Hello everyone! Well, I've got some exciting news. I don't know if you remember our investigator Andriy, but he was a man who came up to us on the street drunk and asking for money, and then as we met with him he sobered up and became a great investigator. Well, about three weeks ago, he had a relapse and started drinking again. We met him on the street, and he looked worse than he had when we first met him. It was really discouraging, but we recommitted him to stop drinking and kept meeting with him when we could. After about two or three days of drinking, he once again stopped drinking, and since that time became even more committed to stopping that habit. He told us that now, whenever he sees his old drinking friends on the street, he just crosses to the other side; he thinks about drinking like he thinks about spitting on the floor in someone's house. He told us that the feeling he gets when he drinks can't even compare to the feeling he gets when he's with us or at church. And this Saturday, he's going to get baptized!
This past weekend, we had the opportunity to visit a city called Uzhhorod. The first time I heard about it was at the very beginning of my mission, and ever since then I always wanted to go visit there. Unfortunately, only zone leaders in the city of L'viv got to go. So, I waited and waited, and it looked like it would never happen until last week when I got a phone call from L'viv asking if we could go in their stead. So, very happily we crossed over the Carpathian mountains and went within 30 kilometers of the Hungarian border to visit the little city. It was really cool, but we had to take a 12-hour-long bus ride to get there. Not fun.
Well, I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!
--Elder Hurst
Another week, another email
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a good week. I'm sorrow to hear that school's starting again...its kind of strange, actually, that that's happening again, it honestly seems like I just barely read the emails from last year saying that school's starting up again. Actually, to be entirely honest, it still feels like last October, for some reason. I think that's the point when time really sped up for me. It's going by lightning quick now, what with August being more than half over. I only have 1 more zone conference before the end...WEIRD.
So, this transfer we've decided that we're really going to focus on finding and baptizing a family, and something cool happened this week in this regard. Actually, the story starts about 3 weeks ago. We were running late and we had to get to the church, so we took a taxi from where we were (taxis are very cheap in Chernivtsi--about 10 gryven, or 2 dollars, on average). Our driver was a guy named Yuriy who had actually met with missionaries about 4 years ago. He'd been interested, but didn't really want to go anywhere with his teaching, and so he stopped meeting with them. We talked with him, and he was still not too interested, although he was very friendly and actually gave us his phone number. I called to set up with him, but he was busy and not too interested, and then I actually lost his number and couldn't call him back. At the time I didn't think too much of it--we get a lot of numbers of people who aren't actually all that interested, so I didn't feel bad losing it. So, earlier this week we had to take a taxi again, and it just happened to be his. We got to talking and he mentioned that he was married, and that that same week his wife had just given birth to a baby boy! After his son was born, Yuriy really started thinking about religion again and actually began rereading all of the information he had gotten years ago. When we reached our apartment, he turned off the car and asked if we could just talk for a while. After about 15 minutes of talking, he said he really wanted us to go over to meet his family and have a lesson with them. We set up with him for next Sunday evening!
Things overall are going really well here. This Saturday and Sunday morning we may get to go to a little town called Uzhhorod, down on the other side of the Carpathians by Hungary. I've been wanting to go there since my 1st transfer in country. I am SO excited.
Well, I think that's all the news for today. I love you all! Good luck at school!
--Elder Hurst
So, this transfer we've decided that we're really going to focus on finding and baptizing a family, and something cool happened this week in this regard. Actually, the story starts about 3 weeks ago. We were running late and we had to get to the church, so we took a taxi from where we were (taxis are very cheap in Chernivtsi--about 10 gryven, or 2 dollars, on average). Our driver was a guy named Yuriy who had actually met with missionaries about 4 years ago. He'd been interested, but didn't really want to go anywhere with his teaching, and so he stopped meeting with them. We talked with him, and he was still not too interested, although he was very friendly and actually gave us his phone number. I called to set up with him, but he was busy and not too interested, and then I actually lost his number and couldn't call him back. At the time I didn't think too much of it--we get a lot of numbers of people who aren't actually all that interested, so I didn't feel bad losing it. So, earlier this week we had to take a taxi again, and it just happened to be his. We got to talking and he mentioned that he was married, and that that same week his wife had just given birth to a baby boy! After his son was born, Yuriy really started thinking about religion again and actually began rereading all of the information he had gotten years ago. When we reached our apartment, he turned off the car and asked if we could just talk for a while. After about 15 minutes of talking, he said he really wanted us to go over to meet his family and have a lesson with them. We set up with him for next Sunday evening!
Things overall are going really well here. This Saturday and Sunday morning we may get to go to a little town called Uzhhorod, down on the other side of the Carpathians by Hungary. I've been wanting to go there since my 1st transfer in country. I am SO excited.
Well, I think that's all the news for today. I love you all! Good luck at school!
--Elder Hurst
Zone conference in L'viv
Hello again! Well, it seems like we finished one trip just in time to do another. Exactly one week after our little stop by Kyiv, we made a quick trip up to L'viv for zone conference. It was a large relief to be able to do zone conference with the other two zl's. Things went pretty well, and all in all it was a great conference.
This last Sunday, our new mission president, President Steinagel, came to visit Chernivtsi in order to introduce himself to the branch, announce a few ideas for the mission, and...to go contacting with the missionaries. So, Elder Hubbard and I were worrying and preparing all week leading up to this, but it turned out really well. He came over to our new apartment and said that it's one of the nicest missionary apartments he's ever seen--I'm hoping that I stay here until the end...He then also told us that we have a very approachable manner, and that we just look personable and friendly. He told us that we were the type of missionaries who would be perfect for talking to families because we put them at ease. Always nice to hear...especially when we spent all week expecting him to rip us apart.
I can't remember if I mentioned anything last week, but I got your package Dad! Thank you! And thank you Renee and Angie for your pictures--I miss all the little kids, and man do I want to go camping...
I love you all!
--Elder Hurst
This last Sunday, our new mission president, President Steinagel, came to visit Chernivtsi in order to introduce himself to the branch, announce a few ideas for the mission, and...to go contacting with the missionaries. So, Elder Hubbard and I were worrying and preparing all week leading up to this, but it turned out really well. He came over to our new apartment and said that it's one of the nicest missionary apartments he's ever seen--I'm hoping that I stay here until the end...He then also told us that we have a very approachable manner, and that we just look personable and friendly. He told us that we were the type of missionaries who would be perfect for talking to families because we put them at ease. Always nice to hear...especially when we spent all week expecting him to rip us apart.
I can't remember if I mentioned anything last week, but I got your package Dad! Thank you! And thank you Renee and Angie for your pictures--I miss all the little kids, and man do I want to go camping...
I love you all!
--Elder Hurst
Another great week in Chernivtsi
Hello everyone! I hope you're all doing well. Things are going very good here in Chernivtsi; the rain's drying up, the water's on, we just moved into a new apartment that is REALLY nice, and the work is going really well!
Last night we had a lesson with our investigator Andriy Dvirskiy (the man who approached us drunk several weeks ago). He hasn't had a drop of alcohol for almost a month, has smoked maybe 3 times (all more than a week ago), and loves reading about Christ. While we were chit-chatting with him, he quoted "Faith without works is dead," then asked us, "What works do I need to do to show my faith?" We responded with a powerful lesson about the steps of the gospel (faith, repentence, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end), followed by a discussion on how these ordinances can only be done by the true authority of God, about the apostasy and loss of this priesthood power, and the restoration of the authority necessary to perform those necessary ordinances. He understood completely, and accepted a baptismal date for August 30! His mom was there also, and felt the spirit strongly; and while she's not ready now to accept a date, she's definitely interested, and she sees the difference it's made in her son's life. Andriy's dad is also gaining interest rapidly; while before he'd stay in the bedroom whenever we came over, he's started coming out and talking with us, and two times ago we had a conversation with him to let him know what we were sharing with his son. They have a very nice family, and I'm really hopeful about the future. It's such an amazing experience to see, in an almost highlighted form, how our message has completely turned his life around. He used to be a drunkard on the streets, dirty and begging for money; now he's clean, he smiles and jokes, he thinks clearly, he has a job, his eyes look bright and alert, and he loves reading about the Savior. Teaching him has probably been one of the best experiences of my mission.
Also, while I was in Ivano, I was able to check up on Oleg Petronyak, the man we baptized last transfer. He's doing very well; he's still got some kind of funny ideas about a few things, but when he gets converted to a part of the gospel, he stays very true. He has a lot of potential to be a very, very strong member once he gets some more experience and learns some more. Elder Hinkle, the scriptorian/gospel scholar senior missionary there, says that Oleg reminds him of himself when he was first converted to the gospel years ago. I took that as a good sign. Elder Hinkle also told us that a week ago, a man came to church to try and argue with people and disrupt things, and he tried to tell Oleg that the Book of Mormon was a fake. Oleg stood up and said, "I know the Book of Mormon is true! It has everything in the Bible and more, and it's a lot easier to understand! I feel the Spirit when I read it, and I know it's from God!"
Well, the next transfer starts this week, so we'll be heading into Kyiv for zone leaders' council. Our companionship's staying the same, so I'll be with Elder Hubbard another transfer, which is good; he's a lot of fun.
Oh, and by the way, I am INSANELY jealous of your job, Adam!
Thank you all for everything! I hope you all have a good week! I love you all!
--Elder Hurst
Last night we had a lesson with our investigator Andriy Dvirskiy (the man who approached us drunk several weeks ago). He hasn't had a drop of alcohol for almost a month, has smoked maybe 3 times (all more than a week ago), and loves reading about Christ. While we were chit-chatting with him, he quoted "Faith without works is dead," then asked us, "What works do I need to do to show my faith?" We responded with a powerful lesson about the steps of the gospel (faith, repentence, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end), followed by a discussion on how these ordinances can only be done by the true authority of God, about the apostasy and loss of this priesthood power, and the restoration of the authority necessary to perform those necessary ordinances. He understood completely, and accepted a baptismal date for August 30! His mom was there also, and felt the spirit strongly; and while she's not ready now to accept a date, she's definitely interested, and she sees the difference it's made in her son's life. Andriy's dad is also gaining interest rapidly; while before he'd stay in the bedroom whenever we came over, he's started coming out and talking with us, and two times ago we had a conversation with him to let him know what we were sharing with his son. They have a very nice family, and I'm really hopeful about the future. It's such an amazing experience to see, in an almost highlighted form, how our message has completely turned his life around. He used to be a drunkard on the streets, dirty and begging for money; now he's clean, he smiles and jokes, he thinks clearly, he has a job, his eyes look bright and alert, and he loves reading about the Savior. Teaching him has probably been one of the best experiences of my mission.
Also, while I was in Ivano, I was able to check up on Oleg Petronyak, the man we baptized last transfer. He's doing very well; he's still got some kind of funny ideas about a few things, but when he gets converted to a part of the gospel, he stays very true. He has a lot of potential to be a very, very strong member once he gets some more experience and learns some more. Elder Hinkle, the scriptorian/gospel scholar senior missionary there, says that Oleg reminds him of himself when he was first converted to the gospel years ago. I took that as a good sign. Elder Hinkle also told us that a week ago, a man came to church to try and argue with people and disrupt things, and he tried to tell Oleg that the Book of Mormon was a fake. Oleg stood up and said, "I know the Book of Mormon is true! It has everything in the Bible and more, and it's a lot easier to understand! I feel the Spirit when I read it, and I know it's from God!"
Well, the next transfer starts this week, so we'll be heading into Kyiv for zone leaders' council. Our companionship's staying the same, so I'll be with Elder Hubbard another transfer, which is good; he's a lot of fun.
Oh, and by the way, I am INSANELY jealous of your job, Adam!
Thank you all for everything! I hope you all have a good week! I love you all!
--Elder Hurst
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