Angels Round About Us

I don't know what to write today. It seemed like a fairly ordinary week. I know that it's not an ordinary week though because I am here as an authorized representative of Jesus Christ. It is a serious responsibility to wear this name tag with my family name just above the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love being here. I love the experiences and situations we are blessed to be in.

I thought of an instance a couple weeks ago that was powerful to me. I was teaching a young man with a member present and as the member was saying something I said a prayer in my heart that the Spirit would be with us and that we might know what the Lord would have us say. My companion and I were sitting across from the member and the investigator and instead of feeling like it was just me and my companion, who doesn't understand the language, I could feel God behind us. I could feel that there were angels round about us supporting us. I felt a reassurance that this truly is the Lord's work that we are where He wants us to be and that He loves each and every one of us. I have so much to learn and I need to grow in so many ways. But I know who my confidence needs to be in and I'm trying to trust in Him.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is incredible. I love my Savior. It is a privilege to share this message with the people of Ukraine. I love them and I feel God's love for them. I encourage everybody to lift where they stand. Do what you can. Reach out to somebody and lift them up.

I'm grateful to all for the love and support. This is a great work we're a part of.

Love,
Elder J. Mahoney

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Donkey Food

The first thing that comes to mind is that this has been a sweaty week. I believe 2 days were up to 36 and 37 degrees in the shade. Sometimes it seems like it's even hotter in the apartment. On Saturday I had 3 showers in a day for the first time since I was in Brazil. I almost feel like we didn't do anything this week, but we had one of the best weeks in a long time as far as the numbers go. We also had two potential lessons with two different men who both accepted Books of Mormon and said they'd read. One of them we met when he drove us in a taxi. As soon as we set up with them again they'll become new investigators. Last Sunday a man was visiting from Russia. He got baptized when he was 18 and then served a mission here. He actually served with the Branch President in Chernigov, Pres. Solomein. His name is Dennis Baranov. He went home and married a young woman and now he's a Branch President over in Krasnayarsk in Siberia and has a little daughter. He has his own business where he does genealogical research for people. That's why he was here. He was a great help on a couple lessons. It is so awesome to see return missionaries here who are living the gospel so fully. That's what this is all about. That's why we're here. The gospel blesses lives and it's the only formula for true and eternal joy. I love it.

I forgot to mention last week that 2 Saturdays ago now we went on a Branch trip. It was pretty cool. We went to this "zoo" where there were some bears, a couple wolves, deer, a couple ostrich, some pelicans, and some livestock. I got bit by a donkey and it was stronger than I imagined, but I'm okay. Haha. We also went to a fortress kinda place. It was kinda interesting and historic. After they cooked us up a fish beverage. I think it was mostly just boiled fish and dill. They love dill here. It wasn't bad. I'm not too picky at this point in my life. I have ingested quite a few strange things over the years.

People here are stuck in tradition. You talk to them logically about things, but even when they seem to understand it all they'll still say, "oh, I could never change, it would be an insult to my ancestors." That's an issue that we deal with everyday and I see the older missionaries get more and more sick all the way up to the end of their missions. Sometimes people even receive a witness of the truthfulness of our message, but still won't change. It is pretty annoying.

Things are going fairly well. It's sort of an internal battle here, you love the people, but hate the things they do. Just today as I inhaled some unidentifiable, yet recognizably from the former Soviet Union, smells I was thinking, "I think I'll miss this place someday." Well, whatever is going on, it keeps going on and I'm glad to be a part of it. I love the Lord and I know he wants me to be here. I want to be better and I'm working on it everyday. Please pray for us. The people waiting and searching for the truth here need it. We need the Lord's help to find each other.

I'm still loving everything that our new mission president is doing and I feel like the mission is really moving in a good direction.

Thanks for all the love and support. God bless.
- Elder J. Mahoney

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

3 AM Train to Lviv

Sometimes is seems like preparation day was yesterday, sometimes a month ago. This time it feels like it was quite a while ago. We've had quite a bit of rain recently, but today it's sunny. The most significant thing that happened this week was meeting the Klebingat family. About half the mission met in Lviv on Wednesday to meet the Klebingat family. It was a great experience. I could feel the Spirit witness to me that the Lord has truly call them to serve here and Jorg Klebingat is meant to be the President of the Ukraine Kiev Mission. They have 3 children, Katja (17), Daniel (15), and Alexander (10). It is awesome to see the love and fun they have in their family. I want to have a family of my own like that. (Just with more kids.) It was really interesting to hear the story of how President met his wife, Julia, and how they've seen the hand of the Lord in their lives. I love everything he talked about. He didn't talk about numbers once that day and he really talked about faith and individual commitment to the work. That's really what it comes down to, all of us doing our part individually. I can tell that they love me and I already love them too. I've been praying for them for a while now.

To add to the great meeting, Lviv is a beautiful city. The rain cut out for long enough for us to go around and see a couple things. It was a good time. Our train times are ridiculous out of this city. We left at 03:00 to goto Lviv and got back about about 04:00 the next day. Oh well, we deal with it.

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. We had a total of 2 lessons this week. That's not good. It's tough to keep up teaching skills when you don't have that many opportunities to practice. The work goes on though. I know that this is where I'm supposed to be. I'm trying to qualify for miracles and to get better at working with the Spirit. My Russian is getting a little bit better, one day at a time, but is still far from perfect.

Recently I heard of a dialogue. "Hey, how are you?" - "Great, thanks." - "Good choice." I really love that. It is our choice whether or not we will be happy or whether or not we'll have a great day. If you're not happy, why are you choosing that? I want to remember that and I'm working on applying it in my life. Sometimes this is a good place to practice. We manage to have quite a bit of fun as we joke around nonetheless.

I just found a quote: "Throughout history, nations have been able to survive a multiplicity of disasters, invasions, famines, earthquakes, epidemics, depressions, but they have never been able to survive the disintegration of the family." The latter is happening here and really the country's not doing that well. Sometimes I feel so sick of the evil I'm surrounded with here. I'm sick of the immodesty, immorality, alcoholism, and smoking. I'm sick of the corruption and dishonesty. The members here are an extreme contrast to most of what is seen around here. Meeting with the members is always the best part of any day for me. I love them so much. They are so strong to fight what they're up again.

Sorry for the somewhat disconnected email. I know that God lives. He loves me. Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I love this Gospel. Thanks all for the support. Be strong.

Love,
Elder Jonathan Mahoney

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Modern-Day DaVinci

First off, I just saw the newest Mormon Message and it's awesome. Everybody should watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l70e1TfN34w
I love those videos. Beautiful.

Another week in Khmelnitskiy. What to write... We actually stayed in the city for a whole week. It was kinda weird. That won't happen again for the rest of the transfer. Well actually the Zone Leaders did goto Kiev on Saturday so we weren't really all here all week. It was pretty nice to have the whole week to work together with my new companion, Elder Davis. It really has me kinda on my own because I have to make all the calls, do all the contacting and basically teach all the lessons except when members help. It's a powerful opportunity for growth. I feel very under qualified. I feel like I know very little. I try to treasure up the word each day, but I know that I still fall very short. I know that the Holy Ghost can make up the difference. I pray for greater faith in that and help in this work. I want to be a useful servant and tool in the hands of the Lord. I just heard a testimony by Elder Scott. He said "You've been called by the Lord. He'll sustain you." I pray I can always remember that too.

We've continued to work with Inna and she is a very great person going through some hard times. She's always willing and wanting to help people and she is constantly thinking about how she can help lead her son through his teenage years to avoid all the evils surrounding him. I love them and I pray for them. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what will make the most difference in their lives. I feels very good to help people and to form these relationships that will carry on after the mission and after death.

One interesting experience was a referral we received this week. We went and visited this man in his studio. His name is Vitaliy Vasilivich. He does classes that are like a mixture of ballroom dancing, breathing exercises and yoga. He's 65 and works all the time for donations only and doesn't take vacations. He sleeps 4 hours a day and keeps very busy. He draws and has written thousands of poems, a couple thousand essays, and keeps a journal. He plays a little bit with some instruments too and has a garden. He talks a lot about energies and the science of energy. I found it very interesting, though there were many words I didn't understand I got the gist of it. Other missionaries had visited him before but just though he was crazy. I don't subscribe to everything he believes, but I'm inspired by the way he works. He reminds me of a modern day DaVinci. On Saturday night Elder Davis and I went and participated in one of the classes. It was not easy to follow, but it was neat. Basically he and his assistant take turns leading the group and everybody on their own just tries to follow. We were with the parents group. He works with all ages. Interesting stuff anyway. He made me want to work on my strength and flexibility more and learn about everything I want to learn about in my life. I also want to learn more about gardening. He talked about the energy that comes from it. Cool stuff.

Everybody should also watch these testimonies too. I don't think I've every seen anything like it: http://lds.org/study/prophets-speak-today/unto-all-the-world/missionary-work-is-founded-on-the-doctrine-of-christ/testimonies-video?lang=eng

I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that I was called to serve here in Ukraine by a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I love this work and it's a privilege to share this message with others as official representatives of Christ and His Christ and ministers of the Restored Gospel.

We have our new mission president Klebingat. On Wednesday we'll be in Lviv to meet him. I'm really excited for that. I know they are going to be very great leaders here. I can feel it already. Thanks everybody for the support. I love you.

Enjoy to the end,
Elder Jonathan D.C. Mahoney

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

You'll Never Guess Where He's From

It feels like it's been a really long time since I last wrote, but it's been the same as usual. Haha. It's weird how time works sometimes.

Last week started off with my companion leaving on Monday night. Then I was with Elder Jacob Hofeling on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We had a pretty good time together. On Tuesday night we had English practice. Our mission doesn't do English practice anymore like it used to, but in our city now we are kinda teaching the Gospel in English and it's pretty fun. Members and investigators come. After the English we had a lesson and everybody stayed but one guy. Elder Hofeling speaks Ukrainian so I'm learning a lot more Ukrainian than Russian here. He turned the time over to me to talk about the First Vision. Honestly, it was the first time in a long time we've had a regular 1st lesson. It was awesome to be able to share that. I could feel the Spirit testify as I quoted Joseph's own words. I know that it is true. God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ truly appeared to Joseph Smith and Christ's Church has again been restored to the earth.

We got a referral from the Branch President a few weeks ago and met with her again this week. Her name is Inna. She has an 11 year old son named Pavel. She's a great woman. She's smart and she has tons of faith. She understand a lot of principles already and she prays morning and night, but she's looking for truth. She doesn't have a job though and she just does whatever she can to get money, mostly buying and selling things. She doesn't ask for anything, but sometimes she tells me about how hard it is. She just wants to help others and provide a good life for Pavel, but she can't even get enough money for food. She says her son's hungry. Pavel's eyesight is bad and she can afford to get him glasses because he just breaks them. It makes me sad to think about it. I just want to help, but we're doing what we can. Please pray for them.

On Thursday I found out my new companion and at 3 AM on Friday morning the two new Elders for our area arrived. Elder Johnson is serving with Elder Hofeling now and I'm sure that nobody has imagined who my companion is. I am serving with a mini-missionary now named Elder Lesley Davis. He is from... Ghana! Mini-missionaries are just locals who fill in for a short period of time when we don't have enough full-time missionaries. Elder Davis is 27 and he's studying medicine in a city called Ternopol here. There's an English university there, so he doesn't really speak any Russian or Ukrainian. He's actually trying to learn Ukrainian, while I'm a Russian-speaker. He's been in the country for almost 2 years. He lived in England for a couple years and then came here. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the only missionary in Eastern Europe with a black companion. I have never seen another black person in this city. It's interesting how people stare at us even more than normally now. His Dad is a stake president in Ghana. It's definitely an interesting experience. We've already eaten a couple different Ghanain dishes and I'm learning some cool stuff. I love him. On the otherhand, I really have to just step it up. I'm the only one who knows what's going on, so I basically just have a tagalong. Everything is new to him missionary-wise. He didn't know that schedule at all. I'm grateful for his sacrifice to serve. It's really getting me ready because I'll probably train next transfer. It's funny that I'm serving with a companion now that is less prepared than most missionaries on their first day. It'll actually kinda be a relief to have a greenie in some ways. Haha. Missions are so cool and this is an interesting turn of events.

Our new mission president Klebingat will arrive on Thursday. Probably next Wednesday I'll get to meet him in Lviv. That's what I heard, but I'm not sure. I'm excited about the change. Soon it'll be a Ghanian and a Canadian serving under a German mission president in Ukraine. I love the Gospel. I know that I was called here by a prophet of God. Thanks for all the love and support. Please pray for us.

Love always,
Elder Mahoney

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

Old Ukrainian Castle Adventures

One more week spent in the former Soviet Union. The weeks are pretty good at disappearing. I think I say that just about every week, but it continues to be true. My mind has just kinda gone blank. This area is kinda crazy with all the exchanges. My companion was gone from Monday night to Thursday morning again. We got 2 new investigators this week. One was a referral from the Branch President. She has some good potential and I hope we can set up another meeting with her soon. The other was a woman who lives in a rich community. We met her husband walking around out there and we came back. The 2nd time we came back she let us in. It's the nicest house I've been in here in Ukraine. 9-foot ceilings and real hardwood floors and stairs. She gave us some homemade apple juice which is super delicious. She's not super interested, but she's really nice and she read most of the Restoration pamphlet we gave her. She said she'd read the Book of Mormon. I want to meet her friends. I know that it how the work needs to be done here. We need to make friends and grow our circle of friends.

Things changed a little from last weeks email. Natasha and Anya's baptism actually didn't happen. They both feel really good about the Church and everything they've learned they just started having some doubts about being baptized so soon. They're also afraid to tell their families. So we're still working with them and I'm sure they will be baptized in not too long. They have both burst in to tears while reading the Book of Mormon and had many other spiritual experiences, so it's just a matter of time now. Just hopefully not too much time. It's understandable that it's even tougher to join the Church here with only like 7 active members. I hope they can see some of the members in Kiev soon. Please pray for them. They're really cool.

Random thought: I read a cool quote in a talk recently, "If at first you do succeed, try something harder."

My companion is going home in 2 days. He'll leave for Kiev tonight and I won't find out if I've going to Kiev for transfer meeting until tomorrow. It's still possible, but they might just send the 2 new companions out here on their own. It's going to be and interesting period of time. I'll be on exchanges until Thursday, then I'll have a new companion. Next week well have a new mission president!

Today we took a taxi for over an hour to a castle in Kamyanets Podilska. It was pretty neat. I'll try to upload some pictures soon. Missionaries haven't gone there for a year or so. I like to do things that people don't usually do.

Time is running out. The Church is true. Our team wins in the end. Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. I know He lives. Thanks for all the love and support.

Much love,
Elder J. Mahoney

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

The Mess-Up-Your-Fridge Button

Well, to start the week off with had a meeting with Elder L. Whitney Clayton and Elder Larry R. Lawrence and their wives, right after I wrote last week's email. It was a great meeting. Elder Clayton just stood up and opened the floor to questions. The entire meeting was just open and each of the leaders and their wives took turns answering. It was pretty powerful for them just to welcome and question and handle them so well. I must say again that the wives of these General Authorities are incredible. They speak with such power and they are all so wise. I want a wife like that. Elder Clayton talked about how priliveged we are to be serving in the country while the Church is still in it's infancy here. He talked about how we are laying the foundation for tremendous grow that will follow. When he went to Peru 40 years ago as a missionary there was 1 stake. Now there are 94. Now there is one stake in Ukraine. It's going to be incredible to see where it's at in 40 years. He told us 3 things to do: 1 - Know the doctrine; 2 - Master the language; and 3 - Overcome the fear of man. We definitely all have things to work on.

On Wednesday morning we were back in Khmelnitskiy. That evening we were observing how our fridge wasn't all that cold. I suggested we try to turn a dial or something. Elder Hafen investigated and found a button which he pressed, at which point the fridge stopped running. We went to bed hoping it would be fine and the kitchen welcomed us in the morning with a sizable puddle of water. Apparently said button is an irreversible defrost button. It wasn't until all the ice had melted in the freezer that it turned on again about 12 hours after pressing the button. I think all of our food survived and the freezer is a lot cleaner now, but I don't think I'll be carelessly pressing buttons in fridges in the future.

Other significant news: 2 girls that one of the zone leaders and I found are getting baptized this Saturday! Their names are Natasha and Anya. They're both 22 and they are elect. The approached us and we've seen them almost everyday since we met them. They come to all the activities they can and they already have testimonies of the restoration and the Book of Mormon. They even cancelled their vacation for the baptism. Natasha studied to be a singer and Anya studied psychology. Natasha is already directing the music for sacrament meeting because the girl who used to just left on a mini-mission. It's incredible to see people's lives change. They both said that they think they'd be interesting in serving a mission. I'm very excited for them. The work is interesting as you get to see miraculous lessons once in a while and then you have hours of rejection in between. I know that blessing will follow our work. It's awesome to be a missionary. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for all the prayers and support. Thank you all.

Love,
Elder Jonathan Mahoney

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.