Week 55

Dear Family and Friends,

Sometimes good things happen, and i just have to look up to the sky and say, 'god, really? you know im not all that worthy of such blessings"...but, i guess sometimes when we get caught up in all the 'trying' to do heaven father's work...it actually happens and we get to realize that it is happening.

 

this week was a week filled with little miraculous incidences where me and my companion end up just looking at eachother and thinking the same thing, "was that just us following the spirit? and it working? interesting..."

 

monday night our plans were to hit the pavement, doing some good old contacting but we then decided to call and check in with one of our favorite members who of course invited us over on the spot for fhe. we were hesitant because we've been wanting to set up a meeting with this member with her less active sister to see if we can get her more excited about church. but, we agreed to come over for the night...and who was there coincedentally? her inactive sister. and what had recently happened to her? a coworker had asked her about religion and she very excitedly gave her a book of mormon and was really excited to tell us about it. cool...

 

tuesday we had a meeting with a convert,elena, who was baptized almost a year ago, but we've thought her progress in applying the gospel has been pretty slow, and she never seems to 'get' our lessons, but she's always talking about wanting to share the gospel with her two sons since youth here really need some direction. my companion and i sat planning her lesson and decided a 'miracle' for her to start praying for and focusing on is the gospel blessing her sons. right before the lesson she calls us and says she's running late and had just gotten in a fight with her teenage son and wanted us to call him....uhhh. awkward, but interesting we were just talking about how we could help her with her sons. we called him and invited him to the church...he agreed. within 15 minutes we had him there at the church playing fusball with the elders, him laughing and enjoying his time there! we shared some thoughts with elena, but she couldnt stop talking about what a miracle she was witnessing that her teenage son was actually in the church building hanging out with missionaries. cool...

 

another incident was that i mentioned to my companion that i think we need to do some service, so maybe on saturday i mentioned we could go through the neighborhoods in jeans and approach people working in their gardens if we can help. (since its harvest time here)...later that day a less active member we met with asked us if we were available to do service for her on saturday (imagine the look me and my companion gave eachother)..of course! we cleaned her windows :)

 

wedesday we had a meeting with our investigator katya who is also moving a little slow in her studies. we read with her last week first nephi chapter 1 and wanted her to read ch 2 by this meeting. we figured she wouldn't, so we planned on reading ch2 with her and talking about the brother's different reactions to their fathers teachings and how it can relate to her. you can say 'all this is too hard' and give up trying or you can be like nephi and want to know, pray, etc. ..she showed up and when we asked her if she read, she said, ..."yes! its so interesting the brothers different reactions to what their father, the prophet was teaching." what? you read? and you actually 'got it' ? what? again, i shoot another look at my companion. cool...

 

another day this week, my compaion and i were pretty discouraged so we decided to head to the church to take a 'breather' ..play the piano, eat something and when we got to the building there was a woman waiting outside. she said she had been waiting half an hour for the elders for a meeting but they hadn't showed up yet. (pretty good sign that she didn't just leave when no one was there) so we let her in and talked with her for a bit and the elders came a little later. but...interesting that we ended up going to the church and meeting her. insert here another 'look' at my compaion.. she ended up coming to church on yesterday and like it.

 

and in the other lessons of the week, our topics were pretty spot on for what our members, less actives, and investigators needed...so i don't know what heavenly father is trying to pull here, but it feels good to have my eyes opened just a little bit to see that i am really doing his work and i am an instrument in his hands here.

 

also, something fun for the week we decided to go to seminary with the two young women in one of our branches. they meet each saturday morning8am at amembers apt-i think thats the earliest ive ever gone to seminary (me being one of the lucky ones with lunch sem), but it was fun to sit and listen and participate in the discussion of isaiah 48 to 66 in russian. -strengthing our stakes and fasting. oooweee what a challenge, isaiah. in russian. but i liked sitting there thinking that my sister and dad are somewhere in vegas studing somewhere in the old testament too, maybe even this exact lesson ...it made me feel a little closer to all of you.

 

it was a little colder this week, but there's no denying spring is around the corner. like i mentioned people are out in their gardens already preparing for the 'harvest'. so this week marks a year since i arrived here in ukraine and something i was reminded of this week when i got her is that 'smell' there was definitely a smell when i got off that plane last march and ive always wondered what it was...it was just all throught the air here, a type of sulfery, burnt smell. i figured it was some kind of chernoble smell and when i didn't smell it anymore after a month or two, i figured 'oh oh, ive gotten used to it and its probably infecting me' but...this week i smelt it again! (which means im not used to it and its not a part of me phew...) and realized what the smell was!!! its everyone collecting all their dried weeds, twigs, branches, and all the 'left overs' in their gardens into a pile and burning them to prepare the ground for the new seeds....oh gotcha! its intersting to see piles of dried, dead twigs randomly all over the place here-on the sides of roads, in peoples yards, in the big fields,  on fire and smoke stacks rising up to the sky and its completely normal. its actually really cool how everyone here grows almost all of their own food.

 

well, i love you all, next week i'll be writing in april! wow! excting!! in ukrainian the word for 'april' is 'flowers' so...there are only good things ahead :)

i love you all!!

sister little

 

ps. yes, we changed our clocks saturday one hour ahead, and probably gen conf will be in two or three weeks.