Tuesday, June 4, 2013

First Week in Ukraine!

So Sister Willerth seems to be doing just fine....

Who're you calling a greenie??
WHAT A WEEK!! Honestly, I don't have enough time on the internet to say everything that's happened. I'm serving in Makevka which is just outside Donetsk and it's SO BEAUTIFUL. Also those prayers for my trainer payed off! Sister Helson, my lovely trainer, is a PRO and she's so fun and sweet. Also I'm in another threesome (Troika power!! Also you'd think that in a Ukrainian internet cafe I'd be able to figure out how to change the carachters... haha)  with the amazing Sister Reece! We were in the MTC together and had so much in common and I was really hoping I'd get to be her companion eventually. Happened sooner than I thought! So if things weren't great enough already, we also had a baptism our first weekend. We got to teach her one lesson on friday before baptizing her on saturday. Even though we haven't known her very long, she is so sweet to us. It's true, once you make your way into peoples hearts here, they treat you like family.
 
Language report: The gift of toungues is real!! Of course, I understand close to nothing but it's nice to have Sister Reece here who is equally new suffering through everything with me. Also, something I've noticed about these people is that they're not too hard to understand because if they want you to understand them, they will make sure you do (if you know what I mean) and if not, they will just ramble on and on and all they need is an ear. Sweet little бабушкы :) (NAILED IT!) Really though, there is something so genuine about these people. On Saturday we put on an activity for children's day and afterward, some lady who we had talked to for a while (Sister Reece and I smiled and nodded while she talked about her daughter who went to a Christian University and her little boy German, and who knows what else...) came outside and brought us all chocolates and roses and thanked us for putting it together. It wasn't the first time I'd recieved a flower either (when we got there, there were roses for all the sisters. The roses here are the prettiest in the world! Mom, I'd even say they're better than Jewel's ;) ), or the last time I'd gotten chocolate (a man named виктор gave Sister Reece and I some at the ATM after we invited him to stand under a ledge with us, out of the rain. See what I mean?! So sweet.) Okay I'm becoming the parentheses queen. I'll try and stop with the side stories.
 
Our apartment is SO AWESOME!! I'll try to send pictures, but If I can't imagine a million different mismatched wallpapers, doors held closed by magnets, and rugs EVERYWHERE (including the walls). You have to be kind of low maintanance to live there, but if you don't mind scaring away abuot a million tiny cockroaches every time you need to grab a fork, you're set ;) Really though, I love it - so beautiful, and somehow even though I don't live in the comfort I'm used to, I don't feel like I'm missing anything.
 
Our branch is so great! We have so many strong families and they are all so nice to the sisters. I don't reall know how to talk to them, but it really doesn't matter as long as you have a few family photos on hand. By the way, can someone send me more of those? It really doesn't matter what they're of, or how old they are, but man people will KILL you for your pictures here! It's actually hilarious how much they love them.
 
A few stories for your entertainement:
 
I met a man, валентинь, who is a psychic. He looked at me and said, "You're a singer! And I can tell everything about you from looking at you. You will come over later and I will make you a salad that will keep you awake for 4 days and then I will tell you all about your boyfriend." Wish I had more time to talk about him, he is such an interesting man haha.
 
Also, I'm never using an elevator again. We got into one, (rookie mistake, that thing already looked so sketchy) and as soon as the doors closed everything shut down. There was no intercom, no panic button, nothing. We couldn't call any sort of 911, so we just called валентинь and he pried us out. hahaha - what a guy.
 
 
What Else? Tried compo this week. Not sure how it's spelled or anthing, but I think it's just fruits boiled in water to make a juice/tea beverage. My favorite so far is cherry mint. Mmmmmm :) We've already been to a member's Dacha (honestly it takes less time to explain why I'm using english letters than to change the keyboard haha) where they had basically every fruit vegetable and flower imaginable. It was SO COOL. We looked at their old family photos and ate fresh sweet cherries until I thought I'd throw up. Really this has all been even more of an adventure than I could have imagined.
 
Oh now for the boring stuff you probably want to know. Jet lag really wasn't too bad. I took one nap the next day and have been fine ever since. I'm exhausted all the time but I think that's more because of all the hard work. And allergies. Oh, the allergies. There is literally cotton floating in the air here. It's just a thing, don't worry about it.
 
Don't think I have any more time but know that I am so happy here!!! I am loving the work, loving the people, loving the language, loveing the food, eating well, sleeping well, and everything could not be better. So grateful to be here on this incedible adventure!! I love the Lord, and God answers prayers! I'm praying for you and I love you and think of you often! Keep the faith!
 
Love always,
сестра виллерф

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