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!?
