Week 97 - Raking, Learning, Teaching, Testifying

April 1, 2019

Pryvitchyk.

Happy birthday to my best friend who is ever so conveniently my older brother at the same time!! Love you, big guy!!

So yeah, his week went by super duper fast! It was one of the faster ones, but longer ones at the same time because we were just all over the place!! It was super good though. We had 3 different conferences!!

On Tuesday we did service all day at a member's grandma's property on the outskirts of the city. I have literally never raked so much in my life. It was pretty good though. The weather was decent, and it only rained a little bit! It was fun to help her out though. They fed us some of the most Ukrainian food ever afterward and it was soooo tasty. Lots of good kompot, and some other super classic foods. Traditional Ukrainian food might actually be my favorite food of all time. We each took a shot at pickled whole tomatoes, and just popped em in our mouths and went at it. It was so rough hahah but a classic experience. It's one of the only Ukrainian foods I don't like!! But I got it down okay. You get weird and super useful blessings like being able to down almost any food as a missionary.

We had a Mid Transfer Training that was super duper good and uplifting! Then the next day right after, we had a Zone Conference. They were both so good. We talked a ton about the Great Apostasy, and I learned so much! I was surprised about truly how much prophets have testified of the apostasy. The Old Testament is full of prophecies of the Great Apostasy to come after the death and resurrection of Christ, Paul in his epistles talks a lot about it as it is currently happening, and we have prophets and apostles in our day, who testify that it once was! It's so important to understand and know how to teach the apostasy, because if there was no apostasy, then there would be no need for a restoration. The better we understand the apostasy, the more we appreciate and understand the Restoration of the Fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days! It was so good.

We also talked a lot about our studies, both personal studies and companionship studies, and man. Those are 2 of the most important hours of our days here as missionaries! I'm super excited to take the studies I have left on my mission and just juice the heck outta them. 

Probably the highlight of the week is this guy Misha that we are meeting with. Teaching him is so cool. It's just like a Gospel discussion with one of your buddies. We just sit, talk, teach, pray, read scriptures, and testify! He has read the Book of Mormon like a madman!!! He always has sooo many questions about it, many of which are comparisons drawn between it and the Bible. We spend a lot of time on each lesson teaching doctrine from the Bible and making those vital connections in the Book of Mormon that fill all the gaps and answer the questions that come up when we study the Bible alone. He read the entire Book of Mormon in about 5 days, and we got such a dope text from him that said that he read the entire Book of Mormon, and wants to know if he can become a member of the Church, and how to go about doing that. I was absolutely floored. That kind of thing has almost never happened on my mission. Of course, we'll be working with him very closely this coming week! Thank you so much for those of you that are keeping him in your thoughts and prayers!! Please keep praying for him, he needs it now more than ever! It's so cool teaching him, because I learn so much myself looking for scriptures and doctrines in the Bible and Book of Mormon that answer so many important questions. The Book of Mormon really truly DO testify of one another. I'm so blessed to have that knowledge, and even more blessed to share that knowledge with everyone that I can here in Ukraine!

Back in Rivne, we had branch conference. One thing that I've seen in the last while on my mission is that there is something to get out of EVERY talk, every segment, and every discussion that we have at church, or conferences, or anywhere and anytime. It doesn't matter who is talking, or what the topic is. All you have to do is pray and pray and pray some more that the Holy Spirit will inspire you and teach you from what the speaker is saying or teaching! It's such an amazing experience.

That's all from me. You're all the best!