WE MADE IT BACK FROM BULGARIA

We arrived back in Donetsk late Tuesday night. We had a wonderful trip to Bulgaria and Kiev. I will have to post later about our trip. Wednesday we woke up to a very busy day. We started with getting lunch ready for our District meeting. We had a quick district meeting at our apartment. Then we joined President and Sister Fry and the Clark's for lunch with Sister Thompson from the General Relief Society Board and Sister Lant from the General Primary Board as well as Elder Senkans who is an Area Authority and his wife. They were all here for a fireside with the members of the church here in Donetsk. lunch with the District
another lunch with the honored guest

dinner with the departing missionaries


dessert and a meeting at the Clark's before the Elders departed. No wonder Elder Kinghorn said he felt like he was "stuffed" when we left the Clark's house.

Elders Harris and Crossley left this morning at 6 am along with Elder Williams, and Elder Carlson. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend much time with Elder Williams and Elder Carlson. However, we were able to see Elder Carlson serve as an Assistant to the President while he was here in Donetsk and he was a wonderful AP. We were asked to join the Clark's (the office couple) last night to take them all out to dinner before they went home. The President was attending a fireside with Sister Lant and Sister Thompson and Elder Senkans . We were honored to first join them all for a late lunch before their fireside. Then we ran off to meet the departing missionaries for a nice dinner followed by dessert at the Clark's apartment.

IT'S HARD TO SAY GOOD-BYE TO THESE AWESOME MISSIONARIES

I am going to miss this guy


and this one too. This is Elder Kunz and Elder Harris. We said good-bye to Elder Kunz shortly after we arrived in County and now it is time to say good-bye to two more Elders we have come to love.

I just realized that I already wrote about this evening but I didn't post pictures. I guess

their return to the States has been on my mind alot. Last week before we left for Bulgaria we had Elders Crossley and Harris over for dinner. I feel like I am never really ready to say good-bye to some of these young men. We have so many great memories of wonderful times together. Elder Harris is one of the very first Elders that we really got to know. It seems like we have known him longer than any other missionary. When we first arrived he was in the group that we went Christmas Caroling with and decorated Christmas cookies. He and Elder Kunz made us an awesome Mexican dinner one night. He helped us move to our new apartment. He and Elder Hammond came to for dinner one night and there was a mix up and I wasn't home so he and Elder Hammond had a nice evening alone with Elder Kinghorn. Elder Crossley was in our District so we got to know him very well. The first time we met was during apartment inspections. I just remember he was so easy to talk to and so much fun. Elder Crossley is always happy and was such a delight to have at our district meetings. He is the kind of person you just feel good when you are around. These young men helped make being away from my own children so much easier. The only sad thing is they couldn't stay. I am happy to see them complete honorable missions and go home to their families but I will miss them so much. I was talking to Elder Carlson tonight and I think that one of the interesting things about a mission is it that is one of the few times in your life when you will get really close to people and you know that one day you will have to say good-bye knowing that you probably will never see them again. Each time I have seen a missionary leave I know that there is always the chance that we will see one another when we return home. It is a different story with the members of the church or the people like Olga who we come to know and love. They have a very special place in our hearts some of them feel like family to us. Yet, there will be a time for all of us to pack our bags and get on a plane knowing that we may never see our dear friends again. This is when I find comfort in the Plan of Salvation that assures me that we will all have the opportunity to be reunited again in the life after this one if we live worthy of this blessing. This not only gives me comfort but great joy in knowing that I will be reunited with these wonderful Saints as well as the young missionaries who I have come to know and love.

Elder Crossley cleaned the whole kitchen

While Elder Harris decorated cupcakes

Elder Burrup supervising Elder Harris's cupcake decorating

GOOD-BYE ELDER BURRUP

Elder Burrup and his parents stopped by to say good-bye when Elder Harris and Elder Crossley were over. Elder Burrups parents came to Ukraine to escort him home. It was so nice to get to meet the parents of a wonderful Elder who we have come to really love. We have so many fond memories of Elder Burrup. I have written about him before. He was the office Elder when we arrived. He and Elder Baker were so instrumental in making our transition into the mission a smooth one. They really impressed us when they invited Us over for dinner. It was the first that we were the missionaries being invited for dinner. They were always taking care of us. Elder Burrup made sure to include us whenever the missionaries were having an outing. He invited us to Swan Lake as well as a Soccer game. He did so much to make sure we felt a part of this mission. We will always be grateful to these two parents for raising such an awesome young man. We will really miss him.

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.