IT'S BEEN A BUSY WEEK!!

Elder Schoen is from Gravenhurst Ontario, Canada. He is our Newest Missionary and we are so happy to have him in the mission!!
Alexsay Baptised his brother Sergey. He also baptised his sister about a year ago. He was baptised a little over a year ago.

Elder Beus and Elder LaMarr taught Sergey.

The whole family. Mom is not a member yet, but she is very proud of her children.

It's time for Elder Balser to head home. At the airport to see him off are Elder Beus, Vladimir, and Elder LaMarr.

We will miss Elder Balser. We love you and thank you for your service!

Olya's baby shower! It is going to be a girl. She is due the end of March. We are very excited for her!

Leara is from the Makeevka Branch. We have developed a friendship. She has a sweet testimony.

The Mission Presidency. Pres. Fry, Pres. Koslov(he fell and broke his hip) and Pres. Pacilak. We hope Pres. Koslov gets out of the hospital soon. We took him some gifts from the Kinghorns. He is very appreciative and says "Thanks!" to the Kinghorns.

President Fry working hard on his bike. Way to go! Keep up the good work!!!

Zone Conferences for February

Wow! The time has flown and I'm late again on posting. Sorry! Our Zone Conferences this time was on "Gaining the Trust of the Members." It was awesome!!! (I was in and out of the meetings because I fixed the food this time but I did catch some of what was said. Next time we will order Pizza so I'll get to be in the meeting more). We started out with talking about gaining the trust of your companion. Avoiding gossip, being forgiving, be a friend, serve your companion, make compromises, have fun, good sense of humor, be honest, have humility & charity. Missionary conduct at Church was also discussed: helping investigators feel comfortable, showing members how important investigators are and help them get accquainted with each other, help them have a good experience at Church. Strengthening the members was talked about also: inspire them, be happy while at Church , talk to every member, "Be ye doers of the word," participate in lessons in class. When visiting a members home: good quality lessons, be there for a purpose, help build faith, increase trust and uplift the members spiritually. Show members you are obedient, and be an example of the believers! Get members excited about the missionary work, involve them. President Fry has implemented visiting less actives once a week - missionaries and members together. Donetsk will do this on Thursday evenings and Kharkov on Friday evenings. (Everyone please pray for our success. The more we petition the Lord - the more success and blessings we receive. We are already getting reports back from Branch Presidents of the success they are having!!!) Finding people was discussed also during our meeting. It is quite intimidating to contact on the street but let me tell you - these missionaries are brave and bold! I'm so proud of them. Their attitudes are incredible! When we first got here, very few missionaries contacted while on public transportation. The people here, while on public transportation, act like they really don't want to be bothered but we've had success with this lately. Our missionaries are stepping it up and moving forward - making progress! There is no looking back now! The future looks bright and it's awesome! President Fry talked about seeking the Lord's guidiance to know where to contact. Praying to be led to those needing the gospel and wanting it in their lives. Time and time again a missionary will tell us of a prompting they had to contact in a certain area or tract in a certain apartment complex(we call them a dom) and how they were led to someone that listened and wanted to know more. The missionaries are finding more and more people to teach and we have close to 20 people on date for baptism! The work moves forth. It is an exciting time to be in Ukraine with the Temple being built. The members are so excited! It's a wonderful feeling. We've been having Branch and District Conferences and talking about preparing for the Temple, Rescuing those less-active, and the Atonement. It has been very uplifting and I have felt the spirit so strong. The Lord's work is awesome! The Gospel is touching the lives of the wonderful people here. I love the Lord, my Savior and Redeemer. The missionaries have been such an example to me. Thank you parents for raising wonderful young men and women and for sharing them with us and the people in Ukraine.

Lot's Happening in February 2010

Sister Dyachenko leaves for the MTC. She is from Petrosky(near Donetsk) and she will serve in the Ukraine Neperpatrosk Mission.

Elder McCallson is from Salt Lake City, Utah and we are so glad he is here with us. He is the only missionary sent to us this time around. His trainer is Elder Walton and they are serving in Kharkov Center.

Elder Scrdmoukhov is a mini-missionary(we have mini-missionaries when we have an odd number of Elders or Sisters). He is from Gorlevka(about 40 min. outside of Donetsk). He is serving for 6 weeks and his trainer is Elder Barton. They are serving in Mariupol(south of Donetsk). We are grateful for his service!

Elder Hyer and Elder Belyeu doing service by shoveling snow in front of the Church in Kharkov Center. It was 2 to 3 inches of ice just starting to melt. Good job Elders!!!

The snow banks starting to break on a little river that runs through Kharkov. The ice has been treacherous this year all over the mission. The side walks have been pure ice! Many layers of ice! Sister Salomonson(office couple) fell and broke her elbow. She has healed and doing much better. Our other Senior couples have had a turn at falling also and have survived(thank heaven!) Our missionaries seem to have more balance than us older missionaries. The people here walk on the ice like it wasn't even there! Spiked high heels and all!!! It has been a very long cold winter compared to last winter. Things are finally starting to melt and under the ice is mud! Oh well - we'd rather have mud than ice! I hope spring will be here soon!!! The days are finally getting longer and people seem happier in general.