family and friends!
As always, it was another busy week here in Ukraine. I will start out with a few funny stories. So we are on a marshutka (like a bus van thing, public transportation) and i'm sitting on the end, and this lady keeps trying to like scoot next to me and stand by me, and it's getting annoying. So all the sudden she like taps my leg and motions for me to scoot over, then tried to sit on my lap!! haha then she did the same thing to the guy in front of me. we laughed so hard!! I love drunk people at 9 in the morning. On a different way on our way home from Kherson, we ended up on this marshutka with a bunch of drunk people. They were all talking about/singing Barbara Streissand and doing all these crazy dance moves. I laughed so hard, and they were very entertaining! Then a Backstreet Boys song came on, and we definitely enjoyed that! After we get off the marshutka, we see this couple. The guy is dressed in all mustard yellow (seriously, he was colonel mustard with perfectly waxed eyebrows), and he is just hilarious to watch. Him and his girlfriend just start making out, then she accidentally stepped on his foot so they stop, and he like rolls his eyes, pulls out a wet-wipe, and cleans off his perfectly white shoes. Apparently that's not cool to step on his white shoes! I love moments that just make you laugh and smile, it makes everything better!! You will all be pleased to know that this morning we went to the Zoopark!! I saluted the bald eagle in honor of the best holiday this week, was in awe of the 3 tigers i saw, and tried not to be worried that the door was open to the giant alligator cage... It wasn't like an american zoo, but it was pretty great and we had a blast!!
So we always have lunch at district meeting and eat a lot of food. So we had district meeting, then we had a lesson with a member in Kherson. We go over to her house and she is just busy cooking in the kitchen. You basically just can't say no to food here, so we sit down and had feast number 2 for the day. It was really good food, but oh man i thought i was going to throw up if i took one more bite. Then she talked for like almost 2 hours straight and it was painful to listen because i was so full! I just have to sit and pray silently in those kind of situations haha. We also have been helping this woman named Mamma Anna teach another member, Marina, the lessons to go to the temple. Mamma Anna is very passionate about the temple, and is taking it upon herself to make sure Marina is ready haha. But i really am so grateful for temples that dot the world, and for members who are worthy and willing to go do work in the temple. I love the temple and miss it!! We had a great experience with a less active woman (Luba) here in Nickolaiv. We have been meeting with her and she has become more and more active, and we just love her. So she has this man (Yuri) and his wife renting a room from her, and she invited him to listen to our lesson with her. It was such a great lesson!! Luba taught so well and her testimony was so strong about the restoration! She quoted scriptures, bore strong testimony of how the church is true, and how the restoration makes sense. We wrote down every principle from the restoration and listed blessings that she has recognized in her life under each principle. It was a great visual way to show her the blessings that she has, and it was interactive. Yuri was very interested and responsive, and told us he would pray about our message. We hope to go back soon and meet with him and his wife! We have been trying to call this woman from the area book named Anna, and we have talked a lot, just never met her yet. So i see this woman at church yesterday and ask her her name and stuff, and she was like "I'm anna!! we have talked a lot on the phone!" so we just laughed and after church we met with her and got to know her. She LOVED church and commented on how good she felt. She wants to meet with us on wednesday, and it was refreshing to talk to someone so nice and so eager to learn. The Lord is blessing us and it's so special to see His hand in this work.
Pres./Sis. Nielsen left last week, and now we have a new president, Pres./Sis. Van Bruggen. We are having a little meeting as a district with him tomorrow, so that will be good to meet him! We are nervous, but excited. This week will be busy. We have to go to Kherson tomorrow for our conference with the new mission pres., go to kherson again on wednesday for interviews with the new president, go to kherson thursday for district meeting, and back to kherson on sunday for church. Traveling back and forth is a lot of time and tiring, but we love both cities. Last week it rained a lot here in Nickolaiv (unlike utah unfortunately!), and it was SOO nice!! It cooled it down quite a bit, and the weather was great. Now it is hot again, but it's all good. I have been reading the New Testament, and I am currently in Luke. I am so grateful for the Bible! I know a lot of "plan and precious truths" are taken from it, but without the Bible we would not have the stories and miracles from Christ's life here on Earth. He truly was the perfect teacher, example, and the most perfect person that ever lived. I love reading about the parables and the miracles. How truly blessed we are to know of our Savior and have a personal relationship with him. There are so many people who don't know of Christ, or if they do, might not have a personal relationship with Him. I am so thankful for the knowledge we have and that through Christ, we can become better every day! I was also reading in Mosiah this morning about Abinadi, and how truly brave he was. He, along with many others, sacrificed his life for the work of the gospel. I love the scriptures and I encourage you to read them everyday!! I love you all and i thank you for your prayers and support. Light some fireworks for me this week, God bless America!!!
Cectpa DeMille
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