The Old Woman of Volodimir Volynsk

Heya!

I hope you all are healthy and happy.  I pray for it a lot :)

Things of interest -- I was in Rivne on exchanges with the Zone leaders.  Rivne is a great place.  I hope I get the chance to serve there someday.

My companion and I get along great.  He's like an older brother to me, and shows me a good example of the older brother I should become someday!  (Shout out to Matt, who's working really hard back home, and got a new job!!)

Before I start off my story this week, I'd kind of like to prepare your minds.  You should all think of something that you have sacrificed for the Gospel.  For my friends out on missions, this is going to be a really easy one.  Family members will come to mind. Friends will be there too.  Maybe your favorite music or some sort of video-game you used to play.  It's okay if it's one of those things, as long as it means something to you.

Now, I'm going to tell you about Sister Matsyoha.

There is an old woman who lives in a little village, 2 hours away from our tiny branch here in Lutsk.  The village is called Volodimir Volynsk.  In the standard of America, you could consider this a village, but it's actually just a small town out here.  Out there, you can find just about everything that you need to live, and that's about it.  It's quiet, peaceful, and nothing much goes on there.  

This sister of ours is a small woman, with a big heart.  She sits at home and sings hymns to lift her spirits, because her days are hard.  It's difficult to walk, because when you get to about 86 years of age, everything kind of creaks a bit.  She can't do much more than sing, prepare food, walk around her house whenever she builds up the energy to do so, and wait for her children to come and visit her.  She waits for them... or for one of the sets of missionaries from our church.

When we got to Sister Matsyoha, she was having another hard day.  It's been raining here for a long time, so there wasn't even a whole lot of sunshine to warm her little house.  It was just kind of dismal.  The smile on her face though... it's going to stick with me for the rest of my life.  The way she laughed when she shared stories about her children, just how excited she was to have us try her cooking (as it's one of the things she's most proud of), and the way she sincerely prayed to her Father in Heaven --thanking him for everything that he had given her-- will never leave my heart. 

Sister Matsyoha hasn't forgotten the face of a single member of the branch back in Lutsk.  She used to attend when she was younger.  She had the chance to go to the Kiev temple twice.  She loves the gospel, and she does everything that is still possible for her to do in order to show it.  

Remember that thing that you sacrificed for the Gospel?  What you gave up to do something for the Lord?  I just wanted to tell you that it is worth it, that's all.  It's incredibly hard for us to see sometimes, with these little mortal minds, the effects of our sacrifices.  Are they really going to mean anything?  Why don't I just pack it up and go home?   

I'll tell you why.  Because Our Lord, Jesus Christ, Sacrificed everything for me.  What is stopping me from giving up everything I have to serve him?  Only that temptation to think that it won't be worth it in the end.  Faith is a powerful thing.  It changes lives.  I know it's changed mine already, and my faith is still very, very small.  

So when something God has asked us to do seems hard, we just need to exercise our faith, and do it.  He fulfills all of his promises.  I can just see him smiling when he sees his little children learning how to walk up the path back to him, holding the hand of our Elder Brother (We'd be a mess without him, you know?).  Sometimes, he's got to pick us back up, but we'll get there.

Well, I just wanted to say that I love you all very much.

I'm excited to be where I am, and I feel like I'm right where I need to be.

I hope you all feel the same.

Elder LeBaron

​PS.  In the pictures, I must explain the ​МОХІТО bottle for those in Spanish speaking contries. X's are pronounced as H's.  That is all.  I thought it was funny.

-- Старійшина ЛеБерон

Village Adventure and Chances to Learn!

Wow.

It is so hot.

I can't believe that when I got here, there was snow everywhere, and I was cold even with my heavy winter coat on.  Now I'm sweating bullets and our apartment is like a little easy-bake oven.   We cook in seconds!  

Seriously though... it's so hot out here.  I would tell you exactly, but I don't understand Celsius. and there's no thermometer around here.

We had an awesome experience this last week, in which we got the chance to visit a less-active family who lives in a little village about an hour outside of Lutsk (By bus).  We're their new home teachers! :D We got up first thing in the morning, worked out, ate breakfast, got into our work clothes, and hopped onto a bus.  

When we finally got there, I had forgotten what the other Elder's had told me as far as directions are concerned... but I confidently took my companion along the dirt path right behind the stop and started walking.  I was pretty sure they said something about a dirt path.  Makes sense, right?

Long story short, we ended up lost in the middle of nowheresville, by a heard of cows, and some random rancher man.  I called Brother Polyshook, and gave the phone to the Ukrainian farmer so that, between these two Ukrainian guys, we could figure out where we even wanted to go.

Longer story short, I chose the wrong dirt path.  Back track = 1 hour total of walking back to there house... which was in the opposite direction of where we were heading.  Maaaaaaan.

But it's okay, because we finally made it to their place!  What was first on our agenda, you may ask?  Sawing logs!  Ha!  It was actually pretty fun, even though I never got to play with the Chainsaw myself.  Bohdan Polyshook handled that, and I just stacked logs onto the little makeshift log holder thingy.   (I'm really eloquently versed in farm vocabulary now, you see). 

After hours of work, we got to wheelbarrow all those logs to the back of the house, and stack up a bunch of them.  Brother Polyshook said that he would do them himself... mostly because I'm pretty sure I wasn't stacking them the way he wanted.  He's got a thing about orderliness and niceness that I just don't have.  

Then, we fooded.

We fooded so hard.

There was borshch, and there was home-made "pizza" (it's not just pizza here, it's something more magnificent), and there was home-made apple cake with chocolate on top.  Ah man. I can't even describe the joys of that meal sufficiently.  I have not yet eaten anything super horrendous, but I have eaten the GREATEST THINGS IN THE WORLD here in Ukraine.  

And then, we had a spiritual thought about gaining spiritual light through scripture study, prayer, and church attendance.  They were great!  We had a family discussion, and everyone was so involved (except bohdan, but he was suffering from food coma, kind of like me).

We then looked at some of their family photos, most of which were pictures of their two returned missionary sons.  Afterwards, we left them with smiles, hugs, and handshakes.  All we had to do was walk back to the bus stop, and ride on home.  

This took up our whole saturday.  It was the most wonderful of days.

Sunday, I was privileged to speak in sacrament meeting.  My main topic was on eternal gifts, and how Heavenly Father gives us gifts that really matter. My Ukrainian is bad, but my heart was so full of love when I was speaking.  I really do love this branch so much.  I got to my testimony, and just told them how I know the Lord has sent me here to work in Lutsk because he loves me and he loves them, and he wants us all to learn from eachother.  I got patted on the back when I sat down, and Brother Sheratyuk and Lavernanko told me that they're glad that I'm here too.  I love this place!

Then I was also assigned to teach Elder's Quorum.  The lesson was cool, because it was about gaining knowledge.  The members here are such good examples of that, and so our discussion was very active!  I almost didn't speak the whole time.  It was just awesome!

I'm learning a lot as a person out here on my mission.  

1) Never cast off your confidence.  True, we need to be humble and search to improve ourselves always.  That does not mean that we should be less than we know we can be.  

​2) The Lord ALWAYS has a plan.  You just have to put the spirit on like a harness, and stick around to enjoy the ride.

3) Hard work never goes unrewarded, as long as you work with a sincere heart and a noble purpose in mind.  You may not execute everything perfectly, but if the Lord wants it done, it gets done.

And of course, much much more.

I'm glad to hear that all of my friends who are serving are having a safe, fun, and effective time!

I love you all back home!

Take care of yourselves, okay?

Aaaaand... yeah.

I can't wait to hear from all of you again soon!

Elder LeBaron​

Members of the Church are Awesome.

Hello everyone!

Man, I love this place.  Can I just tell you a little bit about this wonderful city that I'm living in now, and have lived in for the past 3 months?

I love a captive audience :)

This is the most wonderful place in the whole world, "Zee best in all zee Galactica!" as one of our good friends here put it.  Lutsk is a sleepy city of about 400,000 people on the north-west portion of Ukraine placed right in the bend of a river.  There's a lot of old, beautiful buildings here, the crowning jewel of which is a big ol' castle on the far south side of town. The weather lately has been a bit rainy and windy, but every so often, there's a burst of sunshine.  Our days are warm as of late.  It's beautiful here.

Everyone here is very kind and willing to say a good word about you.  People like to talk, not always about the Gospel, but they love to talk!  I've never been so kindly rejected in all of my life :)  And, I've never been so warmly accepted.   I've even been hugged here!  It's inviting.

I'd like to tell you a bit more about the people here who are Members of our church.  They work HARD.  Every minute of every day is spent working for a living, working for their families, working to learn, working to grow, and working to become better people.  And, yet, they have the brightest senses of humor.  When they know english, they love to use it on the missionaries.  I can't count the number of times I have heard "Good morning!"  Or "Sank you very much!".  Above all, we work together, and we have a big vision for this place becoming a ward someday. People are coming back to us, new people are entering the doors of the church, and hearts are being soften towards us.  I just can't explain how happy it makes me to be here.

We have been working a lot with members as of late, in order to reach a mission goal that was set by President Lattin.  It's been awesome be getting them involved in the work of Salvation even more, and growing closer together in frienship.  

We spent some time at an old grandma's house this last week.  Sister Katerina is a hoot.  Elder Hadfield ended up using this freaky back massage thing, and she made him rub her back.  HA!!  Then she insisted that we take a picture with her and a bunch of flowers, and we were joking around about how they smelled good, even though they're fake.  She's a funny lady, but I honestly only understand about 45% of what she's saying.  She likes to sing folk songs and throw in a bit of russian too.  That adds to the confusion.  She's great though!

We went over to visit Brother Zhuk again this week, and he showed us this awesome "Title of Liberty" that he made with some past missionaries.  He insisted that we pose for a picture with him while holding it.  

He came back to church for his first time in 7 years, and he was so happy!  He even volunteered to bless the sacrament next week with my companion.  I got volunteered by Brother Sadovie to teach the Elder's Quorum lesson... he thinks he's funny.  All-in-All, good things are happening again in the Lutsk Branch, and I'm loving every second of it.

Our investigators are still working with us, and we're confident that one of the two will have a baptismal date by the end of this week.  We will see.  One of them is often gone for work in the eastern part of Ukraine, and that can make it difficult to meet with him.  

We just had a lesson today with Volodimir, and he expressed his faith that God answers our prayers.  He is going to prayer about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and about it Joseph Smith was a propet, and above all, he wants to recieve a confirmation that the Book of Mormon is true.  What a sincere and kind man.  He was at Church on sunday, and he really enjoyed it.  We see him progressing every time we meet with him.

Well, as you can probably tell, I love where I'm at, and I love the work.  I have a long way to progress, but I'm excited to be a part of this, and I hope to improve everyday.  The Lord qualifies his workers.  We just need to work!

I love you all very much!

I pray for you oft'!

Elder LeBaron

The Spirit Burns Like a Wildfire

Hello!

How are you all doing?

I hope things are well.

I have some pretty CRAZY stories for ya'll.

Hold on tight.

First story is about an elect man.

There is a man here, in Lutsk, Ukraine, who's name is Dieter.  He has been coming to the church for many months, talking part in our English classes, meeting with the missionaries, and reading the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.  Did I mention that he's a German man? (I thought the name gave it away)

Because he is German, it can be hard to communicate with him.  He speaks a very little bit of Russian, some English, a very tiny bit of Ukrainian, and obviously, German.  This made lessons with the missionaries less than effective, though they always found a way to laugh and joke together.
Finally, someone had a great idea.  Let's call the missionaries in Berlin, and set up some lessons with him!  So they did.

Little did we know, Dieter was more than ready to receive every bit of truth that the missionaries talked to him about.  He took every lesson, understood the doctrine, and decided to be baptized.  

So he was baptized.  President Malinos, from L'viv, came down to help us out.  A Ukrainian who speaks fluent German is very handy around these parts.  Dieter was baptized in his native tongue by my companion, who has a college minor in German.  Then, he received the gift of the Holy Ghost as well, in his native tongue.  

Since none of the missionaries out here ever understood the full extent of what Dieter was trying to tell us (because he was so difficult to understand), we were not prepared to hear his translated testimony.  That man has a powerful testimony. Though it was translated from German, to Ukrainian, to an English speaker, I was shaken down to the core, and I'm so glad that I could be here to witness it.  Israel is truly being gathered from around the world.

My second story is about the most amazing sequence of events.
Sister Zhuk had been sick for (I believe they said) seven years.  She could only lie on her back in bed and suffered quite a bit of pain.  Each time I went over to visit them, she was incredibly kind to us, but could only say very few words very very quietly.  She loves her husband, and he loves her very much.  He spends his days taking care of her, and didn't spend much time besides 20 minutes for us to drop by and share a spiritual thought.  He couldn't come to church, because he can't leave her besides to go and buy food every so often.  
We had just finished skyping with our families, and since Elder LeBaron had a hard time getting everything connected, we were running a bit behind.  We decided to contact instead of going straight to another appointment.  We were walking along the path behind the church, just trying to contact and find some people to teach, when Elder Hadfield expressed that he was having a hard time stopping people, and he didn't know why he let a couple of people walk past him without trying to share anything.  He then felt the need to talk with a woman who was playing with her Grand-daughter.  
Instead of talking about the gospel though, he decided to ask her about directions.  He asked her the fastest way to the street on which we lived.  She showed us a different way than where we had initially planned to go.  So, being awkward to completely ignore her advice, we went that way.  
This route took us past Brother Zhuk's house, as opposed to going around it.  
As we were walking past, a woman was trying to get in.  She recognized us as being from the same church as Brother Zhuk.  She called out to us, and asked if we knew Nadia (sister Zhuk).  I responded yes! I was the only missionary currently serving in Lutsk who had been by to visit the Zhuks.  She expressed to us that Sis. Zhuk had passed away that very day.  We had Brother Zhuks number, and we were able to call him to come and open the door to the apartment complex in which they lived.  
This made a great opportunity for us to come in and comfort Brother Zhuk, sing hymns with those who were there.  We shared a bit about the Plan of Salvation.  We talked about families, and shared pictures of ours.  We made plans to bring the other two elders over the next day to help carry the casket and help with the funeral services the next day.  I was able to have a full conversation with Brother Zhuk while Elder Hadfield was talking about the plan of salvation with another woman, and I truly felt the gift of tongues help me communicate with him.  It was incredible.
We did all of this, and then we left, hugging our Brother, and promising to return.  As we exited the door, we were met by the Priest of the local Orthodox Church.  He was going in to perform some ritualistic something or whatever.  We were glad that we had a chance to invite the spirit and to comfort those who were there.  Because of the spirit leading us, we had been there first.  The Lord led us to help our Brother in his time of need, and it was absolutely incredible.

Brother Zhuk is now excited to get to go and do the temple work for his wife, attend church actively, and know that she no longer suffers from her earthly ailments.

The Lord is a Lord of Miracles.

Now a quick report on my companion and me!

We're doing great!

We just got found 2 new investigators.  Volodimir and Avraam.  They both have expressed sincere interest in the idea of The Restored Gospel of Christ, and are excited to see that His Church is available to us again.  

I got a bit of a stuffy nose the past few days.  I hate snot.

Ukrainian Orthodox funerals are kind of strange.  

I had to hold a candle, and hot wax periodically dripped onto my hand.  That kind of hurts.   A casket needs to be lowered three times in each doorway as you take it out of a household.  Orthodox priests chant a bunch of random stuff from the bible and put a tune to it... and then they splash the casket with Holy Water, which I'm pretty sure he kept in a used juice bottle.

I am so thankful for what we understand about the Plan of Salvation.  

I hope there won't be any kind of those theatrics at my funeral.

Skyping with the family was great, and I love them so very much!  I was glad that I got to see all of their faces, even if it wasn't all at the same time (I did see Rachel's face for about half a minute!)

One of our Investigators is a photographer, and did a "couple shot" with my companion and I.  I hope you enjoy it.

I know we do.

Well, I love you all very much.

Let me know about what's going on back home, and all around the world for that matter!

I know that this church is true, and that God has prepared the way for all of us to be involved in his preparations for the Second Coming of our Great Redeemer, His son, Jesus Christ.

  Pray always, and come of conqueror.

Much love,

Elder LeBaron

Are You a Gentile?

Dear Family and Friends,

I have had the most incredible week of my life.  Why?  Because We had President Lawrence, President of the Eastern European Area come and speak to us in a MASSIVE congregation of every member from the western part of Ukraine.  That's right.  A congregation of (I would estimate) nearly 300 people.  BLAM!  You would not believe the ruckus that was made by the members in L'viv.  It was a time of much rejoicing, and a time to show us just how powerful the members of Ukraine really are.  This is an awesome time to be a missionary.

Imagine this;  Every missionary in our mission had been spending weeks organizing their branches... preparing... reminding... baking banana bread and handing out flowers -- all in the hopes of getting every member, investigator, and random person who was interested would show up to L'viv for a massive spiritual uplift.  

It was a success.

I love that.

Directly after this wonderful 2 hour conference, the members returned to their homes on the big ol' buses that they showed up in.  Then, it was our turn to be educated -- The Mission conference had begun!

I learned so much.  I can't even begin to describe the incredible things I learned about the House of Israel....  Just so you know, the patriarchal blessing is one of the GREATEST THINGS I EVER GOT.  It's amazing what I didn't even know about myself until some serious scripture study, in depth reading... and even then, Sister Lawrence rocked my whole understanding of the Gospel just by explaining the House of Israel.  Fair enough to say, nobody has studied this topic enough yet.   Are you a Gentile!?  The answer may surprise you.  HA!

Speaking of which, I thought I should tell you just what kind of people Ukraine has to offer.  It was reported that Ukrainian members have been found from EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL.  That's right.  Don't know where the 10 lost one's went?  They really did go to the land north ;)  Elder Hadfield (my new companion) and I have taken it upon ourselves to ask the members around us what tribes they are from.  We've found that the claim is true.  So... yeah. 

South american can have the Lamanites.

We'll just work with the 10 Lost Tribes ;)

But like I said, it's kinda hard to describe everything I learned.  Basically, the General Authorities and their wives are in their callings for a reason.

In other news,  Elder Hadfield is a contacting BEAST.  I have never talked to so many people in my life.  Lutsk is filled with incredible people, and having a REALLY TALL companion with a sincere disposition makes having conversations really easy!  I am going to love this transfer, I can already feel it.

I got yelled at by an Old Ukrainian Lady for not coming over to beat her rugs... I didn't understand what she wanted from me over the phone.  The other Elder's explained it to me later...not the first time I got in trouble for not understanding what people are saying.

A man just talked to me in nearly perfect English, and I invited him to our English practice.

That happened about 2 minutes ago.  Contacting is magic all of a sudden.  I attribute it to new blood in the district :)

We have a set up appointment with a potential investigator every day for the rest of this week already.  Wow.  Can you see the contrast that's going on!?

Needless to say, all is going well here in Ukraine, and the work is picking up.  People are great, and even though I'm a really weak person who can barely speak Ukrainian, the Lord is getting his work done, and I'm privileged to be a part of it!

I love you all so very much! 

I pray for you and hope for the best!

Elder LeBaron

The Unexpected Guests

Hello family and friends!

I've had a pretty cool week, and I really wanted to tell ya'll about it!

The over-arching theme was self improvement, and learning new skills.

So, last week, right after our exchanges with the other Elder's in the area, Elder Peterson and I were walking home. KER-POW! WE got a call from Elder Lippert.  He's one of the Assistants to the President, and usually is working in the Mission Office.  

He told me that He and Elder Terri wanted to come up to Lutsk for exchanges!  Whoo! 

We had exchanges AGAIN on Tuesday and Wednesday!  

I learned a whole lot while being out with either of these two Elder's.  First and foremost -- 2 years is way to long to go without a sense of humor, so you'd better keep it up.  I laughed harder than I have in a long time.  

Besides that little tid-bit, I learned a lot about what is really expected out of missionaries in the long run.  It can be hard to see the big picture of missionary work when you've been contacting on the same streets, working in the same church building, and talking with the same members without seeing a whole lot of success.  It's very possible to get complacent with the work.  

BAD.  NO.   COMPLACENCY DOESN'T GET WORK DONE!

Working hard isn't enough sometimes.  Sometimes, you have to expect more, and strive further than you ever have in order to see miracles.  Believe it or not, you can even get into a rut of working hard.  

You know what you do when you get into a rut of working hard?  

You find a way to work hard, in a more effective way!

That's the big thing I learned from that exchange --> Always try to improve yourself!

It's hard, but it's worth it.

Our district meeting on Tuesday was even bigger than we had imagined it would be...

Not only were the Assistants in our district for exchanges, but the Zone Leaders had come into Lutsk to have a meeting with us and talk about making goals and working on new skills (the theme strikes again!).  

This made our meeting go from having the usual 6 people to having 10 missionaries. 

 I've never been so aware of how much I still have to learn.  These people are incredible!!

I love the people who I work with!

We went to visit a member who is a former Boxer.  Judging by his age, I think that would actually make him a Boxer who competed during the S.S.S.R.  

The plan was to go over there and to learn Ukrainian; Have a conversation with him, read with him, and ask questions.

I learned some crazy stuff -- Aka, lots of slang and less than mission appropriate words that I don't remember now.  He's hilarious though.  Did you know that a jaw can also be referred to as your "Bread Slicer" out here?  Interesting...

Soon, it will be transfers, and I will be done with my training!  That's pretty cool!

We're having a massive conference in L'viv next Sunday with all of the members from Western Ukraine.  It's gonna be big.

Right after that -- BAM mission conference with one of the members of the area presidency.  And then, I get a new companion.  

It's going to be such a big week next week, that I'm actually not going to get to email until Wednesday (so you know).

I love you all!

I've got a prayer in my heart for everyone back home and those serving all over the place
(Go team Kingdom of God).

Elder LeBaron

Easter, Plam Sunday, and Sunshine!

Hey Family and Friends!

Okay, so, I just want to start by saying how AWESOME the weather here is!  It's so pretty outside right now in Lutsk, especially today! I love the trees out here, because most of them have some sort of flowers blossoming on them, and It's just super pretty.  Not to mention, the sun is shining, and we're actually just wearing white shirts now!  WHAT??  That's crazy to me.  I just got here, and I've gone from a not thick enough coat all the way down to no suit jacket!

Time moves fast people!

My companion is a little less fond of the spring... allergies.  Poor guy.

So... Let's start with Palm Sunday.  This is way interesting, because I don't understand this tradition at all.  People have branches... and they carry them around with them, everywhere they go.  I thought it was supremely bizarre... watching all these people carrying branches for no reason...and then BAM-- It got weirder.  

Apparently, carrying sticks has some implications.  When one wishes to grant to another blessings on this day, one needs only to take these branches, and whack another with them.  this is how you cast out evil spirits......

I can affirmatively say that my companion no longer has any evil spirits in him.

He got whacked.

Other Elders in our District were walking down the street when suddenly, a parade of priests from the local church came marching down the street.  In moving to get out of the way, these Elders were caught unawares by a bearded, robed, Ukrainian priest-- who, in two swift motions, splashed them with holy water.  SURPRISE!

These priests continued to bless everyone and everything on the street, and also went into households and shops in order to bless them. 

Way interesting.

Easter is an AWESOME holiday in Ukraine! Why? Because EVERYONE goes walking around, using a specific greeting, which translated means, "Christ was Resurrected!" and then you respond by saying, "Truly, He was Resurrected!".   It only took me about 5 times of trying before I could remember how to say it.

We didn't really get to eat with anyone or see a whole lot of the food that people make for this holiday, but we did get to see this special bread that they make here, just for Easter.  It's big and fluffy, and shaped like a cup-cake!  It's covered with sprinkles and some sort of frosting on top.  

The tradition is for everyone to get one of these muffins, and in the evening, go to the big local church and have your bread blessed before eating it.  

I was sitting in sacrament meeting, when the little boy next to me excitedly got my attention and pointed out the bread which had been used for the sacrament...

Haha, it was unique, and ironic too.  I loved it!

I love serving here in Lutsk.  This place is incredible.  

Soon, we're going to have a MASSIVE mission conference, which will end with transfers, and I'm hoping that I get to stay here.  More than likely, that will be the case (I'm thinking).

Our investigator who disappeared off of the face of the earth returned to us!  He found work, and he's diligently searching for his answer in prayer!  We can't wait to meet with him again soon!

My training finishes after this transfer... time really flies.

Any who-- Much love!

Thank you for all of your prayers and your support!

I just barely received the ward newsletter for March :)

Thanks ward!  I love you!

I'm so glad to see you all had a great Easter!

Cheers!

Elder LeBaron