All downhill from here (Actually from Feb. 3)

Another transer come and gone... and against all odds, Sister Walker and I are staying together! WOOHOO dreams do come true! We were expecting to get moved around for sure just becaus eof the ways things have been going and some hints that Presidnet Lochhead has been dropping... but no! Still going strong. And now that the long transfer is over (usually transfer periods are 6 weks, but this last winter transfer is 8) and the weather should be getting better soon, it's all going to be smooooooth sailing! Thank you to everyone who has kept me in your prayers - I'm feeling them from here!

Also I'd like to report on what might have been the most joyous moment of my mission, which happened yesterday. Wally passed us the sacrament :) He was so nervous because he hates having any sort of attention on him, but when he got to where we were sitting he just had to try so hard not to smile. I read Alma 26 and felt like Ammon:

 1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we ^astarted from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?

 2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?

 3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how^amany of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made ^binstruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

 4 Behold, ^athousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God.

 5 Behold, the ^afield was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the ^bsickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your ^csheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.

That's what I've experienced. The craziest part is that it isn't what I'd planned  at all... When they sent us here, everyone who we talked to in the MTC old us ot to expect much.

 24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the [Ukrainians] to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the [ukrainians] of the ^aincorrectness of the ^btraditionsof their fathers, as ^cstiffnecked a people as they are...

 26 But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.

 27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to^aturn back, behold, the Lord ^bcomforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the [Ukrainians], and bear with ^cpatience thine^dafflictions, and I will give unto you success.

 28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.

...

 30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our ^ajoy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

 31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the ^afruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are ^bmany; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us.

...

 33 And now behold I say unto you, has there been so great love in all the land? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, there has not, even among the Nephites.

...

 35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all ^apower, ^ball wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a ^cmercifulBeing, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

 36 Now if this is ^aboasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a ^bbranch of the tree of Israel, and has been ^clost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, ^dwanderers in a strange land.

Wale is now one of our best friends. I also got a call from Tamara last week - my first convert of Ukraine. It was the first time i talked to her since I left Makeevka, and it was SO incredible to feel the love she still had for me, and of course, that i still felt toward her. I could never have supposed when I left that I would experience such great things... But now I have not only experiences, but also people that I will treasure for th rest of eternity. My joy is full ;)

I bet when you opened this you were expecting to read an email, not the scriptures. Woops ;) Sorry, I just got carred away in my boasting..... ;)

Okay there's something. I think scripture jokes are funny now. Also in our spare time Sister Walker and I watch conference talks. Who am I?? haha. Never thought I  could be this person... But I am happy.

Thank you everyone, for everything. my prayers are always with you.

LOVE YOU!!

Sister Vilston

(A girl in our ward can NOT say or remember my name. Now every time she calls us - which is at least once a day by the way - I get, Good morning Sister Wilston!! hahaha. Okay, cool.)

Janus Ian

Well for all those who were worried concerning the health situation, fret not. It's just an ulcer, and should be better within the week. Until then she is (literally) just being a pain and Sister Walker has affectionately named her Janice Ian. That's all I will say about that...

This week was so great though! Wally got baptized according to plan, and he's already preparing to get the priesthood next week! He's also taking a trip to Kiev in just a couple weeks, so he'll be able to go to the temple! He is so strong and we are SO excited for him!!

Also we have taken a plunge into the tundra!! It's finally gotten cold here and it hit all to fast! It went from 40 degrees to -4 (F) in 2 DAYS!!! aghhh I can hardly feel my fingers even typing this right now so there's that...

Also I got lots of Christmas cards from our ward this week :) that was pretty neat. We've got a belated Christmas collage going on the wall now :)

I'll keep this short but I love you all! Thank you for all the support and love, as always!

Love

Sister Willerth

A Month of Posts!

Catastrophe week! 1/13/14

OH the drama....You thought 2 weeks ago was bad, just prepare yourselves!

*disclaimer* I talk about some gross things here sooooo there's that...

The real action of this week all started Tuesday. remember how at home I never ate tacos because they made me feel sick and you all just thought I didn't like them? WELL Sister Walker and I were SO excited to use the taco seasoning that I had just gotten, so we made these really good burritos... and then about an hour later I started getting these stomach pains. but I ignored it because it's happened as long as i can remember, and we went on with the day as usual.

THEN on Wednesday, while I was washing my hair, GUESS WHAT I FOUND. Remember how I'd been complaining about my itchy head? yup - I wasn't being just paranoid. I had lice. So we spent most of that day just taking care of all THAT drama. Luckily Sister Walker is a good sport and combed everything out for me. When she did we hardly found anything, so it turns out that it hadn't been a big problem and I probably caught it early. Also, the medical person in our mission said she wasn't surprised I had it because it's been going around (GROSS) so it's not my fault, and thanks to my paranoia we caught it early :)

The next day I was still feeling stomach pains from who knows what, and Sister Walker had told me that she was getting them too. We called the Doctor for the Europe east area missionaries and he couldn't really tell what we had from our symptoms, so he put us on a diet of clear fluid only FOR 24 TO 48 HOURS!! haha we just drank a bunch of water the first day but by the next day we were DYING we were so hungry so we called him back asking for other options and he laughed at us and told us we could eat bananas and applesauce. So good thing I like bananas now! What a relief :)

So unfortunately I have very little missionary work to report on. Wally got back this week and he's all ready for his baptism this Saturday! We are so excited :) Also we met his friend on the metro and invited him to church and he came! We had a lesson with him afterward and I was so proud of Wally - just teaching like a pro :')

OH and latest update on Babushka. We were at her house, when someone called to say that she was dropping something off. She hung up and told us it was a less active from the church. we thought, cool lets meet her! but when Babushka got up and left the room she closed the door behind her. When we came out she saw us and yelled at us saying "No no! it'll just be 5 minutes she doesn't need to know you're here!" Then she shooed us back into the room and closed the door again. HOW RUDE! haha that wild woman. But we love her, I guess...

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful week! I love you all and will talk to you soon!!

Love

Sister Willerth

Heppy Newey! 1/6/14

This week has been both eventful and not. Most of the exciting things we did would be horribly unexciting to you all probably (crocheting, making BOX macaroni and cheese - woohooo so orange!! Thanks mom! - and taking lots of really dumb pictures with some cool features we found on my camera. I'll send some of those along ;)

Things of note - I finally tried Holodets this week! For those of you who are wondering, that is the meat-jello they make here. Ours wasn't too bad - she used Chicken Turkey and Ham. I can't imagine it made of beef or the solid fat that they sell  all over the place here. So it wasn't bad like I said, and it was a good, traditional way to celebrate the новый год!! (though I don't think I want to eat it ever again)

New years was WILD, there were fireworks going everywhere all night long! It was dark around 3 and we were inside by 4 for the rest of the night so we just watched the Seminary new testament videos. Fun times, haha ;) And we went to bed at 10:30. We weren't planning on waking up, and miraculously none of the fireworks woke us, but then our Elders called us at midnight! Those punks! haha so that was the extent of our celebration.

The next day was SO weird. There was almost no one outside! It was like a giant ghost town. Also there wasn't much for us to do because of some Ukrainian superstition that Women can come over to your house on new years, or you'll have bad luck all year long. We couldn't even help Babushka with her milk! But she had the elders come over and drink apple juice with her, so apparently she'll have good health this year (I know there are certain superstitions in every culture but these people actually follow them - it's so funny.)

We also went on an exchange with some other sisters this week, which meant I was reunited with Sister Rohrbaugh! It was so cool, because back in the MTC we would always talk about how "One day we'll go on a split and actually be able to talk to people and teach together!" Fulfilled! It was way fun being with her again. But I missed that Sister Walker. I'm so blessed to have served (and to be serving with) so many AWESOME people!

We also had a Christmas party night with our branch. It was so fun! It was like watching a really bad home video haha - there was a nativity skit with a bunch of kids that couldn't remember their lines and old men that way overplayed their characters. Then a talent show with everything from Ukrainian folk-Christmas songs to a hardcore rock performance of "Mary did you know?" Even the missionaries performed oh Holy night. We're not the most talented group, but they sure do love to hear Americans sing.

Other than that, not too much is new. Wally is still doing great, and we're counting down the days til he gets back. Our best friend in Ukraine :) Plus, it's not even freezing here, and it's getting lighted every day :) So all is well.

I love you all! Stay warm!

Love

Sister Willerth

Drama Week 12/23/13

2 More days til Christmas! WOOOOOO! Since I will be talking to everyone soon, this will be short, and I will not mince words:

THIS WEEK WAS THE WORST!

Sister Walker and I were really really torn up about Wally not being able to be baptized, and that plus the constant darkness here began to take a toll on us. We were pretty unmotivated this week but we still tried to get out there and go despite hating life. Crowning event of the week though was when we saw the branch president and he asked us if Wally would be getting baptized this week. 

"what, he can?"

"Well I just didn't know. So will he?"

We didn't know what to do so we called directly up to President Lochhead to talk to him about it for a few minutes, and then worked some stuff out and got through everything we needed to do to make the baptism possible. Then we called Wally and asked if he could meet really quick. While we waited for him we were SO excited to tell him - he was really really looking forward to his baptism and was really sad when we changed the date. But when we got there and told him about everything, he said he wanted to wait. WHAT? We told him to pray about it and sleep on it, and that we'd call him in the morning. That night was a MESS, under the direction of our inspired district leader we went out and got some cookies and then came in and did yoga and read our scriptures for the rest of the night haha. I woke up the next morning, and felt like someone had broken up with me. Seriously, I haven't felt that was since the last time I was dumped... so that was weird. We called Wally, and sure enough - he still wanted to wait. So we hung up the phone and just sat in a catatonic state for probably like an hour. Of course, we got over it and recognized that it probably was for the best. But it was so amazing to just be able to feel this Godly sorrow for another person. 

So that was a sneak peek at drama week. ugh. Glad that's over. And now it's Christmas week! WOOHOOO!! I hope everyone watches lots of movies and listens to lots of Christmas Music and goes Christmas caroling for me! (All things we're not allowed to go here) I love you all and I'll talk to you so soon!

Love

Sister Willerth

Dat Heartbreak 12/16/13

Hello everyone!! On our countdown we are at 9 day left til Christmas - oh-ho! (As Wally would say). Hope everyone's as excited as I am!!

Monday was THE BEST, we went to FHE at a senior couple's house and took Wally with us. It was SO fun, and he loved it! We all ate pancakes for Dinner and sung a lot of Christmas carols. Pretty much the best night ever. Also t was snowing like crazy so we slip-slided all over the place, all the way home!

On Tuesday we took some time to go into the center of Kharkov to see the art markets and get some Martrushka dolls! But unfortunately, because of the snow no one had their stands up :/ Still it was nice to see some more of the city, it's SO beautiful there especially with all the snow. Plus, we had McDonald's for lunch. Chicken Nuggets = taste of America. Also, side note - whenever I eat food that tastes American nowadays (even if we just make it ourselves) I get goosebumps... So no one's allowed to say our food isn't good or that it's boring ever again!

Wednesday was the day that I have been waiting for for a while. Someone FINALLY brought me to tears. I mean, of course I've cried on the mission before, but it's never been directly caused by another person until THIS week. We were talking to this man who kept telling us about how we were slaves to God because we believed and followed His laws without ever thinking for ourselves and that we were brainwashed, and I was kind of laughing in frustration about the fact that we couldn't even defend ourselves because he wouldn't listen anyway, when I caught this lady staring at us, and I smiled at her but looked back at the man, and he asked me a question that I didn't fully understand and I just stopped for a minute, trying to translate it in my head (something along the lines of Where was God during this time when all these horrible things were happening here - but he was using really specific soviet examples) and I just said "uhh..." as I was trying to come up with an answer and this lady says, "Well answer him! You're the ones preaching this stuff." So there you have it. Nothing like a condescending comment from an old, wise, experienced Ukrainian Babushka to make you feel totally inadequate. But I held myself together until we walked away. Sister Willerth's such a baby...

Thursday Sister Walker got the FLU! And I was pretty sick too, so we took it easy, taught one lesson and then made a popcorn chain while watching Mormon Messages. Best.

Friday we went to the Dermatologist! WOOO hahaha so Sister Walker has leprosy (Actually its just ringworm) But we wen to the doctor to get some tests done. Then we went and got her some medicine, and One the way home after all the drama we stopped at this "bubble tea" Place and got some juice with bobas :) WORTH IT. Plus, this place was basically like Jamba juice and it was really clean and there was REAL MUSIC playing so that was weird... My biggest fear is that I'll come home missing music so much that I'll even like Taylor Swift. SCARY!

Sunday was the day of heartbreak. There hadn't been very good communication about Wally's baptism, and the Branch President doesn't know him very well so we were talking about it 5 minutes before Church and he said "He's not even here now. If he doesn't get here before sacrament starts, he's not getting baptized." Wally got there 10 minutes late. So even though he's come to church 3 weeks in a row, since we started meeting with him, we had to tell him that he needs to wait to be baptized. He was so sad! And I don't think I've ever been so heartbroken, because he kept talking about how he was going to be a new person this Christmas. But the good news is, he already is a new person - you can just tell. It's so amazing seeing the literal change that happens in people as they start to accept this doctrine. Wally is way solid though, We just love him!!

So that's our week. It's been a good one :) as was, I hope, everyone elses? Thank you so much everyone for the emails and the support and love! I love you all and I hope you're all enjoying the season!!

Much love,

Sister Willerth

Tundras

Well it is officially here - the winter of Ukraine. And you know what? It's not that bad. Cold wise at least. But lets just say that the roads/sidewalks are more like ice rinks. So you can imagine how that's going for me.... ha ha. BUT I'm loving the snow and it's perfect for packing snowballs :) So no worries.

On Monday we had an FHE with this young girl from out branch and we made Christmas advent calendars! Just over 2 weeks left - I can't wait!! Plus Yulia is the cutest/coolest thing in the world. She's about our age and Sister Walker and I could hang out with her all day. If we weren't missionaries fulfilling our callings, that is...

Tuesday we had a pretty awesome good Samaritan moment. There was this woman who got off the metro in front of us while we were walking by with blood all over her face, and then as she was walking she was stumbling all over the place. Then she fell to the ground right in front of us. We helped her up as everyone walking by just stared, or looked away and walked fast. We found out she was pretty drunk, and since we're not supposed to talk to drunk people, we just helped her up, let her go, and followed her a little while to make sure she'd be okay. Soon she fell again. So we helped her up again. Then again. To the point where she could hardly walk anymore. So, not being able to talk her into sitting down somewhere, and not wanting to leave her sitting on the ice in the middle of the sidewalk, we each took an arm and started walking (well, more like dragging really) her down the path. We weren't really sure what to do, because we didn't know where she lived or if it was bad to be dragging this stranger around, but I just couldn't stop thinking about the good Samaritan, and how when the man was abandoned on the road the levite and all the other holy people passed him by. Not these missionaries! So we dragged her down the path for a while and finally someone who knew her saw us and shocked asked "Sveta, what happened??" "You know her?" "of course!" "Thank goodness!" So we passed her to familiar hands. It was a cool experience, but so sad to see how many people just passed her by...

Wednesday we went to Babushkas house to run her errands and she yelled at me a lot for my coat not being warm enough. (Happens every day now - these people don't understand Northface technology!) and then she gave me this ugly tweed skirt that was supposed to be warmer, and said "Put it on right now!!"

"We're running late and we have an appointment after this..."

Sister Walker: "nah, we've got time. Put it on! You'll catch a cold!" So I gave in, put on the skirt, and got to walk around while people judged us all day for looking like Amish people. That Sister Walker...

Thursday we met with Wally again and followed up on a Word of Wisdom lesson we had taught earlier in the week. He really loves Tea, and didn't understand why we wouldn't be able to drink it, but we just promised that as he lived the word of wisdom he would notice a difference in his life. Sure enough, when we met again he told us that as soon as he went home, he started the hot water and was about to drink some tea when something inside of him just told him - You don't need it. So he left it. So cool! Wally is Solid, I love him so much. 

Friday we went to a members house and I unknowingly tried caviar for the first time. After Sister Walker had taken a bite, when the man had his back turned he gave hers to me saying I can't eat this I'm going to throw up. SO I had to shove the whole thing in my mouth before he turned back around. Yeah, I don't think I like Caviar very much... Then we went to English practice and afterward had a huge snowball fight with our district. Who says sisters aren't fun?? ;)

I hope everyone else had a great week too and is enjoying the snow! 2 more emails and I'll be talking to you!! As sister Walker and I always say "Psh, too easy!" ha ha I love you all and I will talk to you soon!

Love,

Sister Willerth

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

REPENT! (From Nov. 25)

Oh man, where to begin on this week...  Monday was awesome. We spent it playing some (American!) football and practicing for the turkey bowl this week!  (We won by default, since sports were banned in the mission not long ago. But that's a different story...) Then we had FHE with Yulia, who had found real American peanut butter somewhere here! I guess it was at some French store in Kiev but there is hope yet! Anyway Yulia is from Russia, and our age, and so cute. We played Uno, and it was grand.

Tuesday we had a zone conference and made cookies. (Sister Walker and I eat cookies every day. We've got a good thing going :) )

Wednesday we had a lesson in garden house! One of our investigators lives in this house of bunches of windows with tons of plants. It reminds me of our living room in the wintertime :) By the way I don't even know what our house looks like anymore! Someone send me a picture!

Thursday we met Wally! He's from Nigeria, and he's been studying here for 4 years now. He's SUPER sincere and asked awesome questions and is really just ready to do whatever God wants him to. Doing a lesson in English was pretty awkward seeing as I haven't had to make small talk for about 6 months now, and the only English speakers I ever talk to these days are all teenage Americans, so I sound like a ditz (true, sad fact) but it was cool because Sister Walker is still the best and she saved us both! Whew.

Friday we went and ran some errands for this really old grandma who lives nearby. She can't walk, but wont simplify her life and so she makes everyone else get her groceries for her. This sounds mean, but it's really just honest - when we were out at sisters conference, she couldn't wait a day to get her milk and cheese so she stood out on her balcony and yelled until someone came by and went to buy it for her. Ha ha she's the grumpiest most vain old lady in the world and it's hilarious. When she met  Sister Walker and heard about her big family she looked at us and said " you and your huge families! What a nightmare! That's horrible! I can't imagine!" But the BEST part was when we started to sing hymns with her, and she's way tone deaf and was singing super high and all over the place and sister Walker and I LOOSE it laughing, and she didn't even notice. She couldn't hear us. So she finished the song her self, while we laughed ourselves to tears.

Then came Saturday. Ohhh man. Well we were on a former investigator hunt, and we get to the house of this guy who had been an investigator FOREVER. He is practically a member, he knows EVERYTHING (and I do mean everything - including things he really should not know if you know what I mean...) but he couldn't ever stop smoking so he's never been baptized. WELL when we get there we didn't know what to expect but he answered and was so nice and let us in. He said "oh wow sisters, I've only ever met with Elders before!" and then started asking us the craziest questions about women and the temple and stuff! Ahh! Changing the subject we asked him about his work and he was telling us about how he is some sort of Internet councilor and how he helps people find their goal in life and usually he points them towards God. Well, Sister Willerth sees that this could go a good direction and asks a perfectly innocent appropriate question - "So what would you say is your goal in life?" To which he responds - "Well, I want to go back to Chicago and marry you." euhhhhhhh.... "Whatever ha ha funny." Lesson ends there! We close it up and are about to leave and he says wait! goes into the next room and comes back with a ring! Takes my hand, puts int on my finger, and insists I keep it(he has a matching one just like it). "I can't take this. That's not right. That's inappropriate. NO thank you." Him - "It's fine it's fine! I promise it doesn't mean that I have to go back to Chicago with you. It's not made of gold, I won't make you pay for it, it's a sign of our friendship, I won't take it back, if you really don't want it, throw it out on the street - just don't tell me about it." Okay so were out of there. We leave, and he's standing by the door as we wait for the elevator to come. Our backs are towards him and Sister Walker is saying "we just have to wait for the elevator to come... then we can freak out..." Elevator comes, we get in, the doors close, and she starts screaming and jumping up and down - "YOU'RE ENGAGED!!!" (She still won't let me live it down, days later). Oh my goodness what a nightmare!!! Needless to say, we will be passing him.And That's probably the craziest thing that has happened to me so far here. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Things we're still looking forward to: We'll all be doing thanksgiving together as a zone, so it'll actually feel like a real holiday :) The weather has been surprisingly nice for this time of year - between 5 and 10 degrees all the time (hopefully this means a mild winter - fingers crossed!) and Sister Walker and I are preaching repentance right and left and making Holiday chains for every event we can think of. 30 days til Christmas!!

I love you all! Thank you for everything, and have a happy thanksgiving!

Love,

Sister Willerth

Bokep! ( Sorry - This is from Nov. 18)

Well transfers have come and gone, and we have the most EXCITING news! I will now be serving with SISTER WALKER! If you are thinking "that sounds familiar... Did she talk about a sister Walker in the MTC?" Then you would be SPOT ON! haha she and I will be serving together for this shortened transfer and HOPEFULLY (fingers crossed!!) President will just keep us together for next transfer and Christmas!! Best Christmas ever! haha I really love this new companionship though, it's nice to be a little more evenly yoked with someone and every day it feels like we're just kickin it and having the time of our lives together on this escapade in Ukraine. So yes. Living the dream. :)

So this week we had a lesson with Salim, who I think I have mentioned in the past. He is 20 years old and a bible PRODIGY and basically just a way cool kid. Anyway he has all these crazy questions (that he just asks to spark conversation - but he already knows the answer) and he is SO smart and an amazing teacher and every time we talk to him I really feel like HE's the one giving US a lesson (reinforced by the fact that at the end of the lesson he made us review everything we learned. haha.) Anyway so after getting WAY off track about the thing we were originally talking about (prophets and the apostasy) he goes to Genesis and says "in the beginning God created light... but he didn't create the sun and stars until verses later. So what did he create in the beginning?" And  he asks us where God lives and so... we start talking about Kolob. But it's fine, because he whips out this analogy and somehow he's known about Kolob all along (he just didn't know that he knew) through his own studies of the bible. He is awesome, I love him.

We also went on a gypsy hunt, Sister Walker and I. We had this old form of there people who used to be taught by missionaries and it had 3 addresses and the number didn't work. So we embarked on a grand journey to find Ludwig and Luisa! Unfortunately, we did not find them, but we met some VERY interesting people in the mean time: Ok Dima! (we asked about Ludwig at his door and he pointed to the shirt he was wearing that said "OK!" on it and said, no no I'm not Ludwig - I'm ok Dima!) Judas Kisscariot (A Jehovah's witness that stopped us on the street, said we were going to burn because we were a cult, asked for some money, and after all of this we having never said a thing, just looking at him speechless he laughed and kissed us both! Betrayed with a kiss!) and this really tough guy wearing fur on the back of the trolley, who we assumed was a part of an organization that I will not here name, for fear that the filter will block my email. But yes - you probably know what I'm talking about ha ha.

We also got to sit in on a ward thanksgiving activity. It was really cool hearing them tell the story of how thanksgiving got started and then having this "feast" of some Ukrainian food. (I don't think they understand how much we eat.... ha ha. But I did want to take a nap afterward, so I guess that's kind of the same feeling!) I loved it though. Gratitude across the world:)

In other news the skinheads are gone and all the danger is totally over for all the international people. So no worries there :)

Well I think that's about it, other than getting way pumped for Christmas! WOO :D Anyone else excited?? I am!

Well I love you all and as always thank you for your support and you are always in my prayers!! Happy holidays!

Love always,

Sister Willerth