Late Night with Italian-speaking Landlady

Wow, that was quite the week. It began with a continued frantic search for an apartment we needed for Thursday and didn't have. It was really not easy. We need to do official contracts and have them stamped by the government and nobody wants to do it because the tax authorities could find out and charge them taxes. So, with a city of 300,000+ we could only find one apartment that would meet all of our requirements. Luckily it's a pretty nice one. There are a few issues that we're ironing out, but we finally got things worked out with the help of a great member, Inna Solomeina, the Branch President's wife.

We learned on Tuesday night that I need to pack my bags, but that I would be staying in Chernigov at the new apartment. Wednesday consisted of a lot of that. We stayed in Chernigov and they just sent our companions up from the transfer meeting. My companion is Elder Austin Brinck from South Jordan, Utah. He started his mission in Chernigov for 2 transfers and now he has 3 more transfers in his mission, so he'll probably finish off here. The other Elder now serving with Elder Drasso is Elder DJ Polivka and he's on his last transfer. It way cool that we got 2 older missionaries up here. I know that they needed to close another area to reopen this one so the Lord is investing a lot in this city. I know that we are going to continue seeing miracles and see more baptisms here.

I've been with Elder Brinck for like 4 days now and things have been going great so far. He's a good guy and a great missionary. I know this will be a great transfer. We have many things in common and we're learning lots of different things from each other.

We weren't able to finalize the apartment until Friday, so we all stayed in one cluttered apartment on Thursday night. We filled out contracts and worked everything out on Friday. Our landlady is pretty neat. Her name is Vika. She has a 15 year old son. She lived in Italy for like 6 years. On Friday night she was still doing some last minute cleaning, then we sat down at the kitchen table because she wanted to understand better why we're here. We were able to share the message of the Restoration with her and give her a Book of Mormon. She's already read some. Things are gonna be good.

I was really disappointed that we weren't allowed to watch conference at all this weekend, but I get plenty of chances to learn patience here. We'll be able to watch it next weekend. I am so excited. I love General Conference! Church was good though. We had a good fast and testimony meeting. I love the members here. They're an inspiration to me. I'm happy to be staying in Chernigov for at least another 6 weeks. I'll have spent about a quarter of my mission here. There's still a baptismal date with the older couple for April 22nd (I'm pretty sure) and apparently they want me to baptize the wife, Valentina. That would be an honour. We'll soon see.

I love you all. Thanks for everything. This is the work of God. =)

- Elder J. Mahoney

P.S. Watch the revised Joseph Smith movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xVw6PsSinI

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Don't Get Run Over

My time is short today, but suffice it to say, we had a great week! Elder Drasso and I managed to get 14 members present lessons with the help of the Lord. That is the most I'd heard of anybody getting since I got into the field. It was great to be so busy. We also found 2 new investigators. One of them is named Vova. We found his number in our phone and set up an appointment with him. He told us that missionaries used to rent an apartment his family owns, so he's been around the Church before. As we talked with him about what he believes we learned that he already believes in so much truth. He said that he has a Book of Mormon and he's started to read it a few time. He know's that he should read it. He promised to do so and we'll be meeting again on Wednesday. He's a great guy with great goals.

We also learned that there will be 4 missionaries again here in Chernigov starting at transfers this week. We found out last week when the assistants called us to tell us to look for another apartment. So, that's one thing we've been working on as well. It also means that there's a good chance they'll split us up and I'll say in Chernigov with one of the Elders they send up. We'll see what happens. I'll find out tomorrow. Time's almost up, unfortunately. I love this Gospel. I'm so happy to be serving here and to have the opportunity to testify of truth in Ukraine in the Russian language.

For some reason we've been getting fed at random homes. I'm fine with that. We've had a couple days of full stomachs. It's good for a change.

Here's a good quote, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

Thanks for all the love, prayers and support.

- Elder J. Mahoney

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Raw Eggs and Pig Fat

Well, this week seemed to silently sneak past me. I don't feel like that much happened, but I know it did. Haha. The highlight would have to be Tuesday. Elder Lawrence of the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy toured our mission and he was with us for Zone Conference in Kiev with his wife. That was so great! His wife taught us a lot about the House of Israel and the tribes. It blew my mind. The more I heard the more I realized I don't know. She is such a good teacher. I just sat there and thought about how blessed Elder Lawrence and their children are to have a wife and mother like her. This Church is led by some exceptional people. Later that day we were able to attend the temple, which was also awesome, as usual. I love the temple. Once every 6 weeks seems like not enough, but it's certainly better than not at all.

This week I ate sala (pure pig fat) fried on a skewer over a fire I made and drank an egg from the shell as per instruction from a nice babushka. We were able to give 3 blessings this week. One was in an old soviet hospital with 6 beds in each room. We gave a blessing to a member there and I could really feel the Spirit as I exercised the Priesthood which I hold in the Russian language. It's pretty cool that the Gospel has no borders and that it doesn't matter what language you're speaking, the Spirit can speak to anybody. That was an especially unique experience since there were 6 other patients looking on.

On Sunday an older couple who are parents of a member came to Church and informed us they want to be baptized, so we got 2 new investigators and 2 new baptismal dates yesterday. This will be very good for the Branch and of course very good for them. I love this mission. I love the opportunity to be here serving. I love the scriptures and I learn more and more everyday. Thanks to everybody who has helped me get to when I am right now. Thanks for all the love, prayers and support. I know that God lives. He loves us. I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been called of God through a living prophet to bring the message of the restored Gospel to the Ukrainian people. It's a privilege and an honor to do so. Love.

- Elder J. Mahoney

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Coke and Poker

This week we had 7 member present lessons which is the most I'd ever had in a week, but somehow it feels like we didn't do that much. Either way, thing are moving forward here. On Thursday we had one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Cluff, come up with another Elder, Matthes. We let Elder Drasso and Cluff take the lessons for the evening and Elder Matthes and I went on a quest to find a less active member who lives just outside the city. On our way one some people warned is it's better not to go in the evening because it's dark out there and the buses don't come very ofter, but we had faith and went for it. We were dropped off on the side of a highway and found a road that seem like the one we were directed to. We asked a woman walking for the road we were looking for and she said, "woah... um... go straight all the way to the end of this road and ask there." It looked really far, but we went for it. It ended up being a little less that a kilometre I'd say. Then I saw a woman going into her house, so I shouted over the fence and asked her where the street we were looking for is. She didn't know, but came out and asked us what we were out there for and who we are. After a minute she said, "I invite you in to visit." I checked the time, we shrugged, and in we went. We had a great meeting with this woman and shared the message of the restoration with her. She is a very faithful woman and even takes some kind of pastor training once a week. She reads a lot and gratefully accepted the Book of Mormon. She said she wished he granddaughter was there to hear too. Elder Matthes boldly testified that we are disciples of Christ. That we were sent to her house to share this message with here. There are no coincidences. Though she tried to help us after the meeting, we didn't have time to find the less active member. We ended up getting home just a little after 21:00. Not bad at all.

We were finally able to set up an appointment with the man I spoke French w/, Pierre, from Congo. First I taught him with Elder Matthes (on exchanges) which wasn't as fun for him because he doesn't speak French, but the first lesson went great and it was neat to watch the Restoration in French. I gave him a Book of Mormon in French and one in Russian. Then he came to Church on Sunday and told me he gave the Russian book to his friend and he'd like another. After Sacrament meeting he told me he'd never had a book like this before. He said when he reads the Bible sometimes it's hard to understand, but that the Book of Mormon is much simpler. He said he doesn't know how to thank us. I told him it's good enough that he'd come to Church because that's what we're here for. I taught him with Vova, who knows some French, for 2nd hour and that also went really well. I've only been to Church about 3 times in French and read the Book of Mormon once, so it's a little tough to think of all the words sometimes, but Pierre seemed to really understand the Plan of Salvation and was immediately talking about coming back next Sunday. I love helping people learn of truth and seeing them start to make sense of everything. I'm grateful for my heritage and everything that has led me to be here in Chernigov, Ukraine, teaching a man from Congo in French.

We had a neat Mexican Party on Friday. Elder Drasso is a quarter Mexican, so that's where the idea came from. We spent a few weeks talking about doing the party and trying to figure out how to cook some stuff and it turned out quite well. We all wore paper mustaches by the Branch Presidents request, male and female alike. Haha. It was kind funny to me because there was Coca-Cola there and after the eating they played poker. A couple things many Mormons might not agree with. I just think it's funny. Eastern Europe is a little different from the rest of the world.

Oh yeah, I never mentioned that last Tuesday was my 6 month mark! It's wild how fast the time goes. I try not to think about it because it messes with your mind, but I guess I have a bit less that 18 months left. I think I'll probably be getting transferred on March 31st, but one can never be sure. (Unless of course they're an assistant to the President). It'll be interesting to find out where I'm off to.

This evening we'll be down in Kiev for Zone Conference tomorrow. Elder Larry R. Lawrence, of the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy, will be there! I just got my hair cut for the special occasion. It's going to be awesome. The first visitor we've had since I got to Ukraine. I love this Church and I love this work. Thanks again for all the love, prayers and support.

One more thing. I just learned that Jean-Marie Belliveau, the former Branch President in Bathurst, New Brunswick, just passed away suddenly in a car accident. He was a great man. I was privileged to know him. It's a bummer I'll have to wait for so long to see him again now. I know he has a work to do on the other side though. My prayers go out to his family.

Godspeed,

Elder J. Mahoney

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A Week on a Bus

It was a pretty wild week. So, last Sunday night we went down to Kiev. We had a decent preparation day in Kiev on Monday. I went to a cool Ukrainian restaurant called Puzata Hata that my Russian friend Nastya Tizhanina told me to go to. It didn't disappoint. That evening we did exchanges and I taught a fun lesson with Elder Larimore in the Svyatoshinskiy area. We taught a guy named Vlad who's a professional singer. He's done 6 different contracts singing in Dubai. He showed us a couple clips and he's not bad at all. He also does some modeling, but best of all he's golden. He said he was thinking a lot about what we're doing here and he said he thinks it's so good that we are here. He thanked us for bringing the Gospel to his country. He said this are so bad around him and he's witnessing the degradation of society. He told us that God is number one in his life and he gratefully accepted a Book of Mormon. I'm not in that area, but I look forward to hearing more about what happens with him.

On Tuesday, my companion, Elder Drasso went to Bulgaria for 3 days to renew his visa. I served with Elder Larimore in Svyatoshinskiy for the day and then was surprized to learn that I would be spending a couple days with Elder Jospeh Hirt. The assistants didn't think it was good that nobody would be in our area for so long, so Elder Hirt and I went up to Chernigov again on Wednesday. Then we went to his area, Bila Tserkva, on Thursday. (Bila Tserkva is renowned for what they call surgic. It's a mix between Russian and Ukrainian typically spoken by less educated people and which is, for obvious reasons, usually difficult to understand.) Then back to Kiev on Friday when Elder Drasso had Leadership Training, putting us back in Chernigov late Friday. If my calculations are correct it was about 800 km of travel this week for me, just counting inter-city. It was a little tiring and we didn't really get much study in with all the early morning buses, but I had a great time with Elder Hirt. He's a Moldovan Elder which means he was called to serve in the Romania Bucharest Mission speaking Russian. The only Russian areas there are in Moldova and missionaries can only stay there for 3 months at a time so they serve 3 months there then 3 months in our mission for their whole mission. We also send missionaries from our mission to Moldova as well. I pray I get a chance to serve there. Anyway, Elder Hirt is a great guy. We got along really well. He's from a place called Barrow, Alaska, one of the northernmost cities in the world. I might have to make my way up there and check out the sights with him someday.

It was really nice to finally be back in our area this Saturday. We had a couple great lessons. There is a man named Sergei who has come to Church 4 times but we'd never been able to meet with him to actually go over the basics of what we believe until yesterday. We were able to teach him about the message of the Restored Gospel and he gratefully accepted a Book of Mormon. We were able to set a baptismal date with him for 2 Saturdays from now. We explained to him that there's still a lot of things we need to teach him first but that if he reads and prays he will know that this is what he needs to do. He said if God tells him it is true he will follow this path. I think it may just go down. I certainly pray it will.

This week was just all over the place, so I'm not sure much what more to say. One of the coolest things I recently learned is that we know who our new mission president will be in July! His name is Jorg Klebingat. His is German and his wife in Russian (born in Latvia). The coolest this is that he is 43! He served his mission in Colorado and I think he met his wife at BYU when he was studying Russian. From what I understand he's also lived in Kiev and was an Elder's Quorum President there. I also heard he proposed the temple site that the temple was built on here. He's a bishop in Germany now and works for the Church, he's an Area Distribution Manager. I'm so excited to meet him. I'm really happy we aren't going to have an old guy who doesn't speak Russian. Word is that he and his wife speak fluent English, German, and Russian. I imagine they probably speak some others too. Haha. They have 3 children. July will be an exciting time!

Sorry there isn't anything a lot more interesting this week. I'm happy to be here, serving in Ukraine. I love the Lord and am honored to represent Him and His Church. Thanks to all for your support, love, and prayers.

Love,

Elder Mahoney

P.S. Less than a month to General Conference now! I'm SO excited! My favorite 2 weekends of every year.

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2 Angels Shovel Snow for Aged Ukrainian Painter

I don't think I even mentioned that a couple weeks ago we shoveled the drive by a recent converts home and her neighbor came out to help us. It was really his drive too and she knew that he would appreciate it so she asked us to do the whole thing. He told us that he was thinking about the snow and how he was going to remove it and he prayed to God. Then, in his words, two angels came to do it for him (us). We were in a bit of a hurry to get to Church so we didn't want to stay and talk too long. He asked us to come in for 5 minutes and see what he does. I told him we were in a hurry and that we'd love to come back and talk with him another time, but he insisted. He took us around to the back of his house and opened a door with 2 locks on it. We walked into a studio with over a hundred paintings, I'm sure. One was even about 8 feet from corner to corner. He said, "I have been doing this my whole life." The man's name is Шкурко Анатолий Никифорович, Shkurko Anatoliy Nikiforovich. I believe he's 84 years old now. He is a well known Ukrainian painter. He even told us he has paintings in Canada and the US. It was amazing to see a lifetime of work and achievement before my eyes. Wow. It was a special privilege to meet this man. We went back to visit him this past week and he gave each of us 2 paintings each. His lovely wife, Galya, fed us a nice snack and we gave them a Book of Mormon. They gratefully received it and said they would read it. It is such a privilege to be here serving in this country of such rich history.

The past week was certainly not a bad one. We found 3 new investigators in their teens. As we sat there and taught one of them, named Dmitry, I thought of my brother, Dan. They are almost the exact same age, but the only difference is, Dan knows of the reality of Jesus Christ's Restored Gospel and Dmitry doesn't. I pondered this and was filled with gratitude that my parents were so blessed to receive this great message and that they were faithful in raising us according to it's teachings. I feel so blessed that I know that The Church of Jesus Christ is alive and well on the earth and that we have a living prophet today. My thanks go out to all the missionaries that went before me to bring the Gospel into my life and into the lives of the great pioneer saints here in Ukraine.

Another of the investigators we found is a 15 year old girl. I was talking to a guy at a bus stop problem after 20:00 a little over a week ago, so it was dark and cold. Side note for imagery: The lighting is horrible here so it's quite dark in a lot of places at nice and for some reason they haven't figured out how to clear snow here so the sidewalks are often sheets of ice. Anyway, I was talking to a guy and preaching the Restored Gospel to him and he was honest enough to tell me he's really not interested. Hmm, I thought to myself and then noticed a girl off to the side who was listening. I knew she could here the conversation clearly, so I turned to her and asked, "Are you interested?" She responded in the affirmative. I began to teach her of Jesus Christ and His message for her and gave her a Book of Mormon. She said she would read it. After some phone tag we finally met and she showed up with another girl! The other girl, I learned is an inactive member who is in her class. It was a great lesson and I felt the Spirit testify powerfully through me as I told her that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that he knows and loves her. This Sunday that less active member came to Church.

We have many such experiences along with plenty of rejection. I don't have time to write about them all, but I know that this is when I am supposed to be at this time. Often when I tell people I like being in Ukraine they ask me why here. Many people think that life is so much back back where I came from and don't understand why I would want to be here. A couple days ago, I had the opportunity to explain to somebody the reason. I told her, "As we have explained, we believe that today there is a prophet and 12 apostles on the Earth. I believe that I have been called by a Prophet of God to serve in Ukraine and to bring this message to the Ukrainian people. Jesus Christ is not on the Earth right now, but if He were here in Ukraine he would like it and he would love the people. We are representatives of Jesus Christ. For this reason, I am happy to be here and I love you." As our Nigerian investigator, Emeka, always says, "Glory be to God."

I'm learning and growing each day here. Some things are certainly challenging. Sometimes is patience, sometimes is endurance, sometimes it's hunger, sometimes rejection, but the Lord God is with me. I feel Angels round about us according to our worthiness. Everybody should serve a mission if at all possible. This is God's Kingdom in these latter-days.

My companion, Elder Drasso, will be flying to Bulgaria tomorrow to renew his visa, so I'm in Kiev and will be serving here until Friday. Thanks so much for all the love, support, and prayers. Please smile once for me, then keep smiling for you. We are all children of God. I pray that you may feel His love in your life. Hallelujah.

- Elder Jonathan Mahoney

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2 in 300,000

Not a bad week. Well, one thing is bad. I don't like how I'm not allowed to hold babies. That's probably the most annoying rule to me. It hit me hard yesterday when we met a member on the bus on the way to Church yesterday. From the bus stop it's about a kilometre to the Church so we walked next to her while she carried her baby the whole way and couldn't help at all. Well, rules are rules I guess. I will be looking forward to holding me some babies when I get home. Haha.

What else... It was a fairly quiet week. Oh yeah, junk! Transfers were last week. And I... didn't get transferred! Yay! I'm pumped to be here in Chernigov. The members rock. Something crazy and unexpected happened in our city. The other companionship of Elders both got transferred! And they closed their area for now. We just don't have enough misssionaries in our mission right now. I know that's the case in probably most places in the world, we need more missionaries! We went over and cleaned out their apartment. We're going to be holding onto the apartment, so hopefully it won't be too long until the other area opens up again, but for now it's just Elder Drasso and I. There is no other area like this in our mission. We are the only 2 missionaries in this city with over 300,000 people, the only 2 in our district and we're about 2 hours from the closest missionaries. Interesting stuff.

I gotta mention a guy who just came back from his fourth mini-mission. His name is Vova Yarmak and he is one of the coolest guys I have ever met. He has his mission papers in not so he'll be getting his call sometime soon for a 2 year mission and he's already served 6 months! Somehow we hit it off pretty much instantly. We have so much in common. We're just totally on the same wavelength. He's an amazing member/missionary and a powerful teacher. He has already helped us on a couple lessons and wants to know when all of our lessons are so he can help. I love the guy and I know this will be a long lasting friendship. He's trying to sort out a medical issue now so any prayers for him would be greatly appreciated. I think Mom actually may have uploaded a picture of him and I by a Christmas tree a while ago. Check it.

I don't think I have much else to say. The work is moving on. We had 2 investigators at Church and one of them was our Nigerian brother, Emeka. His full first name is Chukwuemeka which is from the Ibu language and apparently means "what God has done for us." I love him. It was the first time he came to church as he just recovered from a surgery and he said he'll be back next week! We had another investigator come too. She is very poor so the branch helps her pay for the bus to come to church. She literally doesn't have the 20 cents to take the bus and I have only ever seen her wear 2 different outfits. It's sad to see people in situations like that. She can't go to university because she doesn't have any money. I know the Church could bless her life so much. That's what the Gospel does for everybody who will let it.

I know Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I'm already getting super excited for General Conference. I'm honored to be serving the Lord full-time. I want to be a better missionary. Please pray for us out here. There are miracles waiting on our faith to happen.

Much love from Ukraine,

Elder Jonathan Mahoney

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