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