Hello Hello!‏ E-mail - April 29, 2013

Okay, so I'm sending some pictures of Khmelnitsky so you get an idea of what it looks like here. There are no mountains, it's pretty flat. On the roadtrip here it reminded me a lot of South Dakota. The people here are really cool in a small isolated place kind of way. They just have so much character, they could be their own movie cast, it's really funny.

The branch is small, on average about 20 people every week including the 6 missionaries. Sister Olds is the Young Womens president, and I'm first counselor in the Relief Society, the president has only been a member for a couple of months so we're helping her out a lot. It's so interesting to me that missionaries in our mission can have two different experiences here. I served in Kyiv for so long and understood pretty well how large wards work and the missionaries role there, but there are a lot of missionaries that serve here and they are basically running the branches. It's been really cool to see how the church progresses in an area. Khmelnitsky is tiny and is just at the beginning, then there is Bila Tserkva, also small but building up, it now has 80+ people at church, awesome!! And then the large wards in Kyiv. You really get to see how the Lord prepares people here to grow the church.

So half our investigators are 14 year old girls, apparently the Lord is preparing me for my future career and maybe callings in the Young Womens. I forgot how "young" they are. By "young" I mean frustrating. But they do keep us updated on all the latest American pop culture, which is a bonus.

We did Mormon Helping Hands this week at a deaf kids school. Here in Ukraine they put this paint/pesticide everywhere, they paint in on the curbs, on the bottom half of trees, even on light posts. So we spent a couple of hours painting this white pesticide all over. Then at English this week, we had a party with American food. The elders made really good chili, the other elders made cornbread and we made banana bread and brownies. It's always fun to see people eat American food for the first time.

Love you all! See you in a month.

Zach I want an email from you next week!!!!!

Pictures, Rainbow over the river, and sunset on the river

--
Sister Daniel

OkaOkay

A Whole New Life‏! E-mail - April 22, 2013

Wow, I've forgotten what it's like when you're moved to a new area, it seems like your whole life is starting over. Khmelnitsky is about halfway between Kyiv and Lviv and it's a good
size town. The branch here is famous for being one of the smallest in the mission. When our group first got here there were only 11 people coming to Sacrament meeting and 6 of them were missionaries. Now we get a good 20 maybe. The members here are completely insane. Like, mom's clients crazy. But it is so much fun, they are always just a hoot, and something is always going on.

It's weird being in a small branch again where everyone knows you and the life of the branch is dependent on the missionaries. It's also scary being with a younger companion, in a younger district. We were in branch council on Sunday and I realized that really only myself and Elder Callister, he came in with me, understood what was going on 100% of the time. Scary! Also, none of the missionaries here understand a lick of Russian. So the branch members when they don't want them to understand something, start speaking in Russian. I'm going to be very useful here. The branch president has realized though that I understand him. He's a taxi driver and that is how we got to Khmelnitsky. We paid him round trip and he got to go to the temple for 2 days. I got sick on the way and ended up throwing up. The roads here are terrible and there was too much swerving. We've already decided we'll be going back to Kyiv on a train.

Sister Olds is awesome, she's from Arizona/California/Las Vegas and she's much more similar in personality to me than any other companion I've had. She's also relatively new on her mission, I'm her first companion after her trainer, so she's been telling me about all of the changes in pop culture in America. We've been talking non-stop since we got put together.

Everything is going good. Love you all!

PS. Mother's Day skyping...probably Saturday the 11th. Around 12pm your time, but we still need to coordinate the time.

--
Sister Daniel

Moving on...for 6 weeks.‏ E-mail - April 15, 2013

Well, hello family!!

I have to say Mom, your email was very exciting today, I already told Sister Ebeling about everything that is happening. It's really funny because today we have to register her for her classes at BYU and I just remembered how much I love scheduling for classes. It's made me really excited for when I get to do it. I have to admit- we saw conference yesterday and while normally when they speak about marital relationships I just see how that could be used for a companionship, I started to think about an actually marriage. It freaked me out. I'm so not ready to get married, but honestly I feel a lot more ready than I did before my mission.

Anyway, conference was awesome! Our recent converts, the sisters, loved President Monson. Luda said that she was waiting for his talk because, well he's the prophet. She thought he was going to be really serious and never smile. I just had to laugh when I heard that because there's never been a conference when President Monson has even really been somber. I always love to see people when they hear the prophet for the first time. We also had an investigator who came to the English, so she watched it with us. She's 24 and had a hard time sitting still for the whole thing, but she did great. I've really been blessed on my mission to be able to sit and receive a lot of personal revelation, something that I had a hard time with before my mission.

So as the title says, it is time for me to move on from Borshahivsky and from Kyiv really. I'm finally heading out west. I will be serving the next, my last, transfer in Khmelnitsky. It's about halfway between Kyiv and L'viv. And we're having a zone conference this transfer, so I'll finally see L'viv. I'm really excited. My companion's name is Sister Olds, I'll be her first companion after her trainer. We'll transfer on Thursday. This will be interesting because she'll be the first companion that is younger than me in the mission. I sent Sisters Jacobson and Chang home and Sisters Moore and Ebeling are going home with me, so any legacy that I leave in the mission will have to be done through Sister Olds. It's going to be interesting knowing that I only have 6 weeks left, one transfer for sure. Weird.

Love you all, Looking forward to Mother's Day. Easter here is on May 5, so we have a lot of holidays coming up again.

--
Sister Daniel

What a week!‏ E-mail April 8, 2013

Hello Everyone!

So I'm still here in Ukraine, weird, every time we see President, which is a lot, he reminds us that we're close to the end and gives us some sort of advice. It's kind of funny. Not to mention that Elder Hair, one of the assistants is going home in our group and he's been telling everyone in the ward that we're all going home really soon. Basically, this next week will be General Conference for us, then Stake Conference, and then Easter is on May 5, so he basically said that before they knew it, we would be gone. So all of the members came up to us yesterday in a panic. Including our recent convert who was almost in tears. I was just so frustrated, we had to calm everyone down.

We got to go visit some members this week that we've never been to before, mainly because they live out in the villages and it's just now nice enough to go out there. A member of our bishopric, Denis kept telling us how far out his house was, turns out it's only like 30 minutes from our apartment. Half of our area is farther away than his house! Then the next day we went out to another member who really does live far out there, almost an hour and half away, now they're far. It's always an interesting experience to go out to the villages. It's a simpler way of life. There are really two different kinds, the first is the type of people that live out there so they can have a really nice house and live on their own. The second type is the kind that live there because that's where there family has always lived and they live in a very humble home.

We got some really good news, this week too! Our recent convert in Bila Tserkva, Angela was in Kyiv to meet with President. She had her last interview for her mission papers! Now we're all just waiting on her call! What an exciting thing to be a part of, she's just so excited about the whole thing and really wants to serve in America, we'll see what happens. We also tried to go running again...it wasn't quite melted enough...luckily neither one of us fell.

Right now we are dealing with some more sickness. My body is just giving out...I think it's just a sinus infection, and Sister Ebeling is making me drink everything that is liquid in sight and I can only have soup. That and I can't taste anything because my nose is so clogged. It's miserable. But I got a blessing and everything will be okay. Just got to keep moving.

LOVE YOU!!!!!

--
Sister Daniel

White is a missionary's favorite color...‏ E-mail April 1, 2013

WHITE...is my favorite color by far on my mission.

It's the color of the really fun blizzard that we had, despite the fact that it was cold, snow is always fun, and even though it's melting now, I'm grateful for good boots.

It's the color of the temple. People that come to the temple here, they're special. All members are special, but let me tell you, these ones are really special. They travel for so long to get here and they're just in heaven when they're here. I've been serving by this temple for nearly 9 months, and it still is hard for me to conceive how special this temple is. The life of someone living worthy to enter the House of the Lord is a truly exemplary life. I'm grateful that you are all worthy of that blessing.

It's the color of baptismal suits. This week we had the blessing of being able to witness the baptism of Luda and her family. What an incredible gift. They were so happy and full of love. President baptized two of them and Elder Dutton the other two. He goes home with me, so you'll meet him when you come. It was such a special day, I'll tell you a little about them. Luda and her mom, Katya, dad, Andrey, and sister Maria have always had really strong faith in Christ. First they went to the Pentacostal church, then the Baptist church. Then they brought Luda to Kyiv so she could study at the university here. As they were driving through the city they saw the temple, and were intrigued. Luda asked for permission to come and see what church was like. She just kept coming more and more consistantly, then started to meet with us, and over her Christmas break the whole family went to our church together in their home town. Now, three months later, they are baptized members of the church, and Luda really wants to go on a mission. None of them can wait until they can go to the temple. Our temples truly are a gathering place, they are calling people home, home to their Heavenly Father. What a beautiful work we get to participate in.

I love all of you, I hope you have a good week, and if possible take a trip to the temple and just feel grateful. Zach this is especially for you, because you can walk to yours.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!

--
Sister Daniel

The White Death of 2013‏ E-mail - March 25, 2013

Hello Hello

Well, what can I say? Kyiv Ukraine is buried under about 3ft of snow, or something crazy like that. It all started on Friday and Sister Ebeling and I had to walk home from the metro, none of the buses would stop. It was about an hour long walk, but wasn't bad with the wind at our back. We walked in what felt like a pioneer trek with people lining the sides of the street. After that adventure, Sister Ebeling woke up with a temperature so we ended up staying inside all day Saturday. The elders told us that if there was any day to be inside, we picked a good one. The snow continued and there was no public transportation except for the metro so the whole city was just walking everywhere. Apparently some of our members walked 4-5 hours to the temple and then made the long trek home after they stayed for a few sessions. Talk about dedication.

The elders were asked to participate in a stake Young Mens activity where the youth would go on splits with the missionaries. Out of the whole stake, only 2 youth made it to the center building, one of which is in our ward. They went out for a few hours on the streets, mainly just helping people push their cars out of the snow...then they realized that Maksim (the young man) lived in the village and there was no way for him to get home except by tank. (which they actually use here to get around in the snow, I've seen them) So he ended up staying the night with the elders with President's permission. He said it was awesome and I think his resolve to someday serve a mission is firmly in place.

Other than the blizzard, which has been the highlight of our week, we went to a school and did a presentation for a bunch of 3rd graders. I was actually surprised by how similar the school is to American schools but it was actually a school for well-to-dos so maybe not the most accurate representation. They were so fun though, and really smart. We had met their teacher on the street the week before and invited her to know more. Turns out, she just really wanted us to talk to her class because we're American. Interesting how many doors I've gotten into because of where I was born...thanks Mom!

So we're teaching this girl named Oksana, she's the daughter of two members and just hasn't been baptized. She's 24 and really cool, but she is struggling to see why she needs the church/needs to be baptized. She loves music, she went and saw Yellow Card when they were here so we decided to show her Brandon Flower's "I'm a Mormon" video. It started and she just turned to us with a look of utter shock and said..."HE'S A MORMON?!?!?" I think she thinks that we're all a little cookie cutter, maybe that helped her realize that she can be a Mormon and still be cool, I mean, I'm cool.

We spent yesterday at President's house...well part of it. We had Sacrament meeting, there weren't very many people there, every one in the stake just had Sacrament meetings. Then we went to President's to celebrate Katja's (his daughter) birthday. It was a good day and ended with us taking the first of the buses home.

Have a good week!
Pictures: Me walking on Kiltseva, the largest road in Kyiv, the cars were on the road with us! and the snow drifts.
--
Sister Daniel

Another Week! E-mail - March 18, 2013

Hello!!

Well, another week come and gone. Transfer calls also came, and we're staying put. According to the assistants this is a new record for the length of a companionship in the field. Sister Ebeling and I are going on transfer number 5 overall. Although, they told me that President doesn't really consider these next four weeks an actual transfer. So in another month we'll find out again where we will be going.

Email policy changed again, I can now write people outside of the family again, so if any one wants to email me or hear from me, we can do that.

So another reason that I think Sister Ebeling and I will be together one more transfer is that we're really just an extremely effective companionship. Luda and her family are getting baptized on the 29th. Here in Kyiv! It's so exciting. Earlier in my mission, I remember thinking, wow, all the baptisms I've seen have been people that have come out of no where there have been no struggles, nothing. Luda is finally the investigator, seven or eight months of hard work, of her coming back and then not seeing her for a while and finally she's getting baptized and not just her, but her family too! Life is just crazy.

Funny story, yesterday sister Ebeling and I were waiting for a marshrutka to the church. We normally have 3 different options but there is one that takes us the closest so we don't have to walk as far. Well, it showed up! Not only that but apparently we looked really cute yesterday because the driver let us on the bus up in his little compartment so we didn't have to pay. He's like 50 with a wife and two kids. At first I thought we were being kidnapped but I took comfort in the fact that there was a whole bus full of people. Sister Ebeling was so stiff the whole ride, I don't think she said two words. I just chalked it up to good luck, not that the bus ride is expensive at all, but just the fact that we got that bus. So we talked to him for the whole 15 minute ride. It turns out he was a nice guy, yeah, he was hitting on us, but he didn't kidnap us so I was happy. We gave him a pamphlet and invited him to church, who knows right?

Also, we met a totally special girl on the metro, she came and talked to us after we smiled at her, she'll get baptized, someday. After a week of meeting with us and expressing some doubts, she decided she needed to ask somebody if she should read the Book of Mormon. So who did she ask? The Orthodox Church. Duh! I know what they're going to tell you...so we're taking a break from her right now. All of our members thought this was hilarious when we told them.

And there was a funeral for a church member here on Saturday. It started at noon. We left at 8:30pm after the members tried their best to stuff us with food. We weren't even there for the funeral, we had a lesson!

--
Sister Daniel

Spring...Just kidding. E-mail - March 11, 2013

Well, after almost transitioning into Spring, Winter has sprung her ugly head again and once more the ground is covered in snow. Mom, I'll take your 66 degrees any day.

This week was full of miracles, big and small. We got to see Luda and her sister Maria, we've been teaching them for a very long time now and they and their parents are all getting baptized at the end of the month. It's so exciting to see a whole family come to the gospel together. When it happens, it seems the whole mission knows about it, including the members. On our way to meet Luda and Maria we were on the metro, and Sister Ebeling was just being her very happy self, smiling at every one and this young girl just bounced over to sit next to us. She started talking about how much she was looking for us and wanted to know more about God. She talked about how she wanted to meet with Jehovah's Witnesses and immediately we were like "we're not JWs". She said, "I know but I want to know about this book (Book of Mormon) and what it is." Long story short, she came with us to our lesson, then went to the YSA dance afterward, then came to church yesterday, and we're having an FHE with her and a family in the ward tonight. It was absolutely amazing.

We've been focusing a lot on using the Book of Mormon for its intended purpose, to gather Israel, and it's been amazing! So many people want to read it or already have one. Of course, there are some who see it and basically run away, but those that are ready and are truly of the house of Israel recognize it immediately and have to know about it. It's so amazing that you can literally tell when you've found an Isrealite just by how they react to the Book of Mormon. It's even cooler here because there are so many people here from so many tribes. For example, Sister Karpenko is from Dan. Have you met anyone from Dan? I sure haven't. I really feel a connection as a member of the House of Israel here, our last zone conference totally changed my perspective.

We also recently learned about angels and ministering spirits, and mom, before my mission when people had dreams I was just kind of like "yeah...whatever...superstitions" but dreams matter, and it's really cool how many people here have had dreams or visions, there is this really great quote from Parley P Pratt about it. I'll try to find it, Sister Klebingat had it. But I believe that there were a lot of people trying to communicate with grandma, and hopefully she'll start to understand that too.

Anyway, that was my week. Love you all.

--
Sister Daniel

A Great Week! E-mail - March 4, 2013

What a week!

Sister Ebeling and I had the privilege of being a part of a wonderful baptism. Olga is 88 years old. About two weeks ago her 60 something year old daughter came up to us in sacrament meeting and told us that her mother had a vision and now wanted to be baptized. At first, I was a little skeptical because, well she's 88 and has had two strokes and really it just seemed a little weird to go and teach and baptize a lady that old, but we went. And boy, does this woman have the spirit with her. You can totally tell that Heavenly Father is doing his absolute best to communicate with her. She can't see very well, or hear very well, but she is the sweetest thing.

Anyways, we wanted to make sure she was okay mentally to get baptized so we brought Sister Klebingat on the lesson with us. It was apparent to all of us that this little old babushka was definitely of sound mind and totally ready to get baptized. So president got involved, he went with us to do the interview. It was quite out of the box, President asked her I think maybe two questions and she was ready to go, but it was really cool. So yesterday, a few hours after church, Olga got baptized and confirmed. Her family are all members, but less active except for two of them. This is the picture of us with her and her family and also some ward leaders. She was baptized by a brother in the ward, the family's home teacher and one of our Assistants with President watching the whole thing. It was so cool and the spirit was definitely there.

So it was a great week, to top it all off, the girl I've been working with for a long time, Luda, her and her family accepted a baptismal date. Hopefully all four of them will be baptized together in March! She's in the other picture. Miracles never cease. Ever.

I'm still running every morning, I'll send you a picture of the morning run today. Love you all!



--
Sister Daniel

A New Mission and A New Outlook‏ E-mail - February 26, 2013

Hello, Hello...

So thanks to some rather interesting events, I'm actually writing you from President's house today...long story. The most interesting thing about it though is that they have a German keyboard on their computer, which means that the letter y and the letter z are switched! So if something doesn't make sense, that's why. 

So you might have seen that Ukraine is getting a new mission starting July 1. Our mission is splitting and all Ukrainian speakers will be out in the Lviv Mission. I'm just glad this is happening after I leave, our mission would be cut in half and I would have a new mission president. Iäm kind of attached to the one I have now.

It's good to hear that everything is going well back home, I'm always a little bit worried that you can't make it without me.

So as for a new outlook, we had zone conference yesterday which is why I didn't email then, and President talked to us a little bit about the House of Israel and what our role is and how we fit in. I tell you, we're going to have some cool discussions at the end of my mission. I also have a list of books to read from the prophets and apostles. We just talked about what it means as members of the House of Israel and Israelites living in a Gentile world. We got President's PowerPoint so someday when I've actually wrapped mz head around this idea I can read it again and have an actual intelligent conversation about it.

Life in Ukraine is good. It's getting warmer and the snow is almost melting. Holidays have slowed down a little bit, the next big one is Easter on April 15.

That's about it. We're currently working with an 88 year old grandmother who wants to get baptized so we're going to take care of that soon. Everything's good. Say hi to grandma for me, I hope she feels better, that's quite the injury.

Love you!

--
Sister Daniel

A Snowy, albeit warm week‏! Email - February 18, 2012

Well, we've made it past what was the extremely cold time of last year, so hopefully we won't have to deal with that at all this year.

I'm really sorry but I just realized I'm out of time. It took a long time to write to mom about coming and I just don't have any more time today.

It was a good week, lots of miracles.

Hope you had a good week too.
I love you all.

Next week p-day is on Tuesday, so you'll hear from me then.

Bye!

--
Sister Daniel