Billa Tskerva - photos from my new area

an apartment building 

Statue of  Vladimir Lenin

"The White Church" Billa is named for 

"The White Church"  again 

a bridge 

same bridge going other direction 

River in Billa 

another bridge 

great scenery from bridge 

Elder Droubay running ahead for photo on our morning run
notice sidewalk, very typical.

another scene of Billa 

Billa 

street on morning run

more from Billa 

basketball courts near our apartment 

typical apartment building 

Why should I serve a mission?

Well thanks for all of the great letters I got them from everyone. You sre all awesome. I am so happy to hear that Lydia was born on my Birthday. I am glad to hear everything is going good at home. 

So about my week. We set a date with S...... He is so awesome. We meet with him almost everyday and one time before we even sat down he just said he wanted to get baptized. He is a super humble guy and started to quit smoking yesterday. At church he said he didn't smoke and usually he would have had 4 or 5 by then. He is so cool. He just accepts everything we teach and is just really excited to meet with us. 

We met with a young man named I.... but not really sure what more we can do for him. He knows pretty much everything but just won't come to church. He promised to come but he didn't so that was really too bad. We will see what to do with him from here on out.

One thing that has been really fun is the members here. They absolutely love us. It is so much fun to get to know them better and to see how they found the church. There are some really cool conversion stories that I will share with everyone when I get back. 

So mom sent me an email with a question. In one sentence "Why should I serve a mission?" That is really hard to answer in one sentence so I will cheat and do it in 2- Because our Savior, Jesus Christ, died and rose again that we may all be saved if we but believe on His name. This is the message that the world needs to know.

Well thanks again for the letters. I love you all.

Love Elder Quinn

The Branch prefers Ukrainian, but after the mission's new split, no more missionaries will be called to Keiv speaking Ukrainian.

Well thanks everyone for the Birthday wishes. I got them from dad, mom, Melissa, Natalie, and Hannah. It is pretty weird to be 21. I feel like I am 16 transfers old.

To answer some questions. The branch here definately perfers Ukrainian but all know Russian just as well. But with the new mission split there will be no missionaries called to the Kiev mission speaking Ukrainian. I understand pretty well but it is funny when I hear Ukrainian I translate it into Russian because it is easier to understand that way. I am like a dog when it comes to Ukrainian i understand a lot but can't respond. I told a youth to only speak to me in Ukrainain so I can pick it up a little. 

Elder Droubay it really cool. He is a super hard worker and loves the mission. His dad works for the church and does all of the mormon.org videos. It is pretty cool to hear about the stuff behind the scenes. It has been fun training as it reminds me how far I have come. This past week I went on exchanges with a missionary in his first transfer. It was pretty funny to think about the difference.

So we have a really cool investigator named Sergei. He came to an FHE last week and loved it!! I called him last night to invite him again and he said "Yes thanks for the invite. I wanted to ask if I could come but I didn't want to invite myself." He has a strong desire to know that all of this is true. He is a heavy smoker but wants to give it up. We will be working with him on that this week. We have a lot of potential but we just have to finally meet with them.  

Misha the man who got baptized last week baptized his wife this week. It was super cool. They are a super cool couple who will be really stong in the church. We are their missionaries but I have only met with them once so this week we are going to get to know them better. They are also good friends with our branch president which is really cool. 

Yesterday I gave a talk in church on Enduring to the End and how the Lord helps us to do that. He gives us two gifts that allow us to continue. The first is the Holy Ghost. This gift helps us to choose the right and to warn us of danger. The second is repentance. This morning I was readng a talk. I can't remember who is was I think is was Elder Cardon. He says in there "The Lord wants to forgive."  Also that he can forgive us in this life. We can be washed clean right now. He tells the story of the Lord first forgiving a man then healing him. Showing that both can be accomplished right now. It is such a great gift he has given us. 

Well I love you all so much.......even Dave and Katie ;)

Love Elder Qunn

I Love photos!

It is great here in Billa -100 attend their sacrament meeting - Vova was made Elders Quorum President

First of all   HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHASE The best birthday present ever...

Lydia Black born June 10th 2013 Chapel Hill North Carolina
to Justin and Melissa Black  9lbs. 12 oz. 22 inches 

Thanks for the letters this week. I got them from dad, mom, Melissa, and Natalie. I am glad to hear everything is going well. To answer some questions. I got the picture book mom it made me laugh. Thanks so much. I didn't get the package or the letter yet but hopefully soon. 

So this week was awesome! On Monday we met with German and set a date with him for the 22nd of June. He is so awesome. We had a great lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he loved it all. He is a really cool guy. We talked about the word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity and everything was fine. He did say he loves black tea but he would give it up. 

We also met with Arina one last time. We went over the Restoration again and talked about Prophets. She knows the church is true but is too afraid to tell her mother. She at this point just wants to wait until she is 18. She will definately get baptized. 

Then I left Odessa. It was pretty hard because I was almost positive that I would stay. But Billa is amazing!!

It has been a crazy week here. Before us there were 3 companionships of missionaries 2 elders and 1 sister companioship. the only one to stay here is my Companion Elder Droubay. It was crazy to help everyone get to their apartments and find the chuch. To top it off we had a baptism this week of some one I have never met so we had to plan the baptism and call people I have never talked to before. But this branch is amazing!! I wish I could express in words the love I feel in this branch durring sacrament meeting. Everything just works here. The branch president and the mcm are bothers and they are awesome. They are super strict and way good leaders. We met the MCM on my second day and had an awesome meeting. Because of him 40 people in this church are baptized. They have 100 people every week where 6 months ago they only had 50. They have reactivated a lot of people and there is a lot of success going on right now. Next week there is another baptism. It will be the wife of the man baptized on Saturday. 

This branch is awesome. Even if over half of sacrament meeting was in Ukrainian. 

Well that was my week. Love you all!!

Love Elder Quinn

P.S. i got a text from Vova this morning from Illichovsk. He is now the Elders Quarum President so that was really exciting to hear.