Week 40 - UZHGOROD

First Week In Uzhgorod!

Well, my first week in my newest city has absolutely flown by. Being in a trio of missionaries makes the work so different. So far, I'm absolutely loving it. Being with Elder Wonson again has been super fun, and being with Elder Mangum for the first time too has been an absolute blast. We're working super hard in this new city, and finding a ton of success already. We're ALWAYS laughing and having the best time, while getting it DONE on the streets and meeting with people.

First things first, Uzhgorod is the prettiest city that I think I've ever seen in my life. Each time I go to a new city, for some reason it's my new favorite. It's super different from Chernivtsi, but I almost like it better. Chernivtsi was really old and the architecture was super dope, but Uzhgorod is a way smaller city that seems more 21st century. The grocery store here makes me feel like I'm in America. It's called DASTOR. It really is da store. We spent way too much money when we went there. Our apartment is super super nice, especially because there used to be 4 elders in this city and now there's only us 3. So we have all of the things from 2 apartments in our own. There's tons of room and it's probably my favorite apartment I've been in. The closet space is a little crazy with all 3 of us, but it's for sure manageable.

"I Love Uzhgorod"

Killer sunset against a castle

The first day here, we were getting Elder Mangum's luggage that he had shipped through Nova Poshta, and when we took the taxi to get there, we got there, and still had 45 minutes to wait for it to open. We asked the driver if they would be willing to stay and wait, and we paid a little extra and all sat there in the car, waiting. As missionaries, you know we had to get to work!! We had time on our hands where someone couldn't really say no to talking to us!! We ended up having a 30 minute gospel conversation about the Restoration. After that, Nova Poshta opened, so we went and got Elder Mangum's stuff. We drove back to the apartment, and the driver waited for us to go and get a copy of the Book of Mormon for them. That was our first new investigator in our new city!! Her name is Vira, which means faith. She had a super strong desire to find the truth in her life, and we're hoping to meet with her later this  coming week.

Church was super interesting. It was the smallest congregation I've ever been in. It's too small to be considered a Branch so far, but we have what they call a "group". There were 15 people, and they are all awesome. We had 2 investigators at church and a new reactivation of a less active member who has recently started coming back to church regularly. I gave a 30 minute talk in Sacrament meeting. I really enjoy our group so far. Our goal in our companionship is to build this Group into a Branch by the end of this transfer or the next. We know with a surety that we can do it if we keep working our absolute hardest.

My personal studies this week have been absolutely amazing. I'm focusing on trying to read and study just as much as I ponder and record impressions and inspirations in my study journal. I'm almost done with Luke. There are a ton of verses and chapters that have hit me pretty hard on a spiritual level. Through reading the scriptures, and especially through reading the 4 Gospels in the New Testament, finding out more about the way the Savior lived, and the fact that He was able to overcome and accomplish all of the things that He did, has truly given me a deeper and more meaningful relationship with Him as my personal Savior. My favorite verses from this week are from Luke 6. After He had called His apostles, He was performing miracles in the multitudes around Him. Verse 19 points out that "the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all". The fact that multitudes of people were surrounding Him constantly, and that He performed miracles of healing one after another, people began to desire to simply TOUCH Him, because this virtue naturally went out of Him. They knew that through being able to just touch Him was enough for their diseases and afflictions to be taken away.

Christ gives us the perfect example of the kind of person we should strive to be. He lived the only perfect life that this world has ever seen. If we apply this verse to our own lives: What interaction do people want with me? What radiates from us as individuals? What effect do we have on the people that surround us? Jesus Christ was such a man that the way He lived and obeyed His Father's will literally changed the lives of those who surrounded Him. His sacrifice on our behalf is such a miracle that we can feel this change in our own lives time and time again. Every single thing about who He is and what He did changes the lives of not only those who lived in His mortal life, but for every single person who has ever lived, and who has yet to live, in the entire universe. I know that it is because of Him that we are able to find peace in such difficult and tough times. 

It's kinda weird being in a district where your companionship is the only missionaries responsible for preaching the Gospel in a whole entire city. But it adds this sense of urgency and responsibility onto our shoulders that is a little bit different than what I have felt beforehand. There aren't any more "areas" in a city where your companionship is assigned to. You truly have the WHOLE city to watch over, take care of, and get to work in.

Honestly I think right now is the happiest that I've been on my mission. I'm SO excited for this transfer, because our trio is SO awesome, and there is just so much potential here in this little city. There are a ton of tough things about this city, especially the fact that we are in walking distance from multiple borders, which means a TON of languages here. Not a lot of people speak pure Ukrainian. There is a lot of Russian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Moldovan, Polish, and even Carpathian language, which is basically just super old Ukrainian that people in the mountains still speak. It's really fun to be hearing all these different languages, but it's reallyyyy  tough to understand some people. I'm gonna start to study more and more Russian as my Ukrainian gets better and better.

I've been out for 9 months this week and I can honestly say that time is CRUISING. I never expected time to be going this fast on my mission, or even fast in general. Especially after my super long and super tough adjustment to a new lifestyle, language, and country, I finally have found that balance of stress that keeps you busy and inclined, but that isn't overbearing.

We have SO much work to do here in Uzhgorod, and i know that the Lord has BIG things in store for the work in this part of Ukraine.

This coming week is my dad's birthday!! Shoutout to you pops for being the best role model a son could ask for. I'm so thankful for my dad and an opportunity to be able to better understand our Heavenly Father's love and relationship that he has with us through the awesome relationship that I have with my own dad. 

Hope everyone has a solid week!

Godspeed,

Elder Stottchik

My new favorite tie

On the train again

Week 39 - Castles and Transfers!

Hey everyone.

I'm dipping out of good old Chernivtsi and heading to a TRIO in Uzshgorod. It's going to be an especially interesting experience, being that 1) it's a trio. 2) it's the smallest city in the mission. 3) it's the most Russian speaking area on the mission. 4) There is no branch there! There is a group of 8 church members that meet there. Lots of work to do.

This week was super, super good. I'm so sad that I'm leaving Chernivtsi, because the work is really starting to pick up here. Training Elder Eller was so fun and such a huge growing experience for me. We hit some of the highest goals we've ever set - this week, and we were able to meet with more people than any other week I've had in Chernivtsi. We have SO many potential investigators from this week, and I am super confident in leaving our area in the hands of my trainee along with his new native Ukrainian companion!! They're going to kill it. 

I gave my last talk in Chernivtsi this week. The speaker before me, not giving anybody's name (but maybe Sister Romney), didn't talk for very long at all, so I got done super dirty because I was giving the last talk haha. I ended up having to talk for a good 15-20 minutes about how our own faith can bless the lives of those who surround us, and about how big of a responsibility we have to share our beliefs and radiate that faith with other people. I talked about how faith can be easy to have when life is just peachy, but the minute things get hard is the time that we really need to step up the most. When I give a talk, I get super sweaty and my face gets red each time I have to read something in Ukrainian. I can read decently, but for some reason whenever I give a talk I feel like I just came straight out of the MTC. It was probably the best talk that I have ever given. It is super weird to me though that I still kind of hate to give talks even though I'm a missionary. I never shut up in general, but the second that I have 100% attention at the pulpit it just gets to me. A couple of members came up and said nothing but how red I was. They thought I was going to cry or something. hahaha.

We went (walked) to a castle today. It was FREEZING. I took a lot of pics but they just don't do it justice. It doesn't look as cool in the winter, but it was still super awesome. My Converse shoes did not serve as the best winter boots. 

Hope everyone has a great week.

Elder Stott

A funny beard Yuri brought 

We got to go bowling and play pool 

Week 38 - I Ripped My Pants

This week went by super fast, especially since I wrote a weekly letter on Wednesday. Honestly not a ton has happened since then. We didn't have very many lessons this week, but we do have a baptismal date with our investigator. He's a little bit of an older guy, but very, very nice and accepting. He has problems with smoking and drinking a little bit, but we're working to help him overcome that. If everything goes well he will be getting baptized in 6 weeks. It's not a super for sure for sure thing, because there are some complicated details about the whole situation. But, we're hopeful.

Climax of this week was when I bent down to pick up a snowball to throw back at Big Baby Eller (who had just pelted me with one from behind). The second I bent down, I heard what I thought was a body sound. Fortunately, it wasn't. But unfortunately, I had just ripped a 9 inch hole in the back seam of my pants. This reminds me of a scripture in the Bible...Matthew Chapter 5

38 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also...

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Even though in this moment, my own companion was my enemy, the second I decided to pick up a snowball and throw it back (snowball fights are against mission rules too) is when it went wrong for me. Even though Elder Eller was despitefully using and persecuting me, I need to love and pray for him, not throw snowballs. Life as a trainer is rough.

Transfer Calls are coming up in less than a week! If everything goes how I hope, I'll be staying in Chernivtsi to finish up Elder Eller's training. Being a trainer is sooo hard but so fun and rewarding. 

I just forgot that this week is Valentines Day. If you are searching for a (very) long distance valentine, you know my email.

Have a fantastic week.

Elder Stott

Week 37 - More Train Nightmares + One Bus Nightmare = Dream Week

BIG things this week. We had 2 conferences in L'viv. One with all the Church Members of our mission, and one with all the missionaries in the Carpathian Zone. The southern half of our mission.

The District Conference was super nice to be able to tune into the spirit instead of trying to figure out what the heck they were even saying. It went so well. So many good talks and meetings. It was so awesome to see the strength in numbers we have here in Ukraine. There's not a ton of them, but we all know the story about the Stripling Warriors.

The Zone Conference was amazing, too. Elder Martino, an Area 70, came and spoke to us. He spoke so strongly, so boldly and was filled with the Spirit. There was so much personal revelation for ME, too. He spoke a ton about diligence, about how to be better missionaries and how to get the most out of our missions. He spoke on the Atonement of Jesus Christ like I've never heard it before. It was so amazing. I know 100% that it is ONLY through Jesus Christ that we can obtain pure happiness, and grow into the people that our Heavenly Father has planned for us. 

Best District Ever

We decided to visit the American Diner after Zone Conference. It was the best burger I've had out of the United States. No one thought I could finish it. Due to traffic and our late call to the taxi, that same night, our taxi came an HOUR late and got to us after our train already left. That meant that we would have to take a 9 hour BUS home the next day. It wasn't half bad either. That's why we're writing on Wednesday. Thankfully I didn't have to stand up once on the bus though. I did have 5 different peoples backsides literally touching my face though. Complimentary pillows!!!

Burgers as big as your face

Me and Big Baby Eller got to go to Ivan's basketball game this week. My dream came true. We both got a DUNK down there - wearing our shirts and ties. You can believe me or not. I took a video of Big Baby Eller. He got it down good. Everyone went crazy. I did it right after him, but no video unfortunately. Next time!!

Yesterday I had a super powerful experience. I KNOW that God answers prayers, just the way that we need them to be answered. I promised myself that I would read from the Book of Mormon every single day for the rest of my entire life. Right before i had to go to bed i only had time for 1 verse, 3 max. I was in a fat time crunch. I ran to my desk, realizing I hadn't read yet that day. I grabbed my scriptures and said a small but meaningful prayer, asking to be spiritually fed even by the means of only one verse. I knew that He had the power to do it, and I believed it. Before my prayer even finished, the word ENOS was ringing in my head. Super strange, because it's almost the smallest book in the Book of Mormon.. 1 chapter! So I thumbed the tab and plopped it open. Verse 15 was the only verse highlighted on both pages: "Wherefore, I knowing that the Lord God was able to preserve our records, I cried unto him continually, for he had said unto me: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it." If that isn't an answer, I don't know what one is. I know that God HEARS and ANSWERS our prayers always. It's not always going to be a grand dream or vision or anything like that, but I know the best place to search for answers are HIS WORDS. The Book of Mormon and Bible, being both the word of God, are some of the best places to turn to. Through small and simple means, God answers our prayers through confirmations by the means of the Holy Ghost, whose presence we can feel each time that we read the scriptures.

Have a good week.

#flyeaglesfly

Elder Stott

The view from our apartment

Inner courtyard

Stairwell at our apartment