Christmas Puddles

Another week has disappeared here in the land of the Ukrainians. I can't remember if anything even happened since the last time I wrote, but I'm sure something must have since we work all day everyday. We actually set a baptismal date with the mother of the family of 6 we've been teaching but they still didn't come to Church. Somebody's always "sick." Three of them are praying about the Book of Mormon. It's a unique challenge to have taught people mostly everything and be waiting for them to receive an answer. It's hard to know what to teach or share with them to keep things going.

I'm not sure about elsewhere, but here, apparently Christmas was on Saturday. Well it was for us anyway. The Orthodox Church celebrates it on January 7th. I was able to talk with my family on Skype which was really neat. It was slightly less that perfect due to the Georgian guy yelling at his computer the whole time in the internet cafe we went to. On Christmas Day it went up to 5 degrees here. There were a lot of puddles.

I've been really enjoying personal study. I try to read at least one talk from General Conference everyday. I just fell in love with Elder Richard G. Scott's talk, "The Transforming Power of Faith and Character." It's pretty cool to look through and see how many times it mentions "consistent" or "countless". It really comes down to just making good choices each time we're faced with a decision.

Things are going well here. I'm happy to be serving the Lord here. One of my favorite scriptures is Moroni 8:16. Check it.

Thanks for all the love and support.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Love,
Elder Mahoney

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Mission Musings

Can you even say "musings?" I don't think we're allowed to go on dictionaries here, so I'll never know, but I think I've heard it before. Yet another week has gone by on the ol' mission. It really flies. I'm trying to make the best of it. I've been thinking that if we followed a regular mission schedule we'd never get anything done. We typically only come home for one meal a day whereas we are allowed to take 2. If we came home for 2 hours a day it would feel like we never worked I think. I can't really imagine it. A lot of time we have lessons on preparation day too and we can make up the time later in the week, but we never get a chance to. It's all good though because this is the Lord's work. It's really exciting stuff. People are being baptized in this mission. Not in our area yet, unfortunately, but it's coming. I know it will.

This week was a good one, yet again. We found 2 new families. One man is from Nigeria. He's lived in Ukraine for 12 years. His name is Emeka. He's married to a Ukrainian woman and has an 11 year old daughter. He's speaks Russian, but we teach him a lot in English so it's weird because we teach the other two in Russian, but it's a great time. They're such a nice family. He's Anglican, so we've run into yet another religion! They live in what I think they call a hostel. They stay in a very small room and there are communal showers and a kitchen for many rooms together. It's interesting. The other one is a woman we met on the street. She and her husband came to an 8 year old baptism on Saturday. It was great and she was so excited to come for some reason. We'll be meeting with them again on Wednesday. They have a 2 year old son. They're very nice and unusually interested. Haha.

The other day, we were talking to a woman on the street and a little girl walked up to us. I'd say she was about 3 and quite cute bundled up in her snow-wear. She stood in our little circle and just stared up at Elder Larson and I. Her mother was a few feet ahead trying to get her to come along but she just stared at us. It went on for probably 20 or 30 seconds before the woman we were talking to pretty much had to push her along. I pondered a little about how close that girl is to the veil. She knew that the message we are teaching is true just a few years ago. I wonder if she felt something. It was unfortunate we couldn't talk to her Mom. Who knows, maybe it'll happen again.

This week we were asked to give a priesthood blessing, so I did the anointing. That was my first priesthood ordinance in Russian in Ukraine, except blessing the Sacrament the last 2 Sundays I guess. The language is coming along slowly, but surely. It's really weird to me sometimes that I am speaking Russian. I learned a lot when I was in Russia but I was never really sure if I was going to put in the time to get to fluency as I had other languages I was more interested in. So, I think the reason it's strange is because it's just happening now. I never envisioned my future self as "Yeah, I speak Russian." But, I will. It's weird I guess because it'll probably become my 2nd best language and I never really planned on using it for anything in the future so we'll see what happens. All I know is that it's happening. Hopefully I can get Ukrainian down pretty well and maybe even Romanian if I get a chance to go to Moldova. I also hope I can teach in French or Portuguese sometime. I guess French would be a lot more likely though. There are a lot of immigrants in Odessa. Right now I think we are teaching the only black man in this city. I've never seen another though I've heard there were some black soccer players, but we don't have a city team anymore.

I suppose I'm kind of rambling. Oh yeah, one more thing. For the first time, on the street I contacted a man, then Elder Larson spoke a bit and later said that he's American and I'm Canadian. The man looked at me and was so confused. He said "What? Canadian? You're not Ukrainian?" This was the first time somebody on the street actually thought I was a native. I look forward to holding full conversations and having people still not believe I'm not a native Russian speaker. Someday... haha.

I'm happy to be here serving my Lord. Thanks for all the prayers and support. Merry Christmas to everybody, especially back in the Truro Branch. 

Much love from Ukraine,

Elder Mahoney

Старейшина Махони

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A Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jehovah's Witness

This week was really cool. We a lot of cool people everyday. We taught a couple lessons to a Muslim guy who actually converted to Islam. I think it was mostly for his wife, but either way he said that he's not ready for this, that he's chosen his path in life already. I can tell that he's really thinking about what we teach and he clearly doesn't completely follow what Islam teaches, but unfortunately he isn't ready to really give our message a chance. We also met an awesome Buddhist this week. He doesn't live in our city, but he was really cool and also didn't seem 100% sure about what he believes. We forwarded his information to Elders in Kiev. There was one more minority religion we ran into this week. We met a really nice Jehovah's Witness woman. She was really happy to meet us and we have an appointment set up to meet her today. We're also planning on going to a non-denominational Christian meeting this evening. Oh yeah, the family with 6 kids we're teaching is pentecostal. Elder Larson sang in their choir one time. We're also looking into meeting with a Hare Krishna and a Seventh Day Adventist who I guess are in the area book here.

On Tuesday we went to a private sauna with a man and his son. That was a pretty sweet experience. We have now taught a lesson naked. Haha. We checked the handbook and it didn't say anything against it. It was funny because Elder Larson like quadruple checked about what we should bring and he just said a change of underwear and a towel. When we got there they had speedos on and we, of course, didn't bring one. They said, "it's okay, there are no women here." And we just kinda used our towels. I think it was almost 50 degrees in there. We went in and out like 5 times I think and when we were out we sat at a table and drank carbonated water. It was a good time. The son said he might come to church. He speaks pretty good English.

On Wednesday, President Steinagel had all the missionaries read from the Book of Mormon until 17:00 and then we were all supposed to go out and look for a miracle. We then went out to an appointment quite fair away. When we got there the woman said she's not interested anymore. We headed downtown to get the marshrutka to Kiev for Zone Conference the next day. Since we went all the way out to that appointment it made us a little later that we would have liked. When we got to Kiev we kind of reflected on how we hadn't seen much of a miracle. Then as we were talking to each other on the metro a man in his mid-20s approached us and asked us what we are preaching. He said he is repenting and planning to be baptized soon. He was very interested in us. We got his number and gave it to Elders in his area. He has texted us a couple times since thanking us for being in Ukraine and sharing the Gospel here and asking where our Church is. I could really feel the Spirit when we met him. I look forward to hearing about what happens with him. I think it's fair to say that was our miracle for the day.

It was extremely slippery yesterday, any snow removal attempts here are pretty feeble and primitive. We haven't really gotten much snow here since the initial 6 inches a couple weeks ago, but it's melted a little and frozen again. It's interesting to see some people's ice-walking techniques. I'm pretty good at it, but my companion is originally from Florida, so he has special anti-slip things he wears on his shoes.

It's been a bummer to see that nobody is really progressing. We have a couple investigators who read for the Book of Mormon a lot, but they won't come to Church, for example. It will be awesome to see people really grab on and fully embrace the Gospel. That's why we got outside everyday and try to find them. We are representatives of Jesus Christ and we have been sent here by God through a living prophet. It's an incredible responsibility and privilege. I know that this is Christ's Church and that we have a living prophet on the earth today. The Book of Mormon is the word of God.

Oh yeah, somebody asked about the metro here. Well, there is none. Just in Kiev. Maybe one in Odessa. We just ride "busses" here. A lot of people seem to have nothing to do here. We talked to quite a few people who are just wandering about doing nothing. I would also estimate that approximated 1 in 5 men we talk to are drunk, regardless of the time of day. It's really sad to hear some older men talk about war. We had a man crying to us about war a couple days ago. I love this country though, it's full of surprises.

Thanks for everything peoples. Love,

Elder Mahoney

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First Full Week in Chernigov

Things we slow getting started here because my companion just stopped
meeting with several investigators we had because they weren't
progressing, but we've been contacting a lot. We got 4 new
investigators with week. We're teaching more lessons that the mission
standard of exellence and we're set to do a lot better this coming
week. We have things planned for everyday this week.

We taught Anatoliy and his family, with 4 kids present, last night. We
taught the plan of salvation. It was awesome. I didn't say too much. I
taught a couple of principles, but when I testified I could really
feel the Spirit. I'm so excited now that I've met the whole family.
Well, almost the whole family. They are great people. I meet sweet,
kind people everyday here. I know that there are people ready to
accept the Gospel in this city.

A couple days ago we were debating whether or not to go home and get
started on some area book work or to contact some more. I suggested
that we get 2 more solid contacts and then head back. We contacted a
man first who we got a number from. Then we met a German man. I think
he may be the most searching person I have ever met, who just wants to
know that truth. I believe it was a miracle. He had a visa to travel
to Moscow, but at the last minute he decided to switch it up and go to
Kiev. Somehow he ended up in Chernigov and he didn't even know the
name of the city. He was walking outside just waiting for his
girlfriend to come home. He was in the German army for 10 years and
left because he didn't want to cause so much damage anymore. He went
into business and for several years was an atheist. He said this past
year he's been asking himself if maybe there is a God. He's gone to a
few different churches. He invited us up to an apartment he was
renting and we taught a great lesson. I feel like we answered some of
his questions. He wants to meet with missionaries in Germany when he
gets back. We told him he'd get a Book of Mormon in German and that
there are many of our churches in his city (because my companion knew
that). God really does some amazing things. All the circumstances that
combined to have us meet in this place at this time are incredible. I
am so grateful to see the Lord's hand at work everyday.

The members here are great too. We have some strong people and it's so
awesome to see them going to the temple. They have new fire in their
eyes after going to the temple. It's especially great to have new
converts go to the temple. The is one woman who was baptised about a
month before I got here. She's great. She first met the church when
she went to the temple open house and she was just able to go and do
baptisms for her immediate ancestors! I guess she was the first
convert baptism here in about a year and a half, but we are going to
change that trend. I can really feel that there are people we need to
find here.

My Mom a couple questions about the apartment and the area I live in.
It's just Elder Larson and I in our apartment. The other set of Elders
here live a couple blocks away. We're in a prime location, right next
to a open air market, a couple grocery stores and good bus stops.
Outside of our study window is a huge Orthodox Church. We have a good
size apartment. There is a bedroom, kitchen, living room and another
room that we actually have a piano in and my companion usually studies
in. The piano's not in perfect tune, but it's pretty cool to be able
to play at home. We screw around with it sometimes. I'll probably be
here longer than Elder Larson so it would be cool if my next companion
could play more. The shower, as far as water pressure and temperature
are concerned, is better than the MTC, so it's nice.

My prediction before I came here was that Ukraine would be like Russia
Light. It really is. It's a lot like Russia, but it's really shifting
more and more toward western European ways. A lot of woman wear jeans
and there are less and less high heels. It's actually illegal to drink
outside now and I guess smoke too which is very different from Russia
and people actually usually obey these rules now. I don't anymore time
right now, but if I think of more observations I'll add them next
week. There are less street dogs here.

I love this work. I know it's true. Thanks for the support.

Elder Mahoney

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Chernigov, Ukraine - Home, Sweet Home

This is it! My first preparation day in Ukraine. I arrived just afternoon in Kiev on Wednesday, November 24th, 2010. We went and road the metro and contacted some people. I was somewhat surprised. I didn't think it would be as easy to talk to people, but it was great. I felt calm and peaceful. I talked to a few people on my first day. I placed a Book of Mormon too. I felt so much love for the Ukrainian people and I can already feel that I'm going to miss this country when I go home.

We did some training and paperwork, then went to the mission home and had a delicious dinner that Sister Steinagel cooked. I flew in with 8 other Ukrainian speaking missionaries, by the way. We had some free time where we did some singing and playing around w/ the piano while president did some interviews. All of us slept at President Steinagel's house the first night. In the morning after a breakfast and some study we went over to the chapel by the temple where the whole mission was. Usually all the missionaries only gather about twice a year. This time was for Thanksgiving. There were about 110 missionaries there including senior couples. First thing was transfer meeting where we found out who our trainers would be and what city we'll be in!

My trainer's name is Elder Calahan Larson. He's originally from Florida, but lived about 8 years in Utah. He's been a great companion so far. We have some sweet conversations. We have had a lot of different life experiences, but we also have a lot in common. He's our district leader right now. He's been in Ukraine for over a year now. We are getting right to work. My first city is called Chernigov. It's the city the furthest north in our mission and the closest you can get to Chernoble (about 100 km). There are about 400,000 people from what I've heard. It's a nice spot. It's been cool to go around and start to get to know the area. The members here are great! We have about 20 people in sacrament meeting every week. The Branch President Solomain is 25 and has a beautiful little daughter. He's from Russia and served his mission here then returned. We are teaching a family with 6 children right now. The parents have already been to church with 2 of the children. Their names are Anatoliy and Elena. Please pray for them. He's a taxi driver, I haven't met the rest of the family yet. He's really cool though.

I'm getting better at approaching people. I contacted a university professor yesterday and we got his business card. We hope to meet with him tonight.

I don't have anymore time to write right now, but I'm loving it here and I'm excited to see what the days ahead have in store. I'll try to write more next week.

Oh yeah, I am not able to email friends in this mission, sorry to anybody i told i could. Letters it will be.

Love,
Elder Mahoney

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Arrival

I have a few minutes just to say that I've safely arrived in Kiev, Ukraine! My flights all went well and I had a great conversation with a Danish man on my flight to Frankfurt. We talked about a lot of great Gospel topics. He was very open and willing to learn. Today we rode on the metro and contacted some people. I placed a Book of Mormon in Russian. I am so blessed with the opportunity to be here. I feel completely peaceful and I am surprised that I feel completely calm, even when I was talking to strangers. Today I had several moments where I had an overwhelming feeling of love for the Ukrainian people. I can't describe it. I told one of the assistants to the president about it and he said, "Oh yeah, there's something special about them. I don't know what it is, but there's something different." I am so happy to be here and excited to meet my trainer tomorrow. My Mission President and his wife, Pres. Lane Steinagle and Sis. Jennifer Steinagle, are great! We had a nice dinner Sister Steinagle cooked us this evening. I saw the Kiev temple today too. It's amazing. I feel a special excitement about the work here. Praise the Lord.

 

From Ukraine with love,

Elder Mahoney

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Flight Plans and the 4th in a Row

It's pretty hard to believe that we had our 4th Apostle in a row here at the Provo MTC last Tuesday! Elder David A. Bednar spoke to us. He is such a powerful teacher. He speaks with such clarity and wisdom. He taught us a framework for learning the Gospel. He taught that doctrine will always answer the "why?" questions, principles will answer the "what?" questions, and applications will answer the "how?" questions. He taught us that we need to understand and help others to learn the principles behind the applications and the doctrine behind the principles. I'm so grateful to be hear and to have the opportunity to have experiences like that. He said that he was sitting in our seats, I think it was, 39 years ago. He said it's hard for him to believe he's on the other side of the equation now. It just made me stop and ponder what he might have been thinking when he was in my seat, did he have any idea of what awaited him in life? I'm excited to be alive in these days and look forward to what tommorow has in store.

We received our flight plans last Thursday. I'm flying from Salt Lake to Chicago to Frankfurt to Kiev. I leave at 8:10 AM on November 23rd and arrive at 1:10 PM on November 24th. As far as I know everything is good with our visas, but we don't have our passports back yet.

 

I have really enjoyed my stay here at the MTC. I have met so many great people and I'm surround by many more great people I haven't had the chance to meet. I often get the chance to speak all the languages I know and I pick up bits of other ones here and there. I've learned some German, Ukrainian, Mongolian and some more Mandarin since I've been here. Yesterday I was downstairs on the international floor in my classroom building and I said hello in 5 languages in about 40 seconds. It's so great to meet the saints from all over the world. We even have a couple sisters from Pakistan now, one from Marshall Islands, one from Vanuatu, all over. This is a marvelous work and a wonder.

 

I can't believe I forgot to mention. Last Friday I was able to go to Temple Square in Salt Lake w/ the other international missionaries. It is so nice to visit there. We did a session in the Salt Lake Temple. It's amazing to imagine all the people who have stepped foot in there. The majority of General Authorities in this dispensation have been there. I don't have much time left, but I'm so full of gratitude and love. Thanks to everybody for the influence you have on me. Thank you for your prayers. This will be my last email from the MTC. Talk to you soon from Ukraine.

 

Love,

Elder Mahoney

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This is a Special Time

So, it's even still hard to believe for me, but for the 3rd week in a row we had an Apostle come speak to us. Last Tuesday Elder M. Russell Ballard was here. He gave a great talk about how we need to become master communicators. It is such a special privilege to hear from an Apostle of the Lord. They bear such powerful testimony. He talked about some missionary work he was doing just earlier that day in a 30 minute meeting with a CEO of a very large company. He commited the man to read Our Search For Happiness and gave him a Book of Mormon. He told him to come back when he has 4 hours and bring his wife and he'd answer all his questions. The man said he looks forward to it. I know from a good source that Elder Bednar is definitely scheduled to speak here in November. I hope it is before I leave.

 

Fun fact: one of my teachers is Sister Chenina. You can see a video of her testimony on YouTube if you search "Russian Mormon Missionary."

 

Things are just rolling along here. Time is flying as usually. I think I have like 14 days left now and I'll be in Ukraine. It's pretty exciting stuff. We started speaking 100% Russian yesterday, so almost everything is Russian now. I have mixed feelings about it from an academic foreign language acquistion standpoint, but it's happening and I'll be gone before I know it. I'm going to start packing a little bit today so I can decide what I want to leave here.

 

On Sunday night, Sister Sherri Dew spoke to us. It was a fine talk but it was 85% the exact same as when I heard her speak in Toronto in August.

 

I don't even know what else to say right now really. I just found out that last month Angola and Burundi were dedicated for the preaching of the Gospel. That is so exciting to me. This is an amazing work. I really liked a quote I heard yesterday. A substitute teacher said, "First see God's hand, then be God's hand." First we need to see the hand of the Lord in our lives and what it means, then we can become tools in his hands.

 

I love being a missionary and have the chance to share this message with the Ukrainian people.

 

Thanks to everybody for all the support,

Elder Jonathan Mahoney

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Two Apostles in a Row

Okay, I have about 8 minutes to write this email. The time flies here! What happened this week? Well, last Tuesday Elder Richard G. Scott came and spoke to us! Wow, it was amazing. He basically gave us a proclamation to the world on personal revelation. We got a handout afterward. It is like everything that he has learned in his life about prayer on a double-sided piece of paper. It's definitely something I'll hold close to me for the rest of my life. We are some uplifted and inspired here. At the end he said, "I'm going to say this not as Elder Scott, but as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. If there is nothing else you remember from this, remember that I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know this because I know Him." It was so powerful. What an honor it is to learn at the feet of Apostles of the Lord.

 

The week flew by as they all do. The crazy thing is, it is said, that the time spent in the MTC is the longest part of your mission. The rest is going to be gone in the blink of an eye. I'm determined to work as hard as I can everyday and really make the best out of it. I want to have no regrets. I heard an awesome analogy on Sunday. Imagine you had unlimited gold coins to give out to people. Would you keep them to yourself? Would you look at some people and think "oh, they probably wouldn't like gold?" Do you think when you offered it to them they would turn it down? Would that stop you from offering it? They would probably want to know why you're giving it to them and probably wouldn't believe it to be real at first. We would ask them to take it and have it tested because we know it really is. Having the knowledge of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is like that. We need to share. Time is up. I love you all. I know that Christ lives. Thanks for your support.

 

Let your light shine,

Elder Jonathan D.C. Mahoney

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Nametags and Native Russians

So, I'm pretty sure that it was since I last wrote that we receive our nametags in Russian. At the MTC the whole tag is in Russian except for the last name. So, that's pretty neat. We will be in Ukraine in about 4 weeks now. Time really flies here.

 

Remember how I said we were hoping for an apostle? Well, guess what? Last Tuesday Elder Russell M. Nelson came to speak to us. It was pretty awesome as ~2500 missionaries all stood as he entered the room while we were singing. It was my first time ever seeing a member of the Quorum of the Twelve in person. He spoke about our purpose and doing everything in the proper order. He also stressed that our missions continue on after we get home, that we need to be friends with the people we bring into the Church, care about them, and keep up with their lives after we get home. I think that's such a great point to remember. He said that when we meet people we need to shake their hand and look them in the eyes. He said the eyes are the window to the soul and we are entitled to receive revelation as to how we can help them. It was certainly a powerful experience.

 

Last Wednesday our new missionaries all arrived safe and sound. There are 12 sisters and 6 elders. On Wednesday evening we did a quick introduction and took them all to their residence halls so they could unpack. Then on Thursday evening they had a special meeting with the Branch Presidency which we brought them to, followed by some training conducted by Elder Takagi and I, and the co-ordinating sisters. It all went really well. It was an inspiration to see every one of the new missionaries stand and tell us all why they chose to serve a mission. There are some amazing people here. They are all full of testimony and love, I'm humbled and grateful to serve amongst people like this.

 

There is a native Russian sister here from Moscow, going to Temple Square, named Sister Anastasia Tizhanina. It's been great to get to know her a bit. This past week she asked me if I would do the temple work for her grandfather. I was so honored by this request. We don't do baptisms or confirmations here as missionaries, but it will be done today and I'll do the rest next week. It is such a special thing. She also did the work for her mother while she's been here. She has an amazing conversion story and spirit about her. Again, there are some truly great people here helping to move this work along.

 

This Sunday was jam-packed and super good. I loved every minute of it. Due to our calling Elder Takagi and I have meeting almost the entire day on Sundays. One of the coolest things was that our branch was assigned to preside at the sacrament meeting for the cafeteria staff. Our Branch President played the piano, Elder Takagi conducted the meeting and I conducted the music. I could feel the spirit so strongly in that room, even though the staff were wearing everything from Church dress to uniforms to leather jackets. The service that they do for us touches my heart. One of them gave a spiritual thought and she talked about how she didn't really want to get out of bed that morning but then she remembered what her job is and that she needed to go to help nourish these missionaries so they could serve the Lord and help bring others unto Christ. It might sound a little cheesey, but it is so real. We are treated and provided for so well here, it's incredible. Surrounded by greatness.

 

In our regular Sacrament meeting Pres. Harrison gave a great talk and related the story of the mule in the well. The people decided to just fill up the hole and the mule realize he could just shake of the dirt and step up. That's what we need to do as missionaries, shake it off and step up. He told us that our missions will be a little hard, but not a lot hard. I'm so eager to get out there and to serve the Lord with all that I have. Yesterday we were asking our teacher Bro. Keith Anderson about eating in the mission field. He served in Novosibirsk. He said that your so busy everyday that you don't have that much time to think about that kind of thing. I know he was a great missionary. I want to be like that. Sunday concluded with a Fireside where Stephen B. Allen the Managing Director of the Missionary Department spoke.

 

Late last night our native Russian missionaries came. So far I have only met the 2 Elders. They are Elders Golotsvan and Scherbina. One of them is from Odessa which is in my mission. The other is from the next mission over in Ukraine. We have another Ukrainian sister here and a Russian sister who should be here soon if not already. It's exciting to have them here. We get to take a lot of our preparation day today to give them some training.

 

I continue to love it here. It was funny, at the fireside on Sunday Bro. Allen asked everybody to stand who loves the food here. I'd say it was about 15-20%. I stood up. It's pretty good stuff usually. I switch to just drinking water this week and I've been feeling really good about it. I was drinking a lot of Powerade and chocolate milk before. I've gained a little bit, maybe 10 pounds, but you can see it much. 10 pounds isn't a lot on me. I figure, as long as I'm not growing sideways I'm alright. I expect to lose weight in Ukraine too. I have apparently gotten bigger though. My chest is up to 46.25" now and my suit jackets are 44". Not the ideal situation. It became more apparent as I wore one of my vests on Sunday that used to be too big and is now too tight. I think I'll manage though. Haha. I'm looking forward to probably buying a suit in Ukraine. My teacher said he got a tailored suit in Russia for about $80.

 

Time's running out now. I'm so grateful to be alive, to be a missionary, and to serve the Lord. I know that this is where I'm supposed to be. God lives. The Atonement is real. The Holy Ghost is real. I feel Him everyday. Thanks again to everybody. 4 more weeks in the MTC. Life is awesome.

 

Much love,

Elder Mahoney

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Unprecedented Happenings

Alright, so much happening all the time! Where to start... Well first off, this week I met Chance Pilling, Bishop Piling's nephew this week. He's going to the Philippines.

 

Along with the new district being formed last week, my mailbox number has changed. It is now #334. Mail will still get to me eventually either way, but it makes it easier on the mail room if you send it to the new one.

 

One of the coolest, if not the coolest, aspects of being Zone Leaders is the chance to spend so much time with our Branch Presidency that other missionaries don't get. 2 of the members of our Branch Presidency have been mission presidents in Russia and all 3 are very successful. On Sunday I had an awesome "interview" w/ Pres. Michael Harrison. He basically just told me how I'm doing and then we talked for like an hour. He's the man.

 

Tomorrow we're welcoming 18 new missionaries. Guess what the gender ratio is. 12 sisters and 6 elders! It's pretty crazy, this never happens. There will now be more sisters than elders in our zone. Next week 4 native Russian will be coming too. Even in the other Russian zone there are 9 sisters coming in and 8 elders. It's so good though, sisters are so valuable. They bring a lot to missions that elders can't. We need so many more missionaries. If you're thinking about it, please come! I'm still the one one going to my mission Russian-speaking here. There may be some coming into the other Russian zone tomorrow, but I don't think so. It's pretty exciting. It's cool because it increases the chances of me going to Moldova if I'm one of the only Russian speakers going to Kiev at this time. I'm really exciting for the new missionaries to come. We get to teach them a bunch of stuff as Zone Leaders and show them around, plus be there for their meeting with the Branch Presidency.

 

I've said it before, I'll say it again, the teachers here are amazing. We're surrounded by great people. I sing in the choir every week and I love it, the directors are so good, you've seen them conducting at General Conference before. A lot of people have a lot of different attitudes about the MTC, but it is so rockin' to me. I love it! We learn so much all the time and it's all about pushing ourselves further and harder. The Gospel is amazing. This Church is awesome and the work is moving along steadily. I love how everything just keeps pressing forward and progressing. It's never just the same old thing.

 

I'm excited for the Devotional tonight, they're always super good. Last week Bishop Richard C. Edgley, councilor in the Presiding Bishopric spoke to us. It's been 6 weeks without an apostle, so we're hoping one'll come soon. This place rocks. Kiev is going to be even better in a lot of ways! I know this work is true. Joseph really did see God the Father and His Son in New York. Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. I love you all. Thanks for everything.

 

Godspeed,

Elder Mahoney 

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New District, New Calling

Alright, wow... So much has happened this past week it's truly hard to believe. Last Tuesday night the devotional speaker was Elder Neuenschwander, emeritus 70. He was the first General Authority to speak Russian and he has done so much for the Church in Eastern Europe. He gave an awesome talk. That night my companion, Elder Takagi, and I were called to be the new Zone Leaders. Three districts in our zone just left in the last to days to the field. It's kinda complicated how everything works here. There's the ecclesiastical side and then the mission side. There is a MTC Presidency then 2 District Presidencies (like a stake), then there are a lot of branches, I'm not sure how many, but over 50 and each has a Branch Presidency. That's the ecclesiastical side of it. Then on the mission side, each branch is comprised of a zone and each zone has multiple districts. So, we work closely w/ the Branch Presidency (who are awesome, by the way. 2 of them were mission presidents in Russia.) and we're the link between the district leaders and the Branch Presidency. There are a bunch of responsibilities associated with that, but the biggest one is welcome the new missionarys who will be coming in next week and the native Russians the following week. There are 38 new Russian speaking missionaries coming in next Wednesday who will be split between 2 zones. So we will have about half of them and rumor has it that there are more sisters than Elders! That is really strange since the total number of sisters is usually around 10% of all missionaries. So, it was made official on Sunday and the past couple days I've been signing everybody's room checkout sheets, one of them at 4:00 AM. We also need to do the programs up for Sacrament Meeting and Priesthood Meeting and interview the District Leaders as well as go to Branch Council and Branch Presidency Meetings, plus Leadership Training and Zone Leader Training. It's pretty exciting stuff, lots to do. It's nice to stretch.

 

Now, that was only about half the news really. On Thursday night out of nowhere one of the people higher up in training came into our classroom and announced that there would be some big changes in the way we're learning here. What they did was split our District. A new district was formed called District 10E. Elder Takagi and I were moved to the new one along with Sister Jarman, whose family lives in Moscow and she studied 3 semesters of Russian at BYU, and her companion Sister Uibel, who speaks Arabic and is doing very well with Russian. Then 3 others were brought in from another zone, Elder Windham, who was here last year learning Russian for 8 week and Elder Ortner who is a Jewish convert, born in Israel, and studied 3 years (?) of Russian I think (Who is also our new District Leader, by the way) and Sister Alexeenko who was born in Germany to Ukrainian parents, lived a lot of her life there, then in Louisiana, California, and Utah. So, this is like an Intermediate/Advanced Russian District. As far as all the teachers and training department know it's the first time this has ever happened in the MTC. It's going great so far. We took one of our teachers with us, Bro. Keith Anderson, who is totally the man! I love him so much. He's expecting his first child in a couple weeks. Then, we got a new teacher who is a native Russian, Sister Chenina. She just got back from her mission on Temple Square about 6 months ago. She also super cool. She speaks Japanese too, she was offered free grad school at an Japanese university before her mission because she won an international competition but she chose to go on a mission instead. He parents were totally against her joining the Church, still are. She basically also lost 4 years of University by going on a mission too. She's studying at BYU now. She used to work in the circus and as an actress. She speaks almost exclusively in Russian with us. I really feel we're learning a lot faster. I'm so grateful to be a member of the Living Church where things can change like this according to revelation.

 

I'm bummed I don't have more time to write because so much is happening here. But, I am so grateful to be here. I still love it. I love being a missionary. I'll try to type faster next time.

 

Love you all,

Elder Mahoney

 

P.S. I think there was so confusion in the last message. By address I meant physical address. I can only email family in the MTC. That might change in the field but for now if you want a response please include physical address in your DearElder message.

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General Conference in the MTC

The weeks really just disappear here. It's wild how fast things move. The 2 Russian districts ahead of us are leaving in about 7 days. I swear, just yesterday, it was 15. We'll be in their shoes in no time. This week was certainly a great one. I've met quite a few great people. The cool thing is that really everybody here is great, over 2000 of them. General Conference was this weekend and it was awesome as usual. I went in with a question in mind as I usually do and it was answered in the first session. I would say my favorite talk was probably Elder D. Todd Christofferson's talk on Saturday Morning. I want to consecrate my whole self and life to the Lord. I loved how he explained to do that. Speaking of Saturday "Morning", it was a little weird for me to go to all of the sessions in daylight because I've never been in a timezone so early, let alone the actual one it's broadcast from. It was still sunny after the priesthood session. Where I'm from it finishes at 23:00. One really cool thing was that when the prophet walked in on the screen everybody stood up just like at the Conference Center and were silent. The first time that happened I could feel the Spirit so strongly. Thomas S. Monson is truly a prophet of God.

 

Usually when I write this I just finished at the temple. Today is the same. It was great. It's a nice switch up from the busy busy life at the MTC. After the session today my companion and I went to volunteer in the laundry from for a little bit. It was really nice. It's such a bustling place. I think I remember hearing that there are 2000 people who work in that temple. I'm not sure if I ever wrote this, but the Wednesday morning before I came to the MTC on September 8th I did a session at the Salt Lake Temple at 6:00 w/ Jess Cooper. It was so awesome. I was very grateful to be there.

 

The Russian is coming along. I'm trying to be more diligent, study whenever I have time like at lunch or in the morning or night. It's awesome to see all the members of my district progressing so well.

 

I'm grateful for the letters I'm receiving, but I just want to make a note. If you are sending me a DearElder and want a response please include your address in the message itself because they aren't clear in the heading.

 

I continue to love the time I'm spending here. It's such a great place. I feel the Holy Ghost everyday. I'm so grateful to be able to spend so much time in the blessed place. I'm on the Lord's time here. These facilities have all been establish with sacred funds. It's humbling to be a part of this great great work. Big things are happening. I've learned that a lot of things are changing for missionaries in the field now too and we should see them there before they start teaching them in the MTC. Many of the speakers, including the prophet, at conference urged every young man to prepare for a mission. Pres. Monson said it is a Priesthood obligation. If anybody reads this and is thinking about a mission, please do it. It is one of the best things you can ever do. You will be so blessed for doing it.

 

Thanks for all the support.

 

Love,

Elder Mahoney

 

P.S. For any French speakers, my brother Daniel will be on Radio-Canada on the Luc et Luc show on Sunday, October 17th. Check it out.

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Lovin' It.

I don't know what it is, but the past few days especially, at the end of the day and throughout I just feel so happy to be here. I love the MTC. This is such a unique experience. I feel the Spirit every single day I am here. It's not always easy either, which I love because it gives me opportunities to grow.

 

Last week my companion and I taught our first lesson in Russian. It went quite well I think. Really well for the first time. We didn't speak and English. I'm learning more and more Russian and having native Russians here is so great. It's just hard to convince my companion to sit with them at meals for some reason. We have to sit together and he never wants to. I learn so much more when I talk with them. They are super awesome. One of them, Elder Vargin, is 6'8" from Moscow, I call him my gigantic friend, in Russian, and he calls me his Canadian friend. They all have such a great spirit. They will be the future leaders of the Church in Russia and Ukraine. I am so grateful for the missionaries who have gone before and brought the Gospel to the Russian people. Most of them are converts within the last 5 years or less. There are 8 of them. 4 Sisters and 4 Elders.

 

So, I learned last week that the day before we arrived all the Elders filled out a survey so they could choose who would be in the MTC Priesthood choir which will sing at General Conference. I was pretty disappointed to learn that I don't have any chance in being in it. But my voice wasn't 100% anyway the day they started the rehearsals and I am doing a pretty good job at accepting it. It's just a bummer because opportunities to sing the the Conference Centre are very rare. I feel better knowing that because I am not in it some other missionary has a chance to be. They just refinished the gym here so there hasn't been an MTC choir for devotionals yet, but the first time should be today. I'm planning on being in it with the German in my District, Elder Dannenberg.

 

I'm training to try to beat the push-up record here at the MTC. It's 142 for men. I think I will probably be able to do it before I leave. Everybody in my room (2 companionships) are working on the 100 push-up challenge. I also play volleyball quite a bit in gym time these days but my elbows and shoulders ache a lot. It occurred to me the other day that maybe it's arthritis. I wonder what that feels like.

 

Everyday is very busy here, but I feel like I've learned to live in the moment pretty well and I'm just trying to soak it all up. We learn so much everyday. We have amazing teachers and great devotionals, firesides, and large group meeting. Our Branch Presidency rock, 2 of them were mission presidents in Russia before. I feel true joy here.

 

I know that we are literal children of our Father in Heaven. I love Him and I know He loves me. Thanks to everybody who has helped me to get here. I am full of love.

 

I really like something I heard yesterday about faith. One of our teachers said, "I prayed not hoping that something would happen, but expecting it." I hope we can all do that.

 

Love,

Старейшина Махони

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Striples of Panama

Alright, the end of week 2. So much happens here that when I sit down to write about it my mind goes blank. I mean, since the last time I wrote here I have had seven 16 hour days. What I can say though is that a person can grow here more than anywhere else I know of. I can't imagine that there is another place more structured and disciplined where you work so much. At the same time there are quite a few blocks where we direct our own time. These periods are what really set one missionary apart from another. There is so much to learn about using time and studying effectively.

 

Since I know a bit of Russian already and my companion studied Russian at BYU, sometimes we get pulled out to do more advanced things. We'll also be spending more time with the native Russians who arrived last week. There's one other sister who studied Russian in our district so we'll be teaching the first lesson with her in Russian tomorrow. Normally we wouldn't have to teach in Russian until the 6th week. I have My Purpose and the First Vision memorized in Russian now. Last night I was out to do a little advanced grammar and as I review the verb conjugations I had a very exciting experience. I just realized that Russian verb conjugations are simpler than any other language I speak! I thought that I just looked at some of the beginner stuff and the harder tense would come later, but that was it. Past and future tenses are so easy! There are really only like 5 different tenses. Anyway, I'm sure that's not as exciting for some, but the language is starting to unfold better for me.

 

There's an awesome German Elder in my district named Elder Dannenberg. I love him. He's so funny. We have a good time together. Sometimes his English is funny too. Yesterday it sounded like he said "We are the modern Striples of Panama." instead of Stripling Warriors of Helaman. I had a good laugh about that. Our whole district is awesome really. And we have the best teachers!

 

I wish I had a lot more to say this week, but it's really just been a continuation of the same rigorous schedule. I love it here. The MTC is really what you make it. I plan to enjoy it the whole time I'm here. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

 

It's amazing to be a part of such a marvelous work. On Sunday we had a devotional in the gym for the first time since it was just refinished. They let the Elders take off their suit jackets since the AC wasn't working right and it was pretty awesome to see hundreds of black jackets change to white shirts. Afterward I walked up along a balcony and stood there for a minute looking down at ~1000 missionaries. That's less than half of the amount here. Every single one of them was called to serve by a true prophet of God and set apart as disciples of Jesus Christ w/ the authority to preach his Gospel. Wow.

 

I just learned a couple days ago why the book is Preach My Gospel and not "teach." The citation is on the cover, but basically the scripture says that we are to preach the gospel and the Spirit does the teaching. I'm so excited to be here. I know that I am in the right place. I feel the Spirit everyday. There's know way I can deny that this work is ordained of God.

 

With love,

Старейшина Махони

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First Week @ MTC!

Well, here I am. I was set apart on Sunday Sept. 5th and arrived in Utah on Monday the 6th. I had a great time w/ Jess Cooper and his family. They were so helpful! I did a few last minute errands, saw temple square and did an endowment session in the Salt Lake Temple. A lot of people were pretty confused when I told them my name is Elder Mahoney. They wondered where my name tag is. Haha.

 

I arrived at the MTC on Wednesday, Sept. 8th. This place is so awesome! The schedule is pretty intense. The schedule is different everyday, but for most of the time I'm here (12 weeks) we have a repeating weekly schedule. There are some days that start w/ 45 minutes of gym time and are then classes from like 08:20-21:00 w/ only breaks for 2 45 minute meals. It's hard to imagine any place in the world so regimented and disciplined. I love it though! I'm in a district w/ 10 missionaries. 6 Elders and 4 Sisters. There are 4 districts in our zone and the zone is our branch. Above the zone leaders we have a branch presidency who are older men called from outside the MTC. I do all the classes w/ my district. We have the best district! Unfortunely, I'm the only Russian-speaker going to Kiev from this group, but that probably the only downside. (There is a district of 10 Ukrainian speakers in another zone all going to Kiev.) The are 9 languages spoken by people in our district: English, Russian, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Arabic! My companion is great. =) His name is Elder Takagi. He's half Japanese and half-American. He lived in Japan a lot of his life, but most recently was at BYU and studied there. Everybody else in my district is mostly American except for Elder Dannenberg who is from Germany (and hilarious and awesome) and Elder Peterson who was adopted from Russia when he was 10. Our teachers are so great. We have 3 and they come throughout the week at different times and teach us Russian and about how to be missionaries.

 

The schedule is so intense here that at the end of the day when I go to write in my journal I can hardly think of where to start and it seems like what we did at 07:00 was days ago! It's so sweet though, it really makes us stretch and grow into the instruments the Lord would have us be. One sweet aspect of being here is meet people from all over the place! Yesterday I spoke English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and I'm learn a little German and a few words in Arabic. =P I've bumped into a couple people I know so far and am expecting another one tomorrow. Elder Christian Drage was called as zone leader his 3rd day here! That's a pretty big responsibility. I'm fine w/ just being a regular missionary for the time being. Haha.

 

The language is coming along well and the native Russians just arrive today, so I'm really excited about that. It'll be sweet to practice talking with them and get to know them.

 

I did a session at the Provo temple this morning. We do one every week here. The Spirit here is so great. I feel the Spirit again and again as I learn, hear stories and testify. I feel the hand of the Lord in this work everyday. I know that I am here because this is were God would have me be. This is a great and marvelous work. I am so happy to be here! I would really not rather be any place else. They said there are 2000-2500 missionaries here and ~5000 people working to support us. That's so incredible. I can really feel it.

 

My time's up. I'm praying for you all. Godspeed.

 

- Старейшина Махони

 

P.S. I love eating here. So much food. =D I'm getting good at eating quickly and going back for more! =D

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This is it!

I'm being set apart tomorrow at 18:30 in Halifax and I'm flying out to Utah on Monday morning.

I'm super pumped. =D