Transfer Day! July 2009

Jeff and his dad - the Mission President. Don't they look so happy!!!

Another successful transfer day! Elder Woodhead, Elder LaMarr and Elder Stevens.

The sisters are happy to see each other! Sister Khilova, Sister Ward, and Sister Howard.

Elder Brinton and Elder Badrusev. It's good to get together and hear how everyone is doing.

Elder McKinney(finally let's me take his picture) with Elder Noyes.

Elder Woodhead, Elder Wright and Elder Stevens all from the November group. Buds since the MTC!!!

Elder Thompson, Elder Tillotson, Elder Balser and Elder Hyer. Good looking young men with great looking ties, serving in Ukraine on a mission. We appreciate you guys!!!

Elder Richardson, Elder Tsaturyan and Vladimir. Great assets to the mission. Elder Richardson will help with records and such in the Sumy branch where Elder Tsaturyan served as Branch President last year. Elder Tsaturyan is now an Assistant to the President. Vladimir is our great friend, helper, a true servant of the Lord. We could not function very well without him!

Elder Martineau was Elder Beus's trainer and now Elder Beus becomes a trainer! Great missionaries!!!!! Yes right here in Ukraine Donetsk Mission!!!

Elder Moon and Elder Mikaylov! So glad to see my friend waiting here to greet me!

Elder Taylor, Elder Shumway, Elder Crowther and Elder Kerr. Great smiles! Keep up the good work!!!!

Elder Stout, Elder Bell, and Elder Rader. We made it! We are here in Ukraine at our first Transfer meeting!!!

Elder Hess, Elder Young and Elder Nersisyan. Hey it's great to meet up again! We are all doing great and loving the mission!

Our July New Missionaries!!!!!

We are so excited to get these Missionaries. They are Sister Khilova, Elder Moon, Elder Bell, Elder Rader, and Elder Stout. Welcome to Ukraine Donetsk Mission.

Our son Jeff flew in with the new missionaries. We are so excited to see him! It's like he brought a little of our home with him.

Sister Khilova and Sister Belkina. They are serving together for a few days until Transfer Day.

Sister Khilova is from Nepervaprosk Ukraine. It is about 3 hours from Donetsk. She has been well prepared to be a missionary and we are so glad to have her here.

Elder Oldroyd, Elder Bell, Elder Dorman, Jeff and President Fry.

Sister Belkina, Sister Fry and Sister Khilova.

President Fry, Elder Stout and Sister Fry. President is pulling a fast one! He stands on his tippy toes to be taller than our missionaries!!! Elder Stout is from SLC, Utah. He is a member of the Quill and Scroll Society and participated on an academic team where he was the captain. He loves playing the piano and is very skilled at it. He has come to the right mission! We need piano players in many of the branches.

President Fry, Elder Moon and Sister Fry. Elder Moon is from Burley Idaho. He enjoys basketball and was player of the year 2 years in a row. He knows sign language and obtained the Presidential Scholarship at College of Southern Idaho. He has held various church callings as well. We are grateful to have him here.

President and Sister Fry with Sister Khilova. She is a sister of many talents. She has taken French, German, and Latin along with knowing English, Russian and Ukrainian. She has been very active in her branch and district and loves helping others. She is a great asset to us!

President and Sister Fry with Elder Bell. Elder Bell is from Arlington Texas. He enjoys tennis and was part of a tennis team. He is an Eagle Scout and a part of the National Honor Society. He has held various positions in the Church as well. He is needed here and we will put him to work!

President and Sister Fry with Elder Rader. He is from Reno, Nevada but his family recently moved to Kearney MO. He enjoys foreign languages such as: Arabic, Russian, German, Japanese, and Spanish. He also enjoys presenting and teaching history by portraying historical people.

Good-bye to July (Missionaries leave for Home)

From right to left: Elders Johnson, Hammond, Rasmussen, Kailan, Barnum, Mitchell and our Sisters Glenn & Ellison. We wish you well and will miss you!!!!

True to each other thru and thru!

A job well done Sisters!!

Lots of Luggage for sure!!

Good-byes are the toughest!!!

Twins!!!!

They are finally here! Born June 29, 2009 exactly one year to the date that we entered Donetsk Ukraine. Ava Shae and Mya Lee Garrett. Ava was 6lbs 8oz. and Mya was 5lbs 12oz. Both very healthy. Mom and Dad are doing great as well as big brother Lucas and big sister Kate and all Aunts and Uncles and cousins! Grandma and Grandpa are happy they have arrived safe and sound but so sad to not hold them. We are so grateful that all went well with the delivery and pregnancy. Two precious souls sent from heaven above bringing to earth lots of joy and love!

Kharkov Zone Conference June 2009

It is so happy to see you! Zone Conferences give the Missionaries a chance to see those they haven't seen for a while. Elder Moore and Elder Putnam.

It also gives us an opportunity to meet each other. Elder Mark meets Elder Mead and they get to know one another. They both served in the Redlands Temple at the same time but met in Ukraine! It's a small world after all!(Elder Mead loves Disneyland)

It's always good to see smiling faces and when sisters in Zion get together that's what happens! Sister Mark and Sister Mead get acquainted. Both are from Southern California.

How are you? Great and you? I'm happy to welcome you to Zone Conference (Elder Misiurenko and Elder Walton).

Elder Ehrisman and Elder Wright are sporting their Ukrainian Ties! Great looking ones at that! One of the comments that Elder Ehrisman said during the conference concerning planning was: "Weekly planning helps us be more organized and more effective. Daily planning helps us get over the bumps. We are all good missionaries and want to do well." So true!!

Elder Dietrich and Elder Summerhays stop a moment and pose for a picture.

Elder Johnson, Elder Fedotov and Elder Miganov pose also. Elder Johnson talked in the conference about our strengths and weaknesses of the mission. He encouraged the missionaries to: do their morning and evening planning better(makes better use of time), get up on time, plan out P-days(preparation day)- everyday is the Lord's day, one of the things in the Donetsk zone conference was mentioned by Elder Kerr -"Plan the night before what you will study personally and with your companion. Study at a desk!"

Elders McKinney, Jones and Noyes. Elder McKinney talked about the importance of changing our water filters. Great looking ties men!!

Elders Putnam, Hansen and Moore. I don't know about this music thing. President challenged us to only listen to Mormon Tabernacle Choir music or no music(if that's what they choose)and he said if the whole mission will do this for the next 3 weeks - he will add other music to the list to listen to. Let's do it!!! Sister Fry has challenged us to learn a new hymn in Russian each 6 weeks. The hymn for the next six weeks is "I Am A Child of God" Just think if we do that we could have most of the hymns memorized in Russian! That would even help our Russian skills!

Elder Miganov and Elder Wadsworth. We hope everyone comes on board with the music. It will definitely unify the mission. What? There are Elders watching movies? Who has time?says Elders Miganov and Wadsworth.(movies are very cheap here as well as little DVD/TV devices and unfortunately it has been a big temptation) The white handbook states: watch only videos or DVDs that have been authorized by the Church or your Mission President and video/DVD equipment is prohibited.

President and I have a great love and concern for our missionaries and unfortunitly President has needed to put his foot down. He spends many restless nights worrying and I have seen the power of discernment that he was blessed with at his setting apart come to pass. He knows when one of our missionaries is struggling and he acts upon it. Sometimes they are not happy with the President calling them on the carpet but I assure you he always, always shows forth love after(they may not think so but in time they will know). We are so grateful for the Atonement in our own lives and the ability to repent daily. It is a process through out all of OUR lives. I love my Savior and what he did for me and ALL mankind.

Elder Mark and Elder Rosen. During zone conference the discussion came to the use of the Internet. The only Internet site CHURCH APPROVED is mylds.mail for the missionaries. They should only use the Internet to write their family and the Mission President. They may write letters to friends(snail-mail) and receive letters( which they absolutely love getting). All other websites and email sites are not approved. (taken from the missionary handbook). Elder Rosen made a really good comment "We only use this site because it keeps us focused. We are wasted if we visit other sites and think about what our friends and family are doing without us. We need to leave our personal life behind."

Elder McKinney and Elder Valverde. Again notice the ties and what great smiles!!

Elder Moore in the back, Elder Wadsworth, Elder Stirling and Elders Johnson and Eckersley in the front. Unity is definitely one of our strengths. Elder Johnson talked about relying on the Lord to help with self doubt, "Put our trust in the Lord, pray for strength to over come and He will make up for what we lack." "Don't let yesterday hold hostage for tomorrow" "Plow forward with hope". In Jesus the Christ it states: He knew " HIS" purpose. The challenge is to know "OUR" purpose. Together we can do it. Our strength is in Him and helping each other.

The mission has a lot of talent. Each missionary is unique and has brought his or her talents to the mission. Look at these young men - they have talent written all over their face.

A great group of young stripling warriors. Ready for the task before them. Elder Norman said" The Lord didn't call young men because they knew all - he called them because he knew they would turn to Him and rely on Him." Elders Jones, Whitehead, Howard, Valverde, Ehrisman.

The Birthdays for Kharkov missionaries. Happy, Happy Birthday! We love you!! Sister Fry is always in charge of the Birthdays & introducing new missionaries. That's the fun part! I also help with apartment checks and encouraging health and cleanliness. Many little things I present I take from the Missionary Handbook to remind the missionaries of what is appropriate and not. We encourage each companionship to read 5 pages a day together out of the handbook. It is actually very inspiring and at the front of the handbook (after it states that it is approved by the First Presidency and the Apostles) it says,"Follow these standards and they will help you magnify your calling and protect you PHYSICALLY and SPIRITUALLY. Those 2 words are our main focus with the missionaries. It also states the Mission President may adjust some of these standards as needed. We pray every day for their protection physically and spiritually. We love them so much and feel such a responsibility to the Lord and you as their parents. Thank you for all of your prayers as well. These are the finest of the finest sent here. Thanks parents!!!

Elder Kearsley, Elder Ketchum & Elder Badrusev working on their goal setting.
Elder Oldroyd(standing) Elders Wright and Misiurenko. It seems when one smiles at you - you smile back and so on. It's like the "Ripple Affect". We watched a video clip by President Eyring that showed him throwing a pebble into the lake and watching the ripple affect. Elder Dorman talked about this and how gossip spread in the mission has such an affect on us. Talking badly of others especially our leaders can destroy unity. He used the story of Alma the younger how he went about destroying the work of the Lord and then after he repented and was converted he went about doing good. There are so many ways we can use the ripple affect for good. Even as simple as a smile!
Elder Noyes played a beautiful piano solo "I Stand All Amazed". We are truly amazed and blessed to have these wonderful missionaries in our care. We are grateful for the Lord's call to serve him in this capacity and for the unconditional love He has for each one of His children.
Our fabulous four Assistants. We are truly grateful for their time, talents and willingness to serve the Lord. They have been great examples with strong testimonies. Moms and Dads - hats off to you for raising such fine young men. Elder Johnson, Elder Norman, Elder Oldroyd, Elder Dorman.