It's a good thing the Spirit does the teaching

Family!

Hey, how's it going?  Thank you for all of the love in email and letter form that I've been getting.  I love reading all that's going on in your lives.

The biggest things that have happened this week, in order:

1.  Our investigators, L and H (roommates) both committed to baptism this week!  It was an amazing lesson that led to it.  L has had a complete turn around that I am just in awe over.  He is so ready for baptism.  And H is getting there, he has time.  Great guys.  By the way, L is a musician and a photographer!  I have been in my element talking with him.

2.  Elder Smith is getting transferred.  On Thursday he'll be gone and I'll have a new comp in the office.  This transfer has been the fastest of my life, it's insane.  I'm really kind of sad that it's ending.  We've been getting along really well.  Oh well, we have the rest of the mission and college to be around each other.

3.  I made chili.  With chicken nuggets.  No, I could not find ground beef on short notice.  Sadly, there are physical repercussions to eating a pot of chili..

4.  Elder Antamanov also received a transfer call, I forgot to say.  It's too bad he's leaving me again.  But I have a feeling that he and I will serve in the same district again before the mission is over.  I love that guy a lot, he's awesome.

With it getting warmer,we are having some more success in finding people.  Yesterday morning we got 3 numbers!  That's three more than we've gotten all winter!  So that's pretty cool.  And, Dad, you're right, it is often harder to convince people that they've found the truth than to find them to begin with.  Thing is, I feel like I don't ever convince people.  It's either they've been prepared or they aren't, no matter how hard I try. It's a good thing the Spirit does the teaching.

That's about it for this week.. This was a really fast week.  For this week, I'm really excited for Wednesday.  That's when the new greenies come in- and I will get to introduce them first to Donetsk and show them around a bit!  That's a weird round-about moment in the mission.  It reminds me that I actually have been here a while.  Basically, I'm just excited to see some new kids and send them off.

I really can't think of anything else for this week, wow.. Well, then that'll be all for this week.  I love y'all and I can't wait to have more news to tell you soon!  

Love,

Elder Brandon Porter

In response to questions about his current branch and how it is that someone is cooking for the office elders:

Answers to your questions:

My current branch is pretty good.  It's probably the most functional branch in the mission.  They actually can run pretty well without missionary intervention, which is a very good break.  Much stronger in terms of members than in Lugansk.  And they have a real church building!  So basically, my only role here is to be a missionary.  Yes!

Sister M cooks for those of us in the office, namely APs and office elders.  She really needs the money, so we're glad to oblige by paying her to cook.  Because it's her main income, she cooks and cleans for us every day, cooking mostly just on Mon, Wed and Fri.  She cooks enough on those days so we have leftovers until she cooks again.  According to that plan, we don't ever have time to cook besides breakfast, but sometimes the APs overeat and we have to cook for ourselves.  It's a good mix.

The cold is finally subsiding!

Family,

Well, the cold is finally subsiding.  That is a very good thing.  It's staying consistently at right around 0 degrees Celsius, and it probably won't get much colder the rest of the season.  We survived!  I feel like a war veteran talking about it.  It wasn't that bad.  But it was pretty dang cold. 

Along with the change in weather has come a flooding of Ukraine.  With water, in case you didn't catch.  With all of that snow built up, and the drainage systems in the city aren't that great, all the roads are pretty swamped right now.  Oh, Ukraine.  You can't make up your mind, can you?

Besides all of that, not a whole lot has happened this week.  For most of it my companion was sick.  So while he was sleeping I would set up lessons or read or watch church movies.  None of those are terribly exciting, but I kept from being bored.  We did manage one great lesson with L, though.  I don't remember if I told you about him.  He's a Nigerian, here for electrical engineering education.  Up to now he hasn't been all that serious about all this, kind of beating around the bush.  But this last Wednesday we went over there and he had completely changed.  He was more at peace with himself and the world, and he had been reading from the Book of Mormon.  And he had questions about his reading!  He asked about spiritual gifts and how he can receive them.  The discussion drifted from that to the power of the Priesthood to the baptismal commitment.  He said he had to think about it, but then went on to share his convictions of how what we tell him is true and how great the message makes him feel.  Great guy.  And a musician too!  We talk a lot about that.

On the complete other side, we had one investigator straight up tell us this week that his life goal was to earn a million dollars then commit suicide and leave the money to his family.  That lesson did not go how we planned.  Luckily, with a Ukrainian paycheck, he's not likely to earn a million dollars any time soon.

I had a surreal missionary moment today.  I found out that the leadership in Lugansk (my last area) was changed yesterday, and I called up the senior couple over there and discussed the changes and how certain people and their needs will be accounted for and how each person will fulfill their callings.  Then I realized- I'm not even assigned to Lugansk anymore.  I never really thought that I would care that much about an area that I'm not even serving in.   I guess it surprises me how much I actually care.  Interesting.

Really not a whole lot has happened besides that.  I'm still in Ukraine.  Surprise!  Well, I think that'll be about good for this week.  Not much to add.

I love you all!  Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Brandon Porter


One more thought from one of the letters addressed to family members:
I'm glad you appreciated my thoughts on the Armenia trip.  It was a great experience.  I thought it was great how effective and useful I was actually able to be.  A lot of times out here in Ukraine, we all feel like we're spinning our wheels, digging a hole with a spoon, or choose your favorite metaphor for feeling useless and repetitive.  I've had a lot of talks with Elder Smith about that recently actually.  Being here, we have to be ready to do great things, and at the same time be ready to have absolutely no results.  It's interesting.  I love my mission, but I won't lie, it is pretty difficult.

That's the beauty of the Gospel. It'll go forth boldly, nobly, and independent.

Elder Porter's letter - 2/20/12

Family!

So, as you already know, half of this week I was in Armenia.  That was an amazing experience for me.  I already told you about the first day with that lesson with T.  That was probably the highlight of the trip, missionary-wise.  I loved how I could come, knowing Russian, and just converse with practically anyone I wanted in Russian.  The missionaries I was with, Elders Fry and Watterson, thought I was pretty cool for being able to hold complete conversations with all these people and seem completely at ease.  And they were way cool too, we became pretty tight friends in those three days.  But yeah, walking around, if we stopped and talked to anyone, I would just jump in in Russian and see where it could take us.  Many of them were just thrilled to be able to converse in Russian, since many of them were raised speaking mostly Russian (they, too, were under the Soviet Union).  I also got to go ice skating...in Armenia!  How many people can say that?  In a suit, no less!  Speaking Russian!  Yeah, so the trip really boosted my confidence in my language abilities, actually.  Seeing as I could converse with the people and not even take a thought as to what words I should use, I'd say that was pretty good.  Great refresher before getting back to the grind.

I was very surprised to get back to my mission and see the reaction of other missionaries to my stories about Armenia.  Most seemed to pity me in some weird way or be like, "Man, I really hope that I don't get sent there on MY visa trip!"  Apparently Bulgaria (the place they usually send missionaries to renew their Visas) turns into a party for many elders, since it is a very European city and all. They get there and just get cut loose and told to go have fun, telling them just to be sure to be on the plane home to Donetsk.  And it doesn't help that that mission is one of the most lax in all of Eastern Europe.  So many missionaries use that as a time to just party like crazy since they're "not missionaries" while they're there.  But they always get back super depressed that the trip is over. I don't know, I don't want to rag on their fun time, but I felt like I had the best of both worlds.  I got to help out in the work in another country, make new friends, eat new food, and just have fun with other missionaries in a totally appropriate way. I absolutely loved the experience, I don't care what others think about it.  

Since I've gotten back not a whole lot has happened.  We had some amazing lessons with people.  We set up a lesson with a Nigerian named L, and the lesson turned into a little party with a bunch of black guys in the hostel (i.e. a crappy dorm) where we discussed our religion freely with all of them.  I love Nigerians.  

Oh, we had one really interesting lesson.  With another black man, of course.  This guy, Q, was on our past teaching records, so we called and got an appointment to meet this week.  We got there and found out that he was with his girlfriend, who was very white (not to be racist; it's part of the point I'm making).  She spoke absolutely no English.  He spoke a good amount of Russian.  So our lesson was in Russian. But the weird thing was that the girl said that she was from Donetsk all her life.. but she spoke Russian with such a weird accent and made all sorts of mistakes.  We actually are pretty sure that she was German or something.  So there's three of us, all speaking our second language with each other, each pretending like we are totally confident in what we are saying.  I don't know about you, but I thought that was a huge ironic moment.  Speaking of Russian, I thought you'd like to know that I still get mistaken for a Russian/Ukrainian a lot.  When I focus hard, I can be pretty convincing with my speech.  It's a fun way to break the ice a bit.

Well, what else has happened..  I don't know, lots of office stuff.  I'll think more about what to include next week.  

I love y'all!  Talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Brandon Porter

Here's a few thoughts Brandon shared with Dan in a separate letter:

Oh, yes.  Helping people on to the right path is our job... but most people are very resentful of it.  Really the best thing that we can do is to love everyone around us unconditionally, even those guys that cuss you out or don't give you the time of day.  It's really hard always, but being kind to someone else is the best way to soften their heart towards you.  And I'm pretty sure that that principle applies to more than just Ukrainians.

Thank you for your advice and encouragement.  Sometimes I don't feel like I could ever possibly do enough.. which is true.  But that's the beauty of the Gospel.  It'll go forth boldly, nobly, and independent.  I don't have to move it on my own, nor does anyone else.  I just have the opportunity to be a part of this Ukrainian mission part of it right now.  Thank you for your thoughts!

"They all think I'm native Russian and everything. Yes! Checking that off my bucket list."

Last Saturday we received a quick email from Brandon which said this:

Hey Family,

So, I have to send this email out early on account of the fact that my Armenia trip was pushed up to Monday, my P-Day.  I'll be leaving at 7:20 AM on Monday and returning at 10:40 PM on Wednesday.  It was actually kind of funny- since sending people on Visa trips is my personal office responsibility, I decided the other day to check in on the progress in getting my travel plans.  I asked the senior couple that was supposed to know and they were just like, ".. Are you sure you're going to Armenia?.."  That was a bit of a panic moment.  But it's all worked out now, at the last minute. Hence why we are going on Monday morning instead of Tuesday afternoon.  I'm excited!  I get to see.. somewhere else!  Yes! 
 
Sorry this is extra short today.  I've been a little bit scrambled trying to fit this into my schedule, since it's not P-Day and all.  Just know that I love you all and I'll tell you all about Armenia next week!

Love,

Elder Brandon Porter


We were glad to hear from him before his Visa renewal trip, but we had so many questions about the trip . . .  how would he be traveling  - alone? with other missionaries?, where they he stay while in a different country, what would he do there, etc.  It was a real treat to get another letter from him today, answering a few of our questions.  

This is the letter we received today:

Hello from Armenia!

So, I sacrificed my P-Day in order to travel to Armenia, but once I got here I found out that their P-Day was on Tuesday, so I get to email anyways!  It's great how life works out that way.  I can have my cake AND eat it too!  Yes!

There's two of us elders who traveled from the Ukraine along with someone from the office who is in charge of making sure that we make it back smoothly.  It's a good time!  When we got into Armenia they dropped us off at missionary apartments, so I've been hanging out with some Armenian missionaries this week.  It's way cool, they're teaching me the Armenian alphabet and I'm blowing their minds with Russian grammar.  Incidentally, practically everyone in Armenia speaks Russian, so I am not lost whatsoever.  And I thought I had it bad with the mix of Russian and Ukrainian over in Donetsk- these poor missionaries are sent here having been taught Armenian, but then they come to find out that you have to have a basic knowledge of Russian in order to get by here at all.  Almost all their products and stores are only in Russian, it's weird.  I really like this place.

Last night when I got to my Armenian companionship we were able to go to a lesson with a less active member here.  His name was T.  He's this really smart guy that feels offended towards the church and the "infidelity" of its members as a whole.  And he spoke very good Russian.  He was beyond thrilled to have the chance to converse with me in Russian.  He actually assumed that I was Ukrainian by my face and accent, and it took some convincing to show him that I'm actually American.  His mom still doesn't believe it.  But I spent about half of the lesson just sitting back and enjoying the cookies and their heated conversation.  I couldn't understand the words, but their body language said enough to show that the missionaries and T were at great odds and they were really frustrated.  They asked me to testify.  But what started out as a simple testimony bearing turned into an insightful discussion with him over the implications of building our Zion first for ourselves (citing Mosiah 2:20-ish where everyone faces their tents toward the temple), and then strengthening one another.  I felt kind of bad that I had taken over the lesson and taught in Russian while the other missionaries had no idea what I was saying and all, but they were just grateful that something good had come out of the meeting.  Apparently he had been arguing that he wanted to find a way to deny Christ so he could become a Jew... Yeah, that's not happening as long as we have any testimony to bear.  But T really appreciated the conversation he and I had, and he complimented me emphatically for how smart he said I was and stuff.  Whatever, as long as his testimony is still intact, I'll take whatever of my attributes he attributes the good feelings to.  I sure hope he turns out okay.  Great guy.

It's funny, being here my Russian comes so easily.  I don't even have to think about it, it just flows out.  That really surprised me.  If you haven't caught, that's a pretty hard point to get to with Russian.  Here I've just been talking up a storm with these people, it's great.  They all think I'm native Russian and everything.  Yes!  Checking that off my bucket list.  The only time in the last 24 hours that I've been dissatisfied with my language is when the Kiev missionary is around.  He kind of assumes that I'm not up to par with it and translates everything to English for me, making me feel pretty stupid.  But, that's totally okay, because I'm enjoying life here!  I've gotten to talk to people, hang out with other missionaries that all think I'm really cool for being a Russian missionary, and I have gotten to go sightseeing a bit.  Good times.  This definitely is a vacation, it's amazing.

In being here, I've realized just how ghetto my mission really is.  The Kiev missionary that I flew here with has really no idea what Eastern Ukraine is really like.  No idea.  He's essentially in a completely different world from me.  I live in the Soviet Union.. posthumously.  That's the best way I can put that.  Armenia is close, except that everyone is really nice and the buildings don't look like they were pasted together with whatever was lying around, and they have American food and stores.  Other than that, it's exactly the same as Donetsk.

Well, I've got another 24 hours to spend here in Armenia, so I'm going to live it up missionary style out here some more.  Just know that I'm safe and in good hands.  I'm getting a much needed break.  I didn't know that I needed it so bad, but it feels SO good.  Doing missionary work where people actually want to have you around, and.. no, that's pretty much the main thing.  I'm loving this experience here.

I love you all!  Sorry for the confusion over the Visa trip.  It's got to be weird getting an email saying suddenly "and now I'm.. heading to Armenia!  Bye!"  That's all worked out now though. 

Well, until next week!

Love,

Elder Brandon Porter

"We had a couple of small miracles"

Family,

This has been kind of a crazy week.  I'm still not quite sure what to think of it.  I'll just start with the harder news first.  This week we had a lesson with a less active man named M.  He's this awesome English translator that is way funny and weighs like 350 pounds.  On Thursday we had a lesson set up with him at his home.  When we got to his apartment it was very strange, because he wasn't answering the domaphone (like a doorbell that lets people into the apartment), so we had to call his neighbor and have them let us in.  When we got up to his door, M was at the door, with droopy eyes and snoring heavily.  He immediately staggered into the apartment and collapsed on the couch, snoring even more loudly.  Looking around, we realized that something was way wrong:  There was a pile of used cigarettes, a large pot of black tea, and then 5 bottles of heart medication spread throughout the apartment.  We realized pretty soon that he had overdosed on heart medication, probably after having raised his heart rate from the tea and junk.  It was so sad. There was vomit all over the floor, and this grown man was just laying there, unable to form a coherent sentence through his snores.  We called an ambulance for him and waited.

Luckily, we had a member with us who was able to speak freely with the nurses that showed up.  It was way sketchy how they treated M. That's a different story in itself.  Basically, in the end they told us that the stuff they had injected into him was going to make him better and there was no need to take him to the hospital, so they left.  We left that night, weirded out enough as it was.  Then the next afternoon we found out that he had died in the night.  I had absolutely no idea what to think about that.  I still don't really.  We were the last people that M saw before passing on.  That scene is burned into my memory forever.  So that was pretty definitely the low point of the week.  Don't worry, I'm fine now.  It was just one of those moments.

Oddly enough, the rest of the week has been fantastic.  Just after we found out that news, we had a couple small miracles.  First, someone stopped us and asked us if he could come to church with us, then someone called us from a brochure that we had handed out (which never happens), and we also had some fantastically spiritual lessons that we had with investigators. 

Two of these lessons especially stand out; S and Z.  S is a Ukrainian that is fluent in English, Spanish and probably a bunch more languages.  We immediately hit it off, conversing a little bit in Spanish (even though mine is heavily tainted with Russian), and had some good discussion on books and stuff.  In the past she apparently hasn't been extremely interested in our message, mostly just wanting English practice from us.  But this time, after the pleasantries, we delved deep into a spiritual discussion about how the Apostasy happened and the importance of a living prophet today.  She couldn't deny it and we could tell that she knew it was true, but she is still at the point where she is scared that it really could be true, so she is going to need some time to let it sink in.  But she is very ready for this, and she will be an awesome member, I can see it.

The other one was Z.  He's Nigerian, which instantly makes him awesome.  We watched Tad R. Callister's talk from last conference about the Book of Mormon (GREAT talk!) and he drank it all in.  His questions were very well considered and betrayed a definite spiritual depth there.  A good amount of the discussion was about how the Bible says that no one may add or take away from these words (Rev. 22-ish), which is always interesting to talk about.  He totally blew us out of the water when we asked him what he thought about all of this, and he said, "Hold on, I need to first study this book and pray to God to find if it's true.  And if it's true, then of course I'll have no choice but to follow the Lord's path for me"...  You may have to be a missionary to appreciate just how unusual and jawdroppingly amazing that answer is.  So, he's cool.  Sidenote, his language, Igbo, sounds way cool!  General Conference is translated into it on LDS.org.  I'd suggest looking it up if you have time.

Well, that's the bulk of my news from this week.  And yes, in case you're all wondering, it has been pretty cold.  I've only seen one dead body in the street, but that was closer to Christmas, so it doesn't count.  But, yeah, wind chill will getcha.  Don't worry, we stay plenty warm.  I'm wearing a scarf for the first time in my life, so that's sweet. 

Anyways, I love you all!  I'm doing well, health-wise, office-wise and.. whatever-else-wise I could say here.  Talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Brandon Porter

We asked Brandon lots of questions about the cold - which has been so extreme that many people have died on the streets in Ukraine. Dan asked Brandon if the mission president has given them new guidelines for staying warm/not being outside too much. This is what Brandon replied:
Don't worry about me, I'm fine with warmth. Being in the Office, I've heard a lot about the whole thing with the weather killing a bunch of people.  It is pretty dang cold.  But I'm able to dress warm, protect against the wind and such.  President Campero hasn't come right out and said what weather we can't go out in, but he did come out this last week and say that we are allowed to come inside when we get cold.  Kind of vague and seems like it's common sense, but plenty of missionaries don't really have common sense anymore.  They're all like, "We're supposed to be outside contacting in any weather, any time we don't have a lesson!" Don't worry, I have common sense.  And we just bought a space heater for our apartment, so we're nice and toasty.

"It's already shaping up to be a great transfer"

Family,

You will never guess where I was just assigned to.  Go ahead, guess ...  Nope!  I'm assigned to the Mission Office.  Did you know that was even possible as a missionary?  I sure didn't.  Weird.  It means that I now have a desk and am in charge of a bunch of random odds and ends in the Office so that President doesn't go insane and so that Salt Lake doesn't tear my head off for filing bad records or whatever.  I never ever expected that I'd be sent here.  So weird!

But, that being said, it's already shaping up to be a great transfer.  We only have to be in the office for three days in the week, T-Th, and beyond that we are in charge of a small area concentrated right in the center of Donetsk.  It's great!  We already have a few progressing investigators, which is hard to keep up as an office Elder, but we have it!  Elder Smith says that it's a two front battle, being assigned to the Office and an area. Because President wants us to do good missionary work in our area. . . but he also wants to throw random projects at us that eat into our time.  We call this his "Tetris mode".  It's where he throws half baked, oddly shaped projects out and expects them to be done, and we are left to do the impossible.  I am so up for this!  It's already pretty fun.

My companion is amazing.  Elder J. Smith and I hit it off right away.  We have similar attitudes, as well as taste in movies (which is very important when you're street contacting in cold weather and no one is around. Gives us something to talk about and keeps us sane.)  So that's going great.  Not to mention that my new district includes some of my best friends in the mission already- Antamanov (my trainer) and Arrington!  It's nice to come and already know some people. 

The branch is great.  They actually have a building!!  I was blown away by that.  Which made me realize that I will probably go into cardiac arrest when I get home and things are so.... not Ukrainian.  That'll be so weird.  Like having showers that you don't hold up and things like that.  The little things are amazing.  But I love it here, so it's all good.

Exciting news here in the mission!  A new translation has been made for the Book of Mormon in Russian!  The old one that we've been handing out is fantastic and still the word of God, but there are words and phrases that are slightly less understandable to Russian speakers.  But it's finally out, and missionaries are going to be issued triple combinations this month!  Woot!

By the way, so I hadn't been using the Yak Trax things all winter (attachment for shoes which help you walk on the ice without falling).  I don't fall easily and I have a good sense of balance.  Elder Groothuysen in Lugansk falls a lot, so I gave them to him.  The day after I handed those off was the iciest (is that how you spell it?) I've ever seen in my life.  Everything looked like a sea of glass.  And reading Revelations, I got really scared for a bit as to whether the Celestial Kingdom will be like that.  Come to really think of it, a sea of glass doesn't sound all that fun.  I sure hope God has a different idea for that than I do.

Anyways, I will now be in the office for at least 3 months.  That's the long and short of it.  I'm excited for a change in pace!  It'll be great.  I get to work really closely with President Campero and the APs, so that's cool.  Til next week, you know where I am!

Love,

Elder Brandon Porter

Moving on!

Family!

So, what's up?  Everything going well?  That's good.  Well, this week suddenly it got WAY cold, way fast!  For most of the Winter it's been hovering right around freezing, but this last week it shot down to -13 degrees  all of a sudden!  I stopped looking at the thermometers after that, for fear that it would get lower.  It's pretty hard to get out the door, motivation-wise, when you lose feeling in your face and knuckles after a few minutes outdoors!  But those gloves you sent me have been wonderful, so I've been pretty good there.  And the coat I have keeps heat so well that I'm actually able to walk around in just a short sleeve white shirt and that coat!  I could be naked under that coat, if that didn't violate certain modesty codes.  Anyways, the point is that it's the rest of my body that freezes, not what falls under the coat.  Fun fun!

Funny moment this week.  I walked into the Branch President's office for a meeting, and he had a new board hanging on the wall, listing all the youth quorums/groups.  I stared at one called "Lavr" for a while, and then felt kind of stupid realizing that it was just "Laurels".  Immediately after this revelation, the first councellor walks in, looks at the board and says "What the heck is a Lavr??".  Even after explaining to him that it was YW from 16 to 18, he kept making fun of the word for a bit.  Laaaaavrrrr.  It's good to know that people are the same no matter where you go. 

So, transfers are this Thursday.  We found out that both Elder Solin and I are moving out.  That's called whitewashing -  when both members of the companionship move out.  It was way unexpected, especially since Solin is native and has been able to fill in as branch secretary much better than any other non-native missionary ever could.  Plus, it's just weird to have both leaving, since that means that the next companionship will have absolutely no idea what to do and where to go.  So this has added a billion times more work for us this week, since we have to prepare everything so that the new companionship can smoothly transition into Lugansk life.  It's a good thing I'm so good at writing up every little detail of what they need to know living here, seeing as I've been here for six months.  No, see, that's a lie.  I'm not very good at that.  I'd rather tell them in person, but that's impossible.  Anyways - Work!

Because we're whitewashing, we've set up a billion lessons with members and investigators before we head out.  I discovered that it's actually really hard to say goodbye to these people.  I've come to know some of them really well, and others I just plain love from serving them.  That's not fair.  Especially not fair since most of them won't really remember me after a few weeks.  Oh, well.  Life moves on.

Back to the whole cold thing, today we had the first real snowfall of the season.  I mean, REAL snowfall, none of that little dusting of an inch or so.  We have probably five inches and counting right now, and it doesn't look like the clouds are going to let up any time soon.  But who knows.  And when it's really cold, I found out that snow turns into something more like sand that snakes around in the wind along the streets.  It looks so creepy!  I decided that it's the dead souls of Ukraine wandering the streets.  They probably couldn't sleep.  It's so COLD. 

 

At the same time, I'm very grateful that I'm not in the coldest areas of Eastern Europe.  It gets way colder for way longer in other places.  Like St. Petersburg.  My companion won't let me forget that.  Every time I say it's cold he gives me a big "Psh!" and tells me how this is Summer for him or something like that.  Yet Antamanov, the Siberian, was always the first to complain about how cold it was getting.  I've decided that it doesn't actually matter where you're from in things like getting adjusted to the weather.  It's all about your perspective and your attitude.  Anyways.  Little thought there.

Well, it's Ukraine.  It's January.  Transfers are in three days.  Excitement.  But more importantly, it's Dad's birthday on Saturday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!  Or as they say it here,  С Днём Рождения!!  Have a good one.

Anyways, I have to go.  Love you all, and I'll talk to you next week after I've settled into my new area!  Til then!

Love,

Elder Brandon Porter