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