Dear Family,
Its been another great week at the MTC. I love the spirit i can feel each day here. As much as i wish i could just get to Ukraine and start teaching the people, i know im going to miss all the great things that I have been taught here and all the good memories we've had between the Russian speaking elders. Our whole zone is leaving tomorrow which leaves only our district back here at the MTC. Its been neat to see the comradory between the elders as many of them are about to leave. Just last night we gathered the elders of our zone into a room and sang hymns before heading to bed. It was powerful and the spirit that each of us felt as the final prayer between us was said was so great. Its amazing how when everyone has the spirit with them, people get along so much better and are so much more patient and understanding towards eachother. This is something that i have been praying for in our district, that we can have that spirit with us constantly. Not just in the classroom or during meetings, but also in our dorms or where ever we may be. I hope that this spirit can stay with our district so that they will be able to feel that difference and never want the spirit to leave, sacrificing those things that they may want to do or say that could drive the spirit away. I know that making that constant effort to keep the spirit as our companion can make all of the difference. I've heard it so many times here that we can do nothing without the spirit. We must make that our first priority if we want these people we teach to trully be converted by what we say. I love this gospel and am so grateful for the oppurtuninty that i have to teach it to the people in Ukraine. What i've also learned here is that when you are feeling sorry for yourself when things aren't going the way you thought they would or quite the way you would want, it really helps to just step back and look at the big picture and consider all that heavenly father has blessed us with already and how merciful he is to us. After doing that, those concerns that you had seem to not be quite so daunting. Its an amazing thing to feel the difference when you focus on being grateful. Having a positive attitude can make all the difference when going through different learning experiences. Well, i hope all is going well at home! I love you guys and i hope you have a great week.
~Elder Ostler
