Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It started snowing this week. It's not as cold as I thought it would be- yet. The lowest temperature I've seen on the bank is -7 degrees Celsius, which is 19 degrees Fahrenheit. My biggest fear is the black ice. I slip around three times a day on that stuff, but I have not fallen! Keep me in your prayers and I might make it another week without falling!
Last Monday Sister Morton, our friend Cveta and I went to a miniature museum where there were about 15 works of art the you look at underneath a microscope! One of my favorite ones was a fully functioning lock and key that was displayed on the end of a hair! Another one was a rose that was built inside of a hair. It was incredible!
On Tuesday we had our district meeting at the Goth's apartment. (the Goth's are the doctors for our mission) Since the Goths are going to be traveling until Christmas they threw us a little Christmas Party. Sister Goth cooked us an amazing Christmas feast and gave us hats and stockings filled with candy and other yummy foods! We were all stuffed to the point of explosion and had so much fun singing Christmas carols and telling stories.
After the meeting we had exchanges. I went with Sister Movchanyk to Borshahiivsky and Sister Larson went with Sister Morton to our area. After a couple of lessons with Sister Movchanyk we were on our way back to the church building for another lesson. We were waiting at the bus stop and I was looking down the road for our bus to come and then I looked back to my companion and she was gone. I searched for her through the big crowd of people at the bus stop, but I couldn't find her. I was without a companion. According to mission policy, I waited there for her to return for me. After a while I started asking people if I could use their cell phones to call her, but they looked at me like I was crazy. So I figured that she was probably waiting for me at the church since that was were we were headed, so I got on the next bus and went there. I had always wondered what it would be like to be without a companion, and there I was, by myself, and I didn't like it! So I got to the church and went in and she was there, teaching a lesson. She asked me, “What took you so long?” Apparently she thought that I had been on the bus with her the whole time and I just didn't get off at the right stop. Then I sat down and we continued our lesson as if nothing had happened.
Ever since we moved into our apartment, we have had a cockroach problem. We mop with bleach, keep all of our food in air tight containers, and never leave dirty dishes in the sink, but they keep coming back! Last week we bought some expensive cockroach poison and thought that would finally work. Last night I got up to use the restroom and I saw eight full-sized cockroaches outside of the bathroom door. I grabbed my shoe and chased them around and tried to get them before they could escape. It was like something out of a nightmare. I had a hard time going to sleep after that because I could feel them crawling all over my bed. So if you have any suggestions on what we can do – other than moving, please let me know!
Missionary work has been hard this week. We have a new investigator, but it was a very difficult lesson with many distractions. We had Cveta come on a lesson last night with us, the people we were teaching were not very receptive to the message, but I think it really strengthened Cveta's testimony, which she has been struggling with. Tonight we are meeting with a part-member family, and I think there is some good potential there. All in all we are still pressing forward with the work!
-Meg
12-14-09