I spent some time today trying to organize all of the writing I have been doing since we started our mission.

When we first arrived here I didn't have a blog and I would just send group letters home.

I realized today as I was reading them that there are some pretty interesting experiences that may be of interest to some of my readers. We have been getting alot of visits from returned missionaries, missionaries parents, and some new blogging friends who might like to read what it was like for us when we first started this incredible journey.

The first few months I wrote alot about our first impressions. I know that we definitely experienced culture shock when we arrived in Ukraine. I have to admit at first I had a hard time adjusting to being so far away from my family. I tried to stay focused on the mission but it was definitely hard. I'm just being honest. I really loved being with my husband. I loved that my Heavenly Father had provided this awesome experience for us. I could see that this mission was going to really change us. I knew from the start that Heavenly Father was definitely going to take weak things and make them stronger.

 I WAS UP FOR THAT. I WAS READY TO DO SOME GROWING.

BUT .........

I really really really missed my grandchildren and my children. In fact I missed having a child on my lap, reading books to little ones, playing with play dough, teaching someone to cut with scissors, or just having a house full of family Come to think of it for as long as I can remember I have been nurturing someone. I was the oldest daughter in my family and had a sister who is 8 years younger than me. For the longest time, I think she thought I was her mom, well....... at least I acted like I was. Then when I was 14 I became a volunteer in the hospital and a Nursing Home and my first real job was in a Nursery School (that's what they use to call them). It was no surprise to anyone when I chose Early Childhood Education as my profession and later studied Nursing. I am a real mother hen. So when I got here it took some time to adjust. Talk about an empty nest. There wasn't even a nest to be found. So it took some time to find my way.

It took some time to get use to how different things are here. It took some time to find some sweet people to love on. If you have been reading our blog for awhile you know that we have found some wonderful people to grow attached to. Someone asked me the other day about our Interpreter Olga, she is definitely someone I have come to love. However, I think she does most of the nurturing with us. Sometimes I feel like she feels so responsible for us. Someday I will write about Olga. I love her so much and can't imagine the pain of saying goodbye to her. So we just won't talk about that right now. If you have been following our blog you know I feel so blessed. I can see Heavenly Fathers hands in our lives. I have so much to be grateful for. I love being a missionary. I love putting my black name tag on every day. I love being able to sit in a room full of missionaries. Which reminds me we have a Baptism in the morning. So I better stop right there. I just want to say that I am hoping I can find a way to add those early letters home to my blog.

I'VE BEEN TAGGED

WHEN I FOUND MYSELF SITTING AT THE COMPUTER READING SOME OF MY FAVORITE BLOGS I CAME ACROSS THIS POST ON Pam's BLOG.

"Oh, that's interesting", I thought to myself, "seven weird, or random things.......... wonder what unusual things I would say about myself?",

and the next thing I knew Pam had mentioned my name in her blog. IT SEEMS SHE WANTS TO KNOW THE SAME THING. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS A MISTAKE, THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE NAMED MELINDA, BUT THEN I READ FURTHER AND IT SAID, "MELINDA, IN UKRAINE".

There's no doubt about it that must mean she is definitely talking about me. She has tagged me. That means I have to post 7 random/weird facts about myself. And I just have to say. I have been obsessing about it ever since. So I finally decided to just do it now before I made myself sick with worry. So here goes.....

FIRST: I couldn't think of weird facts about myself. And that was making me nervous. I found myself wondering, "am I so ordinary that there is nothing unusual, strange, or weird about me." That in itself is weird. Shouldn't we want to be considered normal. I mean we spend all of our young adult life trying to "fit in", which basically means trying to be like everyone else. Which leads me to

SECOND: I obsess about things. I get completely lost in my head worrying and obsessing about things I have no control over. Like, "should I agree to play this tag game, you know, I am on a mission, I don't want to give people the wrong impression. I don't want people to think I am not working hard on my mission, or that I am spending too much time blogging, which leads me to.......

THE THIRD WEIRD FACT: I worry too much about what other people think. You would think by my age... (we won't talk about that, let's just say, my "over the hill party" seems like a very long time ago.....) I would have conquered that little character defect, but I'm still working on it.

FOURTH: I still have to use my fingers to count. I found myself doing it the other night for Family Home Evening with the Mission President and his wife. I use to hide them under the table, but since I am working on number 3 now, I just let all the fingers fly right in front of everyone.

FIFTH: My husband thought I should mention that I have absolutely no interest in Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings. I have never read a Harry Potter book and I hated the Lord of the Rings movie, it was pure torture for me to sit through.

Sixth: I never ever ever kill bugs, spiders, or insects of any kind, not even an ant. I pick them up and take them outside.

SEVEN: My favorite time of the day is just after we finish our evening prayer and I get to snuggle up next to my husband, who is my very best friend. It is truly a moment when I feel an overwhelming sense that all is well with the world.

So now I get to tag 7 of you. I tag, Mandy, Earlgirl, Abby, Angie, Annie, mothergoose, Stephanie

WHY I BLOG

When we first arrived in the mission field our daughter, Karrissa kept telling me I should start a blog. I thought, "no I am too busy for that, I am suppose to be on a mission I can't be spending my time blogging." What I didn't realize then is that my blog can be a missionary tool. Bruce and I had no idea before we came on a mission what we would experience as a Missionary Couple. We could only imagine what it would be like to be an instrument in the Hands of God. Now, I can hardly hold myself back. I want to share it all with the people I love.

Do you remember the last time you did something that you knew would change your life forever. The moment you felt those feelings that stirred something very deep within you? All of us have had a moment when we know we have been transformed by some unique experience that will mold us into something completely new.

A newer, better version of our previous selves.
That is what this mission has done for me, and that, my friends, is

WHY I BLOG

This wonderfully, exciting, challenging, spiritual experience is so incredibly unique. I want to remember every minute of it. I want to remember the days that I see the "strangest" things that quickly have become common place here. Like yesterday when I looked out the window and saw 3 grown men sitting on the merry-go-round in the playground in front of our apartment and the next time I looked out I saw 2 of them just taking a little snooze. Not on the nice green grass, (we don't have that here) but in the dirt.

I want to remember our friends at the Reenik who gave us the watermelons and told us "I love you" in broken English, or the woman who returned my 200 griven($40.00)that must have fallen out of my pocket at the Reenik. I want to remember the many, many times my heart has been touched by small acts of kindness I have been shown. I want to remember the faces of the little children in the Internats as they reached out to me saying, Preveat, preveat, (hello, hello).

Our late Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley once said,

"You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of those meaningful and significant things. Some may be funny. Some may be significant only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experiences."
I want to remember.........
I want to share with you those sacred moments when I know without a doubt that I am truly on the Lord's errand. I want you to share this incredible journey filled with moments of joy, sadness, and immense love for my Savior with all of you who are so dear to my heart. 

NIE NIE'S PLANE CRASH

Ten days ago I went to one of my favorite blogs and discovered that a young LDS mother and father of 4 children had been involved in a serious plane crash. Instead of the usual post by Stephanie (Nie Nie) there was this.

On Saturday, August 16, 2008, Stephanie Nielson was in a plane crash with her husband, Christian Nielson, and his flight instructor, Doug Kinnear, near St. Johns, Arizona. Doug Kinnear passed away soon after arriving at the Maricopa County Hospital. Christian and Stephanie remain in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center. Christian has sustained burns on over 30% of his body. His wife Stephanie’s body was burned over 80%.

I can't get them out of my mind. It has really made me think about how precious life is. Stephanie is a gifted writer and very devoted wife and mother. She is such a shining example of a daughter of God.

She uses her blog to express very eloquently the joys of motherhood and her love and respect for her dear husband. One minute she was getting her children prepared for their first day of school and the next she was lying in a bed in the Intensive Care Unit with 80%of her body burned and her sweet husband nearby fighting for his own life.

That is how fragile life is.

I have been writing so much lately about enjoying each precious day that we have been given. This is just one more reminder of how important it is to do it now.

Don't wait another day to mend a broken relationship, or tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. Don't wait to do that ONE thing you have always wanted to do. Don't wait for a better time in your life to finally begin studying the scriptures, or praying on a daily basis, or to really work on your marriage.

We are not promised tomorrow. We need to live each day as if it may be our last.

Many people all over the world have asked the family how they can help and I just want to do my small part to try to support their family during this tragic time. If you go to her sister Courtney's blog you will be amazed at how many people have joined in to support this family. When you get to Jane's site go to the side bar and click on The Nie Recovery banner it says, "are you fundraising?" to see all about what amazing people are doing to help. Go to the top of that page and click on "benefit blog". It is a testimony to the idea that when people come together for a great cause they can do amazing things.

Tomorrow 8-27-08 is NIE NIE day. Women bloggers are holding silent auctions to try to raise funds for the family. Nie Nie is also a yoga instructor and a runner. There are fundraisers going on in both of those communities as well. Please join me tomorrow, Thursday August 28th to support this family. Many talented artist are donating items for the silent auction or hosting their own auctions. This would be a great time to do some early Christmas Shopping and support a wonderful cause at the same time.

If you want to learn more about Nie Nie and her family or how you can help go to her sister Courtney's blog or you can click on the fundraiser button in my sidebar.

INTERNET

Dear Friends,

The Internet is a wonderful thing. It is so amazing that we can be in instant contact with our friends and family. It is such an awesome way to stay connected. However, I have learned the hard way that we have to be extremely cautious about how we use it. I have accepted e-mails, and forwarded information to my friends and family that wasn't always accurate. I believe they call this ....................S C A M, oops I think I meant S P A M!

I want to apologize for this. Once again, a well meaning friend invited me to join a social networking site and when I did my address book was used to invite my friends to join. I did not intend to invite anyone to join. I just thought I was accepting an invitation to access my friends page. So my dear friends, please use caution when accepting and sending invitations to social networks on the Web. Please accept my sincere apology if you have received an invitation to join a network that said I had requested you to join. I DID NOT KNOWINGLY DO THIS.


I am sorry I am just a little slow and naive when it comes to this type of thing. That has always been one of my downfalls I am so trusting and have always wanted to see the best in people. It is hard for me to accept that there are people out there whose only motivation in doing something is for self gain.


I know, like I said, I am slow. However, I do have some really good friends who are alot more savvy when it comes to protecting themselves on the Internet and they are teaching me.
I do believe that the Internet can be used for so many great things. I have received some beautiful inspirational stories and videos from friends but I have also received some that did not contain facts that were true. We just have to be so careful while using the Internet. I read a really good article in our church magazine last month that I would like to share a few thoughts with you from.


This was written by Elder Russell M. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.


"How different the world is today. For many of you, if you read the newspapers, the chances are you read them on the Internet. Ours is the world of cyberspace, cell phones that capture video and music downloads, social networks, text messaging and blogs, handhelds and podcast. This is the world of the future, with inventions undreamed of that will come in your lifetime as they have in mine. How will you use these marvelous inventions" ? It goes on to later say, "Now some of these tools-like any tool in an unpraticed or undisciplined hand- can be dangerous. The intenet can be used to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and can just as easily be used to market filth and sleaze of pornography" He goes on to say, " Social networks on the Web can be used to expand healthy friendships as easily as they can be used by predators trying to trap the unwary".
One of our relatives recently had to make her blog invitation only because some strange man she didn't know was commenting on the pictures of her children. That is so creepy. We have to be so careful what we do and say while posting. I know some bloggers who have chosen to not post any family pictures on their blogs for this very reason.

Later he writes, "Satan is always quick to exploit the negative power of new inventions, to spoil or degrade, and to neutralize any effect for good. Make sure that the choices you make in the use of new media are choices that expand your mind, increase your opportunities, and feed your soul.

Elder Ballard invites us to "join the conversation". "Now, may I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration. Far too many people have a poor understanding of the Church because most of the information they hear about us is from news media reports that are often driven by controversies."

My intention in keeping this blog is to do just that. It began as a way to share with our friends and family the wonderful experiences we are having on our mission but has become so much more than that. I do want our friends and family to know about the Humanitarian Work we are doing here. I want to share the adventures of our life here in Ukraine. However, it would be impossible to share any of this without sharing the gospel.

The gospel is central to all that we are doing here. The whole reason we are serving a mission is because of the gospel in our lives. We have come to know the Savior while in his service. We have felt his deep love for us and for our family. We see his hand each day as we serve the people of Ukraine. We have had the opportunity to study the scriptures and to attend conferences and trainings where we have been spiritually fed by great leaders of our church. We have witnessed the Lord's hand in the lives of the young missionaries here as they struggle with the Language and with the challenges of living in a foreign country. So my blog has evolved into an opportunity for me to share the gospel in hopes that it will .....

expand your mind-increase your oppotunities-and-feed your soul

thanks for your love, support and prayers