Generations of History on One Plot of Land

This week we were able to go out and visit Taras and his family in the small village where he lives. There about about 500 people living there. It was the bumpiest bus ride I've ever been on. It was one hour to travel 30 km. We had a nice meeting with him and his wife, Sveta. Her family has lived on the same plot of land for about 380 years! I think that's so cool. They don't even have a store in the village. I was kinda blown away by how smart she is. They are both very smart and know the Bible really well. They understand the history of the Bible and know the doctrine pretty well. Sveta kept telling me to stop telling her things she already knows. She said there's no true confession on the earth and no true priesthood. I asked her, "if there were, how would you know?" She said that she would just know, and I would know, and my companion would know, and Taras would know. I shared Moroni's promise with her and she said, "that's what I just said." I testified to her that this is it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints truly is Christ's Church on the earth today. I testified that the priesthood has been restored. I was a little concerned at one point during the lesson, but in the end she accepts a Book of Mormon gratefully and said she'd read it. Yesterday when I called Taras he said he was reading the Book of Mormon at that moment. I love it when that happens.

Things have been going really good. I feel like I'm becoming a better person and I can feel things improving. My companion and I have some really good times together and we're keeping busy which makes the time fly. I don't understand how it's almost September already. We're really trying to reach out to the less-actives and bring them back. I love being a part of this work. I don't have too much more to say today. It's just true. I know it. It's all true.

Love,

Elder J. Mahoney

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A Room Full of Saints Dressed in White

Sometimes beforehand I'm trying to think about what to write in this letter. So much happens in a week, but at the same time I can have the feeling that nothing happened. The time flies by, consistently fast. Alright, I've got it, there's a couple stories I'll share.

Last Monday we were able to meet with a man named Taras. I found his teaching record in the area book and called him a couple times, but he lives outside the city so it was hard to coordinate a time to meet with him. He happened to be in the city, so we met with him on p-day. First off, I was impressed by the fact that the 2nd time I called him he said "Privyet Mahoney!" He remembered my name and I'd only talked to him once on the phone. When we met with him he recounted how the 2nd time I'd called him he was nervous because he was about to goto the hospital where his 6 year old son would have an operation. He said when I called he just felt peace and he knew that God was looking out for him. He said he felt some kind of spiritual connection. He's a really nice, good man. I'm really glad we've had the chance to meet him and I look forward to seeing him and working more with him soon. He said he wants to come to Church with his 2 sons.

On Wednesday we took a train into Kiev and I had leadership training on Thursday. It was a great meeting and I love our mission president. Everything he says makes sense and he brings up a lot of things I've been talking about since the beginning of my mission. We seem to think similarly. After the meeting we were supposed to goto the temple for a session, which I was really excited for because I hadn't been for like 3-4 months. My companion was on exchanges and came back late so we went to do baptisms instead. It was pretty awesome to walk out and see so many saints there, all dressed in white. I think there were over 20 from Armenia, Romania, Russia, and Kiev. Awesome! I could really feel the Spirit and I know we were doing the Lord's work. I was assigned to be the recorder in the confirmation room most of the time. I sat there and kinda had a flashforward. There I was a Canadian boy sitting in the Kiev Temple recording these sacred ordinances being performed in Russian. I thought of the temple work I've been a part of before and the temple work I will be involved in in temples all over the world for the rest of my life. That was just a little glimpse. I love the temple and I know the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly God's Church on the earth. It's awesome! It's a privilege to be serving here. I love serving the Lord.

Thanks for all the prayers and support.

Love,
Elder J. Mahoney

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In the Business of Creating Eternal Families

I wonder if time is going faster all over the world or if it's just here. This week has flown by and so has my mission this far. The same thing is happening with my internet time today. I don't have much time, but I'll write a little something. Things have been a little bit slow recently, but we're doing what we can. We're still working with Dennis. On Saturday he told us that he working on setting a date as a goal for baptism. He says he'd like to serve a mission, so I'm especially excited about this. He's a good smart guy and when we explain true principles he really understands them. I look forward to sharing more good news about this soon.

I'll share one more quick story. Yesterday President Malonos, a councilor in the mission presidency, came to the Branch to make a calling. He came with he wife and 5 children. He's from Lviv and he was baptized before there was even a branch there. It was so awesome to see 3 of his little sons come in their shirts and ties and the youngest baby who just turned one, then of course the older daughter, probably about 10 years old. Both parents gave great talks. Their voices are gentle, calm, yet powerful. It is amazing to see families here living the gospel to the fullest. It was so refreshing to see them all come in the doors of our building (almost doubling our attendance). That's really why we're here, to help people create eternal families. I'm looking forward to creating my own, but helping others do it will have to suffice for now. Haha.

I know that this work is truly the Lord's work. I love being a part of it. God lives. He's my Heavenly Father and He loves me. He hears and answers my prayers. I'm looking forward to being reunited with him and giving him a hug. Thanks to all for the love and support.

Godspeed,
Elder Mahoney

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From Ghanain to Californian

So, last week Elder Davis and I spent our last couple of days together and before we knew it we were in Kiev already for transfer meeting. It can be pretty tiring because we got on the train just after midnight and got to Kiev at 07:30. Then on the way back it was 10:00-03:00. There's not too much time to catch up sleep. Anyway, in Kiev on Thursday we had a meeting with all of the trainers and they introduced a new program. For the first 12 weeks new missionaries do an extra 60 minutes of study per day with their trainers. It's a cool program and I think it'll help us both grow a lot. The programs of the Church really are so inspired.

After that meeting we went in and all the transfers were announced. There are 12 new missionaries this transfer. 2 other missionaries from my group are training, but we are the youngest ones. 12 really is a lot of missionaries, it was interesting to look at them and try to guess which would be my companion and think about how they are the future of this mission. My trainer Elder Calahan Larson just went home last transfer. Today I've been on my mission for 11 months. Time is flying. My new companion was announced, Elder Christopher Hair. He's from the San Francisco Bay Area. We made our way back to Khmelnitskiy and we've been getting to know each other a little bit at time. There's plenty for him to learn, but he's doing so well. He's already understanding a lot and speaking some decent Russian. I'm impressed. He's a good Elder and I'm so grateful for this opportunity to serve with him. He's the oldest in his family too and the first grandson to serve a mission, like me. He is still a little tired and has fallen asleep is serveral situations already, but that's normal. I've been tired just from the train too.

I feel excited about the work and the Gospel. I been loving my scripture study more that ever recently and I can feel my testimony burning. We've set a goal as a district to hit 100% home teaching in our Branch this month and we're on the way. We are also trying to set the example by preparing for the lessons on Sundays. I prepared a lot for the last Sunday and it was so great. I was able to get so much more out of it and contribute a lot. At the beginning the teacher asked who had prepared and only 2 of us missionaries raised our hands. Soon we should have all 4 missionaries and we're looking forward to seeing the other hands going up and to really raising the spirituality of our meetings.

It's been great to train so far, I feel like it's stretching me a little more and I'm getting better in many areas each day. I feel like we're becoming more Preach My Gospel missionaries and I'm loving the dynamics in our district so far. We really need to find more people to teach so we're going to be trying some new things and asking the Lord where he'd have us go.

I love the gospel and I'm in it for the long haul. There's nothing better than God's plan for us. He knows us and all the commandments are for our good. I've been so blessed with the knowledge that I have and I'm here to share it with others.

Something pretty funny happened the other day. I heard Elder Johnson talking to President Klebingat and it was pretty obvious that he didn't know where our city is. Haha. I heard him say, "Yeah, it's quite the trip, about 6 hours." and "Yeah, we're in the West President." Haha. We're really in the middle of nowhere. Not even our Mission President knows where it is. Haha. Good stuff.

Thanks for all the love and support. The Church is true.

Love,
Elder J. Mahoney

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Phone Call from President

It was a little bit of a wild week. I spent about 2.5 days in another city called Vinnitsya on exchanges. It was pretty cool. It's a really nice city. I enjoyed it. It's hard on my area though, of course, because my companion doesn't really speak either language hear, so nothing happened while I was gone. On Thursday we had a concert in an art museum. They have a grand piano there. Elder Hofeling is a really good pianist so we set up this free concert. That day we found out that a girl who was supposed to be singing backed out, so I ended up singing this Ukrainian folk song I'd just heard that morning. It went fairly well. Since we were out of the city so much we didn't get to advertise as much as we'd have liked, but it was fun.

Before I knew it was on the way out of the city again. On Friday night we took a train to Lviv where we had Zone Conference on Saturday. It was a super awesome conference. I also had an interview with Pres. Klebingat. The more I get to know him the more I love him. He inspires me to be a better person and missionary. I was left with plenty of things to ponder and work on. I really love one principle that he taught. He said that we already know the Lord's will in this work, so we don't need to ask Him. We know that He wants the people here to come unto Him so we just need to trust Him and work with Him to make that happen. It can definitely give us plenty of confidence in the work. Things are going very slowly here, in the whole mission actually. I don't know why and other missionaries have the same feeling, but I know that we're here doing what the Lord wants us to do. If anything will make a difference in this part of the world it will be the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's interesting to see all the ups and downs in my own mission and in the whole mission. I feel like we are becoming stronger in our unity and obedience as a mission.

I got a call from President Klebingat on Thursday morning and he informed me that I have been called as a trainer for next transfer. I'm pretty excited about that. This Thursday I'll meet my new brand new companion, straight from the MTC. This transfer 13 missionaries are leaving and 13 are coming. I'm sure that he will teach me just as much or more than I'll teach him. I'm excited to meet him and spend the next few months with him. Even though the stuff around us and the things that happen to us really stink sometimes, it's a privilege to be here and serve alongside such great young men. We really have some good missionaries here and I feel blessed to find myself among them.

I know that the gospel has been restored. Jesus is the Christ, our Lord. I love this work and this Church. Thanks to all for the love and support. Godspeed.

Love,
Elder Mahoney

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