Elder Dillon Stott - Ukraine, Kiev Mission: Week 2

Hey Everybody!

Man, two weeks has totally flown by. This week was even better than last week! Getting pretty used to things around here and I'm still loving every second of it! This week has definitely been a lot tougher, and my teachers aren't going too easy on me! Each day stretches me out of my comfort zone a little bit more. My first investigator, Christina, ended up being my second teacher in disguise! It's a really nice balance to have her (her real name is Sister Gray) and Brother Huth. Brother Huth is really smart with the language and is preparing me really well to speak Ukrainian, and Sister Gray is really good at the whole spiritual side of it all. She's teaching me how to be more in tune with the Spirit when I teach. Together they make for a really amazing learning experience.

This week I have learned so much, and my testimony of the power of the Spirit has grown a ton. I was practicing teaching a lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with my teacher, and I had to teach it in 3 minutes. I didn't even have the words to teach it...I couldn't even teach it in English yet. I tried it the first time, having written everything down in English, and I got about a minute in and just gave up. I was so busy worrying about what to say and how to translate things in my head that I couldn't even say anything. We tried it another 2 times, and I was not very happy about it. The last time, she asked me to put away my notes, and use nothing but what I knew. She told me to put trust in the Lord and have faith that the Spirit would help me understand what I need to say. What happened was absolutely amazing. I felt like a 9 year old bearing their testimony, but I just said what I knew, just whatever came to mind through promptings of the Spirit. There is such a great power behind simplicity. The only thing that I was able to testify and teach of was three simple things: 1. God loves us. 2. Jesus Christ died for us because He loves us. 3. The Book of Mormon is true. Through the Spirit I was able to teach and testify exactly what I knew/wanted to say. The Spirit was so strong and my own faith grew so much from that small experience. I can't wait to do it for real in Ukraine!!

Speaking of the learning experience, I think the language is coming along really well! Yesterday I passed off what is called the Basic Core, and not many missionaries pass it off as soon as Elder Malmrose (my companion) and I did! So at this point we have about 60 phrases, 300 words, and 4 Gospel passages in our language! Super fun to practice with each other and see the blessings that come with hard work!!

I think the coolest thing about this week was that Elder Malmrose and I got selected to be in the open house video for the new MTC building that just got built! We just got interviewed in front of the cameras just about an hour ago!! I attached some pics of the whole ordeal. Awesome experience! The producer told us that they were expecting about 250,000 viewers! They're going to give us copies of the video so I'll be sure to attach it when I get it! They'll also be showing it multiple times at the open house itself, so if you're in the Provo area, drop in and visit!! The buildings are absolutely beautiful.