August 19th-25th

Hello Family and Friends!! 

Well my second transfer has officially ended! Today is the start of my third transfer already! I am officially not a trainee anymore!! I cant believe how fast time is flying out here in the mission field. It has been a good week this past week. We had some ups and downs as always! 

So on Monday night we met with our Branch Mission Leader at his house for FHE! HE invited like 3 nonmembers and they all came. One of which was Chinese. He made us all Chinese food for dinner! It was so good! We then watch a short film with everyone about Jesus and his last few days and his Crusification. It was really good and they all enjoyed it alot. We actually got a Chinese Book of Mormon to give to the guy. He speaks Russian but he doesnt like to read in Russian! 

Tuesday was good. We had our normal District Meeting in the morning. It was way fun as always. We then had a lesson with a new investigator. He is from English class. His name is Sasha! HE speaks amazing English so we teach him in English. It is very nice:). Our lesson went very good with him. He really likes our church and has read almost all of the Book of Mormon. He just has a few questions about some stuff that we are going to answer. We think we are going to have a lesson this week with him and our Mission President is going to come down and be on the lesson with us! We are way excited. 

So Wednesday was awesome. So we went over to Brother Tovmash's house to do a little service and then have a spiritual thought. So when we went inside the house we realized that they had invited a friend over. He name is Looda and she is about 40. She has 3 kids. So we gave the spiritual thought and she was really interested. She was asking alot about our church and especially the Book of Mormon. So we told her and then she asked so when is your church. We told her at 11 on Sunday. She was like ok I will see you there. haha. She is way nice and is from Russian so she speaks a nice clean Russian which is nice cause we dont really get that around here. Way too much Ukrainian influence! 

So on Thursday we went out to help our fellow American Stan finish up the service project. We almost finished building the roof of the house. It was way fun as always. Stan is a great man. When we got home went to meet with a member. Brother Ofechook. He is doing good. He is the one waiting to go to the temple. He has been having some struggles lately but we are helping him alot! Also on Thursday night the newest sister arrived here in Bila. She is fresh from the MTC. She is way cool and speaks Russian like a champ. So we officially have 2 Elders and 4 Sisters here! Crazy! 

Friday was slow. We had weekly planning then a lesson with Natasha. She is a recent convert of like 5 months. She has been having some struggles. She called us during the week and was like I am not going to church anymore. Kinda scared us. But we met with her and everything is fine now! She is doing good! 

Saturday was so busy. So we taught our recent convert Sergey in the morning. We then had English! It was so cool cause the old senior couple that used to serve came and they brought us our mail from the mission office. I got 2 packages! one from my mom and on from Auntie Shirley!!!! It was so nice to get them! I loved it! After English we ran to a member to give a blessing then ran to a recent convert Deema to teach him a lesson. It was awesome! We then came back to the church for Youth Night. It was so awesome! We had an awesome turnout as always! 

Yesterday, Sunday was so awesome. So I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting at Church. I was so nervous! I thought for sure I was going to just mess it all up. I think it went good. My companion said it was all understandable so thats good. Also during it I kept look at Brother Tovmash and he kept giving me a thumbs up so that made me happy. A couple times I would say like they or he in English but then correct myself. haha. It was pretty funny. I got the Congregation to laugh a couple of times. oh and also Looda from the Tovmash house came to church! YAY!! She is so awesome! She really like it. During Sunday school she was participating a bunch in the lesson! So Sunday night we has another lesson with Looda at the Tovmash's house! It was so awesome! We taught her about the Restoration and Joseph Smith. She is very strong in her believes but she kept saying she is just searching for the right church. Bingo! Sister Tovmash was awesome and helped so much on the lesson. We asked her to start reading the Book of Mormon and she said of course! She also prayed at the end of the lesson. It was so aweosme and so powerful. The spirit was so strong the whole time during the lesson. 

Well thats basically all for this week! Things are looking good for this upcoming week! I am excited to see what happens! Thanks everyone for emailing me! I love reading them! I love you all and I hope you have an awesome week! 

Love 

Elder Grochmal 

Also go to this link to see some videos I have posted (more to come) :

there is about 11 videos. two different albums.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101377638789528143308/albums

 Little Vanya Tovmash wearing my name tag!

 The house we built the roof for is to the left. Hard to get a picture of it.

 This was the roof before just the wood and some hay. Not much of a roof.

 Elder Fisher and Stan screwing on the roofing. 

 This is the front door of the house. 

 Cool tractor for the Soviets. 

 The road to Stan's!

 We made BBQ chicken pizza for lunch.

 umm....

 We changed our water filter... yikes.

 Sasha.

 FHE

 FHE (yep my eyes were closed...)

This was our whole district last transfer! 

August 12th-18th


Привет Семья!

Hello Family and Friends!!

Everything is going just swell over here in the Ukraine! Just another awesome week with many great experiences! I love Ukraine so much and I love serving here! I know I have said this many of times but the people here and just so amazing! I love all of them so much especially the members!! Well we had another great week here in Billa. This upcoming week is transfer week! I am staying here in Billa with Elder Fisher for another transfer! Also we are getting 2 more sister here so we will have 2 Elders and 4 Sisters here! Crazy!! Another slower week but all is well! We did lots of work on the streets this week contacting and talking to people! 

So monday night for Family Home Evening at a members house! IT was way fun and we had a good spiritual thought then had some watermelon! Ok so everyone here loves watermelon! They sell it everywhere on the streets! It is so crazy!! 

Tuesday we had district meeting in the morning like always. We then contacted alot then had a lesson with a member Брат Офейчук! He is doing good! We have helped him stop smoking and he is getting ready to go to the temple and be sealed to his family! He is really excited and has been so awesome lately! He has been working so hard to be a better father and husband! I have definetly seen a major change in his life ever since we started to meet with him and help him quit smoking! He is such an awesome man with such a strong testimony of the Gospel! 

Wednesday was another good day! We had a lesson with our recent convert couple!  Миша и Галя! They are doing awesome! They are so solid! Every single time we go over there she makes us food! She is an amazing cook and always feeds us so well! I love it so much! haha. After that we had a lesson with an investigator. He is moving to Poland next month so it is hard to continue to teach him! But we met with him and read a chapter of the Book of Mormon with him! He is so awesome and also has a very strong testimony of the church! I know that one day he will be baptized for sure! He is a great kid! At night we had our normal English club! It was good! We had a good turn out with some new faces! 

So thursday was a slower day! We just spent lots of time on the streets! We walked like all over Billa! It was crazy! We had some good conversations with people but nothing too good! It was a bummer! We had a lesson at night again with Брат Офейчук! Our Branch Mission Leader wants us going over there alot to keep him on the right path and to continue to not smoke! IT was another good lesson and we talked alot about his family! His wife was there so we talked with her also! SHe is pregnant! They have a cool story! So they were married for like 5 years and couldnt get pregnant! They went to doctors and they always said to just stop coming cause it wasnt going to happen! So the dad wasnt a member yet. And he got baptized after 5 years of marriage! The day after his baptism they found out she is pregnant! He knows that it was a miracle from God. Now she is pregnant with there second child! They are so amazing! 

So friday we went and helped our fellow American Stan with a service project for an old lady! Her house is super super old and in very bad condition. So we went and started to build her a new roof! It was way fun! She was so happy and just loved that we were there helping her! I forgot to take a picture but we might have to go out to her again and finish the job so I will take a pic for sure! We also had a lesson with a man from our area book at night! He was a little crazy! He is a boxer and is massive! He talked so fast. HE was very nice though and just has a hard time coming to church! He knows like all about the church! We are going to continue to try and get him!! 

Saturday was way cool! So we had English in the afternoon but then had a special fireside at night! Our mission president, President Klebingat came down from Kiev to speak to our branch! IT was so awesome! We had a great turnout and lots of people came! Also I counted we had 10 nonmembers come! IT was so awesome! President Klebingat is so awesome! It was so cool to here him speak to everyone and to here him speak Russian. It was cool cause I felt like I understood everything that he was talking about! It was such a cool experience and it is always nice to see the President since we never see him! 

Sunday was pretty special. So at church a senior couple that used to serve here came back and visisted. THey served are the mission doctors about a year ago! They are so awesome! Everyone in the Branch was so excited to see them! They dont speak any Russian or Ukrainian but they had a translator with them! IT was so cool! During Sacrament meeting they got to speak! It was so awesome! The translator was obviously translating but you could just feel their love for the people here! Also so this past week all the youth went to this big youth conference in the mountains! It is basically EFY for Ukraine! So they all bore their testimonies in sacrament! It was way cool to see how much fun and how much their testimonies grew at their EFY! Also I was supposed to give a talk but we ran out of time so I didnt have to! haha. I was so scared to give it but now I just have to give it next week! haha. 

Well that is basically everything for this week. Oh I forgot which day but we met a man on the street and he was like oh are you from Utah? and my companion said yes and this guy was like I love the Utah Jazz! haha. It was so funny! He was like I love Andre Kirolinko! He was a way nice guy! Yes Justin someone in Ukraine loves the Jazz! So awesome! Well I hope you all have a marvelous week! Thanks for the emials! Love you all! 

Love 

Elder Grochmal! 

 This fan is a life saver! 

 Some good home cooked meals! 

 Ukraine

 The hole is finally done. A member in the branch has worked on this for 2 years. He finally hired a tractor to come and finish the job! 

 I didnt know my companion took this. It was a long day...

 Everyone LOVES watermelon! 

This is about half of the branch. We are missining like all of the men. They all had work. The man between my comp and I is an investigator. The man in the front on a knee is the Branch President. President Klebingat is in the back left. To the left of President Klebingat is Sasha who is preparing to go on a mission!!

Also go to this link to see some videos I have posted (more to come) :

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101377638789528143308/albums/5911195886192611265

August 5th-11th 

Привет! 

Hello Family and Friends! 

Another week gone by in Ukraine. Everything is going good here. We had another great week. It was soooooo (Жаркий) hot this past week. Lets just say I was full sweat like all day every day this past week. It was so crazy. The work is a little slow to be honest right now. The whole mission is a little slow but we are continuing to work our hardest to bring people unto Christ. The language is getting a little better. Russian is still very difficult of course and it is especially hard here in Billa because of all the Ukrainian! It is very fun to continue to learn and speak to people though. I love Russian!! 

Well our week was good. We had a lesson on Monday night with an investigator. He is doing good but still doesnt see the importance in coming to church. We have really tried to work hard with him and get him to come. He reads the Book of Mormon just about everyday and knows it is true. He just has a hard time comitting to the church and coming every Sunday. We are continuing to work with him! 

Tuesday we had district meeting in the morning then a couple lessons at night. We first met with two recent converts, Миша и Галя, Meesha and Galia. They are so awesome. We watched the Restoration film with them. We then went and taught our other recent convert Сергей. Sergey! He is so cool and is doing awesome. We then went and taught a member Брат Офечук, Brother Ofaechook. He is soooo awesome but is struggling with smoking. We are helping him stop smoking. We made a plan with him and we are way excited! He is so funny though. He speaks soooo fast and speaks soooo much! 

Not much happened Wedesday. We just helped a member Коля, Kolya finish digging his hole. It is finally all done. We then had English at night which was good. We had a good turnout as always! 

Thursday was also a slow day. We spent a lot of time out on the streets talking to people. It went pretty good. We talked to some really good people. We found one man in particular with lots of potential. His name is Юрий, Yuri. He was way nice. So we told him like who we are and why we are here and he was interested. We have him a Book of Mormon and explained more to him about it. He seemed very interested and happy. We set up to meet with him the next day... 

So Friday we met with our new investigator Юрий, Yuri. We met him at his work. So we got there and we asked him like what does he do for work. He was like do you know where Provo, Utah is? We kinda laughed and we were like of course. So he went on to tell us that he works for this like vitamin/natural stuff company from Provo. It was so funny. So random. So we started talking more about the Book of Mormon. He started to read it already and he really liked it. We also taught him about the Restoration. He said that he understood it. After the lesson we invited him to pray. He had never prayed in his life. It was so a cool experience. The Spirit was so strong. We are very excited for this man and hope that everything continues to go well with him. 

Saturday was a slower day too. We spent lots of time on the streets. We then had English as always. I gave the spiritual thought after English. It was way cool. I feel my Russian is finally improving a little. We then had our normal youth night which was good. We had lots of non members come and play with us. 

Sunday was another awesome day. Church was really good. We were sad cause Юрий, Yuri didnt show up but another investagor came. After church we had lunch then hit the streets for a while and then met with a member Паша, Pasha. He is so awesome and his family is so nice. We talked about being member missionaries and they said they would try to share the Gospel as much as possible. 

Well that is basically all. We have really been trying to get the members even more involded here. They are already pretty amazing. We have really been trying to visit them and get them going. I love the work here. I love Ukraine! I am so happy to be here serving a mission and doing the Lord's work. I hope that you all have a great week and continue to help the missionaries!! I love all of you! 

Love, 

Старейшина Грашмал 

Elder Grochmal 

 Some amazing Borsh! And yes JUSTIN that is Sour Cream on it!! 

 Cooking some chicken, peppers, and onions! 

 Sandwhich

 Cool walkway down the middle of the street in Billa. 

 I have alot of ties...

 We made pizza for lunch! Amazing! 

 We always teach a recent convert at this creepy church place that he is security guard for! So epic! 

 Steering wheel fell off... 

Just some branch members! 

July 29th- August 4th 

Hello Family and Friends!! 

Well I think that this past week was the fastest week of my mission so far. I feel like just yesterday I was here writing to you all. Well the mission is going awesome! Time is flying and I cant believe it is already August. That means that summer is almost over and soon winter will be here! brrr!! Well this past week was a little crazy. We had a lot going on and my companion got sick!!! He is better now! But my week went like this: 

So monday p-day was good as always! Our Branch Mission Leader came to the church and we played some ping pong with him like always. He was on his game and beat me. It was my first loss to him. He was so happy. So every night we call him and report on our day and I called him was telling him that he was lucky and all this funny stuff. He then kept saying all this other stuff that I didnt understand but it was a funny conversation. Monday night for FHE we went to a recent converts house who invited over another family! It was way fun! We played a fun game and had some good food after! It was such a blast. 

Tuesday was a bit crazy. We got a call early in the morning from the American man, Stan, that he needed help asap. He had already ordered the concrete man to come and his workers bailed on him. There was no way he could do it by himself! So we called a member and we headed out to his farm and helped him pour concrete for a few hours! It was way fun. We then came home and cleaned up and went and did some contacting until we got on a bus and headed up to Kiev for Zone Conference the next day. When we got to Kiev we ran to the big mall so my companion could buy some new pants. We then went to the Zone Leaders apartment to sleep. It was way fun because two other elders awesome cam so it was really fun to hang with all of them for a little. 

So Wednesday was Zone Conference! It was so good! I first had an interview with President Klebingat in the morning. It was really good. He kinda spilled the beans that I am staying in Bila for another transfer after this one ends in 3 weeks! haha. During Zone Conference President taught us alot and then Sister Klebingat taught us alot about Russian. She is from Latvia so Russian is her native language! She is so awesome! At the end President took about an hour and told his whole life story with a power point! It was so amazing! He is such an amazing man and has such an awesome conversion story to the Gospel. After Zone Conference we hopped on a bus and headed back to Billa! 

Thursday was a good day. It was kinda a slow day. We had a lesson in the afternoon with our investigator, Иван. It went good and we committed him to come to church and he did! After our lesson Elder Fisher was feeling way sick so we and got some meds and went back to the apartment he rested while I just studied Russian! I could use as much studying as possible these days! The language is seriously so killer!! 

Friday was a better day. Elder Fisher was doing better. We had a lesson with recent convert, Сергей, Sergey. He is doing awesome. We gave him a Book of Mormon and challenged him to give it to someone before next Sunday! He said he would! We are way excited for him. We then had two lessons with families from the branch. We first met with the Tovmash's who are so awesome. I talk about them alot. They have 4 kids and the wife is pregnant. It Ukraine having just 2 kids is strange to non mormons! haha. The lesson went good and we told them to continue to share the Gospel. We then went to the Кофтун, Koftons. or should I say we ran. When we left the Tovmash's, it started to rain like crazy on us! It was so nuts. Once we made it there we had a very good lesson with them. We also gave them a Book of Mormon to give out to a friend. They were very accepting of our challange and are way excited. 

Saturday was a crazy day. So friday night some members mentioned to us something about them shutting off the water in Bila. We didnt understand this to its fullest. So we woke up and took showers and while I was in there the water just slowly stopped working. So I got out and we realized there was no water at all. They had completely shut off all the water in the entire city of Bila Tserkva. It was so crazy. There were cleaning it I guess. So we went to the closest well and got some water in a bucket to wash our dishes and stuff. It was pretty funny. We then had English and Youth night like always. They were both very good. After that we went and taught our recent convert Дима, Deama. He is doing awesome as always! He is working with a friend at work to get him to come to church. We are way excited. The members here are just so awesome and always trying to spread the Gospel. So we got home and still no water at all! 

Sunday we woke up and there was WATER!! The members said at first it will be full of Chlorine! They were so right! I took a shower and it felt like I was in a swimming pool. It was so funny! It got better throughout the day though. Church was way good as always. THe members are awesome and so nice to the us missionaries! We had a lesson at night with Брат Офечук, Brother Ofechook. He is awesome and doing so good. He is getting ready to go to the temple and be sealed to his wife and kid! We are way excited for him. 

Well that is basically all for the week. The work here is Bila is going good. It could be better cause things are a little slow right now but we know with the help of our Branch we will continue to bring souls unto Christ through baptism. Well I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you all and most of all I LOVE being a missionary in Ukraine! The church is true! 

Love 

Elder Grochmal   

 Pouring Concrete

 The American Stan Barton

 This amazing fishing spot we found

 Waterfall

 Crazy bridge. 

 Only in Ukraine. 

 The streets.

New tie I bought for 3 dollars!