TRANSFER DAY

It is hard to believe it is Transfer Day again. This was President Andersen's last transfer. We met at the Center Branch and President and Sister Andersen each gave some last words to all of the missionaries. It has been a hard week for President and Sister Andersen they started saying
good-bye last week in Kharkov when they had to tell all the Kharkov missionaries goodbye. They have had firesides in Kharkov and Donetsk to say goodbye to the members. They have been trying to pack and ship things home and get their Ukraine home ready for the new Mission President who will be arriving Sunday night. Tomorrow is the Andersen's last Sunday in Donetsk.
None of us can imagine the mission without them. We will miss them.
We finished our transfer meeting with a nice lunch and then everyone was on their way. As you can see the marshruka was waiting to take some of our favorite Donetsk Elders and Sister Ellison to Kharkov. We will miss Sister Ellison. Sister Howard is serving in Donetsk now and will be part of our District.

TRANSFER DAY GOOD-BYE'S

TRANSFER DAY AT DONETSK CENTER

HUMAN KINDNESS

I want to share a story with you that begins with a 200
 griven bill and ends with homemade breads and candied walnuts.

The goodness of people everywhere is so touching.I want to share a story with you that really touched me.
There is a little outdoor bizarre by our home. It is called a Reenik. There are little booths set up where people sell things. There is one area that looks like a farmers market with about 30 vendors selling fruits and vegetables. There is another area where you can buy basic staples like dairy products, pastas, rice, breads, spices, and teas. Then there are some booths where you can buy office supplies, light bulbs, batteries, brooms, and electrical outlets. You get the picture.

Well one day I had to buy some notebooks for the Strengthening Families class we are teaching. I went to a little booth that sold office supplies. I bought about 15 notebooks and some pens and went on my way. A few weeks later I found myself back at this booth looking for something like glue sticks. When the lady saw me she recognized me and picked up a stack of notebooks to signal to me that she remembered I had bought notebooks from her. She didn't speak English and I still don't speak Russian. So we were communicating with some simple gestures. She then reached under the counter and brought out a 200 griven bill which is 40 American dollars. She told me I had dropped it when I bought the notebooks over 2 weeks ago. I couldn't believe it. She had been saving it for me. This was so touching because I know how much 200 griven would mean to anyone here in Ukraine. That is alot of money. I thanked her and walked away in shock. I couldn't stop thinking of her and every time I would walk through the Reenik I would think about how I could show my appreciation. So today I had the chance. I got up and made zucchini bread, banana bread, candied walnuts, and packaged up some dark chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels from America and put them all in a basket. I lined the basket with a beautiful white linen cloth I purchased at Slovajorsk. I wrote a little thank you card in Russian and we headed for the Reenik. The whole way there I was praying she would be there. It is Saturday and I was afraid she may have the day off. When I approached her with the basket I think she thought I was selling something. She raised her hands and started shaking her head no,no. I said as slow as I could "this is for you, you returned my money to me, I want to thank you. She stopped shaking her head and said in broken English, " Yes, I remember" I then handed her the basket. I think she was surprised the whole basket was for her. She seemed to think I wanted her to take something out it. She thanked me and I left her standing there looking just as stunned as I was to get my money back. Anyway, the point is. I was so impressed by her honesty and by the fact that she held on to my 200 griven for almost 3 weeks hoping I would come by again. The other reason I share this with you is to tell you how fun it was to show my appreciation this way. I really enjoyed baking knowing that I would be sharing it with this nice lady. I know when we loose ourselves in service it brings us joy. It takes us out of our own struggles or worries and helps us focus on someone else. I want to thank all of our friends and family who have taken the time to write and send their love. I know you are busy and I appreciate you taking the time to let us know you are thinking and most importantly praying for us. We have such wonderful friends. Thank-you so much.

PACKAGES FROM HOME

 Another Package from home. Thank you Karrissa. I am not going to post the picture of me opening this package. Let's just say I was really excited. Our daughter sent Peanut Butter, Rice Krispies, Spices, here's the part where I got a little giddy, dark chocolate covered pretzels, mini Hershey's chocolate chips, chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels, Heavenly trail mix from Trader Joe's, sesame cashews, licorice, jerky from Trader Joe's. I think this is why Bruce looks so skinny. I got all my favorite snack foods. She also sent butterscotch chips and a recipe for butterscotch rice krispie treats which the missionaries loved, especially Elder Harris. There was also an awesome double fudge brownie mix that we just recently served at District Meeting. They were so rich and gooey that Sister Ellison had to scoop out the center with her finger. I wish I had gotten a picture of that.

Thank you for sending me the recipe's. I have been running out of ideas for what to feed the missionaries. They don't really get invited to members homes too much for dinner so I try to serve them a hot meal when they are here for District Meetings.

People have asked me what kinds of foods do they have here? We have a wonderful farmers market everyday where people sell fresh fruits and vegetables. Sometimes they pick them a little too early and the fruit can be a little tart but generally it is great. We do have hamburger, chicken, pork chops, and roast. They have sauces like mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, and salad dressings. The milk products are different then in America. I have to say, I still don't like the milk. The yogurt is delicious. I love the cherry yogurt. The cheeses are different here. We have found Gouda, and Smoked Gouda, mozzarella, and a combo cheese that looks like cheddar and jack but doesn't quite taste the same. I haven't found tortillas yet. The missionaries love the juices here. I do too especially the cherry juice. We found one store that makes really good bread. Our biggest problem is they probably have more foods we cook with at home but we can't read the labels. We have found almost everything for baking, sugar, flour, eggs, butter, (we get brown sugar sent in our care package from home) baking soda, and baking powder, cinnamon are all available. We have Karrissa send vanilla. So we are doing much better with being creative in the kitchen. Thanks again for any simple recipe's you can send. I have never been much of a cook but I do want to feed the missionaries and have members over as often as we can. Thanks for all your love and support. We love you.

MOTHER'S DAY AT THE BRANCH

I posted a performance by some of the missionaries on Mother's Day. I just finally figured out how to download videos. It just takes a little time. Patience once again, is all it takes.

One of the interesting things about being here is the Ukrainians celebrate different holidays then we do. I do not understand why but they don't celebrate Father's Day. On Mother's Day they honor the women in their lives it is called "Women's Day". There was a big celebration at our Branch. On the way to church the women we passed on the streets were all dressed up and carrying beautiful bouquets of flowers.
They celebrate Easter a different day then we do so in America you had Easter a few weeks before they had it here.