Week 10 - October 28, 2019

AYOOOO

Ayo waddup, everyone!!  I'm so sorry I have not been able to answer your emails!!  TRUST ME I STILL LOVE YOU IF I HAVEN'T ANSWERED!! hahah.  Ukraine is freaking lit!!  Let's start from the beginning though... 

DEPARTURE DAY!!  Holy this was crazy!!  So none of our alarms went off... so we woke up with 15 minutes to get ready to leave for the airport.  We were FREAKING out!!  I showered with trash bags (clean ones of course lol) on my feet because I didn't want to get my shower sandals wet and put them in my bag.  Also, I then dried myself off with paper towels because I didn't want to get my towel all wet and then put it in my bag 😂 Then on the train ride over, I decided to drink a Bang (a crazy energy drink), and that totally upset my stomach on the ride over because I was starving lol.  BUT WE MADE IT TO THE AIRPORT AND ALL WAS WELL!! 

 Some last goodbyes to some wonderful friends!

 The crazy energy drink on the train to the airport.

 Finally, a great meal before boarding the plane.

 Flight to Ukraine.

 Next, we flew our flights.  Crazy story, though.  So, on our flight from Vienna to Dnipro, it was almost too foggy to land. They announced on the plane that we may actually have to even turn back to Vienna because it was too foggy!!  But, the pilot ended up going for it.. It was crazy!!  We couldn't see the runway until we were about three meters away from the runway!! I legit thought we were still up in the clouds when we were going to land.  It was honestly a miracle.  BUT YAY WE LANDED!!  I'M IN UKRAINE, YALL!! 

 Next, we went to the mission office to meet our new companions!!  This is also a crazy story... So I am in the youngest, not only companionship, but districtship... My trainer has been out for three months, meaning he legit just finished his training.  The other trainer who got a newbie who came in with me, has only been out 4 and a half months!!  WE ARE THE YOUNGEST DISTRICT IN UKRAINE HISTORY!! And I have the youngest trainer!!  Our mission president said he prayed about this so many times, if this was the right thing to do.  Every time he received the answer, "Yes."  He said when he prayed, that he knew our district was going to perform miracles.  I could feel the Spirit so strongly when he told us this.  He has pulled us aside from the group so many times to tell us this.  

We are serving in an area called Kharkiv!!  It's one of the closer missions to the Russian border.  So close that, in fact, they have bomb sirens on the border that we can hear as clear as day.  They test them out every month.  They are SO loud.  I haven't heard them yet for myself, but my companion has videos.  I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR ONE (hope it's just a drill though lol).  We even have to put together a thing called a "go bag."  We put our passports and money in it, so in case the alarms really do go off for real, that we can grab our bag and run lol.  It's honestly so dope haha. 

 Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second-largest city after Kiev, with about a million and a half people, and a main cultural, educational and industrial city for the country.

Serving here has been so amazing.  The first three hours into our mission, right after meeting our companions, we went out and contacted!!  We got about 3 numbers in 30 minutes!!  We talked to someone the other day, who wants to meet with us tomorrow!!  It's my first meeting with an investigator I found on my own!!  Let me tell you guys tho... I don't understand Russian at all lol.  It's literally so crazy pulling up to someone on the street, then when they start to talk, you just nod your head and act like you understand 😂. 

I have so much more I want to say, but I have to cut out now!! Not a lot of time :// Everything is so cheap here so we went into center (the city) and had so much fun exploring and shopping in the thrift stores lol. 

Love you all so much!!

Elder Wilde

Week 9 - October 23, 2019

Good-byes!

It was so hard to say goodbye to everybody :/  On Sunday, we had a group of missionaries leave at 8:30 at night.  There was definitely lots of tears seeing as it was the first group of missionaries we were close with leave, and it was all becoming so much more real for us.  The next day I got NO SLEEP.  We went to bed around 12 and woke up at 2 am to send the Japanese missionaries we were close with off!!  

Elder Wilde with his Japanese friend, Elder Nakagawa

We came back to the room, then sent some more missionaries off at 3:30, then 5:15, and then 8:15!!  My companion and I were totally DEAD asleep the whole class that morning haha.  

Elder Wilde and Elder Moa, who is actually from 

Elder Wilde's homeward.  He is on his way to the Tongan Mission.

The next day we said goodbye to some more Elders at 8:15 am and 12 o'clock!!  32 Russian elders had departed for their missions, leaving the last 8 of us going to Dnipro, Ukraine, today, Wednesday, at 4:15 am!!  It has felt like an absolute ghost town here at the MTC with all of the other missionaries we were close with gone.  So many friendships were formed, ones I won't forget about, and some that I hope to continue when I get back.  I've learned so much from everybody here.  Not to mention, my two amazing teachers--Sister Slight and Brother Wilson.  So many tears were shed saying goodbye to them.  They strengthened our testimonies 10 fold.  I could not be more grateful for them and every other missionary I had the chance to meet. 

D&C 4 reads...

1 Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.

2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.

3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;

4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;

5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.

6 Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.

7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

I know that every missionary that walked out those doors is going to do amazing things. They are going to change the world.  One soul at a time. 

I believe that the most important thing a missionary can do is act like Christ would.  Be an example of who he is.  The primary way I believe we can do this, is by showing love for all of his children, being kind, having charity, etc.  Overall, being a good person.  My number one priority is to establish a friendship with someone before even teaching them.  I want them to know how much I care about them.  Show that they aren't just a statistic but that I want to know everything they are going through, I want to help them with whatever the need.  I want to be there for them, serve them, love them, know them, laugh with them, grow trust with them, understand them, and so much more.  I want them to have an understanding of what Christ's love is by not telling them what it is, but rather showing them what it is.

Love you all so much!!  Elder Wilde

Week 8 - October 16, 2019

AYOOO WADDUP?!?!?!

LAST WEEK IN THE MTC Y'ALL, GET HYPE!!  I have my flight plans!!  (Which doesn't guarantee I have my visa yet but, but there's a good chance I do.  They let us know for sure Thursday/Friday!).  Our departure date actually got moved from the 22nd to the 23rd, which low-key sucks cuz we're just so ready to get to Ukraine, but it's okay, we're HYPED!! 😝  We leave the MTC at 4:15 in the morning on the 23rd, fly from Salt Lake to Chicago.  We have a 4-hour layover there, and then from there we fly to Austria!!  An hour layover there, and then we're off to UKRAINE, BABY!!  We should be arriving there at around 1:00 P.M.  Y'all, I can't wait to give my Mission Presidents the biggest hugs, meet the people, and just be in freaking Ukraine speaking Russian!! 

 Dneproptrovsk, Ukraine

We learned how to tell time in Russian this week, and let me tell you... IT IS SO WACK!! haha.  There is a different structure you have to use for when the time is on the hour, when the minute hand is on the right side of the clock, on the left side of the clock, or on the half hour.  Say it were 5:20 (right side of the clock), you would say... "Twenty minutes of the 6th."  But say it were 6:45 (on the left side of the clock), you would say... "without 15, 7"!!  And then let's say is was 1:30!!  You would call that... "Half of the second"!! And then of course you can't forget that you HAVE TO CASE IT!! AHHHH!!  Crazy stuff over here haha. 

So, on Saturdays we have fitness time in the morning, and we always go and play beach volleyball, and this Saturday, it was absolutely FREEZING in the morning. We  go out on the sand, barefoot, and I was low-key convinced my feet had gotten frostbite, I COULD NOT FEEL THEM FOR A SOLID 40 MINUTES!!  The sun came out the last 20 minutes we were playing though, and the feeling soon came back haha. It was crazy haha.  Also, funny story from P-day this week!! So we went to Skype call someone from Russia, but my microphone on my headset wouldn't work!!  So we switched computers, and again... My mike didn't work!!  We had already wasted 15 minutes of our 30 minute lesson trying to find a mic that worked, so the whole entire time during the call, whenever I wanted to say something, I had to lean up to my companion's microphone and talk through it!!  We were all dying 😂😂.

This Wednesday was also the last time I am going to see one of our fabulous temples for two years!  It was a sad feeling, but I could feel the Spirit so strongly as I left.  

 Provo, Utah Temple

I really hope we will get the opportunity to see the Kiev temple while I'm in Ukraine!

This week we got to hear from the author of many books, Shari Dew, as well as Quentin L. Cook!!  They both gave AMAZING devotionals.  Quentin L. Cook actually brought in a page from Alma 34, from the FIRST edition Book of Mormon!!  IT WAS SO COOL!! along with two pages from 3rd Nephi, Second Edition Book of Mormon!!  The pages were so old!!  The first edition had a huge hole in the middle of it, and a big piece taken off the top right corner!!

Love you all so much!!  Thanks for all the continuous support!!  Elder Wilde

Week 7 - October 9, 2019

Здравствуйте!!  (Hello!)

How they heck is everyone doing?!?!  Had an awesome week this week!!  This week we had a TRC with someone from Russia.  Literally, Russia.  She lives in Moscow and could only speak about a word or two of English, so it totally put our Russian to the test!!  LITERALLY SO COOL.  Her name was ира (Eera).  She was this super cute Бабушка (grandma).  It was so crazy listening to her talk in Russian. She spoke SOOO fast!! (and the connection was a little fuzzy which didn't help a ton), but we could actually pick up on a decent amount of what she said!!  It was crazy cool.  A lot of people talk about how nervous they are to get to their missions and just not understand a single thing of Russian (because we won't), but I literally couldn't be more excited to get there and know absolutely nothing lol.  It's going to be quite the experience.  Also, we have finally finished learning all the cases in Russian!! (well, all the most used cases, there are still more out there haha).  Conjugating has become fairly easy, tackling cases is crazy hard though.  

It is for sure going to take a while haha.  Also, I get my flight plans this Friday!!  I AM SO EXCITED AHHH!!!

This Japanese Elder came in earlier this week, and he can do the most AMAZING magic I've ever seen!!  It's CRAZY!! So we get a kick out of that.

It was awesome to watch General Conference in the MTC as a missionary this year!!  I was more awake and concentrated then every before!! 😂😂  There were a couple talks that really stuck out to me. 

First of all, well Jeffery R. Holland closed with "Welcome to General Conference, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen". BOY!  I JUMPED OUT OF MY SEAT!  IT WAS SO FIRE!!  It gave me the chills haha.  I also loved his message about how we can be healed through our faith. 

The next talk I liked was by Terence M. Vinson.  He discussed how we can have eternal joy when we build our life around the framework of the gospel.  He, also, then told the story about him playing rugby.  He explained that in one rugby game they were playing a not so great team, and they had a school dance that night, so the team agreed they weren't gonna give it their all because they didn't want to get injured before the big dance!  By the end of the game, he went into a tackle and came out with a huge swollen lip!! Another game, he decided that he wanted to give it his all. He went into every single tackle whole heartedly.  By the end of that game, he came out with a broken jaw.  What I found to be interesting is how he compared these two experiences. He said he had no regrets about the broken jaw, because it represented him giving it his all, but he highly regretted the fat lip, because it represented himself holding back.  In the end, he related this back to being like the gospel.  We cannot be half-hearted bout the gospel, we need to live it fully. 

D Todd. Christoffersen also shared an interesting quote at conference.  He stated that, "Joy has little to do with the circumstances of our lives, but on the focus of our lives. When we focus on Christ, we receive joy."  It's so so so so important to focus on Christ.  We preach the religion of Christ, the religion of joy! 

I LOVED David A. Bednar's talk, not only because he's just such a good speaker, but because it reminded me so much of our trip to Africa, and the message he shared was just great.  He explained how cheetahs will try and disguise themselves in the camouflaging grass fields.  If their pray is not constantly awake and alert, they will easily be killed.  If the cheetahs prey however, does get away, the cheetah then continues to camouflage itself, and sneak up on its prey all over again, patiently and quietly, waiting to catch the prey off guard when they become too relaxed.  

We need to always be awake and alert.  The adversary will constantly disguise itself and sneak up on us, hoping to catch us when we least expect it. 

Lastly, President Nelson's talk was amazing.  I never truly recognized how much our church helps the world around us financially.  It truly grew my testimony about paying tithing. But boy did President Nelson leave us on a fat cliff hanger for what's coming next conference!!  All I know is that we need to be prepared, like he has asked us to be.

  

Thank you so much for all your love and support!!  Before I end I have a huge favor to ask!!  SO in my scriptures, I want to find six different themes to highlight (I have six different marking pens) !!  Things such as instances of faith, repentance, following the commandments, Christ-like attributes, whatever it might be!!  What do you all think are the best six to highlight?!?!?!?!?  Email me them!  I would also love to hear your favorite scripture verse as well and mark those up :)))

Thank you for the continual love and support,

старейшина Wilde

Week 6 - October 2, 2019

HEY HEY!! I sent a super long email last week so I’ll keep this one nice and short!!

Not too much happened this week though anyways. We learned a bunch more cases in Russian class!! We have been playing volleyball like everyday for fitness time!  Starting to think I could go pro... 😂😂 Actually, my arm is getting all scratched up for reaching over the net to spike each play 😂😂.  Also, was joking about how Sister Mittens (the cat) leads on all the missionaries, cuz at one point she's with one missionary and then with another one!!  Shaking my head, Sister Mittens, shaking my head. 

 

And oh!  My companion and I, also, got the assignment to be the "Sacrament coordinators!"  So, we get to prepare the Sacrament each week on Sunday. 

However... This Tuesday we had the opportunity to hear from Sister and Elder Yoon Hwan Choi of the Seventy.  It was pretty funny.  So they came up, introduced themselves, (they were from Korea) and began with, "If you can't understand our bad English, that your problem not our, good luck," (in a fun loving way, of course), and everyone broke out laughing haha.  They said a ton of funny things where we would all just die.  Anyways, they shared a really interesting message with us that really stuck out to me.  He said, "okay are you guy ready to watch a movie... It's a good movie."  And then all of a sudden, clips from "Lion King" were being played on the screen!! 

 

Everyone was so hyped haha.  But, there was one clip where Simba is looking down into the water and sees a reflection of his father, Mufasa.  You all know the scene??  After the short film was over, Sister and Elder Choi explained that our Father in Heaven is in us, just like Mufasa is in Simba.  We, also, recall when Simba ran from home, losing sight of all his old ways.  We were told to always remember who we are, each and every day, and never lose our path.  When we do this, we can see Heavenly Father and Christ's reflection when we look into the water.  I expressed my gratitude for these points in our devotional review.  It's so amazing to think that Heavenly Father and Christ are within us. We need to resemble them, let that light shine, never forget our paths.  The thought of this is just so amazing to me. 

 Elder Wilde

Pics of the Week

 

Sister Copeland and Me!  Elder Wilde's Cousin--such fun having her in the MTC, too!

 

Uncle Tyler and Aunt Carrie Nevenner sent Elder Wilde  some great games!

Elder Wilde and Elder Laurence before he leaves for Thailand!  Good luck!

 

 Ukraine flag posted up in the front of T4 😍