Hello again! The weather’s warm, the sun is shining, and I’m stressed out. Tomorrow morning two sister missionaries will be transferred in here, which will be nice except for the fact that we were expecting them two weeks from tomorrow. On top of that, we have had rent and other money troubles with the mission office, we’ve had to pack and clean a whole lot quicker than originally planned, an expensive water filter that used to be in this city has gone missing, someone from our English class wants us to spend P-Day in a village with him and won’t take no for an answer, and I found out that I have to translate for President Davis when he comes to Ivano on Sunday to tell the branch something (we haven’t heard exactly what yet) that has been described as this: “It will divide the branch between the people who are loyal to the leadership, and the people who are loyal to the church”—and I’ll be translating it. So, basically, this has been a busy morning.
Earlier this week we had zone conference, which was a lot of fun. We rode up on a train with missionaries from a nearby city, Chernivtsi, so we got to spend some time with them and have fun together. While there, we learned about working with members of the church to find and teach investigators. President Gibbons from the area presidency was there with us, and he is a very, very wise man. He reminded us about when President Hinckley announced that he wanted the number of convert baptisms to double, then told us some interesting statistics relative to that. Apparently, if the church wanted to accomplish that using only the media department, then the media budget would need to be multiplied by 13; if they wanted to do that by missionaries, the number of missionaries would need to be multiplied by 6; if they wanted to do that by member referrals, the number of referrals would need to be multiplied by 2. We also talked about reasons why members are nervous or hesitant to do so, and they’re all valid, but with some work they can be overcome. The biggest is that members just don’t know what to say (that was my huge problem before the mission). So, what we’ll be doing is meeting with members and role playing with them about how to do this. We’ll give examples and tips, and then they’ll practice on us for a while until they feel confident enough to go do it themselves for real. Role playing’s always kind of awkward, but it’s very effective, and it’ll help out a lot—especially in Ukraine, where people have next to no idea of how to share gospel messages with their friends. So, for those of you out there who are members of the church, I want to issue an invitation to talk to your local missionaries and ask them to meet with you and help you practice how to talk with friends about the gospel (if they’re good missionaries, they’ll agree wholeheartedly); then, once that’s been done, feel free to apply what you learn!
So, apparently Mother’s Day is coming up soon, so here’s our call information:
The calls will be on Sunday, May 11.
DAD: You will call at 8:00 AM PST (6:00 pm here)
MOM: You will call at 10:30 AM MST (7:30 pm here)
If your parents call from the U.S.A. and Canada then they need to dial
011-38-Area code- Phone#
The fun news is, we’re moving tomorrow, so I don’t know what our new phone number is going to be yet. But, as soon as I find out, I will let you know very quickly.
Thanks for everything! I love you all, and I hope you all have a great week!
--Elder Hurst
Pictures! (Apr 23, 2008)
Hello again! Things in Ivano are about like usual--wet. We've had about 2 days of nice weather mixed with 6 days of bad weather (and yes, I know that equals 8, that's how bad the bad weather's been).
Also, something happened this week that has never happened before that I can remember. It's something bizarre and strange. Something almost terrifying. The other day, while at the Hinckles' apartment, I ate a sandwich with a large tomato slice on it...and I liked it. I'll try not to make a habit of it, but it worried me all the same.
So, today I have pictures again!
So, in our English class we had a lesson about pirates, and we all made little pirate hats. Except for a couple less fun people, we all wore them the entire class.
One of our investigators is Oleg. He's a really interesting guy who's very well-read. He's also the guy who doesn't believe in the atonement. He's very nice and very fun to talk to, and just yesterday we got his wife to start meeting with us as well.
Brother Pleshinsky is the first councilor in the branch presidency and a really good man. He has two young daughters and is a great father; but, his faith is kind of shaky lately, so we've been helping him and asking him to help us, including being on lessons with us and our investigator Volodya.
There's a shooting range here in Ivano that advertizes by saying "Blow your bad feelings away."
We got to watch conference finally, and it was amazing! I really liked Elder Holland's talk about an open canon of scripture, and President Monson's closing words. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be in Ukraine for the next conference also; hopefully I'll be somewhere where I can watch it a little bit timelier.
Well, that's it for me. Have a nice week!
--Elder Hurst
Also, something happened this week that has never happened before that I can remember. It's something bizarre and strange. Something almost terrifying. The other day, while at the Hinckles' apartment, I ate a sandwich with a large tomato slice on it...and I liked it. I'll try not to make a habit of it, but it worried me all the same.
So, today I have pictures again!
So, in our English class we had a lesson about pirates, and we all made little pirate hats. Except for a couple less fun people, we all wore them the entire class.
One of our investigators is Oleg. He's a really interesting guy who's very well-read. He's also the guy who doesn't believe in the atonement. He's very nice and very fun to talk to, and just yesterday we got his wife to start meeting with us as well.
Brother Pleshinsky is the first councilor in the branch presidency and a really good man. He has two young daughters and is a great father; but, his faith is kind of shaky lately, so we've been helping him and asking him to help us, including being on lessons with us and our investigator Volodya.
There's a shooting range here in Ivano that advertizes by saying "Blow your bad feelings away."
We got to watch conference finally, and it was amazing! I really liked Elder Holland's talk about an open canon of scripture, and President Monson's closing words. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be in Ukraine for the next conference also; hopefully I'll be somewhere where I can watch it a little bit timelier.
Well, that's it for me. Have a nice week!
--Elder Hurst
A cottage in the wilderness outside Ivano (Apr 16, 2008)
Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a good week. Ivano’s been pretty bipolar recently between hot and sunny, and cold and rainy (which is how it is today…). Personally I’d be fine with it picking just one or the other, as long as it picked hot and sunny…
We’ve been pretty busy this week; in fact, we’ve been REALLY busy. We’re the only missionaries in Ivano except for the senior couple, and since they don’t speak any Ukrainian, their abilities here are limited. This all means that a lot of responsibility falls our way; and as senior companion and district leader, a lot of that responsibility falls right on me. It’d be kind of fun if it weren’t for the little times that always spring up where we realize that nothing in our plans is working and everything’s falling apart. Actually, I really like the busy life. I’ve had the opposite before, and trust me, contacting all day every day isn’t a fun way to spend a transfer.
So, one of our tasks has been finding an apartment for when sister missionaries come in next transfer. We’ve been seeing a lot of apartments all over the city and have been visiting a lot of different real estate agencies (it’s almost impossible, if not fully impossible, to find an apartment without an agency here). So, a day or two ago, we met with a real estate agent who told us that she had the perfect place for us. The three of us got on a marshrutka and started traveling. First, we passed by where the Hinckle’s live near the center of town, and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if the apartment was right next to theirs?” But we kept going past that stop. Then, we went past our old apartment building, and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if she showed us the apartment we moved out of last transfer?” But we kept going past it. Next, we past our branch president’s building near the edge of town, and I thought, “We have to be going here. Otherwise we won’t even be in the city.” But we kept going. Eventually, about ten minutes later, we arrived at a small run-down cottage with a very angry german shepherd in a small cage out front. We were taken on a tour of the place, including the bathtub (right next to the front door, as in, in the hallway next to the front door), the water pump (out in the front yard area), and the large field where we could grow our crops. (You’ll notice I didn’t mention them showing us the bathroom. You see, you need to HAVE a bathroom to show it to people.) We decided against it.
Well, I’m out of time already. Things are going really well here. I love you all, and I hope you have a good week!
--Elder Hurst
We’ve been pretty busy this week; in fact, we’ve been REALLY busy. We’re the only missionaries in Ivano except for the senior couple, and since they don’t speak any Ukrainian, their abilities here are limited. This all means that a lot of responsibility falls our way; and as senior companion and district leader, a lot of that responsibility falls right on me. It’d be kind of fun if it weren’t for the little times that always spring up where we realize that nothing in our plans is working and everything’s falling apart. Actually, I really like the busy life. I’ve had the opposite before, and trust me, contacting all day every day isn’t a fun way to spend a transfer.
So, one of our tasks has been finding an apartment for when sister missionaries come in next transfer. We’ve been seeing a lot of apartments all over the city and have been visiting a lot of different real estate agencies (it’s almost impossible, if not fully impossible, to find an apartment without an agency here). So, a day or two ago, we met with a real estate agent who told us that she had the perfect place for us. The three of us got on a marshrutka and started traveling. First, we passed by where the Hinckle’s live near the center of town, and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if the apartment was right next to theirs?” But we kept going past that stop. Then, we went past our old apartment building, and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if she showed us the apartment we moved out of last transfer?” But we kept going past it. Next, we past our branch president’s building near the edge of town, and I thought, “We have to be going here. Otherwise we won’t even be in the city.” But we kept going. Eventually, about ten minutes later, we arrived at a small run-down cottage with a very angry german shepherd in a small cage out front. We were taken on a tour of the place, including the bathtub (right next to the front door, as in, in the hallway next to the front door), the water pump (out in the front yard area), and the large field where we could grow our crops. (You’ll notice I didn’t mention them showing us the bathroom. You see, you need to HAVE a bathroom to show it to people.) We decided against it.
Well, I’m out of time already. Things are going really well here. I love you all, and I hope you have a good week!
--Elder Hurst
Transfer 12 (Apr 9, 2008)
Hello again everyone! Things have been going pretty well here, as usual. The weather was incredibly nice yesterday, which was expecially fun because we went to a village to see one of our investigators, Oleg. He used to be the other elders', but now he's been transfered to us since we're the only ones here anymore. He had a baptismal date, but after our meeting yesterday, that'll probably have to change. He's a really great guy, and he knows the scriptures really well. He has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and he reads and prays daily. However, as it turns out, he doesn't believe in the atonement at all. He says it isn't just that Christ could take upon himself all of our sins, and that he feels that the only person who can suffer for his personal sins is he himself. He also believes very strongly that God and Christ are spirits, believing that when they visit the earth, the elements combine around them to form temporary earthly bodies that sort of dissipate after they leave. He also has some strange views about his family; he doesn't like his wife much at all, and he fells that she's more of a temporary earth wife, and that there's a spirit wife waiting for him in heaven. I've never met someone with these concerns and yet a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon; it's almost entirely in reverse of what commonly occurs. I'm also very interested in how these concerns didn't come up earlier in his teaching.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to watch conference. That's one of the downsides of serving on the fringe of the church's influence in Ukraine. We've gotten permission to watch conference on the internet at our senior couple's apartment during less effective times of the week, and in about three weeks or so, the church will send the branch a DVD with the Ukrainian translations, so soon enough I'll know what everyone else already does. I've learned on my mission to really enjoy conference, and I was a little disappointed not to be able to see it. However, what I've heard I've really enjoyed, especially Elder Bednar saying "The missionaries are full-time teachers; the members are full-time missionaries." Good stuff!
We're going to be very busy this transfer. Already, our days are packed with things to do. I love it! There's nothing worse than having a spare hour or two with nothing planned.
All right, I should probably get going. I love you all, and next week I'll send some pictures (and maybe videos)!
Love,
--Elder Hurst
Unfortunately, we weren't able to watch conference. That's one of the downsides of serving on the fringe of the church's influence in Ukraine. We've gotten permission to watch conference on the internet at our senior couple's apartment during less effective times of the week, and in about three weeks or so, the church will send the branch a DVD with the Ukrainian translations, so soon enough I'll know what everyone else already does. I've learned on my mission to really enjoy conference, and I was a little disappointed not to be able to see it. However, what I've heard I've really enjoyed, especially Elder Bednar saying "The missionaries are full-time teachers; the members are full-time missionaries." Good stuff!
We're going to be very busy this transfer. Already, our days are packed with things to do. I love it! There's nothing worse than having a spare hour or two with nothing planned.
All right, I should probably get going. I love you all, and next week I'll send some pictures (and maybe videos)!
Love,
--Elder Hurst
Charades in Ukraine=hilarious (Apr 2, 2008)
Hello everyone! I hope you’ve all had a good week. The weather in Ivano has drastically improved; the sky’s been blue, the sun is shining, birds are singing, and you almost don’t have to wear your big winter coat. Until yesterday, of course, when the rain started again (and still hasn’t really stopped).
Last Friday at 4 in the morning my companion, Elder Horne, and another missionary here, Elder Hokanson, already got shipped off to Chernivtsi, where they will spending next transfer, leaving me here with Elder Lewis, my MTC companion. This is the 3rd time on our missions we’ve served together, although it’s only until tomorrow. Then, the only missionaries in the entire city besides ourselves will be the senior couple, the Hinckles. Basically, I’m going to be in control of the missionary work in the entire city and all outlying villages in the area. In other words, I’m going to be very, very busy. Which will be good; I really like this kind of situation. I had the same kind of situation in Sviatoshinsky when I served there, and it was a lot of fun. Also, I’ve discovered the secret to having a happy mission: when you’re busy, not only are you too busy thinking the work to think about home or anything like that, not only does the time seem to go by quicker, but you actually enjoy it; while on the other hand, missionaries who waste time and screw around seem to be the ones complaining the loudest about how long their missions are taking, and how little they like them.
The Hinckles have started a marriage and family relations course here, and I’ve been assigned to translate for them. It’s great, because not only is it a great tool for finding people who are interested in hearing about the gospel, but I also get a lot of free advice about marriage. Basically, the main thing I’ve learned so far is that I’m very, very grateful I served a mission and didn’t just get married, because I knew just about absolutely nothing about marriage before I came here. It’s still quite a ways off into the future, and to be entirely honest it still scares me to think about, but I think one of the greatest blessings I’ve gotten since I’ve been out has been preparation for my future family. In fact, I realized the other day while looking at my patriarchal blessing that the largest section in it (besides the introductory paragraph, which for some reason is really big) isn’t about my mission or anything like that, but about my future family.
Changing gears a little, we had a great family home evening on Monday. We always have FHE at the Hinckles for any members who don’t have families of their own, or for investigators; and there’s one member who comes there, Andriy Kolyaskin, who I can only describe by saying he talks LIKE THIS! He’s pretty strange. He can’t really control the volume or pitch of his voice for some reason, and he’s overall just kind of…odd. So, we were playing charades, and all of a sudden, about halfway through the game, Andriy guesses one of them right. We give him his card, and he starts acting out a monkey. I’m not sure how to describe it, but he certainly got into his role very well. He had his face scrunched up, his arms swinging around, and was making an odd, not-even-close-to-a-monkey kind of sound. We were laughing so hard we decided that the rest of the game we’d just give him the cards and have him act them all out. My favorites were “tea pot” and “telephone.” I have videos, by the way, on my camera. Remind me when I’m home to show them.
Well, I’d better get going. I love you all, and I hope you all have a good week!
--Elder Hurst
Last Friday at 4 in the morning my companion, Elder Horne, and another missionary here, Elder Hokanson, already got shipped off to Chernivtsi, where they will spending next transfer, leaving me here with Elder Lewis, my MTC companion. This is the 3rd time on our missions we’ve served together, although it’s only until tomorrow. Then, the only missionaries in the entire city besides ourselves will be the senior couple, the Hinckles. Basically, I’m going to be in control of the missionary work in the entire city and all outlying villages in the area. In other words, I’m going to be very, very busy. Which will be good; I really like this kind of situation. I had the same kind of situation in Sviatoshinsky when I served there, and it was a lot of fun. Also, I’ve discovered the secret to having a happy mission: when you’re busy, not only are you too busy thinking the work to think about home or anything like that, not only does the time seem to go by quicker, but you actually enjoy it; while on the other hand, missionaries who waste time and screw around seem to be the ones complaining the loudest about how long their missions are taking, and how little they like them.
The Hinckles have started a marriage and family relations course here, and I’ve been assigned to translate for them. It’s great, because not only is it a great tool for finding people who are interested in hearing about the gospel, but I also get a lot of free advice about marriage. Basically, the main thing I’ve learned so far is that I’m very, very grateful I served a mission and didn’t just get married, because I knew just about absolutely nothing about marriage before I came here. It’s still quite a ways off into the future, and to be entirely honest it still scares me to think about, but I think one of the greatest blessings I’ve gotten since I’ve been out has been preparation for my future family. In fact, I realized the other day while looking at my patriarchal blessing that the largest section in it (besides the introductory paragraph, which for some reason is really big) isn’t about my mission or anything like that, but about my future family.
Changing gears a little, we had a great family home evening on Monday. We always have FHE at the Hinckles for any members who don’t have families of their own, or for investigators; and there’s one member who comes there, Andriy Kolyaskin, who I can only describe by saying he talks LIKE THIS! He’s pretty strange. He can’t really control the volume or pitch of his voice for some reason, and he’s overall just kind of…odd. So, we were playing charades, and all of a sudden, about halfway through the game, Andriy guesses one of them right. We give him his card, and he starts acting out a monkey. I’m not sure how to describe it, but he certainly got into his role very well. He had his face scrunched up, his arms swinging around, and was making an odd, not-even-close-to-a-monkey kind of sound. We were laughing so hard we decided that the rest of the game we’d just give him the cards and have him act them all out. My favorites were “tea pot” and “telephone.” I have videos, by the way, on my camera. Remind me when I’m home to show them.
Well, I’d better get going. I love you all, and I hope you all have a good week!
--Elder Hurst
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
