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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