So, for all of the important women in Chris' life, I give you the Mother's day phone call.
First off, Chris has a happiness in his voice and a bouncy energy exudes over the phone wires. So, I know that he's truly happy.
He has been sick for the past week and a half. It sounds like he has been fighting sinusitis. We talked about the drugs he's taking and I added a nasal saline spray into the list which he will purchase on his P day.
He is enjoying ALL boxes that come his way and the contents they hold. Thanks to all who have sent boxes.
He also enjoys the financial gifts that he receives and he loves the fact that the $ is so strong in this country. About .50 for a large kilo of cookies.
His mission President has an interview with him last week and told him that he is keeping him in Kharkov and sees him in future being a leader in the mission in that area. Chris is thinking he'll be district leader in the not to future. The mission loses 8 missionaries within the next two months. There are 8 coming out and he is in training to be a new trainer.
Chris' mission began the "new mission" program a few months back. (if you haven't attended a meeting where this will be explained, your stake's should be having one in the not to distant future). The missionary discussions have also changed and they now teach the plan of salvation in the first discussion.
His shoes have a few holes but he feels that he will be fine with his old ones until October. He will then get out the half of his mission clothes he's been saving for his year mark and get rid of the yucky shirts.
The water in the Ukraine is full of minerals so he says that his shirts and everything he washes gets stiff and hard and is not ver white.
I asked him what he liked most about mission life and he said learning the language. I'm impressed by this because i know first hand it can be frustrating at times to 24/7 be dealing with a language that is not your first. He says he studies all the time. I'm envisioning him being an MTC instructor when he returns. We could really benefit from the extra income it would bring in for his schooling and it would benefit him to be surrounded by missionaries for a small chunk of time each day.
His primary need is INVESTIGATORS! So We need to continually pray for him to find people to teach and for him and his companion to listen to the spirit as they are directed to interact with people.
The church has taken a new avenue towards getting our name out there with "Mormon Helping Hands" and Chris mission does alot of community service and individual companionships take on service projects of there own. One example was the tree uprooting that
took place a week or so ago.
Here is more information on the Bulgaria trip that I mentioned last week. Evidentilly all missionaries have to exit the Ukraine at their year mark(Sept. or Oct. for Chris). He will travel with his MTC friends all the way to the mission home in Bulgaria. There he will be collected by the mission home and taken to a set of apartments that are kept for the Ukrainian missionaries. They have to remain in Bulgaria for one week. During this week's period of time, they are not allowed to contact anyone but they are allowed to sight see and frequent the mall that is nearby. Everyone evidently enjoys this "half way mark" vacation and it's hyped up by those that have gone before. At the end of the week, they are given updated passports and are placed on a train and returned to their various cities. Pretty interesting!
Well, It was great to hear Chris' voice. he says that he is enjoying being senior companion and he has finally mastered the telephone and being able to converse on the phone with people. All in all, he feels that his language skills are coming along very nicely.
Hope this news makes everyone's day. It certainly made my day to talk to him.
Love you all,
Lisa
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