Sister Krivulya finishes her Mission

Sister Krivulya returns to the Ekaterinburg mission. We appreciate her service and dedication to the mission. We love and miss her.

December Missionaires go Home

What a great group of missionaries!!! Sister Burke from Georgia, Sister Khilova from Ukraine, Elder Shipp from Arizonia, Elder Tillotson from South Carolina and Elder Hyer from Nevada.

Elder Hyer's family came to pick him up from his mission. His brother Jared(Elder Hyer must be the brother of Jared then, Ha Ha) and his parents. It was wonderful to meet them! (They brought over the mission calendars for us, thank you thank you!)

Sister Burke and Sister Khilova. Two angels sent to us. It was a pleasure to have you in the mission. We love you and miss you!

Elder Shipp, Elder Hyer, Elder Tillotson - great dedicated young men. We love you and miss you too!!

Visiting Petrosky Primary

It was so fun to visit this Primary class in Petrosky. They have one of the more larger Primarys in the mission - about 10-15. They acted out the first Christmas and it was adorable!

The children loved acting this out. It was fun to watch and observe!

Family Home Evening with the Tecamerov Family

The Tecamerov Family has 5 boys. We had family home evening with them and had a blast! Elders Hyer & Hess interrupted and Elder Ostler was there helping also. During dinner we talked about Christmas traditions. They celebrate Christmas like we do on the 25th of December. People in Ukraine celebrate on January 7th but because they are members of the Church, they have chosen to celebrate it when the majority of the church does. Sometimes this means that their children go to school on Christmas day. They enjoy caroling to the widowed in their branch on Christmas Eve then returning home and playing games. They also exchange gifts on Christmas morning. They read from Luke in the Bible about Christ's birth as well. After dinner the Elders gave a lesson and then President Tecamerov(he is the District President in Donetsk) told us a funny story. There is a certain food here called hol-i-dets and it is made with pig fat and other things and it is a traditional food that the members love. They always try to feed it to the missionaries and the missionaries don't like it. Well these 2 missionaries were at a members house and was served a large portion of holidets. When the member left the room, they noticed an open window so they took the food and threw it out the window only to discover that the 2nd window was closed! So all this food was dripping down the window. They paniced and quickly closed the drapes! Well needless to say they thanked the people for the food and needed to be on there way. They never ate at their house again! We were laughing so hard as he told this story - we didn't even need interruptation. His acting it out was all the interruptation we needed!!!

A VISIT FROM THE SISTERS

Back row: Sister Ludmilla, myself, Sister Khilova, Sister Howell, Sister Krivulya, Sister Kartoshova & Sister Burke. We got together and they fixed lunch. It was great to visit with them. I love them tons!!!!

New Missionaries November 2010

It is always a happy day to receive New Missionaires! They have such a great spirit about them!

Elder Young is from Springville Utah. He enjoys skiing, running, soccer, mountain biking, playing the piano and his mom's cooking! Elder Young is the 3rd Elder Young in our mission! We are very happy to have him here with us serving in Ukraine! His trainer is Elder Duke and they are serving in Cold Mountain(Kharkov area).

Elder Smith is from Houston, Texas. He enjoys baseball, football and basketball. His trainer is Elder Hazen(also from Texas) and they are serving in Mariupol. Mariupol is south of Donetsk on the Azoff Sea. We are grateful to have Elder Smith in our mission and we are grateful for the talents he will share.

Elder Bangerter is from Melba Idaho(near Bosie). He enjoys hunting, fishing, camping, skiing and all kinds of sports. We welcome him into the mission and know that he will be a great assset to the mission. His trainer is Elder Rice and they are serving in Alexsavka(Kharkov area).

Elder Noren is from Houston, Texas. We now have 4 Elders from Texas! It is so interesting to see so many missionaries from all over come to us. Elder Noren loves to wake board and to play basketball. He will also contribute so much to the mission. We are excited to have him here.! His trainer is Elder Winchester and they are serving in Gorlevka just outside of Donetsk.

At the Temple

We had a Mission President's Seminar in Kiev and we had the opportunity to go to the Temple! It was such a highlight to our seminar!
We enjoyed all that we learned at the seminar and we loved to see all the other Mission President couples. It was great to share our feelings and testimonies as this was our last one.
Three Mission Presidents Couples that served in the Ukraine Donetsk Mission (Pres. & Sis. Manchos 1996-1999, Pres. & Sis. Fry 2008-2011, Sis. & Pres. Christiansen 2002-2005).
The day after the seminar, we met Olya and Vitaly and Masha at the temple. It was a beautiful day to have a family sealed in the temple! They are such a special family to us. They were so grateful and happy to have this experience and we are grateful to have shared in their joy.
Elder and Sister Mead(humanitarin couple), joined Olya, Vitaly, Masha and us at the temple. Olya is the Mead's interruptor. When the Kinghorns served - they hired Olya and shared the gospel with her. They have kept in touch and I know they were here with us in spirit.

Missionaries Leave November 2010

This has been a wonderfull group to have worked with in the mission. They are all valiant servants of the Lord. Good byes are always so hard. Good job - well done!

Elder Smith goes home to Meza Az. Elder Moore goes to a new home(parents moved) in Frankfort Germany. Elder Hansen goes home to Cear Hills, Utah. Best to you all!

Elder Richardson goes home to Wilmete, Ill. Elder Walton goes home to Provo, Utah. We miss you already!

Elder Allred goes home to Mapleton, Utah. Elder Stirling goes home to Gilbert, Az. Good luck to all of you!

Along with our Elders, we send home a wonderful couple, Elder and Sister Mead. Thanks to all the wonderful projects you did as our humanitarian couple. The people here love you and we are so grateful you served here with us. You've touched many lives and made a huge difference!

New Missionaries in September 2010

Our New Missionaries arrived on September 1st. They are Elders Mendoza, Brimley, Nielsen and Petterson. We enjoy having them here with us!!!

Elder Brimley is from Cedar Hills Utah. He enjoys football and running and he ran the St. George Marathon. His trainer is Elder Mueller and they are serving in Petrosky(Donetsk area).

Elder Nielsen is from Salt Lake City Utah. He enjoys tennis, reading and wake boarding. His trainer is Elder Jensen and they are serving in XTZ(Kharkov area).

Elder Petterson is from Ogden Utah. He enjoys music and sports. His trainer is Elder Neil and they are serving in Makeevka(Donetsk area).

Elder Mendoza is from Roy Utah. He enjoys sports, reading and computors. His trainer is Elder Prince and they are serving in Cold Mountain(Kharkov area).

Kyiv Temple Dedication August 29, 2010

The Kyiv Temple Dedication on August 29, 2010. They came by the bus loads!!!

They walked and walked and walked.

They came to listen to a Prophet's voice and hear the word of God.

They came to feel the spirit and witness this choice event.
This was a great gathering. The cultural event the night before was spactacular! Many of the members went and participated and it was exciting to see them do so.
The youth enjoyed the Dedication also. It has been a great experience to get to know these young women.
Elder Richardson taking a picture of Elder Clarkstone, Elder Lott and some members in their branch that came to the Dedication.
It was so wonderful to see the faces of the Saints as they came out of the first session of the Dedication. They are so happy to have a Temple here in Ukraine!! Their lives are being so blessed! We really love the people and it was so touching to be with them on this happy occasion!

August Missionaries Return Home

From left to right: Elder Kearsley, Elder Duffy, Elder Jones, Elder Valverde, Elder Howard. We love you and will miss you! Thanks for a mission well served!

Elder Duffy and Elder Jones.

Elder Valverde and Elder Kearsley.

Last meal in Ukraine!!!

Elder Howard eating the yummy ice cream they make here.

Zone Conferences August 2010

Baptism in Petrosky - Elder Mueller and Elder Johnson with a member, Evaugh baptising Sergey on August 7th.

NEW EMPHASIS FROM PREACH MY GOSPEL!!! We have been given 8 lessons from Preach My Gospel to teach the missionaries in leadership training sessions. For zone conference we began lesson 1. "THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST - THE MISSIONARY PURPOSE." President Fry presented this in Zone Leaders Council and he did a great job in zone conference too. These are some points he stressed using the scriptures. The true doctrine of Christ is: faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. He instructed the missionaries to teach with: boldness, plainness, by their language and understanding, be on their level, follow the Son with full purpose of heart, authority and power. We are working with other's eternal salvation. The Holy Ghost is a gift - obtain it, teach with it, and maintain it. Love for the work - have a desire - love for those we teach. Love the Lord - love thy neighbor. We must have love in order to teach the people. Forget your inadequacies - love the people - they will feel your love for them! Five things to remember when teaching: 1. Teach people not lessons 2. Ask inspired questions - thought provoking 3. LISTEN 4. Discern what the spirit tells you 5. Teach doctrine. We did our skills practicing and the assistants, zone leaders, President and I went around and helped out. Since this was presented in Zone Leaders Council (4 weeks ago) the zone leaders have been busy teaching in the districts and the results have been amazing! The missionaries seem to really enjoy this and they are having great success. Four weeks ago, we had 7 on date for baptism and now we have 39!!!! People are very excited and the missionaries are very busy teaching them and getting them ready to be baptised!! President had a dream a few weeks ago that he didn't have enough baptismal clothing to go around and he was frantically hunting some down! Maybe his dream will come true.

New Missionaries Arrive July 2010

Elder Zsembery, Elder Duffy(an assistant) Elder Solin and Elder Pulsipher. We are so grateful they are here in our mission!!

Elder Solin is from St. Petersburg Russia. He likes swimming , Kayaking and he is learning to play the piano(he plays by ear). His Trainer is Elder Ryser and they are serving in Alexsavka.

Elder Pulsipher is from Denver, Co. He likes playing tennis and and was a tennis instructor. He is the oldest in his family. His trainer is Elder Jahnert and they are serving in Alexsavka.

Elder Zsembery is from New York. He likes to work on cars and bicycles. He is 1 of 12 children and four of his siblings were adopted from Latvia. His trainer is Elder McCallson and they are serving in Novia Doma.

Missionaries Departed in July

Sister Ward - We love you and miss you! Thank you for your awesome service!!!!!

Elder Waldsworth - One Terrific Missionary!! We love and miss you!

Elder Beus - We are barely surviving without you!!! We love you and miss you!

Hard working successful Missionaries. Good luck in all you do. Thank you for your service!!