Elder Roylance can get really excited about things

01/22/2018

This week was somewhat of an eventful one. 

First off we got a new prophet. Or more correctly a new president of the church. If any of you watched the special message that President Nelson gave then you might have noticed President Erying looking a little like he didn't know where he was or what was going on the whole time. And if you watched the press conference afterwards than you would have noticed even more President Erying. Besides all of that it was all pretty good though. 

We had lots of new people come to English practice which was fun. Especially the mom with her three girls that tool everything super seriously like they were being graded on their answers. 

We also had Zone Conference this week and it was kind of strange not being combined with the other Kiev zone. Because it seems like we were combined for the last three Zone Conferences. It was wonderful though despite the absence of Kiev East. We took almost the whole time about the Book of Mormon. And if you remember President Kumferman was a professor at BYUI teaching Russian and the Book of Mormon so he knows a little bit about this subject. 

Sister Mitchell who previously served here in the office before the Andruses came has breast cancer and is undergoing radiation therapy and so President Kumferman has asked that the Office Elders (Elder Roylance and I) make a special video for her from all of us missionaries here in the Ukraine Kiev mission. So during our Zone Conferences this transfer we are filming each companionship as they express their gratitude to Sister Mitchell and any other message from them and then compile it into a special video for her. 

The Zone Leaders here our District have been working with a man named Nikolay who is a self-referral and has been meeting with them for a bit. On Saturday he got baptized and got confirmed a member and received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday yesterday. He is a pretty good guy and looks like an LDS member more and more every time I see him.

Every morning starting sometime in November we get a text from President Kumferman with a short quote or scripture and an encouragement to do better in the one field that day. On Sunday morning we got it at the usual time when Elder Roylance is in the shower but that day's was a very different text than we had before seen. It was a somewhat long text in short explaining that there was some big important news that is going to affect missionary work here and that we should sometime that day get to a computer and read that letter from him. As soon as my companion read it he was almost shaking with excitement to find out what it was all about. "Maybe we're getting smartphones!" "Or maybe we are changing to Ukrainian!" I had to very carefully negotiate in order to at least get a half and hour of personal study in before we left. And then after that I have never seen him so anxious and excited to get to the church. Not even if we were late on a lesson would he walk that fast. 

We got to the church and according to my suspicions the sister were already there at our computer and had just finished reading the letter. We could tell their excitement as well due to their shouts and excited sounds. 

So as of July 1st this year (2018) as part of the Simplify and Reduce movement act thing 46 missions are being dissolved which included the Ukraine L'viv mission. Our mission will be loosing the Odessa District gaining as apart of our mission the L'viv District and all of the missionaries apart of that mission. We don't know a ton of details so far but we do know that it is probably going to be pretty stressful for the Kumfermans and for the Andruses. I love it here in Ukraine but I am honestly super glad that I am leaving before then because I really would not like trying to speak in Ukrainian. But if for some reason that was what needed to happen then I would do it with a joyful heart. 

This week we also had a birthday in our District. Sister Archibald turned 21 and the Andruses were so kind and threw a waffle breakfast thing for us for her on Monday last. 

So it was pretty eventful and to add on to the excitement of Elder Roylance we did another Escape Room today with the elders in Pechersky.

I am so very grateful for the Book of Mormon and the power that is contained in that book. There is a reason why we have it and we there has been so much emphasis on reading her.

I hope that everyone that reads these has a good week and even those sorry souls who don't will too. 

Старейшина Класон / Elder Clawson