Chris is in the office

Chris is in charge of doling out rent money to companionships, making travel and passport arrangements and tech support for the mission.
Now we know why he had the shades...
The office elders got to see The Nutcracker at the Kiev Opera House.

December 2010

Chris is enjoying the holiday spirit in Ukraine. This will be his second mission Christmas. People are happy to hear about forever families at this time of year and he is hoping that will extend to some continuing investigators. He says:

Just one picture- my new coat!

But I remembered some funny stories. I rang the doorbell at one
apartment and it continued to ring and ring and ring. The lady came
out, tried to turn us down, whacked the doorbell a few times but
couldn't get it to stop and finally went back in. It was kind of
anticlimatic and it was hard not to laugh.

It has gotten cold and icy everywhere. I got out of a bus and turned
around just in time to see Elder Jackson slip. He stayed perfectly
straight while his feet slipped out from under himself and he ended up
accidently slide-tackling a young lady. Thankfully everyone laughed
otherwise I would have felt bad for laughing so much.

Also we tracted into a young lady who warmed right up to Elder
Jackson- in fact she tried to set up a return appointment at a
restaurant today! Not exactly the kind of "dates" we're looking for as
missionaries.

Dedication and Tricking a Trainee

Chris LOVED the festivities for the dedication of the temple and was especially happy to see how excited everyone was to meet President Monson. Later in the week, he was assigned to be DL and a trainer--making a new companion every single transfer for the first year of his mission. He promises to treat this one better so that he'll stay longer, ha ha! Chris had a funny story this week:

On Saturday Elder Tucker and the other new missionaries came into Kyiv. We had a meeting where they bore their testimony in the mission language, then their trainer would reveal himself by standing, saying where they would serve, and bearing his testimony in the language. I started off in Russian for fun and startled Elder Tucker a little, but quickly reverted to Ukrainian. He is from Oklahoma, a little shorter and with reddish blonde hair. He is of Irish descent and looks very Irish indeed to me. He is very good at Ukrainian already and impressed all the members with his testimony on Sunday. He also plays piano very well, which is a blessing to the branch and earns him big points with President Polishuk.He seems ready to work and we had a very good start to the week with some solid lessons yesterday. It is good to finally be in Lutsk and know I'll be there solidly for a while.

Summer in Lutsk

As Chris prepares to give tours for the new Kiev Temple, he still continues to have crazy adventures in his daily routine as well! The top image shows the relief of he and his companion after they lost and then recovered the (only!) area book for Lutsk on a bus with an irregular route! Chris also visited the castle in Lutsk and met a veteran from St. Petersburg. He's very excited for the temple--it occupies many of his thoughts!

Heat Wave

Amidst the summer swelter, Chris and his companion are tearing Lutsk apart looking for the Gospel-ready! People often mistake them for twins and that seems to be a great conversation starter. They are currently teaching two girls that just agreed to a baptism date--Chris is very excited! The branch out there is full of helpful, faithful saints who support the missionary effort with all their hearts. Everyone is in full work mode for the temple opening this fall. Go Chris!

End of another Transfer

Chris is in high spirits. Although his creative attempts (loaves of banana bread, origami classes, etc.) at drawing investigators are not yet yielding fruit, he's excited to start a new adventure in another part of the city this week. Chris says his next strategy will be to toss around an American football. These aren't available in the Ukraine and people are often very interested to see one. Here he is last week with an advertisement for a tire replacement shop.

March 25

"Easter is coming up quickly, and we have a plan. On Easter people will greet you with "Isus Voskres! (Christ was resurrected!)" and respond with "Bo istynu voskres! ( In truth he was resurrected!)." When we greet people we will give them Living Christ pamphlets.

I have also been trying an idea I had with member families. We teach them a short powerful lesson, then give them two banana breads or plates of brownies: one for them and one to give to friends. If their friends like it, we ask them to invite them over and we will make the dessert together. It is a non-threatening way to introduce people to missionaries. We've only just started it so we will see how it goes."