Updates: December 9th and 16th

9 DECEMBER

Surprise!!! Another exchange. This one actually was a surprise haha.

President Kumferman asked us to go to another city to help the elders out with their area. It was super unexpected but it went really well. We ended up getting on a train at 9 pm, got there at 3 am the next day, had the exchange, and then left that night at 9 pm, and got home at around 4 am. So ya, we were pretty exhausted.

The Hunters are awesome and had us over for dinner again. They reported on the invitation we gave them to find someone to invite to church while they were traveling around these last couple weeks. They ended up sharing tons of experiences and telling us about everyone they talked too. It was super cool.

We had a mini MTC for the youth in our branch and a branch from a different city. It was really fun. We even took them out contacting with us and it was hilarious. They did a really good job.

We were in the apartment the other night just sitting there and talking after lunch and I started juggling the volleyball with my feet. My comp thought it would be fun to try and steal the ball, but I'm too competitive and wouldn't let him have it, had to sauce him up a lil bit ya know? Ya no. We both went to kick the ball and let's just say I woke up the next morning with a black toe that doesn't wanna move. Lesson learned - don't play soccer in the house, especially when you should be
planning.

I was reminded of a quote from President Nelson this last week, "The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives." I've probably shared this before because I love it so much. It's a good reminder that the joy we feel in life is totally in our control. When we were are focusing on the Savior and His Atonement, we will always feel joy. Yes, trials and tribulations will come but if we are FOCUSED on the Lord, we will still feel joy! We are promised that by a loving prophet of God! I hope you can all find time to recognize the joy in your life this week and recognize the source of it.

Elder Kenyon Matua

16 DECEMBER

I about died this week.

There was so much traveling. We left Monday morning at 5 am to get to Kyiv. We got there and met with some friends and had lunch and we had a good time. Tuesday we had MLC which ended up being 7 hours. We left right after, got on a train to Khmelnytskyi and got in around midnight. Then we walked all the way to the apartment which took half an hour and we were just dead. Then came home from K-town Thursday and had a few meetings right when we got back.

Exchanges in Khmelnytskyi went really well. I got to be with Elder Pitcher who is from close to home and we know a lot of the same people so we had a good time talking about it.

We got fed by a couple of members this week and it was awesome! We are starting to see a lot of growth in the branch and how much they want to help out.

We met with our friend Andriy again and it went really well. He had read 2 Nephi 2 and had some really good questions about it. We are excited to keep helping him learn more about our Savior.

I don't have tons of time but love you all and have a great week.

Love you all,
Elder Kenyon Matua

Never Ending Exchanges

This week was exhausting!

We went to Kyiv on Monday to do Exchanges with the AP's and I woke up super sick and ended up sitting inside all day and sleeping. It was not fun and I missed out on doing a last exchange with Elder Jack before he goes home tomorrow!

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with the senior couple, the Leifers. They fed us really, really well and made us feel right at home. That night we also took a bus out to Lutsk to have exchanges with the elders there.

I got to spend the day in Lutsk with my buddy from Tennessee, Elder Crabtree. He is such an awesome missionary and we had a really good time together talking to people and visiting less-active members from their branch.

We started teaching a young guy named Andryi who was asking questions about English that I could not answer to save my life. Luckily when we started talking about the gospel we had a lot more answers for him. He shows pretty genuine interest so we are excited!

I've been reading talks from this past conference and something Sister Michelle Craig said really stood out to me. She said that in first Nephi 3:7 it says that the Lord will provide "a way" not "the way". It is hard sometimes because I find myself praying and asking for God to guide me, and then, without thinking, I immedietly imagine what the answer is gonna be. I falsely set an expectation for the answer I am going to receive. I know we have heard it a billion times but we have to understand He will provide "a way" and it will ALWAYS be "HIS way". We cannot, as SIster Michelle Craig says, "miss or dismiss personal errands from the Lord", because we are stuck on "our way" or "my way". He will provide a way and it will always be the right way. Find time this week to discover what "His way" for you is.


Love you all!
Elder Kenyon Matua

Updates: November 18th and 25th

Photo Bomb!

November 18th - Gone

Super, super short week calls for a super, super short weekly email. (Sorry mom!)

We finally got to sit down and have a lesson with our friend Emmanuel! We've played basketball with him so much and the Lord finally blessed us with an opportunity to sit down and teach him. It went really well and took a French Book of Mormon and I hope he reads it!

Our branch did a service activity this last Saturday. We bbq'd and cleaned all trash around the territory the church is on.

I got to have exchanges with the Elder from down under. Elder Thorton and I had a great day and he reminded me of a lot of Aussie slang that my mate Bailey Wilson used at home. It was a good day and we got a lot done.

Read a quote from Neil L. Maxwell this last week, "The star at Bethlehem was in orbit long before it was shone". The Lord has blessings in store for you and even though it may not seem like it, and even if it feels like you have been going through the same struggles forever now, the blessings will come. He has promised you so much; have faith in Him; have faith in His plan. He loves you and don't give up on Him.


Love you all,
Elder Kenyon Matua

November 25th - Happy Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving as a zone this last week. We had a really big dinner with everyone and sang a lot of hymns together and unfortunately heard a departing testimony from my good friend Elder Eller. He will be missed. We watched the new Christ Child video and if you haven't watched it go right now because it's amazing.

We had exchanges this last week with Chernivtsi and I was with Elder Packer who is a new missionary. It was so fun and I learned so much about him and he is awesome. His great grandpa is actually Boyd K. Packer so I got to hear some good stories. And his father was the last mission president in this mission! He is such a great kid and I am excited to see him grow.

We had a pretty intense lesson with one of our friends Zhenya. He has been investigating the church for about 6 years now and he is an amazing kid. His family is more active than a lot of actual members and they aren't even members! He knows everything is true but is just struggling to realize that he knows enough. He just wants to know everything but we all know how hard that is. I love the kid and know he will come around sooner or later.

President Kumferman reminded me of a quote from Elder Niel L. Andersen, "Obedience brings freedom". Think about that and email me your thoughts on that!


Love you all and have a great week!
Elder Kenyon Matua

Updates: 4 November and 11 November

4 November
Traveling (again), Exchanges in Ivano-Frankivsk, MLC and the temple!

Sorry folks but this one is going to be very short because I forgot till now.

We had a really long week full of a lot of traveling and not a lot of sleeping but that's ok because that means we working hard right? I hope.

Had exchanges in Ivano-Frankivsk and I got to work with my old companion Elder Petersen! It was really fun and we got a lot done. We had a lesson with an investigator of theirs who is getting baptized soon and he is awesome! We also got to meet the new missionaries again and get to know them better and they are awesome!

We went straight from Ivano to Kyiv for MLC. We got to do baptisms and a session at the temple the day before though and it felt so good. I also got to see a returned missionary and it was so funny and so good to see him again.

It was a really good week and we are just trying to soak up every minute we have here. Time is going by wayyyyyyy to fast and I don't like it. I love this work and the blessings it brings!!! So great!

11 November
President Goldens visit, Investigators and the Funny Things They Say

The stress is over!!

This week took so much preparing and stressing. We had been getting ready for a couple months now for the area president, President Golden, and when the beginning of this week hit, I realized how much more we still needed to prepare. We had heard so many stories about how strict he would be so we had everything perfect. The good thing is, it all went well. Everything went the way it was supposed to and I was so happy. President Kumferman and President Golden addressed us and we got a lot of counsel and guidance from them. President Golden also held a fireside for our branch members here in Lviv and it went really well.

We had exchanges this week with the elders from Rivne. It went really well and we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the weather is getting worse and worse. And Elder Laney and I also had four lessons planned for that day and none of them went through, so that was pretty depressing. We got in contact with all of them again though and set another time.

We finally got to meet with our good friend Artiem. He has been meeting with the missionaries for 2 years almost and has just had so many difficulties with baptism. It started with his parents being very against the church, which is still holding him back now. But, on the lesson, Elder Taran bore a very strong testimony of his path to baptism because he is only a convert of about 3 years. He told Artiem that his parents were against him being baptized but he prayed for help and for them to have a change of heart and SLOWLY but surely they started to change. That opened Artiem up a little more to talk about his parents and he shared with us how they have been changing as well. It's very slow, but they are changing. So we invited him to pray and fast for strength to ask his parents again and he accepted and seemed excited to do so again.

Our friend from the Congo, Emmanuel, came to church! I really enjoyed it and everyone made him feel so welcomed. It was perfect because it just happened to be the day that our friends, the Hunters, from Utah, spoke! It was hilarious because after Brother Hunter spoke, Emmanuel leaned over to me and said, "Matua, is no one gonna clap? That was amazing!" I couldn't stop laughing.

There was a verse that President Golden kept bringing up and that was Alma 7:7 which says, "For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all -- for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people. "

It is so important that we take the things of God seriously. If we take them lightly, the sacred things and gifts He gives us, He will take them away. We have to understand the most important thing in our lives, or rather who is most important in our lives  and that is our Savior, Jesus Christ. We have to understand that His coming is nigh at hand. And we especially have to understand that God is preparing us and using us to prepare those around us. God works miracles through ORDINARY people just like you and just like me. He is preparing you to share the gospel with those around you, so do it!


I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Elder Kenyon Matua

October Updates

2 October
Exchanges in Rivne, Lessons and Elder McConkie

It was a crazy busy week!

We had exchanges in Rivne, the city I was trained in! And it was even cooler because I was back with my MTC comp and it was cool to see how much we have both grown. We had a really good exchange. A sister in the branch there had just returned home from her mission in Eastern Ukraine and we talked a lot about the missionaries I know serving over there and we had so much fun sharing stories.

We also had exchanges with the AP's. I was with Elder Lindsey who is from AF. It was so fun talking about all the people we both knew from back home. It was a really good exchange and it was really nice getting to know our AP's and getting so much help from them.

We had a lesson with Bogdan who I mentioned last week is preparing to be baptized! He is still comin a long strong just hard finding time to meet and come to church. He still has a very strong desire to be baptized it is just going to take some pray and fasting together to help him find time.
 
It for sure feels like fall around here, we have been getting rain dumped on us everyday for a couple hours a day and it is getting cold.

Stumbled upon this funny but powerful quote the other day from Bruce R. McConkie and I love it. The gospel is so simple yet so incomprehensibly extraordinary. Don't get tied up in life, stick to the basics and all will work out.  "So often questions like this are asked: “I know it is not essential to my salvation, but I would really like to know how many angels can dance on the head of a pin and if it makes any difference whether the pin is made of brass or bronze?” There is such a thing as getting so tied up with little fly specks on the great canvas which depicts the whole plan of salvation that we lose sight of what the life and the light and the glory of eternal reward are all about. There is such a thing as virtually useless knowledge, the acquisition of which won’t make one iota of difference to the destiny of the kingdom or the salvation of its subjects."

Love you all!

21 October
Utah Couple, International Basketball and a New Companion

Super, duper busy week. So much happened and it went by sooooo fast.

We have an amazing new couple that moved here for a couple months from Utah. They had us over for dinner and it was awesome. They are such neat people and so eager to help the branch here and do missionary work.

We had a lesson with Yuri, a guy that walked into the church a couple weeks ago and it went really well. We were worried going into it because the first time we met with him, all he talked about was the bible and how it's all we need. We discussed the Restoration and he listened closely and asked some sincere questions. He messaged us the day after and told us the he will give the Book of Mormon a shot!

We played basketball with some of our friends from the Congo and Nigeria. While we were there a kid from Beijing walked up and started playing with us. I got to whip out the little Chinese I remember and it was really cool.

I will be staying in Lviv this next transfer and I will be serving with Elder Taran, my old companion from Chernivtsi! It'll be really exciting and a good transfer. It will also be a really busy one.

Love you all and have a fantastic week.

28 October
More Basketball, Fall Festival and New Missionaries!

Our basketball team made up of one kid from Ukraine, one from the Congo, one from Beijing and one terrible baskteball player from Utah.

We had a really good week! It was mine and Elder Taran's first week together and it was busy, busy. We found some really cool people and played basketball with them a couple times this week. They are super cool kids and we hope we can get a chance to sit down and talk to them. A few of them even came to our banch activity we had on Saturday.

It was a fall festival kind of activity and we played a lot of games and ate some good food. We had a good amount of people come from English and the members did a great job of becoming friends with them. One of the boys we are teaching, Bogdan, came! It was so good to finally see him because he has been so busy. He told us he is still going to be super busy but we are praying that he will find time to meet with us.

We got 4 new missionaries this last week! There is one sister and 3 elders in our zone. The elders all came through Lviv and spent the night before heading off to their cities. It was really cool to meet them and I am so excited for them to get started.

I have been studying and trying to find ALL the names of Christ in the scriptures and man, there are sooooooo many!! In just one hour I find 53 names that the Savior is called by. One of my favorites has always been the Prince of Peace and while I was studying these the other day, I found another one which was The Founder of Peace. Not only is He the Prince and perfect example of peace but He is the Founder of it! All good, joy, happiness, miracles and so on, all come from the Savior Jesus Christ. I love Him and I love this work.


Have an amazing week yall!
Elder Kenyon Matua

Updates: 9 September - 23 September

9 September

MLC, BBQ and never giving up
Not much to share this week and not even that much time to share it.

We had MLC in Kyiv and we really enjoyed it. We are excited to apply some new additions to our mission. We also had exchanges with the AP's. I got to be with Elder Jack who went to Bingham. He is so awesome and I learned so much from him.

We played a lot of catch up getting back from Kyiv but we got in touch with a lot of the people we are teaching and we are ready for a good week. We did get to go out to our recent convert Roman and we BBQ'd with him and he loved having us out there and we loved being out there.

I was humbled by a scripture this week in Helaman 12:3. It says that the Lord chastens His people so we will remember him. I had been questioning a lot of things going on and why they were happening to us when we are doing so much good. I realized that my spirituality level was just down from what it should be. As soon as I asked Heavenly Father to give me strength and help me find the right path to have the Spirit bearing witness to me again, I was immediately blessed with just that. He is waiting to bless us. Don't get upset about hard times. They happen for a reason and we all know it. Just do not forget HIM! He wants to bless you so bad. Just be open and ask...then ACT!

Love you all have a wonderful week!

17 September

Street hockey, Artem and scripture power
Cannot believe this week has come and gone already. It was really good. Sickness and afflictions have been taking their toll here but we will pull through haha. We had a branch activity this last Saturday which ended with us playing street hockey with all of our friends from English and other members of the church.

Our friend Artem is back in town and he was so excited to meet with us. He started being taught almost a year ago but his parents were very against him being baptized. But over the course of about a year, his mom has attended church a couple times and he has talked to them a bit about the gospel! When we called to see if he could meet, he was so excited and he asked if we could have a spiritual lesson because he hasn't had one in a long time and hasn't been able to read the Book of Mormon. We had such a good lesson and read from Alma 47. He loved it and we were really able to relate it to his situation right now. I am so excited for him.

I was reminded of a promise that Nephi declared in the Book of Mormon this week. 1 Nephi 14:14 says that he, "beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb...they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory". Don't forget that the Lord's power is upon all of us. His power is with YOU. YOU are armed with righteousness. YOU are armed with the power of God. Live worthily of that power. Do not forget that He is working a marvelous work among us. He is using YOU to carry out that work. God loves YOU because YOU are His child. Love you all and have a great week!

23 September

Miracles, back aches and the Lords timing
This week was rough mostly because I was dumb enough to hurt my back a week ago so we were stuck inside a lot.

Crazy miracles have been happening here in western Ukraine though. We went from 1 baptismal date as a zone to 11 in exactly one week. Elder Blake and I were shocked and it was a huge testimony builder to see how much the Lord is softening the hearts of His children here in Ukraine. One of those dates came from a 16 year old boy we have been working with! His dad is a member who recently became reactivated. We had an FHE with them and we asked his dad to share his conversion story with us and man did that invite the Spirit! He became very emotional while sharing it and after we turned to Bogdan (his son) and asked him a lot of questions that eventually came around to us inviting him to be baptized. Without any hesitation he said yes! We are so excited for him.

Watching the new Book of Mormon video got me thinking a lot about Laman and Lemuel. We often think of them as being "the bad guys" right away. But how often do we act like Laman and Lemuel? How often do we complain because we don't know what is ahead in life for us? (1 Nephi 2:12) How many of us complain when asked to do something we don't want too? (1 Nephi 3:5) Do we often forget that the Lord's will will always be fulfilled on HIS timing? (1 Nephi 7:12) The list goes on and on. We need to continue to show our Faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Just as the revelation given to Joseph Smith for Oliver Cowdery states, "Look unto me in every thought, doubt not, fear not".

Love you all,
Elder Kenyon Matua

Updates: 19 August - 26 August

19 August

A Story Worth Reading
I dont have a lot of time today so I just wanted to share a story with you. Have a wonderful weekend you all.

There once was this turntable bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day, the bridge sat parallel with the river, allowing ships to pass freely on both sides. But at certain times each day a train would

come along and the bridge would be turned across the river allowing the trains to cross. A switchman sat in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed.

One evening, as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train's light. He stepped to the controls and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge into position. He turned the bridge, but to his horror, found that the locking control didn't work. If the bridge was not locked into position securely, it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train comes onto it. This would cause the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This train was a passenger train with many people aboard.

He left the bridge turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever he could use to operate the lock manually.

He could hear the rumble of the train now. He took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength.

Then, coming across from the direction of his control shack he heard a sound that make his blood run cold:

"Daddy, where are you?"

His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him.

His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run, run!" but the train was too close, the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost lifted the lever to run and snatch up his son, and carry him to safety, but he realized he could not get back to the lever in time. Either the people on the train or his little son must die.

He took just a moment to make his decision.

The train sped swiftly and safely on it's way, and no one aboard was aware af the tiny, broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the rushing train.

Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of a sobbing man still clinging tightly to the lever long after he train had passed. They didn't see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked, to tell his wife how he had sacrificed her son.

Now if you can comprehend the feelings, which went through this man's heart, you can understand the feeling of our Heavenly Father when he sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life.

How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us throughs his Son, Jesus Christ? Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His........only Begotten Son died?

26 August

Interviews and Zone Conference
Had another amazing week out here in L'viv. We were blessed to have zone and district conference. It was my first time presenting something at zone conference but I think it went really well. It was really cool because President's segment, the STL's segment and our segment went pretty much hand in hand and it wasn't planned. We all talked about how we can work more with members and Elder Blake and I talked a little bit about unity.

We also had exchanges with the elders from Khmelnytskyi. I got to be with Elder Frasier and we had a blast.

I had a really long interview with president and we talked about a lot of neat things. He gave me tons and tons of advice that I cannot forget.

Elder Blake and I had a very interesting experience this past week. Lemme just tell ya my testimony of the Priesthood has been strengthened immensely. I will just share with you the end of my journal from that day: Through all of this, my testimony of this gospel has been strengthened. My testimony of the priesthood has been freshly renewed. My testimony of God and His timing and His plan and His hand in my life has been restored. I HAVE a powerful and lasting testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ and his divinity. And ONLY through the incomprehensible act of charity that he performed, the eternal and everlasting gift of the Atonement, do I know this is true. In HIS name, Jesus Christ, the Beloved Lamb of God, amen.

I know, I know it doesn't sound like me... because it wasn't. That night I had gone through so many emotions that it wasn't me writing in my journal but it was the Spirit writing in it so I will never forget what I felt that day. Jesus Christ loves YOU! Don't ever forget it. Please, please, please don't forget that He is there and WANTS to bless you. Have a great, uplifting week.

Love you all,
Elder Kenyon Matua

New Updates: 21 July - 5 August

22 JULY

Yes, yes we finally got them and we are loving it and it is paying off so much right now. We haven't been able to stay in touch with our recent convert much but now that we have these phones it's constant communitcation and the list just goes on and it's only been 3 days with these phones.

Zone conference was great! President's segment was about repentance and what it really is and how we can teach it better. He shared a quote from Howard W. Hunter that I loved, "Repentance is the homesickness of the soul".

We had exchanges with the AP's the day before conference and I got to spend the day with Elder Eller. He used to be in our zone before he went to AP so it was good to see him again and serve with him.

The branch had a primary activity on Tuesday to celebrate pioneer day. It was small but it was fun. We had an awesome game night as well that night and so many new people came!

We started teaching another new Roman and he is SOOOO cool! He started explaining a 'what if' in his words about where God lives right now and how He has an influence on our world. He legit started explaining the Plan of Salvation and what prophets are as if it were an alternate universe. It was so cool! We told him that he is exactly right and that it is REAL! It's not just a 'what if'. It ended up being a super cool lesson!

Super, super busy but fun week. Love yall and have a wonderful week!

29 JULY

Sad couple of days because Elder McGrath was here and I had to say good bye. Weird seeing him and Elder Swasey go. It kind freaks me out watching these older missionaries leave, especially my trainer. Time is FLYING!

We had exchanges this last week in Chernivtsi. It was where I was serving before I came here to Lviv so it was cool to go back. I got to serve with Elder Crabtree, from Tennessee. I loved spending the day with him and listening to his southern accent. We got to meet with Andriy, who Elder Tuttle and I had the oppotunity to baptize. He hadn't been coming to church ever since I left so we talked about it and he promised he would come this week. The worst part of this week was coming back from Chernivtsi. There was no trains and it's a 6 hour train ride which means a bus ride will take 8 hours but it was our only option. We bought tickets for the bus and when we went out to get on the bus we saw it was a marshrutka which is a super ghetto city bus. We both looked at each other with fear in our eyes. We had no choice so we got on. It was supposed to be 3 and a half hours to the city in between and it ended up taking 5 hours. So when we got to that city, which was Ternopil, where we've been a few times, we said bag it and we got off. We went to get something to eat and then found a train from there at 8 pm which got us into Lviv at around 11:30. So ya, it was just a really long day. I don't even know if anything I just said made sense but  хай буде.

These last couple of days have been fun because it transfers and there is a lot of switching going on and some people getting stuck here in Lviv with us. I didn't get transfered and neither did Elder Blake so we are both staying as zone leaders here. We are excited because we have a feeling we are going to be here for a while.

I was reading in Alma 53 this morning and noticed something cool.Obviously these are the war chapter so it is hard sometimes to find spiritual things to take away which is what had been happening to me these last couple of studies so I asked Heavelny Father to just give me something this morning during Book of Mormon reading. Of course, the amazing Father He is, he gave me an answer in the 5th verse I read. Cap Moroni was talking about how he captured a lot of Lamanites and was going to use them as laborers "because it was easier to gaurd them while they were at labor". That immedietly hit me. It doesn't sound like something that you would immedietly think is like a spiritual revelation but I took it as one. I kind of related Moroni's situation to God and the laborers to ours. No, He doesn't force us to work but as we are BUSY and WORKING and MINISTERING, it makes it easier for our Heavenly Father to watch over us. It reminded me of the quote "an idle mind is a playground of the devil". As we stay busy in the work of the Lord as members of His church, He will continue to bless us. I LOVE this work, HIS work, and I love all of you. Have an amazing week.

5 AUGUST

This week was so good but so tiring. Mostly because we had to go to Kyiv and the travel there was not fun. Our first train was Wednesday night at 11 pm and it got in at 7 am Thursday morning. Then our train home was Thursday night at 11pm and we got back home to Lviv at 7 am. So ya it was a tiring couple of days but totally worth it.

We were in Kyiv because we had MLC at president's house. We got to their house super early because our train got in so early and we felt so bad but Sister Kumferman is just the best and she made us four breakfast. MLC was really good. President's training for us was awesome. He focused a lot on going back to the basics which is "Our Purpose" as missionaries. It was really humbling for me to see how busy president is and how overwhelmed he probably is but for him to be so focused on us as leaders helping us understand that it all comes down to the basics was amazing. I love that he read from Matthew 28, the Great Commission, and he related it to us and exactly what we are doing. The work I get to be a part of is AMAZING!! That we all get to be a part of!

We also found time to go to the temple and man was I grateful for that. I definitely felt spiritually fresh and restarted for this next transfer.

We met with a kid named Ross who is about my age and he is awesome!! He came to English practice a couple months ago but then we lost contact after that. Out of the blue, 2 months later, he called me! He asked how I was doing and said that he wanted to meet. We taught him the message of the Restoration and he seemed very open and accepting. He mentioned so many times how much he loves to learn more and he asked so many questions and we are praying that he will continue to grow spiritually to accept the invitation to come unto Christ and His gospel.

We got to meet with our man Roman again and we discussed the Plan of Salvation. He was so into it that he stood up around the board and asked us to draw it out for him and he was so interested. He really seemed to like it and I was glad. At the end he mentioned how most christians believe that we were somewhere before this life and now on earth and after we will go to heaven or hell. Then he said, "That's what I know. Well I guess that's what I KNEW". SO COOL!

Really cool line that popped out while I was reading in Alma this last week was chapter 50 verse 19 "And thus we see how merciful and just are the dealings of the Lord, to the fulfilling of ALL his words unto the children of man". His word will ALWAYS be fulfilled. He has a plan and it's real. Love you all and have an amazing week.

Another Busy Week

Playing Bang with the fellas

A jam-packed week and we got an even busier one coming up.

We helped a family in the ward move this week. It was super fun messing around with the kids and doing some service for a family because we haven't had the opportunity to do that in a while.

I had an exchange with my trainer Elder McGrath!! It was so fun. The weather was not fun but the exchange was. We even got a chance to go have dinner at a members house who Elder McGrath baptized a year ago that day! He taught us how to make some good Ukrainian chicken and how to play some... interesting games. We also went back 2 days later with the sisters to have an FHE where they taught us how to make Ukrainian dumplings.

All four of us elders got the chance to go to Ternopil to try and have a game night with the group leader there. There are only about 2 active members there so we went to try and help him out and have a little activity. We played some soccer and frisbee and had a super good time. We are all hoping that city will be opened one day. I also got to stay the night with Elder Holden and we had sacrament meeting with the Samuel, yup, just the three of us. It was super good. A lot of good discussions. Samuel is from Africa and served a full-time mission there and he really knows his Bible which was fun to talk about.

Zone conference coming up this week. Gonna be a busy one.


Love you all and have an amazing week!
Elder Kenyon Matua

Meeting my man Samuel

Visiting the Arsenal Museum

Our Trip to Ternopil

Happy Fourth of July

We didn't get to celebrate it too much out here but the senior couple invited us over for Sunday dinner and it made us feel right at home.

Exchanges with Ivano-Frankivsk

We went to Kyiv this last week for MLC. I always love visiting the Kumfermans and learning so much from all the other zone leaders and AP's. We talked a lot about enjoying our work as missionaries and it got us all pumped. We also talked about the phones we are finally getting and none of us can wait.

Had super fun English practice. We talked a lot about the fourth of July and we played a big game of mafia and our advanced group got super into it and we had tons of fun.

Exchanges with Ivano-Frankivsk. I got to spend the day with my good friend Elder Cluff. We talked about a TON especially because he is headed home soon. We also had a big finding activity and Elder Cluff and I got to talk to these super cool guys about our age. They asked us so many questions and they were a little bashy at first but when they realized we were normal people and not the 25 year olds they thought we were, they just talked about how they were genuinely curious. Guys like them give me so much hope in this country.

Had a good Sunday the only problem was that we had exchanges with the other elders here in Lviv because two of us had to go to the sacrament meeting in Ternopil which is 2 hours away and I went last time which meant that my comp, Elder Blake, went this time which also meant that I had to translate everything today at church. My head was spinnin a hundred miles an hour. Definitely the best language study I have had in a long time.

I was reminded of a couple scriptures this week while reviewing the story of Korihor. Verses 8 and 9 jumped out at me this time. "CHOOSE YE THIS DAY, WHOM YE WILL SERVE". I love the fact that so many of God's children are choosing to come unto Christ and serve Him with all their heart. The scriptures then state that "if a man desired to serve God it was his PRIVILEGE, or rather if he believed in God it was his PRIVILEGE to SERVE Him". I love the work that we are ALL engaged in at this moment. Continue to love one another and invite all to come unto Christ.


Love you all,
Elder Matua

June Updates

Pizza with our buddy Maxim

10 June 2019
We have been so busy and I didn't even write last week because we were traveling.
Got to spend a couple of days in Kyiv for missionary leadership council. By a couple of days, I mean like just over a day. Unfortunately, we got put on a train on Monday morning at 6 am and got there at 11 am. It was a fast train (even though 5 hours don't sound like a fast train) but that also meant it was just a sitting one. But we were just glad we got there. The only bad thing was we had no idea what to do. None of us knew Kyiv or what to even do, and it was pday so all the missionaries in Kyiv were out doing stuff. We ended up doing a little sightseeing and actually met up with a native missionary who finished his mission a couple of months ago, it was so good to see him again. The MLC was at President's house and it went really well.

We got the chance to meet with our investigator Roman a couple of times. HE IS AMAZING! He couldn't meet last Sunday so he asked us to come to his place. We met him not too far from our apartment and then he drove us out to his place a little over an hour away. He showed us around his little city a little bit and then we had a lesson with him. He just kept talking about how it wasn't a coincidence that he met missionaries, and how he knows this is true. He said he doesn't know everything but that he has "a desire to learn more" because he knows it's what he and his girlfriend need. He had his baptismal interview yesterday and we went through the questions with him before it and I have never met anyone who is so converted before being converted. He bore his short testimony of the questions we asked him and I don't think either of us could have answered them better. He just has such a strong desire to be baptized and to learn more. He also said his girlfriend wants to be baptized too she just doesn't feel like she knows enough and that she isn't ready. They both keep saying how they know it's true but they want to make sure they understand what baptism really means before they do it. AHHHHH! It's what I have been praying for for months is someone like Roman. Heavenly Father really does answer prays and I witness it every day.

Yesterday, Elder Blake and I were talking about Roman and how amazing he is and how amazing the gospel and the scriptures are and we started getting really hyped and we started reading scriptures together and sharing experiences and it really opened our eyes. We both shared how if it weren't for a mission, we would have never been so interested in the gospel. But because we are out here and because we carry such a unique spirit as missionaries we continue to grow spiritually and build our testimonies and our giant fortresses around us like Elder Rasband talked about last conference.

I know that Jesus Christ lives and that this is His restored gospel and I wouldn't be here if I didn't know that. I invite all reading this to honestly consider your testimony and what it means to you and how you can strengthen it. Being a member of the church is good but not good enough!! Last April conference Elder Uchtdorf said we must do more than just have an intellectual understanding of the gospel for it to have an influence in our lives and that we must incorporate it into our lives-make it a part of who we are and what we do.

BELIEVE, LOVE, DO!
Elder Kenyon Matua


17 June 2019
Did a ton this week but just gonna highlight a few because we don't have a ton of time.

Major mistake and gash in my arm

- We met with our friend Max Velikanov a couple times. He is the branch president's son and he is 17. It's just hard for him to really do anything with anyone else because he is like the only young man in our branch. We took him to dinner and played soccer with him. He is so cool and so ready to serve a mission.
- We played basketball with one of our investigators who is also 17. He is super cool I just think he is afraid of what his parents will say about him investigating the church.
- We had FHE with our recent convert Svyatoslav and his wife Christina. They are super cool and they are both 18 years old. We played games with em and had a super good time.
-Sunday we had exchanges and Elder Laney and I went to Ternopil. We have a small group of 3 members there and we aren't allowed to proselyte there so we go there. Unfortunately, no one showed up. We took a three hour bus to get there so it was kinda frustrating but it's all good. Luckily we caught a fast train home that only took an hour.

Love you all have an amazing week. Sorry I have no time! 
Elder Kenyon Matua


23 June 2019

Enjoying firemen games

Hello everyone sorry it's gonna be another short one.

To stat, Roman was baptized!! We were rushed to plan it because we didn't even know if he would be here or in Poland for work but he made it home and we were able to do the baptism. I asked him how he felt yesterday after he was confirmed and he said he feels so much peace and joy. It was a super cool experience.

We had exchanges with Khmelnystky this last week. I got to spend the day with Elder Wonson who was my first district leader when I got to Ukraine so it was cool to be with him again.

While we were in Khmelnytsky we made stuff to make giant bubbles for a finding activity and it went so well. So when we got back to Lviv Elder Blake and I got all the stuff to make them here and we are so glad we got it all. The only problem is we haven't had good weather to do it.

Making bubbles also caused another problem... We were doing them off our balcony at home to try to figure out how much soap to use and everything. We were also using a fan to blow them off the balcony and I ended up stepping back on the cord of the fan and broke the prongs to plug it in. It happened with our other fan but we fixed it by attaching the cords to an adapter and all this other crazy engineering stuff Elder Blake knows but anyways we tried to do it to this one. I was trying to cut the adapter open with a pocket knife and slipped and cut my wrist open. It is kinda bad but not too bad. So ya we have been dealing with it for the past couple days because Ukrainian doctors won't put stitches in it....

We had a good busy week and we are ready for another one coming up this week. We are going to back to my first city, Rivne, for exchanges and I get to be with my MTC comp again so it'll be super fun.

Love you all and have a great week!
Elder Kenyon Matua


30 June 2019

Baptism day for Roman

Anotha bomb week out here in Lviv.

I got to go back to Rivne this last week! It was the first time I had been back since I left after serving with Elder Stott. And not only that but I got to spend the exchange with Elder Howard, who was my companion in the MTC. We got to meet with Katya who Elder McGrath and I started teaching in my training and she was just recently baptized! Got to also see a lot of old friends. We did a super fun finding activity while we were there. We wheeled the ping pong table all the way out to center and just started playing and inviting people to play with us. A ton of people came up and started playing and there was even some boys who asked us for English cards so they could pass em out.

There was a baptism for a young boy in our branch and after we had a youth activity. Elder Blake and I were called as the counselors in the young presidency so it was really cool to be there with the boys. We went up to an outdoor museum kinda like This Is The Place Monument and there was also a ropes course the youth did.

Read Alma 27 this morning and verse 27 jumped out at me and is something I hope I can stand by for the rest of my life. I want to be distinguished, and I want to stand out because of the Christ-like attributes that others see in me.

Love you all and have an amazing week! Stand out and be a witness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Elder Kenyon Matua

Pic with the District

The wrist is getting better

Finding activities

Crazy Week - 27 May, 2019

This week was the craziest, most random week of my mission.

It all started on Tuesday. Elder Petersen and I got here to L'viv late Tuesday night and met Elder Cluff and Blake here at their apartment. We had a super train ride on our way here. We both felt a little sick after but didn't think much of it. Wednesday we had our exchanges with the zone leaders and it was an interesting one because they had their interviews with President Kumferman. So our day was basically based off of when their interviews were, which always changes so they are not predictable. But I was with Elder Blake and we had a really good day. All four of us got to go to their recent converts apartment for dinner and FHE.

When we got home that night, Elder Petersen was not feeling good at all. We called our senior couple out here and she made an appointment for us at the clinic. When we got there for the appointment the next day, we found out that it might be worse than we thought. We spent ALL day going to different hospitals and clinics and when we finally got to the end of the day, he was preparing himself to have his appendix removed. It shocked us all and it was a long process with a lot of opinions from different doctors but we finally decided to just have it removed rather than wait. We had our president there and even family of another missionary who had just finished her mission and her dad was a doctor and it was a huge blessing that everyone was in this city for this, we were very blessed. I left the hospital at around midnight and Elder Petersen had surgery until about 2:00 a.m. Everything went well and he is now recovering very well.

Friday we had zone conference and it went super good. President conducted an amazing segment on the Plan of Salvation and gave us so many new insights and ways to teach it. I also had my interview with President and it was very short because we were both exhausted and it was late.

We got transfer texts and I will be serving as the new zone leader here in L'viv with Elder Blake. I am so excited!! We got to spend a lot of time together this week because my companion was sick. But I am so excited to serve with Elder Blake and we already have so much planned.

It was a very long week just being stuck here in this city unexpectedly but I am so glad Elder Petersen is healthy and moving. We were sad we didn't get to do some of the stuff we wanted to do here but everyone is glad that he is OK.

Had to say goodbye to my old comp Elder Stott at 5:00 a.m. this morning which was super sad. Gonna miss that dude and some of the other elders who left. No worries though because I'll see them before I know it.


Love you all,
Elder Kenyon Matua

10 Months - 20 May, 2019

This a super, duper, crazy, out of this world, normal week. This was pretty much our last week of the transfer because we leave to L'viv tomorrow and don't come back till Saturday which is the 4th to last day of the transfer. So pretty much over.

We had a super fun game night on Tuesday. Our numbers are slowly growing. We had about 11 total and 5 were first timers. We played a bunch of card games and some ping pong. Don't wanna boast or anything but I still haven't lost....but I'll give it to em, Ukrainians are pretty dang good at ping pong. We also had a good English practice on Friday. We had the most people we've had all transfer. Our advanced group is small like always but we love it. There were 2 new people who were super cool. One is actually a former investigator named German. He is super cool. The other is Yaroslav and they are both interested in taking the lessons. We are excited to work with them!

Unfortunately we couldn't get very many lessons set up this week. Seems like the summer vacations have already started. But because we didn't have too many we got a chance to really work on our apartment. When I first got to Chernivtsi it was disgusting. We have taken President Kumferman's council and gotten it in good shape and we actually like it now. Sounds dumb but makes a huge day to day difference haha.

I was super embarrassed this Sunday. The branch president called me last Monday and said can you give out talks? I took that as can you give a talk? Shows ya how good my Ukrainian is. Haha no but I was so embarrassed because president walked up to me 30 minutes before sacrament started and asked me who was speaking. I said what??? He asked again and I just told him, I thought he said 'can you give a talk.' So luckily I had one prepared anyway and luckily I have an awesome companion who said he would give one. He is super awesome, whipped it up in five minutes and gave a great one. We both spoke a little about member missionary work and how they can help in our work and also about the Book of Mormon. Then the branch president spoke and low key called me out and then said that he was actually really glad he had the opportunity too. I thought he was just saying that but after he actually did mean it and we talked for a little bit. He is the best.

So excited for zone conference this week. We are all pumped. Favorite time of the transfer. At the end of my talk, I finished with sharing Moroni 10:32 and shared how we need to come unto Christ before we can help others do the same. Then we must become perfected IN Him. But not only IN Him, but WITH Him and THROUGH Him. I love this work and love that I am a part of it. I know what I am doing know is currently blessing my family and will continue to do so throughout our lives.


Love y'all have a good week.
Elder Kenyon Matua

Exchanges - 13 May, 2019

Eating 'real' stake after exchanges with
Khmelnytskiy Elders

We had a really good week. We spent some time in Khmelnytskiy on exchanges. I got to spend the day on Wednesday with Elder Frasier who is from Alpine, UT so we had a lot to talk about. It was fun talking about all the people we both know and just talking in general. That was our first exchange together and it was cool because we both remember when we found each other on Instagram before our missions.

We got into Khmelnytskiy on Tuesday night just in time for their game night which was super fun. They have a really good group there, a lot of young people our age so it was super fun. On Wednesday, Elder Frasier and I had 4 lessons planned. Unfortunately, we only had one of those, the other three didn't show up. It's unfortunate but we kind of get used to that out here. We helped a member family move their giant canvas printer while we were there. They were very grateful and I was too because if they had tried to move that while we weren't there on exchanges I don't know how that would've gone down. We finished the exchange with some super good, real steak. It was expensive but it was worth it. First time having meat like that since I left America.

When we got back to Chernivtsi we had the best English practice we've had in a while. We had around 20 people which doesn't sound like a lot but from the time that I first got here to Chernivtsi, that's a ton.

Doing service - moving a very large printer

Sunday was sweet!!! Our recent convert Andriy received the priesthood. I was so happy when I saw him walk up to church in a suit again and even happier when I saw how excited he was. I'm so proud of the steps hes taken and ahhhh, he's the best.

To finish of course, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to my wonderful, loving, amazing, joyful, spiritual mother. Love you so so much. The last two days thinking about mothers day coming up, I was continually reminded of the the scriptures in Alma 56: "They had been taught by their MOTHERS, that if they did not doubt God would deliver them... They rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it". Now that last part I didn't like sometimes because mom would use that against me haha but you have taught me so much mom and I am so grateful for it. I am blessed day by day out here because of the things you have taught me. Love you so much!


Love you all,
Elder Kenyon Matua

Go-kart fun on P-Day