Dear Family and Friends,

November 19, 2012

Well, this has been another crazy week out in the mission. So as I told you all last week my companion Elder Withers and I were getting transferred together and would be “white washing” into a new area. So we went through all the possibilities that we could be in and there only seemed to be two logical ones. One of them was to go to a city not to far from Dontesk or going up to Kharkov. Transfers came and there was surprise transfers call to one of the sister companionships that no one knew about. They called the first group to be “white washing” in and they were going to Saltivka in Kharkov and at that point I knew we were going to the other place so I stopped listening…………. then they called our name and I didn’t even hear where we were going and we sat down and I asked my companion, hey where are we going? He was like Saltivka! So they “white washed” two of the areas up in Kharkov both being Saltivka and there was only one person from the previous district who was staying, so our entire district basically got “white washed” so we are all trying to figure out this area together and it is a blast.

It’s definitely hard when you have no idea where anything is and  how long it takes to get from place to place or who anyone is……. but that’s the beauty of it. We get to figure all this stuff out, unfortunately for us the sisters who got taken out before us didn’t have much time to prepare us with very many notes on the area so we really came into basically an area book and a pat on the back saying good luck, go get ‘em. These last few days have been more of an exploring time for us to try and figure out how we are going to work this area effectively. But I think that we have finally got it down enough to where we can start to work smarter rather than wondering around at night trying to figure out where the heck we are ha ha.. I am so excited to serve here in Saltivka up in Kharkov it’s really like an entirely new area up here……….It’s a lot of fun.

So before we left Lugansk it was quite the ordeal………I didn’t realize how much stuff I actually had to take with me, it was insane, if you didn’t know I left the MTC with one of my bags weighing 70 pounds and that’s 20 pounds over the limit...ooops!  Well I definitely saw those extra things when I was packing up.  It took a good few hours to get it all in. Well in the way I wanted it, so it would all fit. But in the end it all fit in my suit case and then when I got to our new place I unpacked it all………….. So it was all good.
We spent the last few days saying goodbyes in Lugansk to a few of the members and a few of our investigators and it was odd.  I never thought of what it would be like when I left an area. In the MTC our teacher, before we left, who was playing our investigator was playing his role very well because we told him it was our last meeting with him and he didn’t understand and I totally thought he was just joking around but that’s really how it is here in the field. The people don’t understand why you are leaving. After building up your relationship with them and then all of a sudden leaving them is a lot harder and more complicated than I had originally anticipated and unfortunately the other Elders who stayed in our area have not yet been able to get a hold of our investigator……Ura who is on date. But the Lord knows what he is doing

Yesterday was Sunday and apparently one of the sisters was asked to give a talk in church but she got transferred out so they needed someone else to fill her place and guess who got picked?? Yup that would be me, the young guy. So I spent Saturday and Sunday preparing this talk and I was feeling pretty good about it.  I was super nervous but I figured it should turn out pretty good and so I was scared but also a little excited to give the talk. But when then we got to church they told us that they are just going to have all the new missionaries share their testimonies rather than have any one person give a talk..... I was off the hook, dodged a bullet there, but I was also a little bummed out because I worked hard on my talk ha ha but maybe I will have to opportunity another time to share it.

I love you all. I am so grateful for all of your love and support.  Thank you for all that you have done for me and all the prayers that are coming my way and coming the way of all the missionaries around the world. I know that I am being blessed. I love you all! Take care

till next week

Love Elder Litchfield

Hey Dee you said you spent most of your mission up in Kharkov right? What areas did you serve in?   I would like to know, so that when I talk to members I can see if they remember you, that is if they were members at least 10 years ago. One of the missionaries here serving with me said that he thinks he saw your picture in Novy Doma not sure how its spelled in English but translated its New Houses (I think ha ha)  just curious………. shoot me an email thanks

 :) love you

 We made a Lava cake in the crock pot and it was a huge success :)

Thanks for the birthday package :) It was the best.

 

  

Birthday pictures. Under the cake is the toilet seat. :)

Dear Family and Friends!

Nov. 12, 2012

So this week was TRANSFER CALL WEEK!!!! And let me tell you I did not see this coming at all. So I have now been in Lugansk for 3 transfers so I figured I would be leaving Elder Withers and he would stay and take over the area with his new companion. Elder Mathias who was in the MTC (missionary training center) with me had just finished training so I thought he would be leaving as well and then there was Elder Kumferman (he was in my district in the MTC) and Elder Bolingbroke who just got here so I figured they would both stay. Well I got it completely wrong……I wasn’t even close. So here is the low down on the city of Lugansk………. Elder Mathias and his companion Elder Harrison will be staying together this next transfer, Elder Bolingbroke is going to be leaving as well. Now here is the crazy part. They are taking both Elder Withers and I out and putting Lugansk back to four missionaries. Elder Withers and I are just leaving our area and giving it to Mathias and Harrison and we hope they take care of our area. Now here is the second kicker… Elder Withers and I are both getting transferred ...but we are staying together for another transfer and will be “white washing” (2 new missionaries going into an area with no other missionaries to show them around) into an area together. From what I have heard, that doesn’t happen and if it does it is extremely rare. So I will have fun getting used to a new area…… it should be fun. But it just is crazy to me that I will finally be leaving my “greenie”(first area of the mission) area and I will be getting to know a whole new branch and a whole new group of people.

I am really sad to leave Lugansk though because things finally started to pick up, we have one investigator on date and he is legit we have another investigator who we are trying to put on date for the 1st of December and another one of our investigators finally came to church yesterday and it turns out she has a friend she works with that is a member of the church and so when she came she immediately had friends in the church to help her and encourage her………. it is perfect. AHHHH I am so bummed I am leaving this area because we have so much going on here and we are just putting it in the other missionaries’ hands.  I   hope they keep working with all of our investigators because they are all so close. Man, I never realized how hard it would be to leave an area but the Lord needs me somewhere else and that is where I will go and Elder Withers and I will be “white washing’ into an area and will do the same thing we did here……………We will get a ton of new investigators and find those that are ready for the gospel……… simply by working hard.

That is the big news for this last week.  The only other big news was that I turned 20 and on a mission it’s really weird celebrating things because you are a missionary but at the same time if you want something to be fun or a good celebration………... you have to make it a good one and so that is exactly what we did. I had our district leader change district meeting so we could have it on my birthday so we would all be together. I went out and bought some cake and it just so happened that the AP’s (Assistants to the President) were here as well so they brought some ice cream.  It was a big ole party. They put candles on the cake and came out with the ice cream and it was all perfect and they even got me a present ha ha  The gift  was a toilet seat because our apartment didn’t have one for oh………….. Maybe 6 months or so ha ha………………. good stuff. So I blew out the candles and one of the AP’s told me…….. hey you know this cake has coffee sprinkles on the top right....oh great seriously, well we decided we can just scrap the top off and it will be all good and the AP's agreed so we did that and we enjoyed eating the cake. It was a good day and we now have a toilet seat that I no longer get to use since I will be leaving. Ha Ha

One of the great things about leaving Lugansk, is that I will finally be off of the floor and will get my own bed, which will be kind of nice but after 3 transfers here it is going to be a weird shift leaving and adjusting to a new place but I am ready and it is going to be where the Lord needs me and I am excited to do it.

I know this work is true I know the Lord blesses us when we do what is right and when we do something wrong we must use the atonement and repent and ask for forgiveness. I know that there is no other way we can know this church is true except we read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I love reading it every single day. I just ready 3 Nephi 11 and its amazing when Christ comes to visit his children and in I believe it’s 3 Nephi 16 he says that he is going to leave and go and visit the rest of his children and there is divine proof that God loves all his children and that he sent Christ to visit them all. I love this gospel and I love you all.

Keep your spirits high and always be in thanksgiving to our Father in Heaven who has given us all we have!

With love

Elder Litchfield

I look good in a suit and sweater. haha

ahhh how we get to dry our clothes :) 

Our appartment is a mess. haha oh well :)

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s Nov. 5, 2012 In Lugansk Ukraine

First of all my birthday is this next week and it’s going to be weird celebrating it on the mission but I’m gonna make the best of it!!! Late birthday wish to Ryan Litchfield,

 Elder Michael Litchfield and Elder Tanner Wright Litchfield, and an early birthday wish to

Chelsi Litchfield....we have all almost made it through the teenage years…… ha ha love you!

Now for my week in the mission.....
WOW! To put my week in a nutshell that’s a very good word to describe it. So many things went on this week but there are really two that truly stick out to me.

We have an investigator whose name is Roman he speaks great English so that’s why I can communicate with him so well…..  ha ha but he has been one of those “eternal investigators” and he had been drinking coffee and tea and so I think I mentioned it last week that we committed him to quit for just three days. We met with him on Tuesday and he was telling us that he was going to do it, but on Wednesday and it may be hard for him to not drink because there is a student of his that he teaches English and the students mom always gives him coffee and he said he didn’t know what he would do about that situation, but he would try to resist. So I decided on Tuesday night that I would fast and pray on Wednesday to help him have strength to not drink coffee and follow the word of wisdom exactly. Wednesday came and went and I felt good. I felt that the lord was going to answer my prayers. Now here is the most spiritual thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life and I KNOW GOD ANSWERS OUR PRAYERS!!!
So we had a lesson with him on Friday and we had not talked to him at all since our last meeting. We started off by asking Roman how his abstaining went for the past week. He then proceeded to tell us that on Wednesday he really did not know how he was going to tell this lady that he was going to have to reject her cup of coffee and he was a little nervous how it was all going to go down. BUT when he got there and he said that the lady told him that she was sorry but that they just ran out of coffee..... RIGHT after he said this my mouth dropped! I was stunned at what I was hearing. He was telling me that after all these months of teaching this kid English and always getting coffee, this one time they "JUST SO HAPPEN" to run out of coffee.

I THINK NOT! I know that The Lord answered my prayer.

Right after he told me this, I told him that I had fasted for him and he told me that he has no doubt that The Lord was a major part in him being able to stay away from coffee and tea.

I know for a fact that we receive so much strength and others can receive so much strength too from our willingness to fast and pray!
My testimony of fasting and prayer is the strongest it has ever been. I know without a doubt that God is our loving Heavenly Father who will answer us if we ask him, with the right intent and if we are not going against his will. I love the power of prayer……… it is so real!!!
Now that was the first miracle we had. The second one is what happened on Tuesday morning. We were just about to head home and we were just about to turn to go towards home when we stop this one last guy... turns out he is looking for some truth and he has heard about our church and wants to know more (and a bonus is he speaks English) ha ha.  So we get his information and set up to meet with him the next day. We have a great lesson, it wasn’t quite what we wanted but we gave him the Book of Mormon and told him to read. We then were able to meet with him again on Saturday and he came back with all these connections between the bible and the Book of Mormon. We were just dumbfounded that he made these connections so quickly.

So we taught him the message of the restoration and he accepted it but still had a few questions. We had a member named Gabriel, who is an African bear and has a super strong testimony and we committed this man whose name is Ura to go home and pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if he should be baptized.
So we set up another lesson with him the next day, meaning yesterday, Sunday. We went to Dontesk for a district conference and so we didn’t get back until like 4 am and we were meeting Ura at 6 am so we quickly ate some food and prepared for our lesson. Since we didn’t have much time since we got up at 4:30 and were exhausted on the bus ride there and back.

So we decided we would teach him the plan of salvation.
We get to the lesson and we begin asking him the basics….. Did you read? and right away he said yes, I read and I feel that exactly what is said in the Book of Mormon is said in the bible and the Book or Mormon just helps clarify the bible.... we were like whoa….. Are you serious ha ha and then I asked him if he knew it was true, he said yes! Then I asked if he knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet, he said yes! Then I asked if he would be baptized on the 24th of November, he said no…… I need to prepare more before I can get baptized.

We said exactly, that’s why we want you to PREPARE for the 24th and then he was like…….

Oh of course then, yes I will prepare myself!!!!! We were just ecstatic and speechless…… it was the coolest thing ever and we have met with him only three times.

Miracles are everywhere and we just need to be patient and wait for them to happen!!

I love this work!  I love you all and may The Lord continue to bless your lives and your families as you continue to strive to follow the example that our Elder Brother Jesus Christ has set for us.

Have a wonderful week!!!!

Love Elder Litchfield