EATING SHARMAS

FAMOUS MARIUPOL SHARMA STAND

At the Sharma Stand with Olga, Employee of the stand, Elders Kinghorn, Woodhead, Hammond, and Goodfellow

This gentleman insisted I come into the stand to take a picture

Sharma's are famous among the missionaries, especially the Sharmas in Mariupol. So when we told the Elders we were coming to Mariupol they insisted we visit the Sharma stand for our first Sharma. Even our driver Vladimir hasn't had a Sharma before. It is meat, cheese, sourcream, special sauce, and your choice of tomatoes, mushrooms, and peppers all in a huge wrap and grilled. It was the first time we had eaten anything from a stand on the street. (the missionaries do it all the time).

I must say..............................

I liked it!!!!!!

It was very good!!!!

and......................

I feel fine today.

Yesterday we went to Mariupol to close one of our projects at a School for the Blind.

We also did cleaning inspections at the 3 missionary apartments.

If you moms are wondering how your sons and daughters are doing with keeping their apartments clean lets just say................

"the Sisters are winning".

It seems the Elders do a good job picking up their apartments but..........

I am not sure if they know the meaning of SCRUB

as in sinks, toilets, and bathtubs...................

we'll have to work on this.........

It was a great day. We got to spend time with some of the missionaries who we don't get to see very often, eat a great lunch and....................

close another project....

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TRIP TO KHARKIV

LAST WEEK WE WENT TO KHARKIV AND ATTENDED THE OPEN HOUSE FOR THE NOVE
DOMA BUILDING


ELDER JACOB AND A GUEST AT THE OPEN HOUSE

SISTER JACOB AND A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO JOINED HER TO SING SOME HYMNS DURING THE OPEN HOUSE WHILE ELDER NORMAN PLAYED THE PIANO

OUR PUPPETEERS WAITING FOR THE NEXT PERFORMANCE

WHILE WE WERE WALKING THROUGH THE REENIK WE SPOTTED THIS

AND WHILE WALKING AROUND KHARKIV WE TOOK A FEW PICTURES OF THE BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS

WE ARRIVED IN TIME TO HELP THE JACOB'S PACK UP THE LAST OF THE THINGS THAT THEY WILL BE LEAVING FOR THE NEW COUPLE WHO WILL REPLACE THEM.

WE WENT TO THE CRITTENDON'S FOR A NICE LUNCH AND THEN VISITED A HOMELESS SHELTER THAT THE HUMANITARIAN PROGRAM PURCHASED BEDS AND A REFRIGERATOR FOR THEIR SHELTER. THE NEXT DAY OLGA AND I WENT TO THE REENIK TO BUY TIES AND ELDER KINGHORN STAYED AT THE JACOB'S AND HELPED THEM FINISH PACKING.
THAT AFTERNOON (friday night) WE WENT TO THE CHURCH FOR THE VIP OPEN HOUSE.
WE DID THE PUPPET SHOW A FEW TIMES FOR THE VIP'S WHO ATTENDED AND
THE NEXT DAY THE OPEN HOUSE WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
SOME OF THE MISSIONARIES EVEN WENT OUT IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING TO INVITE PEOPLE IN........

WE WERE BUSY ALL DAY PERFORMING THE PUPPET SHOW AND GIVING A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE HUMANITARIAN PROGRAM. IT WAS FUN TO SEE SOME OF THE MISSIONARIES WHO HAVE BEEN LIVING IN THE KHARKIV AREA FOR AWHILE.
THE JACOB'S RETURNED TO AMERICA EARLY MONDAY MORNING. IT WAS HARD TO SEE THE JACOB'S HAVE TO SAY GOOD-BYE TO SO MANY OF THE MEMBERS AND MISSIONARIES THEY HAVE COME TO LOVE. THE END OF THE EVENING SISTER JACOB WAS AT THE PIANO SURROUNDED BY THE YOUNG ADULTS WHO LOVE HER SO MUCH. IT WAS A VERY BEUTIFUL MOMENT. I LOOKED OUT AND SAW ELDER JACOB SITTING IN THE PEW WITH A YOUNG WOMAN. IT WAS SO OBVIOUS THAT THESE TWO SPECIAL PEOPLE HAVE REALLY TOUCHED THE LIVES OF SO MANY HERE IN UKRAINE. THEY WILL SURELY BE MISSED.

A FEW MORE OF THE SIGHTS...........................

Sometimes I get comments from readers who say that they enjoy the pictures of everyday things that I post about Ukraine. Last week when we were on our way to Kharkiv I decided to take some pictures of some the things we saw along the way.

HOPE YOU ENJOY!!

People waiting for MarshrukasSmall villages with little homes like these

TRIP TO KHARKIV

we stopped along the road to look at these beautiful scrulptures

that were carved out of the stone

WE'RE BACK FROM KHARKIV

and we had such a great time.........

we saw some interesting sights.......

we attended a beautiful Baptism .............

we celebrated Sister Fry's birthday, and we spent time with the Jacob's and the Crittendon's who live in Kharkiv.

We had a mini-couples conference while we were there. It was so fun to get the Clark's, (our office couple) out of the office and take a little time to see the sights in Kharkiv. It was really the Clark's first time to leave Donetsk since arriving in Ukraine 17 months ago. We toured Church buildings, visited parks and monuments, walked to the the ice sculptures, rode the metro, visited with the missionaries who live in the Kharkiv area and had a wonderful time visiting with the Crittendon's and the Jacob's. In fact, they each had us over for dinner once and then we all went out to dinner our last evening in Kharkiv. Elder Kinghorn and I were joined by Olga who rode the train up so that we could go visit an Orphanage for a possible project. We are so grateful for President and Sister Fry and their great love for the missionaries. They really are awesome and we are so lucky to serve with them here in Ukraine.

TRIP TO KHARKIV

SOME OF THE EXCITING THINGS GOING ON IN KHARKIVmissionaries getting haircuts.....missionaries getting mail

visiting with old friends

a skit by Sisters Fry and Kinghorn

AND
ZONE CONFERENCE

TRIP TO BULGARIA

Our trip to Bulgaria was wonderfulthe weather was great

we saw some beautiful sights

ate some really good food

strolled through the parks where we saw several groups of older men huddled around these chess tables

saw some gorgeous buildings

Made some new friends

Elder Jorgensen, Elder and Sister Pattee, and Sister Jorgensen

President Bennet and the Pattee's

saw beautiful churches

and cultural halls

We left Donetsk last Tuesday to fly to Bulgaria to renew our Visa's. We were met at the airport by th Jorgensen's who are the Humanitarian Couple in Bulgaria. They took us to a very nice two bedroom apartment that is a permanent rental for the missionaries who need to come to Bulgaria for visa renewals. The next day they met us and took us to the mission home along with another couple (The Pattee's) who were there from Dneperpetrosk renewing their visas. Two of the younger missionaries then drove us to the Ukrainian Embassy where we left our visa's and went to the bank to get the Cash required to renew the visa's. It only took a few hours to complete and then the missionaries took us to a very nice restaurant for lunch. That evening we went out for Pizza with the Pattee's and the Jorgensen's. The next day we took a little time to just relax in the morning and then we met the Pattee's and the Jorgensen's for a little sightseeing. We had a nice dinner and then went to the Jorgenson's to just visit and have dessert. It was such a nice relaxing trip. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the Jorgensen's were wonderful host. Bulgaria has beautiful parks with quaint little street cafe's and some beautiful architecture and statues. The younger missionaries were also very kind and helpful. The morning we left President Bennet came out to say good-bye. He had been very busy during our visit with interviews and zone conferences so we only saw him briefly but we know he was responsible for such wonderful care that we were given while visiting his mission and really appreciate it.

TRIP TO BULGARIA

We are off to Bulgaria tomorrow morning.

We have to leave the country to get our visa'a renewed so they are sending us to Bulgaria for a few days. Then we will be going to Kiev to visit Sister Lee(our Humanitarian Country Director) for a little training before she returns to America.

FALL HAS ARRIVED

These are some beautiful pictures our friend (interpretor) Olga took. She has been doing some traveling on the weekends and has shared some of her pictures. I think they are absolutely beautiful.

TRIP TO KHARKIV

Bruce and I are off to Kharkov tomorrow morning. We are going with President and Sister Fry to join the missionaries for their Zone Conference. Bruce and I will be introducing the new Family Home Evening Manual and talk about how they can use it as a missionary tool. We are also going to deliver the Health Fair that the Humanitarian Funds purchased for the missionaries to use. It is a Puppet Show that has 3 modules that teach about, health and nutrition, hygiene, and avoiding cigarettes, and alcohol. They will be able to use this program with school aged children in the schools and orphanages. We will be gone until next Monday so I won't be posting until we return. Thanks for stopping by. Be back soon.