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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