June 24, 2013

Mother,

No I didn't get to see the training thing yesterday, but I think the Branch will watch it next week and we will probably watch it in english at the same time, so I'm pretty excited. From what I heard, it sounds like the Church is going to be incorporating technology more into missionary work, which is pretty funny, because the area presidency just ban us from using ipods and tablets that can connect to the internet. Sounds like that will be a short lived rule.

This week went by quicker than usual, probably because I was sick for a lot of it and I am still recovering. On Wednesday we went to that city that I told about before that we are trying to open up and decided to stay the night there and work again the next day before heading back to L'viv. The only problem was that I woke up really sick. By some miracle, we were able to get back to L'viv without anything happening. I probably haven't been taking it as easy as I should be, because I haven't 100% recovered yet. I have lost about 5 of those precious pounds that I have been slowly gaining.Oh, well. They'll come back. On Saturday we had a farewell meeting with the Klebingats which was really awesome but also really sad. President Klebingat is one of the most amazing men I've ever met and his wife is a genius. I have learned so much from them and I'm really sad to see them go, but I know that the Latins will be awesome too and that there is a reason why I was called to Ukraine when this split was happening. Really weird that this is my last week in the Kiev, Ukraine mission. The split seemed so far away and then I blinked. Time is going by way too quickly.

This Sunday was really awesome, because our recent convert passed the sacrament for the first time! He was pretty nervous but he did really awesome. We had a lesson with him and President Klebingat on Friday about the Temple and Family history work which was really awesome. Hopefully he will be able to go to Kiev and do baptisms for the dead soon. He is really the only bright spot in our area right now, because we are finding it incredibly difficult to find and keep new investigators for some reason. Hopefully the work will pick up this next week. That's it for me. Love and hope you all have a great week!

Elder Jolstead

Mother,

Thanks for the pictures and the update on my bank account. I didn't get an email from Krystine this week, so I assume that means that she is really enjoying her vacation. Shoot the weasel/ raccoon. I gave Nathan my brilliant plan for killing it, so he should know what to do. Come to think of it, is Nathan a good shot? I've never seen him shoot anything but an airsoft gun. Will we be getting more chickens then? I read about the talent show really fast and thought that it was just an orchestra concert at first. 35 elemantary/ middle school orchestra acts?! I think that would have defined outer darkness for us.

So this week was very busy, but unfortunately not with investigators. The Patriarch who travels around eastern Europe came to give blessings and we had to help him and all of the other people who came in from other cities to get their blessings. We actually went to dinner with him on Saturday and it was very cool to talk to him about his calling. Not much else exciting happened but we are having a kind of meeting this week for all those who will be in the L'viv mission. Kind of a saying goodbye from President Klebingat thing I think. It should be really cool. Only two more weeks as the complete Kiev Ukraine Mission. Really weird. Well that's about all I have time for. I need to stop being so long winded to the other people I write to. Love you all and enjoy your vacation!

Elder Jolstead

PS. Could you send me the recipes for chocolate boiled cake and strawberry shortcake? I miss cake.

Ma,

. Yay for the Sternods! That's so cool! All the pictures from the graduation were cool. Kahlan is so cute! It's really awesome that Krystine is there for her birthday too. Will she still be there when Krystal comes? Oh, and I think you forgot to send me pictures for that activity I told you about and also I still need to know how much money is on my card.

This week was a little bit frustrating, because we couldn't meet with a single one of our investigators. It seems like they knew that it was new transfer and decided to hit the reset button. We also went to that other city that we have been going to but couldn't meet with any of the members there, so it was kind of a wasted trip. At the end of the week we had a visit from Elder Senkins of the third quorum of the seventy, which was pretty cool. I have no idea what he talked on because he is from Latvia and spoke in russian. My russian is very bad, but I understood a few things he said. I can't think of really anything else that happened this week. It is an adjustment getting used to a new companion again, like it always is, but it hasn't been that hard. I think that's it. Love you and be healthy!

Elder Jolstead

Mother,

 My niece is so cute! Nathan said that she is already trying to walk. I know that I haven't been gone nearly long enough for that to happen. It's when she starts talking that I'll get really scared. I'm glad that the surprise party for Shantewa went well, even though it rained a little. Soggy cake tastes the same as dry cake anyway. It just has a different texture.:) I'm also glad that the funeral was really good. That depressed me for a while last week. 

This week we had transfers and it went by really fast. I worked with three different companions in the same area, but thankfully was able to get a lot of meetings. My new companion is Elder Naumann and he is really cool. A lot different than my first two companions but still really cool. It was really hard to get members to work with us this week because they all went to Kiev to go to the Temple, which is awesome. One of the members who I helped prepare to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood went through the Temple for the first time, so that was really awesome. Fast and Testimony meeting yesterday was really cool and the Spirit was really strong and several members went up to bear their testimony about the blessings of the temple. I also found out this week that when Elder Holland came to dedicate the church building in L'viv, he said that the Temple in L'viv would one day stand in that very spot. That is really awesome. It won't happen my time on a mission, but the day the Temple is announced will be an amazing day. I love this city.

I don't have too much more to write, but I do have two requests. I would like to know how much money is on my debit card now because I will need to withdraw some money from it soon and I was curious. Also, in a couple of weeks we are going to have a "meet the missionaries" activity in the branch and the district leader wanted us to ask for pictures from home of us to doing things for a slideshow. He said pictures of some kind of talents, but I don't know what those would be.:) Anyway, love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Jolstead 

 Well, this is transfer week and I will be staying in L'viv, but Elder Gmeiner is being made Zone Leader and is going somewhere else. My new companion will be Elder Nauman, who served here in L'viv for 4 transfers just before I came into the mission. I have only met him once very briefly, but I have seen his name on a lot of teaching records. Oh, and I don't know if you remember Elder Kelley or not (he is the one from my MTC group who sent you that letter), but he has been in my district here in L'viv since the beginning and now he is being made district leader in another city. He is really nervous, but he's awesome, so no one else is.

The best part of this week was the baptism on Saturday. It was amazing and one of our other investigators who has a baptismal date for June came to see it, which was awesome. Elder Gmeiner performed the baptism and then I confirmed him and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. I was pretty nervous, because I have never given a blessing in Ukrainian so far. I guess all that really matters is that you get the first part said correctly, which I had already memorized in the MTC, so I think I did okay. To my knowledge there were no grammatical errors. It was really cool to see that new member glow that he has now. I have seen 3 baptisms so far on my mission and you can always tell the difference after someone is baptized and confirmed. That's pretty much all this week. I hope that everyone is enjoying their last few weeks of school. I love you all a lot!

Elder Jolstead