Week 24: Let's stay on our side of the river

Hello everyone!! I'm doing well here in Ukraine we actually had quite a wonderful week this past week which was soo soo great! I'm really just feeling super great and happy which is usually the case but I think when you add success in the work to being a missionary you are just at a whole new level of happiness!! Alright let's dive into the week!!

Monday was good as always sent emails, ate some food at the mall and then did some shopping! Haha nothing too exciting!

Tuesday was a really good day! We had zone conference and it was such a great zone conference! We learned so much about things that we haven't been doing as great as we can and that we can really lengthen our stride in and that was huge! I always have loved as a missionary knowing things that I can do and work on in order to improve and this week I realized that I have a bunch of things that I can focus better on and as I have began doing those things I've already see it translate into great success in the work! After zone conference our meeting after fell through which actually was a blessing in disguise because there was a catastrophe of train and bus tickets in the office that we had to go and get sorted out! It was very stressful but we powered through and everyone made it to where they needed to be! 

Wednesday I was in the office all day while my companions were out on the street doing that type of missionary work! It was pretty good in the office I stayed super busy and got so much done and that was really great! We've been able to really help out Sister and Elder Crisp the office couple in there and that has really helped lighten their load a little bit which I've seen them be so grateful for! And we've also made great friends in the Crisps!

After that we had English Practice and that went really good it was kind of a down week and we only had 10 people there but it went really well and we met this younger guy named Yung and we think he might have some potential we walked with him on our way back to the apartment and he's a good young guy.

Thursday I was out on the streets with Elder Pierce while Elder Hansen held down the fort in the office. We didn't have any appointments or anything planned but we decided to go to Topol and contact there and while we were contacting also search for this members apartment building we thought would be good to meet! Didn't quite work out how we had hoped and we weren't able to find his apartment building or even the street that it was on but we did meet a couple nice people while we were contacting so it wasn't a total unsuccess! We headed back to Pobeda for lunch and after that back out on the street and we did some more contacting. We met this one guy on the street who knew so other missionaries in the past and spoke English we invited him to church and English Practice but he was busy and needed to get his haircut so we parted ways and about an hour later we run into him post haircut and he asks us if we were busy right then and we weren't so we went walking with him and we started talking about the church and it turned into us teaching him the first lesson! Super great!! We plan to meet with him again on friday his name is Nick! 

Friday we decided it would be a good idea to check out this part of our area that we don't know a lot about! Elder Rodgerson always send it wasn't really a very good place to go and he didn't really like it but I had to see for myself so me and Elder Hansen went and checked it out! It's called Pridneprovsk and there is basically nothing there haha! There are apartment buildings everywhere so you think you'd see a lot of people but that was not the case! We got pretty lost for about an hour I was just laughing the whole time because our situation was just pretty funny to me! We've decided that in the future we are going to stay on this side of the river hahah

Saturday was an awesome day!! We started the day with some English Contacting which I really like because we are a trio we kinda spread out a few yards apart in the middle of this square and tackle more people all at the same time!! We always get a bunch of conversations with people and usually some contacts and it just feels so effective so I really enjoy it! After that we quickly ate dinner and then we had an appointment with this young buck Alexsay (Алексей)

We met him long long ago in missionary time so like 2 months and it was like the last time I was going to try and call him and he was all about meeting and talking more with us it was super cool!! We shared the Restoration with him showed him the branch building it was really great he's a busy man with a crazy schedule but he agreed to meet again and talk more and also read in the Book of Mormon so we are super excited about him!!

Sunday was a really great day! We had an awesome meeting with the Branch President about missionary work and that was super wonderful! My companions both spoke in Sacrament and did a wonderful job! After Sacrament there was this member in our ward who had lost his job and had no where to stay and nothing to eat and so me and Elder Pierce went on a split Elder Hansen went with one of the brother's in the branch to go bring the sacrament to some members who are too sick! and it was just such a day filled with serving and loving others and as a representative of the savior those are really powerful moments!

I want to bear my testimony a little bit with you on faith today!! I have learned for myself more than ever such a huge lesson! In our lives we may be asked things that are difficult to us by the Lord! We may receive promptings that are challenging but I think that we always know and realize it's what we need to do! He asks us these things because he knows it's going to push us a little bit, he knows it's gonna make us stretch but as we put one foot in front of the other begin to do what he asks and work through in that shows him our faith and through faith miracles come to pass! 

Ether 12:12-16

12 For if there be no afaith among the children of men God can do no bmiracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.

13 Behold, it was the faith of Alma and Amulek that caused the aprison to tumble to the earth.

14 Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the achange upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the bHoly Ghost.

15 Behold, it was the faith of aAmmon and his brethren which bwrought so great a miracle among the Lamanites.

16 Yea, and even all they who wrought amiracles wrought them by bfaith, even those who were before Christ and also those who were after.

All these great miracles came through faith! Have faith everyone rely on the Lord and follow him!  

Love,

Elder Halls

The best oven in the Mission

The sun came out this week! I missed my boy the sun

Our trip to Pridneprovsk (Lots of cats, not lots of people)