Blessings

KIMI IS MARRIED!! WHATTT!!!!!!????? I understand that things are crazy with everything going on so thank you Kyle MAH BOOOYYYY for filling me in. Yesterday I finally got the wedding invitation from ya'll, Kimi and Nate look great. I was literally showing everyone haha. The card board cut out was SOOOO RAD!!! I love it, I feel like I was there (not really at all haha). I know you are all exhausted and that it’s not over yet, keep up the good work! Next week I will be able to skype at 9 30pm ish your time on Christmas day! Don’t forget PLEASE :) that is if you are all in California, if not then in Utah that'll be 10:30pm ish..I can’t wait!!!!
I know you'll tell me all about everything on Sunday so I won’t ask many questions.
This week was amazing. I turned into a new missionary. I re-committed myself and I saw the hugest difference in my life. It is so true that it’s all about doing the small and simple things. We had an awesome lesson with this almost less active woman in our branch who taught us how to make a super good and way unhealthy Ukrainian dish. It was way fun but I just wish I could speak Russian so that I could be able to communicate better with the people here. Sunday was an absolute blast. So as you might already know, some Ukrainian people have a small intense side to them...and well for the branch Christmas program...the director might be a little intense, but I love it so much haha. Alexander (who just got baptized) has a part and everything! AND he calls us and says that he WENT To INSTITUTE!! And that it was interesting and he wants to go again. I have high hopes for this man. He's already adding to the branch. K so now here comes the sad event that happened last night. Sergei, he is now becoming active again and one of the nicest people on the face of the earth. We met with him once about a month ago, and his wife and kids were there...great lesson. Saturday night we had a lesson set up with him and he was late at work so we had to reschedule...so we met last night. He lives in a "chasnie dome sector" with means that there are just a bunch of tiny little dachas. We get there and walk in. There was almost nothing in his house, extremely bare and some things were rearranged. The room we met in had one chair and it looked like he made it his new kitchen. He had us bring our shoes in (which is unheard of) so that they wouldn’t freeze out by the entry way...b/c the heat was off.


I sat in the chair while my comp sat on the arm rest of the same chair. It was quiet so I asked where the people were. aka...his wife. I didn’t think too much of it until after he tells us what went down and then I made all the connections. His wife left him with the kids 3 weeks ago and took literally everything. He says that she doesn’t love him anymore and that he doesn’t know what to do. We went prepared to teach a lesson about the upcoming Christmas...that quickly changed. The spirit directed us during the whole thing. He told us that he has barely any money but that he works every day in Donetsk and has to get there every day...that’s a long way. He didn’t ask us for anything. He sees it as a trial that he has to go through. He studies the scriptures regularly it sound like and it seems to me like he is an honest good man. I don’t know both sides of the story but he said that his wife doesn’t love him anymore. Then he goes and grabs a few pictures that look like hadn’t been pulled out of this plastic sleeve in years. It was a picture of his wedding day to his first wife. I could tell that he loved her so much and missed her a ton. He baptized her and she died when she was just 26. He married this other woman and had 2 awesome boys with her. Our lesson was that of comfort. He was the former branch president and is a very humble man, and faith driven. He asked if I would give a blessing to him. It was my first time giving the actual blessing part in Russian but I wasn’t THAT nervous. The spirit was strong and as I looked for a paper that I have with all the right words to say, I saw I had some personal money that I had in my passport (which I never have on me so it was a miracle that I had it with that night b/c it has that paper with the blessing on it) and I had the thought that I wanted to leave money for him somewhere. It was personal so I didn’t care if I gave it to him, as missionaries it’s not really all that allowed to give members money out of our MSF. So I offered the blessing and it was awesome, I didn’t really think about the grammar or what to say, I’m sure I made mistakes but everything was understandable. He tells us of his faith of the priesthood and says that whenever he is given a blessing, he tries to picture God saying those things through the person administering the blessing (or something like that, it was in Russian so that’s what I’m 90% sure he said). It was powerful. We left and right when we did I went back and threw 30 greiven on the chair we were sitting on. I told Elder Frandsen that I left some money so we ran to get out of sight just in case he tried to come give it to us haha. He called us and my comp answered the phone, Sergei said that we must have left money on accident and my comp said that he had all of our money (b/c we just pile our money together every month and he holds on to it) and that the money had to be Sergei's. It was only enough money to get to Donetsk for one day and not even back I don’t think. But my comp said he wanted to answer the phone so none of us would have to lie about the money haha. It was a crazy humbling experience. I’m so glad that I was worthy to be there and exercise my priesthood responsibilities. I also, got Jay's (Bybee) letters. That was AWESOME. I look up to Jay so much he has no idea. My week was incredible. Hard, but rewarding. I love this mission. I love you all so much! Have a great week and I’ll talk to you on SUNDAY!!!!

- Старейшина Руни

ps I got the package and opened it haha but I didn’t touch anything, it’s all sitting under our 6 in Christmas tree!

Alexander's Day

FAMILY!!!
WOOOOW, things at home seem crazy. I hope all the wedding things go as planned! I loved hearing from you all. I’m excited to see pictures from the wedding. I was just reading in my journal and in AUGUST I wrote that Kimi got engaged....where does time go?! So this past week was "transfer calls" and....I’m staying in my area with my comp!!! I’m so excited. I prayed to stay haha. We are killing it here and I love this area so much. So, as you might have heard, we had a baptism on Saturday!! Alexander is officially a member of the church! We’re going to do "Shashleeky" today with him at his Dacha. It’s pretty much shish-ka-bobs. The whole district will be there. It'll be super cold but I brought the football (thanks again mom!) so it'll be a good time. So on for the baptism we picked him up and went with Alexander so that we knew he would be there haha. But we got there a bit late and NO ONE was there. I freaked out inside. There was one member there and the font was full but not even the missionaries were there! I felt so bad. Then God taught me patience. Finally the other missionaries showed up then SLOWLY people started coming. The baptism started about an hour late but in the end it all worked out. It was so cool too because it was kind of a risk...as in we decided that the branch needed to grow up a little bit and prepare the baptism instead of the missionaries doing it all as usual. So we called the Branch President and asked him who would be speaking so that we could make the programs (that’s the only thing we did) but he gave assignments (he’s kind of a slacker sometimes so it was way cool that he made an effort...also he never used to like the missionaries either because one of the missionaries offended him or something......anyways things are slowly getting better!).


WEll, Alexander asked another elder to baptize him, which I was kind of bummed about because I wanted a member of the branch to do it, but it’s no big deal. He was baptized twice because he's HUGE and well...yea. After the baptism an angel in our branch brought goodies and the branch SWARMED him after. It was SOOO rad to see the branch actually functioning together. At church I was able to stand in the circle for the confirmation...that was a special experience. Alexander will be a wonderful member. He gave up drinking, smoking, and friends I would say to join the church. The week before the baptism I’ve never seen anyone so drained in my life. His parents were against it, and his friends were calling him crazy and stupid things like that. My heart hurt for him that whole time. IT was rough for him. So, also at church...remember the "brotha" Frank? He came to church! He shows up like a total baller in a light cream colored suit down to matching socks and shoes...looking waaay fresh. Anyways, he said that everyone was warm and he felt super good so we'll see what happens! Things are going great here. Garrett Jones wrote me tooo! WE found another guy named Rocky from the Peace Corps and he's from Vegas...we're going to hang out with soon. Well, I have pictures to send and that takes a while but I love you all and I EXPECT pictures from the wedding!
Thanks :)
-Sean

Happy B-day Mom!!!

MOMMMMMMMYYYYY!!!!!
с днём рождение!!! That means happy birthday!!! I was just thinking about last year's birthday PARTY Cami threw for you...jeez time flies. Well, in case you're wondering your birthday and my 8 MONTH mark is on the same day!! It honestly feels like a dream. It was great to hear from you all today! Kyle is going to college?! AHHH that’s nuts! It makes me happy to hear that everything at home is going well. I LOVE hearing from my family! This week for me was the most memorable week of my mission, which is ironic b/c it absolutely FLEW by. After last week's emails form every single one of my family members, I felt your love and I felt your prayers. I hate trying to write it all down b/c it’s impossible to describe everything and how everything went down but pretty much if you want to see miracles, just look. I remember a letter Cami wrote me; in it she said to look for miracles every day, when I read that I thought to myself ok, but didn’t really put too much thought into it. Then this week opened my eyes. I started feeling closer to my Savior and as a result I started seeing more and more. I've come to a conclusion that the Gospel is just a more intense way to live haha. Higher highs and lower lows. What the Gospel helps me understand is that you CANT experience the highest of highs without experiencing the lowest of lows. Something I’ve learned on my mission is, you’re going to find what you're looking for. That goes both ways. If you look for miracles, you're going to see them. If you look for bad pictures on billboards....that’s exactly what you're going to see. I've started to try and apply that principle in my life, and it’s very interesting to see how much my attitude truly does change everything. I’m so grateful for the Atonement in my life. I still feel like I’m living below my privileges. The atonement covered/s everything. That includes all bad and all good. I'm trying to use the enabling power of the atonement more in my life along with the redeeming power of the atonement. We are our biggest critics. IN life you have to learn that you are not PERFECT, especially being on a mission where that’s what you feel like you have to be. The whole" no regrets" thing on your mission is kind of hard for me to grasp. From my experiences, the times that I’ve learned the most on my mission are the times where I look back and say, dang...I could have worked harder. Why? b/c when I look back at something that I did or didn’t do, I regret, BUT it makes me want to change and be better. Therefore helping me learn and grow. Also, none of us are perfect. Another thing that I’m beginning to learn is that we need not to demand perfection, that’s impossible. What we do need to demand is improvement. I love this Gospel and opportunity to serve b/c it’s helped me learn so much about myself and who I want to become. The mission is an MTC...Marriage training center. How can we tell if we were successful on our missions? When a mission president asked Pres. Faust how he could tell if he was a successful mission president, Pres. Faust said, “tell me where your missionaries are at in 20 years, that’s how you can tell if you were a successful mission president." Anyways, I just realized that my letter was all over the place, but those were just my thoughts that I’m having right now. I love you all so much. I’m having the best experience for my life and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Live every day to the fullest. Stop worrying so much about the future. When we do that, we miss out on today.
Have a great week!

- Старейшина Руни

The Feast!!

Hey fam!
I just want to start off and say I love you all. And I can’t begin to tell you how blessed I am to have you as my support team. This week’s emails made me feel like I was having a one on one with each of you. You, my dear family, mean the world to me.
It’s great to hear how things are going at home! KIMI is getting married!! Still blows my mind. haha and it sounds like Kyle and Alex are pulling up with a close Second haha. Kyle..there's still whole mission ahead of you ;) (That was a joke by the way). Anyways....this week was just absolutely crazy. I never thought that so much could happen to any single person in this short space of time. I can feel your love and prayers and I thank you for them. I had probably the most memorable thanksgivings of my life! Because we're a satellite city, we weren’t able to go Donetsk with the rest of the missionaries, so we had our own. Good thing we have an AMAZING chef in our district or we would have all eaten pizza or something. Well, being boys, still, and never tried to have a thanksgiving on our we tried our best. All we knew is that when thanksgiving is here...you eat a TON. So, we did just that. How does 26 potatoes, a GIANT fruit salad, 2 other salad things, about 45 rolls, Corn and peas, homemade gravy from the 2 TURKEYS we bought plus 12 kilos of pumpkin and apple (also homemade) sound? There was more, I just forgot. Did we even dent one turkey? Absolutely not. haha we’re going back today for thanksgiving round 2. The food was absolutely incredible. I have never been so impressed with a thanksgiving in my life. We went outside and threw the glorious football mom sent me, in the freezing cold...some random teens came and played with us..it was awesome. We went back in to eat more food...then when we all thought we were going to die from too much food.



We had a "thankfulmony" meeting. It was powerful. One of my favorite experiences on my mission. The spirit was very powerful. Then to top off thanksgiving, we had a miracle lesson with our investigator Alexander (Sasha, for short). We had an angel of a member at the lesson. Alexander will be baptized on Saturday!! He has been coming to church for a while and is 23. All he needs are friends. He quit smoking AND drinking to be baptized....Baller. He was found in August I think. He is awesome. He took us to a shooting range thing that are EVERYWHERE here, it’s actually super funny, then to a super bomb slash way sketchy place to eat these nasty Ukrainian traditions...they were so good but everyone jokes that the meat used is dog or cat meat; even the Ukrainians haha. It was like being "the boys" again. The mission can be soooo fun, if you let it. I have been so blessed to be called to this mission. This morning I studied virtue and something that I thought was very interesting was that a virtuous person has qualities that have to be worked on. You can’t just be virtuous. A Virtuous person is prayerful, Obedient, and most of all focused. I love how the things of the gospel are so intertwined but at the same time very separate. K, I have to go eat thanksgiving dinner all over again. But I love you all so much. Thanks for your love!

- Старейшина Руни

Music in the Air....

FAMILY!!
HI! It was great to get your letters. I will say that Kyle is blowing EVERYONE out of the water when it comes to writing me. Thanks bro, you rock. Sounds, like there will be a party at the Rooney household yet again! Way to be fam, I hope everything will turn out, I’m sure it will.
This week, was just awesome. I honestly love this place and my comp/district with all my heart. So, i have an investigator! 2 of them actually! One is on date and if everything goes right, in December, he should be baptized. He showed up to church yesterday...that’s the 3rd time on my mission that an investigator came to church! He was just in Kiev working out visa issues b/c he will move to Canada in the summer, and takes his phone out and had pictures of the temple on it! HE WENT TO THE TEMPLE AND SPOKE WITH SISTERS THERE ALL ON HIS OWN! It was so cool to see that he had a genuine interest in the temple. This week we had a meeting with the zone but it wasn’t a zone conference, it was just a council with all the missionaries in our zone. It was so cool to see people again. Our district is way tight but b/c we're a satellite city, we don’t get to see anyone often. I got my interview with President and things are just going good. I love being a missionary. ON Saturday, we had a "music night" where anyone who wanted to perform could come and play or sing anything. Well other than the 6 missionaries there...6 more people showed up. Which is 6 more than I expected so it was a total success.
A guy named Jenya played the guitar and I played a few songs on the piano. but since no one showed up...including performers...Jenya handed me paper with some chords on it and well, we literally improvised/jammed half of the pieces that we played...I felt like I was at school again! It was so fun! I’ll try and send some videos but we’ll see if they send. BUT the coolest part of the whole night was that we had a Less Active family show up! AND the mom sang for one of the songs! THEN they showed up to church yesterday! It was so amazing to see the whole family having a great time. In my new area I’ve really seen the blessings of using my talents and not being afraid. The reason this less active family came is b/c we FINALLY scored a lesson with them and at the end of the lesson the mom wanted to sing..and there was a piano, so my comp played and we sang some hymns. She has a beautiful voice and we could really tell that she misses singing b/c no one else plays the piano. She had 2 very young boys...which if you remember with me and Kyle means that she always has to watch them so that no one gets hurt, breaks something, kills something/someone...etc. So after we sang, I played a bit thanks to comp b/c he told her I can. But I played and she liked it and asked if I could arrange a song to "if you could hie to kolob". I told her I’d try. We have been blessed with a piano in our apt, which I play ALL the time, so I wrote one. It was awesome b/c the missionaries and Jenya sang it at the music night. We had just started performing when our less active family walks in to the room. It couldn't have gotten any better. I've been studying a ton about Hope recently and pretty much your attitude towards things, can make or break you. It can make or break a company...a relationship...a family...a home. SOOOOO...have a good attitude! No one wants to be the person who complains all the time. I've seen how having a good attitude can change lives b/c I’ve seen the effects of having a bad one. Keep that in mind as you go through your next week. Always look for the good, YOU can relate with ANYONE. And I don’t know why, but that’s how the atonement works. Our Savior can relate to us perfectly, why that makes things better and easier? I have no idea, BUT it does, so use it to your advantage. I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful time together on thanksgiving!!

-Sean

Oh yeah, IT'S COLD!!!

"How many potatoes did you buy?"

HI FAMILY!
Thanks for all of your letters! I loved hearing for all of you! Sounds like the wedding is underway. crazy!! Well, I don’t have the most time to talk today, but I’ll do my best. so...new area! I love it here!! The members here are amazing. I’m really starting to understand why loving the people where you serve is so important. I have an investigator!! and his name is frank. He's black and from Nigeria. In Ukraine the people here call black people the "n" word but not b/c it’s disrespectful, that just what they’re called here. So if I were to say “that black person" that would actually be the disrespectful term....weird but that’s how it goes here. I don’t like saying the "n" words so I just call black people "brothas" :)....so, frank is a brotha and he is the coolest guy EVER! There are some people here that when I meet I know I met them so that I can help them change their lives...but there are also some other people that I meet that I know part of the reason I came here was so that they could help change my life, and frank is one of those people. He’ll get baptized when the time is right, which is super soon I think. I love my mission so much!! But I hate that I have all these amazing experiences that happen to me and I can’t even come close to telling you them all. Here’s a funny story about how much we know Russian. So we're contacting and we pass this potatoes truck thing and the guys that were working there call us back to talk with them, so we get going and I start talking to one guy while my companion (comp) speaks with another....by the end of the conversation I look at my comp and he's buying potatoes...so when I finish with the man I was talking with...I look at my comp and saw that he had this FAT sack of potatoes....I gave him a weird look and asked why he was holding the giant bag of potatoes...he told me he only wanted to buy 10 potatoes..."turns out I bought 10 kilos"...I don’t think I laughed that hard in a while haha. So, looks like we don’t need to buy potatoes for the rest of the transfer or from the looks of it, the next 3!! Anyways, I’ve never experienced so much happiness in my life. I love being here and I love my comp. I love this gospel with all my heart, and I love ALL of you. Have a great week!

- Старейшина Руни

Transfers!!!

HIIIIII!!!!
woooow, this past week sounds like the craziest week ever. That’s so cool that everyone was able to get together for a bit in your hectic lives. I want pictures from the bridal shower ASAP. KYLE MAH BOOOOY! Finally the eagle man jeeeez, but congrats my man welcome to the club :) thank you all for writing me this week. All those who have served missions know that transfers are lame just in the fact that you just get into the groove, and just when everything seems to be going at full speed, it ALL changes. So I appreciate the letters honestly. The wedding is coming!! That’ll be a great p day. I love pictures by the way! Just saying...I’m so happy for all of you and the things that you are going through. Just keep God first and everything will turn.

(My favorite Family...so far and way hard to say goodbye)
So this we week was a whirlwind of emotions. I left my 1st area! I now am in an area called "Gorlovka" and Elder Frandsen is my new comp. He is the same age on the mission as Elder Smith, one transfer older than me. So pretty much nothing, when it comes to Russian; we're both pretty lost haha, but it’s coming, slowly. The best analogy that I have heard yet with the Russian language and actually speaking and understanding it, is "it’s like watching grass grow, you can’t see or notice the improvement but it’s happening"...it’s true, I can speak Russian a bit and understand a bit but compared to when I first got into country I have improved. It gets SO frustrating some times. I'll be talking on the phone and understanding everything, then the VERY NEXT phone call, it just sounds like gibberish...das;lghkegodifgu!! Learning Russian itself has taught me a ton about patience and it definitely shows me how weak I am. The mission for me is a pattern; as soon as you start feeling comfortable with anything...chigga chigga choo choo, here comes the humble pie. It’s good though, I’m learning so much. So my comp is a boss, the BIGGEST BYU fan EVER, I love him so much. Our area is the other "armpit" of the mission I guess. I think it’s great though cuz I have water! Whenever I have to take a shower or wash clothes or for anything that has to do with water...I can do it!! I don’t have to wait till the water turns on, AND my apt is actually warm! No more going to bed in sweats and my hoodie! WHOO! I love it. We already have 7 lessons set up for this week!! That is UNREAL! That’s double my last area! I am in love with my district too. oh and my first day here my comp tells me we have rats...then I saw one like 29 min after he said that! Last night I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I saw a fat rat run under our shower and the weird thing about it was it didn’t even faze me haha. We’ll catch them some time.

(after a night of Rat parties!!!)
I love my area, my comp, and just everything except for the FREEZING weather. I’ve really learned the principle of charity lately. Love…. just do it. It makes life so much better. Do everything with a smile or at least with a smile in your heart, because things are just easier that way. It’s not worth it to complain, or to have bad feelings built up inside you. In my mission I’m learning to see the good in everything. It’s hard especially here but it seriously makes life way better. Anyways, I’m doing great. Satan is just a sorry soul who didn’t get it, and he tries to take his anger out on everyone. I truly feel sorry for him. Being on my mission I thought I would be away from the "world" but this place blows America out of the water with how much people focus on having nice things, it’s really sad. Well, actually America is pretty bad too, BUT the important thing is to just put God first and everything will be ok. I love you all
have a great week!

- Старейшина Руни


Breakfast table with Elder Smith

" Here, eat...it's an old soviet tradition!"

HI everyone!
Thanks SOOO much for writing me! I don’t have much time to day b/c we went to a place called "Slavnie Gorsk” I’ll send some pictures, it took us 4 hours to go each way, but it was sooooo worth it! It’s supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Ukraine. I’ll tell you about one of the coolest things ever about what happened there. So this place is considered holy ground, which means girls have to cover their heads at all times. We took off our tags (which is WAY weird to do) and did the cultural Ukraine for once, it was AWESOME. So, we were walking up to a temple that is literally built out of the side of the mountain and kind of reminds me of Lord of the Rings and Sister Ward in my district starts talking to this random lady. Well after a while, she invites us to go with her and the rest of the people there worshipping that day to go have a free lunch in one of the rooms next to a temple. Being missionaries, always hungry, and poor...we quickly agreed. We just follow a large group of people in to this eating hall thing and there are a ton of tables set up with fat pots, borsht and others Ukrainian soups. We all go and sit down at a table. It reminded me almost of when we feed the homeless. Anyways, as I sat down having no idea if we're allowed to eat or not, everyone stands up all at the same time and starts quietly singing an old Slavic hymn ( which I think is a prayer actually ) and the Russian priests come out and everything! The priests have GIANT beards so I’m obviously stoked on that cuz I want one super bad...but after the hymn, they all sit down and grub. It was like having a giant family dinner but with 100 people. The priests I guess make the food and you eat till you can’t anymore. It was SOOO COOOL!! Everyone helped dish each other’s food and everyone helped clean up. The food was interesting but I was just in awe of everything going on. Everyone is Russian orthodox and so they worship icons. Inside temples, you won’t be able to find one part of the wall that isn’t painted or covered with a picture of Mary, Phillip, Jesus, Baby Jesus....etc. From a cultural stand point, it was AWESOME, but from a religious stand point...it was way eerie. I had a blast though.




This week is my last week in 1st area! I’m about to get my second companion and I’m super sad to leave. I love Elder Smith with all my heart. It was super nice to be with someone who is on the same page concerning missionary work. Ever since I met Elder Bennett and Brother Richardson, my mission has literally changed and I couldn’t be more grateful. I hate transfers by the way; I just hate getting into the groove with a new companion. Things are finally getting comfortable and my district is getting WAY close...and of course I get transferred :). But I’m excited, change is good. I’m blown away at the ridiculous amount of emotions that my mission has thrown at me. OH and Satan...I don’t like him very much. I know that my trials help me become stronger and become closer to God, but jeez they can be hard sometimes. I went and saw a doctor about my itchiness...they took my blood? It was sketchy to say the least haha, good experience though. They think it’s related to stress, so now I get to talk to a woman who is serving a mission in Germany, and she just talks to missionaries in Europe and of the Europe East Russia (EER) all day about stress...its way cool! I love it, we have one hour appointments over the phone and she teaches through using the scriptures. My itching never stops and hasn’t stopped since the MTC, but I’m adapting to it. I don’t sleep at night very well...ever, but we're trying to fix that. Don’t worry, I really am doing fine it’s just that lack of sleep gets annoying sometimes. I ate the NASTIEST thing I’ve ever eaten on my mission by the way. I have the mindset that I’m only here once, so might as well do it right and try everything! So I did...it was an "old soviet tradition"...we were at the famous Dacha and we were fed a soup thing that included gretcha and nasty goose....that wasn’t that bad, the bad part was that Valentyn gives me a piece of bread, cuts about 1/3 of a raw onion and puts it on top of the bread, then absolutely SMOTHERS the onions and bread in mayonnaise....and says " here, eat...its an old soviet tradition." My stomach will never be the same. I hear that a bridal shower is coming up? I want pictures ASAP! I’m so proud of my family! I love you all sooo much. The mission is truly the best 2 years for my life. Hands down the hardest thing I have ever done, but I am eternally gratefully for every second of it. Happy Halloween too!

k I have to head out but I love you all!

- Старейшина Руни


More work at the Docha, cutting down trees with a hand saw and goats....



Wait for it.....wait for it... oweeee, it bit me!!!

Still learning and growing...

Wow, it was soooo great to hear from my family this week. Not saying that sometimes are better than others but for some reason, I was especially grateful to hear from you all. I love you all so much. Dad, I never got a package from you...sssooooo it might have gotten "ukrained" as we like to say. Also, I’m kinda feeling this winter out with what I can handle to see if I need to buy a big coat, but for now I’m doing fine with layers. This was probably the best week of my mission thus far. soooooo, here we go.
Last Wednesday was the youth broadcast for the EER (Europe East Russia) for all the YSAs (Young single Adult) and then later for priesthood and anyone one who had a teaching Calling. It was amazing, Elder Bennett from the quorum of the Seventy, Brother Richardson, the 2nd counselor of the general Sunday school presidency, and Brother Gibson of the general young Men presidency were all there. Brother Richardson was the guy who spoke about hiking in Conference and Elder Bennett about paying attention to the warning signs and swimming in a rip tide. Anyways, after the first meeting with all the youth, there was a break between meetings, and the Assistants to the Mission President say that Elder Bennett wants to speak with all of the missionaries asap. So we were all excited but also kinda nervous cuz it sounded like some chastising was coming our way. So we get in a small room with only the missionaries in our area, so maybe 25 of us and that was all. And he spoke to us....it changed my mission. He starts off by telling us that he is on assignment to come put this broadcast together by Pres Monson. And that he didn’t know why he was to come to Donetsk of all places when he could have gone to Kiev or Moscow where there are actually people that would show up, and where there are stakes...but no...here in little dinge Donetsk where maybe only 50 people tops were there. So he has a specific Assignment to talk with the people and in the middle of the entire thing...he gets this was strong prompting to call a meeting with the missionaries ( the YSA mtg was about eternal marriage so the missionaries didn’t need to be there but were on assignment from our president). He gets in there and had us open to JS history meanwhile telling us that he had nothing prepared b/c he should be doing a broadcast for the entire EER shortly. We start reading the account of the 1st vision, and then he stops us and asks us what happened to joseph during the 1st vision. So being missionaries and having the 1st vision on lock, we tell him. Then in the middle of the account when reading, he stops at the part when Satan comes into to play...and points out that the only thing that Satan could do was bind Joseph's tongue. Then he stops ( btw he is the most loving person and is on the verge of tears) and says that he’s sad that we were even at the broadcast when people were outside "perishing" and we were in side not helping them. But because we were on assignment by our president, it was ok because our mission president has stewardship over his mission and the keys to run it. He then gave us a whole lesson on why Satan binds our tongues and as missionaries even we let it happen let alone when we are just regular people without the tag. It was POWERFUL. he asked some questions and only a few people the entire meeting participated, and it was cool because he said that the spirit can work through when we put ourselves out there ( which is an interesting topic to study ) so I participated...I literally only answered a question and gave my thoughts and my opinion. It was one of the spiritual experiences I’ve had on my mission. The love of God just took over every inch of my body. And all I did was put myself out there. He also said that this mission is hard b/c it’s still in the "Covered wagon stage", and that "because it’s still in the covered wagon stage, we need to teach like Samuel Smith did and talk to everyone". This may not sound very powerful in this letter b/c I’m not the best writer, but I’m not kidding...it was powerful and I just wish you all could have been there to experience it for yourself. The meeting went on for 1.5 hours and the whole time he didn’t care that was missing a huge broadcast to speak to 25 missionaries. He then goes on to say that he could have ignored the prompting but he didn’t and that that night he did as Joseph did, and unbound his tongue. He opened his mouth. I’m not sure if I can even grasp how hard that must have been for him. When he traveled all this way to speak to the entire EER and then bounced to talk to a handful of missionaries. The days that followed were some of the best days of missionary work ever. We got nothing for our area, got 4 referrals for our sisters in the Center area and I’ve never felt like such a missionary, never felt so productive. My mind set has changed and if the only person that took effect with that meeting on wed was me?...it was worth it. God works in mysterious ways. I’ve never been so tempted and worked on by the adversary in my life but at the same time I’ve never been and felt so blessed. We have to experience the depths of sorrow in order to feel the highest of joy. I love this mission. I love the lessons I’ve learned. From so of my studies, I’ve learned an interesting concept. We need not to just believe in Christ, but we need to BELEIVE Him. There is a HUGE difference. Do I actually believe Him? Sure His teachings are great (not taken lightly) but do I actually Believe Him? Think about that and let me know what your thoughts are. I also had the opportunity to speak with Brother Richardson one on one...he learned how to testify in Russian JUST for this one occasion. When I asked him why he told me " I’m here aren’t I?...might as well give it my all." I look up to people like that with the highest amount of admiration. He is a great example to me. Well this was kinda long but I want you all to know that my testimony is building every day and every day I’m being converted to this Gospel. I love you all so much, oh and I just found out that for Christmas....we're Skyping!! Have a great week!

- Старейшина Руни



Tracting in the neighborhood

Getting Colder....

SUP FAM!
Sounds like everything at home is getting into the groove with school, work, and a MARRIAGE! It’s great to hear from you all. I love you SOOOOOO much. Things here are going well. The weather for starters is ALREADY colder than Utah and it’s not ever NOVEMBER! I’m gunna die out here. The temp isn't that low yet but for some reason it likes to be reallll realllly windy when it’s cold out...:) we're doing great though, we're having a great time. This week will be SO COOL. On wed we are having a Young Single Adult fireside and Elder Bennett and Elder Richardson will be speaking to us and yes, it will be in Donetsk at my branch bldg of all places!! It’s for the whole Europe east area I think. Anyways, I’ll be there and it will be awesome! What won’t be awesome is the fact that there will probably be more missionaries there than actual youth. People here just don’t get it and it breaks my heart. We've been working with a less active named Michael and he has a smoking problem (like everyone else here) and we found out that he really wants to do family history work and the best part is that he has a testimony of it and its way strong. What makes me super frustrated is when the home teacher gets called to go over and help him out with it and does nothing. Then our branch president calls Him AGAIN, and still, the home teacher does nothing. Then I spoke with the branch pres. and he told me that Michael's home teachers just aren’t going over there. So we devised a solution, talk to the family history lady for the branch and the missionaries will go with her to teach him how to use family search. So we go over to her place last night to ask her for her help and she kind of just goes off about how this man doesn’t need family search but that he just needs to stop smoking and all about how he pretty much is a lost cause and how she won’t literally walk 5 min to the NEXT APT COMPLEX and spent one half hour with us, to teach him. And it’s just gets frustrating when I want to just take over everything and get things moving here...but it’s not in my stewardship. My job is to invite others unto Christ....Oh and our branch president hasn’t been to church in a month now. Like my companion has never seen him at church yet :) there are also a ton of other problems about how things are run here and well, it’s not run correctly and I just want to help but it’s not my job. Its soo hard to do missionary work here b/c there is no branch bldg. in my area b/c there aren’t enough people at church. So when I tell people on the streets that our bldg. is in Donetsk...an hour away on buses (b/c no one here has their own car unless you're part of the mafia) they get turned off to everything. There used to be a bldg. in our area but then everyone decided to go inactive and so then they combined braches. And the best part is...that we have an area that the church bought and is ready for construction for a brand new bldg. in our area...but we just need members to come to church then they'll ok it for building. It’s a paradox really, people don’t want to listen to us b/c the church is so far away and its costs a ton of money just to get there and back. But if the members just went to church then they could have a closer bldg. and investigators would come more often. Things here are just slacking. We really do have awesome people who really have a true desire to come to church but the honestly just can’t afford it. as;dlkthaeoith;askldjhg;oearit! Anyways, thanks for letting me vent to you all, I feel better :) other than that, things are great! I’m becoming great at having almost nothing to cook with and making edible things! Now I just have to work on making it all taste good haha.. No really though, we're having a great time together and missionary work is great. My mission prep class is turning out good too. Next week I’m taking my class out to a park right by the church and we're going to practice contacting! We practiced it yesterday in class so next week they get to really experience it, it'll be way fun, and I’m stoked for it. Well, that’s all for this week. We pretty much just looked for all the youth to try and invite them to this fireside on wed b/c it’s our priority for now. I really am super happy though, it’s crazy how when you just trust in God, EVERYTHING will turn out. I love personal study; right now I’m studying the time line of the Book of Mormon, in comparison with the Bible...its super interesting and actually kind of fun to see all the connections. Well, I’m going bowling right now so I hope you all have an AWESOME week! I love you all!


- Старейшина Руни

Conference is the BEST THING EVER!!

Those were the sickest pictures EVER!!! The family sounds like all is well! I’m sure the pepper eating contest was a waaaay funny. it reminds me of when we had family reunion in California and we went fishing out of Davey's Locker and me and Nate threw the live bait in our mouths...good times. I honestly have the Raddest family ever. It sounds like things are getting crazy with an upcoming WEDDING!! Blows my mind, can’t get over that still. That'll be a fun P-day getting all of those pictures. We got to watch General Conference in our native tongues!! It was the best thing ever!!! President Monson is getting funnier and funnier. It’s good to see that having a sense of humor is allowed in the church... I think people need to loosen up a bit, especially here haha. I can’t choose a favorite talk b/c they were all sooooo good. It annoys me that I never took advantage of General Conference before my mission, but that’s just another reason why the mission is sooooo important. It really is the Best 2 years for my life. It’s my (and anyone one who has served) school for eternity. Watching General Conference made me way trunky haha, but not in a sense that I wanted to come home really bad, but it made me just want to get my life after the mission started already so I can FINALLLLLLLY apply everything that I’ve learned. Never letting the mission leave you is something that I want to strive to happen when I get back. Families are forever, and there is NOTHING greater. That’s why we're here. AHH I love the Gospel so much. And it makes me sad that I’m just BARELY allowing it to REALLY change my life and I’m a missionary. The more I learn about the Gospel the more I realize that I don’t know a thing! And it’s so hard to see the people here, that much further away from it all. This truly is an Inexhaustible Gospel. What I’ve learned a ton on my mission is seeing things as they really are. After reading a ton of conference talks and byu devotionals out here, you begin to see patterns in the way prophets and apostles speak and write. Neal A Maxwell almost ALWAYS brings that reference up in his talks. It’s SOO crucial to see things as they really are, and to have that eternal perspective about everything. PMG (preach my gospel) is becoming more and more inspired as I dig into it. Here's an interesting concept about having an eternal perspective I think is from PMG....but think of all the people that you associate with every day, even the ones that you might not have the strongest feelings for...they still are just like you in that they also have the full opportunity if they choose, to become like God. Crazy. Changes your view about them doesn't it? I love getting all of your letters! I feel your love. Know that I love you all soooo much, but that God loves you perfectly. Keep working hard and keep being missionaries! None of us are perfect, I know I’m definitely not but this is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day SAINTS. I like the quote that I heard that I have absolutely no idea who wrote it but..."saints are just sinners who kept going". So don’t EVER stop trying and moving forward with your Eternal Goals, and let’s stop living below our privileges! I love you all!! Have a great week!


- Старейшина Руни



Our Branch President and his family...


Bath time, with a little help from a friend, Valentin.... can't wait for winter :o)


The neighborhood....

Mission Prep Class

FAMILY!
NO letter today from anyone?? wooooooow....there's only 5 of you that could write.....its ok I forgive you ;) . You’re all lucky I had a killer week!! So I hope things are go well at home. A lot can happen in a week! How was general conference?!!! I get to watch it in my native tongue in a week when all the translations are done. I guess they put all the missionaries in a room at the church and we chillllll all day and watch conference together! I’m way stoked. Kendra sent me a dearelder!!!!! Kendra! Thank you so much!! You’re the best. Letters mean a lot here so thank you!! I’m glad to hear that all is well Kendra; you'll be a way dope cub mom! Just make cookies and play with fire and all the kids will love you :) keep up the good work, and I’m glad you remembered I like VEGAS ROLLS!!! We’re going again when I get back. Kyle, my man I haven’t heard from you...write me a.s.a.p. fool. Anyways, I love you all and I hope you all have a good week!
This past week was way good. Yesterday was fast Sunday...I love fast Sunday! But other than the sacrament the coolest part was my mission prep class I started!! Sunday we planned everything out and how we wanted to run it and kind of just went for it. After our zone conference I was really motivated with getting youth to serve missions b/c by how it looks now, there won’t be a very strong leadership in the church here if the youth don’t shape up. And we know that temples are going to scatter this land like South America...so I hope that I can help move that prophecy along. So after zone conference there were a ton of ideas that people came up with to try and help the youth here, then I thought back to what helped get me motivated to serve a mission and that was the mission prep classes. It was way cool b/c actually went through with something and did it. Ideas are easy to get going but when it comes down to actually doing something, that’s were people slack (including me). So, we got permission from our branch president and got the word out. There are 2 in our branch that are working on papers to go so that’s who we're aiming toward. B/c we want them to get stoked so that they will get their friends stoked. So we had 2 in our class on Sunday but one of them is debating whether or not he wants to serve and the other is solid. The other person working on his papers didn’t show up but we'll get him next week! It was way cool, it was in a little nursery room but it was all good b/c Sasha (21) said that he felt the spirit and that’s all that matters to me. Another reason why it was so rad was b/c I led the WHOLE thing...in Russian. CRAZY!!! My Russian is so bad but God makes weak things become strong and everything worked out perfectly! So that was yesterday....on Tuesday we contacted this drunk dude on the streets, which we never do. They chose to give up their agency so why would we talk to them right? Wrong...this one was pretty toasted but we decided to go through with it, his Name is Nikol. Anyways we called him Saturday along with another contact that we contacted into and we have 2 new investigators!!!! Nikol blew me away with how prepared he is and it was just another lesson to me that even though we see people who are drunk out of their minds EVERY day...they still need the Gospel too. I’m definitely not perfect so that gives no room to judge. I learn a ton of lessons out here, and I have more and more respect for those that served before me because this is no joke. If I wasn’t on the Lord's errand....I’d be dead out here already haha. Just kidding...but probably. The weather is getting way cold and our apt has no insolation, yup its freezing. I wear a hoodie and sweats to bed already! And the worst part is, that it’s supposed to get 80 DEGREES COLDER!! Last year was a MILD winter I guess and the lowest it got was 40 degrees F in the NEGATIVE....yup, it was nice knowing ya. I’m loving life right now, seriously I feel the love of God so much and I can’t wait to go home so that I can actually apply the things I learn. I figure that I learn a ton of lessons on the mission, buts it’s not until you're on your own to apply them, that’s when things really count. I love being a missionary. It’s so hard, but its way rewarding, this Gospel truly is the Inexhaustible Gospel. I love you all!

- Старейшина Руни

Zone Conference

HIIIII!!!!
That’s crazy that my buddy is in your area!!! He served in Taiwan but then had an infection of some sort then got sent to our mission! crazzzzzzyyyyy we were just talking about him too! Small world. It was great to hear that Alex is official now! Way to be!!! I love hearing about what’s going on at home. Chris Hunt is now married...blows my mind. I love life.
This past week was great! we had zone conference that went for 2 days and from what i got out of it is that we need to start working more with the youth who are ready and worthy to serve missions...and if they're not worthy, we need to get them there! there are 550 members in just the one center Donetsk branch but only 70 are active...there are 650 youth in the age ready to serve missions in my whole mission and only 135 of them are active and only 6 of them are on missions, and the majority of them are girls. So, with that i decided to start a mission prep class for all the youth that are of the age and i just got it approved on Sunday!! I felt like i was in ASB all over again, it was fun to brainstorm what could be done to help the youth. This transfer so far is going great. There are a ton of inactive members in my area that we are going to find! My area used to be bumping and now is one of the slowest areas in the mission, but that’s changing little by little. K so here’s the miracle for the week. We just finished service at the Dacha and Valentyn calls us when we just got home and says something about sis Hatch (senior couple) lost her passport and dredit cards and stuff like that and that he wants us to call Elder hatch and tell him about it....so we tried and no one answered. sooooo, i thought that this was weird b/c the Hatchs were in Harkov with president Campero for the Zone conference up there (8 hours away) and then i got a phone call about Sister Hatch's stuff in the Don Bass (where i live) I guess what happened is that her purse was stolen while at the zone conference and everything was taken except for the passport, credit cards, and a planner; the rest was gone. A woman found the "stash" and looked in the planner and saw a number so she called it. That number was to a woman who lives in the Don Bass who was a member of the church but not active. Then the woman in the Don Bass had no idea who Sis Hatch was so she called someone she thought might know....Valentyn. He then called us. He ends up getting a hold of my branch President who was with President Camero in Harkov...making full circle back to Sis. Hatch. They got the personals back to sister Hatch. So here's why it’s a miracle in a few ways. Earlier that day, Valentyn tells us that he had prayed for a miracle but didn’t know what he wanted...he just wanted one. Also, up in Harkov (being missionaries) they prayed specifically that Sister Hatchs things would "fall into good hands". So....everything turned out perfectly AND the lady who found the passport is now taking the lessons....God's plan is perfect. Oh and to top it all off, from the time that they noticed the purse gone and after the prayer that was said....it only took 8 min to locate it...which means God's plan was already deep into action before they even found out that the purse had gone missing....yup, i was blown away too. Anyways the weather here feels like at home and it’s the craziest thing but the snow is coming soon so that will all go away haha, i love you all!
Have a great week!

Transfers

WOW
What a week, sounds like it was a dream come true. I’m so proud of my family!! Way to do missionary work, one down...only 1000000000034659028437502938750293845 to go :) who's next? Really though, I couldn’t be happier for Alex, its sounds like she gets it. There are a ton of members who aren’t at that stage yet. DAD!! How many baptisms have you done?! Classic...I’m glad it all worked out. Keep up the good work guys; it’s so nice to have a family who is willing to work with missionaries, that’s VERY rare out here, so you guys are a huge blessing. Kimi and Nate are getting married, Kyle is a SENIOR in high school, and Cami has a dope job with Matt Frisbie...blows my mind. It’s great to hear from you all.
This week was a whirlwind of emotions. My trainer left me....that was way harder than I expected. We became a great companionship after these few months together. the mission throws everything at you...it was hard because we both put so much effort into our companionship and now I have to do it all over again. Well, the good news is that my new comp is elder Jordan Smith...yup sis Love's grandson that was in the MTC with me, from Chino. He is in his 4th transfer and I’m in my 3rd....and the whole Russian language thing, well....it’s coming. Our district this transfer is way young. we have 6 and 2 are training ( who haven’t been out a year yet), which means 2 of them just got to the country less than a week ago, and then there is me and my comp, its gunna be crazy. I’ve noticed that whoever your companion is, in the beginning of the transfer...it’s kind of hard adjusting. I just know that we'll get into the groove and turn this place upside down. We FINALLY got a hold of a "ward" list so now we have that to work with which is huge. I have met with only 7 members/ families since I’ve been here (and 2 of those are inactive) and now with this heaven sent list...turns out that we have 52 members in our area!!! This and 5 of those members/ families are active...we've got some work to do. So we had a miracle yesterday but I have to start the story from the beginning. About a month ago I would say, we went contacting (as usual) and ran into a man who was baptized but is completely inactive. His name is Michael (Mee-kh-i-el) and said that we could meet with him. Then I met with him only once after that. We called him yesterday morning and asked if we could meet and he said yes!!! So we get there with a lesson about how to break an addiction because he related a bunch of his problems to smoking and that he wanted to stop (at our last meeting). So we start and everything is going well, then it was as if he got way offended and he told us not to bring up smoking again...so we agreed went on to our back up plan...the Restoration. We asked him if he wanted a blessing and he said yes, but that he didn’t want to sit but to kneel as we gave it. That was powerful. That let us know that he has a testimony and really wanted to change...we will meet with him next week I hope. So that was great but when we got back to our apt I called our branch president to report that we had given a blessing. turns out that our branch president had called about 10 days earlier just to see how things were going and Michael told him of his no job and bad health. The branch president then offered to come for a blessing and Michael said not at that time but in the future....that blessing was given yesterday. We had no idea that branch president had that conversation with him. God's hand is in everything! I’m learning so much right now during my personal studies, that’s “MY TIME" and I love it. Also I’m becoming a pretty good cook :) well, my new companionship will be great and I’m excited for the upcoming transfer. The weather here is stupid. It is EXACTLY like California right now and every time I’m outside if I were to close my eyes....I would be home. Anyways, that’ll change in a few weeks when its starts snowing and getting dark at 4 pm :) I love you all and have another GREAT week for me!

End of Summer :(

Hey guys!
Great to hear from you mom and kimi! Thanks for hooking me up with some good things to read. Sounds like Alex is gunna pull through with the baptism! That’s great. I pray for her b/c its coming fast and this is when Satan will whip out the big guns so Alex...you got this, you're making literally the best decision of your life so hang in there. Other than that, Kyle is a senior in high school which still blows my mind and kimi is getting married....and cami sounds like she’s living the dream. Mom that’s dope that your new principle is Mormon! Way to 9 hours a day! I finally know what that feels like haha; and Dad it’s still weird for me that you're not bishop anymore more but it’s got to be great with all the extra family time.
Well, this week was not eventful in the least bit. The mission is crazy with all the ups and downs. I have transfers on Thursday where I’ll get a new companion!! I’ve heard that I’m staying in my area and that a young comp is coming to me, as in I was with them in the MTC, as in we both don’t speak Russian haha. Its going to be a blast though b/c so far its sounds like the sister in our district will be training and the other missionary will be training as well....young district!!! I’m sad to leave my trainer cuz we've become way tight. He was a friend from BYU before my mission, like we would chill together and now the mission has brought us way close. I’m STOKED to get a new companion though.



The summer days here are over; the weather went from hot to cold in 2 days literally so we're expecting not to see the sun here soon. I guess in the winter it is ALWAYS overcast and the sun goes down at 3:30 - 4 ish and by 4:30ish it’s as if it was midnight....crazy, I guess you literally don’t see the sun for 6 months!! I will be a ghost :) As for Victor he didn’t come to church and we didn’t get to meet with him! When we called him his whole demeanor changed and it was as if he were a different person. I hope that he doesn’t drop us. But I met another AWESOME person on a bus named Andrei; he was in the Soviet Army's Special Forces and is in love with the missionaries. He’s this short stalky guy who is always calling us and letting us know the scores to all the "Shocktor" games (Ukraine’s pro team, means Miners) and he said that since we live in a dangerous area that if we call him he will "take care of us". I honestly feel safe now here I’m not even kidding. We had a great first lesson with him while I was on a split and he fed us this soup stuff that I thought was way good although I didn’t really ask what was in it nor did I want to find out.
Well, honestly that’s all for this week but next week will be a great letter b/c I’ll be going in to my next stage as a missionary! As for the package, I would really like the Voice male cds please!! Especially Christmas! Just burn them and send them over if possible! I’ll try to send pictures today, but most times the card reader thing doesn’t work haha but I’ll try :)
I love you all! Sorry this was a short letter, honestly NOTHING happened this week. But I love you and Have an AWESOME weeeeeek!

- Старейшина Руни

Victor!

hey family!
I love getting your emails and hearing everything that’s going on. Sounds like things are pretty rock solid. It’s great to hear about Alex and her progression in the Gospel. I can’t wait for her to really let it change her life. I still have no idea what’s going on with Cami! but I talked to kimi...everything is going great so I hear. Dad, it’s funny that you mentioned the house becoming empty b/c I was JUST talking with my comp that everyone is leaving the hectic Rooney residence which is definitely a change. I realized that when I get back from this whole mission thing I will be at school, Kimi will be long gone, Kyle will barely be home if at all ( depending what he does for school), and Cami will most likely be out too. So it'll be just the old Folks at home! That’ll be a first...I’m not sure how much I like it to be honest haha. But change is good and is necessary for us if we want to progress. Mom and Dad I just want to say thank you. You've created and helped developed 4 little machines that are all strong in the Gospel. You 2 did it right. Every once in a while I try and picture what kind of father I want to be and all I see is this dude named Mike Rooney...who surfs. And I mean it...and I know that you (Dad) are who you are today b/c of Moji Rooney. So thank you both.
This week was great! The time flies by literally. So I have great experiences ALL the time and those who have been on missions know that it’s impossible to write home and tell about every single one no matter how fast you can type. So I’ll just stick with one for this week....it’s a good one :) So....we have AN investigator, his name is Victor and he's a doctor for the miners who get in wrecks. He's a great guy and I’m sure I’ve told you a bit about him. Well the Spirit helped us find him and well I just gets better. So we decided to call him Saturday morning and he agreed to meet with us! We called a member named Vadeem to come with us but he couldn’t....sooo we called up our branch president to come with us b/c we thought he needed to be able to relate to someone. Our branch president said he could make so that was RAD. The ENTIRE lesson was guided by the Spirit and was near perfect. I remember the branch president brought up an experience he had with priesthood blessings which was cool but it was completely off topic. but it was exactly what Victor needed to hear ( of course it was) then the rest of our lesson was perfect and not really at all what we planned but that’s the beauty of the Spirit. So I called him Sunday morning to see if he could make it to church which is at least 45 min away on 2 buses. he works 7am to 7pm and we were at his house till 9 the night before so we were hesitant to see what his response would be...I spoke with him and he pretty much said that he needed to sleep (I called at 8 30 ish in the morning b/c our 2nd bus leaves with all the members on it at 9 30 and we still had to get on our first bus....so he was tired). So I left that conversation with a “bummer, we'll get him next week". We get on our first bus and are about 3 min away from the second and my companion gets a phone call from a random number and almost didn’t pick it up...but good thing he did cuz it was Victor, and said that he was already at the second bus!!!!!! how he got there BEFORE us? No one knows but he ended up coming to church with us for the 1st and 2nd hour!! But not us, the other missionaries in my district had people show up too! And randomly some members brought friends to church...there were 6 investigators at church yesterday :) God delivered, big time. Gospel principles was a blast b/c they ALL stayed for that class. it was NUTS! plus it was fast Sunday which can be good and bad for investigators...we have a few crazies in our branch that like to talk about kolob and how long it takes to get there...and this old guy (not a member) comes almost every week and he literally thinks that he is God. So we always have to make sure investigators don’t talk to him very long. But if those investigators were at church that day...its b/c God wanted them there so. I don’t speak Russian so I can’t really tell you what the testimonies were about but I’m sure they were good ones :). anyways, I had a great week and have another one coming...transfer calls are this week so next week I’ll be in my 3rd transfer already....crazy. I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

PS: things that would be great in a package include:
- Beanies/ ear muff things
-maple extract
- Gatorade powder for drinks
- Hot chocolate packets

I met this man named Richard who is with the Peace Corps and lives right next to us! he's 28 and a BOSS

...here are some pictures from a carnival for Makeevka's 321st birthday!!! no big deal...

Language lessons....

HIII FAMILY!!
Sounds like things are going very well at home! The Girls are just living the dream and Kyle is doing work with El Dorado. Mom and Dad...thanks for all that you have taught me. Keep up the good work!
This week was a mazing and absolutely flew by. To start things off...we were going through our area book and meant to call a guy named Vladimir...well my comp thought I said Victor, so randomly we got an appointment with Victor and had a first lesson that went AMAZINGLY well. He is a doctor, which out here is not a very high paying job, and has a small humble family. Well, we taught him again and it was all in English which is a major blessing. it went even better the second time. I’ve had the spiritual experience on this mission already and in still a greenie...anyways we have very high hopes for this man. We will take our branch mission leader on out next lesson so they can relate to each other. Also, this week I had my first greenie split!!!! It was a blast; he has only been out a few weeks. I got a taste of what it was like to train a bit actually. It was his second time contacting his WHOLE mission so his Russian wasn’t the best and his people skills weren’t the best either. It was way cool to see the other side of the companion ship. I’ve been on 5 splits now so I have gotten to see how other missionaries work and it was his first time for everything. In this mission we contact a ton because the members well...they just aren’t "missionary" minded. The church organization here is a nightmare. so by week 2 for me I was used to contacting and getting OWNED by people on the streets and its was this guy's 2nd time only....it was good though, for both not knowing how to speak Russian, we still pulled off 2 contacts and had a lesson on the street for about 20 min...The gift of tongues is SO REAL. I really have a strong testimony that if you do your part HONESTLY,,,then God will do his. Preach My Gospel (PMG) is an amazing book too. The missionaries out here don’t really even use it either! But after watching the Districts a bunch, we compared our numbers with theirs and tried to figure out what they were doing that we weren’t....PMG was the answer. So my comp and I are trying to use it with everything and what do you know...God's plan is perfect. I learned SOOOOOO much on my greeine split and a lot of it was just applying basic gospel principles that taught me a ton. Just do the small and simple things. Well I got word from a reliable source that I’m staying I my area for my 3rd transfer! And I’m getting a young missionary too!! So we both won’t know Russian and I’ll be the guy leading which I’ve done before just not for longer than a day. I’m WAY excited to have a young comp and for the trials that will come with it. I am going to learn so much the nest transfer its gunna be AWESOME! Trials are an interesting concept too, I just have confidence that you get what you make of things, and that through our difficulties is when we grow, so I can’t wait. Tomorrow we will finish up at the Dotcha making a baptismal font with Valentine; and his wife will make us Borsh again....is SOOOOO BOMB. Over all, I’m having the time of my life and I’ve learned so much about myself. God really will give you things if you just ask him and if you are doing your part. His plan is perfect and we just have to trust in it. K, funny Language story for the week; I was talking to a guy named Sash about the plan of salvation, and in Russian if you want anything this to have possession you have to say like "plan of god" instead of "God's plan", then is forces a Case (genitive case if you were wondering) which changes how you say that particular word. Anyways...I said something about the "plan of God" and Sash starts dying of laughter...I guess the word "plan" when used in a possessive way means WEED!!! So I guess I told him all about the weed of God....yeaaaaa. hahaha he just said to say plan of salvation b/c that’s different somehow, don’t know why (as with most cases) but it is. Anyways, have a great week! I love you all!
be happy
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- Старейшина Руни

Wow...what a week!!

KIMI!! What!? about to be married?!! CRAZYYYY!! I’M happy for the both of you! Being on a mission helps me realize how important marriage is! as LeGrand Richards puts it.."honey, what do you think we'll be doing 35 million years from now? Cuz you're stuck with me!!" haha I’m truly am so excited for you two. Well sounds like a crazy week at the Rooney's, that’s what I like to hear! Kyle, when does school start? Are you stoked for ASB man? Cami! How’s work? Bro Frisbie is the man...Mom, summer's almost over!!!!! You better head to the beach! Dad, you're not Bishop anymore and I still can’t wrap my head around that. Keep playing on that Boat.
Time truly flies out here. This week was incredible. First of all, I would like to say that anyone who serves a mission is a Baller. To see the growth that I’ve seen in the short time that I’ve been out is incredible. And to know that i've still got some time out here makes me wonder how much I will learn!! It makes me sad to see some people who have served missions throw away the things that they learn out here right after they get home. The mission is your school for eternity. You can always look back on and reflect on the life/gospel principles that you not only learned about, but experienced firsthand. I will cherish this experience for the rest of my life. So, this week was amazing. We worked at the Dacha again and were blessed with the craziest rain storm I’ve ever experienced. Then we found an in active member of the church who fell off the face of the earth and we randomly (not really) contacted into him. We met with him last night and had a powerful lesson. He's controlled by the addiction of smoking and it’s ruining his life. It’s really sad but we're here to hellp!! Then we found to old investigators in the Area book and well, husband and wife that are AMAZING!!!!! The best lesson so far. I have high hopes for these two. I love my life. It really is a choice whether or not you are happy, and with the Gospel....well; it literally doesn’t get any better. I have such a strong testimony that God has a plan. And it really is prefect for you and me. We just have to trust in it. After studying the topic of Hope, I’ve come to know that Hope is essential to being happy and the best part is, hope is a choice too. SO BEEEEEEE HAPPPPPYYYY that’s one of the reasons why were even HERE in the first place! Well, that’s my 2 cents for this week. I spent all my time today chatting with the best siblings in the world so it’s a short one today! I love you all. Have an awesome week as the summer comes to a close.


- Старейшина Руни

This week in paradise

FAMDIZZLE...
Wow, sounds like the Rooney Hotel was used to capacity this week! That's what I like to hear! YOU SAW A WHALE?! WHAT!? Did anyone touch it? or jump on it? I feel like if I saw a whale that would be the first thing to go through my mind..."jump man, you got this". Gosh I love Catalina! It’s great to hear the boat is getting used. Dad, I still can’t get over the fact that you’re not a Bishop anymore; do you feel like you have a ton of extra time now? I have a job for one of you, Find Sandy Bertha, my friend Alex's mom, and throw her on the my email list b/c she dear elders me ;literally every week and I keep forgetting her email. She’s awesome! Kyle! how was asb camp? You’re gunna be a SENIOR...WHAT? Blows my mind. and what is Kimi's deal? school? BYU? working? possible marriage? I feel like she got home from her mission and she fell off the face of the earth...let me know please :) Sounds like a party at home, as it should be. NATE!! Thanks for the Belt buckle!!! Nobody here understands why that’s funny, but I don’t care haha I think is rad. Mom, I got you're football...thank you so much. I really loved getting it, we'll use it soon. Football is one of the few "get-aways" we can have here to feel American again haha.
K, so this week in paradise (as Mr. Haun would say) was the saddest week ever. But, still the Lord manages to help us endure. In the beginning of last transfer, we were having a ton of success finding people and getting investigators. My companion told me that that was rare, and now I know why. This week, we had 1 investigator lesson...and that was all. Nothing else happened and we worked hard. The reason why it was a sad week, was b/c that lesson we had was with Roza and she dropped us HARD. I've met people here that I have really come to like and only few that I have come to love. Roza was like my investigator mom in the mission. In our lesson, things just didn’t feel the same; she started acting like a normal Ukrainian. It was really weird b/c from the start of that lesson I could tell that things weren’t gunna end well. First of all, I hate Satan, he's....kj;krltihaeigrasr AHHHHH...a meanie for lack of better words. I don’t think I’ve ever been that sad in my life honestly than I did that night when I watched Roza start to reject her very reason for being on the earth, the only thing that will help become truly happy, the BEST thing that could EVER happen to ANYONE...the love of Christ. This Gospel is literally the gateway to happiness and for someone to see that and tell me that she knows what we're teaching her is true and then to reject the very message that will save her from the misery she's feeling....breaks my heart almost literally. When we were about to leave her apt, I gave her the most heartfelt testimony that I could conjure up...I broke down in the middle of it. This was a hard time in my life. To see someone that you care for so deeply just deny feelings of the Holy Ghost...is a hard thing. She lost track of the importance of the Gospel. So that was on Monday, then of course we have a hot week so everyone goes to the sea, as in the streets are literally empty. The members here don’t get it and I know I have a missionary perspective but still, our branch is a wreck. The leadership down the drain except for 2 guys that have their heads on straight other than that, nothing is done properly. We tell them how things are supposed to go down and it just doesn’t get done. A lot of it is because we have a young branch and just everything here honestly isn’t up to par. Things are just tough here, but the good part is, is that I’m learning a ton! God's plan is great that’s for sure...but it’s still perfect and we just have to trust in that. I’m really excited to be on a mission b/c I’ve learned SO MUCH about so many things and I’m just in the beginning of my second transfer! To not come on a mission would literally have been the worst mistake of my life. One thing I’ve learned that I’ve come to apply in my life here is to celebrate your differences. With whoever or whatever...celebrate your differences. I’ve learned that life is AMAZING. The Spirit truly can be with you at all times. I've learned that not getting offended is crucial. Jesus really was the PERFECT example. This gospel is the true plan of happy NESS. God loves you. I love you all too! Missionary work is tough, but I love it. I’m having a great time here, and smiling is always worth it. Have a great week!

- Старейшина Руни

The "Dotcha"

HI FAMILY!!!
Sounds like things are going great at home! It’s good to hear that you're FINALLY putting some use to the boat. Good times with that thing. Well, i actually took notes of things i wanted to write to you all this and of course i left it at my temporary home so we'll see how this goes haha. To start...this week was awesome. The weeks here seem to fly by faster and faster. Some of my way good friends went home last week finishing great missions and that was kinda sad but life goes on. Now we have 2 sisters in our district! One of them is from Laguna Hills and the other is a "mini" missionary, which means she is from this mission and is only serving a transfer. It’s cool to see how girls work and how they keep the boys in line. One of them kinda talks to us like we're in 2nd grade ALL the time. It’s a little ridiculous but she's gunna be an elementary school teacher so it’s understandable.
K wow, this week was a rush. But I’m going to introduce you to a man named Valenteen.

This man helped change my view on life. He is one of the most humble people I’ve ever met in my life. He is an absolute genius. So i met him for the first time on Tuesday, and we went over to his apartment and the first thing he does is try to sell us old soviet things as most older people do. This guy seems kinda crazy but he's way dope. Anyways, after we got acquainted we had a small lesson about miracles. I then asked him to see if he could remember anything in his life that he would consider a "miracle".

He goes on to tell us that he has had 100's. Here are a few...so 2 weeks ago he remembered this girl that he studied with at a university and for some reason really wanted to see her but she moved to Italy and has been living there for 6 years. He prayed one morning and said " God...if it’s not too much, i would like a miracle and i would like to see my friend again....(i forgot her name)..Amen". Well, that day he was sitting on a marshootka (bus) and he saw his friend sitting on another one parked next to his!! He gets out and talks to her and then they go on their way. It was the friend he wanted to see!! and what’s even crazier is that she was only here for 1 DAY...next miracle...so the day we went and saw him for the first time, we walked into his apartment and there was this receipt thing outside his door that he looked at but didn’t pay too much attention too...well he goes on to tell us about another "small" miracle he had. Turns out his shoes broke that day and in the morning he prayed saying..."God if it’s not too much...i need shoes....amen" (those were pretty much his exact words hahah he can speak in broken English). That paper on his door when we walked in was a receipt thing that was mailed to him from New York from his son (who lives there) for 10 PAIRS OF SHOES!!! he prayed THAT morning for shoes and that night he got the notice saying that his son sent him 10 pairs of shoes...isn’t that incredible?! Now, here's a miracle that he considers a "big" miracle. So, something happened to where he decided that he needed a car...you can tell where this one is going...and he prayed to God for a miracle that he might be able to receive a car. So what happens? He goes to the store and sees that there is a drawing just like at the mall where you write down your information and throw it in a big box and they draw your name and you win...which never happens. Well, my good friend Valenteen puts his name in and ends up winning a brand new car. His reasoning for all of these miracles that he receives is that he works hard. Not just hard, but he works his best. He says that we have to show Heavenly Father that we're worth it, and that we're working our hardest for what we have. He has so much faith and he's humble about everything. He is not wealthy in the least bit but works hard for what he needs and God does the rest.

This week we went and did service at his Dotcha. It’s their "summer home" that everyone has but they're usually always in worse shape than where the regularly live so it’s not much of a vacation. So we went there and this place is just a mess that before the mission i would have completely overwhelmed to even look at and to think that people live there would just be impossible. I'll send you some pictures but it made me appreciate yet again, what I’ve been blessed with.


When we were there we made cement out of scratch and started cementing this house he was making. We literally smashed rocks and went to a stream for the water and added this mix thing he had and made our own cement...then used it. The Ukrainians have a different way of doing things which isn’t the best way almost ALL the time but they've been doing it that certain way their whole lives and they don’t want to change their ways...which is why everything here is 50 years in the past and breaking. Anyways, the house we were working on wasn’t nearly close to being done. We asked him what it was for and he said that it was a home for the missionaries and that he had been working on it for 7 years....and that his goal for the rest of the year is to stop everything and work only on this house. He’s amazing...but the sad part is, is that the missionaries definitely won’t be able to live there cuz of how poor the conditions are. I'll send pictures of it and just look around to see what’s holding things up and the place where these people live.
Then they fed us borsh and tea which was way good. But when we ate, we ate outside, sitting on logs cuz the inside of their place well...just wouldn’t have worked out.


So that was our experience with Valenteen at his Dotcha. On Friday he introduced us to his friend Yoory. Yoory is the Number one model ship builder in Ukraine and has the medals to prove it. So if you want a boat just let me know and he'll sell to us haha. The pictures are pretty funny.

This week has been awesome! i think my "greenie fire" has rubbed off on my companion cuz we work hard and are obedient now FINALLY. It’s great to have the spirit with you. I’ve really learned that you have to qualify for the spirit; it doesn’t just come on in to your life. I’ve also learned that everything goes better if you have an eternal perspective and it’s so easy to love people when you do that...even drunk people that want to end your life haha. I’ve also come to realize how important it is to have Hope and I’m really going to dig in to the meaning "perfect brightness of hope". Here in this mission, things don’t usually turn out the way you hoped, but with hope...your attitude changes and everything doesn’t seem so bad.


I’ve also really come to realize that if people don’t want to listen to you...it’s not that you are a bad missionary; it’s just not their time yet. And our job is to find those who are prepared, and usually those people find us. Anyways, i love this work and i love the trials i go through because that’s what’s shaping me. If you want to be happy and full of joy...serve someone. I love you all!! Have a great week!!

- Старейшина Руни