to be extra busy here in the office as well with so many people leaving and coming and with transfers this week.
So my allergies got a lot better this past week. I think it is finally passing. Also, we super super deep cleaned our already clean apartment which helped a lot. No matter how much we try to keep it clean, it still seems to get dusty though so we'll see how it holds up. I am glad to hear that the girls are having a fun time and that all is going well up there. They both wrote and seemed way happy which is so cool. That is why we're here isn't it, to have joy, so I am glad to hear that it is working out for them. Chelsea is going to have a great experience I am sure. I told Chelsea that the reason you are able to do such a boring and tiring job is because you love us and want us to be happy, am I right? Maybe that was just a wild guess, but I told her that ;) I hope they have an awesome summer up there and get to know a lot of new people.
That is cool that Amanda got a job at SVU. Tell her congrats for that and for finishing her masters program. That is really cool for her and it will be a great experience for sure. There are lots of members up there too, right? I bet it will work out great for her.
I am not too worried about having a bed for Christmas. I have been lucky on the mission and had some pretty good beds, but I had an awful couch thing in Lviv, so I will be fine. Plus I will hopefully be so exhausted that it won't be a problem at all. I am excited to see the grandparents and talk to them. I have been really bad at writing them, but it is just because I don't have time. Oh well....hopefully they still know I love them.
We have lots of extra places in our apartment and mats and an inflatable bed for missionaries that are coming in. We had two stay with us last night and may have more tonight, but it will be just fine. There are 14 missionaries going home on Wednesday which is going to be crazy. This last week was my busiest week yet and this upcoming one will be just as crazy, but I am happy. It is so nice to be busy here and it makes the office time go by super fast. We have a lot of stuff for transfer to do and so I think it will be crazy, but fun. We had a great Sunday evening which was super cool. We got a lot of stuff done and got a new investigator which was cool. He is a member's husband and we have another part member family that we are going to start working with. I was with their son in the MTC which is way cool and I met the daughter and non-member father yesterday too. We have another investigator, Vadim, who is doing ok, but hasn't been able to make it to church. Tonight we are going to have a really good lesson and talk about baptism so we'll see what happens there. We have a return missionary who is going to come help us on the lesson and I'm really excited. The work is slowly picking up here and we are getting to know the members better which is so great. It is just a lot of fun and I am really excited for the next couple of transfers.
I am glad that you had fun leading music again. Sister Park and I talked about that a little (she is very musically talented), and she thinks that it will be a great experience too. Learning new skills is always a good thing - that is part of why we're here! I certainly have had to do a lot of things out here which I normally wouldn't do, but it is very worthwhile.
Well, I need to get the newsletter done, but thanks for being such an incredible mom. I too know that this Church is true. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that God is our Eternal Father. The Plan of Salvation is real and I know that we are all here because we chose to follow it and become like our Heavenly Father. This is the Lord's work and I know this is what I need to be doing right now, so that His Children here in Ukraine can receive the same knowledge that we have and all the blessings that God is waiting to give us.
I love you,
Elder Jones
Monday, June 13, 2011
June 13, 2011-Photos
1. The MTC district. Sister Robinson is already going home...I am in shock! This was our little reunion picture from the FHE day.
Here is the before picture when they were still in the MTC.
2. This is Vova Yarmak. He is comtemplating his mission call and talking with Elder Sorenson as he waits to open it. This is the Park's apartment and Vova was called to the Arizona Tempe Mission. I am super excited for him.
2. This is Vova Yarmak. He is comtemplating his mission call and talking with Elder Sorenson as he waits to open it. This is the Park's apartment and Vova was called to the Arizona Tempe Mission. I am super excited for him.
3. This is a big shopping mall Magelan and the busy street it is on in our area.
4. Some pretty neat graffiti
5. The temple this morning after a summer rainstorm
6. The view from our apartment
7. A bunch of hungry missionaries getting their food on Monday
June 13, 2011
Hey mom,
So I use just one sheet and one pillowcase and then you just make sure you wash them at least once a transfer. (I asked him what items he needed for a missionary going out.) I have never had an apartment that doesn't have blankets, but if he wants to take a nice packable fleece blanket, that would help in the winter. Really that is up to them. As far as winter boots, I didn't really wear mine at all honestly. Maybe a couple of weeks and that was it. Ice definitely is the biggest problem though so that probably clears up that question. And yes, I have plenty of allergy medication and I am using it often. My allergies are acting up right now and I think our house is the problem which is frustrating because we keep it clean. I am going to rewash my sheets and everything today and get rid of all the dust and pollen and see if that helps.
Wow, Chelsea is a molodets - straight A's is way cool. I am glad that she worked hard in school and then had a pretty good time with her friends. I bet the physical was quite frustrating and I understand how she feels, not with the fear of needles part, but with the getting stuck a lot of times. (Chelsea had to have a physical for work and for soccer tryouts. They had to stick her four times before they could get a vein to draw blood. The poor kid hates needles already.) I remember when I did my mission physical, the nurse just couldn't get the needle in the vein and I ended up have the biggest bruise of my life as a result of that. Anyway, hopefully Chelsea was able to survive the experience emotionally. I am sure that the girls are going to have a lot of fun up there and that they will have tons of incredible experiences as well. When are they going to be home by the way and are they going to have access to a computer or is Caitlin's still kaput?...wow, that is a German word :) I hope that you are able to survive the summer as well ;P
How big are Rachel's boys getting? I bet all of the little cousins are going to be massive when I get home, aren't they? Are there any more on the way? I got a letter from Ben Emery this week and he said that Erica is really growing up. It is going to be a strange experience to see everyone after two years of being away. By the way, what are the family plans for Christmas this year, with me getting home 10 days before it? Have you been thinking about that yet? Oh and tell Norm that I say hi back and ask him how his family is doing. I hope everyone is happy and healthy back there. I am glad that leading the music isn't too bad and I hope you enjoy the opportunity to develop another skill, even if our ward has a million people who are probably more musically gifted - not that you aren't talented ;D
This last week was really incredible and it was an awesome experience for all the missionaries. Honestly, being here in the office feels like a job sometimes, but it is so worth it to see how things come together so well when we work hard. Monday was just awesome and we all had a great time together as a mission. We played sports, watched a movie, and then had dinner together which was awesome. The senior couples put it together and it was amazing. It helped us a lot as we got to relax a little and focus on the activities. Then, we did a mission photo which I have attached and then had family home evening with the Steinagels. President and Sister Steinagel each spoke and we talked about the work and then had some musical performances from missionaries. It was a really incredible event and it was great to get together with the Steinagel family one last time. They are so great and I am going to miss them. All the missionaries stayed at missionary apartments so we had 6 missionaries total in ours. The next day, we came into the office to get some last minute things done and then went to downtown Kyiv to meet with Presidents Clayton and Lawrence. It was such an awesome event and we were all so blessed to receive great guidance from our leaders. They answered a lot of questions and I feel like they gave some incredible promises for which we need to work to receive the blessings. The rest of the week, we worked hard and the results are slowly coming in. The office was closed because they were repainting it so we had a lot of time to talk to people on the streets. It was a lot of fun and Elder Kashiwagi and I are getting along just great. He is a wonderful missionary and so full of charity. What an example.
Oh and we see members all the time at the temple from all over the place. Usually they are in sessions though when we come to and leave the office, but we certainly see them throughout the week all over the place.
Well Mom, I know that this Church is the true Church of Jesus Christ. I am so blessed to be able to share my testimony each and every day and as I do, I feel it strengthened. I know, without a doubt, that this is God's work and His glory and this is the only way to true and eternal happiness. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and our great Example and King. He is the Captain of this great work and with Him in the front, we cannot fail. I know that the Gospel is true and as we live by its principles, we receive the greatest blessings we can receive. I love you mom! Thanks for all you do.
Love,
Elder Jones
So I use just one sheet and one pillowcase and then you just make sure you wash them at least once a transfer. (I asked him what items he needed for a missionary going out.) I have never had an apartment that doesn't have blankets, but if he wants to take a nice packable fleece blanket, that would help in the winter. Really that is up to them. As far as winter boots, I didn't really wear mine at all honestly. Maybe a couple of weeks and that was it. Ice definitely is the biggest problem though so that probably clears up that question. And yes, I have plenty of allergy medication and I am using it often. My allergies are acting up right now and I think our house is the problem which is frustrating because we keep it clean. I am going to rewash my sheets and everything today and get rid of all the dust and pollen and see if that helps.
Wow, Chelsea is a molodets - straight A's is way cool. I am glad that she worked hard in school and then had a pretty good time with her friends. I bet the physical was quite frustrating and I understand how she feels, not with the fear of needles part, but with the getting stuck a lot of times. (Chelsea had to have a physical for work and for soccer tryouts. They had to stick her four times before they could get a vein to draw blood. The poor kid hates needles already.) I remember when I did my mission physical, the nurse just couldn't get the needle in the vein and I ended up have the biggest bruise of my life as a result of that. Anyway, hopefully Chelsea was able to survive the experience emotionally. I am sure that the girls are going to have a lot of fun up there and that they will have tons of incredible experiences as well. When are they going to be home by the way and are they going to have access to a computer or is Caitlin's still kaput?...wow, that is a German word :) I hope that you are able to survive the summer as well ;P
How big are Rachel's boys getting? I bet all of the little cousins are going to be massive when I get home, aren't they? Are there any more on the way? I got a letter from Ben Emery this week and he said that Erica is really growing up. It is going to be a strange experience to see everyone after two years of being away. By the way, what are the family plans for Christmas this year, with me getting home 10 days before it? Have you been thinking about that yet? Oh and tell Norm that I say hi back and ask him how his family is doing. I hope everyone is happy and healthy back there. I am glad that leading the music isn't too bad and I hope you enjoy the opportunity to develop another skill, even if our ward has a million people who are probably more musically gifted - not that you aren't talented ;D
This last week was really incredible and it was an awesome experience for all the missionaries. Honestly, being here in the office feels like a job sometimes, but it is so worth it to see how things come together so well when we work hard. Monday was just awesome and we all had a great time together as a mission. We played sports, watched a movie, and then had dinner together which was awesome. The senior couples put it together and it was amazing. It helped us a lot as we got to relax a little and focus on the activities. Then, we did a mission photo which I have attached and then had family home evening with the Steinagels. President and Sister Steinagel each spoke and we talked about the work and then had some musical performances from missionaries. It was a really incredible event and it was great to get together with the Steinagel family one last time. They are so great and I am going to miss them. All the missionaries stayed at missionary apartments so we had 6 missionaries total in ours. The next day, we came into the office to get some last minute things done and then went to downtown Kyiv to meet with Presidents Clayton and Lawrence. It was such an awesome event and we were all so blessed to receive great guidance from our leaders. They answered a lot of questions and I feel like they gave some incredible promises for which we need to work to receive the blessings. The rest of the week, we worked hard and the results are slowly coming in. The office was closed because they were repainting it so we had a lot of time to talk to people on the streets. It was a lot of fun and Elder Kashiwagi and I are getting along just great. He is a wonderful missionary and so full of charity. What an example.
Oh and we see members all the time at the temple from all over the place. Usually they are in sessions though when we come to and leave the office, but we certainly see them throughout the week all over the place.
Well Mom, I know that this Church is the true Church of Jesus Christ. I am so blessed to be able to share my testimony each and every day and as I do, I feel it strengthened. I know, without a doubt, that this is God's work and His glory and this is the only way to true and eternal happiness. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and our great Example and King. He is the Captain of this great work and with Him in the front, we cannot fail. I know that the Gospel is true and as we live by its principles, we receive the greatest blessings we can receive. I love you mom! Thanks for all you do.
Love,
Elder Jones
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