Week 18 Just Come Inside

December 31, 2018

Alright Everybody since I skimped out on a lengthy email last week with details about everything this week I have some extra work to do to catch you all up on how things are going here in Ukraine for us!

Lets see if I even know where to start haha 2 weeks is way long ago on the mission a lot happens in that kinda time. Last week we were getting ready for Christmas and we had our special Christmas Sacrament meeting as well as this combined Branch Christmas party and the building in Center so getting ready for that we wanted to get invitations out to both the party and the sacrament to a bunch of the less active members in our area so we grabbed Polyakov and he joined us as we went searching for where these people live. In Ukraine like everyone lives in these big old apartment buildings like there aren't really any house in the city only these apartment complexes and there are soooo many oh my so it was a little difficult tax but it was fun we were searching for these less actives and we found and talked to a bunch of them so that was really great!! Not a ton we invited ended up at the party but ones we didn't invite or expect to see there came I felt like in the end it was good and sucessful!

Last week we also got together with the Elders in our district serving in Komenskoe they are studs it was fun to all be together on Pobeda with them we did a free herbal tea and hot cocoa table with Books of Mormon laid out and invitations to sacrament meeting it looked pretty official sorry I didn't get a picture or anything! We thought people were just going to flocking over from everywhere because it's freezing outside and here we have these way yummy warm drinks but that was not the case. At first it was like pulling teeth to get some of these people to take some free tea and cocoa but eventually it picked up and worked out better in the end it was pretty successful! We found one younger guy we think has some pretty good potential.

Christmas here was a great day for us! It was weird to not be home and with family and in away because of that it didn't totally feel exactly like Christmas but even then it was still a super great day!! We got together at the Branch with all of the other missionaries and had a little potluck breakfast we all brought different stuff me and Elder Rodgerson made some corn bread which isn't totally breakfast but we also made brownies and put them in a muffin pan as chocolate muffins to stick with the not really breakfast theme. Everyone really liked them of course haha They didn't know it was like just eating a brownie for breakfast because we called them chocolate muffins. Haha it was fun to be with everyone and together as a mission family! We all started skyping later in the day taking different turns there are quite a few computers in the branch and so it worked out really well for all of us!! It was so wonderful to see my family! That was the greatest part of the day for sure!

On the bus ride to the Branch on Christmas I sat next to this guy and he started asking me about my nametag! Which happens here a ton people are always curious and looking at us funny but usually they don't talk to us about it they just stare at it haha. Anyways he started talking to me and I gave him a mini restoration lesson and a book of mormon and got his number we are working on having a return appointment with him but nothing has worked out yet but we are still trying hard!

Nothing crazy happened the rest of the week! We visited with some members that can't make it to church because they are too sick, we stopped by some other members homes to talk about people in the branch that we might try and talk to and get back to church or that are part member families! We are really trying to emphasize getting referrals more than we have been from members because I think that is a super effective way of finding that we haven't been utilizing as well as we could!

Sunday Alexander and Marina were supposed to be in church we were hoping and hoping all week and praying that they would make it there on sunday becuase we had them on date for the 19th and on the way to the church we got a call from them and they said they were there so we got all excited that they made it to church! We got there and they are standing outside the gate to the church and something kind of seems weird, they then told us that they couldn't come to church that day or basically anyday for that matter because it's to hard for them to sit that long etc. etc. That was really tough to here we are kind of stuck with them still trying to figure out what we can do and try different.

That's about it from me this week I'll just finish with a spiritual thought! I've been reading about the early church and the early saints recently and all the miracles and huge blessings that they saw in their lives as they endured through great struggles and hardships. I've been impressed by their faithfulness and there dedication to the Lord and the church! I think there are great lessons we can all learn from them! As we live putting the Lord first and showing our faith in him I know that he will bless our lives!

Love,

Elder Spencer Halls