MOVING TO A NEW APARTMENT

February 27, 2008

So much has happened this month. We started the month with President Hinckley’s funeral. It was sad news for us all. We attended the broadcast of the funeral services here in our Branch with about 30 younger missionaries. It was very touching to be sitting in the room with all of them knowing what a powerful influence he had been in all of their lives.
We spent the first week or so looking for a new apartment. Which turned out to be very helpful in many ways, one, it got us out walking in the streets of Donetsk, and two we realized that the center of town isn’t nearly as big as we thought it was and three we ended up finding a really nice apartment. The downside was we had to go without Internet for a few weeks again when we moved. We were fortunate to find an apartment with two bedrooms so that we could have an office separate from the rest of our apartment. We wanted more space so that we can have the missionaries over for dinner as well as members of our Branch. I am trying to invite missionaries at least once a week, and usually 4 at a time, and members or people investigating the church once a week. (I know my family is surprised I am actually cooking, I have even made rolls once, and desserts every time we entertain.) When I get home I am going to have a whole new perspective on feeding the missionaries. The missionaries here don’t get invited to member’s homes much so most of them are losing weight. They are thrilled when the senior couples invite them over. We are losing weight too, but not because we don’t eat, (at least not me), but we are walking a lot now. Our apartment is located right on the river so we have a view of the frozen river from our office (second bedroom).
There is a nice trail along the river we will be able to use when it is springtime. Our walks right now are rather brisk because it is still so cold outside; we are looking forward to a good stroll along the river. We have also discovered some really pretty walking trails that go through parks in Central Donetsk. Bruce lost his footing in the snow the other day and took both of us down, then proceeded to walk about 10 more feet and fell again. We both are fine, except Bruce bruised his hand. We gave someone who was standing nearby a good laugh.
We can tell we are getting use to it here. We actually ride the Marshuka’s now without anyone with us. Even if we get stuck or squished in the back Bruce has memorized a few lines that have consistently gotten us off at the right stop. The first time he tried asking the Marshuka to stop when he was way in the back a few locals assisted by yelling a little louder with a little different pronunciation than he used and that did the trick. We even jump on buses that we have no idea if they will take us to where we want to go. I can say, “I don’t speak Russian” really well in Russian but that just makes them think I can speak a little Russian so they proceed to talk to me in Russian.
We can ride the cab without Olga but she has to call it for us. Bruce does really well with knowing how to pay for things. He can count well and ask “how much”, but when they tell us how much something cost we need them to write it down for us because it doesn’t sound like any of the numbers we know.
We even went to a Restaurant that nobody else had ever tried before all by ourselves. We even managed to order and pay without any help (although they did give us an English Menu).

Some of the other memorable events this month were:

The Swan Lake Performance, when 4 of the Elders wore their brand new matching brown suits, new shoes and pastel ties
The missionaries who helped us move all crammed into the back of the rental van that we paid $8.00 for.
Having lunch at McDonald’s in the Birthday party room with the missionaries after we moved into the new apartment.
Saying good-bye to Elder (Michael) Hammond who was transferred to Gorlovka
Saying good-bye to Sister(Maryann) Jackson who went home to America
I gave a Book of Mormon to Lubov from the International Relief Organization

Elder Kunz and Elder Harris

Elder Harris, Sisters Chidister and Jackson, Me, Sister Clark, Elder Clark and Elder Hammond
December 23, 2007

We invited Elder’s Hammond, Harris, Benson, and Kunz, and Sister’s Chidister and Jackson, and the Clark’s to come to our place for dinner. Elder Kunz has been telling us how he loves to cook, so we said, “great, what if we pay for the food, and you cook it.” So, they arrived with everything we needed and made wonderful burritos; the best part of the deal was, we didn’t have to cook. Sister Chidister even brought brownies. We were very impressed, Elder Kunz even brought Mission Tortilla chips and Salsa that he got in his recent package from home. And to top that off they made a green salad with Ranch Dressing from America. I know that doesn’t sound so exciting to you but we were thrilled. It was like a lobster dinner to us. Elder Kunz was right; he does know how to cook; he even made refried beans from scratch. It was such a treat they wouldn’t even let us clean up. It was a lot of fun and we had a chance to visit and get to know each other better.
Sister Clark had been given the assignment of making Sugar Cookies (about 150 of them) for our Zone Conference the next day. Zone Conference is when all the missionaries come in from the various surrounding cities for a Mission Conference. Sister Clark brought the cookies over to be decorated. Our bedroom had cookies everywhere. We had so much fun decorating snowmen, gingerbread men, and Christmas trees. Some of the snowmen even ended up with ties. We could tell as the evening progressed that the Missionaries were beginning to get a little homesick. We were thankful we could spend this special night with them.These are the same Missionaries we went Christmas Caroling with a few nights earlier. It was so nice to get to spend this time with them. Elder Kunz is going home in a week. Elder Benson and he were companions in the MTC and served as companions when they first arrived in Ukraine. They are just delighted that they are companions once again just before Elder Kunz goes home. Elder Benson will go home in February as will Sister Jackson. Elder Kunz is from Utah and so is Sister Jackson. Elder Benson grew up on a farm. He is really funny. The night we were Christmas Caroling he just kept saying how he was so embarrassed. He said he wasn’t going to sing on the bus, and couldn’t believe we were singing in Lenin Square. Elder Hammond told me he hates to sing and probably sang more that night than he had in his whole life. It’s amazing how a mission forces you to stretch in ways you never would have imagined.
The above picture is everyone bundled up and ready to return to their domes. Nobody has a car, so they either walk or ride Public Transportation. This isn’t everyone who spent the evening with us, Elder’s Kunz and Benson had to leave after dinner to go to an appointment to teach. I was impressed by how obedient they were. I’m sure they would have preferred to stay with us but they went out into the cold night to do what they were sent here to do. They were great examples to all of us.
Thenext day we attended the Zone Conference, it was our first. I was so impressed to listen to the wonderfully inspiring words of these young missionaries. It was also Christmas Eve. It was fun to be in the office when the Missionaries were arriving from all over Donetsk. They are serving in little cities all around Donetsk Central and some of them only see each other during Conference or on Transfer Day. Some of these missionaries spent 13 weeks together in the MTC and when they arrived in Ukraine were sent to various cities here in the Donetsk Mission. So when they greeted each other it was with huge hugs and smiles and , “I love you’s, or I miss you’s.” It was really tender. I told Bruce that I knew this was a hard time for them many of them missing mom and dad and brothers and sisters. I was noticing Elder Hammond seemed a little quiet. I told Bruce, “I think Elder Hammond needs a hug”. Well I guess he did, because later in the day Elder Hammond found Bruce and gave him a great big bear hug. It was also exciting because some of the Missionaries had packages from home waiting for them and they had just sat down on the office floor and tore them open. They were gathered around looking at each others treasures from home. Most of them munching on some very coveted American candy of one sort or another. After the Conference we had our delicious Sugar Cookies. As all good things must come to an end we were done by 4pm and everyone went their separate ways. Bruce and I just came back to our apartment. Needless to say, it was a very long evening.

CHRISTMAS IN UKRAINE

Lenin Square



This was a very special night. Elder Kinghorn and I were invited to go Christmas Caroling with the missionaries. We started in one neighborhood with big homes. Nobody would open the doors for us. Elder Kunz tried to tell them we only wanted to sing to them but nobody would listen. We all gathered in the middle of the street and said a very humble prayer and when we were done we found this sweet lady walking down the street. She stopped a moment and sang “Silent Night” with us. When we were done she said, “I know about you, you’re the Mormons. We wished her a Merry Christmas and were on our way. I thought about that moment and wondered what brought her out on this very cold night all alone. As we walked away I felt, somehow the Lord had used us to touch this lonely woman, to send her the message that she is not alone. We spent the rest of the night singing, on the bus, (much to Elder Benson’s) embarrassment, and later at Lenin Square. Most people just walked right by, but the few that lingered I will not soon forget.

CITY TOUR WITH TANYA AND TANYA

Early in December we had the opportunity to have a tour of the city. Two young ladies from the English Class that the missionaries teach are studying Tourism at the University and offered to take us on the tour of the city. It was interesting. It was a first for me. I don’t think I’ve ever walked around a city so cold and tried to enjoy the sights most of which were covered in snow. We were practically dancing to stay warm when we stopped to listen to our guides. The sister Missionaries were teasing that they couldn't feel their lips when they smiled. One of them asked me if I knew the first symptoms of frostbite. December 14, 2007
We were invited to celebrate Elder Lyman’s birthday with the missionaries at Tequila Boom, a local Mexican restaurant. There were probably 20 of us and when it got time to pay we didn’t have enough money so Elder Clark and Elder Kinghorn stepped in, first Elder Clark (the Financial Clerk) took over, we waited about 5 minutes for him to count and recount the money and Elder Kinghorn, just patiently waited to see if he could just cover the shortage. Meanwhile I found out it was the Sisters P day (day off) so we quickly made plans to go shop for new boots for Sister Jackson. I learned that they never stop being missionaries. We talked to people on the bus, on the streets and at the Reenick (street market). We even gave away a Book of Mormon.

LIVING IN UKRAINE

It's been a few weeks and I think I can safely say we are adjusting. We are learning many lessons. The first lesson we have learned is patience. It took 2 weeks to get our computer hooked up. I don't know what we were thinking but we haven't found an assistant/interpreter yet. We were told this would be our first priority and I think we assumed we would find someone within a few days. We have to be very thoughtful about who we hire. It is a great job, but we have to be careful about our decision. We will be spending a lot of time with this person and we will need to trust that they will be good representatives of the Church as well as a competent employee. In the past returned missionaries are often used for this position but we haven't found one yet. We have a few names we have given to the Mission President for him to consider and give us some insights about the person but we haven't made any decisions yet. We have started to venture out on our own. We walk to the bus stop, ride the bus to the mission office and then walk a short distance to the office. We have even gone to the grocery store on our own. We can even ask for "2 BAGS" IN RUSSIAN when we get to the checkout stand. It's funny sometimes people will ask you for directions in the store because we have name tags on I guess we look like we work there. I think we stick out a bit on the streets. We are both dressed in our Sunday clothes, which for me is a skirt and sweater or blouse and vest and for Bruce is a suit or slacks and a tie. He bought a nice thick Leather coat and I have a down parka that I wear. You don't often see women in dresses unless they are pretty short skirts and knee high boots. My boots look like after ski boots compared to the women in their high heel boots. They have told us that it is good for the local people to see us together because the divorce rate is very high here. You very seldom see a couple walking hand in hand unless they are young and courting. Even at church there are a lot of single women with their children. Some of the Branches here (congregations) only have 30 or so active members, mostly woman and children. So, I think we stick out for several reasons, not just the way we are dressed, but that we are a couple, walking hand in hand, we are American, speaking English and we are happy. It was cute today at church I went to a class with 14 year old girls and the Sister Missionary was translating for me. When one of the girls was called on she said, "Oh sorry I was listening to the English". They are fascinated by us, as I am with them. I only wish I could speak to them without an interpreter. I will work on this. I am proud of Bruce I have a cold and we had to go to a Pharmacy alone. He used our dictionary and figured out how to ask for the cold medicine on his own, she even understood what he wanted. Russian Language studies are coming slow for us. We have been so busy getting our home office set up and trying to find our way around we haven't studied the Language much. We are going to start attending a English as a second language class that the sister Missionaries teach on Tuesday evenings. They also invited me to go with them once a week when they go spend time at a School for Special Needs children. We are starting to get project request from institutions that need assistance however, we can't make visits until we get our interpreter. So I may go with the Sisters until we get busier. I was invited to join them on a visit to a members home Saturday night. It was a wonderful experience. They were a sweet family and told us a beautiful story of how the husband and wife met, and how they came to be members of the church. The mother and her two daughters are members but not the husband. However, he joined us for our entire visit and is a very nice man. The oldest daughter served a mission in Russia. I love the members of the Church here. They are so happy to see us when we enter the building the women kiss our cheek and hug us. We sometimes have a missionary sit behind us in Church and interpret so we know what is being said. It helps so much. We have attended a few different branches and each time we visit a new place we are asked to bear our testimonies. We have met so many wonderful young missionaries here. They interpret for us whenever we are at church.This is a very difficult mission for them. It is very cold out. It gets dark very early and people get mad at them when they knock on the doors in the evening. There is a large anti-Mormon push here in the Provoslavic Church. The Mission President said the missionaries will find people to teach who make a decision to be baptized and then are influenced by family or friends to not do it. It can be discouraging, but these young missionaries are so strong in their faith and have such positive attitudes. I am so grateful to be here and see their examples. Yesterday we attended a Baptism of a woman whose son is leaving on a mission in a few days. It was a beautiful experience he got to Baptize his mother 3 days before going into the mission field. She shared her conversion story with me it was very powerful. Some of the missionaries here gathered money to buy him a suit and shirts and a few ties for his mission because his family is very poor. They are taking him shopping tomorrow, it's a surprise, but they are so excited to do this for him. Some of the missionaries are going home soon. It's fun to hear how excited they are to go home and "sleep in their own beds". The beds they sleep in are twin beds and they are very narrow and short. Some boys are so tall they have to put their mattresses on the floor because their legs hit the foot board. When packages arrive from home it's not just exciting to get a package but they are so excited about the food that comes from America that we don't have here. The Russian ties are very thick and all our young missionaries wear these very thick ties. It's quite funny looking. Well, I better go for now. Next time I'll write more about the projects we are working on. I almost forgot we did a service project last weekend in a Branch with the ladies. We had 18 quilts from a Stake ****(several congregations) in America. Several woman had gotten together to do a service project and made quilts. Then they sent them here. We all got together, missionaries, and the ladies in the Branch,a few husbands as well and tied the quilts. We are going to take them to an orphanage. ****I am realizing for our friends who aren't members of our Church that sometimes we use terms not everyone understands. We almost need a glossary. Just so you know, when we attend church in America our congregation is called a Ward. People attend wards that are in their neighborhood. many Wards make up a Stake. In Ukraine there are not enough members for a ward or a Stake so members attend a Branch. Which means they come along way to the Church building. In Utah there are so many wards that your building that you attend church is usually a block or so from your house and there are several buildings in a neighborhood. More Mormon definitions later. WE HOPE THIS LETTER FINDS YOU ALL WELL AND HAPPY.WE MISS YOU BUT ARE BEGINNING TO SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR PRESENCE HERE.