GOING PRIVATE

By next week this blog will be private...so if you'd  like to continue reading David's letters/posts and seeing pictures on this blog then please put your email address in the comments and I will add you. THANKS!!

Another week here in Ukraine! I will first start out with we just heard this guy talking on the phone right next to our computers and he was speaking English so we asked where he is from and he is from Ireland picking up his wife he met on the internet..haha but he had to leave because he had to take the tv remote back to the house because he had put it into his pocket thinking it was his phone..haha good old old people. but it was good to hear English ha last night I tried borsh for the first time and it was actually not too bad, Elder Newey made it and it tasted like beets (dirt) but it wasn't too shabby. 

I would like to apologize for having to make my blog private, I just found out that the area presidency has asked that missionaries here make it private, so if you could mention that on FB and then put my email and my other address on there that would be fantastic.

 It was very good to hear from you guys on Christmas! Thank you so much for the Christmas presents you sent me they were all awesome. It didn't feel like Christmas too much though becasue there weren't tons of presents, music and decorations. And plus they celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January so no one else was celebrating ha but it was still a good day and it was good to reflect on what Christmas is about, the birth of our Savior and brother Jesus Christ.

We decided to do some secret santas for some people in our branch, so we went to some stores and while looking for stuff we came across some ties, so we bought some for them and some for us and it was like 12 ties and it cost 34 grieven so thats like a little more that 4 dollars for 12 ties, what an awesome deal haha so we were talking them to houses  yesterday and it is much harder to do secret santas here than it is in America becasue in America you just set it on their porch, ring the door bell and run, but here you have you have someone who lives there push a button to open a metal door then you have to ring a bell to another door and behind that door is 2-4 appartments which also have doors, so basically if a zombie appocolypes happened they would be safe behind all these locked metal doors, but anyway after we finally got in, after somone had opened the door and left we went in, but we got to the second door and no one answered and sometimes the doorbells dont work so we werent sure if it was working then a neighbor came out and opened that door so we were finally able to just leave the present infront of the door of the person who we were trying to give the gift to ha so it was a little more challenging than at home ha but it was still good that we gave some stuff to less actives and investigators. 

On Friday we went to a reception, a missionary who was here about 6 months ago came back and has been dating someone and will be married soon, hence the reception..anyway there was some dancing, that we as missionaries watched..haha and then there were like 20-30 people there and we sat around some make shift tables and had cake that was pretty good and that was it. 

A few days before that we taught this girls, who is getting married, family becasue he just got baptized not too long ago, and guess who baptized him..? his future son in law haha but we taught them and I led the lesson, well I guess it was more of a spiritual thought, we read from the Book of Mormon then we talked about it and it went pretty well actually.They are a really cool family though so it was nice to teach them.

And the last little bit I will add is we went tracting and we found this one old man and at first he said talk to my nieghbor and shut his door ha then we were still on his floor so when he came out to go somewhere he started talking to us and we invited him to church and he came yesterday! so that was really cool and he has read a little bit of the Book of Mormon and wants to meet with us so hopefully it works out! 

I love you all!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

-Cтарейшина Витт

Merry Christmas from Ukraine

More than a full week down now here in Ukraine! again I would like to apologize in advance if my typing is a little off becasue of the Ukranian spell check. But it has been a good week even though it has been kinda crazy, so My companion is still in Bulgaria and the said it will take 7-14 business days,from today, for them to return..so we will see haha On Thursday the AP's came and I was with one and the other Elders in my zone were with the other, his name is Elder Stoker and from Vegas, so he has some funny stories, but he is cool and a awesome missionary.One really cool thing that happened when I was with him was we were teaching this man on the street and it was basically the whole first lesson and we totally could feel the spirit and you could see it in his eyes and in his face that he could too, but because he is Pravoslavnian he can not read books that have not been "okayed" or something, by their church leaders, so it kinda sucked that he didn't want to meet again but it was awesome we felt the Spirit way strong even on the busy streets.

It is funny when we were street contacting someone asked where we were from and we said America and he said "I can totally tell he is from America" haha but it is because most of the time I smile at people and such haha but I bought a shopka, a russian hat, so maybe I fit in a little better. Coke is really cheap here so we get that sometimes and it is actually kinda good, it is like a not of good as flavor as Dr. Pepper haha They eat a lot of mushrooms, I have had them on a few wraps that we have gotten, from off the streets, hopefully I dont get worms, haha, just kidding but I don't know if I will ever come to like them they are pretty gross haha One food, well I guess it is a treat, is Kontik, it is like a chocolate cracker type thing and you bite two ends and use it as a straw to suck milk out a bowl or soemthing, they are pretty dang good ha. I guess they have them in America or something like them called tim tams, so if you ever find any bite each end and give it a whirl haha

We taught a guy this week who said a long time ago he had a dream that his baptism as a baby wasn't valid and he needed to pray and he had that happen to him a few times then one time after he was done praying, like in the middle of the night, his sister called him, who is a member, and told him about our church. So he has been investigating and knows it is true but his wife is against the church and won't let him get baptized. We set a date with him and told him to pray to have Heavenly Father soften her heart so he can be baptized and we are praying too, so hopefully she will let him be baptized by the end of January. 

I guess quite a bit of people here in Lugansk have dreams about the missionaries and joining our church and looking for us and stuff, so it is pretty cool that I got to serve in this area first. 

We made some cookies for less active members and we keep our tortillas in our toaster oven, so those got burned and our cookies got burned so that didn't really work out haha but we made some more and delivered them to a family well a mom and her son and it was cool to show them my pictures of home, they really like that and they like pictures of big families, so it was cool to meet with them.

The weather here hasn't been too cold, and a lot of the snow has melted, so I guess global warming is working..haha the only part that gets cold is when the wind blows and yeah that is chilly haha I am still trying to get used to having the sun go down around 4 pm every day ha it is like 6pm and it feels like it should be 10 haha it is weird 

Oh yeah one last thing, there money is pretty colorful so it looks like monoply money haha but it is pretty cool and mostly everyhting here is pretty cheap it is like 30 cents to ride the marshootkas (I am not quite sure how you'd spell it out in English) but that is the transportantion we used. It is like a big van that there is room to stand up in and such and sometimes they get crammed packed haha but other than riding that we just walk around everywhere, which isnt too bad. 

Well it was a good week here in Lugansk, Ukraine and I am very greatful to be here. I am also glad that we teach and believe that both members and non members of our church can choose whether or not our church is true and they can investigate it for themselves rather than just keeping people in our church just becasue someone said we had to or because of traditions. I really enjoy it here and it should be an intersting yet good Christmas being away from home haha 

Merry Christmas!

Love you all!

Love,

-Elder Witt

Lugansk

Alright! I am here in Ukraine! I got here safe and sound. Like I said our flights were all good and everything was pretty smooth.President Lochhead met us at the Donetsk airport and was with Vladimir, a member in the ward and they took us to the Presidents house where we had dinner and went over a few things. Then we stayed at the AP.'s house, they were pretty cool and funny then we woke up the next morning and had a delcious breakfast at the Presidents house then we headed over the church where we had a transfer meeting and talked about some better ways to teach, then we found out where we were going and who our companions were. So, the moment we've all been waiting for..I am in the Lugansk area with Elder Riley.

Lugansk is a satellite city, really small and really far away from everyone else, so there are 6 of us in our zone. We have 4 Elders and 2 Sisters and they are all pretty legit. We are the furthest mission east, so the closest to Russia. It is a pretty cool city. my apartment is actually pretty nice it has a front room kitchen bedroom and bathroom, even though it is small it is nice. We are on the 6th floor and we have an elevator so that's nice.

Elder Riley is from California and has trained few people and people say he is really good, which he is. He is really smart and is very good at Russian. He is also studying Ukrainian haha he also knows some German too He is pretty cool. So I've got to teach, well listen I guess since I have no idea what they are saying haha, to a few lessons. We taught Lila with 2 sister members and it went well, she was supposed to come to church but then she was in another city so she didn't end up coming. Then we taught Roman. This was in English because we have an English club, which he was the only one who showed up this week. So we had English and talked about meeting new people and such then after my companion and I taught him. He was talking about how he is interested in Monks and Mormons and can't decide which one he wants so he does both ha. I guess they have been teaching him for like 5 years or something and supposedly has made progress, so hopefully we can make some more progress with him. 

And the other lesson we taught was Alexander. He wanted us to buy him butter so he could feed us but we didn't have time, but we went to his house and he rinsed out a few stained tea cups and pulled out some crackers and we had chai and crackers. I am not sure why he needed the butter haha but it was a small house with a kitchen bathroom and bedroom and it was very small, and run down, a lot but I guess that's how most of the houses are here. Talk about culture shock hahaha a lot of people drink tea, but herbal kind is the okay kind we just can't drink the black tea.

Yesterday we had church in this small building, it has a big room then about 5 or 6 other rooms for classes. There are about 50 people in the branch and they all seem pretty cool. They would say oh you're new! then some other stuff and I'd just smile haha Then they had me bare my testimony which was nice, I said good duck then just kidding I know the word it is good morning, cause duck and morning are similar, anyway I thought it was funny I don't think they got it though haha 

Oh yeah so my companion had to go to Bulgaria to renew his visa so I am with Elder Newey, he is a cool cat, so we have to cover his area and our area, then the sisters do their area. He is new to the area but has about six months left, so he knows Russian but doesn't really know how to get around so thankfully we haven't gotten lost yet haha  They said my companion could be gone from 5 days to a month so we will see haha 

Last night was my first experience tracting so that was a good time! haha I guess some lady said to us "What have you heard" after we knocked haha then we said we were missionaries and she flipped out and was swearing and said she would call the police haha Oh yeah there are 2 doors to houses there is an inside door and an outside door, they open the inside door then say, Who's there through the other door so we rarely even see their faces ha but it was a good time, I was told I would have some interesting experiences while tracting so I can't wait haha 

Anyway it has been a good first week I am still trying to settle in and not be so culture shocked hopefully it wears off soon haha but it has been a good time and I am glad that I am finally here. Oh yeah both packages were here when I got here so thank you so much for sending them! I can't wait to open the Christmas ones and finish opening up the 12 days of Christmas ones! Oh yeah one of the sisters in my zone thought my real name was  Veet, haha ah good times, so We just said it is the Russian way and Witt is my English last name haha
Love you! 

oh yeah one other thing I just remembered, we watched the Christmas devotional from the First Presidency of the Church at the MTC and it was way good, so look it up and watch it if you didn't watch it on tv!

http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/watch/christmas-devotional/2013/12?lang=eng&vid=2912344387001

Love,
Cтарейшина Витт

Elder David Witt 

He made it to Ukraine today

Emailing from Ukraine! It is Legit and i am so excited! We made it here safe without any problems and all of our flights were on time and everything! then we met our mission president at the airport in Donetsk and now we are at the mission home! I think Pday is Monday so I will email again then! Love you all! 

-Elder Witt

Last email from America

This is our zone doing the Russian smile. 

(starting left back) Elder Luekenga,Elder Parker, Elder Puckridge, Me, Elder Maltba, Elder Horn, Elder McDonald, Elder Alvord and Elder Lusk

then in the front row Sister Anderson, Sister Bruening, Sister Watts, Sister Farmer, Elder Houston 

Ready or not here we go! I just wanted to send one last email today since I'm not sure when the next time I will be able to email. I just want to say that I love you guys and thanks again for all of your prayers and support, I am glad I am going to teach people about Jesus Christ and not going off to war haha I can't believe we leave Tuesday morning at 3:30 am! We have been packing and I can't believe how fast nine weeks has gone by! I have enjoyed hearing from Dallin H.Oaks, L. Tom Perry and Russel M. Nelson and so many other members from the 70 and their wives while here at the MTC and I know that they are definitely apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ. It has been a good  time here at the MTC and I am so grateful for my teachers, district and zone but I am so excited to get to Ukraine and help guide people to the light and gospel of Jesus Christ, even though they won't have any idea what I am saying haha 

Oh yeah we got new Sisters and Elders this week for our zone! so we hosted on Wednesday and brought in, I think it was, 750 new missionaries then on Thursday night my companion and I and the Sister Training Leaders got to have a meeting with the new Sisters and Elders that came into our zone. So that was fun getting to meet them! Too bad we only get a few days with them though haha We also did infield orientation Thursday, that was long but it was good and it makes me more excited to get there!  

I remember dad saying "you will forget all of the Spanish you have learned" and I didn't believe him but I have ha and only Russian words come to my mind, but I guess it is a good thing since I will be speaking that for the next two years. haha I love you so much and can't wait to be in Ukraine in less than 48 hours! 

Thank you for the Thanksgiving, Christmas  and other letters and gifts I have loved them. 

Even though I only know a little bit of Russian I am again so excited to serve and love the people in Ukraine! 

Until next time, and I will be writing from Ukraine..

Я тебя люблю!

-Cтарейшина ДавиД Витт 

Last Week in the MTC

здраствуйте! 

How are you doing? It was a good week and I can't believe this is our last week here! Time flies! 

Today was an especially good day because it snowed a bunch here so we made a snowman and played in the snow and such and it was a good time. I love my district haha

Thanksgiving was a way good day! I mean the food obviously wasn't as good as homemade, but it was still good! It was my companions first Thanksgiving so that made it even better! In the morning our zone started off with a little Turkey Trot and we ran around the MTC a few times haha so that was fun.

Like I told you the MTC  did this huge service project providing meals for over 350,000 people here in Utah. Here is a link with more info, and my companion is in one of the pictures hahaha http://www.ksl.com/?nid=1284&sid=27822133#x1WiYiORwl5iU285.99 

Since we are Zone Leaders we got to help be in charge of it a little bit, we got to be in charge of one of the 70 tables and get the people going and such. My companion and I got to help refill the lentils and rice bins and figured out that together we moved about a ton of food, literally a ton haha 

But it was really cool seeing everyone work hard and fast to get as many meals done that we could. We also got to listen to one of the Apostles. Elder Nelson, from the 12, and his wife came and spoke to us. It was really awesome  He said how important it is to get to know and love the Bishop and Ward Mission Leaders so we can serve with them to lead people to Christ more effectively. 

Then we had a Thanksgiving program and it was funny and fun. a few people we called on to help give a little skit and that was funny. Then we also go to hear people play music and we got to hear Cтарейшина Maltba play the piano. He is so good and I wish I could play the Piano haha it is an awesome talent. Then to finish off our Thanksgiving day we watched Ephraim's Rescue. Such and incredible movie. Like I have said before I do not comprehend the pioneers. His story and faith is incredible. It was such a good movie I loved it and recommend it to everyone. It was a great Thanksgiving! 

This week also got our travel plans and it is so real now haha 9 weeks flew by! We leave the MTC at 3:30 am then fly from the SLC airport to Chicago to D.C. to Munich to Donetsk! I hope our Russian name tags get here this week too! Yesterday we had a culture meeting with all the Russian speaking Elders and Sisters and it makes me more excited to get there and embrace the people and culture. 

This week Nikoli finally got baptized after being pushed back for 7 lessons because of different reasons so that was exciting. I love that we can teach so much but not know that much Russian. I only know a tiny tiny bit of Russian but I am so excited to learn more and become fluent in the language. 

On Sunday we had Mission Conference and one thing I liked was how a man was a stone cutter and could make awesome designs in stones and such but the architect had asked that they be plain square stones. The Stone cutter didn't want to but did them how the architect had asked. When the project was complete the stone cutter saw how beautiful the arch was from the stones that he had cut and was glad he left them plain so they could be beautiful how they were. And then it was related that Jesus Christ is our Architect and he knows what the end result we can be and so we need to trust in him and know that even though we may want to choose something else that we like or that is more fun, we need to follow the His plan cause he knows what is best. Then we had sacrament and testimony meeting as a zone and it was great. I love my zone! It was another good week here at the MTC!   

Я тебя люблю!

-Cтарейшина ДавиД Витт 

P.S. 

my address in Ukraine for now will be 

Elder David Charles Witt 

Ukraine Donetsk Mission

Prospekt Bogdana Khmelnitskogo 67a

Donetsk 83087 

Ukraine

So Thankful

здраствуйте! 

How is it going? Another week! And now down to 2 more weeks here! Time flies! This week was a pretty good week! We got pushed back on all of our investigators so we didn't teach that much this week, mostly book work and reading and such.  

This week for TRC we taught only one lesson that was 40 minutes long. We usually write down a majority of what we want to say but this week my companion said let's just go in with bullet points for topics and write down a few scriptures. I didn't want to because I wasn't sure if I would remember any words, but that's what we did. And we talked for 40 minutes and we both talked about 50/50 so that was a cool experience of how we just need to have faith and trust that the Spirit can lead us what to say. I also saw a glimpse of the gift of tongues cause I was using grammar that I have no idea how to use haha and I know I couldn't have done that by myself.  I can't wait to get into the field and exercise more faith and learn more language. 

The lady who makes the Russian name tags came in today to make sure our names were spelled right so that was exciting and it made this even more real, so we will probably get them at the end of next week..? I think and I hope haha but I will have 2 T's instead of just one so that's cool. 

Sister Jackson's birthday was this week and so we used the glow sticks to spell happy b-day and put sticky notes everywhere haha it was a good day and she was way grateful. Brother Holt was talking about his mission and people he taught and stuff after we had found a video of the dedication of the Kyiv temple. He also said how there is a lot of hands on service because a lot of people have gardens, so I am excited about that!  I am glad to have good teachers. Our district has been doing Purple Пятница and it has carried over to the other district (our 2 districts are the whole zone..ha) so I will have to get a picture from someone and send it haha  

I can't believe Thanksgiving is already here. There are so many things I am grateful for! I am grateful for my parents, my sisters and their families and my brother. This week I have had the opportunity to learn more about  and review Joseph Smith. I know that there has never before or never will be again a 14 year old boy who gets persecuted day in and day out and until he gets murdered for what he said he saw and knows and expect no recognition, giving it all to God. "Millions shall know brother Joseph again"  I am so grateful for him adn his willingness to endure so we could enjoy the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the truth it has in it. And most importantly I am so grateful for my Savior, Brother and Redeemer Jesus Christ. We would be nothing without him. I am grateful for this time of the year that we can be reminded of all of the things we have been given and all of the things that we have. It is a wonderful time of the year. I love you and miss you but I know it is just a short time in the eternal perspective . 

Until next week 

Love, 

 -Cтарейшина ДавиД Витт