First Week in Ukraine

The language is pretty crazy, but it's slowly coming, I'm just relying on the Lord and eventually it will come. So we have an investigator, his name is Dzhonah. he is from Georgia, we have only taught him the first lesson, which was my first and only lesson so far. He is a really happy and friendly guy, he's twenty years old, and he is a lot of fun to talk to.

So my first few days here were pretty hectic, we arrived in Ukraine and we received a warm greeting from the President, his wife, and a bunch of other people. Then we started contacting and talking to people in Dnepropetrovsk. It was a lot of fun, half the time I didn't understand what the people were saying, so I just smiled back and they laughed.

After we contacted for a while we took care of all of our luggage and then went to the president's house for a few minutes and then we were off again to one of the branches. The branch gave us a warm greeting and we had some bread with salt, it's a Ukrainian tradition, and then we told about ourselves and bore our testimonies.

The members cooked an incredible meal for us, we had Borsh, this is a famous soup in Ukraine, and we had some potatoes and chicken, or at least I think it was chicken, and some other little desserts. The members are incredible here!

The next day we met our trainers and went around the city for a little, we took care of our baggage, and then we found out that our bus ride wasn't until 11:00 pm! haha, yeah the bus ride was a lot of fun. We finally arrived in Nikolaev around 5 or so in the morning. The bus ride was quite entertaining, that's all I’m going to say, it was nothing like the greyhound bus Derek and I took from Oregon to Utah when our car broke down.

As you can tell, the first few days were a little hectic! yesterday was Sunday and I had my first sacrament meeting with the branch in Nikolaev. We were able to talk with some babooshkie. Sorry my mind is playing tricks with me, it's so weird to write Russian words in English. But we were able to talk with three grandmas and they were so much fun to talk to! I was able to tell them about the book of Mormon and Joseph smith and why we're here. We were really blessed to run into these grandmas. I gave away my first book of Mormon and we are going to go back and talk with them tomorrow.

I am amazed by how much the Lord blesses us each day, I feel like every single day that I have been in Ukraine has been incredible so far and I have had an opportunity of some sort to bless somebody's life and in return they have more than blessed my life. I have a great companion, his name is Elder Richardson, I am excited to work with him and get to know him better. Well, everything is great here in Ukraine, remember to smile and say hi to everyone, you never know if you will make somebody's day better.

Love, Elder Ostler

Last Week at the MTC for Elder Ostler

Well time has definitely flown by quickly here at the MTC. I was never sure when or if the first few days were going to end. Ever since the third day time has gone so quickly and left me spinning in a circle. I’ve learned and grown so much in just a short time here at the MTC. The spirit is incredible here, and it really is like a “mini-Zion” right in Provo. The Russian language is coming along, it isn’t an easy language and when I hear the natives speak I wonder if they really even know Russian, because the Russian I’m taught in the classroom is completely different, just kidding. The language is slowly coming, I am able to explain and express myself better and better each day. I have loved have a native Russian District in our Zone. I talk with them on a daily basis and they teach my new phrases in Russian and correct pronunciation.

I’m excited to arrive in Ukraine and begin sharing the message of the restoration and the plain and simple truths that we take for granted. Because I have grown up in the Church, ever since I was really young I thought everybody in the world knew about the Gospel and was a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints. I remember the first time I learned that only a few people were members of the Church, and how shocked I was! Now I finally have a chance to share the message of the “Book of Mormon,” the restoration, Christ’s atonement, and how through Christ we really can live with our families forever, through blessings of the Temple.
Probably one of the most important lessons I have learned so far at the MTC is to just listen. Listen to my companion, and to ALWAYS listen to the spirit. Whenever I teach, if I have a successful lesson, it isn’t because of me, but it is because the spirit was the teacher and I was used as a mouthpiece.

Another lesson I have learned is to just keep the gospel simple and stick to the basics. Oh and always smile. A smile is contagious and the gospel is happy, so why don’t’ we show it.

Oh and mom and dad, I just want you both to know how much I love you and I appreciate all that you have done for me. I look forward to talking to you next week

Love, Elder Ostler

Moroni 7:33- “And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.”

Grandma Webb is always talking about looking for the little mini miracles in our day, so here are two.

Oh, I almost forgot. So I had two mini miracles today. First I lost my temple recommend, so this morning I was frantically looking for it because we were supposed to go to the temple. Well we said a prayer and I prayed that if we didn't find it that all would still work out. Well everything worked out just fine at the temple. Yes I had to wait a little bit to get it, but I was still able to make it into a session and still do sealings with the native Russian speakers.
Second mini miracle, so I know how dumb this will sound, but I guess I forgot to take a pen out of one of my WHITE shirt pockets because it was clipped to it, and so as I did laundry I found my pen. YEAH lucky me it didn't leak everywhere, that would have been quite disheartening to my soul! Well I just thought I should share that with ya. Love , Elder Ostler