Make a Smilebox slideshow

I get to stay!

I am just about to complete my first transfer (6 week time period) and I have found out that I get to stay in my same area, with my same companion, Sister Pack! I am super excited about this, because just one transfer here is not enough, the ward is so awesome, and I know that there is so much more that I can learn from Sister Pack, and we have so much potential right on our fingertips that something just has to happen with! It just has to!

There are so many little miracles that are happening that it is so wonderful to see and be a part of!
A couple of weeks ago, a man and his daughter walked into the church asking about English lessons. So we met with him and his wife once, but all our appointments kept getting canceled after that. Sister Pack and I were talking about how we could share the gospel to them without them getting offended and thinking that the English lessons are only for that purpose, because we really do want to help them learn English. Well, one day when we had finally made another appointment with them, we were walking out to their house and were just minutes away when they call and say that they are out taking a walk and can't meet with us. We were upset that once again a planned appointment didn't happen. Then, as we were walking back to the church, we ran into the family! We shared greetings then the husband simply asked us how our religion is different from the Jewish religion. So we simply replied and then he pointed to the Book of Mormon and asked what that was and then we explained that as well and told them that he could have it and read it if he wanted to and he did! Wow, it still amazes me that the Lord's hand is in everything that we do!
-Meagen
8-17-09

What kind of pigeons are we?

It has been another week where all of our investigators have been away at their "dotcha"s or at the Black Sea, or at weddings. I'm glad that summer is almost over! We have been making progress with our English students though. A family of four has been coming to English for about a month now and they always left before the spiritual thought, well, this week they actually stayed and accepted a Book of Mormon! I am so excited for them, they are all such wonderful people and I know that the Gospel will bless their lives and strengthen their family. I love English class!
Here is a story about how I was taught by the spirit this week:
We were on our way to stop by one of our investigators, and outside of their apartment building was a strange tree-house looking thing, but it wasn't in a tree. Sister pack and I were trying to figure out what it was, but then gave up. Well, we got to the door of our investigator, and she was not home, so we took a step out onto the balcony of that floor to take in a view of the city from the very tall building. I looked down and noticed a man swinging a very long stick with bags on the end of it over the tree-house-thing. Then he made a funny call and pigeons started landing on top of the roof! It was a pigeon house and he is a pigeon trainer! Cool! My great-grandpa trained pigeons, so I was curious to see what he would do next. Most of the pigeons that were in the air landed on the roof, except three that were still circling about in the air. The pigeon trainer watched for them to come down but after a few minutes he then walked away. As I was thinking about this later that day I was wondering to myself- am I one of the pigeons that will answer right away to my master's call? Or do I just fly around in circles, doing my own thing until it is too late and the master walks away. I also noticed that the pigeon trainer only called once. He did not call several times and wait and wait for all of the pigeons to come to him. It is only the obedient pigeons that he wants to train, it is only the obedient pigeons who will be blessed with food and the protection of the birdhouse. Just like the children of God, it is only the obedient who are fed and nourished by the words of Christ. It is only the obedient who will find perfection and blessings of the temple. Our Father calls to us all and the opportunity is there for all the children, but only the obedient respond. So it is my mission to teach those wandering children how to hear their master's voice.
-Meagen
8-10-09

English lessons and Charity

This has been quite an interesting week. All of our investigators were super busy and could not find any time to meet with us. Although we did have some English lessons that we hope will lead to investigators. Speaking of which, on Friday, Sister Pack and I were practicing a song to sing for a baptism at a church building, and out of nowhere, in walks a man and his two year old daughter. He said they were just walking by and saw an English lesson advertisement in the window and wanted to learn more about it. We told him that we had a class on Tuesdays and Thursdays that he could attend, or we could give private English lessons to his family at his home and he said the private lessons sounded great! We met with him and his family on Saturday and they are very nice people and we have another lesson with them tomorrow!
There is another girl from the English class that we have been meeting with, she has a member friend and knows a lot about the church. Actually, she and her member friend are going to give Sister Pack and I a walking tour of Kiev today!

In personal and companionship study this past week we have been studying the Christlike attribute of Charity and Love. We were brought to a new enlightenment when we realized that the opposite of charity is selfishness. And how every sin is derived from being selfish. Jesus Christ, who was filled with charity- pure love, was without sin. When we have so much charity for our fellow men, that we in no way think about ourselves, we cannot sin. I can apply this to missionary work and how if I am filled with charity, I will truly forget myself, and do those things that will only help people find their path to Christ. In so doing I will not fall into the temptation of doing things that only I want and what would be easiest for me, and all of the missionary guidelines will fall into place, and I will have a great desire to love and serve the people.
-Meg
8-3-09

Has it already been a week?

I know I've heard people say that missionary work makes time fly by so fast, but now I actually believe it! I really enjoyed our mini-zone conference we had this week. It was very inspiring to hear from the other companionship's and how they were seeing miracles in the work. As for miracle investigator that my companion and I have been working with, we were sad to find out that she does not live in the areas in which we cover, so we are beginning the process of transferring her over to the other sisters so that they can help her continue in her progression. We were hoping to give her over with a baptismal date already in sight, but she still has some small concerns, but she is so close! It is amazing to me how the adversary can focus on the small little things, which can prevent a baptism from occurring. But then I remind myself of Elder Holland's quote, "Salvation is not cheap" then I am inspired to continue to work my very hardest to bring about salvation and not get discouraged when faced with opposition.
I think my biggest struggle right now is the language. It is very depressing when little kids come up to me and ask me questions and I have no idea what they are saying. But just when I feel like I will never make any progression, we go to a lesson and I say things that I didn't think that I could- far from perfect of course, but it is baby steps. I think that is something that I need to remember now, baby-steps; that I shouldn't be trying to run marathons when I barely even know how to walk.
-Meagen
7-27-09

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Meagen in Ukraine!

These are some nice looking buildings in downtown Kiev, unfortunately, not all of Kiev looks like this. Mostly all of where I live, which is on the outskirts of Kiev, is all apartment buildings that all look exactly the same- (because of the communist rule in the soviet era) it gets so confusing trying to find my way around! Thankfully, my trainer is an expert!

These are some of the sisters that were in Kiev at the time and who wanted to go to the opera, so this is in the theater. The opera was not as good as I was expecting, it was called "Rigetello" - I think. It was sung in Italian and I wouldn't have been able to understand what was going on if Sister Pack would not have translated the Ukrainian program for me.

This is at a ward picnic out in the forest near where we live. the girls pictured are Lenna and Cviata, they are super nice. The forest was kind of weird and unnatural. All the trees were in perfect rows and looked like they had been planted. The ward put on a little skit of Lehi's vision of the Tree of life, it was so cute! The lady who narrated was Sister Zoya Gulko, she was one of the committee members who translated the Book of Mormon into Ukrainian! Her husband is the bishop of our ward and he usually dubs the general conference into Ukrainian! Cool! To eat we had sausages which were like American hot dogs, but shorter and fatter. We played badminton, Frisbee, and catch. they also played water balloon volleyball, but Sister Pack and I just watched, because we were going to a baptism right after the picnic.

This is me at the Kiev Temple of course! I asked the Mission Pres, when the Temple should be completed and he gives it a year. So I actually might be here still! Who knows?

This is me on an empty metro car. Usually they are jam packed! But we started at the end of the line, so we could actually sit! I think also subconsciously I was showing off my bare leg! Yep! Great news, we don't have to wear nylons till September! Hooray! We're going to try and find some nice sandals today, because we can now wear those too! Thank you to Sister Steingal who served her mission in Argentina and knows what it is like to wear nylons in the hot hot humidity!