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
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Yesterday
I thought that you might be curious as to how an average day goes for me so I will write to you about yesterday.
It started off like all Sunday mornings with Missionary Coordination Meeting. This is where each set of missionaries tell the Ward Mission Leader who they have been meeting with throughout the week. Yesterday was good, we got encouraged to have more member present lessons, but it was not as judgmental as last week when we were the only missionaries without a baptismal date.
Then we had Sacrament meeting. Constantine was confirmed a member of the Church since he was baptized on Saturday. During the testimony part, I think only three people bore their testimonies because each one was so long. For Gospel Principles we had a lesson on life after death, the teacher spoke in clean Ukrainian, so that was nice to hear. In Relief Society we talked about bearing testimony, and how that helps us and the people who hear it as well. After church we had Ward Council where they discussed the upcoming “Open Doors” it lasted about two hours and was mostly in Russian so I had to fight to keep my eyes open to stay awake. I didn't feel that we really needed to be there because the only thing that they told us was to bring our investigators and walk them through the tour of the church. They could have told us that without having to go to the meeting, but I appreciate that they want us to be involved with everything.
After that I went home and planned on making myself a grilled cheese sandwich with chicken and tomatoes, but then I opened the bread and there were a couple of moldy pieces that made the whole loaf smell rancid. So I just put the chicken, cheese and tomatoes on the frying pan and ate it that way. I think it tasted better than if it had been on bread. It was probably the best home-cook meal that I've had in Ukraine.
We had some time till our next appointment, so we decided to stop by some in-active youth in our area. When we got there only the active parents were home, and they invited us in, so we taught a small spiritual thought. It was the most awkward lesson that I have had on my mission. When we would ask them questions they would respond as shortly as possible and when we were talking they wouldn't even make eye contact with us. So we made it a short lesson and when we ended and started to leave, they asked us why we were leaving so soon. It was strange. Fortunately we committed the mother to talk to her mother about having a family home evening together, unfortunately I left my umbrella there, so we're going to have to go back one of these days.
On our way to our next appointment we heard a huge explosion that shook the ground and scared us. Then we turned to see huge fireworks in the air. It was slightly misty last night, so the mist reflected the light and made it appear even bigger then it was. So as we were waiting at the bus stop for ten minutes we were watching these fireworks that were bigger than I have ever seen them. I'm not sure why they were being set off, they were behind a movie theater, so it was probably a promotion of some kind. I love how fireworks are legal in Ukraine!
For our private English lesson last night we played Bonanza with three people from our large English group. They really liked it and it taught them new words like “stinky bean” and “shuffle” it also taught them how to barter in English. After the game, we asked them how they liked the movie, “The Testaments,” which is what we showed after our last English lesson. They said they liked it, but didn't really understand it. So we told them a little about the Book of Mormon which brought up other questions that lead to a long question answer discussion. It was good, and we learned a lot about them and vice-versa. But next time we meet we want there to be more structure to the gospel part, but I see good potential in them.
-Meagen
12-7-09
It started off like all Sunday mornings with Missionary Coordination Meeting. This is where each set of missionaries tell the Ward Mission Leader who they have been meeting with throughout the week. Yesterday was good, we got encouraged to have more member present lessons, but it was not as judgmental as last week when we were the only missionaries without a baptismal date.
Then we had Sacrament meeting. Constantine was confirmed a member of the Church since he was baptized on Saturday. During the testimony part, I think only three people bore their testimonies because each one was so long. For Gospel Principles we had a lesson on life after death, the teacher spoke in clean Ukrainian, so that was nice to hear. In Relief Society we talked about bearing testimony, and how that helps us and the people who hear it as well. After church we had Ward Council where they discussed the upcoming “Open Doors” it lasted about two hours and was mostly in Russian so I had to fight to keep my eyes open to stay awake. I didn't feel that we really needed to be there because the only thing that they told us was to bring our investigators and walk them through the tour of the church. They could have told us that without having to go to the meeting, but I appreciate that they want us to be involved with everything.
After that I went home and planned on making myself a grilled cheese sandwich with chicken and tomatoes, but then I opened the bread and there were a couple of moldy pieces that made the whole loaf smell rancid. So I just put the chicken, cheese and tomatoes on the frying pan and ate it that way. I think it tasted better than if it had been on bread. It was probably the best home-cook meal that I've had in Ukraine.
We had some time till our next appointment, so we decided to stop by some in-active youth in our area. When we got there only the active parents were home, and they invited us in, so we taught a small spiritual thought. It was the most awkward lesson that I have had on my mission. When we would ask them questions they would respond as shortly as possible and when we were talking they wouldn't even make eye contact with us. So we made it a short lesson and when we ended and started to leave, they asked us why we were leaving so soon. It was strange. Fortunately we committed the mother to talk to her mother about having a family home evening together, unfortunately I left my umbrella there, so we're going to have to go back one of these days.
On our way to our next appointment we heard a huge explosion that shook the ground and scared us. Then we turned to see huge fireworks in the air. It was slightly misty last night, so the mist reflected the light and made it appear even bigger then it was. So as we were waiting at the bus stop for ten minutes we were watching these fireworks that were bigger than I have ever seen them. I'm not sure why they were being set off, they were behind a movie theater, so it was probably a promotion of some kind. I love how fireworks are legal in Ukraine!
For our private English lesson last night we played Bonanza with three people from our large English group. They really liked it and it taught them new words like “stinky bean” and “shuffle” it also taught them how to barter in English. After the game, we asked them how they liked the movie, “The Testaments,” which is what we showed after our last English lesson. They said they liked it, but didn't really understand it. So we told them a little about the Book of Mormon which brought up other questions that lead to a long question answer discussion. It was good, and we learned a lot about them and vice-versa. But next time we meet we want there to be more structure to the gospel part, but I see good potential in them.
-Meagen
12-7-09
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
My Thanksgiving
I hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving. Mine was very nice.
We started out our day with a combined district meeting with 12 missionaries there. Then we all went down to T.G.I.Friday's for lunch. I had a bacon cheeseburger with fries, then Sister Morton and I split a banana split. Yummy!
The six missionaries in our ward put on a big event for the English group. We started out with country line dancing as everyone was arriving. Then, when everyone was there, we put on a little skit that showed what the first Thanksgiving. Then before we ate, everyone went around telling something that they were thankful for. We had corn, pumpkin, turkey, stuffing, corn bread and brownies. It wasn't super American, but I don't think anyone could tell. I enjoyed it when people put peanut butter on their cornbread and gravy on their brownies. Ukrainians love their condiments.
Now that the swine flu scare is over, and everyone is back at work, it is harder to find appointments because they are all trying to catch up on their work.
We found a new investigator this week. She is very nice, but is very busy with work. We have been working with a woman who is less-active and she is re-discovering her testimony. We are preparing her to go to the temple next year and she has so many questions, it's a lot of fun.
Lately in my personal study, I have been cross-referencing my patriarchal blessing with the scriptures. I have gained much more insights to what the blessings mean, and what I need to do to achieve them. I recommend doing the same thing with your blessing. If you don't have one- get one.
-Meg
11-30-09
We started out our day with a combined district meeting with 12 missionaries there. Then we all went down to T.G.I.Friday's for lunch. I had a bacon cheeseburger with fries, then Sister Morton and I split a banana split. Yummy!
The six missionaries in our ward put on a big event for the English group. We started out with country line dancing as everyone was arriving. Then, when everyone was there, we put on a little skit that showed what the first Thanksgiving. Then before we ate, everyone went around telling something that they were thankful for. We had corn, pumpkin, turkey, stuffing, corn bread and brownies. It wasn't super American, but I don't think anyone could tell. I enjoyed it when people put peanut butter on their cornbread and gravy on their brownies. Ukrainians love their condiments.
Now that the swine flu scare is over, and everyone is back at work, it is harder to find appointments because they are all trying to catch up on their work.
We found a new investigator this week. She is very nice, but is very busy with work. We have been working with a woman who is less-active and she is re-discovering her testimony. We are preparing her to go to the temple next year and she has so many questions, it's a lot of fun.
Lately in my personal study, I have been cross-referencing my patriarchal blessing with the scriptures. I have gained much more insights to what the blessings mean, and what I need to do to achieve them. I recommend doing the same thing with your blessing. If you don't have one- get one.
-Meg
11-30-09
Monday, November 23, 2009
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Sister Morton and I have had a very good week. Although the weather has been a little rainy, it hasn't been too cold. And we found two new investigators! One has a concern with the God head, she believes that they are all one person, but she has agreed to study and pray about it along with us and we are going to share what we learned at the next meeting. The other new investigator has a concern with God- she doesn't believe he exists. Sister Morton shared her beautiful testimony of how she knows that she will see her mother again after this life, and that God is the only one to make that possible. It left the girl with tears, and a definite yes when we asked her if she would like to learn more. Our other investigator that we have been teaching for a while now is almost to the point where if we don't see any improvement, we may have to drop her. I really don't want to, but she is just taking the lessons at face value and not applying them to her heart. I asked her to pray for us the last time we were there, but she refused. I sometimes wonder if I'm not doing enough, or if another missionary would be able to reach her better then I. But I know that we feel the spirit when we teach, so I'll just keep pressing forward.
I had salo (pig fat) for the first time the other day. It has been available for me to try before, but I somehow find a way out of it. Then a grandma placed in front of me to try. Sister Morton just took a little tiny piece, but I wanted the full experience and put two thick slabs on my bread , then put some tomato sauce on the top. It was much harder to chew than I was expecting! It didn't have much flavor to it though. All in all, I am not looking forward to the next time I have to eat it.
Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Eat some turkey for me!
-Meg
11-23-09
I had salo (pig fat) for the first time the other day. It has been available for me to try before, but I somehow find a way out of it. Then a grandma placed in front of me to try. Sister Morton just took a little tiny piece, but I wanted the full experience and put two thick slabs on my bread , then put some tomato sauce on the top. It was much harder to chew than I was expecting! It didn't have much flavor to it though. All in all, I am not looking forward to the next time I have to eat it.
Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Eat some turkey for me!
-Meg
11-23-09
Friday, November 20, 2009
Plan of Happiness
Transfer week is always crazy! I don't know why. I love my new companion, Sister Morton, we are going to work miracles together!
We taught the restoration to two women after English on Saturday. The lesson ended abruptly, but I hope we can meet with them again.
We also taught our main investigator about the Plan of Salvation. I really think she perked up when we told her we were going to answer the age old questions of where do we come from? Why are we hear? And what happens after death? It is still hard for her to believe it though. She says is sounds like a fairy tail. And it really is. We are princes and princesses of the Almighty King. Our elder Brother has made it possible for us to inherit kingdoms if we will obey. Like my mission President said in conference last week, we can not imagine what the Lord has in store for us. So yes, it is unbelievable! But it is true! And I know it is true! If I didn't have that hope, there would be no point in life, we wouldn't exist, there would be no earth, no sun, no stars, no universe. We can not comprehend it all, but it still makes so much sense to me. God loves us, he wants us to be happy. Why doubt such a great and wonderful blessing?!
Sister Howell
11-16-09
We taught the restoration to two women after English on Saturday. The lesson ended abruptly, but I hope we can meet with them again.
We also taught our main investigator about the Plan of Salvation. I really think she perked up when we told her we were going to answer the age old questions of where do we come from? Why are we hear? And what happens after death? It is still hard for her to believe it though. She says is sounds like a fairy tail. And it really is. We are princes and princesses of the Almighty King. Our elder Brother has made it possible for us to inherit kingdoms if we will obey. Like my mission President said in conference last week, we can not imagine what the Lord has in store for us. So yes, it is unbelievable! But it is true! And I know it is true! If I didn't have that hope, there would be no point in life, we wouldn't exist, there would be no earth, no sun, no stars, no universe. We can not comprehend it all, but it still makes so much sense to me. God loves us, he wants us to be happy. Why doubt such a great and wonderful blessing?!
Sister Howell
11-16-09
Monday, November 9, 2009
Swine Flu
Despite the Swine Flu scare and all the people who are too afraid to meet because of it, we have had some good lessons. As the year is drawing to an end, I think we are getting more bold with bringing up gospel topics in our private English lessons, and we even have a new investigator from it.
We were able to contact a former investigator and she seems to still love us and wants to meet soon. I see very good potential in her. We watched Finding Faith in Christ with another investigator, but she still doesn't know if she can believe. We can not force a belief on her, but we can be consistent with love and hopefully she will find out for herself.
One day last week, while Sister Garff and I were advertising for English we talked to a man that was so happy for our service that he said he wanted to kiss us. We backed away and said “Не Можна” to which he replied, “You right, the flu” So there are benefits to a wide spread sickness! Even if it isn't in Keiv yet.
Transfers are this week, and I am yet again in wonderful Voskresinsky. Sister Garff is getting transferred out west, maybe opening an area. And I think Sister Morton will be my new companion. I've only met her twice before but she seems like a lot of fun.
-Meagen
11-9-09
We were able to contact a former investigator and she seems to still love us and wants to meet soon. I see very good potential in her. We watched Finding Faith in Christ with another investigator, but she still doesn't know if she can believe. We can not force a belief on her, but we can be consistent with love and hopefully she will find out for herself.
One day last week, while Sister Garff and I were advertising for English we talked to a man that was so happy for our service that he said he wanted to kiss us. We backed away and said “Не Можна” to which he replied, “You right, the flu” So there are benefits to a wide spread sickness! Even if it isn't in Keiv yet.
Transfers are this week, and I am yet again in wonderful Voskresinsky. Sister Garff is getting transferred out west, maybe opening an area. And I think Sister Morton will be my new companion. I've only met her twice before but she seems like a lot of fun.
-Meagen
11-9-09
Monday, November 2, 2009
Crazy Week
Last Monday we went bowling with Lena and Sveta. Sveta won, and it was her first time ever bowling! The bowling alley was the nicest I've ever been to, and it was only two dollars for two hours!
Tuesday we went to see Romeo and Juliet the Ballet. We went with four other sisters and they bought the tickets the day before since they were in the area. The other sisters had really good seats in the front of the balcony, and Sister Garff and I had seats in the very back of the balcony and had a pillar in front of our view. We were not happy. Especially because we told the sisters that we were willing to pay more money for better seats. I liked the Ballet though. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I could have seen more. We ended up leaving after the second act.
On Thursday for our English group we talked about Halloween, and then had everyone make up a Halloween story. My favorite one went something like this, “One dark night...a boy, a girl, and a dog were sitting by a campfire. After a while the dog disappeared. Then the girl disappeared. The boy noticed that there was something shaking a bush. He went to go see what it was behind it and discovered the dog and the girl...and that their stomachs did not like eating so much fried pumpkin.” We didn't do much to celebrate on Halloween besides eat some candy. On Friday we were at someones house teaching English and the 11 year old girl got a phone call from her school that it was closed for three weeks. We knew it was getting cold, but we didn't think it was cold enough to shut down school for three weeks. We went to our next lesson and while we were there, the girl got a phone call that her university was closed for three weeks to prevent the spread of the Swine Flu. The girl's brother (who is a med student) was home and he came in and told us all about it. Apparently it is really serious in western Ukraine and will hit Keiv in a few days. So all schools and places that can shut down are shutting down. About 50 percent of people I see on the streets are wearing masks over their nose and mouth. I survived the Swine Flu scare in the MTC, so I hope I can survive it in Ukraine as well. I'm just not looking forward to all the people that will cancel on us for fear of the sickness. We're just going to have to find ways that we can take these lemons and make some sweet lemonade out of it!
Sunday evening Elder Mills had a baptism. When we arrived at the church, he told us that the guy who he was supposed to be baptizing was being held by police! We waited for two hours till the guy finally came. It turned out to be a lovely baptism.
Snowflakes are in the air today, which is too bad because I had a goal for there not to be any snow until December. I think I need to work on setting more realistic goals.
Well, that miracle investigator that we had last week has not answered any of our phone calls or responded to our texts. It is so sad. We knew she felt the spirit, but she still has her free agency. We found another investigator though. She was taught by sisters a couple of months ago and was progressing well, then she went to volunteer in Turkey for a while, but now she is back and wants to continue the lessons! Hooray for area book work!
We have another investigator who is does not believe Christ can help her. Sister Garff and I have been discussing that this week. It is truly amazing and incomprehensible how much Christ has already done for us, is currently doing, and will continue to do for us throughout eternity. To get her to see that and really feel it in her heart is going to take some work, but if she is willing to try, that is something.
-Meagen
11-2-09
Tuesday we went to see Romeo and Juliet the Ballet. We went with four other sisters and they bought the tickets the day before since they were in the area. The other sisters had really good seats in the front of the balcony, and Sister Garff and I had seats in the very back of the balcony and had a pillar in front of our view. We were not happy. Especially because we told the sisters that we were willing to pay more money for better seats. I liked the Ballet though. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I could have seen more. We ended up leaving after the second act.
On Thursday for our English group we talked about Halloween, and then had everyone make up a Halloween story. My favorite one went something like this, “One dark night...a boy, a girl, and a dog were sitting by a campfire. After a while the dog disappeared. Then the girl disappeared. The boy noticed that there was something shaking a bush. He went to go see what it was behind it and discovered the dog and the girl...and that their stomachs did not like eating so much fried pumpkin.” We didn't do much to celebrate on Halloween besides eat some candy. On Friday we were at someones house teaching English and the 11 year old girl got a phone call from her school that it was closed for three weeks. We knew it was getting cold, but we didn't think it was cold enough to shut down school for three weeks. We went to our next lesson and while we were there, the girl got a phone call that her university was closed for three weeks to prevent the spread of the Swine Flu. The girl's brother (who is a med student) was home and he came in and told us all about it. Apparently it is really serious in western Ukraine and will hit Keiv in a few days. So all schools and places that can shut down are shutting down. About 50 percent of people I see on the streets are wearing masks over their nose and mouth. I survived the Swine Flu scare in the MTC, so I hope I can survive it in Ukraine as well. I'm just not looking forward to all the people that will cancel on us for fear of the sickness. We're just going to have to find ways that we can take these lemons and make some sweet lemonade out of it!
Sunday evening Elder Mills had a baptism. When we arrived at the church, he told us that the guy who he was supposed to be baptizing was being held by police! We waited for two hours till the guy finally came. It turned out to be a lovely baptism.
Snowflakes are in the air today, which is too bad because I had a goal for there not to be any snow until December. I think I need to work on setting more realistic goals.
Well, that miracle investigator that we had last week has not answered any of our phone calls or responded to our texts. It is so sad. We knew she felt the spirit, but she still has her free agency. We found another investigator though. She was taught by sisters a couple of months ago and was progressing well, then she went to volunteer in Turkey for a while, but now she is back and wants to continue the lessons! Hooray for area book work!
We have another investigator who is does not believe Christ can help her. Sister Garff and I have been discussing that this week. It is truly amazing and incomprehensible how much Christ has already done for us, is currently doing, and will continue to do for us throughout eternity. To get her to see that and really feel it in her heart is going to take some work, but if she is willing to try, that is something.
-Meagen
11-2-09
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