2012-8-10

Dear Brother Creg and Sister Sondra Ostler

I was very sad not to be able to meet you, but most importantly you enjoyed  

meeting the brothers and sisters that influenced the life of Elder Ostler.

As I mentioned in my release letter to you Your son is a great man of God, he will win the battles in his life, he is well prepared to succeed.

Please remember us in your prayers so that we can bring more of our brothers and sisters to the Church of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I love your son and obviously I love you too

President Campero

Ukraine Donestk Mission

2012-7-23

Dear Family,

I hope this letter finds all you  doing well! This week has been a week of hard work. We've been trying to figure out what can bring more success to this area since its slowed down for a while now. This week we tried the approach of family history, calling all former investigators, searching for less-actives, english night, gathering all records from the past of those who could come to english, baking cookies for our neighbors, and doing our early morning and late evening finding on the street. We also worked with one of our young aaronic priesthood quorom members to invite another young less active boy back to church. We tried to work as hard as we could and pray that the lord will consecrate our efforts. We also had a great lesson with a man named Paddy from Nigeria here for college who recieved the Aaronic priesthood this Sunday. We helped him understand his new responsibilities and the blessings that would come. The poor man seemed so overwhelmed, but looked so calm once he recieved it. I forget if I told you, but here, in Alekseevka, it has the highest number of member students from Africa. There are about  10 active and most speak English with a little Russian. They are all so great and a lot of fun to be around. 

This next week, we plan to use a few more new finding tactics to spice things up. For one, we will be making balloon animals that we can give to families along with church brochures in the parks near our apartment. We had another idea of setting up a table in a busy area and lay paper down over it and put up a sign, "questions for God"  and then let passerbyers write down questions they have that we can answer for them and then give away free Liahonas (combination of Ensigns, New Era, the Friend). 

We still need to get it passed with public relations, but I think it would be a great new way of starting conversations and involving members in our finding efforts. We'll for sure do our best to find all those who are ready! 

I can't wait to see you all soon! Have a wonderful week!

With Love,

Elder Ostler

2012-7-16

Dear Family,
I now find myself writing from the Alekseevka region, another suburb outside of center Kharkov. The branch here also has many strong members who are so willing to help when asked. Sunday night we went out searching for lessactives, honestly being a little lost because we are both brand new to the area. We ended up stopping by two members, one being a previous branch mission correlator and the other being a Primary president. They went through the branch list with us, telling us what happened to each person and indicated that at least a third of the people listed had moved and should have been transfered to another branch or sent to the general branch list in kiev. These two, unplanned meetings saved us hours and hours of searching to correct this information and was a miracle to us. Once this area gets organized, the missionary work will work ten times more effectively. This week end we also attended the baptism of Olya! We arrived a half an hour early to find that everything was in order, that olya and her sister had already arrived with the elders and that the font was full, each of which seemed to me a miracle. about five minutes till we started the room filled with about six investigators from surrounding area's, their missionaries, and the rest with local members, making a total of about 30. This was also a great blessing that so many showed up to show support and have their own testimonies strengthened. I was a bit worried when we were getting close to starting with only a handful of people but that was soon put to rest. The program went well, under the direction of a member of our branch presidency. After two spiritual thoughts on baptism and the holy ghost, we were invited to enter the font and proceed with the baptism. As I entered the font from one side and looked into the audience, the smiling faces of both members and missionaries met me and it was such a great comfort to know that their are such great people in this world and that Olya would have a great branch family to help and support her. I think that is always the concern of a missionary, that once they leave, that everything will work out with the transition of the new member into the their new life and branch. Once Olya came down the steps from the other side and entered the water, I moved her into position and proceed with baptism. As i concluded what words i needed to say, i let her down into the water and back up again. What an amazing feeling! To have seen her through all the lessons and be with her as she came to understand the atonement on a more personal level, it was such a strength to me to see her come up out of those waters, seeming to shine. What a wonderful plan our heavenly father has for each of us. I felt so wonderful to be back in the water, all in white, performing saving ordinances in a sacred place like that branch. It makes me look forward to attending the temple and taking part in saving ordinaces on a regular basis. I know Olya will do so well and as i changed back into my clothes and entered back into the hall, i felt a great peace come to my heart that all was in the Lords hands. The members then offered powerful testimony and Olya then bore hers which made her sister even start to weep from what she was feeling. Family, I love this work, and it makes me want to weep just thinking of leaving it. My time has almost come to a close here but I know that these feelings will never leave me. I want them to stay with me for the rest of my life. I am so grateful that i was blessed with this time to serve and look forward to continuing this great work back at home. I love each of you and also cant wait to see you and share experiences together. Have a wonderful week and enjoy the pictures.

With Love,

Elder Ostler

2012-7-9

Dear Family,

I'm so glad to hear you are all doing so well and I cant wait for you to meet the people here. They're great! This week has been another roller coaster! We have been working with Olya, making sure she has good member support, helping to activities and doing all we can to help her adjust comfortably to the branch. She is great and puts up with a lot. In between classes they had a lesson about Fasting. I had been in another class and when a came out to see how it had gone, she informed me she was starting a fast right then. She has great faith and is willing to act quickly upon what she knows to be right. I also found out this week that i am being transfered!! Thats right! i'll have 3 weeks left in my next area and would be missing the baptism. At first i was a little shocked since we were so close and i was in the middle of training. I think the reason for this change is for my companion to be able to finish his training experience in a normal way, having a full transfer companion. We had a musical fireside put on by a senior couple from sumy that we took Olya and her nonmember sister too which was a great success and oppurtunity to invite others who appreciate good, wholesome entertainment. Her sister really liked and is planning on coming to Olya's baptism. When our investigator heard i was going to a different region and wouldnt be able to come to the baptism, she demanded to talk to president about allowing me to come and baptize her. I was pretty surprised at the request but President gave permission and it looks like everything will work out for me to go. What a blessing! We had been talking about what members could baptize her and what options we had with the upcoming transfer but things just seemed to work out. It's been great to see how this branch moves into action when a baptism arrives. They seem to know exactly what is expected of them and what is needed from the missionaries. I think it will be a great service.

 Something that i have come to realize once again on my mission is just when you think you know whats going on in life, its turns upside down. I really had not been expecting this transfer but it's taught to fall on my knees in times where i need comfort, not just turn up the music in the car, read the news online, or sit at the piano and play till my feelings are calmed. Its taught me to turn to my maker and seek his help and His comfort immediatly. I now realize just how much more effective and thorough the comfort from Him is. It doesnt just momentarily push away the feelings of anxiety and sadness in my heart, it thoroughly removes them and replaces them with feelings of love and peace. Prayer is something i have taken for granted in my life. Wow is there power in it when expressed sincerely. Experiences like this make me never what to offer an insincere prayer again. I love you all so much family! May you also find peace and joy through sincere and heart felt prayer. Thankyou for the spiritual experiences you share with me. I promise i read them and cherish them:) Have a wonderful week!  

                                            Elder Sanger, President Campero, Olya, and I

                                                                        Our District

With love,

Elder Ostler 

2012-7-12

Dear Sister Ostler,

Thank you very much for taking care of the clothes. It has been ordered today and should arrive to your place in 3 days or so.

But what I want to thank you far more is your son. Every time when I was meeting with Elder Ostler and Elder Sanger for our lessons, I felt presence of the Holy Spirit. I did have doubts and questions about the church but whenever they talked to me all my doubts would disappear.

It’s an honor for me that your son will baptize me. I will always keep him in my prayers and remember him with gratitude.

I attach two pictures taken with Elders, Mission President, his wife and me at a music concert at church. I know the quality is not good but I hope you will like them anyway.

Thank you for everything.

 Olya

2012-7-5

Dear Ostler family

Elder Ostler is serving in  Kharkov; he will arrive to Donetsk on August 1th during the morning and he will meet his parents at the Ramada hotel then after. Elder Ostler will advice you about at what time he will meet you.

It is sad for me that I won’t be able to meet the parents of the great Ostler missionary since I’m not going to be in town during that week.

I hope you will enjoy your stay in Ukraine and feel a little of what Elder Ostler experienced during his stay here.

With love

President Campero  

2012-7-pictures

Here are just a few pictures,:

view from our apartment window

                                               our district leader meeting here in Kharkov

                                                          one of me and my companion

2012-7-2

Dear Family,
The Lord is trully blessing us here in Ukraine. Through this time of searching for those who are elect, the body gets extremely tired of thinking, always being aware of who could be helped or talked too. When you get to this time on your mission, you know exactly what is extected of you and you feel a great determination to do it to your best abilities. You feel like its the final hour and the mission has never seemed so real as it does now. It is amazing to look back at this refining process and still wonder where the time has gone and what changes have taken place in my life and the lives of so many i love.
Just dismorning i had confirmed to me that two more investigators we started teaching in Marioupul have excepted a date of baptism. Since Elder Smith, whom i trained in marioupul, is my zone Leader now, he was able to break the good news to me and we had a great time rejoicing together. I still remember vividly the sacrifices we made there in Marioupul and the struggle it was to give all that i had and now, a year later, seeing the harvest beginning to appear. My patience has never been tested to this extreme ever before in my life and im so glad that i didnt stop doing all that i could during my time here. The Lord is doing great works here and i'm so glad that i am lucky enough to see some of the fruits of our labors. The Lord helped make up the difference where we lacked.
This week we had to move the date of baptism for our investigator Olya because of work that came up on sunday which didnt allow her to come. We felt that she really needed to attend at least one more time before baptism so we talked to the branch president about it and agreed to move it to the 14th of July. We told her later that night. She took it really well but was sad that she couldn't just get baptized at that very moment. She is so excited. Its amazing to see her willingly make changes in her life to align herself with what is expected of members of the church. She is making many sacrifices and going the extra mile to make sure she follows the council of our leaders as far as modesty and Sunday worship goes. Please keep her in your prayers.

Thankyou so much for the messages you wrote this week. Its amazing to hear the lessons you each are learning through different experiences in life. The atonement is real and continues each day to make a difference in my life. What a blessing to know of Gods plan for us, and what a blessing it is for all of us to have the oppurtunity to share it.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

With love,

Elder Ostler

6-25-2012

Hello Family!

I'm glad to here Benjamin is settling down well in his new college life. He seems to be quite the social man these days:) It sounds like we will have quite the multi-cultural apartment, american, chinese, hungarian, and american/ukrainian. I've been pondering and praying as to what i can do to continue my work as a missionary back at home and i think this will be a great transition and oppurtunity to share the gospel. I love how the Lord blesses his children with the righteous desires of their heart. 

I was also thrilled to hear how well the DelBianco family was doing! I'm glad to hear Alyssa is doing well and that the baby is also healthy. And 10 fish!!! Jim has certainly got the touch. I remember going out on the canoes with him and i kept pulling in these tiny perch fish and he would keep pulling in massive bass! I look forward to him teaching me his secrets to fishing:) Michael sounds like quite the handy man and nicole is going to be the perfect mom. Jacob's decription you gave seemed to click in my mind! He's the perfect Jak-Jak:) 

This week in the field we continue to make progress with our investigators and in the branch. With our investigator Olya, we taught the 3rd lesson along with a few commandments and she is accepting it all very well. She is making so many great changes that will bless her life. She is also coming to realize that most of the norms of the world are far from the standard set by the Lord through his servants. She's willing been changing her dress, work schedule, and many other aspects of life to conform with what she feels is right. 

This week we also had a small miracle occur when we were doing our normal morning contacting and a man came running up to us from behind calling out for us. I was a bit surprised when he asked us for an flier we had with information about our church. He said he wanted to come sometime. He quickly ended the conversation and took off once more from where he came. My companion both just looked at eachother smiling, both knowing that this was just another tender mercy of the Lord and that he was once again working among the hearts of his children here in ukraine and through out the world.

We also had an experience with a man we stopped to talk too with his two dogs. He took a book as our conversation continued and promised to read it. We asked for a number we could call him at but he said he couldnt remember it. Usually when people on the street say this, they just dont want to give us their number and we left feeling like it would just be another one of those. Later that evening, we were surprised to get a call from the man who told us he was reading the book! Now we have his number and plan to meet with him further.

Thankyou all for what you do to keep our family as strong as it is and continuing to strengthing it. We were here among some members having a discussion about Dand C 121 and how we can support holders of the priesthood fufill their responsibilities and vice versa with the duties of the mother. They commented many times there and the next day in their talks in sacrament meeting of the strength they feel from the missionaries because of their strong family relationships and want ever so badly for their children to have the same. They talked about the shining in our eyes reflecting generations of love between family members who lived by the gospel of jesus christ. It was a really inspiring conversation and lesson and i hope to do my best to continue that long line of family love in my future home. What great oppurtunities we all have and what blessings await us all. This is the Lord's Plan!

I love you family. Have a great week!

WIth Love,

Elder Ostler

6-18-2012

Dear Family,

It sounds as if this was a week of many emotions. Congratulations Alyssa, Jim, and kids! Your baby looks great! I also wanted to share my love for Joe and Megan. I know the Lord loves you too and is aware of these hard trial you have been put through. At times like these its so comforting to know that God has a plan for every soul, even those who leave us earlier than expected. She must be a very special and valiant child of our Heavenly father.  

The Lord is opening the heavens to us, so much that sometimes it feels as if their isnt room enough to receive it! Just within this last week we received a referral from the Bailey's, senior couple who told us they had recieved a call from a young woman wanting to know more about the gospel. We contacted her right after getting off the phone. We set up a lesson for that week and had a wonderful lesson with her. We learned her vision is impaired but that hasnt stopped her from learning perfect english, getting a great job at one of the most prestigious hotels in kharkov, and contacting us to learn more about the gospel. SHE IS GOLDEN. She came to church and everyone loved her being there. They all kept asking us "where did you find her" and all offered her their hands and friendship.  That afternoon we had a lesson about the plan of salvation and talked about baptism to which she readily agreed!! This was all within a matter of a week.  There is such a difference in what we feel as we have been teaching her than in most of the investigators i have taught before. Truly the Lord blesses us for our dilligence in searching to find the Elect. She is planning on getting baptized in three weeks, on the 7th i believe. I talked to her just dismorning about her plans and we will be going to give her a blessing tonight so that she can feel all will be alright and gain more guidance in her life. It would be wonderful if you all could keep her in your prayers. Her name is Olya. 

Just yesterday i felt the prompting during sacrement meeting to call up our Elder's quorum president to go with him hometeaching to Lidia Ozervo, the mother of the girl who lived with G and G Ostler. He gratefully agreed because his companion couldnt make that night so we went over together. We soon found out after arriving that Lidia's mother is getting very ill and that she will probably pass away soon. We blessed lidia's mother to have comfort in her heart and body so the pain would leave. We began a fast together for her peaceful passing away. There was such a wonderful spirit in that room as she talked about her life in her ukrainian tongue. It was difficult to understand but one could feel that this was a good woman and just watching Lidia and how much care she had for her mother was inspiring and brought peace to all our hearts, that this family would live together again. It is always so beautiful to see the Gospel Plan at work, comforting those who are standing in need of comfort and edifying all those involved. I love this work! 

I hope you all have a great week and i hope all is going well for you up there at BYU Benjamin. Let me know how its going up there! I hope Caleb and Mom are having a wonderful time in North Carolina and i hope Dad is too lonely back at home!:) I love you all!

With Love,

          Elder Ostler

6-11-2012

Dear Family,

This week consisted of moving to a new apartment in a place called "new houses". Though the name of the city doesnt quite match its appearance, it does have a great feeling to it and will be a great area for training in. We met many wonderful members at church on sunday as the branch presidency was redone and we had a chance to help establish our desires with him and in return hear about what he expects of us. It was a very good beginning and i think that this branch will do great as the work moves forward. Though the goal of 300 for our mission did seem to weigh down on some of the leaders, i think they will be surprised with just what the lord has done and will do for them as they press forward in faith. Just this week we had a call from one of our senior couples in center kharkov and give us a refferal of a lady who would love to talk to us about the book of mormon. We called her right away and she seemed very kind and was open to our message. She let me know her sight isnt very good so we will need to help her around but she seems golden. I also just got a call from a short term missionary from our area who is serving in Marioupul and tell me that she wants to send a letter through me to her mom who isnt a member to give us a chance to get into her and speak with her. Please keep us in your prayers as we move forward with these two people. I get the feeling that they will be ready. We have also been getting used to our new area, using the underground metro system which makes life sooo much more convienient. It is a great blessing. We also held a meeting with our district during the week and we set some goals which we felt would greatly improve our relationship with members and take us a step closer to finding all those who are waiting to hear the gospel. Each of us are trying to make sacrifices that will help the work along. We plan on doing more creative finding activities on the street to make that time more effective and also use much more time going finding with members. All the missionaries seemed like they would be willing to give it all a shot so we will give it our best this upcoming week. This work is so invigorating and yet so tiring, it still never ceases to amaze me! I love it! :) 

I'm glad that all is going well back at home! oh and Caleb has BRACES!!! He actually looks pretty good with braces! I hope they dont hurt to much!

I love you all family and i cant wait to hear from you next week!

Elder Ostler

6-4-2012

Hello Family!

My new companion has arrived!! For my remaining transfer's i will be training a new elder named Elder Sanger from Oregon. He already has great speaking skills and will do so well. I now live in Kharkov which is our second District to the north in our mission. I've never served in the Northern half of our mission besides Sumy my first transfer so it will be a very new great experience for me. I am so pumped to be out again spending my full time finding and teaching. It is a great feeling. We will see miracles. We will baptize. My heart just seems so sure of it right now and i know that the lord will honor our righteous, sincere desires. I want this to be the time to make great change, not only in myself but the mission as a whole. I feel like we are all just waiting for a missionary to lead the way in devoting everything they have to the lord. I feel it will take first myself stepping up to the plate which will require more change and dedication spiritually, mentally, and physically. I want to be the best I can be and know it is possible. I cant think of a better environment in which to do so, new area, new companion, and never having been so advanced in the language and teaching skills as before. Please keep me in your prayers. I feel that satan also has concluded to make this time game time and is going to do all he can to stop this mission. But, he's already too late. Our misionaries are amazing and will continue to get better and better. As long as we do our part, the Lord will do the rest.

This week at district conference i finally met the woman i have been searching for my whole mission. The mother of the girl who stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Ostlers a while back. She approached me at the meeting and i immediately felt it must be her. She is such a kind lady. It turns out that we may be switching to a different apartment and going to the very area in which she lives. What a miracle. I'm excited to be able to do some missionary work with her because im sure she is a great member missionary.

Thanks for sharing those experiences you all had a camp. What a great oppurtunity for spiritual feasting and a lot of fun!

I love you all and i hope you have a wonderful week!

With Love,

Elder Ostler

5-28-2012

Dear Family,

Thank you for all those who wrote this week. It is always a wonderful experience to hear how your families are doing and what wonderful, testimony building experiences you are having. When Mom told the story of how the ward back at home pitched in to help a woman in need, it brought tears to my eyes to think that there so many of these people all around the world who would do the same in a heart beat. That kind of willingness to sacrifice comes only from those with pure testimonies founded in the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes i dream of the day when we could organize a trip to Ukraine with our ward back home and come and do service here along with the members and just be examples. We talk about it in all of our meetings, the need to serve and give selflessly but the talk has yet to move into its next phase of action. I firmly believe that this is something that will come when a handful of members decide to dedicate themselves to the work and truly live the law of consecration by giving all that they have to know God through service to his children. Thank you for sharing that experience, it truly warmed my heart. This week we began this and next transfer's companionship exchanges with the elders from Gorlovka. We spent our Sunday there and were able to see many familiar faces that I love and miss. I love the people here. Each area of our mission has a different feel with people that take adapting too but once the adaptation takes place, it's hard to leave them. Our trip to Gorlovka was a witness of that to me. This time for our exchanges we spent a few hours singing on the street while one missionary sat out in front of us with a box of Books of Mormon. It was good for the Elders see how the people really softened up and openly talked to us as we first took the step out of our comfort zones. We had many really pleasant conversations and gave away about 10 books. We also did a little house tracting in the private sector, places where people have their own houses and not apartments. For some reason its been in the culture of our mission from long ago that this wasn't very successful and at times hazardous because of the massive dogs that could eat you. But, as far as we've seen and as far as the mission is beginning to see, people are generally pretty kind and will even at times let you in to chat. The part about the massive dogs still proves to be true but the Lord is with us and the dogs honestly get pretty friendly once the owners let us into their property. I also find great truth in the story of Daniel in the lions den. Lets just say, prayer is a great blessing:) Well, this week is transfers and i'm looking forward to this next transfer I feel that much change will once again being required of me and i feel i'm ready to receive it. I cant think of any other place were such change is required on  such consistent basis. It is a blessing to be here on my mission and come to an understanding of the vital changes i must make in my life if i truly want to be a disciple of Christ. Though the change is sometimes hard to cope with, the ability to take it and run with it with constant and consistent faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ is a priceless attribute. I hope someday i can become that kind of person. That is my dream. I love you family and i hope you all have a wonderful week! Cant wait to hear from you!

With Love,

Elder Ostler

5-14-2012

Hello Family,

I was also so glad to be able to talk to you on saturday!! This weekend has been one of great spiritual blessings! I hope to have more time next week to fill you in on all that has happened but in short our district presidency was completly changed with a young branch president as the new district president. He was known for his dilligence and hard work in his branch and he will make a great district president. That sunday was also great because of the chance we had to see many of the members from area's we have served in. Its times like those that you come to realize just how much you love those people.

My time is short so i just wanted to send you the schedule for where we will need hotels when you come.

wednesday Kharkov- Aurora Hotel

thursday Donetsk- Ramada Hotel

Friday Donetsk- Ramada Hotel

Saturday Mariopul- ?

Sunday Donestk- Ramada Hotel

Have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Ostler

5-21-2012

Hello Family!

This week has been an absolutely wonderful week. I spoke a little of the changes that are to come in our mission leadership but i also wanted to let you know about a few other changes. One of the biggest ones affecting us immediately will be that the assistants now will spend their transfer (6 weeks) going on a "mission tour", meaning that we will go on exchanges with every companionship within each transfer. In doing this we hope to help all of our missionaries be inspired and unified in our push as a mission to reach 300 baptisms. We are going to pick up some sleeping bags and air mattresses with president today to be prepared as we move from apartment to apartment. I truly feel it will bless the lives of the missionaries and greatly influence the spirituality of the assistants. There will be great teaching an learning opportunities for all involved. Two transfers ago i began praying and fasting for more direction as to how to most effectively work with what responsibility i have been given. This was an answer to my prayers. We had the opportunity to travel to Kharkov and also hold a zone conference with President Lawrence where he and his wife taught great truths with gave much more identity to our missionaries. The spoke of the Tribes of Israel and just how important our calling is as the gather's of Israel. We also learned that we had great responsibility in that we were descendants and parts of these tribes and that special promises had been made to each individual, according to his or her tribe. I also learned that in our mission, we have many from different tribes. My companion is from the tribe of Benjamin and we also had other sisters and elders from the tribes of Levi, Simeon, Dan. It was really amazing to come to a realization of the literal gathering of Israel. It is certainly a blessing to be among these scattered tribes looking for those who is ready to return home. I feel the mission is greatly benefiting from these conferences, focusing on our identity and coming to realize who we really our, sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us. It is amazing how much desire, unity, and love increases when we constantly remind ourselves of who we are. Thank you for sending those pictures! Benjamin could pull off being a chimney sweep any day if he wanted to. He looked exactly like the ones from the movie! I hope you all have a wonderful week and i look forward to hearing from you.

With Love,

Elder Ostler 

5-7-2010

Hello Family!

How's everyone doing?! I hope all is going well back at home. I just got Leslie's wedding invitation and was so glad to hear that Scott was also getting married. Tis the season! That must be so great to see them and how they have progressed. Make sure to pass my love to them! This week has been a very quick week with another barrage of meetings with missionary districts. I have no idea how you do it Dad. I wasn't even the one in charge and yet I found myself absolutely exhausted. Actually.. maybe i do know how you do it. The Lord definitly supports and helps those who are in need. When at home, i could see how he strengthened you each day even when you had to stay up late caring for the needs of the stake. The Lord is truly mindful of us. This week I learned a great lesson that is preparing me for the rest of my life. This week, with our scattered schedule, made it difficult to have time to study the scriptures. I thought about how it must be at home, having so much work to do, and how busy life can get. I noticed a huge difference when my study time decreased, in my recognizing and feeling the spirit. Dedicated scripture study truly opens up the channels to spiritual resivoirs. Getting back to our regular study schedule was just like coming home to great feelings of hope and love. I just recieved my new russian triple which just recently came out a few months ago. I hope to finish reading it before going home and have loved reading it carefully and finding what gems are there. The scriptures, which proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, provide us with such a sure foundation, giving strength to those who have none and hope to those in despair or worrying for the future. I love what Elder Oaks once talked about, good better and best, prioritizing ones time to include those things of most value, those things that strengthen us spiritually. I am so glad that the mission caught me right in time before going through the rest of my life without much understanding of this principle. I still have much to learn but can see that even having a small understanding of this principle can bring for an abundance of blessings. 

I love you all so much and look forward to reporting our next weeks findings. We plan to have a baptism this month and pray to find this child of God that is ready.

See you soon!

Sincerely,

Elder Ostler

ps.

     I will let you know next week when i have our specific schedule planned out for when you come.

4-30-2012

Dear Family!

I'm sorry i am a day late. I had a really nasty sickness come over me yesterday and we didnt have a chance to write home. I think it has to do with the allergies going around and a little strep throat so i've been taking some medicine and should be just fine. This week we spent most of our time in Kharkov in 4 districts talking about a great story President Compero recieved from one mission in the states with a focus on church member/ missionary relationships and how we can work most effectively with them. The trainings went really well each bringing up points that we will be applying to the whole mission in the near future. We really have a great group of growing missionaries and the progress in understanding and application is great to see. From our studies of this story, it is very clear that most lasting sucess can be found from referrals from members and from including members when teaching investigators of our own finding.  Both the members and the missionaries are coming to the understanding that in order to find success in missionary work, one cant live without the other. Sometimes i feel like we see ourselves as two teams working for a goal instead of one team, with no one better than the other. We are all players on the Lord's team and we all share equal responsiblity in this work. I try to imagine what it will be like and how i will be a good member missionary after my mission. I have all of these feelings now but want to make sure that they last. I think the best way to do that is to continue to apply these principles i have learned here in the mission and never let my efforts to spread the gospel slack, even amongst the many other priorities in life. True happiness is found from serving those around us. I know that the spirit will always dwell with a person who has his mind set to this principle and is worthy. 

Thank for sending that clip of Josh and Jen! it was beautiful! also thanks alyssa for writing! i loved hearing about your family. i'll try to write you a longer letter soon, i promise!:) Also, great pictures from the hike Dad and Caleb! that sounds like it made for the perfect object lesson. 

I love you all so much and i hope you all a great, safe, spiritual week!

With love,

Elder Ostler

4-22-2012

On Sun, Apr 22, 2012 at 9:33 PM, Daniel Ostler <ostler.daniel@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Dear Family!!

I don't have much time tonight to write because its getting pretty late and we won't have time in Kharkov to write but i just wanted you all to know that this week we had a transfer and I am now with Elder Solin! He's a great Russian elder that loves this work and a great missionary. I am excited to serve with him because of the great man he is and his speaking in 'real' russian, not missionary russian, will really help me out!:) Just being around him when he speaks helps improve my grammar and expands my vocabulary. We also had a great experience welcoming the new missionaries to donetsk. There were two sisters and two elders who came in about 2 oclock on tuesday. We took them all to president's house and had a great meal and chance to talk with each other while interviews were held. Afterwards, I went on a split with Sisters Armkneckt and Erekson, both great sisters with strong testimonies who you can tell know that this gospel is true. We three hit the streets and had a great night talking to many really kind people who listened intently while i led the conversation into the importance of the Book of Mormon and they testified. They know russian sooo well, its amazing how prepared the missionaries seem to be when they come out. The elders and sisters in our mission at this point and time are so great. Later that night one of the elders was having some intense pain in his leg so we called all the doctors we knew. Our area doctor told us to go to a hospital right then so the new elder and i took an ambulance to the hospital and waited until about 12 at night, doing different tests and xrays. We returned home after not finding any immediate problems later that night and went to bed. It was quite the first night for this missionary. We still are waiting for results to make sure everything is alright. 

   I was sad to hear about Greg Forbush. (Greg was going to be one of Daniel's roommates this fall, and he died last week...no known cause.  His parents were on a mission in Portugal and had to come home.  So sad.) I have been keeping his family in my prayers. He was my neighbor in college and a great young man. I am sure he is in a better place now. This is one of the first experiences i feel i have had with someone i knew pretty well passing away. It really made me reflect a little on the miracle it is to have a knowledge of the plan of salvation. I am so grateful that even in these times when people are taken so suddenly from us, we can still face the trial with feelings of hope and joy for that individual. The gospel has never been so real to me. I love it so much and i wish with all my heart that these people could know what I know. I look forward to the day when the gospel message will be sounded in every ear and the people will humble themselves and accept such a marvelous gift that our Father is waiting to give us. I love you all very much and i wish you all a wonderful week. I cant wait to hear from you all!

With Love,

 Elder Ostler 

4-16-2012

Hello Family,

It was great to hear how well you are all doing. Sounds like you are all very busy! We are also staying pretty busy over here. We had another Zone conference for our 3 zones in Donetsk and invited all of the senior couples to come and share what they had shared with us in Kharkov. Once again, a great spirit was felt as they shared thoughts about self-correction, gaining revelation, and obedience. We have such wonderful senior couples. I can't wait for Mom and Dad to serve together on a mission. They could do a lot of good for any mission and any people. Just hearing those experiences from home confirms that. This week end we were able to set up a few member lessons and received a few referrals which we have been praying for to see success with. Our members are just underneath the surface of breaking through to something great but seem to keep shying away from it since it is a step into the dark. Some courageous members are starting to refer their friends and family and i truly feel that if we as missionaries will do our best to follow up with them  and help them and pray for them, the Lord will bless us as promised. I see no other reason for him not to want these people's souls saved. I think it is a matter of us as missionaries and as their's as members doing each of our parts. One without the other will most likely not have the lasting effect we desire for those who are baptized. Both the missionaries and the members are coming to a realization of this. All we need now is a greater faith in the promised blessings, greater faith in each other, and a greater desire to serve God full time, whether member or missionary. Their really shouldn't be much of a difference between the two. Both are full-time representatives of Jesus Christ and our father in heaven. Both have been called to the work, and both will be held accountable to what they choose to do about it.

Another interesting statistic we received this week was a graph of our indicators from the past year. We saw how the mission numbers improved dramatically within the first six months of President Campero's arrival but then dropped dramatically after we had a member of the area seventy come and share a few of his thoughts of how we could be better missionaries. Many took this counsel to be hard but agreed to follow the new schedule for finding investigators. When we first looked at the graph, i thought to myself, "that's too bad he was so harsh on the missionaries, maybe they lost their desire to work." But then i remembered the comments of the missionaries and how all of the missionaries who were following the early morning schedule had seen great success in themselves as health and studies go. We began to realize that maybe we had just swung our work out of balance and that President's Campero's push for member work at the beginning should be reemphasized. If we were to keep such an invigorating morning schedule while still working with members like we did from the start, our indicators would skyrocket! So many people would be saved! Its amazing to see how the Lord works. We had no idea what was happening to us when we agreed to start finding in the morning but we trusted that God would provide a way and help us achieve what we had come here to do. Just now are we realizing just what exactly he was trying to teach us and we look forward to seeing this mission bloom once more. This mission is led by the Holy Spirit and just as Nephi, our President has led us, "not knowing beforehand" the things we would have to sacrifice and the things that we would learn. What a great blessing to have such an inspired man at the head of our mission. 

I love you all and i wish you a great week!

With love,

Elder Ostler       

4-9-2012

Hello family!!

Happy Easter!!! This week we spent Easter away from Donetsk in the second half of our mission called Kharkov. Easter sacrament meeting was so great with focus on the happiness that comes from Christ's resurrection. All in that room were absolutely edified. Its amazing how quickly you can fall in love with branches you have never been too. It didn't take long before we were best friends with these members I had never seen before. The church is wonderful in that way, no matter where you are, the gospel is the same, and the people who believe in it are all pressing forth toward the same goal of salvation. We had two zone conferences this week which both went well, the second being a very edifying and inspirational. You can tell the difference when Elder's and Sister's prepare for our conferences and come prepared to be spiritually fed, to find solutions to our inadequacies, and determine what we must do to find the kind of success our Father in heaven expects. I love this work. Something we had never done before was allow time for the senior couples to share spiritual thoughts for a good amount of the time. It was amazing to see the insight our senior couples have and it was truly a blessing to our mission to hear from them because they answered many questions we have discussed for hours with President.

General Conference was also heaven sent. Their were many times when a speaker would say something in direct answer to what we had discussed and we would all just kind of look at each each other with a smile and nod and quickly write down this revelation. Such a tender mercy! I love this gospel with all of my heart. I cant imagine life any other way. This week we also had the fun experience of going on exchanges with elders in our district so Elder Errington and I had a chance to try something our mission president suggested. We just recieved the new translation of the russian book of mormon which has major changes in nearly every verse(much easier to understand and read) so we have many old books we have been asked to distribute as soon as possible. SO, we used the idea of taking a box of leftover books and setting it on a stool on a busy sidewalk and put a small paper on it which said "free book with a promise". Of course, many people were curious as to what in the world we were giving away and would try to get a glance at the books in the box while pretending not to be interested. It was really funny. Soon one person's curiosity got the better of them and stepped forward to see what we had to offer. We were able to give him a short explanaiton as to what it was and then he left with a book. Soon after another came, and then another, and then they came in crowds of 6 or 7 people all talking at once trying to figure out what was for free and who we were. We emptied the box of books in less than 45 minutes, which was about 15 books. We had honestly not thought that people would be so curious but this little experiment proved to be a success, proving that people really are interested in who we are and what we have to give them, we just have to find out in what way is most comfortable for them to start off their first contact with us, whether on the street or in the home. Attached is a picture of our little creation. Yes, my Russian hand writing in block letters may look like a 3rd graders hand writing but that's ok. To this day i stand by my hand writing as being key to our experience!:) it might have proved to attract more people, who knows?:) just kidding, we just didn't have time to type it up but next time we will! 

So, to answer your question about a normal day for us i honestly couldnt think of one but i guess in general this would be our ideal lay-out for a day.

6:30 -7:00 get ready

7:00-8:30 finding on the street

8:30-10:00 Work out, eat, get ready 

10:00-12:00 Personal and companionship study

12:00-12:30 Lunch

12:30-1:00 travel to office

1:00-4:00 Meetings with president, working on following meetings like zone conference and specialized trainings and general mission events, completeing projects and putting new finding ideas into action. (every 2 or 3 days, this time fame is used for finding activities)

4:00-5:00 Language study

5:00-6:00 Dinner

6:00-9:00 Lessons with investigators and members, or finding on the streets and in apartment complexes.

So that's our normal schedule for right now, a little difference than many other missions since we have been trying to focus on finding men coming too and from work, thus in the morning and the evening and mid-day when they are on lunch.

Well family, my times about up to i will upload some pictures really quick but i love you all so much, Have a great week!!

With love,

Elder Ostler

ps. I think that would be great to room with Benjamin. When i heard that i just felt great about the idea so if he would like to, i'm all for it! 

4-2-2012

Hello Family!!

Things are getting sunny and warm here in the Donboss! Summer is on its way! I am so glad to hear that conference went so well. We were in the office late Saturday night working on a few projects that we needed to present to president the next day, so we turned on a live broadcast of conference and were able to hear President Eyring's closing remarks about enduring trials. It was so great!! It also came at a perfect time when we had much to do and alot on our shoulders. The Lord is truly mindful of all of his children. It looks like Caleb and Dad had a great trip to conference! I miss those trips alot! That is definitely a tradition that i would like to do with my children. What a perfect time to talk to your children about things that matter most and then have a spiritual feast to go along with it. Conference truly is such a sacred time and such a great blessing. Here, we receive the conference ensign about a 2 or 3 months after it shows live and we usually watch conference the week after the live sessions. We are trying to help members also feel its importance so they will take the time to watch it. It truly is hard when the translators don't show any of the emotions of the actual speaker but the spirit can be felt if they listen close enough. 

This week we had Zone Leaders Council and discussed some of the needs of our mission. We talked about the temple and the covenants each of us has made and how we can use that to influence ourselves to do good continually. We also talked about making our teaching more effective and making sure that our language study  is really helping us. We are working with some new language learning materials that i think will really help. The new materials that we are receiving have tests and checklists that will help any missionary better gage there progress. 

We also talked about a few new programs that are coming out such as an English Book of Mormon Class follow up by an hour long English conversation Club. Members and Senior couples will teach this class and missionaries with guide the conversations focused on spiritual topics. We also have a family history couple who are working very hard on getting those resources out to the public. I think it will go very well. We also are finishing up some sign boards that will soon be used all over Donetsk by missionaries to help gain more attention of those on the street, focusing on addiction recovery and spiritual life questions. Many great new tools!

This weekend we had a Day of Open Doors, one night being for all teachers and business owners who were invited, and the next day for the general public. It was run very well but there was probably a total of 50 that came over the 2 day span. They were expecting much much more but we hope that we can make the right changes to make it more successful next time. 

This Sunday we met with two young investigators brothers whose brother is a member. They were alot of fun and have quite the characters. One takes things more seriously and has been coming pretty often and seems like he will be baptized soon, he is just still looking for an answer. The other is struggling with desire to read and pray. He doesn't really see the need for all of this in his life quite yet. We talked about setting goals in life and pursuing them and it was interesting to see how they struggled to come up with spiritual goals. It was something they had never really thought about before. I think they are starting to grasp the concept and will do great. They just need time. 

Well family, I love you all so much and thank you Alyssa for sending those pictures! your kids look like they are doing great! I hope you all have a wonderful week and i look forward to hearing from you.

With love,

Elder Ostler

PS. Benjamin, How did it go at skywalker studios?! Isn't that that place awesome!?  

3-26-2012

Dear Family,
I am so glad to hear the way that music is touching the hearts of so many there in Arizona. It is such a blessing to have such talent and skill among church members there. Make sure to take every opportunity to use that great gift. This week we returned from Harkov on Wednesday. Later that night, we visited the first family I had ever been to while in the mission field, the Grechnev's. They have a wonderful family with a less active father who is kind to us but doesn't want to hear our message. We decided to have the members of the family prepare short lessons and their testimonies on a few different topics that the family had been struggling with. We saw such a difference when they did this, and they really felt the power of their own testimonies that they may not have realized was there. That is one thing I have learned on my mission, that one of the best ways for a person to learn something is for them to teach it themselves. Some people always doubt what they know, until they have that opportunity to testify of it. I remember so many times during my youth growing up and not feeling like I was strong or able to share what I felt in my heart. But, each time, whether it was at youth conference or sacrament meeting, when I went outside of my comfort zone, I could feel the Lord's power working through me and I would even be surprised as to how much I really did know to be true. I came to know it in my mind as result of the confirming witness of the spirit in my heart.
This week, we also saw a great miracle! We were on the way to a less active lesson far out on the edge of our area. When we went into the apartment complex and were waiting at an elevator,  a man walked in from the street, on the verge of a drunken and sober state. We talked to him and he immediately invited us to his home that very minute to meet his wife. He said she was a nurse and just a great person who needed us to share our message with her. We made him promise she wouldn't be drunk also and then headed up the elevator to this man's apartment. When he opened up the door the man called out to his wife who was watching TV on the couch and with a surprised look came to the door. At first she was apologetic, seeing that her husband had just crossed into a more drunken state and told him to go to the kitchen. We talked for a few minutes in the front entry way and soon we had her pretty curious as to what in the world we were doing there. She invited us to sit down in her living room and we began to teach a little about the Book of Mormon. She told us she was very interested in religion and had not really united herself to any faith. She had studied with Baptists and Jehovah witnesses but for some reason never joined their churches. We gave her a book of Mormon and asked here to read and pray that she could find her own answers to her life long search. She agreed to our commitment and we will see if she kept it in our next meeting. Her father was also there on the lesson, probably in his 80's. he was very funny because he didn't speak the whole time but then would ask two or three times if their were communists in America. We laughed and said that there probably were but we hadn't met any. At the end we left with a prayer and were both so happy about that miraculous experience, clearly having happened not by accident.
This weekend we also had the chance to attend a celebration of 20 years since the first missionaries came to the Donetsk mission. We heard the stories of the pioneers here in Donetsk and also the testimonies of President and Sister Galbraith from the Kiev, temple. It was such a wonderful experience and about 10 investigators were in attendance. It would have been very hard not to feel the Spirit working in that room. The Donetsk mission has come a long way since those days, and we are truly blessed for the diligence of those who came before us to serve.
The next day, which was Sunday, was also a great day, President setting apart two sister missionaries who will be serving at temple square. We had a little testimony meeting with their families, not all of whom were members and then set the sisters apart to serving the Lord. Then the families left and we, President Campero and his wife, the temple president and his wife, and the sisters had a great dinner and talked about the adventures that were ahead of them. They were both pretty nervous about it all, not knowing exactly what they were getting into but knowing that it would eternally bless them and their families. It is great to see such strength in the young members here. Then to wrap it all up, towards the end of the night, the Temple president asked to talk with my companion and I with President Compero. We went into president's office and received some wonderful instruction. You could tell that this man understood the meaning of the temple well and through his testimony, it strengthened each of us and reminded us of the covenants we made while in that holy place. I had been praying and fasting my last transfer to help remember and keep those covenants that I made with God and this meeting with the temple president was an answer to my pleading and fasting. The Lord is truly aware of us and each of our struggles, that I know with all that I am.
I love you all so much and am grateful that we can all live together again according to our faithfulness, thanks to our Heavenly Father's great plan for us. Have a great week!

With Love,
Elder Ostler 

3-22-2012

3-22-2012

Dear President and Sister Ostler, 

This is just a short email to tell you what you already know. Your son, a missionary in the Ukraine Donetsk Mission, is a remarkable young man. My wife and I arrived here several weeks ago and he was one of our zone leaders. We were immediately impressed with him and we commented to each other about him. When we learned of his calling to be an Assistant to the President we just smiled because we knew, though we had just met him, that such a calling would likely occur at some point.

 We are from Aurora, Colorado and are serving our second mission. We were in the Russia Novosibirsk Mission previously where I served in the Mission Presidency. I have served as a counselor to four mission presidents in Colorado and in the Europe East Area. I mention that only to indicate I have an idea of what a good missionary is like and your son is a tribute to his parents as well as to Lord. You can be very proud of him.

Elder Lynn Wm. Southam

Serving as a senior missionary in Gorlovka, Ukraine

3-19-2012

Hello Family,

It was so great to see those pictures! It looks like you are all having a great time together. That must be so great to have all the boys around still. It looks like the bird flu has caught on at our house!:) You all have such cool contraptions for those birds. Birds really are amazing. I might consider taking up the hobby:) 

This week here in the mission has been CRAZY! I've never had to multitask quite like this in my life. My companion had to leave for a few days on a visa trip to bulgaria so I had to hold down the fort while he was gone. As assistants, we spend a lot of time working on projects in the office and waiting to help President Compero when he may need it. We are still working on a schedule that can make room for all of the necessary things a missionary must do to be successful. We had one particular day where I went into the office around 12 and was there until a little after 9 working on different projects that needed to be finished before our trip to  Harkov and Sumy to the North of Donetsk. We also have short meetings, once or twice throughout the day with president to make sure we are all on the same page with him and his schedule which he has with members of our District. We have also been working on combining our Harkov and Donestk districts so we can get a Stake in our mission. That would be such a blessing!! The members have looked forward to this for a long time and we are almost there. We hope that these plans will follow through. 

On Friday, we made the trip up to Sumy, my very first area, with President Compero and his wife, a branch president and his family from Makeevka, and a couple in the district presidency. It was quite the 7 hour ride and was a lot of fun! We played around with the branch president's 10 year old son in the back seat nearly the whole time until he passed out from tiredness. I haven't been on a road trip like that in a while:) It's especially fun getting to know and speak with Ukrainian people over long periods of time and not only on 45 minute appointments.You really gain a great apreciation for them and the people that they are... even among so many of the wicked. They are great examples to all. 

We arrived in Sumy that night and got up the next day for meetings in the center area of the city. The branch is still struggling to get walking on its two feet since I served there a year and a half ago. The crutch of the missionaries has continued to be taken, the branch then falls and won't pick itself back up, and then the missionaries have to come back in, brush them off and get them going again. It's a hard situation mostly because of the lack of worthy, active, priesthood holders who can take on the responsibilities as priesthood leaders in that branch. I feel President Compero now has a better idea of what is going on up there and can now move ahead and make the necessary changes to allow that branch to grow. He really is a great man because of his humility and love. Yes, he can make mistakes like any normal person, but the character he has developed was made very evident in his patience during our meetings with the Sumy branch presidency. When things got heated, he didn’t yell or become angry, he calmly took it all and guided it away from the sensitive issues and turned to a more productive conversation. Rather than pointing out the faults of the branch presidency, he quickly moved to find solutions and not dwell on their lack of dilligence and obedience in the past. I loved being back in my first city that I never thought I would go back to! There is a great African American man there who I was friends with, and it was so great to catch up with him and see how he was doing. I also checked up on our investigator families that were doing great when we left. Unfortunately, nothing new was recorded in our teaching records that we had left, and when I called them, they had no desire to meet. We instead went to a really great man who can't walk but is very well kept and keeps a nice apartment. He remembered me from long ago which was surprising and this time I could actually hold a conversation with him! It makes such a difference and makes it quite a bit easier when you understand what they say and then relay your feelings and opinions back to them. 

After church this Sunday, we had to take a train down to Harkov and met a really nice Muslim man. My companion and he talked for a long time about religion and it was pretty interesting to hear about such a different culture. We arrived here in Harkov and then met a man from Gilbert, Arizona picking up his soon to be wife who he found online.... Nice man and way random that we just happened to be on the metro car in the subway. We stayed the night with Elder Stradling who I knew back at home in Mesa.  He is doing great out here. He's a great elder! His companion Elder Bolingbrook is also doing great and we had a great time being with them. 

Today there will be a meeting for all of the senior couples in our mission here in Harkov which should be a great meeting. We have so many different types of couples who are learning so much out here and who all contribute so much to our mission. 

Well family, my time is up but I hope you all have a great week ahead of you! Thank you for the pictures! They really do speak 1000 words! Thanks for your spiritual thoughts also! They honestly help me a lot and often have a lot to do with what I struggle with or what I need to be doing better.

I love you all! Have a great day!

Elder Ostler

3-12-2012

Dear Family,

This is Elder Ostler emailing from Donetsk Center area with companion Elder Bangerter! We had our transfer meeting this last Thursday where President Compero gave me the assignment to serve as his assistant. This is a great responsibility and opportunity and I am so grateful to have been given this chance to serve our mission president and the elders of our mission.  I was honestly not really expecting this new assignment but as we all know, the Lord works in mysterious ways. I am also grateful to serve with Elder Bangerter for a second time. If you remember, we served together just about 3 months ago for a short time. I feel like this will be a great opportunity to be humbled.

This week before the transfer ended, I had the chance to meet with a few of our members and an investigator and everything felt very good. I dont know quite how to describe it but it is a great feeling when you leave an area loving the people and having them love you, and also having the feeling that you did all that you could while you were there serving. I feel like I am finally coming to understand the love of Christ a little deeper and it is already blessing me in ways I never imagined. In the moment it seems like such a small shift of thinking, and of acting while in reality, it is changing both my own and other's lives. I love this  work, this people, and this land in which I serve. Yes, this people may struggle at times because of traditions of the pas,t but that only gives me more reason to love them, especially those who are brave enough to change their lives and step out from among the crowds, so to speak, and become true disciples of Christ through living his gospel.

This Sunday we went to the Central Donestk branch where I was asked to bear my testimony. It was amazing to feel such love for the people in that room that I had honestly never talked to or met with. Afterwards, president asked me again to share my testimony in the Makeevka branch that met during the next hour. If you remember, I served in this branch towards the beginning of my mission. As I stood to share my thoughts, I was once again overcome by those feelings of love for those people, this time almost all being familiar to me. It was truly a testimony to me that as we serve those around us or those with who we associate, we will be blessed with a great love for them and not just any love, a Christlike love, making us want to do anything for them so that they were happy both in this life and the next. Thank you for the examples each of you have been to me of this love. Thank you so much for the letters that you have sent me and the great news about the two new babies that are are coming.  I love you all so much. I love you because I know that each of you is trying your hardest to serve our Father in Heaven by loving His children here on earth. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and I can't wait to hear from you this next week. 

With Love,

Elder Ostler

3-5-2012

Dear Family,

I was so happy to read about how Benjamin and Caleb are doing! Thanks for those great notes. I still can't believe you are finishing your senior year benjamin! I might just have to hire you as a tutor when get back :) Sounds like Caleb is also having to make some big decisions with changing schools. I hope that that works out well for you and that it will not be quite so intense as the academy.

As far as flight plans go for coming over, I would highly reccomend staying in touch with Sister Hatch, our office secretary. She recently performed a cleaning check on our apartment and asked me what was my plans with family coming.  Thanks so much for taking care of all of that!
Oh and one quick question, Is Lance going to be rooming with me and where will i be rooming?

SO, this week in the field i recieved a transfer!! very unexpected since i just got here for the second time but that must mean I have some more work to do elsewhere in this mission. Its always kind of sad leaving an area earlier than expected but its good to know that the branch is good hands, the Lords hands. This week we spent a good amount of time taking care of all of the documents needed to move our new senior couple in, the Southams. They say they know some Ostlers in Orem so maybe they know some of our family! They are a really fun couple and will prove to be a great asset to our branch here in Gorlovka. This week at church, our investigator Natasha and her inactive husband Roman came to church for the first time in months! it was so great to see them there and the members did a good job and making them feel at home. I know she feels something there at church and i hope and pray that she will gain the desire to act upon those desires in faith. We showed them a film about Spiritual Crocidiles that Boyd K Packer talked about a while back. She seemed to enjoy it but was pretty terrified of those huge crocidiles. We feel like it had the desired affects:) That small film really gives a good visual of why we shouldnt mess around when it comes to temptations satan sends our way, kind of like what Bishop Kerr taught Benjamin and the youth about dynamite. Quit trying to put the flame out and just get out of there! I think that is such a great lesson to learn, training our minds to not rationalize in situations that could lead to great harm, and learn to act upon spiritual promptings immediately.
 We also had an investigator ludmilla at church this sunday who has been really hard to meet with because she can never meet during the week.We met with her after church and had a great 1st lesson with her to really set up her foundation in the gospel. She has great desires and seems to be a very sincere lady and really opened up to us on that lesson when she had been very quiet during church, perhaps a little shy. She was pretty sad when she heard I was leaving but she will do so great if she keeps coming for the right reasons.
As this transfer is coming to a close, it felt good to reflect on my efforts to have greater love. I feel that the Lord truly honors our righteous desires, though seemingly impossible to us, he makes all things possible. I have made it a matter of prayer and fasting and have truly felt a slow but sure change. I have much more work to do to truly become a disciple of Christ but I am coming to learn that these things cant be changed over night and need time to make it lasting.
I love the Lord and I love this work. I can't imagine being any where else at this time in my life.
Thanks for sending some more warm weather our way! Its greatly needed and welcomed!:) Spring is coming and its a great feeling! Thanks for support and letters. May the Lord bless you in all that you do!

With Love,
Elder Ostler