End of the Road

Yup, just like everyone else, I am getting sent home tomorrow. I will catch a plane early tomorrow morning. It is so sad to be leaving this wonderful country. I am going to miss is a lot and I am going to miss the wonderful people I met even more.

This obviously isn't when I planned on coming home but I am so grateful for the mission I was able to serve. It wasn't what I signed up to serve but it definitely was what I needed to serve. I don't know why I am coming home right now but the Lord does and I have faith in His plan.

I was actually supposed to leave last Saturday but something went wrong with the flight and I have been staying in Kyiv for the past couple of days. I have gotten an amazing opportunity to spend it with the AP because his last comp went home too. But I definitely know that one of the reasons I didn't got home on Saturday was because I was supposed to come here and meet some more awesome missionaries and learn from them. These last couple of days have been an emotional roller coaster but they were such testimony building days. I have a strong testimony of the scriptures and personal revelation. I have been asking myself so many questions lately during all this craziness and every single time I open up my scriptures in the morning the answer is right there in front of me, laid out so plainly. God has been blessing me with so much knowledge and it is so comforting and reassuring to know that He lives and He is always there and ready to help....all we have to do is ask.

Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to see my family but it is going to be sad not being a set apart missionary anymore. I would not trade this last 21 months for ANYTHING! They have given me such a boost in my life and I hope I can use that knowledge to continue to bless the life of others.

Thank you all for your love and support while I have been out here. I know God lives and I know Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior. I know He suffered for me and for you. I know that ONLY through Jesus Christ we can live with God again. I know the Book of Mormon is true without a doubt in my mind. I have been blessed with the opportunity to read it over and over again and it continues to it's truthfulness every single time. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and how great it is that we get to hear from our prophet today, President Russell M. Nelson, in just a couple days!.

Right now is just the beginning! God is good. Trust in Him. He knows what He is doing. 


Пока пока
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

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!

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

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

Several Updates in One

25 February

It was a busy week this week full of exchanges. We actually only had two exchanges but we were hosting both here in Rivne and it was back to back days, but they were both awesome!

Visiting the sites and sounds of Rivne

Our first exchange on Wednesday was with the Zone Leaders. I got to spend the day with Elder Eller. We spent both exchanges outside doing A LOT of contacting but on Wednesday we decided to put a little punishment to whichever companionship got less IP's. Elder Eller and I won and we got to dump buckets of water on our companions. We also got to go to one of the members houses on Wednesday and have a short lesson with her and it went very well and got to help her with a couple of things she was struggling with. The Zone Leaders left Thursday and the Lutsk elders got here on Thursday. I got to spend the day with Elder Holden who is in training right now and he did awesome. Spent that day outside a lot as well and they ended up leaving right before we had English practice. 

We met with Katya on Sunday and had a super good lesson on Tithing and Fasting and she loved it. We were trying very hard to stress the point that she needs to get baptized sooner than later and that right now at such a hard time in her life it will help so much but she just can't until her divorce is final because her husband said no to her getting baptized. But she did say, "I don't care if the world disagrees with me getting baptized, I will get baptized." 

Transfer calls will be here on Friday and we can't wait to see what will be going down. Super excited!

18 February

Man, a super super crazy week especially with the new announcement. None of us know what to

Our Branch Valentine's party

think, whether or not we are super happy about it or we are kind of ehh. But doesn't matter what we think because it happened!

This week was a little rough because I got sick traveling home from L'viv but all is well now. We had some really fun activities this week including a branch Valentines party on Saturday. It ended up being pretty fun even though it was planned in such short notice. It was my first time helping make real authentic Ukrainian food too.

We had a good training from a member in Kyiv about finances and stuff as a branch because Elder Stott is in the Presidency. Super cool learning about finances and stuff but I am not excited for having to do it all myself after the mission...it's a little scary.

We received a couple referrals and we were able to contact them. One of them named Ihor ended up coming to church yesterday. He is a super neat guy and he liked church! He even asked us after sacrament how he can become a member of the church. Super cool! We are excited to work with him, the only small obstacle is he lives 45 min away so we will be working that out.

These are just some of the trays of eggs since serving together

I started reading Jesus the Christ and man is it a lot of info but I am already learning so much about our Savior on a whole new level. Super excited to continue reading that and actually understanding the New Testament.


Have a good week
Elder Kenyon Matua

Squad

4 February 2019, Update

Our favorite past-time with friends - games!

Another week in the books!

Not a very busy week unfortunately. We did finally get a chance to meet with Katya though! It went really well. We talked about the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. She agreed with everything. She also shared some cool experiences she had while being on vacation about not drinking alcohol because on holidays, if you don't drink, it's kinda weird. But nobody said anything when she didn't drink and she really liked that. While we were talking about the Law of Chastity and we started talking about things that go along with it, like pornography. While we were talking, she stopped us and said, "I don't have a problem with this, pornography is boring". Elder Stott and I could not stop laughing, we thought that was so funny. She also excepted a date to be baptized on March 2nd! However, we told her that she would after to get spouse approval and her and her husband are not doing to well right now so she thinks that will be an obstacle, but we are praying it won't be.

We had a couple fun activities this week. On Tuesday we played the card game spoons in a couple different versions and it ended up being super fun. On Saturday we had sports day, but because it's too cold outside to play sports we played another card game called Munchkin. It took a second to teach everyone but it was really fun. After a few of the people from English club invited us to go get lunch. It was a funny experience and we are making some really good relationships through these activities.

I heard an awesome quote that I wanted to share really quick. "It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent". I love this quote and I kinda of took at a missionary stand point because it obviously applies to me more that way. Right now we are trying to help those that aren't prepared get prepared so they don't have to worry about trying to repair, repair, repair. Obviously we will always and should always be repenting because none of use are perfect but when we are prepared we can prevent so much more.


Have an amazing week!
Elder Matua

28 January, 2019 Update

Another successful game night

Awesome, awesome week! Had some interesting experiences and also got tons of snow again which is not good; We were just starting to think that winter was over.

Started out with an awesome game night. There are pictures attached that probably look super weird but we played human battle ship for game night. We didn't have too many resources but we made do with what we got. It ended up being super fun and we also taught them how to play signs after and they loved it. There was also a drunk guy that walked in demanding hot tea and money and shoes. He sat on the couches all night and at the end of the night we had to kick him out because he wouldn't leave.

English practice on Friday was also good. We had a couple debates and played some games. Our friends I talked about last week ended up coming again. Then they wanted to come to the gym with us Saturday morning, so they did. It was different having other people there at the gym with us but it was really fun. And I think the people at the gym finally realized that we understand everything we are saying so that is good too. Our two friends wanted to take us to eat after so we went and got pizza and we talked. They are two really cool and really neat people. Elder and Sister Andrus, a senior couple in L'viv also came to do apartment check ups on Saturday so they took us to lunch as well.

Vika spoke in sacrament yesterday for her very last Sunday here in Ukraine. She leaves to Germany on February first. Everyone was really sad to see her leave but we are all super excited for her. Her talk was focused on testimonies and thanking the branch for their testimonies and helping her become converted, it was amazing.

Have some more stuff planned for this week that we are excited for and we are all excited for the week after because we are heading to L'viv for zone and district conference.


Lovin the work and lovin Ukraine.
-Elder Matua

Six Months!

Six month celebration lunch with Elder Bott

Finally hit my sixth month mark! A ton of mixed emotions because it went fast and I have no clue where time went. I just can't believe I'm already a fourth done with my mission. We also got transfer calls this week, Elder Stott and I will be staying together for one more transfer here in Rivne. We are super excited because we have some big things coming up and we are glad we will both be here for them.

We had a really good lesson with Vika on Friday. We pretty much just had a lesson about her one question which was in John 1:18, where it says "No man hath seen God at any time". She didn't know what the Joseph Smith translations really were so we helped her understand that and what the scripture really meant. She has some really good questions and insights and she even drove 5 hours to go to the temple this week. She is amazing! And her little brother has been coming to church so that is super exciting.

Katya is back in town and she came to church yesterday! We were so happy she came and even happier when she pulled us aside and said she wants to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She has to go to Kyiv this week but she said she will decide on a date and that she is super excited.

We also tried having a sports day this last Saturday and these two guys came and after they gave us their numbers and said they wanna meet and talk with us and just be friends. They were super cool. They said if we ever need anything, even just to go on a walk, to call them.

Loving the work and of course loving the Lord. I am excited for all challenges up ahead. Love you all and have a good week!


-Elder Matua

Merry Christmas - Ukraine Style

Finding in L'viv

We had an amazing week and especially an AMAZING Christmas!

We did a lot of preparing for the Christmas party that happened on Tuesday. Our branch did a really good job with the party and it turned soooooooo fun!

I got to Skype the family early Christmas morning for me and late Christmas Eve for them, and man it was super good to talk to them. They said nothing new is really happening but I think they are just saying that. It was an awesome first call and already can't wait until the next one.

Getting ready for the Christmas feast - Ward party

We started preparing for the Christmas party right after we finished talking to our families at like 9:30. We helped decorate and run last minute errands and my favorite part was the member in charge of music (our homie Bogdan Polischuk) asked me to make a playlist for the dance. So he handed me his phone and said have at it, we need 2 hours of music. YEAH!! We had around 50 people there which is super good. It started with a little spiritual thought and then we watched the cartoon Scrooge movie. After, we played a couple of games that Elder Stott and I were in charge of. Then we ate!! The food was sooooooo good, and there was a TON! The branch did an awesome job with the food. And afterwards, we danced......for 2 1/2 hours! Man it was sooooo fun!! You already know I taught em how to really move baahahah! No just kidding, well they did have me lead them in dances and the haka, which I have no clue how to do but it was still fun and funny.

We had exchanges this last Friday in L'viv with the Zone Leaders. I got to serve for the day with Elder Cluff from AF. It was super fun and a super good experience. We had a good finding activity and got to participate in their English Club. We rode a bus home from L'viv around 10 am on Saturday and man it was the worst. We were on the very back seat of those big tour buses and right next to me, pretty much like on top of me was a lady with a dog. This dog would not stop biting me and laying on me. It was one of those tiny ones that she carried in a bag but man poor thing, she kept shoving it all the way inside the bag and it barely fit. It was a very long 3 hours.

Finding and exchanges

I also spoke on Sunday! I spoke about the Sabbath Day and deciding not to play rugby on Sundays. Everyone said I did a good job, but I gotta give most credit to Elder Stott because Saturday night he helped me translate like everything. So yes, it ended up being not too bad.

But I wanted to finish with what we talked about for the rest of church, which was the new Come Follow Me program at home. Most people here are the only members in their families and it was really cool to hear their testimonies of what they will be doing at home. And it made me realize how much I take for granted the opportunity of having eight other people in my home whom I can learn from. So I just wanted to encourage everyone to really take advantage of that, because their could be a time when you won't have others to study with or learn more about this wonderful gospel with.

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

The Ward Christmas party was lit!

A sampling of the treats at the Ward Christmas party

A rainy day in L'viv

Post-finding feast in L'viv