Pretty crazy...but I'm safe

семья! So as you know Ukraine is going pretty crazy lately. It is sad to see how humble a lot of these people are and how they just want to have freedom. On the other hand there are people here in my area who are pro Russia and say they speak Russian so they are russian, or they were born in Russia then came here, so it should be part of russia..? that last one doesnt make sense but hey that's what they are saying haha We have been couped up in our apartment for most of all the days last week. So we didn't get a ton done, we did still however have a few lessons. 

We met with John again and we moved his date to the 15th of March and he still seems excited about it. He is doing well and hope he continues to progress. The sisters also have a brotha set up for the 15th of march so hopefully we have a double brotha baptism! that\ll be cool.We taught another lesson with the sisters with a man and I am pretty sure he was interested in the sisters not the gospel because when we were there and he was told we were gonna teach him, he said well it is chilly outside and you guys probably have to go so see ya! haha We met with the sisters and this dude at the park and yeah, I don't think he is too interested right now, but maybe,we will see.. Евгений (yevgenny) hasn't been able to meet but hopefully we can meet with him again sometime soon! Since we haven't been able to contact too many people and set up lessons we have some lessons set up with members this week so we can still teach and practice our Russian and stuff so I am glad we have those set up they should be good.

I got a picture at the MTC and it is called "Peace is Coming" by Jon McNaughton, so look it up because it is a cool pic and it is a good picture for a time like this especially here in Ukraine. I did see Tui Jameson in the Liahona for this month so that was pretty cool! If he is still in our ward tell him it is cool haha or his family, ha but yeah I thought that was cool. 

Thankfully our  President Lochhead is talking with General Authorities and he is making sure that we are safe, other than people going off on political rants and seeing people with Russian flags we haven't been in any direct danger. Thank you for all your prayers and such I love you guys and will keep you updated with all I know, even though you probably have a better idea what is going on in the "outside world" than i do haha but yes we are safe and doing well. Есть хорошая неделя!

 с любовью,

Elder David Witt

cool graffiti and fake puma shoes with the puma sewn on haha and I will have to tell you a story about getting that pic.

oh yes and tell Leslie happy Birthday dont have her email, love you fam!

Update March 3

March 3, 2014

To parents of missionaries serving in the Ukraine Donetsk Mission:

As conditions here in Ukraine play out we are all concerned about the immediate and long-term safety of our missionaries. I have received concerned emails from several of you, which I am happy to receive. In a few instances where parents have raised unique concerns I have sent brief individual responses. I will also plan to send all of you as a group regular updates – roughly every other day – so you will be aware of conditions as they unfold.

Like you, I have been closely monitoring news reports on the Internet. Being here on the ground, I also have the benefit of daily telephone communication with each of our zone leaders, assistants, and other missionaries. I am also in regular telephone communication with the Area Presidency and with local priesthood leaders, who are perhaps our best source of information on

The missionaries were “locked up” in their apartments for about 36 hours a few days ago. After consulting with the Area Presidency, who are in regular communication with high level personnel at Church Headquarters, we sent word that missionaries could leave their apartments and engage in missionary work, subject to important conditions and precautions. Some of those precautions are mission-wide, such as limited activity after dark, speaking only Russian on the street, and keeping well away from gatherings of people. Additional safeguards have been imposed in specific areas, such as staying away from one of our meetinghouses, other than for Sunday worship services. In other cities we have instructed missionaries to avoid taking public

The disturbing images you are seeing on the Internet are restricted to localized areas near government buildings or public plazas. A few blocks away from the demonstrations you would have no idea that anything unusual is happening. For example, the Mission Home where my wife and I live is in an apartment building a ten minute walk away from the location of large demonstrations in Donetsk over the week-end. We saw disturbing images of the demonstration, but our neighborhood was as peaceful as could be. In short, we caution the missionaries to stay away from trouble and avoid situations that could potentially create a hazard.

We have started receiving reports of some increase of anti-American sentiment. At this point it is not severe, but we are monitoring it closely and reporting regularly to the Area Presidency.

There has also been some sporadic trouble accessing cash from local banks.

Our Area Presidency, who hold the keys for supervising missionary work in all of the Europe East Area, are in constant communication both here at the mission level and at the highest levels at Headquarters. The Missionary Department issued a statement yesterday with the most recent news. If and when conditions warrant a change, we will act immediately and keep you advised.

It is comforting to be able to rely on the accumulated experience and wisdom of the Missionary Department, Church Security, and the Senior Brethren. The Church has been caring for missionaries in world “hot spots” for a very long time, and I have great confidence in their guidance. You should be comforted in knowing that the missionaries as a group, while understandably concerned, are doing amazingly well. This is an opportunity for them to show their true character as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in a tumultuous world. It is a time they will remember for the rest of their lives. We are teaching them to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16. The Brethren have emergency back-up plans to cover any likely contingency, and I am confident that our missionaries are being carefully watched over, both by Our Father in Heaven and by his anointed servants who preside over the Church.

I again want to thank you for the truly outstanding missionaries with whom Sister Lochhead and President, Ukraine Donetsk Mission

Update Feb 27

February 27, 2014

To parents of missionaries serving in the Ukraine Donetsk Mission:

I would like to give you an update on the status of our missionaries and advise you concerning additional precautions we are taking. In light of recent events, and after consultation with the Church Security Department and general authorities at Headquarters, the Area Presidency has directed that missionaries in Ukraine remain indoors for a time until the present situation becomes more settled. We have no reason to believe that any missionaries are in any immediate risk of harm, and this step is being
taken out of an abundance of caution.

I have contacted our mission leaders within the last hour, and they in turn have contacted each of the missionaries. All of our missionaries are well. Again, there is no cause for alarm, but conditions merit an extra measure of caution. I will continue to keep you advised. We are grateful for the expertise of the Church Security Department, which has a wealth of experience in preserving the health and safety of missionaries world-wide in a variety of circumstances over many years.

President, Ukraine Donetsk Mission

Feb 24 Letter

Hello Family, 

this week has felt quite long so I am kinda glad it is another Monday haha but it was still pretty good.Last P day after internet we ate at this "American" restaurant and I had a hamburger so that was pretty good haha Then we had an experience with the other Elders which will be a story for another day haha but I am very grateful for the power of the priesthood and for the knowledge that God loves us very much. This week warmed up a little bit at the beginning of this week so it was nice to feel the sun, but it has gotten a little chilly and cloudy, and we saw some snowflakes, but hopefully that stops and it gets warmer haha We met with John this week and he is seriously looking happier and happier each time we meet him and he is more interested every time we meet with him as well, so it has been cool to see this change. He is still set for the 8th which is womens day like I said which is a really big holiday here and members wont be able to come and the sauna we rent out wont be open. But since he was unable to come to church for circumstances which I will talk about in a sec, we might have to move it back anyway. So we thought things had calmed down in Kiev but when we saw a TV then later got calls from members we saw that kiev had gone crazy and the president has left somewhere to east Ukraine. Then we were meeting this other brotha at a park, cause that is the only land mark he knew, and while we were there we saw a group of people set up these tents then police officers stand in front of the government building, so we left and had our lesson with Jessy at the branch building. But we didnt really see anything and thankfully nothing happened. but then that night we saw tons of people lined up at banks and atms pulling out all of their money so we asked someone and they said they were closing the banks down, but thankfully it seems that the banks are still working so we should be fine.Then we had district meeting Correlation meeting and english and we left that early because we had another lesson with John, which went well, then we were going to contact but we were told that we should be inside at night and we shouldn't  wear our tags. Then Saturday the branch had a little party for "mens day" cause i guess that was this weekend but it isnt as big as womens day, so we had pizza and cake and played some ping pong and such. then when we left we passed the park on our way home and we saw a ton of people with sticks and stuff and police officers with shields and  their sticks so it was pretty wild, but thankfully we got out of there, we didnt see anything and nothing happened to us. And that is why John couldnt come to church was because one of his teachers said dont go to center it is dangerous, so he didnt, therefore missing church, so that kinda sucked. But then yesterday I gave my first talk in church hahaha. It was on faith and it was like 7 minutes long, hopefully they understood what i was trying to say to them haha but for the most part it went well, then Elder Lafontaine, because Newey and I know the area better than the other Elders and we had two pweople to take the sacrament to, and I went to take the sacrament to the garbankos daughter again and I remembered where to go an we didnt get lost so that was nice haha then we made some way good lasagna for dinner and it was way good. We will be making that again for sure. So even though it has been chaotic here in Ukraine we are still safe and we hope that we can still teach the people here. Ah yes we had a lesson with Yevgenny, but it didnt work out so hopefully that works this week! but yes we are safe and doing well!

love you have a good week! I think it is presidents day or something, but maybe that was last week? haha anyway love you bye! 

люблю тебя! 
 Elder David Witt

Valentine's Week

This week was nice. It rained a bit so it softened the snow then it was sunny so basically all the snow has melted there is a slight dilemma..Ukraine doesn't really have drains so there is just water and mud everywhere haha they used sand and dirt to help make the snow not so slippery so that made more mud haha We met a new investigator Mohammad who is going to school here he is Muslim and was pretty cool, he seemed really interested so hopefully he wants to meet again this week. Some good news we put John on date, he is a brotha and seems pretty cool! his date is set for March 8, but that is womens day so hopefully we can move it up a week! His friend Paul was there and he seems really cool, he has a Christian background and really liked the first lesson. He even said the closing prayer! ha so that was pretty cool. we have high hopes for paul. We had youth night this week, like we usually do but the thing is we dont really have youth so I guess the old people who think they are the youth came, but it was good because they are all way funny. We played the game where you have to say something to your neighbor without showing your teeth and I started laughing way hard and it was just funny, sister Lubov was there and she is too funny. 

me and sister Lubov (which means love in Russian by the way) good times! 

Yesterday we gave the sacrament to Olea and Nadia and they are doing better, but their parents havent changed their minds, it is good to practice my russian with them they are patient and know missionaries struggle with the language at the beginning haha  Then we met the Garbankos, another cool family in the branch, this is the family that the missionary baptized the dad then married his daughter ha, then they took us over to their other daughters house who still lives here and gave her and here daughter the sacrament because she is on bed-rest because she is pregnant. her daughter is so cute and funny she reminds me of all of my nieces and nephews. We also gave her a blessing and that was pretty cool too. I didnt do it but her dad and Elder Newey did and I just stood in on it, so it was a neat experience. We also helped sister Lubov this week haul a washing machine across town ha we picked it up from a member and less active, the daughter is less active because she got sick like 20 years ago and she went to the hospital and they gave her a buunch of shots, then her brain got messed up, anyway ha we got the washer and thankfully it wasnt too big and we but it on the tolley bus which was packed because people were coming home from work haha and sister Lubov was trying to play the game with us that we played at youth night hahaha but then we went to the other end of the bus so then she stopped haha she is awesome. Every time I show my picture book everyone comments on our fam and how big and good looking we are haha so thanks mom and dad! I am glad to be in the family that I am in. The other night we also made some chicken noodle soup which was very tasty so yes I am cooking and we aren't starving ha 

I hope your Valentines day was nice, mine was full of missionary work haha 

hope you have a good week! love you! 

Love Elder David Witt 

4 months down

This week was kinda crazy, but it was still good. I went to east Lugansk last sunday night and stayed with Elder O'leary while Newey and Riley went to Donestsk and Harkov. We basically packed all week and cleaned east apt and center so I guess that was a good time ha then transfers were Thursday and the bus driver, it was a nice bus, it was more like an astro van, hit a snowbank while he was pulling out so his license plate fell off right before we even started ha so we got pulled over 3 times by the police and it is weird how they do it here, they just stand on the side of the road and point to you if you have to pull over ha and lets just say the police here make some extra money from pulling people over haha 

oh yes on one of the nights the sisters got locked out of their apartment (what a sister thing to do, ha jk I hope no sister missionaries judge me for this...mom haha jk) but thankfully we had just cleaned center apartment and they spent the night there, so it was a little weird, but hey you gotta do what you have to do. So I am with Elder Newey and there are two new Elders Haddad and Lafontaine, Elder Haddad is from Arizona then the rest of us are from good old Utah. And then we still have the sisters in the west Sister Tanner, from virginia and Reese from Utah as well.  Everyone in our district is way funny and cool. I came back to Lugansk with Hadded so we could "run both areas" while Newey stayed in Donetsk for MLC. but I still dont know Lugansk too well so we walked around and I showed him a few places and such.

Our English and Youth Night were both better this week they were fun, Olea and Nadia actually wanted to be incharge of Youth night since it was Olea's birthday and so we made like these fruit and yogurt things which were good and had cake, so it was a good time. It has been getting warmer here so with the warm and the rain, it has been raining a bit, the snow is melting away and I am excited cause I cant wait for summer! ha the trees will be green it will be warm the sun will be out and it should be good! ha But I am excited for this transfer it should be a good one. It doesnt feel like I have been on my mission since October, I guess it has gone faster than I thought it has. Thanks for the letters, love you all and have a good week! 

Love,
Elder David Witt

1st Transfer

my distict and zone here in Lugansk 

starting from the left Elder Newey, Elder O' Leary, Sister Tanner, Sister Reese, me and Elder Riley

This week was nice it went by way fast. I am not sure why is went by so fast but it did ha . We had some lessons with people we had tracted into, but when we got to their houses they didnt answer. We went to the same area where we almost got attacked by the dogs haha we saw them again, on the street this time, and they got scared of us this time and ran away. then it has been a bit chilly here so people didnt really come to youth night, English or church yesterday. but that is alright there is always this week ha. On Wednesday we had specialized training and that means President Lochhead and his wife came and talked to our district and taught us and such.We talked about what we can control and what we cant control about people becoming converted. President shared a cool story and in the story, he was a lawyer by the way, he said he could write disertations for and against the church and he said that both sides would be pretty strong and there are no knock out punches that convince someone that what we have is true. It truly comes down to how we feel in our heart and how it makes us feel and the actions that we do because of the gospel how they make us feel. It is just cool that you have to really get to know someone and when you share what is personal to you and how it has helped your life, if they open their heart for you and let the Spirit testify of truth it will, which comes back to the point the Spirit is the teacher more than we are. which is pretty cool. 

this is my comp and a huge thing of herbal tea we made, it tasted pretty.. weird haha

This week we got transfer calls and we both got one, and so did Elder O' leary, they told me to pack my bags but I wouldn't be leaving Lugansk, which means I will be moving to East Lugansk which means I will be companions with Elder Newey. I am excited about that since he is pretty cool, we should get a lot done and have a good time doin it! While we were tracting on Saturday we got a call and they said Elder Riley needed to go to Harkov today (Monday) so he would need to have all of his stuff ready by then so he could leave then be ready to go straight to transfer meeting on Thursday. 

It isnt every day you see an suv limo especially in Ukraine, especially in Lugansk. more likely than not..mafia haha  

I went on a split with Elder Newey and we had a lesson with a guy who got a new phone and wasnt going to try to find our number but that day we called him and then set up a meeting. This is the same guy that I got to be on the lesson a while ago where he had a dream he needed to get baptized but his wife is against the church, which she still is, but..  the meeting was good he said he has a testimony of the book of mormon and that this is the true church and becasue we called him it resparked his hope and faith. so that is really  cool Ialso felt inspired to invite a member on that lesson, Sister Lubov, she is so funny and helped him understand/ remind him how important this gospel is and how much it will bless his life. She reminds me of Nadine Terry a bit hahaha but she is way cool and it was a good lesson!

This is of a statue, not sure who maybe Lennin..? haha but it looks cool!

Yesterday we gave the sacrament to Olea and Nadia, (the best members who's parents are against the church and dont want them to come) we sang some hymns with them and read some scriptures and talked, I tried to understand but they are so cool and hope their parents let them start comingto church again!

I also forgot to tell you that I got the package from the Whitneys and the letter from our Bishopric and so if you wouldnt mind tell them thanks!

and sometimes I dont answer all the questions in the email cause I forget or something, so if you want me to answer something just keep asking until I do ha
thanks! love you and have a good week! 

love you! 

love,

-Elder David Witt