Christmas Music from our Red Brick Clock in Febuary

02/26/2018

Vinnitsya, Vinnitsya, Vinnitsya!

What a wonderful little city Vinnitsya is.

Vinnisya is nearer the center of Ulkraine but sits over the counrty of Moldova. So far it has been freeeeezing here. I don't know the exact temperatures but it has at least been cold enough to freeze my hair! We are living in the appartment that the Vinnitsya Sisters used to live in before sisters were taken out of Vinnitsya. It is pretty nice but after living in the Office Elder Appartment nothing can compare. However it is regardless a great place to live. Except for that fact that it is pretty cold all of the time. We have one of those instant water heaters but it really old and our landlord has told us that we aren;t allowed to turn up passed three and also becasue it costs too much and we aren't paying him enough appartently even though our rent was already rasied another thousand hrivna.

It is big though and our beds are pretty good. And they actually work as a oppsed to all of the broken beds that we had in my last appartment. We actually have two living rooms but we don't really go into the second one at all. We live right in the middle of the city and literally 30 seconds away from the Church building!

The branch here is small but not as small as it is in other places in Ukraine for example Odessa. The members here are great but we don't have anyone that knows how to play the piano. So Elder Durtschi and Clifford trade off playing a coupld of songs from the simplified hymn book. 

Vinnitsya is the home town of the Ukrainian President who is also the owner of "Roshen" (the biggest and most popular candy brand) and you can see his influence here as you ride the tramvay and pass the enormous Roshen Factory. 

Right next to our appartment there is this big old red brick clock tower that plays christmsa songs.

Elder Clifford is a really cool guy. He hasn't been on his misison for too long but is a great missionary. He has really good Russian considering how long he has been here and is a really humble guy. I am grateful to be here and serving with him.

He is a big athlete and is pretty muscualr but that doesn;t mean that he is too cool for making a blanket fort and putting the portible heater in it so we can do weekly planning with out freezing to death. 

So far the work has been slow here mostly due to the fact that we came in with basiaclly nothing but we have pretty good English Practices which is where most of our converts come from here in Ukraine. We have been visiting some Less-active members and contacing on the streets as well. 

The main mode of trasportation here is the Tramvay whcih is similar to Kiev's tramvay except that they are smaller here and also when the doors open a little step comes out but the probelm is that they only stay open and the little step stays down for only about eight seconds so if you aren't carful yuou can get into a little bit of trouble. But there is a handy little button on the outside of the tramvay that opens the doors but if you are already in the middle of getting on you gotta be quick.

It sounds like there are lots of factors here that make it seem that this place is miserable buit this is one of my favorite places though. There are so many young people here and it is so great because we honestly have enough babushki here in the Church in Ukraine and we need lost more young people so here is the place. 

I am so grateful to be here and to experience what I do everyday. I absolutly love this work and the Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer. I love the Book of Mormona and the words of living prophets. I loe my family and all of my friends and everyone else too. Ulraine is a wonderful place and there are so many here that love God and would give anything to come to know him better. And that is why I am here.,

Старейшина Класон Elder Clawson

A slower week, followed by a little bit of craziness

02/19/2018

Transfers!

The end of another six week transfer cycle. Which brings the possibility of moving into a different area. 

I have been here in the Mission Office for four transfers which is six months am have now found relief. I am going to a city called Vinnitsya (Bинниця) which is between Kiev and Odessa. Before this we have had only one companionship of elders there since sister were taken out due to the extreme lack of sisters that has been plaguing our mission. So now me and my new companion Elder Clifford who came in December are taking over what the sisters had in Vinnitsya. Their/our apartment is said to be pretty big and literally a thirty second walking distance away from the branch building. But they also say that the landlady is a little bit crazy. 

Elder Roylance is getting his wish granted and is kicking me out so he can have the "fun job" and is going to be training Elder Read, who came in with Elder Clifford, as an Office Elder. 

We have a few missionaries leaving but for once we are gaining more missionaries than we are loosing. Wooo!

But next transfer is going to really hurt us.

This week we had a Zone Meeting which is different from a Zone Conference. Zone Meetings, at least here, are put in charge by the Zone Leaders and are half as long as Zone Conferences.

We had the elders from Cherkassy stay twice with us this last week and they are coming up again tonight for transfers .

We had an exchange with the Zone Leaders and we went to the Rundenko family which went pretty well.

Church was good. We had really good talks and then once it hit the hour mark there was one more talk to go. And it was Brother Marchevsky who is notorious for speaking for a loooong time who had the last talk. But it miraculously lasted only for about ten minutes or so after we were supposed to end. 

I hope my email will get more interesting as soon as I get out of here. Vinnitsya seems like a great place and I am excited to see what's there. 

The Book of Mormon is such a wonderful book. I have seen nothing but miracles occur because of that powerful book. Please remember the words of all of our prophets, past and present, which admonish us to meaningfully study and pray about that book. 

I love you all and I see the fruits of all of yours prayers here in Ukraine in favor of this great work. 

Talk to you next week!

Старейшина Класон / Elder Clawson

I don't have any pictures from this last week so if you read this email without any reward I commend you.

Put for those who only open these types of email to see the pictures here is a picture of an adorable hedgehog. 

Ward Conference and an early morning mishap

02/12/2018

An eventful week indeed.

We were supposed to have our interviews with President Kumferman but then he got a bad case of the Flue and was down for just about the whole week. We were pretty bummed on not getting to interview with him and especially because he needs to know when we are leaving (because we have a choice). Not only did we not get to do our interviews but a lot of things were held up here in the office due to the Kumfermans flying under the radar for a bit. 

But things worked out and things got done. Today in order to make up for a week's worth of interviews he spend just abut all day interviewing. And he will do the same tomorrow and then the next zone's interviews are already right after that. So we after all did get to have interviews. My interview was really good. I really felt good about things afterwards. I also feel some relief as well because now I know exactly when I am finishing. So it is official that I am coming home June 26th.

This week is the last week of the transfer and it is probably my last here. I have been here for a while. At least compared to the amount of time I have been in other areas. 

Friday was Elder Roylance's 20th birthday and it was a pretty good day. The night before the elders from Cherkassy came up to stay over night with us for interviews the next day and they brought some cake mix and frosting that we put together for Elder Roylance. Then Elder Nye who is this huge guy taught us all how to play the card game "Hearts".

The next day in the office we came in and said "Hi" to the Andruses as we took off our coats and hung them up then walked into our room and saw a huge pile of cookies on Elder Roylance's desk. Sister Andrus told us of an Albanian tradition they learned about when they were serving a senior mission in Albania where if it is your birthday you provide the treats for everyone. So she was helping us adopt Albanian tradition by making him cookies to give to everyone that came in. (We still have some though)

Now here is a fun story. 

At about 2:00 am on Saturday I woke up to go to the bathroom. I stood up pretty fast and got a little light headed from that. I must have stood up too fast or have been to asleep still because the dizziness and light headedness just got worse. But I just told my self that I was going to be quick. I have past out a few times in my life so I know when one is coming or not. At this point when I was going I realized that this might be one of those times. But I just told my self to go quicker and used a little more force and then I remember waking up to it being bright and hearing the fan of the bathroom and being on the floor and feeling a pretty bad pain on my head. I don't know exactly what happened because I happened to be unconscious for it but I past out and hit my head on something. I am surprised at how invisible it is on my head because it feels a lot worse than it looks. So that was fun. Elder Roylance says that I seem a little more crazy now after that. But who cares. 

Sunday was fun because the Kumfermans were there and then President stayed for the Borschagovsky ward. We had ward conference in the Borschagovsky ward and heard from some of our stake leaders. We heard from President Padubni and he was making all of these jokes but we didn't understand any of it because one, it was in Ukrainian, and two, he kind of mumbles. But then Bishop Aleksey threw us a bone and spoke in Russian. 

We had a few lessons with members this week but other than that it was a pretty boring week. The most eventful day was actually today. 

President was taking quite a bit of time during his interviews and we were the last ones so I got lots of time to talk with Sister Kumferman on just about everything. 

We also went to find this lest active perspective elder but wasn't there so we took a picture in front of some church. 

Have a great week everyone! I hope that I will have more time next week to write.

Старейшина Класон / Elder Clawson

A Mexican Security Guard and New Names.

02/05/2018

"Man! I am taking a picture of my haircut because I don't have any other pictures!" - Elder Roylance about 30 seconds ago while writing his weekly email. 

So we got haircuts today. 

I also went back to my roots to Pechersky and was reminiscing in the past in my memories of Elder Carr and trying to find the best burger in Kiev. When I was with him he said that the restaurant "The Burger" was the best in Kiev. In my opinion though the best is "Starburger". While Elder Carr was on his quest for the best burger I got to try lots of different places and today we decided to try one of those places again. 

This week was a pretty productive one here in the office. We got lots of projects done and are just chugging along. We made a huge pot of borsch for us to live off of for the next week or so. It is pretty darn good if I might say. We realized that what we have here is the perfect thing for any collage student. Borsch. The main ingredients are water and beats and all of the other ingredients are dirt cheep as well. It makes a ton and is super healthy. Cheep. High quantity. Healthy. What else would you want? Ramen? Yeah right. Don't tell me that after a long day of classes and home work that you will say "Man, you know what would be super awesome right now? A boring bowl of Ramen freaking noodles." On that note we found another nickname for Elder Roylance. Here in Ukraine our American last names are most of the time a little bit difficult to remember. So if someone can't remember your name they just use a word that sounds somewhat similar to it. For example. My last name is Класон (Klason) but if someone can't remember it they will call me either Классный (Cool) or Клаксон (a car horn). But that is pretty rare as my name is an easier one. But Roylance on the other hand. No one can ever get his name right unless they have been around him for a long time or are studying English. A new version we recently heard was Ролтон (Rolton) which is the most common brand of Ukraine's version of Roman noodles. 

Oh yeah. So here is some more news that you might find interesting. So remember how our mission is going to be gaining the L'viv mission? Yeah so now we will have them as well as all of Moldova. If you don't know what that is it is a small country that was part of the Soviet union in between Ukraine and Romania. So as of July 1st of this year the Ukraine Kyiv mission will be the Ukraine Kyiv Moldova Mission. Pretty crazy right? President Kumferman is slowly taking over all of eastern Europe. Maybe next week we'll get Belarus. 

This week I have been trying harder to let the Book of Mormon speak for itself. And because of that we have seen nothing but miracles because of that wonderful blue book. 

Yesterday right before sacrament meeting started in the Borschagovsky ward a man walked in with the Zone Leaders who looked exactly what you might think a member of the Mexican Mafia might look like. Big. Black hair. Handle bar mustache. Leather jacket. I was total expecting him to speak Spanish and not Russian. Apparently her is one of the security guards for the АТБ (a small grocery store) across the street from the Temple here. 

So it has been a pretty good week. 

Старейшина Класон / Elder Clawson

Here are some pictures.

The Temple at night.

Our before pic of our Borsch.

And some fancy cheese that Elder Roylance let me buy.

The Book of Mormon, the Keystone of our Religion

01/29/2018

Once upon a time we went caroling with the Kumfermans, Andruses, Bingams, and other missionaries in our district on Christmas Eve over by the fountain on "Christmas Street". We sang in English to spare the fragile minds of those older than us that sang with us so it became an English contacting activity. Some of us sang and others took this opportunity to talk with people about English practice. There was one lady who was very interested in coming to English Practice. Her name is Olya and has been coming to English Practice for a while now and last Saturday we did a spiritual thought on the Book of Mormon and the 23 questions answered by the Book of Mormon and after that 7 people took a copy of the Book of Mormon! And one of those people was Olya!! And she and her mom who had just started reading it came to church yesterday!!! We are pretty excited for them. Especially Elder Roylance, you know how he is. . .

We had another Zone Conference this week. Not ours. Ours was last week. But we help with the other Zone Conferences as well. That just means that we are that much more edified right? It was pretty much the same though except the end of this last one. At the end when President Kumferman was finishing up he all of the sudden asked "Why does Moroni have a trumpet?" (referring to the angel Moroni). We talked about it a little bit and then he said; "I think that there is a specific reason why. . . and that is what we will start next Zone Conference with."

After right after Zone Conference the Andruses lest and left us to hold down the fort in the office. We were filming missionaries for a special video we are working on for Sister Mitchell who used to be here in the office but is now home and is fighting breast cancer. Then we got a call form Sister Danielyuk whos husband is a non-member and with whom we have been trying to work. She asked if we could immediately go and help them move some heavy tiles. It was a little bit of a bad time but we decided that they were more important than filming or having anyone in the office so we as quick as could kicked everyone out and locked up and ran over and helped them. We set up a lesson with them after moving tiles and yesterday evening had a lesson with them. 

On Saturday we had a lesson with the Parhomenko family. I guess the fifth time is the charm because we tried so hard to meet with them and ever since Elder Roylance got here it hasn't worked out. But we finally got in with them and it went pretty well. Most of the family was there and even Dasha's (14 years old) friend came and played the game "Spot-it" with us. We didn't have a lesson or anything with her but it was good to show her that mormons are alright and sometimes fun if you play a card game with them. 

We have lots of projects going on here in the office. Lots of planning and designing has been going on. But that means that soon our misisonaries will have the 2017 year book soon and also the new standards of excellence cards and some other things. And then President Kumferman will get his business cards. Still pretty boring here though.

EverOnce upon a time we went caroling with the Kumfermans, Andruses, Bingams, and other missionaries in our district on Christmas Eve over by the fountain on "Christmas Street". We sang in English to spare the fragile minds of those older than us that sang with us so it became an English contacting activity. Some of us sang and others took this opportunity to talk with people about English practice. There was one lady who was very interested in coming to English Practice. Her name is Olya and has been coming to English Practice for a while now and last Saturday we did a spiritual thought on the Book of Mormon and the 23 questions answered by the Book of Mormon and after that 7 people took a copy of the Book of Mormon! And one of those people was Olya!! And she and her mom who had just started reading it came to church yesterday!!! We are pretty excited for them. Especially Elder Roylance, you know how he is. . .

We had another Zone Conference this week. Not ours. Ours was last week. But we help with the other Zone Conferences as well. That just means that we are that much more edified right? It was pretty much the same though except the end of this last one. At the end when President Kumferman was finishing up he all of the sudden asked "Why does Moroni have a trumpet?" (referring to the angel Moroni). We talked about it a little bit and then he said; "I think that there is a specific reason why. . . and that is what we will start next Zone Conference with."

After right after Zone Conference the Andruses lest and left us to hold down the fort in the office. We were filming missionaries for a special video we are working on for Sister Mitchell who used to be here in the office but is now home and is fighting breast cancer. Then we got a call form Sister Danielyuk whos husband is a non-member and with whom we have been trying to work. She asked if we could immediately go and help them move some heavy tiles. It was a little bit of a bad time but we decided that they were more important than filming or having anyone in the office so we as quick as could kicked everyone out and locked up and ran over and helped them. We set up a lesson with them after moving tiles and yesterday evening had a lesson with them. 

On Saturday we had a lesson with the Parhomenko family. I guess the fifth time is the charm because we tried so hard to meet with them and ever since Elder Roylance got here it hasn't worked out. But we finally got in with them and it went pretty well. Most of the family was there and even Dasha's (14 years old) friend came and played the game "Spot-it" with us. We didn't have a lesson or anything with her but it was good to show her that mormons are alright and sometimes fun if you play a card game with them. 

We have lots of projects going on here in the office. Lots of planning and designing has been going on. But that means that soon our misisonaries will have the 2017 year book soon and also the new standards of excellence cards and some other things. And then President Kumferman will get his business cards. Still pretty boring here though.

Every week here in the Borschagovsky ward we try and have a missionary speak. I started a while back a list of those who will speak and when and now by default my companion does that so it was a little bit of a surprise for me yesterday when he told me a half an hour before sacrament meeting that I would be speaking. But everything was alright. I am at a point where if something like that would happen I don't panic because of my unpreparedness. And if you know me then you know that I am doing pretty good right now. I gave a talk on fulfilling the will of good by acting on what the prophets tell us and also reading everyday the Book of Mormon. But now everyone thinks I am leaving because I spoke. 

The Book of Mormon is such a wonderful thing. I really like in the Introduction of the Book of Mormon what the Prophet Joseph Smith said "I told the brethren that eh Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." It is in fact the most correct of any book on the earth. And that includes the Bible. However it is important to understand that like the Book of Mormon the Bible contains the dealings of God with his children here on the earth and I am sure that many people will be saved at the last day because of the teachings that are contained in the Bible. But as prophets past and present and most undoubtedly future admonish us, the Book of Mormon must take a central part in our daily activities. I add my witness that this is true doctrine. If someone in today's day wishes to find truth and wishes to not fall pray to the temptations of the adversary than he must set apart time everyday for study of the Book of Mormon. I invite all who are in the sight of these words to read the Book of Mormon each day and pray to God in Christ name and then you will have the Holy Ghost with you. 

Старейшина Класон / Elder Clawson