Pres. and Sis. Schwitzer and Kharkov Missionaries • March 2011

3-28-11

From the Boy in Ukraine,

How is everything going for my Clan back home? I bet things are warm and beautiful and deserty like the way I left 8 months ago today. Oh dang!!! Ya I have been out 8 months exactly. Scary thought. Shoot man.  Time is going by now.

Well as you know I am in Ukraine(just a reminder in case ANY of you have forgotten me here). So this past week we met with our new investigator Katya. Our lesson with her was really good. The first time we met with her we told her how the Book of Mormon came about and about prophets. When she met with us the second time she started into it and asked us, "So last time you said that there are prophets on the earth. Well how can we know that they are real prophets?" Well boom she is obviously interested in what we have to say so that is a great sign. We gave her the first lesson and she was asking questions and being involved which is something missionaries love to see. So we committed her to read and pray and she said she would do that. So we are very hopeful for her and hope things work out with her. We also had a meeting with an inactive whose name is Luda. She was baptized over a year ago. We talked to her about coming to church and why we do it and we need it. She said she needed to start coming to church and she sounded really serious but she didn't come to church on Sunday so we were a little......distraught about that. So we'll have to get on her about that.

We met with the Rusanov Family and we found out something about their grandchildren that was a little upsetting. We found out that the grandchildren are not baptized. The boy, Dima, is 10 and the girl, Misha, is 8. We have no idea why they are not baptized or why their dad is not baptizing them. The grandparents are very upset about that cuz their son-in-law is being a larry and not doing what he should for those kids. So we have work to do with these kids and with the father. Hazen and I are very upset about it cuz on top of all that the father is not taking the children to church for the past 6 weeks and that is just wrong so we are bothered about that cuz those kids need to get baptized and the father is keeping them from it for some reason that we don't know and whatever the reason is it is not good enough. So that was our week in a nut shell.

Much love,

Bubbs

3-21-11

Dear Family!!!!!!!,

Well a lot has happened this week and when I say a lot I refer to one very significant time which happened on Thursday. But before we get to that I would like to say a few things about Monday night.

Monday night, as you all know is Family Night, and we met with our family, the Klooyevs. We talked about the temple and the work that is done there. I honestly really haven't had a testimony about temple work cuz I just kinda did it. But now that I am without a temple in the Ukraine in my mission I understand how important it is to have a chance to visit every now and then. As we talked about it, I understood that the temple is not just for me and my well being but it is a way to help those that didn't have the opportunity before to feel the temple work in their life. Even through death we are affecting peoples lives and doing what we can for them. I have gained a testimony about that and I know that temple work is true. Also on that family night Brother Klooyev complimented me on my progress in the language. As he said, "Ты молацый." Not that you would know but that is bad spelling. I was going off what it sounds like because I have never seen this word written down and I can't find it in the dictionary. But it means your are amazing or something to that effect. It made me feel really good.

Well on to what happened Thursday. On Thursday we had Zone Conference, but what made this one so good was we had President Shwitser, who is the Europe East President, come and talk to us. Ya know the big guy. The big cheese. The tip top. The guy my President reports to. Ya that guy. He was full of power and authority. He talked to us about how we could better use the Book of Mormon while prosilyting. I knew that what he said was true and after listening to what he had to tell us that the Book of Mormon is all we have to stand on. Without it we have nothing. Without it then Joseph Smith was a fraud and a liar and not worth the time we put into it here. But I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that everything written in it is of God. I am thankful for the BoM everyday because I know that I am out here on the Lord's errand and doing what he wants me to do. 2 years is short and I devoted this short time I have to the Lord and I am thankful to Him each and everyday that I am ALLOWED to be out here doing this great and marvelous work.

Thank you for all your support. You all know that I love you.

And Mom you're gonna hate me but I forgot to get a picture with my Shopka. I'm sorry. But I'll get it next week I promise.

Bubbs

Zone Conference March 2011



   

Elder Stout • Elder Bubbs • Elder Rader • Elder Zsembery

3-14-11

The Field is White and Ready to Harvest

Dear Family,

Well hello there there there in AZ. Whats up and on the Hip haps over there?

This week was slower but we did receive a referrel from Sasha. Her name is Katya and she teaches English to little kids and she seemed really interested in our message so hopefully that will go somewhere. We also had a meeting with Napoleon. He is a brother from Cameroon who had contact with missionaries six years ago and with time lost it. He is pretty legit and understands the Gospel so well. I hope to meet with him more and more and get him baptized sooner or later but as we all know sooner is better.

The weather here is getting better. I can just wear a smaller jacket and no hat which I like cuz I hate layers so much its rediculous.

Well this week Hazen and I got stopped by two cops. We were just contacting the first time and we walked by four cops. We thought we were safe but lo and behold the lead cops says, "Молодой людий. У меня!", which means, "Young people. At me." Or to me. Translations are great. So we went to them and he wanted to see our passports. Obviously he was bored and of course we are not from Ukraine so he hassles us a bit. Well he looked at our passports and noticed that my registration was in Donetsk and not in Harkov so he was confused so Hazen had to state that we are only up here for a few days visiting Harkov. So we got out of that. The second one was when we went to our branch building and as we got closer and closer to the building we heard that the alarm to the building was going off. We thought that was kind of weird so we got to it quickly and opened it up and turned it off and reset the alarm. We looked around the building and nothing had happened to it. The doors were all locked and all the windows were in order and everything. So we thought that was strange. Oh well we thought. So we got all comfy and waited for our lesson. Well 10 minutes later 2 cops walk in with full swat gear on. Bulletproof vest and legit helmets and everything. They asked us what we were doing and who are and what not. So once again We pulled out our passports and went through the shpeel. But this time he called into his department and asked about my name and who I was and what not. I was like oh crap. Well apparently they got it all in order and then they explained to us that if we get there and set the alarm after it is going off then just call them and tell them they don't need to come out. Well we know that now so we will for sure do that now. That was an adventure for sure.

Yesterday we visited Aleezasvyeta and gave her the sacrament. She is just so grateful for us and it makes me happy to see that we do actually make a difference in peoples lives. It's so good to see.

So a little about my fox hat. I will get a picture next time. It is redish like a fox and is pretty legit. I can't really explain well so I'll send a pic. I want a wolf one tho so I'm looking out for those. Its a souviner for me.

Today we have sports planned and we are going to play soccer and football with all the elders in Harkov so that is going to be great and then we will make our way down to Micky Ds for some grub, so that will be exciting.

For our laundry we have our own washer in our apartments and after we use those we put them on drying racks and air dry our clothes, so it is a little different than home.

Ya we heard about Japan. We were at a member's house and he let us watch a little bit of the news footage and it was bad. All those poor people who lost their lives. It's a sad time in the world these days.

Well I love you all and I cant wait to hear from you again next week,

Bubbs

3-7-11

Dear Family,


This week was interesting. We got dogged at least six times or so and contacting was not as a effective. But last week we did find this really old lady that we can take the sacrament to every Sunday. Apparently, until we came, missionaries haven't been there for five or so months. We were shocked and when we got to her last night we got there a little late and she told us that she was crying cuz she thought that we forgot about her.  That would have been pretty bad if we did not show up yesterday. I'm not really sure but she has something wrong with her and she can't leave her house. It's probably a good thing because she is like 110 years old. Ok she is like 90 something, but she looks way older. But I enjoy meeting with her. It's fun to meet with the members.

I recently have been going over a reflection of myself and how I got here. I am thankful for the Atonement that Jesus Christ has fulfilled that will make things work out in the end if we are willing to repent and move on. And I am coming to the realization that the Atonement is for all of us and we have to give ourselves to the Lord's work in order to show Him that we are grateful for His sacrefice.  I'm ready to move forward and give myself to the Lord.

Thank you for all your support family. You know I love you all.

Bubbs

2-28-11

Hello Family,


To start off, I hate the cold and I am sick of winter. I think it has been getting worse as it is supposed to ending and I don't like that very much. It is frustrating and your jaw freezes and you can't speak. Кошмар(Koshmar) means nightmare. They say it all the time.

This week was filled with a lot of contacting and tracting and moments that I could have done without but whatevs that's what its all about ya know. We got dogged on our Monday night lesson but we used that time to make some calls and set up for the rest of the week. So that was good. We had some lessons with less-actives and trying to get them to church more and I think we are going to get through to some of them. I know that the Lord's hand is in all this so I know it will work. Maybe not now but eventually. It's like what you said mom, I'm planting seeds. I think for a little while I might just be a planter for two years and then eventually other missionaries will come harvest my work. The field is white already to harvest. But my scripture would read, The field is brown and ready for plowing, so get in there and get the work done. I'm not a great scripture writer as you can see, but I hope you appreciate the effort I have put into that. ;) Like I said this week was filled with contacting and tracting.

So in answer to your question mother, Yes I am enjoying my new companion. He is a hard worker and he is kicking my butt. The language for me is hard. I speak a lot better than I understand, but I can hear it a lot better now. It's actually a language to me more than a blob. So that is better. I made the patatoe casserole and it was very good but we figured out some things. We need to cook the potatoes longer. We need more meat and more cheese. That was a trial run so we know now. Thank you for the recipe mother. We loved it. But one thing we don't have is cream of mushroom soup. They don't have that here. Maybe you could send me some in a package so I can have them for later. So that would be good. We made kind of a cream of chicken sauce for it and it wasn't the same but it was good.

So things for a package, hmmmm Flaming Hot Cheetos. You know me. Some other snacks that you would love to send me. I doubt you could get MT. Dew here. Hmmmm Gum cuz its expensive here. Like Stride. They don't have that here. Measuring cups as I said before. They are good to have. Some apartments don't have table spoons and measuring utensils and what not.

Well thank you all for your support and I love you all,

Bubbs

2-21-11

Transfer Day---Elder Bubbs • Elder Young • Elder Scovil

Reunion with Elder Beck--Haven't seen him since arriving 

District from last transfer

Hello Family,


Well this week was transfer week and I got a new companion. His name is Elder Hazen and he is from Austin, Texas. And like all Texans he loves Texas very much. So to get you all updated on things. I am in the same area so I didn't move or anything. I just entered into my forth transfer out here in Ukraine so that is really good. Things are going by fast.

This last week was what us missionaries would call a "P-Week" because when we get transfered you spend the week saying goodbye to the members and packing and what not. So it's a chilling week for most. So as Pulsy packed and what not I read and stuff.

Sad news is, I'm not sure if I've mentioned yet, is that Sasha our investigator is not getting baptized anymore. Sadly, he has a huge problem with the polygamy that happened in our church. So that one fell through.
For the last two days Hazen and I hit XT3 hard. We went tracting and got three contacts. I hate tracting so much but I guess we gotta do it. We got in a weird conversation with this drunk guy and some lady about God and such. It was strange. She talked about there being like three gods and then just being one. I don't know it was weird. Then we tracted into this old lady and she said she wasn't interested then got mad at us and told us to leave her Padyezed and leave Ukraine cuz what we have is "Hay Nada" (Not Needed). So she just stood at her door as we knocked on the other doors and she was yelling at us until we finished with the other doors and left. It was pretty fun cuz Hazen was like its not right that you are throwing us out cuz you can't do that. So she was a very interesting lady.

We taught Ali on Sunday and we told him about why he needs to read the scriptures but we really didn't need to because he knows the Gospel really well, but we need to teach him the new member lessons so that's what we are doing.

This Transfer A LOT of people got transferred so we spent a while figuring out where everyone was going and who was coming to who. I was way off on my pick. But I got a good comp so I wasn't complaining about it.

It is still really cold here and I am not enjoying that too much. We all want the spring to come around so it can get warmer and it won't be so miserable.

Well I love and miss you all,

Bubbs

2♥14♥11

Elder Pulsipher • Bro. Anatoli • Elder Bubbs

Tonya and Toma

To the Family,


How are things in the ole' AZ? Things are.......................................cold here. Nothing new there ya.

Well I'm glad to hear that Todd decided to get baptized. That's a big step for that little boy.

Some news this week is that we had transfer calls and guess what? I am staying in XT3. Finally I don't have to pack up and move. I think that is pretty legit. But the crappy part about that is I am in a crappy apartment which just blows. I'll give details later.

Pulsy is going down to the Donboss. Poor little boy. He is going to miss Harkov. As of right now I don't know who my comp is going to be, but hopefully it is someone legit. So pray for that one for me. I will find out on Friday. Fingers crossed.

So this week wasn't very productive. We did A LOT of contacting. Not the best thing. We met with Bro. Anatoli and checked up on him. We just barely got our branches combined (XT3 and Новый Дома). It brought things up. We have about 70 people at church now so that is really good. Pulsy has been showing me the things about our area that I will need to know when he leaves because I might be senior next transfer. 

Mother thank you for the recipe. I will use it for shizzle. Well that's all for whats happening in Ukraine.

Much love,

Bubbs

1-31-11

Харьков Тракторний Завод (Harkov Tractor Factory)

Paving the way in front of the church building

Дорогой Семья,

Hello hello from the Ukraine. It is Monday today and it is roughly..........-10C this morning. No biggy though. Don't worry about that cold I had, it was only a day thing and I am completely fine now.

I'm glad they like the fat ties. I am a very big fan of them. I have some. The Russian Doll is called a матрёшка (matroshka). They have some very interesting ones here. The one I got you is a Russian fairytale but I don't know what the tale is because the lady neglegted to tell me what it was. So whatevs.
This week was an interesting week. It has been hard for one reason and one reason alone. We had to make a decision with Sergei. We either had to drop him and let other missionaries pick him up on a later date when he decides to accept our message or he accepted it now and we work towards baptism. We had to drop him. The reason for this hard decision is the startling discovery we made about him. He has a problem with our stance on what happened with Prop. 8 in California. We had a meeting with him last night and we gave him an ultimatum. Accept our message or we leave. I never thought I would have to do something like that but it comes down to one thing. We met with you and we gave you our message. You haven't accepted it and you have been taught many times and our message will never change like you hope it does. It was a difficult decision but we have done all we can for him and he won't accept us. We hit a wall with him and it is sad, but it had to be done.

On a better note we put one of our investigetors, Sasha, on date. We hope this goes somewhere with him cuz baptisms don't come all that often to us here in Ukraine.

Well I love you all and I hope you all have a very wonderful week.

Love,

Bubbs

1-24-11

Здравствуйте!!
From the Cold Freezing I Wish It Was Warmer Ukraine to you folks at home.

How are things back home? I hope warm and amazing as always.

This week has been great. We prepared for Ali's baptism and we had a few lessons.

On Tuesday I went on split with Elder Rader. He is our district leader and he is from Reno, Nevada. He is very smart kid and he is leaving in two transfers. He is training right now and his greeny is work and pretty crazy. With Rader all our lessons fell through and we contacted all night and then part of the next day. We handed out two books and got one referal for a guy who lives somewhere in America. Pulsy and I had a lesson with Sergei on Wednesday and it was good, but he still won't ask pray about it. But he is great and he treats us well so we love him. I hope to break him this transfer or next because I could possibly stay here another. Well a crazy story, when we left Sergei's it was a little past nine twenty. We got to our stop and got off and we were heading home when this guy started talking to us, but we decided to ignore him because he was pretty tipsy and we don't deal with that. So we kept walking. He started to yell at us as we were walking but we didn't pay attention to him. So as we were turning our corner Pulsy says they are running after us so I took off around the corner and just ran up to our door opened it then ran up to our apartment and fiddled for my keys, opened the door got all inside, shut it and locked both doors. This is another thing that proves we are not in a very safe area and it is scary at night. Other than that, our week was better. We went to Barabashova (a huge market full of people who sell many different things) and bought Ali a white shirt and a tie. It was great. The baptism was on Saturday and it was a great service. It was the first baptism that I have ever been to and hey it was in Russian. Crazy. Well Sunday wasn't good. I was sick all day and I couldn't go out so we had to stay in my apartment. Today I feel a little better so that's good.

I hope things are great back home. I love and miss you all so much,

Bubbs

1-17-11

Bubbs, Bro. Alexander, Elder Pulsipher

Shop full of baked yumminess :)

Art that a 90 year old branch member makes

Dear Family,

Hello from the Ukraine!!! How are things back home in AZ?

Things here are great. This week was pretty good. We managed to scrape up ten quality lessons. Last Monday we met with the Klooyev Family. They are a strong family and their son Victor served on a Mini Mission down in Donetsk. He is great.

The investigator we meet with is named Sergei. He is a professor that teaches English and he is practicaly a native. He is great. He knows the Bible so well. He reads it everyday. He is about forty years old and lives alone. Going over to his house is like going over to a friend's house. He treats us so well. A really nice guy. We have taught him basically everything and I think he understands everthing pretty well. I know that he knows what we teach him is true, but he just won't take the time to ask because he doesn't want to "quench" the spirit of God. We told him tht the only way he can know if our message is true is if he prays and asks. That's all we can tell him now. Gosh I love that man and it's sad to see him resist the spirit even when it is so strong when we are there.

We have another investigator named Sasha and he is an interesting guy. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon and about the Plan of Salvation and why we are here. We asked him if he thought the BoM was true and he said yes but I don't think he meant it at all. He doesn't understand that authorty was lost and that we are the only true church with that authority on the Earth today. It's hard to get people here to understand that. It's so frustrating.

Some better news is that we are having a baptism on Saturday. A kid named Ali is getting baptized. He is someone that Pulsipher has met with before I got to him, so that is good. He is a great kid and knows the Gospel so well. Its a beautiful thing. So that is very exciting.

Well that is for he adventures in Ukraine.

I Love you all,

Bubbs

1-10-11

New Companion--Elder Pulsipher 1-7-11 Transfer

Dear Family of Mine,


This week was not very eventful but I think we did a few good things.
As you know last friday was transfer day and I got transferred yet again. I have been moved to pretty much the boonies of Harkov. I was transferred to HaTaZa(ХТЗ). I am with Elder Pulsipher. He is a great kid from Colorado but he used to live in Glenn Beck's ward up in Connecticut. He a conservative boy which is pretty awesome so ya we get along really well.
In my new area we have met with a few people. They speak English so it was really cool. One is named Sasha (we run into lots of those cuz people here don't have a variety of names). We taught him about the Book of Mormon and why it was important to have it with the Bible. I don't know where things are going to go with him because I don't think he understands that we have the authority to perform the ordinances of God. So we pray for him to understand that. We also met with a long time investigator Sergei. He is an English teacher and knows English basically as a native. I had lots of fun with him. Its basically like having a friend cuz we joked with him like no other. It was great. I got to talk to him about my experiences in life and what change has happened for me. I want this guy to get baptized. He knows the Book of Mormon well and also knows the Bible. So he was good to talk to.
In my new Branch I got to bear my testimony. It is still so nerve racking to get up in front of people. It was good though. This Branch is slightly smaller than my last one. But I hear that we might be combining our branch with the other branch in our area so it could be bigger. So that will be really freaking good.
A little bit about my area. It is the Ghetto of Harkov. Seriously it is not safe to be out at night. I heard people have died in this area and that's a little scary. That was just last transfer, too. So ya it's a crazier area than my last one, but hey the work goes on.
I love it here and hey I have a year and six months or so left so I got my time to put in.
I love and miss you all,
Bubbs

1-3-11

Family of Mine,

From the Ukraine С Новом Годом!!!!! Happy New Year!!!!

So let me tell you about this week. I went on a split with Shorthill, who is in my MTC group. We went to members in his area and we taught a lesson about Jesus and His birth. It was really good. but we don't really understand that much. It was pretty fun. But hey we got through it pretty great. Then I went on a split with Neil who is in his 10th or so transfer and he is my zone leader. Not to mention he is from Arizona and I played water polo with him and hung out with the same friends. It was legit to find that out. We met our investigater Sasha and we made him fried chicken and he loved it. We talked to him about baptism and we were going to get him on date, but once again he wasn't ready for it. So we got more work to do with him.

So Lott and I got back together and we met with Sister Eena, the old lady we take the sacrament to. We went to her on New Year's Day. So New Year's is really big in Ukraine. We stayed up till midnight and a ton of fireworks went off and everyone was yelling and just drunk and out of it. So we went to her house and she poured us some juice and stuff and she went to get us some meat jello (this stuff is so disgusting. Meat boiled and the fat jelloed around it. Just gross.) So she got us some of that and we cheered and we took a sip of juice and guess what........................... alcoholic. Ya we told her we couldn't drink it and she was like no no you can it's only a little. It tasted like it wasn't a little. So we had to talk to her about the Word of Wisdom. I didn't think I would have to do that with a member. Especially an older one. So that was my week and ya it was crazy.

Thank you for the presents I loved them. I love the shirt and everything I got. That scarf is helpful and the candy was good. The stocking is very very cute. I love it!. Thank you thank you.


But hey I am going to get transferred on Friday and I don't know where I am going yet, but I hope it is somewhere good.

I love and miss you all.

Bubbs

12-27-10

No Snow for American Christmas Day 12-25-10

Ukrainian Christmas Day 1-7-11 Funny snowman found while tracting

Dearest Family,


So we talked on Saturday and it was a good talk. I really loved it.

As I told you, we tried to put Sasha on date but he wasn't ready so we didn't, but we will try again this week. Things are going good here in Saltivka. We have a lot of work and many members to choose from so we have a full schedule so that is nice. It has gotten warmer these past few days, but we chalk it up as the calm before the storm, so it will get worse. January is supposed to be the coldest month I've heard. But don't worry about me. You know I'll be all tough about it.
Well life goes on as a missionary. I have been out five months and the time is flying and it is going good. I miss you all, but hey the Lord is my strength and things are good.

Love you and miss you,

Bubbs