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

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

Another short week - 6 May, 2019

Playing tennis on P-Day

We did a lot this week but at the same time I can hardly remember any of it. Time is going faster and faster every week.

Last P-day we got a chance to play tennis! It was super fun. My comp, Elder Petersen played tennis in high school so he kind of destroyed me but it's all good. And they opened a new rib place here in Chernivtsi that we went too after playing tennis. Always weird eating food like we are back in America.

We started our English Club again and not too many people showed up because no one knew about it but that'll change. English practice was super good. Mine and Elder Petersen's advanced class played Kahoot. It was fun because they had no idea what that was but after they loved it!

Hangin in the courtyard

We talked a lot to Andriy, our recent convert, about the priesthood. He loved it and had some good questions and ended up meeting with our branch president. He is so ready and seems excited. We had a really good Sunday. The members were so happy and so welcoming to everybody and it was amazing. They actually like talked to us which was weird. lol. But they really went out of their way to talk to Andriy. There was also a family that the sisters have been teaching that came to church. The members were SOO welcoming to them. Everybody introduced themselves and the family looked so excited and said they would come next week.

I love the fact that I get to talk to my family every week and I realize how spoiled I am for that. I really enjoyed talking to them this morning and it really hit me how important our families are. We all know they are important of course but through EVERYTHING, they are there. Whether it feels like it or not. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing family and especially with Mother's Day coming up, such and amazing mother. I love you all and hope you can find some time to spend with your family this week because we are never promised tomorrow.


Love you all,
Elder Kenyon Matua

Lot's of pigeons everywhere!

Xристос воскрес

Long overdue apartment cleaning 

Not a whole lot happened this week but it was of course a good one. Elder Petersen and I are having a lot of fun and getting a lot done. The only bad thing is I don't have a lot to write about and I didn't take any pictures sooooooo sorry mom!

We had exchanges this week with Khmelnytskiy. I got to spend another day with Elder Swasey, which is always fun. We had a good time and got to talk about a lot. He doesn't have much time left on his mission so he is working super, super hard to finish strong and it was cool to watch. We met with a guy from Egypt named Eyad (don't worry I don't know how to say that either). It was a really good lesson. He is young but very attentive and so interested in learning more. He is pretty strict to his Muslim background but he loved what we had to share and he agreed with all of our thoughts and added his own.

We have had some AMAZING weather here in Chernivtsi. It was like 70's. So nice. The only bad thing is the rain that keeps coming out of nowhere. We will be walking outside without a cloud in the sky, go inside for 10 minutes and then walk out and it is pouring rain. But I'm not complaining because without it, I sweat way too much. We just couldn't believe we are wearing short sleeve shorts again.

My ghetto desk in the apartment LOL!

Everyone here celebrated Easter on the 28th of April, well technically it's like from the 26th to the 30th, I don't even know because Ukrainians celebrate anything and everything. Everyone at church was in good spirits though because it was a big holiday for them. One of the biggest here in Ukraine.

Every time we talked with someone today they said "Xристос воскрес" which means "Christ is risen", and then you are supposed to respond with " воістину воскрес" which means "For the truth has risen". I thought that was so cool! So I'll leave you with that today.


Love you all,
Elder Kenyon Matua

Week One with Elder Peterson - April 22

Russian Escape Rooms are so fun!

First week is always a bit of an adjustment. Elder Petersen and I get along super well and we are so excited to serve together. The only thing that took adjusting was getting settled in this apartment, and this apartment is, eh, so we did a lot of renovating and fixing this place up. We replaced around 30 lights...I don't know why but there is 67 lights in this apartment so we didn't need them all but we can actually see now it's great. We had a super good P-Day last week. We ended up doing an escape room after we went bowling and it was way fun. We were pretty proud of ourselves because we got the fastest time of the month and it was all in Russian, and we hardly know Russian.

I got to do a lot of showing Elder Petersen around the city and it was actually good because I haven't been here for very long so I got to see a lot I haven't seen before. It was interesting because we were walking around Thursday night and we saw a ton of Indian people all dressed up in like celebration clothes and they were all taking pictures and stuff. There are a ton of students here studying but we had no idea what was going on, they were like driving around, hanging out the windows with the Indian flag and they were all cheering and yelling these chants back and forth with all their friends on the streets, it was pretty crazy. We still have no idea what it was.

Our favorite Georgian food joint

We met with one of our new investigators for the second time and it went really well. He had some interesting questions but for the most part we were able to stay on topic. He has a hard time getting carried away and talking about random stuff but he seemed a little more interested this time. He also prayed at the end and it was one of the best prayers I have heard from an investigator. He just said everything he was thinking and asked Heavenly Father to help him know if the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. A really cool experience.

Elder Petersen hooked me up with some shoe glue!

Finished off the week with celebrating Easter and my birthday yesterday. Elder Petersen and the sisters here in Chernivtsi made it a good one. Huge props to the sisters, they made doughnuts that tasted just like Krispy Kreme and Elder Petersen and I whipped up a super good dinner. Thank you for all the birthday wishes! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and had the opportunity to spend some extra time thinking about the Savior and His life and ministry. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and everything He did for me.


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

Transfer Texts - April 14

This week was crazy busy. We got transfer texts and my companion is changing once again. I will be serving here in Chernivtsi with Elder Peterson. We are super excited to be serving together but very sad to see Elder Tuttle leave. We had a good time together and he will be missed.

We saw some small miracles throughout the week. Elder Tuttle and I were praying for some new investigators because we didn't have very many. We had some but they weren't very solid so we were trying super hard to find some new people to teach. We decided to call some old IP's from the area book. We ended up finding 3 new people to teach and we met with all of them last week. We are so glad we were finally able to find some new people to teach. The Lord was definitely looking out for us this week; just like He always is. It'll be cool to see if these people progress in the gospel.

We got to watch conference with the branch yesterday and Saturday and we had a really good turn out on Sunday which was good because we really wanted a couple members to hear what was being said. And 3 of our investigators came!! It was super cool experience and I hope they continue to come.

We are finally going bowling today...It's been too long. Hopefully I'll find the groove again haha. Sorry I didn't take a single picture this week. There wasn't really anything to take pictures of and I didn't wanna pull my camera out during conference. So I will make sure to take a ton this week....Sorry mom.


Have an amazing week!
Elder Kenyon Matua

Baptism and General Conference

We were blessed to be at Andriy's baptism

We had a super good weekend this last week!! We didn't have to much go on throughout the week because there was a lot of preparing for the baptism but it was amazing.

We had the baptism for Andriy on Saturday. It was really funny because we did it at a sauna because there is no font here. It went really well though. There wasn't very many people there but Andriy seemed very grateful and he said it was awesome. He was able to receive the Holy Ghost yesterday and he was again grateful for it. He even showed up in a suit which was really cool. I am so grateful he made the choice to be baptized and that he is willing to share the gospel with his wife and daughter so we are praying for them to find time to meet with us.

We got to watch the morning sessions of general conference and man they were amazing. Yes I'll admit we were waiting, just like the entire church, we were waiting for announcements but when we realized there probably wont be any, we were very intrigued by the words of the leaders of the church. Especially President Nelson. Everything he talked about and bore testimony of, got me so excited for whats ahead. I know there are some big changes coming up and the testimonies that we heard will help us cope with those changes. I loved the stress over the family and a Christ-centered home. Hopefully my family is trying to do the same.? Nah just kidding I know they are.

Watching General Conference with the Sisters

I hope I get to finish the rest of conference and absorb EVERYTHING we were counselled to do. I love general conference and can't wait! Love you all have an amazing week!


Love you all,
Elder Kenyon Matua

Zone Conference and Emergency Transfer

Exchanges with Elder Peterson
in Khmelnyskyi

We had a very eventful week this week!

We left to Khmelnyskyi on Tuesday and got there late at night. We had exchanges on Wednesday and I got to spend the day with Elder Peterson. It was a really good day and we got a lot done and got prepared for leaving to Lviv Thursday morning. We got to Lviv and headed straight to the church where we met a bunch of other missionaries. Friday we had zone conference, it was super, super long but really good. We started at 10 am and didn't finish till 6 pm with a lunch break in between. Even though it was so long, we learned so much and after my companions and I had our interviews with President Kumferman. They went really well and I learned so much from President. We left Saturday night on the only train back and it was not so pleasant. It was only 4 hours but we were knee to knee and it was not fun. But we made it home which is what matters.

We got some interesting news concerning our companionship. On Tuesday, before we left to Lviv, we got a call from President Kumferman. He informed me that an elder in a different city decided he wanted to go home so his companion needed a new companion. He told me to hand the phone to Elder Taran who was informed that he would be leaving to a different city so we needed to go home and pack his bags and send them in the mail before we left to Khmelnyskyi. The only problem was we needed to be at the bus station in an hour and a half. So we booked it home and packed his bags and sent em out. It was a super surprising call and we are sad to see Elder Taran leave our companionship. Gonna be hard not having a native to just talk to everyone when there is a problem. So we will see how this goes. But Elder Tuttle and I are super excited to serve together.

Touring Hogwarts University

We also toured "Hogwart's University" here in Chernivtsi today. Super cool and super interesting. First Pday we actually had time to do something so that was good. The Elections were yesterday and things were a little crazy in Lviv while we were there. Saw a massive group of people protesting and hundreds of swat dudes. So ya its gettin pretty heated but it'll all calm down soon.

So excited to watch general conference this week. None of us can wait. Hope there are some super cool changes to continue to strengthen our work as members of such an amazing restoration.


Love you all!
Elder Kenyon Matua

Hanging with the Elders in Khmelnytskyi

With Elders Mills and Tuttle

Back with Elder Stottchik

Busted my shoe

Zone Conference!

Me and Elder Cluff ate this 2kg burger

23 March - Another busy week

Grubbin at an Indian restaurant

We had another fun week that started off with a day full of service for a less active member here Chernivtsi. We spent a lot of time cleaning up around a massive orchard and helping them get to places they couldn't with their trees and stuff.

We had exchanges on Wednesday with the Zone Leaders on Wednesday. I go to spend another day with Elder Cluff and it was super good. Other than the fact that we spent an hour and a half at an Indian restaurant waiting for our food. But other than that it was a successful day.

Friday we had a super good English practice. Not very many people but it was still really fun. We played a game called "goes um, like uh". Someone gives you a random topic and you have to talk about it for an hour and a half without saying those words. Very hard but very fun.

It doesn't sound like a very busy week but there was a lot in between. I just don't have a ton of time right now.


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

Cool finding activity in town

Having dinner with some friends

Pizza at our Elders Quorum activity

18 March - Busy, busy

We're finding!

First off happy birthday to the boys back home! Love you Mica and Quinn, keep tearin up on the field.

We had a super busy week, packed full with lessons. I was blessed to come into an area where the elders had prepared so many people to teach. I'll share one funny story that happened to us this week. We called a less active member named Andriy to meet with him around 5 o'clock on Wednesday. So we were at the church waiting for him to come when one of our investigators, also named Andriy, walks in. We started freaking out thinking that we called the wrong Andriy and also we had planned for the wrong lesson and ya we were just panicking. We started talking to him and just decided to straight up ask him if we called him earlier that morning. We then said, "No I texted you asking to meet and you replied saying you could meet at 5". We were lost bruh. So we ran upstairs to ask the sisters if they had a lesson and they said yes. Come to find out that he (Andriy) texted our old phone (the one that the sisters now have) and that's why he was here and the sisters thought that it was one of their investigators because his number was not saved. BUT we decided to go ahead and have a lesson with him and if our less-active member shows up at 5 we will have to try to figure something out. I don't know if Heavenly Father just wanted to give us a little scare but it ended up being perfect. The other Andriy came an hour late so we had a lesson with him after our lesson with the other Andriy. MIRACLE! Sorry if that was confusing. Probably every other male you stop in this country will be named Andriy so I'm still confused most the time as well.

We had a really good exchange with the missionaries from  Khmelnytskyi. I got to spend the day with Elder Swasey. He is a great missionary and very, very, very energetic which kinda tired me out but we laughed all day and had tons of fun. We had a pretty successful finding activity while they were here. We put up pictures of temples and a lot of people stopped to look. Chernivtsi is actually sister cities with Salt Lake City so everybody here knows where that is.

More finding in the town square

Yesterday the district president came here to speak to us and hold a bunch of branch council business and all that fun stuff. I love hearing his testimony. It is amazing. I always look forward to hearing him speak when I know he is gonna be here. We also got to take the sacrament to a couple sisters in the branch and was able to offer a blessing for one of them. A really neat experience.

Sorry for such a long letter but it was a pretty good week. Learned a lot and can't wait to keep learning more. All of us missionaries are on the edge of our seats waiting for General Conference. None of us even know if there will be anything about missionaries but we are all anxious to know.


Have an amazing week love you all!
Elder Kenyon Matua

Having fun around town

Resting on the bus

Dis guy

Made our 72-hour kits

Happy to get a package from home - Thanks mom & dad

Yes! Some of my favorite things

Updates for 4 March and 11 March

Washed our clothes old skool

Transfers!

We got transfer texts! I will be serving as the new district leader in Chernivtsi! I will be serving in a trio with 2 trainees that are just finishing being trained by my trainer. I am excited to go to a new city and excited to see what serving in a trio is like.

We had a fun family home evening at the restaurant that one of the members sings at. She invited us all there, us and the Polischuk family, to have dinner and talk but unfortunately she wasn't singing. But it was still super fun.

I taught everyone how to play the card game kems on Tuesday. After years and years of playing it I still don't know if it's called kems or kemps but whatever. It was super fun and we all got into it. The last English practice here was fun and I am sad to be leaving such cool people.

Our washing machine was broken all week but luckily we had the other apartment and ran over there a few times to do laundry. The only bad thing is it takes almost 30 min to get there so it was a pain, but worth the clean clothes. We finally got ours fixed but we haven't even tried to see if it works. The repair man came in here and messed around with it for like 20 min and then left....but I'm sure it's fine....

Elder Stott finally won a game of Phase-10

We got some super super super exciting news yesterday. We will finally be getting smart phones!! Everyone is super pumped. Except of course the few that are leaving soon. We are all super excited to have 8 new missionaries in our zone and get  to know all of them.

I am so excited and so ready to go to a new city. I am sad to be leaving but also very happy, bittersweet.

Chernivitsi

Chernivtsi is a cold, bleak place

This week was very busy and very tiring. I got into Lviv last week, Monday night at 11:30 and then had to catch a train here to Chernivtsi at 4 am. Got in around 10:30 am and met my new companions Elder Taran, from Ukraine, and Elder Tuttle, from Highland Utah. It has already been interesting serving in a trio, makes cooking on a little tiny stove fun. Chernivtsi is a super cool city. I wish I was here in the summer because it will be twice as cool but its getting there.

We are working with some very cool people right now. One of them is named Andriy and he has a baptismal date for April 6. We had a lesson about the Word of Wisdom because he has a small problem with smoking but he hasn't smoked since last week and we are trying super hard to keep him going.

We had a good sacrament meeting, I spoke and both sisters spoke as well. The branch is very small. Only 18 people came to church. But that just means we got a lot of work to do. We did some Less-active stop-by's which went really well. One of them was about an hour out of the city and it was a really good stop by. We were able to take them the sacrament and they were so grateful for it. They can't really come to church every week because they can't afford a bus to get down here so it was really cool to see how grateful they were to receive the sacrament.

I am excited for whats ahead in this city. It'll take some getting used to especially because everyone starts every conversation in Russian. But might as well start learning now. Have an amazing week!!


Elder Kenyon Matua