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| Pizza with our buddy Maxim |
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.
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| 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
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| Enjoying firemen games |
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
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| Baptism day for Roman |
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
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| Pic with the District |
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| The wrist is getting better |
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| Finding activities |
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