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
--
- 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