My wonderful family,

I am sure you are curious about how my week went! So let me tell you!

On Sunday we have a mission conference, with all the members in western Ukraine. You could compare it to a stake conference. There were 300 people there. It made my heart leap with joy to see all the people from cities that I had served in during the past. I had a lot of time to chat with them and catch up on everything that is going on in their lives. President Lawrence (of the 70, also our area president) and his wife both spoke.

On monday we had a mission conference (just for the missionaries). Sister Lawrence is one of the most intelligent women that I have ever heard speak and she gave an amazing presentation about gathering the house of Isreal. I wish I had time to expalain it all. I guess I was missing a whole chunk of understanding up until know when I read the scripturers. I feel like my eyes have been opened quite a bit. It makes me vallue my lineage and my family much more knowing the things that I do know. We are literally decendants (a believing bloodline) of Israel (Jacob). And my job as an "Elder of Israel" is to gather the rest of the family. Those who also are of the family of Jacob, and of course to give the gentiles a chance to repent and come unto Christ. President Lawrence spoke about obedience. It was very good. Elder LeBaron and I are doing our best to be exactly obedient.

On monday night I got on a train and came here to Lutsk! I love it here. The weather is warm, the spirit is strong, and the people are ready and prepared to recive the glad message of salvation.

My new companion Elder LeBaron is from Orem Utah! He is a great missionary. I feel really lucky to be able to serve with him. He is very happy and has a beyond solid testimony of the gospel. I believe that the Lord will use us to do great things this transfer. I will send a companionship picture next week. Sadly we did not take any yet.

Yesterday we met a really cool family who is moving to Utah (they are members). The husband and wife were first married and then they found the church. They have three little kids. It is sad to lose them. We gave them a spiritual thought yesterday about Lehi's family leaving Jerusalem and how they were blessed as they were obedient (so many times we find that promise in the book of Mormon) and we related that story to their family!

Today we are about to go play soccer with some students that we met on the train to Lutsk! So until Saturday I will bid you farewell. I love you all very much. Thank you for your prayers.

Until Skype,

Elder Hadfield

 

My Dear Family,

To start off my email I have three stories. All of which came up this week. The first one was in a spiritual thought that Elder Bodell gave at the office meeting. The second one was in a spiritual thought that was given by a member here at friendship night on Friday. And the last one was an old story that I heard a while ago, but that I was reminded of by another elder on Wednesday. I think that each of theses stories have a lot that we can learn from so I wanted to share them with you. I hope you enjoy them. I did very much so. After the stories I will continue my email.

1. The Torchbearer

The God of High Endeavor
Gave me a torch to bear.
I lifted it high above me
In the dark and murky air;

And straightway with loud hosannas
The crowd proclaimed its light
And followed me as I carried my torch
Through the starless night,

Till drunk with the people's praises
And mad with vanity
I forgot 'twas the torch that they followed
And fancied they followed me.

Then slowly my arm grew weary
Upholding the shining load,
And my tired feet went stumbling
Over the dusty road.


And I fell with the torch beneath me.
In a moment the light was out.
When lo! from the throng a stripling
Sprang forth with a mighty shout,


Caught up the torch as it smoldered
And lifted it high again,
Till fanned by the winds of heaven
It fired the souls of men.

As I lay alone in the darkness
The feet of the trampling crowd
Passed over and far beyond me,
Its praises* proclaimed aloud,

And I learned in the deepening twilight
The glorious verity,
'Tis the torch that the people follow,
Whoever the bearer may be.

To me the torch can be a lot of things. The priesthood, the gospel, the Savior. It is humbling to know that I am part of something much bigger than myself. I am just a bearer of the torch. It is good to be reminded about that lest we let pride creep in and we think we are doing these amazing works by our own power.

2. The Story of a Son
author unknown

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art. When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son. About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, "Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art. The young man held out his package. "I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this." The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. "Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift." The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. "We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?" There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, "We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one." But the auctioneer persisted, "Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?" Another voice shouted angrily, "We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids! "But still the auctioneer continued, "The son! The son! Who'll take the son?" Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. "I'll give $10 for the painting." Being a poor man, it was all he could afford. "We have $10, who will bid $20?" "Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters." "$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?" The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10! A man sitting on the second row shouted, "Now let's get on with the collection!" The auctioneer laid down his gavel, "I'm sorry, the auction is over." "What about the paintings?" "I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!"

God gave his Son 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is, "The Son, the Son, who'll take the Son?" Because you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

Today I read Alma 33 as I was waiting in a barber shop for my companion to finish getting his hair cut, because we all know that I do not need one. It is where Alma is rehearsing the words of Zenos and Zenok to the Zoramites (wow... a lot of Z's). I was impressed that about every other verse it talks about how we btaine mercy "through the son" or God blesses us "through the son." You should read it!

3.ONE EVENING, AN ELDERLY
CHEROKEE BRAVE TOLD HIS
GRANDSON ABOUT A BATTLE THAT
GOES ON INSIDE PEOPLE.

HE SAID "MY SON, THE BATTLE IS
BETWEEN TWO 'WOLVES' INSIDE US ALL.
ONE IS EVIL. IT IS ANGER,
ENVY, JEALOUSY, SORROW,
REGRET, GREED, ARROGANCE,
SELF-PITY, GUILT, RESENTMENT,
INFERIORITY, LIES, FALSE PRIDE,
SUPERIORITY, AND EGO.

THE OTHER IS GOOD.
IT IS JOY, PEACE LOVE, HOPE SERENITY,
HUMILITY, KINDNESS, BENEVOLENCE,
EMPATHY, GENEROSITY,
TRUTH, COMPASSION AND FAITH."

THE GRANDSON THOUGH ABOUT
IT FOR A MINUTE AND THEN ASKED
HIS GRANDFATHER:

"WHICH WOLF WINS?..."

THE OLD CHEROKEE SIMPLY REPLIED,
"THE ONE THAT YOU FEED"

I think that it starts with our thoughts. We begin to choose which wolf we will feed with our thoughts. Then it shows in our words, later in our actions, then later in who we are as people. Feed the right wolf!

So here is some information that I need to make sure to let you know. First of all, next Monday we have mission conference, so do not expect an email from me on Monday. Instead we will have our P-day on the 7th of May (Wednesday) so I will send you my next email them. We have transfers on the sixth. We found out about them already and I will be going to Lutsk to serve with Elder LeBaron. He is in his second transfer right now. I was asked to be the district leader there. I will be sad to leave L'viv but I am excited for Lutsk and what I can do to help out there. Also some more information that you should know, we were asked to Skype on Saturday night instead of on Sunday. I don't think this will be a problem and it might even work out better for you if dad needs to leave. I can do it on Saturday night anytime. That would be Saturday morning for you. Please let me know in your next email what time would be good for all of you and I will arrange to make it happen. Thanks so much!

Let me tell you a little bit about my week!

This week we had a big Family History day of open doors that was on Saturday. It was for anyone to come and learn how to do family history and it was put on by specialists. We just helped out set up, clean up, and all other stuff like that. On Tuesday we went on exchanges with members to hand out fliers (invites) to the Family History day. We met a lot of nice people. I went with the branch president. He wore his cool traditional Ukrainian dress shirt called a wishywanka and I wore my normal missionary clothes. Everyone took invites from him, but people were suspicious with me as I had a name badge on for a church. That day I was yelled at for being a Jehovah's witness (which I guess I really am if you think about it because I testify about Christ every day), a seventh day Adventist, a baptist, and finally for being a Mormon. One older lady even started screaming that I was a devil when I tried to talk with her. Haha. It was a little discouraging. Then I met a nice old man, who asked me which person I would be voting for in the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine (a very popular question now of days). I told him that I was a foreigner and that they would not let me vote. The man then leaned over to me, gave me a hug, and said "we love you, thank you for your support." It made me feel very warm inside after being yelled at for the better part of the day. Even when we seem to have trials, it is cool how God reaches out to let us know that He loves us.

On Sunday we went to Ternopil. It was a very rewarding trip. In the hotel where we have church one of the candidates for president was staying so there were a bunch of really jacked guys in suits who looked at us all really funny when we came in. It was funny. I gave a talk on the atonement.

Sorry I am a little out of order here, but let me tall you about last monday. In western Ukraine it is tradition to throw water on each other the monday after easter. The more water that gets thrown on you then the happier you are supposed to be. Well, let's just say I should be pretty happy. We got a lot of water thrown on us. Most of it was by church members. Don't worry, you can be sure that we got them back!

Elder Vandermark and I also got really good at planing trips because a senior couple from Kiev came down (they are new on their mission) to visit out branches to audit them. They did not plan their trip before they came down to L'viv so we ended up doing that for them (train tickets, hotels, meetings). We did such a good job we should have charged. It took us about two full days to get everything set. They were really grateful and they took us out to dinner on Saturday night after the meeting (to go over the audit) with the L'viv branch president and the clerk (me).

I had a good week! I love you all very much!

Love,

Elder Hadfield

 

My dear Family,

Just to explain the picture:

Well, I told the lady to cut my hair short. And she did. I think it is a little too short. But I like it and my head feels good in the breeze. Side note... today it is very warm and it is the first day since last year we are just in white shirts!

Well, this week was a little crazy. It started off with a call from Elder Bodell on Tuesday morning. He said "Elder Hadfield... how fast can you be in the office?" I told him that we could be there in 30 minutes. Then I asked if everything was ok and he just told me to hurry into the office. So we did just that. When we got there we found out that church headquarters was thinking about evacuating the Dnipropetrovsk mission and sending their 83 missionaries to come live in our mission. Crazy right? Well let me paint a picture for you. In our mission right now we have 50 elders and sisters, and to be honest, it feels a little crowded missionary wise. So imagine trying to double or triple it. In the office we had to make contingency plans on Microsoft excel for transfers, housing, companionship match ups, and a lot of other things for all of the "what-ifs." It turns out that they decided not to evacuate them. At least not right now. But at least we have a plan just in case.

Also, about mothers day skyping. I am sure we can plan to do it in the morning (your time?). That should not be a problem. Just let me know what time works for you and I will work around that. Mother's day will be after transfers (the 6th of May) so I don't think I will still be in L'viv. So when I go to wherever it is that I am going then I will plan everything out so we can skype before you have to go. I am excited to see you and talk to you. I am also excited that Jessica will be there too!

Happy Easter! In Ukrainian Easter is Великдень. It is cool because the two words that make up the word are великий, which means big and день, which means day. So Easter in Ukrainian literally means "Big day." And it is a very big day. Well, what I mean to say is that the resurrection of the Savior has a very BIG meaning in each of our lives.

11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.
16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

The Resurrection is Jesus Christ. He has life given Him of the Father in Himself, and He is commander over it. The Resurrection for me is the fact that all of us will rise again from the dead. But it is more than just that. It shows that Christ has power over death, sickness, and pain, even before we die. I had a great Easter here in L'viv.

I love you all. Thanks for the great pictures this week! I can't wait to skype soon.

Love,

Elder Mitchell Hadfield

 

Dear Family,

Life seems to bounce back and forth between trails and blessings. Trails to show us that we need God to make it though and blessings to show us that God is mindful of us and that He loves us. A mission is no different as there are ups and downs as well. On Saturday I had a little experience that could be looked at from either view point. In the grand scheme of things it might be of little importance, but I will share it with you anyway. On Saturday we had Mormon helping hands and I decided to wear a pair of shorts without pockets. Since my shorts did not have pockets I could not put my camera in my shorts. How is this a blessing you ask? Well when I was walking up the little dirt hill up to the church after, I tried to jump up to the concrete slab. The only problem was that my foot caught onto a stick of some kind and I fell down pretty hard into the corner of the concrete slab right where my camera would have been. So now I only have a messed up leg rather then a messed up leg and a broken camera haha! Got to look on the bright side sometimes, even when the bright side seems to be dim.

So like I said we did helping hands this week (different than the church cleaning I mentioned last week). We went to a park that had a lot of trash to clean it up. There were a lot of different volunteer groups in the park as it was very big. The lady at the park who was in charge of overseeing the clean assigned the group from our church to the very worst part of the part. It was funny because we got to clean up all the random trash. I picked up things such as alcohol bottles, shoes, doors, bags, tires, syringes, cups, wrappers, smashed TV and mirrors, and even a toilet bowl. After two hours of cleaning we all felt pretty satisfied with our work! I wore my Cowboys sweatshirt as it was pretty cold for the first part of the morning!

Bounce back to Monday: We went over to a really cool family in the ward to have family home evening. The Father invited one of his friends from work. His friend brought his son and the son played with the two little boys of the family where we went. The dad of this family is really great and he is always looking for opportunities to do missionary work. He has been on a mission, he was the branch president in L'viv for six years, and he has contributed a lot to the growth here. We gave a spiritual thought about the resurrection as Easter is coming up soon and read some verses from the bible. The conversation ended up leading to the restoration and the Father of this family invited his friend to meet with us (the missionaries) and he said that he would love to be there for those meetings. We are excited to have a lesson with them. I think we may be able to set one up for this week!

This week we got a random guy who bought a Book of Mormon for ten griven from someone in a small village. I am not sure who sold him the book, but I guess it had our number in it as he gave us a call. He wanted to meet and talk about the book. We met him mid week and we talked about the first part of the restoration. We gave him a restoration DVD (he asked for it) and we told him to watch it and we would meet again in a few days. We are going to meet with him on Tuesday. I will let you know how it goes.

Hey, did you watch conference? I did not because we are going to watch it in Ukrainian this coming Saturday and Sunday. I am not sure if you caught it but my old mission president, President Klebingat was called to be a member of the first quorum of the 70. This was very exciting news for me, but came as no shock. He is a very amazing man. http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/new-general-authorities-new-sunday-school-general-presidency-announced He will probably be in Utah when I come home so that would be really cool if we could go see him. Dad, you would like him a lot. He loves sports and working out, is super organized, and gets down to business. Elder Bodell told us about it on Sunday and it made me smile!

My Ukrainian is coming along well. I am confident that I am able to convey whatever I need to. Russian... I understand, but is a struggle to speak. It is really hard to explain. I hear it so much that I can understand it really well, but speak it so rarely that it is hard to speak. I hope that makes sense!

That's all I have for this week. In about a month I will be able to skype you for Mother's day! Won't that be great! I am very excited for that. I love you all! Have a good week.

Love,

Elder Mitchell Hadfield

Family,

We had a fun trip to Ternopil this week! We took a train and ended up getting there at around 11 o'clock. It was a lot warmer than I expected. Our weather has been kind of like yours. You are never really sure what is is going to be. Little side note: we had a sports day planned, but the weather forecast said it was going to be cold so it got canceled and it ended up being a really nice day. Back to Ternopil. There used to be a member there who worked for the peace core, but she was evacuated about a month ago. So we missed her at sacrament. There was seven of us there around a small conference table and the spirit was as strong as ever. It was a blessing to be there. It was a bit of a challenge getting back to L'viv because there were no train tickets available so we went to the bus station. Sadly they only had one spot to L'viv for the rest of the day, so obviously that was not an option either. We ended up sitting on a taxi back to L'viv. The car was really small and I felt really cramped the whole way, but we made it back.

On Saturday we had a big church cleaning activity. We cleaned the church and the grounds to get ready for the spring time. There is a big hill by there church where people like to gather to smoke and drink (ironic right?), so all over the hill we had to clean up empty cigarette packs, empty alcohol bottles and cans, cups, and other trash. We filled up so many bags. There is a brother in the branch who has three little boys. He brought two of them with him to church cleaning (the other one is still an infant so he stayed at home with mom). These two little boys were so full of energy and just wanted to help. It was fun to watch them run around and help out. After the cleaning (it lasted about two and a half hours) we had a little branch picnic with sandwiches and kiwi.

In our district this week we set a goal to give out 20 Books of Mormon. We have until Tuesday but as of now we are at 16 I think! I am very thankful for the Book of Mormon in my life and I am glad to be able to share it with other people. As I read and apply the principals that I find there I have true peace in my life which is a very valuable commodity these days. I started to read the Book of Mormon from the beginning again. This week I read the sermon that King Benjamin gave to his people before he passed away and I was very touched by his words:

"For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?

And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.

And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another."

That "substance" that king Benjamin is talking about is not only material possessions. How many times has someone came to us "begging for our forgiveness?" Have we given it? How many times has someone came to us begging for our love or for comfort when they were in need or when they were going through a hard time? Did we give it to them? Think about your own life. Think about all the times you have prayed and pleaded with God to comfort you in the midst of trials. I know in my life that occurs often. Does He comfort you? YES! He has given me comfort and peace. Not always in the way we might think it will come, but as we pray, the comfort comes. I would have us think of those experiences as we see others in dire need. Do we withhold our "substance" (our forgiveness, our comfort, or our love) from those, our brothers and sisters who are around us? If we do we are in danger for the next verse reads:

"And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth;"

Let us be free with our substance, whatever form it make take, so that we can bless God's children, so they will know that He cares. They will be grateful to God that He has placed loving people like you in their lives. I know this is something that I can work on. Maybe it is something you can work on as well! Pay it forward!

Have a good week.

Love,

Elder Hadfield

Family,

"I love tall people because they are closer to heaven than the rest of us!" - someone told me that this week and it made me smile, so I thought I would pass it on. I am sure each of you feel the same!

This week was a very special week for me as Olya was baptized on Wednesday and confirmed on Sunday. I spoke at the baptism about gues what? Baptism! It was really hard for me to make it through the talk because I am prone to getting emotional when I talk, plus it was such a special moment anyway. I talked about meeting her dad on the street and the first time she came to church and how it has been a privilege to see her conversion. And of course I shared some verses from the scriptures explaining the significance of baptism. Elder Ward baptized her (he was with us in Uzhhorod and him and his companion taught her there). Then on Sunday she asked me to confirm her, and I did. She is so great. After getting the Holy Ghost she gave her first talk (on faith) and ended up saying the closing prayer in sacrament meeting. She is going to be a terrific member of the church.

Mom, I am glad that Yuri got in touch with you. He asked me "should I send a message to your mom?" And I told him "Yes, of course!" He is such a nice man. I am really glad to be his home teaching companion. Going on splits with him will be great. We have four families on our list. I know two of them, so we have some work to do. On Sunday we sang "I'll go where you want me to go." Brother Yuri got the inspiration from this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov9OoBM8GPw And that it was pretty close to the version that we did with all the different parts. We had a few rehearsals this week to get ready. It went really well. Brother Yuri called me last night and read the message that you sent him. That was a nice treat!

I spent quite a bit of time with the branch president this week going to inactive members with my companion. We all have a really good time together. President Roman is always really eager to help and let us help him!

Yes, we did get two Ukrainian missionaries who were serving in Russia. One of them is in L'viv and he only has a few more months left on his mission. He is a very sharp elder.

What else did I do this week? I got a hair cut, worked in the office for a bit, and did some planning. This week on Sunday we will be going to ternopil again so we had to get everything set up with that. This week we also have a sports day that was set up by the second counselor in the branch presidency for Saturday. He is 19 and a way cool guy! He speaks really good english.

That's all I really have to report from the week!

I hope you have a good week!

Love,

Elder Mitchell Hadfield

My dear family,

This week we found out about transfers. I will be staying in L'viv for another transfer and I will be staying with Elder Vandermark. I really like L'viv and Elder Vandermark is an awesome elder so I am very excited. It should go very well.

This week has gone by really fast and has been a bit of a blur to me. Let me do my best to try and tell you everything that I did. Here I go:

-well first off we had five lessons. That may sound like a pretty lame number, but we were really happy with it as it has been a very big struggle to find people and have meetings lately. We were able to find a few new investigators this week which was a huge blessing.

-we went on splits with the branch president and were able to visit a number of less and inactive members of the church. President Lattin even came with us. At one less active older woman's house she was having one of her rooms remodeled so we were able to help lug out a bunch of trash to the dumpster for her. One inactive family that we stopped by was surprised because we ended up coming by on the wife's birthday. We had been planning to go to them for about a week, but every time we tried to before something came up and we couldn't go. So that just goes to show that God is mindful of his children.

-with transfers this week we have been very busy in the office with a few different projects. Just getting everything ready for transfers is a project in and of itself. Other things we have been doing in the office include putting together a Family home evening manual for the missionaries from the area presidency, making DVD's for the branch presidents of a message from the are President on Family home evening, ect... It is really insightful if you want to watch it. Here is the link: http://lds.ru/fhe_calendar1 . You can watch it in a variety of languages haha. Don't worry it is in English too. You could watch the Ukrainian one and think to yourself "wow... Mitchell can understand this."

-we have been practicing a musical number under the direction of a really talented branch member (the one who added mom on facebook). We are going to sing "I'll go where you want me to go" either this Sunday or next Sunday, I am not really sure. Either way it is starting to sound really good. We have also been having some language studies with the same member as well. He is really helpful. My Ukrainian is coming along very well. I feel very confident in saying pretty much whatever I want to.

-we took the sacrament to an old lady in our branch who has trouble walking (because of age). She made us some really tasty borsh and tea with cookies. She only speaks Russian, because when she was growing up that is what they spoke. I pretty much understand the meaning of what she is saying, however, certain words I do not understand. We are serving in a threesome until transfers and the old woman had me translate for her because one of the other elders was having trouble understanding her Russian. He is a newer elder, so it is no fault of his own, I just thought it was really funny.

-we had a really fun "friendship night" at the church on Friday. It is basically like family night that is not on Monday. We made a cake. At first it was awkward because no one came, but like fifteen minutes after it was supposed to start people showed up and we had a good time.

That is about everything I did this week that is worthy of mention. I do have some upcoming plans that you might be interested in hearing. Here they are:

-we are going to a family night at the Bodell's with a member! We are way excited for that.

-today we are going with president Lattin to check out a service opportunity and see how the church can help.

-Olya is getting baptized this Wednesday. I am going to be giving a talk on baptism.

That is all I got for this week.

I miss you all very much.

Love,

Elder Hadfield