Hello everyone! I hope you are having a great Christmas!
Wow, I am a dork today, so you don't get photos, even though I took them today. I used up most of my time here today trying to get my usb port to work. I can't because it's lame so you will get photos and more info next week. I will try harder to make sure you get good pics and news from this side of the world.
The only thing that stays the same is the weather - it just keeps getting colder! It's getting as low as -8c. I have seen it get up to about -4 at the "hottest" part of the day though. I loved talking to my mom and brothers yesterday! I hope that you all know that I miss you so much right now. All I think about is the Season and family and friends getting together for parties and food and fun and lots of DRIVING. I miss driving so much! But anyway, sorry I don't have much to say and have no pics. Wait until next week please and I will give you a better update and this week's 2 pics that i was going to send. They are dang good! Ok, I love you all! I will talk to you next week!
Merry Christmas!
Love, Elder Hokanson
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
Hello my American friends!
I am so glad this city has better English studies; nobody says that silly phrase here. Thank goodness.
Well this week has been lots of fun. The weather has been nice; chilly, about -1.5C outside. I love it! We are tracting and contacting every day. There are wonderful people here, but we get dogged most days (that means we get "stood up" a lot). We are trying though!
The only cool thing that happened this week was the fact that after I did Internet last week we were out on the street and a car swerves to the right and hits some puddles and splashed us from head to toe with dirty slush from the street. Yeah, it was dang funny! I was like, "What the heck? This sucks!" We did not take photos...I know, it would have been great, but I looked at my comp. and started laughing because it was so dang funny. We cleaned up ok and were off to work again. My comp. has the most slippery shoes on the earth I think; he slips so often, right on his back. Happens all the time!
Photos this week -1) my companion brushing his teeth today, 2) two guys in costumes (weird!), 3) the castle in Lutsk, 4) me on Santa's lap (aka my mission president), 5) me sliding on the ice in my pros, and 6) me this morning pointing at where we live on the map of Lutsk. Hope you like them!
I'm keeping it short today. I get a phone call next week...yay!!!
Photos this week -1) my companion brushing his teeth today, 2) two guys in costumes (weird!), 3) the castle in Lutsk, 4) me on Santa's lap (aka my mission president), 5) me sliding on the ice in my pros, and 6) me this morning pointing at where we live on the map of Lutsk. Hope you like them!
I'm keeping it short today. I get a phone call next week...yay!!!
Love, Elder Hokanson
Friday, December 14, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
This week was great! I am loving it here in Lutsk with Elder Woods! The weather turned again...from cold to a bit too hot back to snow and ice again. I would rather have a slippery walk then a wet and dirty walk. It's so much nicer and I would rather have cold weather and bundle up then be too warm and have to shed layers to feel good. And thanks to Uncle Dave and Aunt Terri's Christmas money I have a nice new coat that keeps me really warm!
Well this was really fun - I got to go to Lviv/Львів for Zone Conference again. It focused on the BoM (Book of Mormon) a lot. We almost all noticed that we chose Bible scriptures for topics that the BoM has plenty of. We can use both the Bible and the BoM for these topics, but it is better if we use the BoM sometimes; the scriptures are easier to apply. There are sometimes more and when people read from the BoM that's when they realize that it's true and they make the change in their life. It's great. I got the chance to stay the night in Lviv at the Zone Leader's apartment. The APs (Assistants to the President) stayed there too and the other companionship from my district stayed there overnight too. It was lots of fun and even though I slept on the floor, it was a lot better then the bed I have right now. It is a nightmare - too small. I feel every spring in that bed, but the bed is better then the floor at my place. I might be moving apartments somewhat soon. I hope I can but anyway, I am over my time as usual.
Photos this week - we have Tam Tams...its like Wal Mart. 1) One with no snow while they burn their trash on the side, and 2) one today when it was snowing. 3) "Best Buy" in Lutsk (That spells Best Buy) - not real of course. 4) Some of my English class here with my companion Elder Woods, 5) then me this morning being Christmas trunky. :)
Ok, that's all for this week! I love you! Talk to you next week!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
HELLO EVERYONE!!
I am in Lutsk, in Western Ukraine. It's a wonderfull place were it's cold, muddy and people are nice. I think that in this city I have met more people that speak english then anywhere else. I met one person that that did not have an accent at all. I love it here so far. This is really great. In this city I have a district of 4; its me, my 2 companions from the mtc, and the only ukrainian speaker from our group that came together from the MTC. Its really cool. My companion is Elder Woods from Utah, and the other companionship is Elder Perry from Utah and he is with Elder Bostwick from Idaho. I live in a kind of crappy apartment - like really bad. Its by far the worst yet. I will send pics and give you details later, but yeah, its bad. Its on the 8th floor and at least it has a lift. This is what I wanted the most though - to be with my original district from the MTC. We are going to rock it up so hard!
The pics this week are; 1) me in Ivano at a touristy map, 2) a tank in Kiev. 3) statue of big mama (a missionary nick-named statue) :) 4) a few cool statues, and 5) the peace tanks. lol! I like them, so I sent them.
But I am low on time and I will talk next week, so I love you all! Bye!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Let's talk about my adventure yesterday! Well you see, we had train tickets coming in to be delivered to us on a train. We had no idea where the train was going, just that it would be in Ivano at 6:40am. Ok, so we set alarms for 5:30 so we could get there on time. Yeah...we hit snooze. Well my comp did, then he set another alarm and said we would take a taxi to get there. Ok yeah, his alarm went off, but he did not get up...great! So I am in bed, my I-Pod is set to go off at 6:25am with church music, it starts singing, I have a thought, "You're not going to make it!" I jump out of bed and said, "ELDER, WHAT TIME IS IT!?!" I look at the clock, its 6:25. We rush getting dressed, we call 3 taxi companies...they will take a long time to get to us. They say 10-15 mins, it snowed a lot last night they said. I get a thought, "Put on your yaktrax so you don’t slip in the ice and snow," but then I think I don’t have time. Bad idea. Well, the phone rings, we are almost ready, they say a taxi is pulling up, so we take off. My comp started running down the stairwell and I am locking all 3 locks. I run down and I barely see my comp, he is running to find the taxi. I take off and as I see him around the corner there is a lot of ice and snow on the ground. Yeah, I slip slide about 6 feet on the ground. It hurt! Then I got up, start running and my stuff fell out of my pocket, some documents and stuff, nothing too important, but I didn't notice, so I run to the taxi, get in, there is ice all over the city. We are rushing to the train station and our driver is sliding around corners and stuff...fun!! Finally we get to the train station, my comp jumps out of the taxi, almost slips and falls on his face (cobblestone is not fun when its icy), so now I have to pay the driver. I cant see my comp, but I know where he is going. On the intercom they annouce that due to the snow the train is late! Yeah, 2 mins, big deal. So we see the train pulling in, we are running to the train car with the person that has our tickets (you're not allowed to send stuff on trains, but its one of the best ways to send things in Ukraine). We find the person, grab the tickets and then start our walk home. Yeah, in my slip and fall I lost some things in my pockets, but I was able to get most of it, and my pants now have a quarter sized hole in the left leg. You see a sidewalk here is not always smooth, but bumpy and rocky in some areas, so yeah my leg is sore and my pants have a hole. I lost a few things, but we saw a few cool things on the way.
I am going into Kiev today and leaving in 5 hours or so and will be on a 12 hour train ride. I love my train rides. I'm getting transferred...I have no idea where I am going. I hope they send me to Lutsk. The other 2 elders from my MTC District are there and that would be really cool. I was told I am staying out West, so the only places I could be going are Lutsk, Hrivna, Lviv, and Chernivtsi. Those are the only cities that have elders moving out west that I know about.
I was up until about 4am last night packing my stuff. I did not get to start until last night. It's all ready to go. All I can think about right now is that I am going to a new area, getting a new comp, and getting a new branch, but it can't get harder than here in Ivano...it's hard here for many reasons.
Christmas is coming up soon! I am missing Christmas dinner, but I get a phone call next month! I will have to send info from my next area.
Pics this week - walking in the snow with 2 investigators (my comp and one of the sisters), one pic looks like I am mad...it was just after the morning adventure, we were walking home because we did not want another taxi (I mean my comp did make us late!), a thing that they plow the streets and then sweep them with - is weird - there's a small casino behind it, a pic of the place where I fell and lost my stuff and then got back up and ran to the taxi (the foot prints through the snow just to the left of the tree going straight are when I was running), the next is the class in the selo where I teach English to kids once every 2 weeks. Lots of really cool kids there.
So, that’s it for today. I love you all and talk to you next week with a update of where I am and who I am with!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
This last week was crazy, but lots of cool stuff, and sad, but it will all be ok. We have a District with one senior couple, one set of elders and 2 sets of sisters. Well, one sister, a great sister from Odessa serving a mini-mission, she started having problems walking. We took her to the hospital, but they were no help. We had to go to another to get X-rays. This should have taken hours, but we had a friend from English there that is from India that happens to be a student there. He helped us get things done very quickly. People were waiting there for hours and we come up, get right in the room, get our stuff done, and walk out in front of them. He is our hero, a really good guy. He speaks British English; its not American English, but he is still cool!! Well on the X-rays they found a dark spot, but it was such low quality it was not much help. So me and my companion on Wed. last week got on a train with Sister Nina and her companion and took her to ODESSA!!!! A place Ukrainian speakers never go unless you are an AP and there we helped sister Nina a lot. It was an 18 hour train ride there and we had 6 hours there during the day. We did a few things that will drive other elders nuts cuz they will never get the chance. We saw the Black Sea, saw 7K, and the best Opera House in Ukraine. Then we had Thanksgiving Dinner and ran for 25 mins to get on our train (with full bellies it was not good!). Then we had another 18 hour long train ride back to Ivano Frankivsk. While we were on our train ride back they did new tests on Sister Nina and she has cancer or a tumor - not 100%. But she is way cool member, for 15 years. She was one of the first in Ukraine to become a member of the church and she has been to the temple. I am happy she had the opportunity to serve a mini-mission and that I was able to serve with her and serve her as well.
I wish I had more time to talk but I am running out of time. I miss you all and will talk more on Wed. Bye!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
I just wanted to say that this has been a wonderful week, full of ups and downs of course. I will not go into detail about most things and won't hit most topics but I will share with you a moment of my life in Ukraine.
Let me tell you about my investigators; we have one woman named Natalka. She has felt the spirit more then any of the people I have taught, and she knows that she loves the things we have taught her. She knows they are right and true, but when we leave, the spirit leaves with us. She is hard to meet with so we did not see her for a while. We came back and she said she can't read from the Book of Mormon because it's a sin, because she is Russian Orthodox. So we talked to her and asked her to remember what we have read, then we testified and shared more scriptures and she felt the spirit even stronger. She did not want to respond to it. We could see it. We were lead to bear our testimonies. I bore testimony that I have never said before in perfect Ukrainian Grammar, and then after I finished, an unanswered question that she had about what we have been talking about came out and through study that morning we had the perfect answer because it was still fresh in our minds. She is wonderful and is going through hard times, but we are trying to help her with whatever we can.
We have a young man the same age as me that we just started meeting with. His name is Andrei and he is so cool. We have a baptismal date for him next month and we are excited to teach him because he has high standards in life and that brings a lot of questions and we are here to help him find his answers through study and prayer.
We have a few African guys that are studying to become doctors that we are teaching. It is interesting because they are from Sudan and it is a Muslim country and we shouldn't baptise them, but they have accepted Christ as their Savior. If they go home in the wrong city they will be murdered. But because of the fact that they have already become Christian we can baptise them. One of them is named Yosuf and he is great. He understands very little Ukrainian, but he does understand English and Arabic, so we teach him in English. We downloaded the conference talks in Arabic and he loved it. We have set a baptismal date and he is progressing. He has brought friends to be taught by us and they are all wonderful. He brought one that does not understand English well, almost not at all. We started and he said something and Yosuf translated it into English for us. He said he is here to start the spiritualization process.
Well the next topic I don't really want to go into, so I won't. lol.
Next topic. I know that i don't yet understand the gospel as a whole, I am just now understanding that I am peeking into knowing more about it. It is incredible and i love learning about it. It is so plain and simple and yet so deep and wonderful. I understand the basics, but there is more there than what you see at first. I realize the Bible was organized by men and missing things and its not in order, but is of great importance. I have known this, but through study the teachings in it become more clear. Personal study is of great importance and companionship study too. I understand them more clearly. I am beginning to understand much more about God and how He works and how much more Christ loves us. It is deeper then we can imagine. I now understand that the Book of Mormon is the key to studying the Bible; they are supporters of each other in many ways. If you read the Book of Mormon it becomes easier to study the Bible. I don't need to go into the topic too deeply, but my testimony of the scriptures are getting deeper and stronger and I love the feeling that it brings to me.
Photos this week - my district pics, my companion fell asleep in the middle of the day as you can see by the watch (I declared him dead at 12:30 on Wed the 7th, so yeah, it's a week old), a pic of me in front of a cool statue of Ivan Franko and in front of a cool Hotel named НАДІЯ (Na-dee-ya), then one pic of my comp on the sidewalk on the way to church for a meeting.
That's all you get for now. I love you all and want to hear from you! I will talk next week. Bye!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
цекаво мені (interesting to me) but not much time to write today.
Surprise...we lost the a senior couple and gained sisters for 10 days...interesting. I have been busy fixing the Internet problems of the Hinkls in our district. They are senior missionaries and are wonderful, but we have been using a lot of our time to help them and that's what President Davis wants us to do. They are our first priority because they are helping the organization of the church in the area, so if we help them, they help us in the long run with retention.
Well, the weather this week has been fun, around 0-2C (about 32-36F). Not bad. We had our first snow of the winter and it was a teaser...it melted after a few hours. It has been a bit icy and next Monday we are looking at about -6C (about 21F) as a low with snow off and on. It sounds great to me!
I cant think of much else right now. I am in a rush this morning and have to leave as soon as I upload this last pic. I have the first snow of the season and me this morning at the Hinkl's apartment about to fix their Internet.
An interesting thing I learned this week in cooking - you can use Sprite instead of milk when making pancakes and they turn out amazing!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Oct 31
Well, this was crazy week. I don't want to say anything crazy, but wow. And I took for granted how the church runs back home. It's not perfect, but it works well. In Kiev it works well and here it’s a little disorganized. They took all missionaries out of leadership roles in the branches and wards and are trying to make them so they can run themselves better. I will not say any details but it's getting crazy here in Ivano Frankivsk.
ну нічого (that means "well, it's nothing", kinda like "whatever")
This week was fun. We took a huge loop in our oblast (county) and went to the farthest south city of any significance in size and then missed our marshrootka (van that goes on a route, like a bus) to the next city, so we bummed a ride with some guys. We think they stole the car and had drugs too, but we got to the city, paid them for the ride, and said bye. We will probably never see them again, but yeah, in this city we tried to meet a family that moved there from a different area but nobody was there, so waste of time. Then we tried to get home again, but we could not get a marshrootka to our city, so we grabbed the most crammed ride I have ever had. You will see a clip my comp made for me in the car. It's crazy. Then we got to the city and then had 10 Min's before the next marshrootka left for Ivano, so we were happy and made it to town 30 Min's before our English Class started. We were so happy about that. It would have been lame if the only 2 Americans teaching English did not show up. But other then that not too much has happened. Hope you enjoy the pics from yesterday's travels.The two guys are the guys that might have stolen a car and had drugs, a kid from the family that we visited in the far city, a village, and then a pic with my comp and me with my camera out the window. Other then that I should be good for pics so I will talk next week. I love you all! Bye!
Well, this was crazy week. I don't want to say anything crazy, but wow. And I took for granted how the church runs back home. It's not perfect, but it works well. In Kiev it works well and here it’s a little disorganized. They took all missionaries out of leadership roles in the branches and wards and are trying to make them so they can run themselves better. I will not say any details but it's getting crazy here in Ivano Frankivsk.
ну нічого (that means "well, it's nothing", kinda like "whatever")
This week was fun. We took a huge loop in our oblast (county) and went to the farthest south city of any significance in size and then missed our marshrootka (van that goes on a route, like a bus) to the next city, so we bummed a ride with some guys. We think they stole the car and had drugs too, but we got to the city, paid them for the ride, and said bye. We will probably never see them again, but yeah, in this city we tried to meet a family that moved there from a different area but nobody was there, so waste of time. Then we tried to get home again, but we could not get a marshrootka to our city, so we grabbed the most crammed ride I have ever had. You will see a clip my comp made for me in the car. It's crazy. Then we got to the city and then had 10 Min's before the next marshrootka left for Ivano, so we were happy and made it to town 30 Min's before our English Class started. We were so happy about that. It would have been lame if the only 2 Americans teaching English did not show up. But other then that not too much has happened. Hope you enjoy the pics from yesterday's travels.The two guys are the guys that might have stolen a car and had drugs, a kid from the family that we visited in the far city, a village, and then a pic with my comp and me with my camera out the window. Other then that I should be good for pics so I will talk next week. I love you all! Bye!
Wednesday, October 26, 2007
Oct 26
Well let’s see...It's been a crazy week. Lots of finding, contacting, tracting, and its been fun with the new comp. I was sure that we would not get along too well, but it’s not a bad start. And he can cook, so I am no longer the only one cooking! In fact he does it more then me now. It's great - I make borscht and it lasts 3-4 days and he cooks almost every other thing. :) It's nice. We got to leave our obalist (county) from Ivano Frankivsk to Ternopal and to a crazy celo (village). I hope I can get these pics off so you can see a lil bit of it. It was a fun trip, that's for sure. We left at 6am and got back in town at 9pm and got to the apartment at 9:25. It was a full day. We did get permission; so no we did not blatantly disobey the rules. It was raining almost the whole day but the reason we went out was my companion has ancestors that are Ukrainian and Polish, but lived in Ukraine and that was a celo where they lived. There are 5 celos with the same name by the way...We had to find maps from the early 1900s and use rivers on the old maps and the new maps to figure out where it was and then how to get there and back. That was fun. We went to the Mayor's office and talked to him and they gave us info. We had a lesson with him and 6 office staff there and 17 contacts in that celo. We do not have authorization to be there or preach, but each person talked to us and you could go into a lesson if they ask about us. It was great. We went to the cemetery there and we were looking for names. We looked for hours and no luck. Then it started to rain and it was muddy from the last few days of rain and so we left. On our way out we happened to find one grave with the right name! His family tree does not have the dates but this gravesite has the right dates and name! Crazy! Then we went back to the mayor and he gave us more info about where we could find more info about his family. With the border changes and wars and fires most records are gone. The ones that are still around are in another city, so next week we might have to postpone email again.
Other then that I loved Aunt Lana and Uncle George's package! I had forgot what chunky peanut butter was like! It's wonderful! I used half of it in a week. :) The root beer I used the first day in the office with 2 companions of mine and one good friend that was going home. It was great! Missionaries love root beer! You cant get it here you know. Don't send it to me though...I don't need it here and it costs a lot to send. So I will talk to you later next week, maybe a day late. We need permission to go to the other city. We are not registered there. I love you all! Until next week!я вас люблю допобаченя = I you love see you later, or actually I love you (plural) and see you later Now I am sending pics of a school were we teach English to kids, the baptism I had, the celo I went to when I got to ride on a trailer a horse was pulling, when we went into a fortress from the 1500s, a bus stop in a closer celo to me, a pic of me in a park, on my old comps last day in Ivano wasting time in an area that is under construction, a salad I made - my comps hand is forming what's called a fig and is kind of like the finger but it means nothing...even members will do it in the church (it's more funny then anything), and a pic of borscht that I made.
Well let’s see...It's been a crazy week. Lots of finding, contacting, tracting, and its been fun with the new comp. I was sure that we would not get along too well, but it’s not a bad start. And he can cook, so I am no longer the only one cooking! In fact he does it more then me now. It's great - I make borscht and it lasts 3-4 days and he cooks almost every other thing. :) It's nice. We got to leave our obalist (county) from Ivano Frankivsk to Ternopal and to a crazy celo (village). I hope I can get these pics off so you can see a lil bit of it. It was a fun trip, that's for sure. We left at 6am and got back in town at 9pm and got to the apartment at 9:25. It was a full day. We did get permission; so no we did not blatantly disobey the rules. It was raining almost the whole day but the reason we went out was my companion has ancestors that are Ukrainian and Polish, but lived in Ukraine and that was a celo where they lived. There are 5 celos with the same name by the way...We had to find maps from the early 1900s and use rivers on the old maps and the new maps to figure out where it was and then how to get there and back. That was fun. We went to the Mayor's office and talked to him and they gave us info. We had a lesson with him and 6 office staff there and 17 contacts in that celo. We do not have authorization to be there or preach, but each person talked to us and you could go into a lesson if they ask about us. It was great. We went to the cemetery there and we were looking for names. We looked for hours and no luck. Then it started to rain and it was muddy from the last few days of rain and so we left. On our way out we happened to find one grave with the right name! His family tree does not have the dates but this gravesite has the right dates and name! Crazy! Then we went back to the mayor and he gave us more info about where we could find more info about his family. With the border changes and wars and fires most records are gone. The ones that are still around are in another city, so next week we might have to postpone email again.
Other then that I loved Aunt Lana and Uncle George's package! I had forgot what chunky peanut butter was like! It's wonderful! I used half of it in a week. :) The root beer I used the first day in the office with 2 companions of mine and one good friend that was going home. It was great! Missionaries love root beer! You cant get it here you know. Don't send it to me though...I don't need it here and it costs a lot to send. So I will talk to you later next week, maybe a day late. We need permission to go to the other city. We are not registered there. I love you all! Until next week!я вас люблю допобаченя = I you love see you later, or actually I love you (plural) and see you later Now I am sending pics of a school were we teach English to kids, the baptism I had, the celo I went to when I got to ride on a trailer a horse was pulling, when we went into a fortress from the 1500s, a bus stop in a closer celo to me, a pic of me in a park, on my old comps last day in Ivano wasting time in an area that is under construction, a salad I made - my comps hand is forming what's called a fig and is kind of like the finger but it means nothing...even members will do it in the church (it's more funny then anything), and a pic of borscht that I made.
Wednesday, October 11, 2007
Oct 11
Well, it's a crazy week! My companion is leaving and I get to take two 12-hour train rides. I will leave Sunday then get to Kiev Monday, say goodbye to my companion, get a new one, then leave Kiev Monday and get back here to Ivano Frankivsk Tuesday. Sounds like fun...I will have a new companion though - sweet - and be crammed in a train car with 3 other guys with 3 sets of luggage. It will be somewhat cramped but I think it will be very fun. So...things that are new - I have taken pics on how to prepare borscht, but have not had the time to send them yet. But you will all learn how to make it and see what mine looks like. :) I went to an egg museum in a town I had never been to. That was interesting. They have a skill of painting eggs that's really interesting how they do it, but then we went out to eat and that was it. It was fun to go once that's for sure. If I had more time and could see the city it would have been cool. It's not a small town but the church is not open there yet. We need to help the church grow so we can be in all cities here. It's great to see the church in its form here...it is still young and it's growing fast. This week was hectic - so much going on and we did not know what was going on most of the time, so we did not get too much done...Just what other people wanted, so not much time for investigators. But we do have 4 baptismal dates for Saturday. Can't wait to see what it will be like. The only thing I don't like is the man that asked me to baptize him will be leaving for Tokyo soon after baptism and who knows when I will see him next, or if ever. It's getting colder here and I almost need a sweater every day. But hey, I want it to get cold, it's just now nobody will see my cool ties anymore. :) Sorry, I am out of time. I will talk to you all later. I love you!
-Elder Hokanson
Pic is of me on 10-11-2007 wearing my cool pink/brown $1 tie! :)
Well, it's a crazy week! My companion is leaving and I get to take two 12-hour train rides. I will leave Sunday then get to Kiev Monday, say goodbye to my companion, get a new one, then leave Kiev Monday and get back here to Ivano Frankivsk Tuesday. Sounds like fun...I will have a new companion though - sweet - and be crammed in a train car with 3 other guys with 3 sets of luggage. It will be somewhat cramped but I think it will be very fun. So...things that are new - I have taken pics on how to prepare borscht, but have not had the time to send them yet. But you will all learn how to make it and see what mine looks like. :) I went to an egg museum in a town I had never been to. That was interesting. They have a skill of painting eggs that's really interesting how they do it, but then we went out to eat and that was it. It was fun to go once that's for sure. If I had more time and could see the city it would have been cool. It's not a small town but the church is not open there yet. We need to help the church grow so we can be in all cities here. It's great to see the church in its form here...it is still young and it's growing fast. This week was hectic - so much going on and we did not know what was going on most of the time, so we did not get too much done...Just what other people wanted, so not much time for investigators. But we do have 4 baptismal dates for Saturday. Can't wait to see what it will be like. The only thing I don't like is the man that asked me to baptize him will be leaving for Tokyo soon after baptism and who knows when I will see him next, or if ever. It's getting colder here and I almost need a sweater every day. But hey, I want it to get cold, it's just now nobody will see my cool ties anymore. :) Sorry, I am out of time. I will talk to you all later. I love you!
-Elder Hokanson
Pic is of me on 10-11-2007 wearing my cool pink/brown $1 tie! :)
Oct 3
Nothing new really...
Well let’s see...we had sports day and it was crazy. We played soccer and baseball and it was weird - there were spider webs in the air, floating everywhere. They have a name for it - it’s like great-grandmother summer. It’s like the gray hair, but it means like the summer is getting old. It's weird. In the area there are 4 baptismal commitments with 2 companionships here. We have one of them - close to having 2, but not yet. My companion is dying soon (ending his mission). In 2 weeks, about 14 days, he will be on a plane to the USA. He is starting to show trunkiness...not a bad thing to see, but it's funny. Oh and Petro/Peter asked me to baptism him! Other then that we are losing the couple missionaries, the Anderson's, but we are gaining the Lees for a few months, and the Higgles for I don't know how long. And we are getting 2 new missionaries out here to replace one of the sisters and my companion. I hear rumors of who, but I don't know and to me it is all the same. It does not matter who it is. It will be a hard working missionary and that's all that matters. So not much new this week. I might try to send a photo or 2 soon, so lookout, it might be coming.
Love, Elder Hokanson
Nothing new really...
Well let’s see...we had sports day and it was crazy. We played soccer and baseball and it was weird - there were spider webs in the air, floating everywhere. They have a name for it - it’s like great-grandmother summer. It’s like the gray hair, but it means like the summer is getting old. It's weird. In the area there are 4 baptismal commitments with 2 companionships here. We have one of them - close to having 2, but not yet. My companion is dying soon (ending his mission). In 2 weeks, about 14 days, he will be on a plane to the USA. He is starting to show trunkiness...not a bad thing to see, but it's funny. Oh and Petro/Peter asked me to baptism him! Other then that we are losing the couple missionaries, the Anderson's, but we are gaining the Lees for a few months, and the Higgles for I don't know how long. And we are getting 2 new missionaries out here to replace one of the sisters and my companion. I hear rumors of who, but I don't know and to me it is all the same. It does not matter who it is. It will be a hard working missionary and that's all that matters. So not much new this week. I might try to send a photo or 2 soon, so lookout, it might be coming.
Love, Elder Hokanson
Sep 26
Well, lets see, this week - not too much going on. I had another round of Zone Conferences and a Western Ukraine Conference with the Branches in Western Ukraine. Both conferences were in Lviv. We took a train to Lviv. It left at 12:30 am & got there at about 8:10 am. We did not sleep well and the coupets are way too small. Then we grabbed an express marshrootka (micro bus) from Lviv to Ivano-Frankivsk that took 2 hours. We got home at about 9:30 pm, then the next day we grabbed a marshrootka to Lviv again at about 5:30 am and got there at about 8am. Then we left later at about 3pm and got home at about 6pm and we were beat. The next day we went to a selo (village) and dug up potatoes for a member's mom. That's hard work. The Conference was great though...there was an Area Seventy from Moskva (Moscow Russia)...not sure on English spelling anymore. Ukrainian is spelled the same way it sounds. English is hard now. We have a baptism date with an investigator. He has a few things we need to work on, but he will be ready for baptism on the 13th. The sister missionaries in our area have 2 people on date for the 13th. One looks like she will be baptized for sure, the other is a maybe. I don't know her though, so who knows. Other then that it has been really really foggy in the mornings. I cant even see the other apartment buildings that are maybe 20 yards from ours, and at night every selo/village around us is burning everything that they don't need after the harvest and it's just full of smoke everywhere and we smell like smoke every evening. It is thick like fog. Other then that I don't have much news so I will talk to you next week! I love you all!
-Elder Hokanson
Well, lets see, this week - not too much going on. I had another round of Zone Conferences and a Western Ukraine Conference with the Branches in Western Ukraine. Both conferences were in Lviv. We took a train to Lviv. It left at 12:30 am & got there at about 8:10 am. We did not sleep well and the coupets are way too small. Then we grabbed an express marshrootka (micro bus) from Lviv to Ivano-Frankivsk that took 2 hours. We got home at about 9:30 pm, then the next day we grabbed a marshrootka to Lviv again at about 5:30 am and got there at about 8am. Then we left later at about 3pm and got home at about 6pm and we were beat. The next day we went to a selo (village) and dug up potatoes for a member's mom. That's hard work. The Conference was great though...there was an Area Seventy from Moskva (Moscow Russia)...not sure on English spelling anymore. Ukrainian is spelled the same way it sounds. English is hard now. We have a baptism date with an investigator. He has a few things we need to work on, but he will be ready for baptism on the 13th. The sister missionaries in our area have 2 people on date for the 13th. One looks like she will be baptized for sure, the other is a maybe. I don't know her though, so who knows. Other then that it has been really really foggy in the mornings. I cant even see the other apartment buildings that are maybe 20 yards from ours, and at night every selo/village around us is burning everything that they don't need after the harvest and it's just full of smoke everywhere and we smell like smoke every evening. It is thick like fog. Other then that I don't have much news so I will talk to you next week! I love you all!
-Elder Hokanson
Sep 19
Not too much to say this week but we are busy all over the place. We had almost no time to contact here. We have activities out the wazoo! We had 2 plays that I was in and we did service in a selo/village. I dug up potatoes and picked grapes. It was fun! I got really dirty. Then yesterday I went out to a selo in the Carpathian Mountains and went to a river. It was really cool - barley over an hour outside of Ivano. I got a spoon for tea, a wooden spoon, and some homemade socks for the winter. They are really warm. I won't need them for a while though, although it is getting cold and its been raining almost every day. It's crazy here - we have about 6-8 people that are friends to the missionaries. They have our standards and come to activities, but don't take the lessons. Some of them know the church is true, but they don't want to take the lessons. We had a guy that's been coming to church for about 3 years, but never wanted to give up smoking or tea, and now he wants to change and become ready for baptism. It's cool! And there is a young man that is making changes in his life, reading the scriptures and praying. He will be able to be baptized in maybe 3-4 weeks. Well I went off and made my Borscht (Ukrainian soup). It takes 2-3 hours to make and it is better then most of the borscht I have had when I eat out or when I eat at people's houses. It's the first time I made it too. I am really happy about it. I did learn from a person that made the best I had ever had so it had to be somewhat good. :) My companion will be making some today using my notes on making borscht. He will be making it while we study - it's not hard, just lots of sitting around waiting when you make borscht. Normal activities we have here during the week in this area are teaching English 2 times a week (Tue/Thur), Friday line dancing, and Saturday is sports day. We teach them American sports like football Americanski, baseball, and stuff like that. They are clueless on how to play it. They have just never seen it in their life. We have 2 days planned for contacting in center Ivano with members. That's a normal week, but then I had the 2 plays and service planned - it's crazy! And with 3 hours of study a day and then trying to contact in spare time and having lessons...that's how our days are spent - no time to breathe. So that's about all I've got for you now! I love you all! Talk to you next week!
Not too much to say this week but we are busy all over the place. We had almost no time to contact here. We have activities out the wazoo! We had 2 plays that I was in and we did service in a selo/village. I dug up potatoes and picked grapes. It was fun! I got really dirty. Then yesterday I went out to a selo in the Carpathian Mountains and went to a river. It was really cool - barley over an hour outside of Ivano. I got a spoon for tea, a wooden spoon, and some homemade socks for the winter. They are really warm. I won't need them for a while though, although it is getting cold and its been raining almost every day. It's crazy here - we have about 6-8 people that are friends to the missionaries. They have our standards and come to activities, but don't take the lessons. Some of them know the church is true, but they don't want to take the lessons. We had a guy that's been coming to church for about 3 years, but never wanted to give up smoking or tea, and now he wants to change and become ready for baptism. It's cool! And there is a young man that is making changes in his life, reading the scriptures and praying. He will be able to be baptized in maybe 3-4 weeks. Well I went off and made my Borscht (Ukrainian soup). It takes 2-3 hours to make and it is better then most of the borscht I have had when I eat out or when I eat at people's houses. It's the first time I made it too. I am really happy about it. I did learn from a person that made the best I had ever had so it had to be somewhat good. :) My companion will be making some today using my notes on making borscht. He will be making it while we study - it's not hard, just lots of sitting around waiting when you make borscht. Normal activities we have here during the week in this area are teaching English 2 times a week (Tue/Thur), Friday line dancing, and Saturday is sports day. We teach them American sports like football Americanski, baseball, and stuff like that. They are clueless on how to play it. They have just never seen it in their life. We have 2 days planned for contacting in center Ivano with members. That's a normal week, but then I had the 2 plays and service planned - it's crazy! And with 3 hours of study a day and then trying to contact in spare time and having lessons...that's how our days are spent - no time to breathe. So that's about all I've got for you now! I love you all! Talk to you next week!
Sep 12
Well now I am in IVANO FRANKIVSK!
It is a great lil college town of 300,000 people on the Western side of Ukraine there is not many places I can go that are more west then this. It a cool place with lots of wonderful buildings that have designs from Poland and other bordering countries - not the big ugly Russian USSR apartment buildings. This is the only city that has street signs that I have seen. Lots of kids - the branch is really small; bout 70 members and 45 come each week. We are trying to make that better. It's hard here tons of young people here to work with. There are many activities going on in the city - for example there was an art show music festival. There are tons going on each day.
The ride here was crazy! It was a wonderful 14 hour train ride full of people that I did not know trying to open my coupet door - not sure the word in English but the room I had on the train with my new companion. We slept part of it, but the beds are too short and it was very cold due to riding at night and the fact that fall comes very fast here. It has been raining the past week almost without stopping. I did wear my coat so I wouldn't get sick but too late - I have a cold. Food news - there are a ton of great places to eat here. I found out that it almost costs the same to eat out as it does to eat in. It's crazy.My new apartment is wonderful. Not the best but it has room. It's on the 2nd floor and nobody lives under us so I can bounce the soccer ball as much as I want without feeling bad. I mean, I need to practice...I am in Ukraine! From my apartment I can see the Carpathian Mountains. You should look at Google Earth of Ivano and look for the lake and get to the top left side of the lake and then move north and you will run in to the apartment.Wow...living in the Western part of the country is crazy. The apartment costs about 200$ USD and in Kiev I would have paid 1000 for it. The Anderson's, a senior couple that are in this city, pay 500$ for their apartment and would have paid 2000$ in Kiev and these apartments in the states would cost even more. They are way nice. Before I forget my new companion is Elder Jason Jackson from Louisiana. He is a good guy. He is only here till the end of the transfer so he has 5 weeks and then he is off to the USA and I get a new companion. YAY! But who will I get? And will we get along? I don't know. I hope we do! It will start snowing I am told in the next 2 months or so.
So that’s most of what I can think about that's new. So I will talk to you all later! I love you all! Peace! -Elder Hokanson PS. I still speak with a ton of CALI SLANG!!!
Well now I am in IVANO FRANKIVSK!
It is a great lil college town of 300,000 people on the Western side of Ukraine there is not many places I can go that are more west then this. It a cool place with lots of wonderful buildings that have designs from Poland and other bordering countries - not the big ugly Russian USSR apartment buildings. This is the only city that has street signs that I have seen. Lots of kids - the branch is really small; bout 70 members and 45 come each week. We are trying to make that better. It's hard here tons of young people here to work with. There are many activities going on in the city - for example there was an art show music festival. There are tons going on each day.
The ride here was crazy! It was a wonderful 14 hour train ride full of people that I did not know trying to open my coupet door - not sure the word in English but the room I had on the train with my new companion. We slept part of it, but the beds are too short and it was very cold due to riding at night and the fact that fall comes very fast here. It has been raining the past week almost without stopping. I did wear my coat so I wouldn't get sick but too late - I have a cold. Food news - there are a ton of great places to eat here. I found out that it almost costs the same to eat out as it does to eat in. It's crazy.My new apartment is wonderful. Not the best but it has room. It's on the 2nd floor and nobody lives under us so I can bounce the soccer ball as much as I want without feeling bad. I mean, I need to practice...I am in Ukraine! From my apartment I can see the Carpathian Mountains. You should look at Google Earth of Ivano and look for the lake and get to the top left side of the lake and then move north and you will run in to the apartment.Wow...living in the Western part of the country is crazy. The apartment costs about 200$ USD and in Kiev I would have paid 1000 for it. The Anderson's, a senior couple that are in this city, pay 500$ for their apartment and would have paid 2000$ in Kiev and these apartments in the states would cost even more. They are way nice. Before I forget my new companion is Elder Jason Jackson from Louisiana. He is a good guy. He is only here till the end of the transfer so he has 5 weeks and then he is off to the USA and I get a new companion. YAY! But who will I get? And will we get along? I don't know. I hope we do! It will start snowing I am told in the next 2 months or so.
So that’s most of what I can think about that's new. So I will talk to you all later! I love you all! Peace! -Elder Hokanson PS. I still speak with a ton of CALI SLANG!!!
Sept 5
I am so sad!!!! I'm getting transferred tomorrow (Thursday)! I have no idea where I am going or who my companion will be. I find out at 9am tomorrow. I'm sad to leave this awesome area and district (see picture).Things I forgot to tell you while I was in Brovary - I spent some time in a celo/village working in the garden. I almost chopped a good apple tree down; it was not my fault. I also hit myself in the leg with a hatchet...don't worry it was about 2 weeks ago and it was about a 2 cm big cut...not bad right? I took a shower in the celo at a member’s dacha/summer house. The shower was outside and there were 7 spiders in there and 2 had bodies as big as dimes! Well as you can see I am really sad. I am in a city I love and I am being moved to a new city that I have never been to. TRANSFERS ARE LAME! But anyway we have 3 investigators that are close to baptism. One will be probably be next week and I wont be there. A minimum 2 more in the next 1-3 months, maybe more. One of the investigators, his parents seem interested to learn more. We have 2 new investigators now and both speak English. One speaks like a champ - he formally worked as a programmer for the UN. TRANSFERS ARE LAME! As most of you have seen I don't like crying in church or really anywhere, but on Sunday I was asked to share my testimony. My companion had told the 1st counselor I was leaving so I was almost forced to. OK, so I get up there and say, "Good day brothers and sisters." It's a good start, right? Then I feel the water works starting. I say "to me this is difficult" (that's how you say it - its worded right). Then I am in tears and I gave my testimony in tears. It was simple but from the heart, and I made some of the members cry. It was sad. After my testimony I was in tears for 15 mins. I was a crybaby, I swear! I love this branch so much! I don't want to go anywhere! I want to stay here the rest of my mission. After sacrament meeting almost all the members came up to me and said thank you for serving on a mission in Brovary. I was told I was great with kids and that they knew I loved them and they told me I am humble and showing my humility was a good example, but I don't think they were telling the truth. I don't think I am humble - I am still prideful. FOOD news - kind of good.
I learned how to make Ukrainian bread and Ukrainian Borscht! Until next week! Love, Elder Hokanson
I am so sad!!!! I'm getting transferred tomorrow (Thursday)! I have no idea where I am going or who my companion will be. I find out at 9am tomorrow. I'm sad to leave this awesome area and district (see picture).Things I forgot to tell you while I was in Brovary - I spent some time in a celo/village working in the garden. I almost chopped a good apple tree down; it was not my fault. I also hit myself in the leg with a hatchet...don't worry it was about 2 weeks ago and it was about a 2 cm big cut...not bad right? I took a shower in the celo at a member’s dacha/summer house. The shower was outside and there were 7 spiders in there and 2 had bodies as big as dimes! Well as you can see I am really sad. I am in a city I love and I am being moved to a new city that I have never been to. TRANSFERS ARE LAME! But anyway we have 3 investigators that are close to baptism. One will be probably be next week and I wont be there. A minimum 2 more in the next 1-3 months, maybe more. One of the investigators, his parents seem interested to learn more. We have 2 new investigators now and both speak English. One speaks like a champ - he formally worked as a programmer for the UN. TRANSFERS ARE LAME! As most of you have seen I don't like crying in church or really anywhere, but on Sunday I was asked to share my testimony. My companion had told the 1st counselor I was leaving so I was almost forced to. OK, so I get up there and say, "Good day brothers and sisters." It's a good start, right? Then I feel the water works starting. I say "to me this is difficult" (that's how you say it - its worded right). Then I am in tears and I gave my testimony in tears. It was simple but from the heart, and I made some of the members cry. It was sad. After my testimony I was in tears for 15 mins. I was a crybaby, I swear! I love this branch so much! I don't want to go anywhere! I want to stay here the rest of my mission. After sacrament meeting almost all the members came up to me and said thank you for serving on a mission in Brovary. I was told I was great with kids and that they knew I loved them and they told me I am humble and showing my humility was a good example, but I don't think they were telling the truth. I don't think I am humble - I am still prideful. FOOD news - kind of good.
I learned how to make Ukrainian bread and Ukrainian Borscht! Until next week! Love, Elder Hokanson
Aug 29
Well to start off not too much going on right now. We might not have a baptism on Sunday - we need to ask the girl what she wants. We wont be able to announce the baptism till Saturday/Sunday when she is interviewed and that will be Saturday and her date is set for Sunday. We will see what she wants. I might get transferred next week. I hope I stay here with my companion a 3rd transfer. I am crossing my fingers. Brovary is on fire right now. Other then that we have one young man that wants to be baptized but his mom said only when he is 18. But we have really good feelings about her and she is friends with a member and we are going to plan to have the member in her house for every lesson. We think she could accept the gospel in a matter of 2-3 months, maybe faster. We have other people we are working with that could have dates in a matter of weeks. Food news - the member that is cooking for us here makes dang good food and I am expanding in my cooking abilities. I even surprise myself with what I can bust out with using what’s available to me at the time. Man, and its sad to say but I very much enjoy a drink called kvass. It’s a fermented bread drink. Don’t worry, it is not breaking the Word of Wisdom. There is almost never alcohol in it and if there is it’s almost never more then 00.5%. I am told its not breaking the WOW. Some of its good and some of it is crappy, but I am learning how to make it, so don’t worry, you will all have a chance to try the smachno (tasty) drink. A member made me 10 liters of kvass. It’s not bad. But not much more is going on right now and I am out of time. I love you all and will catch you next week!
Well to start off not too much going on right now. We might not have a baptism on Sunday - we need to ask the girl what she wants. We wont be able to announce the baptism till Saturday/Sunday when she is interviewed and that will be Saturday and her date is set for Sunday. We will see what she wants. I might get transferred next week. I hope I stay here with my companion a 3rd transfer. I am crossing my fingers. Brovary is on fire right now. Other then that we have one young man that wants to be baptized but his mom said only when he is 18. But we have really good feelings about her and she is friends with a member and we are going to plan to have the member in her house for every lesson. We think she could accept the gospel in a matter of 2-3 months, maybe faster. We have other people we are working with that could have dates in a matter of weeks. Food news - the member that is cooking for us here makes dang good food and I am expanding in my cooking abilities. I even surprise myself with what I can bust out with using what’s available to me at the time. Man, and its sad to say but I very much enjoy a drink called kvass. It’s a fermented bread drink. Don’t worry, it is not breaking the Word of Wisdom. There is almost never alcohol in it and if there is it’s almost never more then 00.5%. I am told its not breaking the WOW. Some of its good and some of it is crappy, but I am learning how to make it, so don’t worry, you will all have a chance to try the smachno (tasty) drink. A member made me 10 liters of kvass. It’s not bad. But not much more is going on right now and I am out of time. I love you all and will catch you next week!
Aug 22Well a hot temp all week of 37 degrees. 37x1.8+32=how hot it is, plus tons of humidity.Work is going well - we had 1 baptized on Sunday. Her daughter will be baptized on the 2nd next month. We are meeting with one young man’s parents on Sunday to get permission for baptism and one other girl that’s soon ready to commit to be baptized, so we just had one and we have maybe 3 more coming up. Looks good to me, mainly because they are all member referrals.Food news - we have a member cooking for us. We are trying to help her out with money. So she prepares good food better then us and for less money. She has more money, it gives her more to do, gets her out of the house and she likes us missionaries more. Win Win! Service in Brovary hit a new level of difficulty. We helped a member move into the area from Kiev and it’s a new place so it does not have an elevator, and they lived on the 10th floor so they had us split about 1 or 2 on every 3rd floor and passing things up for 3 HOURS! Yeah, I was dripping like crazy that day. We had so much going on we had to take 4 showers, we did not have time to study, and we were almost late to 2 appointments, but we had a member offer to us a ride to one of them and we met the other young man we were meeting on the road to the place where we were meeting him, so times worked out perfectly. But anyway, I am off. Talk to you next week. Love you all. PS - I got mom’s packages last Wed. and I think the other one is in Kiev but I can’t go in to get it.
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