Well, I don't have a lot of time today, so unfortunately I'm going to have to keep this short. Hello everyone! Things here are going well. Our investigator, Oleg, is quickly approaching his baptismal date this Saturday, although there is some question about whether or not he's ready. He's had several proposed dates already that have all fallen through, but we have felt very strongly that he's ready for this one. Until a couple days ago, that is, when he started bringing up some kind of strange concerns, mostly dealing with his feelings toward women. He has some odd feelings all around, but the big question now is: is his understanding good enough that he is ready for baptism? People don't need to be perfect to be baptised, but they do need a certain understanding. He's been getting better and better in his understanding of the gospel, so we're hoping he's to that point.
Well, I'm sorry again, but that's all the time I have. I hope you all have a good week, and I love you all!
--Elder Hurst
Godjagova! (May 19, 2008)
So, unfortunately, thanks to an evaluation I had to fill out about our english programs here, I don't have a lot of time to write today, but there's one story I really have to share.
So, last Friday we were walking home when all of a sudden came a voice in English behind us saying, "Good morning!" After checing my watch to make sure it was indeed 4 in the afternoon, I answered, "Good morning..." I turned to see a rather large man in his 20's jogging up. He told us his name was Bogdan, which he translated as "God giving." (I think it means "Gift of God," or something close to that). He asked us if we were American or English, and we told him that we were Americans. He then saw our Books of Mormon and asked to see one. I tried to hand it to him, but I guess he changed his mind and told me to show him the last verse in the book. I started flipping through the index to get to the last verse, but he stopped me and said, "No, no, the last verse," and turned back to the end of the index. He pointed triumphantly at the article called "Yafet," or "Japheth" in English (one of the sons of Noah--the father of the gentiles, by the way). As we stared in mild confusion, he asked me directly, "Are you a citizen of America, or did you live there illegally?" I told him that I was a citizen, trying to hold back a smile, and then he replied with another question: "What is the tract between the Bible and the Book of Mormon?" We stared blankly, trying to translate it into Ukrainian to figure out what he was trying to say, when he said, "Well, I see you don't speak Ukrainian OR English very well." Trying to speed up the conversation, I asked him if he was interested in our English classes, but he laughed and said, "I study English from the supreme creator of the language." He then started backing away, then raised his arm and pumped his fist in the air and said, "Godjagova!"
It took us almost two minutes, but we realized that, rather than cursing us in Hindu like we initially thought, he actually said "God Jehovah," but with an odd combination of English and Russian pronunciation (there is no "h" sound in Russian, so "Jehovah" is "Yegova"). We walked on for a little while until we saw him waiting ahead of us, talking into a walkie talkie with a rediculously long antennae. As we approached, he said (and try not to strain yourselves too much finding meaning in these words), "One more question. How do you say 'vsesvit' in English?" We answered--"universe"--and he said, "Exactly. There is the universe, right? And Jegovah has a galaxy, the chomatsky shlyakh (milky way). Earth--the fourth planet from the sun, right?" (We decided to let it slide and just see where this was going). "Plate tectonics." He pointed at me and asked, "You know what tectonics are, right?" I nodded. "Good. Ukraine has oblasts, which are like states, right? United States of Ukraine. Our grand city, Ivano-Frankivsk." He pointed at the road. "This is an avenue, right?" We nodded hesitantly. He then held up his hands as if he had just made the final, most fail-proof argument in a drawn-out debate, turned, and walked off and out of our lives. Just another day in Ivano.
I love you all, and have a good week!
--Elder Hurst
So, last Friday we were walking home when all of a sudden came a voice in English behind us saying, "Good morning!" After checing my watch to make sure it was indeed 4 in the afternoon, I answered, "Good morning..." I turned to see a rather large man in his 20's jogging up. He told us his name was Bogdan, which he translated as "God giving." (I think it means "Gift of God," or something close to that). He asked us if we were American or English, and we told him that we were Americans. He then saw our Books of Mormon and asked to see one. I tried to hand it to him, but I guess he changed his mind and told me to show him the last verse in the book. I started flipping through the index to get to the last verse, but he stopped me and said, "No, no, the last verse," and turned back to the end of the index. He pointed triumphantly at the article called "Yafet," or "Japheth" in English (one of the sons of Noah--the father of the gentiles, by the way). As we stared in mild confusion, he asked me directly, "Are you a citizen of America, or did you live there illegally?" I told him that I was a citizen, trying to hold back a smile, and then he replied with another question: "What is the tract between the Bible and the Book of Mormon?" We stared blankly, trying to translate it into Ukrainian to figure out what he was trying to say, when he said, "Well, I see you don't speak Ukrainian OR English very well." Trying to speed up the conversation, I asked him if he was interested in our English classes, but he laughed and said, "I study English from the supreme creator of the language." He then started backing away, then raised his arm and pumped his fist in the air and said, "Godjagova!"
It took us almost two minutes, but we realized that, rather than cursing us in Hindu like we initially thought, he actually said "God Jehovah," but with an odd combination of English and Russian pronunciation (there is no "h" sound in Russian, so "Jehovah" is "Yegova"). We walked on for a little while until we saw him waiting ahead of us, talking into a walkie talkie with a rediculously long antennae. As we approached, he said (and try not to strain yourselves too much finding meaning in these words), "One more question. How do you say 'vsesvit' in English?" We answered--"universe"--and he said, "Exactly. There is the universe, right? And Jegovah has a galaxy, the chomatsky shlyakh (milky way). Earth--the fourth planet from the sun, right?" (We decided to let it slide and just see where this was going). "Plate tectonics." He pointed at me and asked, "You know what tectonics are, right?" I nodded. "Good. Ukraine has oblasts, which are like states, right? United States of Ukraine. Our grand city, Ivano-Frankivsk." He pointed at the road. "This is an avenue, right?" We nodded hesitantly. He then held up his hands as if he had just made the final, most fail-proof argument in a drawn-out debate, turned, and walked off and out of our lives. Just another day in Ivano.
I love you all, and have a good week!
--Elder Hurst
Switch! (May 14, 2008)
Hello everyone! This week I've got a little announcement: our P-Days have been switched! As of next week, I'll be sending emails every Monday instead of Wednesday. So, apparently, this isn't just from our mission, or our area, but it's a worldwide change. Weird, huh? So, I only have to wait about 5 days until next p-day.
In other news, last Sunday was Mother's Day, and I was very excited to get to talk with everyone! I'm glad to hear that everyone's doing well and having fun back in the USA.
We've been doing a lot of work recently in a selo called Nadvirna, and it's really cool how it's been working out. Yesterday, we had a lesson where we got two new investigators and gave another investigator a baptismal date. Soon we'll start doing sports days and English practice out there. Cool stuff!
Well, I need to get going already, but I love you all, and I hope you all have a fantastic week!
Love,
--Elder Hurst
In other news, last Sunday was Mother's Day, and I was very excited to get to talk with everyone! I'm glad to hear that everyone's doing well and having fun back in the USA.
We've been doing a lot of work recently in a selo called Nadvirna, and it's really cool how it's been working out. Yesterday, we had a lesson where we got two new investigators and gave another investigator a baptismal date. Soon we'll start doing sports days and English practice out there. Cool stuff!
Well, I need to get going already, but I love you all, and I hope you all have a fantastic week!
Love,
--Elder Hurst
Rebuilding the branch, stealing the show (May 7, 2008)
Hello again everyone! Now, before I write the rest of my email and forget about this completely, let me get the mother's day information down in its entirety:
The calls will be on Sunday, May 11.
DAD: You will call at 6:50 AM PST (4:50pm here)
MOM: You will call at 10:30 AM MST (7:30 pm here)
THE PHONE NUMBER IS:
011-38-034-272-17-04
All right! That'll be a LOT of fun. I can't believe that after Sunday, the next time I hear your voices, I'll be looking at your faces too. That's a strange thought.
So, the branch reorganization went well. We were very worried that the old branch president would be offended and go inactive, but President Davis handled things very well, and everything's looking good for the future. Our plans to work with members have already started to work, as our elders' quorum president wants us to go and meet his friend and his wife. We also have been getting a lot of good work in a selo called Nadvirna, which also just happens to have some of the most beautiful nature nearby that I've seen. Our investigator Oleg lives out there, and he gave us a guided nature hike tour through a forest and the foothills of the Carpathian mountains. To anyone who's ever thinking of coming to Ukraine, I highly recommend it.
So, here's the highlight of the week. There's a young man named Misha who comes to our English classes. About a month ago, he told us that he was a musician and he'd be having a concert on May 6, and he wanted us to go. Being missionaries, we were pretty certain that we couldn't, but we didn't want to seem too mean so we told him to ask the senior couple here, the Hinkles. Now, the Hinkles are really cool, but if there's one thing they're strict on, it's music. So imagine our surprise when Sister Hinkle comes to us after English one night and says that she heard some of Misha's music, liked it, and gave us permission to go. So, last night Elder and SIster HInkle, Sisters Vershinina and Mills, and Elder Budge and I went to a crowded club called Chimera and got to see Misha's concert. Misha, halfway through, told the crowd he had some American friends there that night, and that he wanted to sing some English songs, including "Behind Blue Eyes" by the Who (except he did the Limp Bizkit version). After the song, the house announcer asked if anyone had questions for Misha; after a few minutes of silence, Misha suggested that his American friends might want to ask him something, and that he could talk to us in English. The house announcer guy (a really annoying MTV-wannabe in a white polo shirt) laughed, said "This is a concert for us Ukrainians, not Americans," then consented and pulled Elder Budge and I on stage in front of the room of people. So there we were, white shirts, ties, and nametags, standing in front of a room of young concert goers and one very obnoxious announcer guy. I turned to Misha and said, "Nu, po pershy, dyakuyu za zaproshenya," which means "Well, first of all, thanks for the invitation." The crowd, and especially the announcer man, weren't expecting us to know anything but English, so everyone starting cheering. I asked Misha how long he'd played guitar, and he answered in English that he'd been playing since he was ten. I turned to the crowd and said, "Vin skazav, sho vin pochinav koly yomu bulo desyat rokiv," which means, "He said he started when he was ten years old." The crowd cheered and clapped, and Elder Budge and I beat a hasty retreat off the stage. That seems to have been my fifteen minutes of fame right there, so I'm pretty sure the rest of my life is a downhill slope. The good news is, Sister Vershinina got it all on camera.
Well, that's been life in Ivano this week. I hope you all have a great week, and I can't wait to talk with you again!
--Elder Hurst
The calls will be on Sunday, May 11.
DAD: You will call at 6:50 AM PST (4:50pm here)
MOM: You will call at 10:30 AM MST (7:30 pm here)
THE PHONE NUMBER IS:
011-38-034-272-17-04
All right! That'll be a LOT of fun. I can't believe that after Sunday, the next time I hear your voices, I'll be looking at your faces too. That's a strange thought.
So, the branch reorganization went well. We were very worried that the old branch president would be offended and go inactive, but President Davis handled things very well, and everything's looking good for the future. Our plans to work with members have already started to work, as our elders' quorum president wants us to go and meet his friend and his wife. We also have been getting a lot of good work in a selo called Nadvirna, which also just happens to have some of the most beautiful nature nearby that I've seen. Our investigator Oleg lives out there, and he gave us a guided nature hike tour through a forest and the foothills of the Carpathian mountains. To anyone who's ever thinking of coming to Ukraine, I highly recommend it.
So, here's the highlight of the week. There's a young man named Misha who comes to our English classes. About a month ago, he told us that he was a musician and he'd be having a concert on May 6, and he wanted us to go. Being missionaries, we were pretty certain that we couldn't, but we didn't want to seem too mean so we told him to ask the senior couple here, the Hinkles. Now, the Hinkles are really cool, but if there's one thing they're strict on, it's music. So imagine our surprise when Sister Hinkle comes to us after English one night and says that she heard some of Misha's music, liked it, and gave us permission to go. So, last night Elder and SIster HInkle, Sisters Vershinina and Mills, and Elder Budge and I went to a crowded club called Chimera and got to see Misha's concert. Misha, halfway through, told the crowd he had some American friends there that night, and that he wanted to sing some English songs, including "Behind Blue Eyes" by the Who (except he did the Limp Bizkit version). After the song, the house announcer asked if anyone had questions for Misha; after a few minutes of silence, Misha suggested that his American friends might want to ask him something, and that he could talk to us in English. The house announcer guy (a really annoying MTV-wannabe in a white polo shirt) laughed, said "This is a concert for us Ukrainians, not Americans," then consented and pulled Elder Budge and I on stage in front of the room of people. So there we were, white shirts, ties, and nametags, standing in front of a room of young concert goers and one very obnoxious announcer guy. I turned to Misha and said, "Nu, po pershy, dyakuyu za zaproshenya," which means "Well, first of all, thanks for the invitation." The crowd, and especially the announcer man, weren't expecting us to know anything but English, so everyone starting cheering. I asked Misha how long he'd played guitar, and he answered in English that he'd been playing since he was ten. I turned to the crowd and said, "Vin skazav, sho vin pochinav koly yomu bulo desyat rokiv," which means, "He said he started when he was ten years old." The crowd cheered and clapped, and Elder Budge and I beat a hasty retreat off the stage. That seems to have been my fifteen minutes of fame right there, so I'm pretty sure the rest of my life is a downhill slope. The good news is, Sister Vershinina got it all on camera.
Well, that's been life in Ivano this week. I hope you all have a great week, and I can't wait to talk with you again!
--Elder Hurst
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