On one of my many train rides...jammed up in the luggage area.
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.
Aug 15
Well to start off I am doing ok I am sick with a sinus infection and I am on antibiotics. I feel like crap but other then that I am great. We have a baptism this week (Valya). She is doing well she just got a new job she will be able to get her kids back soon. She could not afford them before now she can. she is still having trials now but she is getting through them like a champ right now. Next cool investigator, Kolya, he is one sharp kid. 14 years old, has had 5 lessons from us & a member. One of his friend’s mom knows his family and she said that the family is not against the church or baptism and this young man said I WANT TO BE BAPTIZED IN THIS CHURCH so we will be meeting with his parents soon. One funny thing is in our English class there has been a “snake” (our slang for the girls who try to tempt the elders) and she is out to snag my companion. She does this weird thing with her eyes to him and says his name funny and calls him a bad boy. I have been doing some friendly harassing with my companion to get a laugh out of him, like doing the thing with my eyes and repeating to him things she says. It is kind of funny. Other then that, no new news. It’s been raining and I love the rain! I am off…talk to you next week.
Well to start off I am doing ok I am sick with a sinus infection and I am on antibiotics. I feel like crap but other then that I am great. We have a baptism this week (Valya). She is doing well she just got a new job she will be able to get her kids back soon. She could not afford them before now she can. she is still having trials now but she is getting through them like a champ right now. Next cool investigator, Kolya, he is one sharp kid. 14 years old, has had 5 lessons from us & a member. One of his friend’s mom knows his family and she said that the family is not against the church or baptism and this young man said I WANT TO BE BAPTIZED IN THIS CHURCH so we will be meeting with his parents soon. One funny thing is in our English class there has been a “snake” (our slang for the girls who try to tempt the elders) and she is out to snag my companion. She does this weird thing with her eyes to him and says his name funny and calls him a bad boy. I have been doing some friendly harassing with my companion to get a laugh out of him, like doing the thing with my eyes and repeating to him things she says. It is kind of funny. Other then that, no new news. It’s been raining and I love the rain! I am off…talk to you next week.
Aug 8
Well not too much going down. Not bad news, but we pushed our baptism date back one week because a few members think she drinks, but we have been with her more often then them and she never smells of alcohol and we have never seen it, but we are working with her and she is still good to go so we are happy. About me - I still speak really, really bad. It takes me a while to get out what I want to say. My vocab is not very good, but what I know how to say I do all right. I was told by a native, an investigator even, that I spoke without an accent, so I am happy about that cuz I know people that speak better then me that been here over a year or more that can’t seem to even say the name ‘Jesus Christ’ correct. It’s not humble of me to bring it up, but it pumped me up a lil bit cuz I do work on proper pronunciation. Zone Conference went down. It was fun as usual. President Paul of the 70 was there. He is from Germany. It was really cool, good talks, and after the talks he randomly interviewed 6 elders/sisters from the zone conference and one of them was me. That was fun. I talked to Sister Davis, the President’s wife, about a lot of stuff and my shoes and I am wearing these shoes down fast too. Let’s see just how long they last. Anyways, not too much going on out here. It has been really hot and it just started raining today, really coming down. I love being in the rain, it’s very pleasing to me. Well, I love you all and I will catch you next week!
Well not too much going down. Not bad news, but we pushed our baptism date back one week because a few members think she drinks, but we have been with her more often then them and she never smells of alcohol and we have never seen it, but we are working with her and she is still good to go so we are happy. About me - I still speak really, really bad. It takes me a while to get out what I want to say. My vocab is not very good, but what I know how to say I do all right. I was told by a native, an investigator even, that I spoke without an accent, so I am happy about that cuz I know people that speak better then me that been here over a year or more that can’t seem to even say the name ‘Jesus Christ’ correct. It’s not humble of me to bring it up, but it pumped me up a lil bit cuz I do work on proper pronunciation. Zone Conference went down. It was fun as usual. President Paul of the 70 was there. He is from Germany. It was really cool, good talks, and after the talks he randomly interviewed 6 elders/sisters from the zone conference and one of them was me. That was fun. I talked to Sister Davis, the President’s wife, about a lot of stuff and my shoes and I am wearing these shoes down fast too. Let’s see just how long they last. Anyways, not too much going on out here. It has been really hot and it just started raining today, really coming down. I love being in the rain, it’s very pleasing to me. Well, I love you all and I will catch you next week!
Aug 1
Well let’s see the power went out here so all that I had down is gone and I have to start over, so yeah. My shoes - I got new ones. I had a large selection of one whole pair of shoes and it’s about half a centimeter to small so that’s ok for now. I can’t get into detail like I had due to the lack of time but whatever. The work is moving forward mainly with our current referrals. All of the investigators that were missionary -found don’t seem to go anywhere! We still have to try though. I went on exchanges with my ZL this week. He is a cool guy from Apple Valley, CA and he was in my last zone. Now he is my zone leader and I don’t want that calling or DL or even AP. I would rather be a normal missionary any day of the week. I am just happy that I am here. Our best investigator will be getting a interview next week for baptism! Man, this is bad I am almost out of time I need to do the pres email so I will talk next week!
Well let’s see the power went out here so all that I had down is gone and I have to start over, so yeah. My shoes - I got new ones. I had a large selection of one whole pair of shoes and it’s about half a centimeter to small so that’s ok for now. I can’t get into detail like I had due to the lack of time but whatever. The work is moving forward mainly with our current referrals. All of the investigators that were missionary -found don’t seem to go anywhere! We still have to try though. I went on exchanges with my ZL this week. He is a cool guy from Apple Valley, CA and he was in my last zone. Now he is my zone leader and I don’t want that calling or DL or even AP. I would rather be a normal missionary any day of the week. I am just happy that I am here. Our best investigator will be getting a interview next week for baptism! Man, this is bad I am almost out of time I need to do the pres email so I will talk next week!
July 25
Well not too much to say. Remember Sasha/Cаша from my first area? Well I just found out on Monday he was baptized! It’s so awesome! His friend from the ward Vladimir did not baptize him he did not show up, but Sasha is cool and my old companion baptized him - so sweet!!And in my area our investigator pool got small because of vacations, but we did some finding and boosted it a lil bit but our investigator валiя/valya (its hard to spell in English to me but anyway) she has read the BoM 2 times and she has a baptism date for the 11th. When we teach her she has no questions. We wonder, “why?” right? Well, when we leave she uses her friends Russian index of the BoM and gospel principals and the teachings of the prophets to find references to what we teach. Not only that, she does all the homework and then some of what we give her, so when we ask her about her homework, it’s like wow! She has all of it done and understands it better then from what we gave her! The average convert has only read about 7 chapters in the BoM before baptism this is amazingMy back is better for the most part so I stopped taking the pain meds 3 times a day. It was not pleasing to me to take that much. I will be buying my shoes today. Yeah you should see them now - they don’t look so bad but all the padding in my right shoe in the heel is gone. Don’t ask me how that happened. It’s interesting to me the sole is wore down where the ball of my foot is so there is a hole now and the heel has about 1/2 cm before it has a hole and the thread is still holding the shoe together somehow but if you look at my shoes they look fine from far away, but not up close, so its time to buy new ones. I hear the store in the mall has ECCOs on sale so I will take a look. I will be in center Kiev after all.And yes I will be in this area again I am not getting transferred this week! WOOT!!!I love you! I will talk to you all later!
Well not too much to say. Remember Sasha/Cаша from my first area? Well I just found out on Monday he was baptized! It’s so awesome! His friend from the ward Vladimir did not baptize him he did not show up, but Sasha is cool and my old companion baptized him - so sweet!!And in my area our investigator pool got small because of vacations, but we did some finding and boosted it a lil bit but our investigator валiя/valya (its hard to spell in English to me but anyway) she has read the BoM 2 times and she has a baptism date for the 11th. When we teach her she has no questions. We wonder, “why?” right? Well, when we leave she uses her friends Russian index of the BoM and gospel principals and the teachings of the prophets to find references to what we teach. Not only that, she does all the homework and then some of what we give her, so when we ask her about her homework, it’s like wow! She has all of it done and understands it better then from what we gave her! The average convert has only read about 7 chapters in the BoM before baptism this is amazingMy back is better for the most part so I stopped taking the pain meds 3 times a day. It was not pleasing to me to take that much. I will be buying my shoes today. Yeah you should see them now - they don’t look so bad but all the padding in my right shoe in the heel is gone. Don’t ask me how that happened. It’s interesting to me the sole is wore down where the ball of my foot is so there is a hole now and the heel has about 1/2 cm before it has a hole and the thread is still holding the shoe together somehow but if you look at my shoes they look fine from far away, but not up close, so its time to buy new ones. I hear the store in the mall has ECCOs on sale so I will take a look. I will be in center Kiev after all.And yes I will be in this area again I am not getting transferred this week! WOOT!!!I love you! I will talk to you all later!
July 18
Well let’s see I am happy! Our newest investigator has read the BoM once before our 2nd meeting and started again. She is golden! But it sucks right now, almost all the members that are cool and the investigators are down at the Black Sea for vacation for like 2 weeks.Health topic - I tweaked my back working out one day and what it is doing is my muscles in my back in my mid upper right side under my shoulder blade are tense and causing my bones to move in a not so normal way sometimes over nerves causing pain, but I am taking meds and working out in such a way to make it better. It should be getting better in the next week or so, I just cant sit or lay in the same position for too long without it hurting, but I am taking 2400mg of painkillers that Sister Miller our med sestra (sister) said to take. It’s been like that for 2 weeks – you know me and not going to the doctor. I should be slapped I know. Other then that nothing is going on. One of the members came back from the USA and she is cool. She feeds us and lets us use her washer for our socks and stuff she is endowed so its mozhna –that means allowed. Mozhna does not have a direct translation. Heather knows, its same in Russian, but anyhow, I will talk next week! Bye everyone!
Well let’s see I am happy! Our newest investigator has read the BoM once before our 2nd meeting and started again. She is golden! But it sucks right now, almost all the members that are cool and the investigators are down at the Black Sea for vacation for like 2 weeks.Health topic - I tweaked my back working out one day and what it is doing is my muscles in my back in my mid upper right side under my shoulder blade are tense and causing my bones to move in a not so normal way sometimes over nerves causing pain, but I am taking meds and working out in such a way to make it better. It should be getting better in the next week or so, I just cant sit or lay in the same position for too long without it hurting, but I am taking 2400mg of painkillers that Sister Miller our med sestra (sister) said to take. It’s been like that for 2 weeks – you know me and not going to the doctor. I should be slapped I know. Other then that nothing is going on. One of the members came back from the USA and she is cool. She feeds us and lets us use her washer for our socks and stuff she is endowed so its mozhna –that means allowed. Mozhna does not have a direct translation. Heather knows, its same in Russian, but anyhow, I will talk next week! Bye everyone!
July 11
Well let’s see EVERYBODY says they love their mission, but I have to say I LOVE MY MISSION! I can’t explain why, my feeling about my mission, I can’t describe it. Don’t get me wrong it’s hard. There is a lot of work to do and to be done and we can only do so much a day before we are out of time and energy, but its all worth it when you see people starting to get it and to understand the gospel and know that its true and that it makes sense and see them get excited and see them smile its wonderful/hoodoo. When you see kids that are so young rip right through the scriptures and love them it’s amazing to me. When you see a 17 year old girl teach gospel principals and be able to answer every question a investigator has and or put them in their place when they believe something false and not even in her normal language but in Ukrainian so that we the Ukrainian elders can understand better what’s going on in class. Even though my companion understands all the Russian that’s said here. I am starting to understand basic Russian. Gospel Russian is hard cuz I study Ukrainian gospel and it is a lot different some people think its the same – it’s not some. Things are totally different, like the word for peace in Ukrainian means world in Russian and word order is different too, like if you say in come to me in Ukrainian its (do menye) and it means something like (to me) kind of and in Russian its like (k menye) and it means something like (towards me) it’s hard to figure out sometimes though. Sometimes I think I know what they are saying in Russian and I am way wrong.What’s really cool here is people don’t laugh at you when you fall or hit your head they are concerned that you might be hurt and they like brush the dust off of you in the states you expect to hear laughter. I like it both ways.Drunk people update - on transport on left bank of Kiev for district meeting, on our way home we were being harassed by drunks, but no problem, we just said we are not listening to you, don’t talk to us pretty much. One guy was a lil mad but he got over it I am sure once he got off the bus.One thing I hate here is cigarettes - they are like maybe 2 greven a pack so like 40 cents a pack and everybody smokes because its so cheap and it could be 7 in the morning and people are getting drunk or getting drunk on the way to work. It’s really bad no matter what time of day it is, people are drinking somewhere in plain view but anyhow I love you and I am about out of time. I will talk next week. Bye!
Well let’s see EVERYBODY says they love their mission, but I have to say I LOVE MY MISSION! I can’t explain why, my feeling about my mission, I can’t describe it. Don’t get me wrong it’s hard. There is a lot of work to do and to be done and we can only do so much a day before we are out of time and energy, but its all worth it when you see people starting to get it and to understand the gospel and know that its true and that it makes sense and see them get excited and see them smile its wonderful/hoodoo. When you see kids that are so young rip right through the scriptures and love them it’s amazing to me. When you see a 17 year old girl teach gospel principals and be able to answer every question a investigator has and or put them in their place when they believe something false and not even in her normal language but in Ukrainian so that we the Ukrainian elders can understand better what’s going on in class. Even though my companion understands all the Russian that’s said here. I am starting to understand basic Russian. Gospel Russian is hard cuz I study Ukrainian gospel and it is a lot different some people think its the same – it’s not some. Things are totally different, like the word for peace in Ukrainian means world in Russian and word order is different too, like if you say in come to me in Ukrainian its (do menye) and it means something like (to me) kind of and in Russian its like (k menye) and it means something like (towards me) it’s hard to figure out sometimes though. Sometimes I think I know what they are saying in Russian and I am way wrong.What’s really cool here is people don’t laugh at you when you fall or hit your head they are concerned that you might be hurt and they like brush the dust off of you in the states you expect to hear laughter. I like it both ways.Drunk people update - on transport on left bank of Kiev for district meeting, on our way home we were being harassed by drunks, but no problem, we just said we are not listening to you, don’t talk to us pretty much. One guy was a lil mad but he got over it I am sure once he got off the bus.One thing I hate here is cigarettes - they are like maybe 2 greven a pack so like 40 cents a pack and everybody smokes because its so cheap and it could be 7 in the morning and people are getting drunk or getting drunk on the way to work. It’s really bad no matter what time of day it is, people are drinking somewhere in plain view but anyhow I love you and I am about out of time. I will talk next week. Bye!
July 4
They had a ground breaking for the Kiev temple. I did not go - Pres Davis found out about it 4 days in advance and we were busy it was really hush hush and they started working on it already though so its way cool. So many people don’t like the church here they kept it really hush hush.I thrashed my shoes I have 2 pairs left, one is thrashed on the inside and hurts my right foot real bad so I don’t ware them I crushed the sole in it. So it dips down half a inch on one side and my last pair is almost wore all the way down on the bottom and the thread is coming undone on them as well I will have a huge hole soon. My work shoes the SFC, the ones that I got from work, I crushed the sole going down stairs with them its crazy they make me walk weird so I cant wear them it would only hurt me to use them and the ones from missionary mall I like but the tread is worn down like crazy I don’t think its good for people 250 pounds to wear them all day long on cement its like sand paper on my shoes and I would like to buy them here they have a ECCO store here in Kiev and my shoes that I had forever the ones we got when we were in Utah like a year ago I tore the soles in half. lol My companion rocks! And we sent the pics from a members house taken with her camera its not mine or my comps camera and I got moms packages. I love them! Thanks so much! 2 things I don’t have are measuring spoons and multivitamins. I liked the ones I had got before they were the all day energy ones. I am out have been for a while I notice a huge difference when I take them from when I don’t. I feel way better when I take them. Its because they have a lot of v B12 in them and its what helps the body change carbs to energy and I eat tons of carbs.It just sucks that I have not got my pics on the computer yet I will get them put onto a DVD and maybe send a disk. Its not for sure they have a DVD burner here they are ghetto here. I need to find a place that can do it. I know I can do it in Kiev at a pc place, but I need to find a place to do it in Brovary. I will work on it soon I have it planned to check it out this week. I already have 10 DVD-RW to burn onto so I just need to find a place. Mom gave me stamps to so I can send it pouch but it might be a while before I get them done. At least I can get them out next week maybe.It’s really hard here. I know a ton of words and it’s so hard to form sentences but I try. I need to try harder and more often. It stinks cuz there are a ton of people that speak English - heck a few of are investigators speak English like champs, and some of our members and they only speak English. Sometimes I am dying with the language it’s so hard but I want to speak. Sometimes it just does not click in my head. I will talk next week. I’ve got some more stuff to do. I love you all!
June 27
I have been waiting on the website to get up today, but it took forever and I have but a few mins to say hello so I am. I wont be sending a email to pres cuz I need to go to Kiev today for interviews and I have no time. Not too much going on. We are doing a lot of finding. I am doing about 90% of all doors to work on my language. Its still really hard I speak very badly, but I understand a lot more then I can speak. A man figged us on the way to our apartment - its like the finger but Russian/Ukrainian.But I love this little city so much I want to stay here for 2 transfers at least. The work is on fire and we almost had to change apartments and move to the ghetto, but I don’t have to now, so woot! But anyhow I love you all! Talk to you later.
The Pic is of Elder Aird and I at the Vaskevich family's house.
June 20
3 WEEKS OF COLD SHOWERS! WOOT! It's so wonderful!But today after we were leaving we got hot water again so later today I will get a warm shower. I forget what its like! I was taking a shower every day cold and it's loud with sounds that I made that I cant describe :) ...but no more of that for now. Yay! The Area News- My companion slapped a girl in the face...lol! Don't worry, its ok, it was a joke, she pretty much did the same to him but she had corn starch in her hand. lol! He was white all over in his suit pants. She is an amazing member, her whole family is. We gave them like 2 kilos of strawberries -they tried not to accept but finally took them after feeding us some food. The Work News - In the last 2 weeks we had 2 baptized and 1 confirmed. The next one will be confirmed on Sunday. We still have about 7 progressing investigators - 2 need to be dunked, 2 others are a mom and daughter. The girl is elect, she is like maybe 10 and she knows church history, she knows a lot of the BoM, she reads a lot and she is like 10! She comes to all church activities, but her dad is protiv (or against the church) and her mom is a slow progressor, but they could both be members. If the dad lived in this area I know they would have baptismal dates. One of the investigators was from a referral from a 14-year-old boy that is way, way cool and his friend is progressing. We serve all the time. We have done maybe 3 hours of finding in this area in 3 weeks but we get referrals from the members tomoo shcho/ because we serve them and they know we love them and they love us...I LOVE BROVARY! Food News -I prepare large salads every day. I make about 700 grams of salad a day for the 2 of us and we both make main dishes - noodles or potatoes, tacos or something. It is always good and we get really full every day. 1000 grams or one kilo is 2.2 pounds. I love using kilos/grams when I buy things because I know what it takes to get full in grams!Where I live has a market where I can get German Peanut Butter! It's so, so good! It's about 8 greven for 300 grams (about $1.60 - expensive here) but it's great! I can't think of anything else but I LOVE it here and the UKRAINIAN language is doosha, doosha vazhko or very, very hard AND RUSSIAN is even harder right now. I sometimes understand all that is said but its really, really hard to speak. Talk to you later. I love you all! -Elder Hokanson
3 WEEKS OF COLD SHOWERS! WOOT! It's so wonderful!But today after we were leaving we got hot water again so later today I will get a warm shower. I forget what its like! I was taking a shower every day cold and it's loud with sounds that I made that I cant describe :) ...but no more of that for now. Yay! The Area News- My companion slapped a girl in the face...lol! Don't worry, its ok, it was a joke, she pretty much did the same to him but she had corn starch in her hand. lol! He was white all over in his suit pants. She is an amazing member, her whole family is. We gave them like 2 kilos of strawberries -they tried not to accept but finally took them after feeding us some food. The Work News - In the last 2 weeks we had 2 baptized and 1 confirmed. The next one will be confirmed on Sunday. We still have about 7 progressing investigators - 2 need to be dunked, 2 others are a mom and daughter. The girl is elect, she is like maybe 10 and she knows church history, she knows a lot of the BoM, she reads a lot and she is like 10! She comes to all church activities, but her dad is protiv (or against the church) and her mom is a slow progressor, but they could both be members. If the dad lived in this area I know they would have baptismal dates. One of the investigators was from a referral from a 14-year-old boy that is way, way cool and his friend is progressing. We serve all the time. We have done maybe 3 hours of finding in this area in 3 weeks but we get referrals from the members tomoo shcho/ because we serve them and they know we love them and they love us...I LOVE BROVARY! Food News -I prepare large salads every day. I make about 700 grams of salad a day for the 2 of us and we both make main dishes - noodles or potatoes, tacos or something. It is always good and we get really full every day. 1000 grams or one kilo is 2.2 pounds. I love using kilos/grams when I buy things because I know what it takes to get full in grams!Where I live has a market where I can get German Peanut Butter! It's so, so good! It's about 8 greven for 300 grams (about $1.60 - expensive here) but it's great! I can't think of anything else but I LOVE it here and the UKRAINIAN language is doosha, doosha vazhko or very, very hard AND RUSSIAN is even harder right now. I sometimes understand all that is said but its really, really hard to speak. Talk to you later. I love you all! -Elder Hokanson
June 13th
Ok, so I LOVE MY NEW COMPANION!!!But my new apartment is lame it has no hot water at all I have had cold showers for 2 weeks! Heathers package came in the mail so I got a few things here that are great to have. We had 1 Baptism so far in the area and we have one new commitment for baptism for Sunday. She will be baptized. We have about 3 more people that all we need to do is commit them and they will be baptized and one that keeps coming to church but we wont commit him for a long time. He does not get the doctrine yet, he is getting rocked in GP class every Sunday but he is coming to church without us asking him we don’t have his phone # or his address but its cool he is coming to church and English class. So there is only me and my companion here in this branch. It is way cool my last ward there was 4 elders and 2 sisters so this place rocks. It’s small but there are a ton of people. The city is called Brovary.This branch has a ton of youth the church is growing here and this branch is a model for the rest of Ukraine. They are almost all super strong members. It is about to turn into a ward they could split it into 2 branches but I hope they don’t yet! Oh yeah, in my last area I was almost attacked by a drunk man again but not in this area my companion Elder Newbold in his last area got smacked in the back of his head and got the spisok (list) ripped from his hand and his arm was grabbed.I got pushed while going down the stairs and there might have been some real action there hee hee but don’t worry - I am not scared and you don’t need to be. This new area is great. It has been tracted 3 times over about but the work is rolling. People all know that we are American and speak English and they all bug us by saying stuff like, “hello my friend” and then you say back, “hi, what is your name?” and they are like shcho veen skazav? = what did he say? It’s so funny, and they say other things too but they are just dumb kids that don’t know English. I love you and miss you all and I really miss hot showers! One day the hot water will come back on though. I love you, miss you, good bye!
Ok, so I LOVE MY NEW COMPANION!!!But my new apartment is lame it has no hot water at all I have had cold showers for 2 weeks! Heathers package came in the mail so I got a few things here that are great to have. We had 1 Baptism so far in the area and we have one new commitment for baptism for Sunday. She will be baptized. We have about 3 more people that all we need to do is commit them and they will be baptized and one that keeps coming to church but we wont commit him for a long time. He does not get the doctrine yet, he is getting rocked in GP class every Sunday but he is coming to church without us asking him we don’t have his phone # or his address but its cool he is coming to church and English class. So there is only me and my companion here in this branch. It is way cool my last ward there was 4 elders and 2 sisters so this place rocks. It’s small but there are a ton of people. The city is called Brovary.This branch has a ton of youth the church is growing here and this branch is a model for the rest of Ukraine. They are almost all super strong members. It is about to turn into a ward they could split it into 2 branches but I hope they don’t yet! Oh yeah, in my last area I was almost attacked by a drunk man again but not in this area my companion Elder Newbold in his last area got smacked in the back of his head and got the spisok (list) ripped from his hand and his arm was grabbed.I got pushed while going down the stairs and there might have been some real action there hee hee but don’t worry - I am not scared and you don’t need to be. This new area is great. It has been tracted 3 times over about but the work is rolling. People all know that we are American and speak English and they all bug us by saying stuff like, “hello my friend” and then you say back, “hi, what is your name?” and they are like shcho veen skazav? = what did he say? It’s so funny, and they say other things too but they are just dumb kids that don’t know English. I love you and miss you all and I really miss hot showers! One day the hot water will come back on though. I love you, miss you, good bye!
May 30
Hello out there in the wonderful world of California! I am getting transferred - don’t know where. I am leaving my area on Friday morning I need to be at the office at 9am. I could have been sneaky and looked at the number list like my companion to see new comp/area but I thought I will not ask and will not look! But I really want to so bad! So yeah I am at this crappy Internet place today this computer is lame and slow and they don’t have AC like everywhere we go in Ukraine but whatever.So let’s see…Sasha is down to be baptized. He is coming to church and stayed the whole day. He got a job at the rynok (outdoor market), he has a tan, he is looking well, I am happy for him. Our other investigators are ok but we get dogged a lot - its lame. We had a nice lesson with a woman and her daughter yesterday but the daughter was in a trance watching TV, but the spirit was there the whole time we talked to the mom and she never once looked away from us. The area is picking up and I am packing up. Dang. It’s cool though. Nothing crazy happening nobody trying to grab/hit me so I am cool.I love you all! I hope you are reading the scriptures every day.
Hello out there in the wonderful world of California! I am getting transferred - don’t know where. I am leaving my area on Friday morning I need to be at the office at 9am. I could have been sneaky and looked at the number list like my companion to see new comp/area but I thought I will not ask and will not look! But I really want to so bad! So yeah I am at this crappy Internet place today this computer is lame and slow and they don’t have AC like everywhere we go in Ukraine but whatever.So let’s see…Sasha is down to be baptized. He is coming to church and stayed the whole day. He got a job at the rynok (outdoor market), he has a tan, he is looking well, I am happy for him. Our other investigators are ok but we get dogged a lot - its lame. We had a nice lesson with a woman and her daughter yesterday but the daughter was in a trance watching TV, but the spirit was there the whole time we talked to the mom and she never once looked away from us. The area is picking up and I am packing up. Dang. It’s cool though. Nothing crazy happening nobody trying to grab/hit me so I am cool.I love you all! I hope you are reading the scriptures every day.
May 23
Ok, it’s REALLY REALLY hot and humid. I sweat all day long and I only have long shirts and wool pants…wow! I step out of the shower I get my clothes on then about 10-20 mins I am getting sweaty and it stays all day long.So yes, the THREESOME its cool. I like my new companion, McGary.I went on exchanges and almost died from the heat of their apartment. I thought mine was hot, but wow, I was wrong and they did not have a fan! At least we do and I love my apartment. It has everything I could ever want next to AC but to bad. Oh and while I was on exchanges almost got attacked by a few drunk men they grabbed me and stuff but I was sober for one and stronger then them and got away and then briskly walked away, so its cool don’t worry about me.I am getting MINI TRANSFERED!!! I will be getting a new companion on the 1st I think. And I will be out of my wonderful apartment and somewhere else and I have no clue where. Could be anywhere but down south only Russian speakers go south. So I hope I get a cool companion.But anyhow I am happy here. I am just not too happy that I have to pack up my stuff again. I was hoping to serve in this area for 2 more transfers partly for the apartment and I love the members and we are just getting things rolling and I want to get to know my new comp here a lil more. If I go out west to like L'viv I will be really happy cuz I want to serve there and they have the best біблія shop ever (bible shop). Yeah, can’t think of anything else. I love you! Bye!
Ok, it’s REALLY REALLY hot and humid. I sweat all day long and I only have long shirts and wool pants…wow! I step out of the shower I get my clothes on then about 10-20 mins I am getting sweaty and it stays all day long.So yes, the THREESOME its cool. I like my new companion, McGary.I went on exchanges and almost died from the heat of their apartment. I thought mine was hot, but wow, I was wrong and they did not have a fan! At least we do and I love my apartment. It has everything I could ever want next to AC but to bad. Oh and while I was on exchanges almost got attacked by a few drunk men they grabbed me and stuff but I was sober for one and stronger then them and got away and then briskly walked away, so its cool don’t worry about me.I am getting MINI TRANSFERED!!! I will be getting a new companion on the 1st I think. And I will be out of my wonderful apartment and somewhere else and I have no clue where. Could be anywhere but down south only Russian speakers go south. So I hope I get a cool companion.But anyhow I am happy here. I am just not too happy that I have to pack up my stuff again. I was hoping to serve in this area for 2 more transfers partly for the apartment and I love the members and we are just getting things rolling and I want to get to know my new comp here a lil more. If I go out west to like L'viv I will be really happy cuz I want to serve there and they have the best біблія shop ever (bible shop). Yeah, can’t think of anything else. I love you! Bye!
May 16
So yeah I am in a Threesome now...He is a vegetarian or whatever that is, but hey he seems like a cool guy. He is from the OC but he moved to Utah before he went on his mission. He is 27 or something like that, Elder McGary.Update - not too much going on but its getting hotter and hotter and Sasha might be getting baptized soon we have new investigators, so that’s cool. They are really cool but yeah, I’m still in Kiev. 5,000,000 people and almost nobody wants to talk. Its hard here but beautiful. I mean its like a park - everywhere you go there are tons of trees.Wow, it wont work getting pics on here and I need to write pres so this is all for today. I am sorry. I love you all! Bye!
So yeah I am in a Threesome now...He is a vegetarian or whatever that is, but hey he seems like a cool guy. He is from the OC but he moved to Utah before he went on his mission. He is 27 or something like that, Elder McGary.Update - not too much going on but its getting hotter and hotter and Sasha might be getting baptized soon we have new investigators, so that’s cool. They are really cool but yeah, I’m still in Kiev. 5,000,000 people and almost nobody wants to talk. Its hard here but beautiful. I mean its like a park - everywhere you go there are tons of trees.Wow, it wont work getting pics on here and I need to write pres so this is all for today. I am sorry. I love you all! Bye!
May 9
Well not too much is going down here but Cаша/Sasha has a new baptism date and it’s later this month. That’s really cool and we are working with another man, but he is slow moving. He has a testimony of Joseph smith but he does not understand what God is. We need to get him to understand that he has a body and he is not everywhere and nowhere. The missionaries met with him like 14 years ago and we are trying again now. I hope we can get him to gain a testimony in that. The candy her…oh dang…snickers, kit kats, all candy is better here, and the Juice/сік is the best. And yet again it will not work getting a photo on here at all. Man, next week I hope I can go to the other pc place again cuz its cheaper and it works with the usb without funky passwords that don’t work. So yeah, we have English tonight. I have blister after blister on my feet but I am ok. My time is up. I love you all! Talk to you later for sure.
May 2
It’s been cool out here its like way cold right now. It has been snowing. Weird! I mean when I got here it was nice not even cold and it snowed 2 days in a row now.I hope and pray for you guys back home and am happy to hear that thngs seem to be doing good but I think I am getting used to my new diet. Its not bad though. There has been some holidays out here so nobody is out on the streets. Its crazy - most days there are tons and then its like a ghost town and the city has 5,000,000 people living here so its really weird. This week not too much going on but I am staying with my 1st companion for next transfer so I am living in the same place. So yeah, my companion is right here next to me. No tags, no suits for a while, no ties and we are asked to not match, so one missionary is to have a colored shirt on. We can not contact and not tract and other stuff. So my language is hurting from it and our numbers are dropping each week, but we are trying and I feel bad cuz I hardly help and we don’t get much stuff done like we did my first week or 2 when it was still cool. I don’t feel great about this. Heather gets mentioned all the time - the elders all ask about that nice ring I have on every day and I say my wonderful girlfriend back home gave it to me. :) Its cool and I am a legend here now cuz I am the biggest elder in the mission! I saw my first companion from the MTC. He is back now. He was in the MTC for 16 weeks! Crazy! We are going to go hang out today and see some cool stuff in Kiev. I wish I had more time on the computer. On google earth go to 50.25.33. north and 30.24.50. east and you can see where I live! Don’t type it in like that but just look at the numbers and you can see my apartment. I am on the 10th floor. I wanted to send pics but this computer wont let me upload. Maybe next time. I will try next time. But hey, I love you guys, I will catch you next week with maybe something cool… maybe.
Well not too much is going down here but Cаша/Sasha has a new baptism date and it’s later this month. That’s really cool and we are working with another man, but he is slow moving. He has a testimony of Joseph smith but he does not understand what God is. We need to get him to understand that he has a body and he is not everywhere and nowhere. The missionaries met with him like 14 years ago and we are trying again now. I hope we can get him to gain a testimony in that. The candy her…oh dang…snickers, kit kats, all candy is better here, and the Juice/сік is the best. And yet again it will not work getting a photo on here at all. Man, next week I hope I can go to the other pc place again cuz its cheaper and it works with the usb without funky passwords that don’t work. So yeah, we have English tonight. I have blister after blister on my feet but I am ok. My time is up. I love you all! Talk to you later for sure.
May 2
It’s been cool out here its like way cold right now. It has been snowing. Weird! I mean when I got here it was nice not even cold and it snowed 2 days in a row now.I hope and pray for you guys back home and am happy to hear that thngs seem to be doing good but I think I am getting used to my new diet. Its not bad though. There has been some holidays out here so nobody is out on the streets. Its crazy - most days there are tons and then its like a ghost town and the city has 5,000,000 people living here so its really weird. This week not too much going on but I am staying with my 1st companion for next transfer so I am living in the same place. So yeah, my companion is right here next to me. No tags, no suits for a while, no ties and we are asked to not match, so one missionary is to have a colored shirt on. We can not contact and not tract and other stuff. So my language is hurting from it and our numbers are dropping each week, but we are trying and I feel bad cuz I hardly help and we don’t get much stuff done like we did my first week or 2 when it was still cool. I don’t feel great about this. Heather gets mentioned all the time - the elders all ask about that nice ring I have on every day and I say my wonderful girlfriend back home gave it to me. :) Its cool and I am a legend here now cuz I am the biggest elder in the mission! I saw my first companion from the MTC. He is back now. He was in the MTC for 16 weeks! Crazy! We are going to go hang out today and see some cool stuff in Kiev. I wish I had more time on the computer. On google earth go to 50.25.33. north and 30.24.50. east and you can see where I live! Don’t type it in like that but just look at the numbers and you can see my apartment. I am on the 10th floor. I wanted to send pics but this computer wont let me upload. Maybe next time. I will try next time. But hey, I love you guys, I will catch you next week with maybe something cool… maybe.
April 26
Sorry this is a day late - Yeah I missed you guys too! Elder Holland came and spoke to use so our day was way cool but way different it was way, way, way cool though. The spirit was so strong and after, yeah, he punched me in the arm. :) He is like a big kid, but a prophet, seer, and revelator. Ok so yeah, the baptism did not happen due to the bishop not wanting it to go down, so we talked to the mish pres and he said wait a bit, cuz if the bishop does not want him to be baptized, we could still do it, but it’s the bishop that makes the call for the gift of the holy ghost, and if Sasha cant get that it would be really bad, so we are waiting it out and going to prove to the bishop that he is a worthy man and he wants to be baptized. Its not for us to say he cant if he is worthy. Not too much going - on same old stuff, so I will catch you later. But some things I cant get here are peanut butter and taco seasoning, but if I am lucky I can find ranch dressing. Its super hard to find though. Maple syrup can not be found so some missionaries have mapeline or something like that. Also no root beer here soda but some missionaries have root beer extract or something and just make it. I will try to make a list of stuff you cant get here if you want to know.I will catch you all later. The pic is of Nastya Burinchenko (Heather's friend) and I in the Mission Office.
April 18th
Well let’s see…I am doing well. I don’t know if I am still getting thinner - hope not. It’s still kind of chilly here most of the day. We still have some weird things going on in the mission that I will tell you about sooner or later but we are keeping busy. Sasha is getting baptized this Saturday. That’s really, really cool. The mission needs 300 people and like 10 more great elders in the stake and then we can split it into 2 stakes! So sweet! And from what I understand they are getting ready for the temple hotel to go up so the temple is just around the corner. It will be so awesome when they start and Elder Holland is coming on the 25th. Its really cool he is going to be able to speak to us and we can bring investigators. This week I got to go to a celo. I thought we were going to plant potatoes, but we just cleaned some that they were selling, but it’s cool. The trip out there was crazy! A 30min marshrootka ride, then another, and then we had to find this lady’s place that was hard. It took like 2 hours almost to find the place, but I got some good food and I tried their celo. It’s like bones and fat from like all things boiled then skinned and sits in the fridge and makes this thick layer of fat. I had some it was a little weird and I had some kvass - it’s like a fermented bread drink. Not breaking the word of wisdom at all, but its not that good. It sounds great to you all I am sure! ;) And yeah - that lady kissed me on the cheek 2 times from the side! I did not even know it was coming! I was sitting, trying to eat and bam! She got me! But yeah, that’s my update and I miss you all!
Well let’s see…I am doing well. I don’t know if I am still getting thinner - hope not. It’s still kind of chilly here most of the day. We still have some weird things going on in the mission that I will tell you about sooner or later but we are keeping busy. Sasha is getting baptized this Saturday. That’s really, really cool. The mission needs 300 people and like 10 more great elders in the stake and then we can split it into 2 stakes! So sweet! And from what I understand they are getting ready for the temple hotel to go up so the temple is just around the corner. It will be so awesome when they start and Elder Holland is coming on the 25th. Its really cool he is going to be able to speak to us and we can bring investigators. This week I got to go to a celo. I thought we were going to plant potatoes, but we just cleaned some that they were selling, but it’s cool. The trip out there was crazy! A 30min marshrootka ride, then another, and then we had to find this lady’s place that was hard. It took like 2 hours almost to find the place, but I got some good food and I tried their celo. It’s like bones and fat from like all things boiled then skinned and sits in the fridge and makes this thick layer of fat. I had some it was a little weird and I had some kvass - it’s like a fermented bread drink. Not breaking the word of wisdom at all, but its not that good. It sounds great to you all I am sure! ;) And yeah - that lady kissed me on the cheek 2 times from the side! I did not even know it was coming! I was sitting, trying to eat and bam! She got me! But yeah, that’s my update and I miss you all!
April 11, 2007
It has been crazy here in Kiev! I can tell you some things but hey, Ukraine is cool. Parliament fell and there have been demonstrations all over Kiev. We are not in danger from it though. We stay away from the areas where it’s crazy like Midon and stuff but yeah, its cool.
My foot is still hurting - the left heel is anyhow.
Pouch mail goes to Utah then gets mailed out from there so I need USA stamps to send them pouch. I kind of want to see that pic of me when I got here. Please forward the email to me so I can see.
I have been eating well but not as much as I had been back home or in the MTC so I lost like 5-6 kilos or about 11-13.2 pounds in the first 19 days here in Ukraine - crazy! I went on exchanges with the zone leader the other day. His apartment is so sweet! We have a nice one but he has a better bathroom and better flooring. I want his apartment but with a microwave added.
Here soon we are closing 10 areas in the mission and we are losing a lot of sisters. Apparently no sisters are going on missions. It will be very hard to pick up the slack when they are gone.
We have a baptism in like 13 days with Sasha. It will be cool - he is a great guy. You see him and he has his head down, seems quiet and shy, but he knows what’s going on. You ask him about what he just learned and he will comment. We ask him to read the BoM and he does. He comes to church, its great and whenever he comments about anything about the church he smiles. It’s really awesome. Other then that I still cant talk about some things yet, but who knows…could be any day to any month before I can talk about it - Cliffhanger! It’s Crazy!
It has been crazy here in Kiev! I can tell you some things but hey, Ukraine is cool. Parliament fell and there have been demonstrations all over Kiev. We are not in danger from it though. We stay away from the areas where it’s crazy like Midon and stuff but yeah, its cool.
My foot is still hurting - the left heel is anyhow.
Pouch mail goes to Utah then gets mailed out from there so I need USA stamps to send them pouch. I kind of want to see that pic of me when I got here. Please forward the email to me so I can see.
I have been eating well but not as much as I had been back home or in the MTC so I lost like 5-6 kilos or about 11-13.2 pounds in the first 19 days here in Ukraine - crazy! I went on exchanges with the zone leader the other day. His apartment is so sweet! We have a nice one but he has a better bathroom and better flooring. I want his apartment but with a microwave added.
Here soon we are closing 10 areas in the mission and we are losing a lot of sisters. Apparently no sisters are going on missions. It will be very hard to pick up the slack when they are gone.
We have a baptism in like 13 days with Sasha. It will be cool - he is a great guy. You see him and he has his head down, seems quiet and shy, but he knows what’s going on. You ask him about what he just learned and he will comment. We ask him to read the BoM and he does. He comes to church, its great and whenever he comments about anything about the church he smiles. It’s really awesome. Other then that I still cant talk about some things yet, but who knows…could be any day to any month before I can talk about it - Cliffhanger! It’s Crazy!
April 4, 2007
Let’s see…crazy things going on over here, but its all good. Well my companion’s name is Elder Newbold and he is awesome but he leaves the seat down. J I will live. I am eating well. The only things we cant eat here are fish and mushrooms, so I am ok. I get granola, yogurt, an orange, and some kind of juice every morning and pizza pockets every day thanks to our cook Natasha (that was once Heather’s companion), but she cant cook for us anymore for the time being due to some funny rules, but maybe she will soon again. And regarding my MTC injures I am fine, no more pain, I am all good. I have been for a while. Jet lag is all gone. I am staying busy or trying to. The language is hard. Most people speak Russian and I don’t know how things conjugate so I don’t know what they are saying most of the time unless its infinitive or nominative. I love when people speak Ukrainian! It sounds so cool and I understand a lil bit. Lol! I have birthday cards for gramie, mom, and Jesi, but they need to get sent and they are in Russian – lol - so have fun reading them! It will take about 10 days to get there as soon as I get stamps to send them off. If you send a package send some stamps so I can send stuff pouch back home. Otherwise I need international stamps to send stuff home. But other then that, check out the news for Ukraine, hint hint. I love it here, I really do. I love you all! I need to check a few things and email the mission Pres. Peace!
Let’s see…crazy things going on over here, but its all good. Well my companion’s name is Elder Newbold and he is awesome but he leaves the seat down. J I will live. I am eating well. The only things we cant eat here are fish and mushrooms, so I am ok. I get granola, yogurt, an orange, and some kind of juice every morning and pizza pockets every day thanks to our cook Natasha (that was once Heather’s companion), but she cant cook for us anymore for the time being due to some funny rules, but maybe she will soon again. And regarding my MTC injures I am fine, no more pain, I am all good. I have been for a while. Jet lag is all gone. I am staying busy or trying to. The language is hard. Most people speak Russian and I don’t know how things conjugate so I don’t know what they are saying most of the time unless its infinitive or nominative. I love when people speak Ukrainian! It sounds so cool and I understand a lil bit. Lol! I have birthday cards for gramie, mom, and Jesi, but they need to get sent and they are in Russian – lol - so have fun reading them! It will take about 10 days to get there as soon as I get stamps to send them off. If you send a package send some stamps so I can send stuff pouch back home. Otherwise I need international stamps to send stuff home. But other then that, check out the news for Ukraine, hint hint. I love it here, I really do. I love you all! I need to check a few things and email the mission Pres. Peace!
Where to begin…its awesome here – I’m still a little jet lagged but I am ok. My feet hurt! We tract and contact for hours and hours each day, just sharing our message. It’s pretty cool.
Here's my first picture in Ukraine - me with President and Sister Davis.
Please have people email me before my prep day each week and not huge emails. Today is the 28 (I’m sure you know already.) I am told to only email my mom. Apparently you can still send dear elder letters. They go in the pouch to Ukraine, so every Monday I can pick them up in the office. Cool right? All my mail needs to get mailed to the mission office - you have that info right? I am told all mailed letters take about 10 days to get to the office and pouch takes a few weeks sometimes. All of the pouch letters get opened because people were breaking the rules so if you send it pouch it will be opened, but its all good.
Well we are in an area where we tract and contact all day and we have two progressing investigators and a few that could be we still stay pretty busy though. It’s day 7 and my feet hurt really bad! One is all red on the heel and the other has a cut on the top of my foot. The more I walk the more it hurts.
I just want to say I love you all and miss you very much and want to talk to you so send me a few emails! Now I only get 1 hour a week so don’t over do it! I love you! I will talk to you later! I miss you! I love you! Good-bye!
Ps… I met Sestra Nastya Burinchenko here and one of Heather's old native companions cooked for us she is kind of tall and Ukrainian and her name is Natasha! Ok, I am over on my time - I love you! Good-bye
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