Double diminutive...

Happy thanksgiving!! (belated) for those of you wondering I had the BEST THANKSGIVING EVER but we will get to that in just a bit :)

Monday:

We had a really fun FHE at a members house where we played Jenga and likened it unto the great apostasy. The tower was the church and as we took out blocks, one of the members started naming actual specific doctrines people changed with the fall of the church of Christ. Things got pretty intense ha ha - it's kind of sad how much some people here hate the Orthodox church. BUT the reason I mention this is because it reminded me of reading about the apostasy in Jesus the Christ. If anyone wants to read some really critical literature - I recommend some sassy James Talmage. 

Tuesday:

We had an awesome lesson with Wally, but I'll be talking about him in a bit.

Wednesday:

We had another lesson in Garden house! I wish the picture could fully depict it's majesty... Also Sister Walker and I started working on a rap. Our Elders wrote one and said that Sisters can't rap so.... stay tuned to hear some QUALITY work ;)

Thursday:

WOOO THANKSGIVING!! We began the day by teaching Vladimir, who is SO awesome and sincere. The lesson was so great too - the first time I've felt that it was just a lesson by the book, the way they're supposed to be. He listened, asked questions, felt the spirit, recognized it, and accepted an invitation to be baptized! Sister Walker and I danced around the apartment when we got home - we were so excited!! THEN we got to go to Thanksgiving lunch with the zone! President and Sister Lochhead had even come up from Donetsk, so there were actually REAL turkey and pie! I ate so much food, and even MORE pie (probably twice as much as any of the Elders... but really...) and then I went down to get my mail. To my great delight, CHRISTMAS PACKAGE was waiting for me! woooooooooooohooooooooo!. So we had the Elders carry that thing back for us, opened it, used some of the stuff inside to deck them halls, and headed out for another lesson with Wally. The lesson was awesome as always, and he also accepted the invitation to be baptized! we;re having 2 baptisms this December!

Friday:

The day of all the repentance. Ohh man. We had a zone conference, and President Lochhead cracked down on us for lots of exact obedience stuff. Not that we had been disobedient, but there were a few things (like going a little over time on meal hours and talking to everyone on the street everywhere we go - my biggest weakness. ugh.) that we needed to improve on. So we felt really guilty, repented, and moved on. Look at that - atonement in action! The rest of the Zone conference was really great though - we got in the spirit of Christmas by singing some Christmas carols, and then the Lochheads let us know that as a Christmas present, they will be taking all of us to see the NUTCRACKER! oh man I could not be more excited! An original Russian ballet performed by world-renowned Ukrainian ballerinas. Once in a lifetime experience. We are so spoiled :)

Saturday:

Got some Christmas lights and did some more decking the halls! Christmas!!!

Sunday:

"The day of wildin Babushkas" as Sister Walker would say. But it began with Church! So Wally only speaks English, and our entire branch is Ukrainian. SO guess who got to translate for him? This sister. That's right, 2 hours of translating. (The third he went with the Elders) I had a huge headache by the end of it all, but it was really awesome and so worth it! We were so worried that he wasn't going to like it because he didn't know what was going on, but at the end we asked if he had any questions, and how he was feeling and everything, and he said "I've decided I want to go through with the baptism". Best moment ever! THEN we got to go to Babushkas and sing with her again. Was as hilarious as always. We've also decided that she's a vampire because she hates the sun, and people. But really, we do love her despite her crankiness :) And finally we had a lesson with a senile old lady who repeated the same 2 stories 6 times each before we decided to just go. She sure was sweet though :)

As you can see, Sister Walker and I are having as much fun as ever. She'll be cutting my hair today, and we'll be doing some more hall-decking, so we will let you know how that goes :) THANK YOU mom and family for the Christmas present. I am so spoiled! And in every other way I am doing well and having a blast. Hope everyone is having a great December!

Love you!!

Sister Willerth