A Snowy Week

January 27, 2014

Just a warning at the beginning here, this email will be a little shorter than they usually are. As I am sitting at the computer, I cannot for the life of me remember what my companion and I have done in the past week. I looked at Elder Bechthold and asked him what he is writing home about and his answer reflected my situation, “Honestly, I do not know of anything worth writing.” So we are both here staring at our screens just waiting for something to come to our minds worth writing about.

I’ll start off with the growing political situation in Ukraine. Those of you who have been paying attention to the news are probably aware of the riots in Kiev. Up to last week this has not really affected me, except for the fact that people want to talk about the president rather than the gospel. People have begun to form their own rallies. They are small right now, only fifty people, but it slowly grows, and more and more feel the need to raise their voice. President K asked that all the missionaries make sure that we have a seventy two hour kit in our apartments. As such, we had to drop our planned activities and prepare that immediately on Wednesday.

On one of the days earlier in the week, we actually had six inches of snow fall. As such, I had the idea to buy some shovels and walk around the city asking people if they needed help with their walks. A couple of people were happy to accept, but most of them preferred to go about doing the work themselves. Maybe it’s weird for two Americans dressed in a tie and slacks to come up and offer to clean your driveway. What ended up being more effective was going to the houses of members and shoveling for them. They were all very happy and surprised to see us outside their door.

On Thursday we had set up a lesson with this old babushka that lives alone and is in a wheel chair. The last time I tried to visit, I called in the morning to confirm the appointment and she immediately hung up the phone when she heard my name. I called back again and she said we were not welcome. So last Sunday I talked to her and she wanted us to come over again. Thursday morning I called to confirm the appointment and the same thing happened as before, I said my name and she hung up. This time we just decided to stop by anyway. I bought some flowers for her along the way in case she had company, so we could give her the present and head out. But when we arrived there was no one there and she was more than happy to have us over. I have no idea about the phone calls and have just decided that it’s best just to go to her house no matter what. She thanked us for the flowers and showed her appreciation by feeding us pickled tomatoes. Not one of my favorite things to eat there.

I have also found out who my next companion will be. His name is Elder D and I will be staying with him here, however in a different apartment, which is a huge blessing because our current one is the least expensive in the whole mission and the quality lives up to the price. Also, Elder K, who was my trainer will be coming here to serve next transfer which I am way excited for, because he is just a great person to be around.

That sums up the news from my week. This next one should prove to be more interesting.

Best,

Elder Hancock

This Week’s Pics!

“Christmas is coming…”

“Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!”

If you are thinking of sending anything to Elder Chris for Christmas, NOW is the time to get it mailed.

The mission address is:

Elder David Christopher Hancock
vul. Yabluneva 1
s. Sofiivska Borshahivka
Kyevo-Svyatoshinskiy rayon
Kyivska oblast  08131
UKRAINE

 

The official way to say “Merry Christmas” in Russian is:

“S rozhdyestvom Hristovym!”

which means “Congratulations on the birth of Christ!”

 

You can use the universal:

“S prazdnikom!”

which is translated as “Happy holiday!”

 

The most popular way to say it is:

“Schastlivogo Rozhdestva!”

which is Russian for “Merry Christmas”

Small Miracles

October 21, 2013

Things turned around this week. The assistants, Elder P and Elder S, came down to do exchanges with my companionship. I went out with Elder P and we actually found noticeable success in our work. We walked around trying to contact people, and one person I stopped was interested in seeing the church so we received his contact info. Elder P talked with a man who was Russian Orthodox, and he found out we baptize at eight years old and became way excited. He said he thinks it’s ridiculous to baptize babies and wants to have a lesson this Friday. By the end of the day we had four phone numbers to contact. It doesn’t sound like much but was more than what the previous four days brought.

The real miracle though happened with my companion and the other assistant, Elder S. They were walking around with a box full of pamphlets and copies of the Book of Mormon when an old woman, V, walked up saying they were there for a purpose and God led her to them. She took a Restoration pamphlet and called the very next day, saying she had read the whole pamphlet and had questions. We met with her a couple hours later.

Her life is pretty rough right now. V was on her way to the pharmacy to pick up medication because she planned on committing suicide that day, but then she saw the two missionaries. Apparently, her husband has been abusing her and it has come to the point that she does not want to live anymore. V said the following, “I thought God was done with me. I am seventy years old. But now that I have met you I know there is still more to be done.”

We answered her questions and invited her to come to church. We walked her to her apartment afterward, which helped me understand why things are so desperate. This place was three feet wide and maybe sixteen feet long. It had a stove, sink, table and refrigerator; but that was it. The atmosphere inside was extremely humid, hot and smelled awful. We agreed to help her get some things fixed up with the place and will probably go and do that soon.

V is now our first official investigator and I was able to teach my first lesson. She did come to church on Sunday and stayed for the full three hours. It was an ideal situation, because as soon as she sat down in Sacrament Meeting, a member began talking to her and walked Valentina from one meeting to the other. We will be meeting again soon.

Our zone conference was on Friday. President Klebingat focused the meeting on better understanding the doctrine of Christ. He was able to give us some great insights and has a deep knowledge of the scriptures. One moment that stood out was when a missionary asked how we continue to develop and grow into better people. President Klebingat gave an insightful answer: “To know joy, you must first know pain. Becoming the person God wants us to be is not the easy path.” That comment struck me and has been on my mind for a good portion of time now.

This coming week looks promising. We have several meetings with members set up and may have an opportunity for service. Learning Russian is slow but I am slowly understanding more words. I’m comparing it to a situation where you drop a dollar in a jar every day for a year. In the beginning it does not look like much progress has been made, but over time the pile grows and before too long it is noticeably large. It just takes patience and long suffering.

До свидания, и покой.

Старейшина Ханкок