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!!!