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| The Other Elders had a baptism…………… lets goooooo. |
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| This guy looks exatly like Dwaine Wade. ha ha Way legit guy. His name is Aziz. |
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| My companion had a nice fall while we played some basketball. He tried to out run me. I won. :) |
Monday, October 29, 2012
Dear Family and Friends
This last week has been less eventful than weeks in the past but it was still a great week. First of all I know that this is where I need to be and even if a week is not as good as we would have hoped, it is okay because the Lord knows we are working hard and will bless us in his own due time. But however we made some serious progress with our eternal investigator Roman. He has been coming to church every single week but only staying for a half hour because of his German club he likes to attend. So that was something we were trying to change for him. Also we found out that he still drinks coffee and tea and so we wanted him to quit that as well, so he could be fully in tune with the spirit and so he would be able to know and recognize the spirit when it tells him that this church is true. He always says that he will do it when he is ready and he doesn’t feel its worth his time to quit either. But last Friday we had an amazing lesson with him. I basically told him he is not going to receive an answer until he quits drinking coffee and tea. It was a very bold statement I made and I know that it was what was needed to be said, because he said that he was going to quit drinking for 3 days starting Tuesday til Friday. He never showed any desire before to even give it a shot, but he finally is willing to make this one more step.
This last week has been less eventful than weeks in the past but it was still a great week. First of all I know that this is where I need to be and even if a week is not as good as we would have hoped, it is okay because the Lord knows we are working hard and will bless us in his own due time. But however we made some serious progress with our eternal investigator Roman. He has been coming to church every single week but only staying for a half hour because of his German club he likes to attend. So that was something we were trying to change for him. Also we found out that he still drinks coffee and tea and so we wanted him to quit that as well, so he could be fully in tune with the spirit and so he would be able to know and recognize the spirit when it tells him that this church is true. He always says that he will do it when he is ready and he doesn’t feel its worth his time to quit either. But last Friday we had an amazing lesson with him. I basically told him he is not going to receive an answer until he quits drinking coffee and tea. It was a very bold statement I made and I know that it was what was needed to be said, because he said that he was going to quit drinking for 3 days starting Tuesday til Friday. He never showed any desire before to even give it a shot, but he finally is willing to make this one more step.
I feel that this is a major turning point for him and may just be what he needed to do for the Lord to answer his prayers. It is in the Lords hands now!
We have another investigator her name is Tanya she has been super busy but we were finally able to meet with her last week and it was amazing! We were able to bring a member in on that lesson and it was perfect. They hit it off really well and it seemed to be exactly what she needed. So we finally asked her towards the end if she knew that the Book of Mormon was true..... SHE SAID YES! Then we asked her do you know that Joseph Smith was a prophet.... SHE SAID YES! So obviously my next question is... will you be baptized!? She said not yet, it’s too early...NOOOOOO!!!! But It’s okay we are going to have a lesson tonight with her about baptism and the gospel of Jesus Christ and she will be able to accept a baptismal invitation. She is so legit and so prepared and so ready!!!
There was a baptism for a man named Jude (he is from Kenya) on Saturday he was baptized by another African named Gabriel who has been a member a year and a half. It was a super cool experience and way legit and we had 2 other Africans come to the baptism and a guy fromMorocco, it was awesome. I never thought that I would be here in theUkraine teaching people in English but I think that may have been part of the reason I was called to this mission and I am so excited that I have had the opportunity to teach so many different people from so many different countries around the world. It’s a wonderful experience and I know this is exactly where the Lord needs me.
One cool thing that I heard last week was that there are so many ways in the world to do bad things and with all of the different temptations in the world trying to tear us down and it is very easy to fall into that path of life. But there is only one way to do the right things and that is to follow Jesus Christ and as it says in Helaman 5:12 if we build our foundation on the rock of our redeemer the mighty winds or temptations cannot over take us. I am so happy to be a part of this church and be one of the examples and representatives of our savior Jesus Christ and help all these people here in the Ukraine no matter where they come from. I love this work and I Love You all.
Have a Happy Halloween and don’t eat too much candy :) I love you all
Love Elder Litchfield
We have another investigator her name is Tanya she has been super busy but we were finally able to meet with her last week and it was amazing! We were able to bring a member in on that lesson and it was perfect. They hit it off really well and it seemed to be exactly what she needed. So we finally asked her towards the end if she knew that the Book of Mormon was true..... SHE SAID YES! Then we asked her do you know that Joseph Smith was a prophet.... SHE SAID YES! So obviously my next question is... will you be baptized!? She said not yet, it’s too early...NOOOOOO!!!! But It’s okay we are going to have a lesson tonight with her about baptism and the gospel of Jesus Christ and she will be able to accept a baptismal invitation. She is so legit and so prepared and so ready!!!
There was a baptism for a man named Jude (he is from Kenya) on Saturday he was baptized by another African named Gabriel who has been a member a year and a half. It was a super cool experience and way legit and we had 2 other Africans come to the baptism and a guy fromMorocco, it was awesome. I never thought that I would be here in theUkraine teaching people in English but I think that may have been part of the reason I was called to this mission and I am so excited that I have had the opportunity to teach so many different people from so many different countries around the world. It’s a wonderful experience and I know this is exactly where the Lord needs me.
One cool thing that I heard last week was that there are so many ways in the world to do bad things and with all of the different temptations in the world trying to tear us down and it is very easy to fall into that path of life. But there is only one way to do the right things and that is to follow Jesus Christ and as it says in Helaman 5:12 if we build our foundation on the rock of our redeemer the mighty winds or temptations cannot over take us. I am so happy to be a part of this church and be one of the examples and representatives of our savior Jesus Christ and help all these people here in the Ukraine no matter where they come from. I love this work and I Love You all.
Have a Happy Halloween and don’t eat too much candy :) I love you all
Love Elder Litchfield
Monday, October 22, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
Week 14 in Lugansk
Ukraine…………………October 22, 2012
Well another week has come and gone here in the Ukraine (which by the way is still not real to me that I am across the country in Ukraine!). But anyway this week has been such a good week. We have been working extremely hard to make sure that all of our lessons end up working out so we call them the day before the lesson we call the day of the lesson and even sometimes right before the lesson. I know it seems a little much but I think I mentioned that last week but we need to be spending all of our time finding people who will listen and not waiting for people to show up to lessons. The thing about here in the Ukraine is that not a lot of people like to meet at their house so we often times are meeting them at our tiny branch building. We don’t know if they will come or not, but if we call them 3 times and make sure and remind them………… then often times they show up and we are able to have some super good lessons.
Because we were calling and reminding so much we were able to have quite a few lessons.
Well another week has come and gone here in the Ukraine (which by the way is still not real to me that I am across the country in Ukraine!). But anyway this week has been such a good week. We have been working extremely hard to make sure that all of our lessons end up working out so we call them the day before the lesson we call the day of the lesson and even sometimes right before the lesson. I know it seems a little much but I think I mentioned that last week but we need to be spending all of our time finding people who will listen and not waiting for people to show up to lessons. The thing about here in the Ukraine is that not a lot of people like to meet at their house so we often times are meeting them at our tiny branch building. We don’t know if they will come or not, but if we call them 3 times and make sure and remind them………… then often times they show up and we are able to have some super good lessons.
Because we were calling and reminding so much we were able to have quite a few lessons.
One of the things that I have seen be an extremely
beneficial here is having members in on the lessons. I never really realized
what a difference a member can make being there for the lesson. First of all,
the members actually know the language and can fill in the mistakes we make and
make it more ponyatna (understanding) for our investigators and secondly they
are all converts themselves and were not raised in the church so they have a
strong testimony and are able to help us out so much and I would encourage all
of you to let the missionaries know what days and times you have available
because it is such an experience to see people accept the gospel and it is so
much easier for a new convert to stay active when they already have a friend
with them. I love this work and it is moving along so much here in Ukraine and
I can see so many miracles every single day and each week.
As of right now we have 4 investigators who are progressing and we could have a few more but we have to met with them twice, so technically they cannot be considered progressing. However they are extremely promising and I can see them progressing so fast towards baptism. We have been trying to make an effort to invite all of the people we teach to be baptized and although none of them have set a date yet we have 3 that have said when they know what we are telling them is true then they will of course be baptized. The next step for us is to just get them on a solid date and I can see it happening this next week. I am so excited for the Lugansk area to have a few more baptisms. There is a baptism scheduled for this Saturday from another companionship and another one for the 10th of November. The work is moving along all over the world it is truly amazing.
Now one really cool thing happened yesterday. Last week or the week before we contacted a man who sort of seemed interested, but he was in a hurry (like everyone else here) and so we told him what we were doing and why we were here and he seemed somewhat interested. We tried to get his number but he did not want to give it to us for whatever reason. Well we invited him to church and gave him our number and we went on our way. Obviously with all the people we meet we forgot about who said what especially when we don’t have their number and we give our brochures to everyone. Yesterday a man walks into the church, not a member and I vaguely recognized him so I sat down with him and started to talk to him. And it turns out he was the man who said he would come to church and usually when they say that…………. they normally don’t come. BUT HE DID!!! It was amazing and now here is the kicker....he stayed for all three hours!!! Yeah even some of the member’s don’t stay for all three and this was his first time at church. He said we could meet on Saturday and that he was interested in what we had to say.
As of right now we have 4 investigators who are progressing and we could have a few more but we have to met with them twice, so technically they cannot be considered progressing. However they are extremely promising and I can see them progressing so fast towards baptism. We have been trying to make an effort to invite all of the people we teach to be baptized and although none of them have set a date yet we have 3 that have said when they know what we are telling them is true then they will of course be baptized. The next step for us is to just get them on a solid date and I can see it happening this next week. I am so excited for the Lugansk area to have a few more baptisms. There is a baptism scheduled for this Saturday from another companionship and another one for the 10th of November. The work is moving along all over the world it is truly amazing.
Now one really cool thing happened yesterday. Last week or the week before we contacted a man who sort of seemed interested, but he was in a hurry (like everyone else here) and so we told him what we were doing and why we were here and he seemed somewhat interested. We tried to get his number but he did not want to give it to us for whatever reason. Well we invited him to church and gave him our number and we went on our way. Obviously with all the people we meet we forgot about who said what especially when we don’t have their number and we give our brochures to everyone. Yesterday a man walks into the church, not a member and I vaguely recognized him so I sat down with him and started to talk to him. And it turns out he was the man who said he would come to church and usually when they say that…………. they normally don’t come. BUT HE DID!!! It was amazing and now here is the kicker....he stayed for all three hours!!! Yeah even some of the member’s don’t stay for all three and this was his first time at church. He said we could meet on Saturday and that he was interested in what we had to say.
It was amazing and I am so excited for this next week. We
have a lot of lessons we are planning on having and this week should be a busy
one for us.
I am so happy that I am here in the Ukraine of all places and learning Russian, preaching the gospel to all the remnants of the house of Israel. All twelve tribes have been found here in Ukraine through patriarchal blessings and we are literally gathering Israel. I know that this work is true and that we are here serving The Lord simply because it is our way of showing him that we love him and are willing to do whatever He asks us to do. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and if people read it AND pray about it…………. they will get a divine witness for themselves that it is true.
I love you all and I know that The Lord is blessing all of you for your support for all of the missionaries who are serving now and who have served. Thank you for your prayers and all the support. I love you all
Love Elder Litchfield
P.S. All of you who wrote me letters………. thank you so much! I will do my best to respond to them today if I have time (the time on the computer is so limited) but I want to thank you now since it takes a long time for the letters to make it to the states.
I love you!! Thank you for your support :)
I am so happy that I am here in the Ukraine of all places and learning Russian, preaching the gospel to all the remnants of the house of Israel. All twelve tribes have been found here in Ukraine through patriarchal blessings and we are literally gathering Israel. I know that this work is true and that we are here serving The Lord simply because it is our way of showing him that we love him and are willing to do whatever He asks us to do. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and if people read it AND pray about it…………. they will get a divine witness for themselves that it is true.
I love you all and I know that The Lord is blessing all of you for your support for all of the missionaries who are serving now and who have served. Thank you for your prayers and all the support. I love you all
Love Elder Litchfield
P.S. All of you who wrote me letters………. thank you so much! I will do my best to respond to them today if I have time (the time on the computer is so limited) but I want to thank you now since it takes a long time for the letters to make it to the states.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Half a kilo of ice cream each.
:) I ate all of mine and did it the fastest. :)
Our Zone
Ice cream after priesthood :)
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| Cool hotel |
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| My Companion Elder Wither’s and m. |
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| The view from our dom |
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| Member in the ward who is blind playing the accordian for us. |
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| youth night |
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| Cool grafitti haha |
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| Day of Service |
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| Harry Potter |
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| New companion Elder Wither’s who is from Twin Falls Idaho. |
Dear Family and Friends,
October 15, 2012 Week 13 Lugansk Ukraine
Wow I cannot express how much I love being out here in the Ukraine preaching to all these people. It is such a blessing to know that I am serving the Lord alongside my best friends who are all around the world. And this last week has built my testimony so much on hard work and the success that ALWAYS follows. So Elder Withers and I have been working really hard to set up as many lessons as we possibly can and fill all of our time with lessons so we do not have to go contacting every single day. I don’t mind contacting but after this last week, teaching is 100 times better! We were able to teach 5 lessons to investigators and 2 to members and for me that is a lot
Wow I cannot express how much I love being out here in the Ukraine preaching to all these people. It is such a blessing to know that I am serving the Lord alongside my best friends who are all around the world. And this last week has built my testimony so much on hard work and the success that ALWAYS follows. So Elder Withers and I have been working really hard to set up as many lessons as we possibly can and fill all of our time with lessons so we do not have to go contacting every single day. I don’t mind contacting but after this last week, teaching is 100 times better! We were able to teach 5 lessons to investigators and 2 to members and for me that is a lot
ha ha Just about every single day I do
believe we had a lesson this last week and it was amazing. One of the things
that truly helps is continually calling them and making sure that they are
going to be there. We call the investigator the night before and then the
day of. I know this may seem a bit much but this is their eternal salvation we
are talking about and if they are not going to show up we cannot waste our time
sitting around waiting for them to show up. It is a blessing to see them tell
us when they can’t make it.
Right now we have one investigator who is awesome. We met him last Monday night and set up a lesson right there. He is an extremely humble man who cannot read very well but nonetheless we were able to have a very spiritual filled lesson with him and we were able to have a member present on it. It went super well and especially since both my companion and my language are the best (but I must say it has increased dramatically since my trainer left) but the member had served a mission and knew exactly what we were saying so she filled in where we had mistakes. It was awesome! He was not able to come to conference but the cool thing was that he called and told us that he wasn’t going to be able to make it, which shows he has a desire to meet with us. The best part as I said before, he was not very good at reading but when we asked him if he had been reading, he said YES and that he was doing it with his mom!!!! How cool is that! He is just awesome and we have another lesson with him tonight and we will hopefully be able to put him on date.
Right now we have one investigator who is awesome. We met him last Monday night and set up a lesson right there. He is an extremely humble man who cannot read very well but nonetheless we were able to have a very spiritual filled lesson with him and we were able to have a member present on it. It went super well and especially since both my companion and my language are the best (but I must say it has increased dramatically since my trainer left) but the member had served a mission and knew exactly what we were saying so she filled in where we had mistakes. It was awesome! He was not able to come to conference but the cool thing was that he called and told us that he wasn’t going to be able to make it, which shows he has a desire to meet with us. The best part as I said before, he was not very good at reading but when we asked him if he had been reading, he said YES and that he was doing it with his mom!!!! How cool is that! He is just awesome and we have another lesson with him tonight and we will hopefully be able to put him on date.
I will let you know how it goes next week.
Now our last zone conference Elder Clarke (who spoke at General Conference by the way) talked to us and really got on us for sitting around waiting for our investigators to show up, but instead of waiting to go outside the church and contact. So we did this last Friday night, we were waiting for English to end to see if our investigator was there and instead of going in we decided to go contacting right outside the church building. And in a matter of 15 minutes we were able to give away a Book of Mormon and get his information and get another contact and set up and appointment for tonight. It was the Lord blessing us for using our time to its fullest and I have a testimony that when we are working hard and doing all that we can to build the kingdom of God he will bless us with success every single time.
We also have another investigator who is from India and is staying with a member here in Ukraine and we had a super good lesson with her as well. So hopefully she will begin to progress this upcoming week. We also met with a man who is Muslim and he had some very deep questions and I feel he has a desire to know answers.
Now our last zone conference Elder Clarke (who spoke at General Conference by the way) talked to us and really got on us for sitting around waiting for our investigators to show up, but instead of waiting to go outside the church and contact. So we did this last Friday night, we were waiting for English to end to see if our investigator was there and instead of going in we decided to go contacting right outside the church building. And in a matter of 15 minutes we were able to give away a Book of Mormon and get his information and get another contact and set up and appointment for tonight. It was the Lord blessing us for using our time to its fullest and I have a testimony that when we are working hard and doing all that we can to build the kingdom of God he will bless us with success every single time.
We also have another investigator who is from India and is staying with a member here in Ukraine and we had a super good lesson with her as well. So hopefully she will begin to progress this upcoming week. We also met with a man who is Muslim and he had some very deep questions and I feel he has a desire to know answers.
He was able to come to the priesthood session of
conference and watch it with us……… so that was good. There is
a lot going on here in Lugansk and I am so excited for the next 5 weeks to just
fly by with miracles along the way.
Now for conference…………… I was not able to watch it last week but we did have the opportunity to watch it the last 2 days……… it was AMAZING! There were so many good talks. In particular I liked Sister Dibb’s talk when she talked about standing out as a Mormon and having a shirt that says "I am a Mormon". We need to be proud of who we are and let the world know. The thing I feel I got out of conference was just always being an example. It seemed that a lot of the talks focused on how we need to be bold about whom we are and that we need to live righteously so that others can see us as true Disciples of Christ. I know that all of the speakers at General Conference are called of God to speak to us and their messages were directed by the spirit to teach everyone something a little different. I know that
Now for conference…………… I was not able to watch it last week but we did have the opportunity to watch it the last 2 days……… it was AMAZING! There were so many good talks. In particular I liked Sister Dibb’s talk when she talked about standing out as a Mormon and having a shirt that says "I am a Mormon". We need to be proud of who we are and let the world know. The thing I feel I got out of conference was just always being an example. It seemed that a lot of the talks focused on how we need to be bold about whom we are and that we need to live righteously so that others can see us as true Disciples of Christ. I know that all of the speakers at General Conference are called of God to speak to us and their messages were directed by the spirit to teach everyone something a little different. I know that
Thomas S. Monson is the prophet on the earth today and
that Joseph Smith truly did restore the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ
once again on the earth today. If any of you were unable to watch conference I
would say take 10 minutes each day for the next few weeks and simply watch or
listen to one of the talks. Conference only happens twice a year and it is a
wonderful opportunity for us to receive personal revelation.
I love you all and I know that this church is true!
Have a wonderful week and always remember The Savior and what He did for each and every single one of us
With love
Elder Litchfield
I love you all and I know that this church is true!
Have a wonderful week and always remember The Savior and what He did for each and every single one of us
With love
Elder Litchfield
Monday, October 8, 2012
Hello Again Family and Friends!!!!
Lugansk Ukraine week 12 October 8, 2012
Wow, what a week it has been!!! So Elder Stradling has now left me and is now in a new area and so before he left we went to a bunch of our investigators to say goodbye and we also went to a few members. It was a busy week for us. Some of our members that we have in our area are the coolest couple. The husband is blind and has some serious health issues but is still super optimistic about life. He and his wife are amazing missionaries also. They try so hard to make sure everyone knows they are Mormon and what we believe. It was just super easy to have a lesson with them. But the cool thing about our lesson was that afterwards, the husband who I remind is blind pulled out an accordion and started to play for us. It was the coolest thing ever. It was soooo tight!!
So as you know it was transfer day on Thursday and I was a bit nervous. I had no idea who my new companion would be, if we would get along and all that good stuff. And I was nervous if I would be able to take care of my area. But all of those worries have subsided and I am confident we are going to see some major success this transfer. My new companion is Elder Withers and he actually just got done training my MTC companion Elder Packard. He is super cool, super nice and he is so ready to do the work. He has only been out for 3 more transfers than me and so we are still both trying to master the language and all that good stuff. It’s been a lot of fun and it’s been a crazy three days together so far. We have been making a serious effort to talk to every single person that passes by……….. man, woman, old, young, It doesn’t matter, everyone!!! We have seen so much success already. We have gotten about 6 or 7 contacts already and actually we were able to set up return appointments with them on the street which has been one of the emphases of the mission. We are proof that talking to everyone and setting up appointments on the street really works. It is such a blessing to have testimony of that now!
We got a referral from the other elders who are staying at our place and they basically set up the meeting and everything and then just handed the investigator to us because he was in our area.
Wow, what a week it has been!!! So Elder Stradling has now left me and is now in a new area and so before he left we went to a bunch of our investigators to say goodbye and we also went to a few members. It was a busy week for us. Some of our members that we have in our area are the coolest couple. The husband is blind and has some serious health issues but is still super optimistic about life. He and his wife are amazing missionaries also. They try so hard to make sure everyone knows they are Mormon and what we believe. It was just super easy to have a lesson with them. But the cool thing about our lesson was that afterwards, the husband who I remind is blind pulled out an accordion and started to play for us. It was the coolest thing ever. It was soooo tight!!
So as you know it was transfer day on Thursday and I was a bit nervous. I had no idea who my new companion would be, if we would get along and all that good stuff. And I was nervous if I would be able to take care of my area. But all of those worries have subsided and I am confident we are going to see some major success this transfer. My new companion is Elder Withers and he actually just got done training my MTC companion Elder Packard. He is super cool, super nice and he is so ready to do the work. He has only been out for 3 more transfers than me and so we are still both trying to master the language and all that good stuff. It’s been a lot of fun and it’s been a crazy three days together so far. We have been making a serious effort to talk to every single person that passes by……….. man, woman, old, young, It doesn’t matter, everyone!!! We have seen so much success already. We have gotten about 6 or 7 contacts already and actually we were able to set up return appointments with them on the street which has been one of the emphases of the mission. We are proof that talking to everyone and setting up appointments on the street really works. It is such a blessing to have testimony of that now!
We got a referral from the other elders who are staying at our place and they basically set up the meeting and everything and then just handed the investigator to us because he was in our area.
He actually lived right next to us in a neighboring
dom. So yesterday after church we met with this man, he is a Nigerian here for
school and right away there was something about him. He was super friendly,
super legit and in my opinion super prepared. We started our lesson and we had
to do it outside because his apartment was under remount so we sat down outside
on a little bench and began to teach him (in English). And right when we
started to teach……….. The spirit came immediately and it just
bore testimony to me that it doesn’t matter where you are, that if you
are talking about the restored gospel and teaching true principles and bearing
testimony it doesn’t matter where you are the spirit will be there with
you. It was such a powerful meeting. We gave him the Book of Mormon and this is
what he said when we gave it to him "books are meant to be read. When I
wrote my book I wanted people to read it, so yes of course I will read you
book…….. And it’s a spiritual book" he said he has been
going to many different churches looking for the true one and he has found it.
He also committed to come to church. So legit! There will be more news on him
next week I hope!!!
Now one last thing…………… since I have a new companion he is not quite familiar with everything especially the code to the church and so we stopped by the church on Saturday night before coming home and Elder Withers said he wanted to do the alarm. So I told him the code right before he went into the church and somehow he miss typed it………. which is not a big deal usually because you just type the code in again correctly and its all good, but this time we were unable to get it to turn off. So we waited at the church for about 10 minutes trying to get the alarm off and then all of a sudden this guy walks in. It was the police coming to check things out, which really surprised me because usually they don’t come……………. but this time they did. And so it was a little scary since my Russian isn’t amazing and neither is my companions, but it all worked out. The police fixed it all up for us and then we even got to talk to him about the gospel a little bit. It was just one of the tender mercies of the Lord.
It was a fun night and good experience.Now one last thing…………… since I have a new companion he is not quite familiar with everything especially the code to the church and so we stopped by the church on Saturday night before coming home and Elder Withers said he wanted to do the alarm. So I told him the code right before he went into the church and somehow he miss typed it………. which is not a big deal usually because you just type the code in again correctly and its all good, but this time we were unable to get it to turn off. So we waited at the church for about 10 minutes trying to get the alarm off and then all of a sudden this guy walks in. It was the police coming to check things out, which really surprised me because usually they don’t come……………. but this time they did. And so it was a little scary since my Russian isn’t amazing and neither is my companions, but it all worked out. The police fixed it all up for us and then we even got to talk to him about the gospel a little bit. It was just one of the tender mercies of the Lord.
I know that this is the true restored gospel. I know us as missionaries are called to serve and bring people to Christ and how great will our joy be if we bring but one soul unto our Savior. There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord is preparing people and those people are all around us every single day. I am so proud to be a part of Christ’s church and be able to share the gospel. I love you all and may the gospel continue to bless your lives and may you all continue to feel the power and love of GOD!
I love you all have a wonderful week
Love Elder Litchfield
Monday, October 1, 2012
Dear Family & Friends,
October 1, 2012……………..Lugansk
Ukraine
Wow another week down AND IT’S OCTOBER!!!!!!
Where did September go??
Well this last Friday was transfer call day.....last transfer call day I was not nervous at all because it was pretty much a sure thing that I was going to stay and it was not a big deal at all. I was just going with the flow, but this transfer call was nerve racking…….. I had no idea what was going to happen………. was I going to stay, was I going to leave, was my companion going to leave? Just so many options could go down. Well the verdict is that my companion Elder Stradling will be leaving, Elder Mika will also be leaving and Elder Mikas mini missionary will be leaving. Yeah I was a little bummed about that…………… all the people I know are all going to be gone. What is even crazier is that I will be the most experienced person in Lugansk…………. meaning I have been in Lugansk longer than anyone else. I don’t know who my companion is yet but I will find out Thursday. So these last few days will be saying goodbyes for Elder Stradling especially since he only has one transfer left. That is exciting and scary at the same time but I am looking forward to this new experience.
This last week a few things happened that I see note worthy. We were waiting for a lesson with a man and we were just walking around and this older lady passes us and I say hello to her…………. then she turns back around and is asking us who we are, why we are here and all those questions and in the end we were able to get her information. We have a lesson set up with her tomorrow. It was really cool because at our zone conference they kept emphasizing to always look for people, no matter what, especially on your way to appointments. So we gave ourselves extra time and we were able to find this woman……. it was super cool!
Now on a less of an exciting note……...at the beginning of this transfer we met a guy named Fyodor (I don’t know how to spell it in English but he was the world champion volleyball player and he basically was way cool, way into families and so we went over there all excited to teach him……………and the first thing he says is that he really doesn’t have any interest in religion and doesn’t really want to meet anymore. NOOOO! It was so sad to see him say that to us. We were so pumped about him and he just dropped us like a rock. It was my first investigator to drop me. I didn’t even know it was possible. But he was super nice about it, so maybe later on, because of how we treated him and we were very understanding, maybe later on he will accept the gospel.
Okay Sunday was the most legit Sunday in the entire world. I swear it was so awesome! We met a Nigerian a few days ago; he gave us his information and said he would come to church. All he wanted us to do was to call him on Sunday. So we said we would meet at 9:15 and when I called at 9 he was already waiting for us. He was the first Nigerian to be on time for a meeting with us……… it was awesome. We went to church with him and got there a little early so we had some time to talk and he seemed to be interested. One of the great things that happened was that we told him about some other Nigerians who hadn’t come to church when they had planned to and he said "man I got up early today, took my bath and was ready to go, how can these guys not do this and give one day for God" it was super cool. Then right before church started, Gabriel our Nigerian who we had been teaching, came in and he hadn’t been to church at all that month and he chose the right day to come. The other Elders had a Nigerian and an Indian come as well with them………… so there were already 3 investigators at church. Then after church started one of Elder Mikas investigators came in a few minutes later. Roman our investigator walked in then a few minutes later another Indian walks in, so now we are up to 6 investigators at church. Then as we were sitting there in sacrament meeting, we see this group of black guys walk past the window and immediately we all thought please be coming into the church……. Please!!
Where did September go??
Well this last Friday was transfer call day.....last transfer call day I was not nervous at all because it was pretty much a sure thing that I was going to stay and it was not a big deal at all. I was just going with the flow, but this transfer call was nerve racking…….. I had no idea what was going to happen………. was I going to stay, was I going to leave, was my companion going to leave? Just so many options could go down. Well the verdict is that my companion Elder Stradling will be leaving, Elder Mika will also be leaving and Elder Mikas mini missionary will be leaving. Yeah I was a little bummed about that…………… all the people I know are all going to be gone. What is even crazier is that I will be the most experienced person in Lugansk…………. meaning I have been in Lugansk longer than anyone else. I don’t know who my companion is yet but I will find out Thursday. So these last few days will be saying goodbyes for Elder Stradling especially since he only has one transfer left. That is exciting and scary at the same time but I am looking forward to this new experience.
This last week a few things happened that I see note worthy. We were waiting for a lesson with a man and we were just walking around and this older lady passes us and I say hello to her…………. then she turns back around and is asking us who we are, why we are here and all those questions and in the end we were able to get her information. We have a lesson set up with her tomorrow. It was really cool because at our zone conference they kept emphasizing to always look for people, no matter what, especially on your way to appointments. So we gave ourselves extra time and we were able to find this woman……. it was super cool!
Now on a less of an exciting note……...at the beginning of this transfer we met a guy named Fyodor (I don’t know how to spell it in English but he was the world champion volleyball player and he basically was way cool, way into families and so we went over there all excited to teach him……………and the first thing he says is that he really doesn’t have any interest in religion and doesn’t really want to meet anymore. NOOOO! It was so sad to see him say that to us. We were so pumped about him and he just dropped us like a rock. It was my first investigator to drop me. I didn’t even know it was possible. But he was super nice about it, so maybe later on, because of how we treated him and we were very understanding, maybe later on he will accept the gospel.
Okay Sunday was the most legit Sunday in the entire world. I swear it was so awesome! We met a Nigerian a few days ago; he gave us his information and said he would come to church. All he wanted us to do was to call him on Sunday. So we said we would meet at 9:15 and when I called at 9 he was already waiting for us. He was the first Nigerian to be on time for a meeting with us……… it was awesome. We went to church with him and got there a little early so we had some time to talk and he seemed to be interested. One of the great things that happened was that we told him about some other Nigerians who hadn’t come to church when they had planned to and he said "man I got up early today, took my bath and was ready to go, how can these guys not do this and give one day for God" it was super cool. Then right before church started, Gabriel our Nigerian who we had been teaching, came in and he hadn’t been to church at all that month and he chose the right day to come. The other Elders had a Nigerian and an Indian come as well with them………… so there were already 3 investigators at church. Then after church started one of Elder Mikas investigators came in a few minutes later. Roman our investigator walked in then a few minutes later another Indian walks in, so now we are up to 6 investigators at church. Then as we were sitting there in sacrament meeting, we see this group of black guys walk past the window and immediately we all thought please be coming into the church……. Please!!
Sure enough we hear the door open and they all walked in. We
are blown away…….. That makes 10 English speakers at church on
Sunday. So we were able to have an English class and as we were talking with
them we find out that one of the Indian girls has been a member for 5 years and
that one of the black guys has been a member for 20 years and served a
mission. He was the branch president. He has only been in Ukraine for 3
days and hasn’t missed church in years and so it was nearly a miracle he
found where the church was and he really is not being able to communicate in
Russian. It was a serious tender mercy of the Lord. Things were so awesome on
Sunday and I can really see like 5 baptisms happening this next transfer, which
would just be incredible. It was such a good day and Gabriel was just
glowing. It was so cool to see him so happy because he was always alone
and he needed this to happen to give him some support.
It was so amazing to see all these people just keep walking
into the church.There is no doubt in my mind that this gospel is true and it is true no matter where you live. We had people from Nigeria, India, Sir Leon, other parts of Africa, Russia, Ukraine and the United States all in this one sacrament meeting. The gospel is true and is being taught to everyone around the world. I love this gospel, it is the only true gospel and I know that it will continue to grow as people have the desire to come closer to Christ. I love you all and wish you all a happy October!
Love Elder Litchfield
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