June 4th, 2012

We recently got a referral from a missionary in Kiev. They had contacted a guy on the street who actually lives in Chernigov. He told me honestly that he wasn't sure how much the guy was actually interested. We gave the guy a call and after a couple tries we met with him. He's about 25 and we had a great meeting with him. He says that he's not that interested in going to any church, but that "man without faith is nothing." He doesn't know much about religion at all yet, but he said he's been planning to read the Bible for his own personal development. The Spirit was truly present on the lesson and he seemed very interested. I told him we want to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon, if he will actually read it. He paused for, I'd say, over a minute. He was really thinking about it and he said, "Okay, I'll read it." At the end he said the closing prayer, for the first time I imagine, and he expressed gratitude that he was able to meet people who could help him understand these things. He seems to be a pretty ambitious business man too. He is involved in selling gel that is used to make fake nails, which is apparently a 3 billion dollar industry here in Ukraine. I suppose it's not too surprising by how many people you see with them on the street. It was a blessing to meet him and I look forward to the next time.

I think I'm finally registered in this city. The bureaucracy here is crazy.

I love being a missionary. Things are going well. It's been a bit of a chilly week, which I didn't expect. It's funny how when it's cool you want it to be warmer and when it hot you want it to be cooler. The problem is just that I don't really have in between clothes, haha, just hot or cold. It's all good though.

I know this is Christ's restored Church. On Sunday 3 members bore very powerful testimonies about the importance and power of the temple. I share the same strong testimony with them that each temple truly is a house of the Lord. I love the temple and I can't wait until I can go more often.

Thanks to everyone for all the love and support.

- Elder Mahoney

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