Hello America

Well, hello America. and hello Big Sky Country 

good old sunsets in big sky country 

It is definitely bitter sweet. In the short 5 months that I was there (in Ukraine) I learned to really love the culture, places and people. I  hope I get to go back and visit some of those places some day. But it is good to be in America. On the first full day back we went to Cafe Rio for lunch and it was delicious as always. I loved it haha There are so many things we take for granted here and we dont realize how blessed we are in this country.

  such a beautiful temple 

Good to see my MTC buddies one last time

We live with members who have had missionaries live with them before. They are really nice people. They have 4 boys and two still live at home a 17 year old and a 14 year old. They are a fun and really nice family. Even though our area, Frenchtown, is really small and has had missionaries there for 35 years and you could probably tract every house in a transfer, we have still been able to have success so that has been fun.

 We have met with a lot of less active and part member families and have found some new people tracting who seem to have a ton of potential. It is weird here because members give a lot of referrals and we eat at members houses every night. If there was a night that wasn't filled the members are like oh no we have to feed the missionaries! ha so it is cool I guess that the members want us in their homes. Just if you ever feed the missionaries though, make them something besides pasta, even though it is always good that is what everyone feeds us haha 

It was good to meet the members yesterday and be able to understand what was going on and what people were saying to me haha so that has been nice. 

My comp Elder Beck is pretty cool too he is from Cedar City Utah and has been here for about 14 months. 

It was good to talk to you all on mothers day. That was fun. I dont know if you guys watched that video the church put out called "It was Mom" it is a pretty sweet video. So again Happy Mothers day mom Love you! 

another video I really like that the church just put out is the Because of Him video, it is awesome that we can have it on our ipads and take it around and show people, its great. 

It is funny to see some of the missionaries here talk about getting transferred and then I just think well at least you will get to see them again sometime in the near future haha 

It will be good to talk to people from the Donetsk mission though and see how they are all doing in different parts of the U.S. 

For those of you who didnt know or a refresher for my fam I was serving in Donestsk, we got evacuated to the Kiev Mission and we were there for about a month, then we got a call from President Klebingat saying that all of the Donetsk missionaries will be getting reassignments and we would find out in 2-12 days when and where we were going. We got that call on a Tuesday then Wednesday morning we got a text saying we were leaving Friday early early in the morning so we needed to be at the mission office on Thursday no later than 3pm. So we had to buy some souvenirs and get all of  our stuff packed. So we did that then we all got together President Klebingat gave a farewell speech and stuff then read off our names and said where we were going. there were 5 other missionaries that got called to the Montana Billings mission. Then we got on planes the next day at like 3am and went to our missions. 

awesome people from Ecuador

 It isn't every day you have a Mission President who is in the 70 (they are both awesome) 

It has been a crazy  month but I am glad to be here in Montana and I know that the Lord has a plan for every single one of us and it is all up to Him and as we trust in Him then we will find happiness and success. President Mecham and his wife seem really nice so it should be a good 17 months. 

Love you and hope you have a good week.

Love Elder David Witt 

PS hopefully all of that made sense haha and had all the important deets, my mailing address is 

Elder David Witt

18435 Buckskin Ln

Frenchtown, MT 

59834 

Quite the Transfer

It has been an interesting rainy day for us. We got news that Elder David Witt is getting a transfer and that all the Donetsk missionaries are getting transferred to stateside missions.  Shocking, yes it is, but it is OK.  They will be in their new areas this Friday!  Elder David Witt has been assigned to the . . . . .

Montana Billings Mission!  Here is information about his new mission President and wife. 

President:  Kris J. Mecham Spouse: Stephanie Bessire Mecham

Served: 2012 - 2015

Comments: Kris J Mecham, 58, and Stephanie Bessire Mecham, five children, Montana Billings Mission; Ashley Park Ward, Sandy Utah Granite South Stake. Brother Mecham served as a stake mission preparation leader and temple preparation instructor. He is a former president of the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission, stake executive secretary, high councilor, bishop, Young Men president and missionary in the Scotland Mission. Director of community services, Corporation of the Presiding Bishop. Born in Blackfoot, Idaho, to Alvin John and Nina Mecham. Sister Mecham serves as a stake mission preparation leader and temple preparation instructor. She served with her husband in the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission and is a former stake history compiler for the 25th anniversary, tri-stake family history center director, Young Women president, Primary president and counselor in a Relief Society presidency. Born in Rupert, Idaho, to Duane Merrill and Carole Ann Cahoon Bessire.

We are sad of all the unrest that has occurred in the Donetsk Mission and that all the missionaries in this mission will have new assignments or go home earlier than planned.  We know some transfers aren’t what we are expecting, but we do trust the Lord sees the bigger picture and inspires His leaders in His affairs here on this earth.  

Please pray for Elder David Witt and all the missionaries from this mission that they will have positive attitudes, trust the Lord, go forward with faith, have the ambition to work hard and do missionary work wherever they are assigned and make the necessary adjustments that are ahead of them.  We never know what cards will be dealt to us in the game of life, but we do know that we can make the best of each situation with the help of God and knowing that He is preparing the way for us to be successful.  We are grateful for the opportunities we have had in having Elder David Witt serve in Ukraine.  We are grateful for President Lochhead and his wife who were watching over the missionaries and keeping them safe.  We express gratitude for modern technology that allows us to have instant updates. We are grateful for the Ukraine people who provided love, meals and support to our missionaries, along with the companions and Elders who have served or worked with Elder David Witt in the Donetsk Mission.  We know that Heavenly Father is in control of the situation and is well aware of what is happening.  We will always remember the picture Elder Witt bought in the MTC that had a picture of Christ walking down the middle of the battle field with the words “Peace Is Coming!”   By Jon McNaughton.

How did he know to buy this picture and how did he know he was going to be in the middle of a battle field?  The spirit helps us along our path to face the difficult situation ahead of us.  We think these are only the beginning of the storms we will face in this earthly battle.  These battles can only be fought by righteousness.  The word of God is more powerful than a two edge sword.  Are we prepared to defend the truth and stand for righteousness?  Let’s continue to have daily personal and family prayers, read and study our scriptures daily, and have weekly Family Home Evenings.  These are the strong weapons that will be needed to endure the battles ahead of us.  Isaiah 41:10 states, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee:  be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Vs 13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”

We love all of you and look forward to talking with Elder David Witt this Mother’s Day!   

Love, Mom & Dad

Short and sweet

Well it isnt every week that two general authorities come to your zone conference. haha We had President  Bennett (Area presidency) and President Klebingat.

It was a  great conference getting us all pumped up to be better and it is cool the missions are good for now plus the prepare us for the rest of how we want to live our lives. oh on the way to the conference it was really cool we were walking up and this dude got out of his car and motioned for us to come over and he is like what is that building right there (pointing to the temple) and Elder Brough (Bro) and i were able to talk to him for a bit get his number give him a book of Mormon and stuff so it was really cool, using the little Russian that we knew haha but it was fun. 

This letter will be a little short since I will be talking to you again pretty soon! which will be exciting. and plus i forgot my other planner(for last transfer) at home so yeah but we did some more service helped two people move one of which lived on the 9th floor and the elevator didnt work haha 

We also had a lesson with a Muslim baptist preacher. and I we should have ended the lesson much sooner than we did since it was mostly bible bashing so it was dumb. 

We also met with the guy named Aleksander he is getting baptized on Saturday and he is was cool. he is deaf so we either have to have a member who knows Russian sign or we just write everything down, but he is so prepared and has done so much to be prepared he has read the bible Book of Mormon and d and c. too bad his wife isnt taking the lessons but she will see his example and join.They have three kids i met two of the boys who are about 10 and 8 and they are both so funny and cool even though they are deaf as well. But it is cool that you can feel the spirit even without words. it is cool.

Well i love you all and hope you have a good week cant wait to talk to you love you!

Love elder witt