Hello Family!!
How's going?! for some reason I didn't get your email this
week so there must be some hitch in the email system. I can't wait to hear
how everything is going! This week was a great week! We have a new investigator
named Roman who was referred to us from a member girl in the central Donetsk
region. We had a lesson at her house which went great! We didn't have time to
cover the whole restoration but we did explain to him the importance of the
Book of Mormon and prayer. He was very excited and was asking us for some kind
of commitment, a very rare occurrence among investigators. He is 17 years old
but had an open heart to what we have told him thus far. There is such a huge
difference between those who hunger after truth as opposed to those who have
just a passing interest, mostly in Americans. It is such a great feeling when
teaching such people with honest desires. They are such great examples to us,
how we, too, should be honest seekers of truth, wherever it can be found. We, as
members of God's church, have such a great advantage and in turn, responsibility
to seek out all good things and to learn from what God has given us through His
prophets. There is so much to learn, so much that we can all do better. I'm so
grateful for an understanding Father in Heaven who is willing to share this
knowledge that He has with His children, not holding anything back. I was just
reading through the Bible where it speaks of Saul and David's reigns as kings,
and it was amazing to read of these kingdoms and other kingdoms that suffered
greatly because of selfishness and power-hungry leaders that held back their
people, even encouraging unrighteous deeds. It just came to my mind that we all
are so truly blessed to have a perfect God, a perfect King, in whom we can
trust to give us the wisdom that we so desperately need to survive this life
here on earth. He has given us prophets, holy scriptures, prayer, even his own
son, so that we could all return to him if we would just trust in his plan.
I learned another good lesson just last night on a bus going
home that i shared with Alyssa which I thought I'd share with all of you also.We
were on a large trolley bus coming home from a lesson and the conductor approached
us to take our money and in exchange for passage. She looked very closely at
our badges as she approached and she seemed to light up as we told her that we
were missionaries. We offered our money but she refused to take it and
gave us our tickets. We offered again but she just wouldn't take the money.
Finally, we gave up and she just smiled at us and said that great people like us
shouldn't have to pay and walked down the aisle. Just reflecting on that
experience made me think about all the small acts of kindness we render, whether
great or small, that can have a great impact on the lives of many. It was
interesting to think that perhaps there had been some positive experience
between her and the missionaries, maybe years ago, who knows. Maybe the missionaries
didn't even realize what they had done. Kind of like Abinidi and Alma the
priest. He had no idea if anybody would listen to his message, but he still
gave it and ended up sacrificing his life for what he knew to be true. What
great examples. This experience was definitely a testimony to me of what we can
do, even with the little we can do. It made we want to make sure I spoke up or
tried to help others at every opportunity I had. The Lord is aware of all of
His children. It is such a comfort to know that. Well my dear family, my time
is ending so I'll be wrapping up but just curious if any of you had any
requests from Ukraine? I want to send the family a package for Christmas so
just let me know if there are any Ukrainian things that you just happened to be
craving:)...maybe..Milka chocolate?!?! I know its German but it is definitely a
tender mercy that just happens to be found here in Ukraine:) I love you
all and I hope you each have a great week!
With Love,
Elder Ostler
