42nd email- March 29th, 2010

DEAR FAMIOLIOA!

 

Did you know that our Elder Webb (Senior couple guy) served in Tonga?!  Of course you didn't. How would you know that.  But he did.  He was telling me about his mission the other day...40 years ago, 1/4 of the population was LDS.  There was a point when they had 5 baptisms...not a transfer...not a month...not a week...but EVERY DAY.  Their standard of excellence was hundreds and hundreds and hundreds a transfer.  So.  Cool.  Pretty soon Tonga won't even need missionaries.  I'm sure he was a little shocked to come to Ukraine :)  Cectpa Webb's dad was in the CIA and followed Hitler around and had to take up smoking because of it...sweet...not the smoking...but the whole intense job thing.  Our Senior couple is awesome...way cooler than any of us. 

Yeah it's Easter soon!  That means everybodies rearing up to get to church again!  I guess we get a lot of people at church on easter sunday too...I'm excited to see who shows up.  We meet the most interesting people in our quest to find these innactives.  Interesting interesting people here!  We get conference the week after you guys and I'm jealous.  I can't wait.  I can't believe it was already 6 months ago that we heard our prophets and apostles speak...i miss them :)  I wonder what new stuff they have for us... Cectpa K told me a story about tracting.... they were tracting...hahah...obviously...and they started the conversation with prophets, "Did you know that we have a living Prophet today that receives specific revalation for us?"  the people were like, "Oh yeah?  What did he say this month?"  they went blank....uhh.... how emmabawassing.   Seriously though, we have a living Prophet of God who works his tail off for us, and are we paying attention to what he says?  I know I never made a real effort before the mission.  bleen.   We live and we learn :) 

We got a call from on old old investigator that said she wants to serve a mission.  We got a text this morning with a spiritual thought that she sent to everyone she knows.  She wants to be worthy to be baptized.  wo-mi-o.  She comes back from kiev on wednesday and we'll see whats up with her...sweet if she's for real!  We had a bunch of random people come to church on sunday...you know...just dropping into the Lord's house to give a holla...haha...I love it when that happens.  We work all week long to get people there...or to get them back...and then they just show up on their own :) 

Cectpa A goes home April 26.  Visiting teaching is a rough and slow start...but it's starting.  Work moving along... Zaporozia is mos def not as beautiful as Sevastopol...aesthetically speaking...but every ugly step sister has her good traits!  I'm so happy that we have good weather and more sunshine in our day...i seriously thing i went through a vitamin D drought there...

I have to go.  We're going to the branch so i can practice the piano for choir on sunday...yes i am the pianist...hahaha...stupid Elder Belnap left again and I'm left to play...no worries...I;m getting better because of it!  Love you all.. happy easter my friends

 

love cectpa Moses :)

 

ps.  why is my nephew so HANDSOME.  I can't wait to see his little face...i don't really want to see anyone else...just plop him in front of the computer and I'll be happy forever :)

 

psps.  Is'nt that video of cectpa k HILARIOUS!  The best part is is that she's totally not like that....caught her on a hilarious day :)

 

psps/// did you like the ice rink picture :)

 

and make sure you get all those pics on some kind of disk or something and let me know if I can erase them off my card!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

a vas ochin lyoublyou i ya skoochiyou po vami!  no ne sleeshkom mnoga :)

Note: My friend Chris who speaks Russian told me that last part means I love you and miss you but I don't miss you too much. :)

41st email: March 22nd, 2010

Heyyyloooo my American People!!

 

I'm proud to be an American.  Today we went to the zoo with Alyona, Arina (her little sister that is actually MY little sister that mom gave up for adoption) and Sasha (her brother...well actually cousin...but cousins are called brothers and sisters here).  I saw a massive bear and was VERY excited about it.  I got spit on by a Lama that only hated me.  I bought our groceries, but forgot my bag, so they're all in my hands and it's awkward looking and uncomfortable.  Yup...that's my day so far :)  Good day.  Good P-day.  SO happy to be outside in this marvelous weather.  I can't even tell you how energizing it is to have sunshine and fresh air and not have to be all bundled up.  I've made the decision to live in Hawaii and visit the mountains in the winter for maybe a few weeks.  I need sunshine!

Things are going so great with Alyona.  I am almost positive that she will serve a mission.  She is strong, compassionate, a leader, has a real testimony, sure of herself.  She basically teaches us in our lessons.  When we work with her, I feel like I'm in the cream of missionary work...where you can see success and see a vibrant future for your  investigator.  Her family is our obstacle, but I wouldn't call them an obstacle even.  Time is all they need...and hard working, consistant missionaries.  I know they will be sealed in the temple...the KIEV temple.

The temple.  Uh.  Best thing that will ever happen to this country in the history of the country...talk went well on Sunday.  Members so often forget the promises that have been made to them!  Work is on the verge of exploding.  President Uchtdorf promised that Eastern Europe will soon be like South America...and in my lifetime.  We are just in a different stage of the work.  Some missionaries baptize.  Some missionaries retrieve.  Some missionaries strengthen.  Some missionaries prepare the people.  Some misisonaries warn the people.  It's all the Lord's work.  We try to do it all, but when we turn to Heavenly Father and ask what He wants, it's clear what our focus needs to be.  Set a strong foundation...find the people here that are needed to lead... help them prepare for the temple.  The potential here is huge, so Satan here is huge.  Good thing we already know the outcome!

Haha...Flinstones is on right now in Russian...so Funny...Fred sounds like a smoker!

Welp i have to go already... i love you all a ton.  Stay strong and be good and don't say swearssss.  Have a great day!

 

love cectpa jones

 

ps. :)

40th email: March 15th, 2010

mon -

 

hehe...i told you i sent that blasted letter...maybe it WAS by barge, but whatever...glad it got there!  And will you get those pictures on the computer?  I want to delete them from my memory card.  Yeah that was probably Lena.  We started teaching her around Christmas, so if that's when you start seeing her...it's her...haha...I'm sending her a letter this week...that dang girl.  It's alright...she'll come around.

This city is really taking off...apparantly it was dead a few transfers ago, but some good things are happening!  Visiting Teaching is in it's begginning stages, investigators making baptismal dates (or close to them), and we're finding some great contacts lately that are genuinely interested.  It's so much easier to work when you see a little hope!  Look up the Dedication of Ukraine in 1991 by President Packer.  It's amazing.  He said, "Soon will come the day when spires of the temple will seen throughout the land"  and he also said, "We are a small group of missionaries and members, but it is just prescient to the hundreds of thousands of members that will be in Ukraine!"...something like that...i shouldn't have used quotes...meh...look it up...read it...it's amazing...they dedicated this country early early in the morning on top of this hill looking over kiev...i can imagine how beautiful of an experience that wouldn've been.  I'm speaking about this dedication on Sunday.  We need to remember that the Lord has blessed this land.  We have a promise that the church will be here forever...and be successful!

I don't know what else to say really.  We're working really hard.  Seeing success droplet at a time....

Alyona has a strong testimony about the Book of Mormon.  She was like, "I'm so grateful that through something as small as guitar lessons, I was able to find about about this church!"  She blows me away.  She's real about it.  Her testimony strengthens mine.  She talks about going on a mission one day and in lessons she basically teaches us!  We've just got to work with her family.  They're awesome, but probably just hesitant. 

Bundial! what the heck?  haha...good on him...send him my congrats if you ever see him.  I heard about kriles...oh man... I swear we're still little kids scared to ask someone to a school dance.  Those pics of roy are soooooooooooooooooo cute.  oh. my. goodness.  i can't wait to see him!  When's mothers day by the way? 

oh birthday...i don't even know.  I know i want a couple songs for the piano.  john schmidt "U2 meets pachebell" or something like that...waterfall...uhmm....i really don't know...i'll think and tell you next week.  love you all supperrr muchooo....stay strong and have a great tttt week!

 

Love Cectpa KJONES

 

ps. happy st. pattys...pinch yourself for me 

39th email: March 8th, 2010

Hard things....haha...you can do hard things mamochka!  I'm speaking on sunday about hard things...well actually the blessings from hard work...every time that I've spoken in church, this has been my topic!  Either the Lord is trying to tell me something...or it's a little mercy from heaven cause I already know all the vocab...haha...probably both...nah i'll switch things up a bit...new branch...new needs...

We had zone conference this week...hollllllaaaaaaaaaa so good.  Perfectly molded for our companionship.  I love zone conference.  We talked a lot about order, planning, goals and how to achieve them...the Lord's timetable, getting along with your companions, and facing the tough spots of missionary work instead of avoiding them.  Borsche for the soul.  My district is on fire.  I have never worked with such strong, dedicated missionaries...its a relief in a lot of ways.  There huge examples to me.  We are turning this city around!  Next temple : Zaporosia, Ukraine...right across from the dam!  That sounds funny...i didn't mean to be all ironic like that...anyways............... 

I don't really know what to say...investigators are trucking along...Our Anya really wants to be baptized and we're working towards it...our Olga is like our mom...we always have something in our fridge from her (right now it's weird though...this milk/smetana mixture that's really nasty, but I'm supposed to drink two spoonfuls before bed to "cleanse my body"...she's awesome...i drink it for her :)  Alyona is amazing...we're still teaching her guitar and guess what?  So we just got this dvd celebrating the church in ukraine for 20 years and we watched a bit with her and we were like, "Hey. Alyona.  How bout you bring this home to your parents and watch it with them?"  She was like, "Hey. Yeah.  That's an awesome idea."  then we were like, "Hey.  So how'd it go?"  and she was like, "Hey.  They really really liked it and want some more dvds about the church!"  UGH!!  I'm so happy!!!!  baby steps baby.... :)  They also invited me to there house to help Irina (her little sister) with her english homework...Alyona speaks really well, so there might be some secret mission behind this whole thing... things are rolling and Alyona is seriously doing it on her own...woooooooowwwwww!  

Last night we were walking home with Mama Olga and it was really icy so i was like, "Olga, poekhalee! (which means basically "let's ride!")"  And we linked arms and took off sliding down the dirty, slippery streets of Zaporosia...We were both laughing so hard...we would take turns supporting and sliding, supporting and sliding...oh i love that woman...she is like a 9 year old in a 55 year old's body :)  And Mama Anush just observed and chuckled quietly, shaking her head. haha... Olga has read the Book of Mormon 3 times.  She'll be baptised one day.  

Thanks for the love and support family dear...i can't imagine serving without knowing you guys got my back.  s praznikom k stati!  It's "womens week" this week and people are going crazy with flowers and chocolate and plants and stuff.  Today is the official "women's day"  so...yeah.  happy womens day.  embrace your nearest woman and say " Ya blagodarna (or blagodaren for you males) dlya tebya!"  I know I will... love you all...

stay strong!  

love cectpa k rel jones rel WC holla...out 

ps.  ANDREA  -  haha.. you lil cutie pants...and ps...feel free to write me emails!  It's only not allowed for me to write you back...but guitar....The easiest way would be to learn the chords and a basic strumming pattern instead of tabs.  The chords are written in the back of the hymn book.  You might be able to find them out online...i just kinda figure out what sounds good.  Call lizzie!  She'll help you mos def ...  But yeah... simple chords and a simple picking pattern.   love you girl...got your letter this week...and you're fabulous nasty cat picture...hahahahah...pretty sure i died

ps//// LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

38th email: March 1st, 2010

What the heck?  You always say stuff like "I'm sure you've heard about the earthquake...tsunami...tornado...(insert natural disaster here)" ... as if I'm a normal person that watches the news and keeps up on stuff...I'm in UKRAINE!  Man alive...so I hope people are ok...I hope Em's ok... It might be good for the area, who knows.  And don't worry about the apartment...it's fine...it wasn't carbon monoxide gas (that's the colorless, odorless one that kills you) and plus we have a detector for that...it's just normal out of the stove gas... apartment is safe.  just everything breaks.  Oh by the way I bought a microwave on my debit card... The office reimbursed me, no worries.  There are 5 zones in my mission, crimea, zap, kherson, dnepr, and poltava.  I don't know how many areas...like 15 maybe...no like 10...Zaporosia used to have two branches, but they were both struggling, so we combined a little bit ago.  It's better this way.  We had SO MANY PEOPLE at church on sunday!  Maybe after spring cleaning they found their book of mormon and were like, "oh yeah.  I'm baptized." i hope not.  haha...no we've been working a lot with them.  We work a lot with innactive members.  Sometimes I feel like I'm a glorified home teacher :)  We're meeting with the Relief Society President and her counselor on Saturday to set up, organize, delegate, and train for some visiting teaching.  If we can really get this going, it will free up the missionaries schedule and we'll have more time to find, teach, and baptize...but how can we give investigators what they need without a strong branch?  I hope these members will get fired up and be proactive.  They need to support each other...we need to get the new guys. 

So not the best day today...I talked to Cectpa Lav today and she told me that Lena hasn't come to church in a long time and doesn't really come to english or FHE anymore.  Ugh.  I don't know what happened... i had a ton of hope for her.  I hope she really is "just busy".  Why is it so hard to see the truth for people?  da, nichevo... we've just got to stay strong for them.  I keep on feeling like I'm not sharp enough...like maybe you're an iron sword, but you're dull...you're strong, but you don't get the job done... not that I'm intending on killing anyone...hahah...but I mean I know I'm strong.  I know I'm made up of the right material...i'm not being proud, just realistic...however, I don't want to loose my edge.  I've heard story after excuse after complaint from people about why they don't want to come back to church, way they don't want to be baptised, and i'm afraid I'm becoming numb to it.  I remember my first transfer, I was a smear of emotions all over Cevastopol... I EXPECTED success...and EXPECTED baptisms...I EXPECTED people to feel the spirit so strong with the missionaries,  that they had to come back...and when it didn't happen, it broke me and in essence, dulled me down bit by bit...numbed me bit by bit.  I'm working on sharpening myself back up... I don't want to not used what the Lord has given me..."Watch yourself"  we read in Benjamins address..."Remember and perish not".  I refuse to be a numb and dull missionary...hahah...almost switched it around and said dumb and null...I refuse to be dumb and null !!!!

Well I have to go. We're going to FHE with a family tonight...she asked us to bring a vase for a present...hahah...alright!  

love you stay strong...dont be dumb...or numb...

love cectpa jones

ps.  MAHH!  1/2 way my bum...april fools!   i wish...