Love From Ukraine!!

Dear Family and Friends!

This week was awesome! I don't even know where to begin! I guess it wasn't that different from weeks in the past, but it was still a really good week! I hope that everyone at home also had a good week, despite illness, leg infections, broken bones, and anything else that may have happened!  

So the highlight of this week was that we found FIVE new investigators! The Lord blessed us so much! It was a testimony builder to me because we didn't spend 20 hours every day trying to find new people to teach. Instead as we went around to visit less actives, or do other activities that we needed to get done, the people that were interested in the gospel landed in our path. So we are excited to teach them and serve them this week! Their names are Nastia, Neonela, Vlad, Nina, and Laressa! Nastia was a referral from a former investigator, Neonela we talked to on the street, Vlad and Nina were referrals from a member, and Laressa walked into church on Sunday. 

Vlad and Nina have a really cool story. They are friends with a member named Katia and every time they are in Odessa they meet with the missionaries. They are really interested in being baptized, but there are no missionaries in their town (called a selo here). In fact, from what I understand, they aren't even part of a mission at all. It is so sad. So we are trying to teach them as much as we can before they return home. Vlad is only 11 and he is the cutest kid ever! I will take a picture with him next time we are together! He loves the missionaries! In fact, not only did he tell us that he wants to serve a mission, but he said that someday he wants to marry girls like us! It was so cute :) 

I don't know if you know this, but now that there are so many sisters serving, there is a missionary leadership position called a Sister Training Leader. They basically do what a zone leader does, but for the sisters.  Sister Leavitt is a sister training leader, so the next few weeks we are going to do a whole bunch of exchanges because she has to be with every other sister. So that is a little crazy! So we did our first exchange this week and we have another one starting tomorrow. I've gotten much better at packing lightly, thanks to these exchanges! 

 Sister Robertson

 Service during our exchange! service was wallpapering but then it got cancelled.  

 

On our exchange this last week, I started a conversation with a lady! She was super interested in the gospel, but the problem was that every 5 minutes, the conversation would start over because she didn't remember anything from before. I think that poor lady had short term memory loss. The positive news is that she wrote down our number like 5 different times, so hopefully someday she will call! 

 

 Odessa is bursting with tourists right now, which is kinda fun! We had an older couple come to church yesterday! They were from Las Vegas, only here for one day on a cruise stop. I thought that it was very cool that they came to church even though they didn't speak any Russian! We tried to teach them how to say Hello, but they couldn't even learn that! It was a good effort though! 

We are teaching an older couple, named Valia and Meheighal.  They are so sweet and always worried about our safety. It is cute :) Meheighal came to church yesterday, even though His wife had to go to the doctors! We gave them some banana bread so hopefully they enjoy it! 

Other news from this week... We spent a bunch of time trying to find less active sisters. We always take a member of our branch with us, which makes it so much easier! But it is such an adventure! Many of the sisters don't live in the same place anymore, which is sad, but good to have an update. On Saturday, we went with a lady names Galina. We went into like the oldest building I have ever been to in my life (Probably older then America..seriously) and climbed up these sketch stairs, and then come to a padlocked door. We can't get through so we just stuck an Liahona magazine in and a little note. It was so sketch! Seriously, part of the floor had fallen through!! CRAZY! 

Also, the Elders in our branch had a baptism this last Saturday. it was an awesome service! I was asked to play the piano for the opening and closing song so I got all ready to do that. Then while they were changing after the baptism, a member was like, "ok, Sister Ford will play and we will sing". So I picked a couple of songs that I knew that I could play, then towards the end, The member (Lisa) started saying no to every song that I offered. So I asked her what she thought and she picked a song that I had never played before! I was so nervous!! But the Lord blessed me because I was able to sight read better then anything that I had ever sight read before! It was a little miracle in my life! 

So... I am so excited because this week, English starts again! I am so excited! We have been doing a lot of advertising for English, which is fun! 

 

 Getting my haircut in Ukraine! So scary! the scarest part was when she styled it! It was SO ugly! Luckily it looked ok once I fixed it! We found like the nicest salon in Odessa, and it was only 100 g. So like 12 dollars! crazy!

 

 

 celebrating the 1025 (i think) anniversary of when the Kyiv empire became a Christian empire. It was a celebration. It was cool. We just walked by but the choir sounded so pretty! 

This saturday is Sister Leavitt's birthday! We are going out to eat next Pday! Also, this Thursday, our landlady is giving us Pedicures!  Also, today Sister Leavitt and I are going to go SHOPPING in Center. They have all the good stores here! Most are SUPER pricy but there are some cheaper ones too! I don't know if I will buy anything or not.

 

 

 taking pics before church on Sunday 

unfortunately, my clothes this morning. I don't know if you can tell, but it is pouring rain. I hope they will dry again someday. 

Sorry I don't have much to say this week! Just know that I am happy and enjoying the work!

Write me :) 

Love you all! 

Sister Ford! 

Another week in Ukraine

Dear Family, 

This week was a good week! It is funny because I think if I wrote any earlier then today, I wouldn't have said that, but it is true. I think I learned a lot this week, but I also had fun and felt the Spirit so strongly as I went about my work!

This week began with me thinking a lot about the work that we are doing. All last week, we didn't have ANY investigators. We had dropped a couple that weren't keeping commitments and we hadn't found any! We would talk to SO many people and get rejected almost every time. Dad- The letter you sent where you talked about keeping track of how many people rejected you because then you could know that you were at least working, remember that?? We kept track one day, 38 people rejected us- and we stopped counting after that! Opa! So things were a little frustrating, so one morning, I studied about faith. I studied how the Lord will grant unto us "all things that are expedient unto Him", if we have faith. Sister Leavitt and I thought a lot about that. We felt that asking and REALLY praying for a new investigator was expedient to Him, because we are here sharing His gospel and inviting people to come unto him. We also felt that we had enough faith that if we asked for a new investigator, we would find one! So we prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed...and worked and worked and worked and worked...and NOTHING. We talked to everyone...no one was interested. But we had faith, and we had faith in His timing and His way. So even though we were disappointed, we didn't give up. Finally, last night, we had a lesson with a member. After the lesson, we had planned to go drop by a Less Active Member's House.  But we felt instead that we needed to go talk to people on the street. As we started walking, I felt a strong impression to turn around and walk the other way, away from where we lived. We listened to that prompting and we were just walking. We didn't see anyone and we were wondering how we were EVER going to find anyone, when we spotted a older couple, sitting on a bench across the street. We crossed the street and asked if we could talk to them and they said that we could. We talked about the gospel, our families, what we believed, and why we were here. At the end of our conversation, they asked for a Book of Mormon and gave us their number and agreed to meet again! We are so excited to meet with them tonight! They are so cute! They also are married and have been married for a LONG time, which is really rare in Ukraine! This will be the first couple that I will teach so I am excited! So it was a great lesson that we learned.  God will give us what we ask for, if we ask in faith; yet he still does it in His own time and in His own way. We show our love for Him by enduring until our answers come, realizing that sometimes they come late, sometimes they come in a different way, and sometimes, however hard it may be to accept, His plan is different then ours. But they come and His ways are higher then ours, so even if it is hard to accept, someday it will turn out better then we know at this moment! 

This week, because we are in a new area and a new companionship and because we didn't have any investigators, we spent a lot of time meeting members. We have been forming some very valuable relationships, which became very evident on Sunday.  We were asked by the Relief Society President to give the Spiritual Thought. We prepared a spiritual thought about helping the Less-Active Members of the branch. At the end of the Spiritual Thought , we passed out a sign up sheet asking for help, and the times that they were available.  We had 12 ladies (about 70 percent) sign up to help. They gave concrete times specifically for this week! We have at least one sister to help us everyday this week, which will be awesome! I love that our branch is so willing to help us with missionary work! 

This week we also met with a lot of Less Active Members. It is sad because here, so many people leave the church or stop coming because they are offended or upset by another member. If I could just teach one lesson to all the members, it would be that this gospel is perfect, but the people are not. I wish people could accept that are be more loving and caring towards others. Everyone is having a hard time and everyone needs a friend. Be that friend to all that you see!

One of the less active ladies that we wanted to meet with was named Alexandra. Funny thing about Ukraine, all the ladies here seriously have one of like 20 names, which makes it hard to know which one you are talking to.  Our phone lists people by name and then some characteristic trait they have, such as Sveta Music, Lena Cute, Julia MTC.  It is rather funny! But anyways...back to the story...We wanted to meet with this less Active and we called and called and called, with no answer. So we decided that we would go track her down at some point and try her home address. That Sunday at church, we had met another Alexandra.  We set up an appointment with her, then when the day came, we realized that we didn't have her address.  So we called her, got her address and realized that our two Alexandra's were the SAME PERSON! She had gotten a new phone! That Sunday at church was the first time that we had been there in months! And (because we are supposed to talk to everyone on Sunday), we had immediately talked to her and asked to meet with her. She told us that she felt so loved because we had offered to meet with her, when she thought that no one would care if she was there or not. It was great to be able to help her feel welcome! 

This week we are on a break from our English course so we spent a lot of time inviting people to learn English! It is always so much fun to English advertise! We talk to a lot of awesome people. We had a great conversation with a man named John (that's his English name). He is a seaman and he wanted to improve his English so he can talk normally. Also, we had a great experience about asked a lady about English. She wasn't interested, but as so as we walked away, we heard her tell her son that He had to go to this English thing, because she wanted him to be successful in life. That was pretty awesome :) One last English experience. We were walking along when all of a sudden a huge bug flew into my eye. It was so painful. But awkward because I was like trying to get it out and my eyes were watering. And a man approached and is so confused about what is going on when all of a sudden Sister Leavitt invited him to learn English.  He was so confused about what was going on but he said he would try and come to the English.  It was so funny!

This week we made cinnamon rolls, that was awesome.  

 We also found salted butter for the first time! Today we went to METRO. It is a store like Costco. It made me feel like I was in America, instead of the tiny grocery store we normally go to. I was so happy :)

  right now in Odessa is the International Film Festival. We got lost one day and ended up in one of the outdoor theaters!

 us with sister hunt and Goncharova!

 us on our beds(??)

I have a testimony that people notice us! This week we had a man come up to us on the street and tell us that he had a friend (Adele- but not the singer) who had told him about these cute Americans who were learning Russian to teach the gospel. It was really sweet. I was especially grateful that Adele, a member that we met with, had such high standards and was happy to talk about us. 

I love this church and I love you all! :) Stay strong! Send me letters and emails! :) 

Love, 

Sister Ford

PS- If you are interested, here is a sample of my Russian. It's not great, but it's coming along! We write a letter to Sister Klebingat every week in Russian and this is part from this week! You can try to Google Translate if you want, I don't know how good Russian to English translation is! :) 

Это неделя, мы встречались с моногамии членами Церкви.  Это было хорошо потому что нам надо знать и создавать дружба с членами Церкви. Вчера, Мы спросили дать духовный мысль в Обществе Милосердии. Мы спросили наши сестры помогать нам на уроке с менее активный членами Церкви. Когда мы передавали список и спросили за помощь, у нас была 12 сестры что говорить что они будет помогать нам! У нас есть сестры, кто будет помогать нам каждый день. я очень рада работать с членами Церкви это неделя! 

I (Jenni-Kati's mom) translated it google translate...

This week, we met with members of the Church of monogamy. It was good because we need to know and build friendships with members of the Church. Yesterday, we were asked to give a spiritual thought in the Relief Society. We asked our sisters to help us in the classroom with less active members of the Church. When we passed the list and asked for help, we had 12 sisters say that they will help us! We have a sister who will help us every day. I am very pleased to be working with members of the Church this week!

New Transfer!!-Surprise! Mini-missionary

Dear Everyone! 

This week was CRAZY! I feel like transfer weeks usually are, but I've only ever experienced one so I don't really know! But anyways... 

So this week, Sister Hunt and I said goodbye to Sister Busch as she left our companionship to  train a new missionary down in Illyvtcsok (a small city on the beach South of Odessa).  That was kinda sad.  Our last day, we went out to pizza at Olios.  

 Sis. Hunt and I at Olios!!

 

It was fun, because we decided at the beginning of the transfer that if we had a baptism, we would eat lunch there! We were so excited and we went after district meeting.  That same day, every companionship in our district decided to eat there also. It was kinda funny, the workers didn't know what to think! 

 

 Our district

On her last day, we also had a music practice for a musical number that we did.  I don't know what it is about Ukraine, but musical people here are INTENSE! It was the most intense practive EVER! We started with squats, and stretches, and head swinging, and breathing exercises. It was CRAZY! And not to mention, there was no AC so we were sweating.  It was exciting. 

The last thing we did on the last day with Sister Busch was met with a lady and Natasha, our new member. We had a great lesson and then she fed us these delicious sweet rolls! It was fun! She also has the FATTEST dog I have ever seen.  This lady, baba Gancharova, is short and just about as round as she is tall, and her dog looks just like her. It is funny to see them together. But alas, her and the dog are both SUPER sweet ;) 

OH! Cool story, On Wednesday, Sister Hunt and I were together advertising for English when we came across this bridge! It was one of those Love bridges, where people attach locks and then throw the keys over the edge. It was so pretty! We were walking across it, when one of the locks caught the eye of Sister Hunt. We walked over and it said, "Provo Utah, LDS temple"! Crazy right! Small world! It was really awesome! 

 

 

So anyways from this point forward, my new companion is Sister Leavitt. She is 20 years old, darling, and super sweet! Her family works in Ukraine sometimes, and she studied Russian before her mission. She is super sweet and nice and caring! I LOVE HER! She is one transfer older then I am, and because she already knew Russian, she was only in the MTC for 2 weeks, in Spain.  So fun fact, both of us started our missions on the same day! March 27th! 

So the first night, Sister Hunt and Leavitt and I hosted a music night! It was so fun! We had like 20 members/investigators there. We had a sweet little girl sing about summer, and a couple young women sing/play the recorder, and then missionaries did some numbers. My district leader actually is a really good singer. He has some CDs out (I think) and he sang on a EFY Cd a while back, so of course, he stole the show.  haha :).  

But anyway, after the music night, one of the girls that performed (Lassia) came up and said that she wanted to serve a mini mission and asked if she could use our phone to call Presidet. So we let her and then she did and that was that. A little while later, actually when we got home, we received a call from the Assistants, telling us that either Sister Hunt or I was going to be put with a short term missionary.  Sister Hunt asked if she could, so they told us that in two days, Sister Gancharova, would be serving with her this transfer. It was a really sudden change, but we were excited! 

 

 

Fast Forward two days, when we pick her up and do weekly planning. OH boy! It was crazy! We quickly discovered that Sister Gancharova knows like no English. But we love her anyways! She is a darling 16 year old. It is funny because she is actually serving in the same area that her grandma lives! (See above baba Gancharova!!!!). But Sister Hunt is serving with her and I am with SIster Leavitt. The first day was really hard for everyone.  It was ALL russian and super hard to communicate! But thankfully, things are so much better now! We all are doing so great! 

So then Sister Leavitt and I were all by ourselves. It's been fun, a little crazy because I actually spent most of my time last transfer in the area that is now Sister Hunt's area, so I hardly know anyone, and Sister Leavitt doesn't know anyone either! So we have been trying to get to know people, especially people in the ward and in the Relief Society.  We set up a buch of member lessons this week, which is awesome because we will get fed a lot :)  

Most of the time when we have a lesosn with a member, they feed us because they are nice. I remember one time this week, this lady gave us ice cream, with homeade fruit jam and homeade juice, and candy. And  then as we were leaving, she gave us all the leftovers.  We basically walked home with our bags stufffed full of food! it was so funny! :) 

This week we also took 2 investigators to a Relief Society activity.  We learned how to make Greek Salad.  The ladies in Relief Society love me.  I think it because they think it is so funny because I can't really talk or understand anything.  They also think I am so cute because I am the first 19 year old in this ward so I am so young compared to all the other former sisters there! There is one lady espcially! Her name is Galina, and she loves me! I think she hugs me 6 times everytime she sees me! So cute! She told me that I am her favorite missionary. :) Everytime she sees me, she tells me that I need to relax more often.  It is really cute. 

 

HOW TO SLAM A SUPER KONTIK

Read all directions before beginning :) 

 

Step 1: 

Prepare a cup of Hot Chocolate.

 

Step 2: 

Open your package of Super Kontiks

 

Step 3: 

Find the hole in the super Kontik, where the filling was put in.

Step 4: 

First bit a small portion off, biting off the part with the hole.

Step 5:

Then flip the cookie over and bit off a small part directly across from the first hole

Step 6: 

Then place the cookie into the hot chocolate and suck the hot chocolate through the cookie, like a straw.

Step 7: 

The moment that you taste hot chocolate, quickly put the whole super kontik in your mouth and EAT IT!

 

Step 8: 

Be happy

 

So yesterday, all four of us went to visit a lady in the hospital.  It was a good visit, but the trip there was a little eventfully. I have been debating all day about if I should even tell you what happened, and I decided too, because I think it has a good moral to the story, but you have to promise not to freak out. (Especially you...MOM! Don't freak!)  Good? okay! 

So we got to the hospital, which was a bunch of buildings all in a complex. We were looking at the map of the hospital when two men started to approach us.  They were drunk (of course).  This actually isn't uncommon, people, especially drunk men, approach us all the time. Usually they leave us alone after we tell them to leave. But anyways....back to my story. They started trying to talk to us, you know, telling us that we had nice legs (always the weirdest compliment- we wear skirts over our knees...) and that they could help us know where to go.  We told them that we didn't need help and that we knew where to go but they kept pestering us, so finally we just walked away.  Normally, that is where it ends, but these two men followed us. So scary! I was walking in front of the other sisters and they stopped and I kept walking for about 2 seconds. By the time I realized that they had stopped, these two men had cornered me. I was stuck with one man blocking me from the sisters and the other approaching. They were saying things that I didn't understand and coming closer and closer.  By this point I was praying in my heart so much and I was saying to them over and over (in English), "Leave me alone, Stop it".  I was close to tears and had no idea what to do when suddenly one of them grabbed me.  The color drained from my face and I was more scared then I had ever been in my whole life.  THANKFULLY, at that moment, the moment he grabbed my arm, Sister Leavitt came up and said something and they both ran away. It was such a scary moment and I was shaking because I was so afraid. It took me a while to calm down (actually I didn't talk to a single man the rest of the night) but once I did, I realized how blessed I had been.  After that moment, I asked Sister Leavitt what she had said that was so effective so I could learn it.  She thought for a moment, then said, "I don't remember, I just knew you were in trouble, so I just ran over and words just came to my mind of what to say".  She said, "I know it was the spirit protecting us". And I totally agree. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't been there or if she hadn't said something.  I know I was protected, but it was still SO scary! I had a rock in my stomach and it took a while, like into today, before I felt comfortable again.  But I realized that I will be safe, I have the Lord on my side.  And also, I have my companion. She won't abandon me and together, we will be safe and ALWAYS have backup! 

So please don't  worry about me, that isn't common and we are usually very safe. :) Plus we have the Lord watching over us! He really does protect His missionaries :) I know that is true! 

I love you all! Pray for us, and pray for missionaries all over the world! Pray for opportunitues to do missionary work yourselves! I really do pray for you often and love you SO much :) 

Sister Ford 

a late picture of last weeks baptism...

Miracle of Faith--Our "Blacktism"

Dear Friends and Family,
 

This week was awesome!  Why?

Maybe because our investigator Natasha got baptized on Saturday!

I'd like to share that story:

So last Monday night we didn't really know what to do. Natasha wasn't answering our phone calls and so we were worried because you can't meet with someone who won't answer the phone.So as we were planning that night, we prayed that the Lord would help us know what to do.  The next morning, we woke up, and studied.  Then as we were planning what to do for the rest of the day, we realized that we still didn't know. As we were sitting there, we said to ourselves, "Ok God, now would be a great time to answer our prayer...".  And then the phone rings.  No joke.  We look at it, and it is President Klebingat (our mission president).  We answer the phone and then says, "Sisters, why are you worried about Natasha?" And we said, "Because we haven't been able meet with her because she won't answer her phone." And then he said, "Go find her and show the Lord that you are willing to work so that this happens".
 And so that is what we decided to do. 

We were super excited because we thought since President had called us and we had faith, we would knock on her door, find her, and everything would be perfect. So we went, bought her a doughnut and knocked on her door.  Nothing.  So we knocked on all her neighbor's doors.  Nothing.  So we went outside and talked to everyone...no luck. Although Sister Hunt got in a pretty intense conversation with some Jehovah's Witnesses... Finally we set up one appointment with a less-active and then ate dinner.  After dinner, the elders called and said that the less-active had called the elders and cancelled our appointment.  So we had nothing.  So we decided to try Natasha's door one more time.  No luck, the guard lady wouldn't even let us up the stairs.  So as we are leaving, we decided to give her one more phone call.  And SHE ANSWERED! and wanted to meet! 

It turned out that she had been sick and hadn't realized that her phone had been off. But she was still on for baptism.  And everything went good for it to happen! She had steller interviews, her testimony was sure!  It was great!

our investigator when we set the date

 trying to get the door to the branch unlocked...it is tricky!

 

One random bonus of the event was that Natasha got baptized in the Black Sea- hence Blacktism! We had a baptism on the beach.  And although it was a little unusual (read--clothing optional beach, Natasha invited us to stay for a beach party including a beach ball), we found a place where we were mostly alone and had a really sweet service.  The spirit was strong and she was literally glowing when she came up from the water.

  

postly baptism hug :) (my fav) :) 

Here are some pictures from our baptism service on Saturday! It was a great service.  It was beautiful, on the beach and the spirit was strong!

The whole experience taught me a lot about having faith in the Lord's time. He has a time and he has a plan.  And it is different then our time and our plan.  But it will always work out.  Always! It is crazy because our goal at the beginning of the transfer was a baptism in the black sea! And it really happened! :) It was so great and the highlight of the week!

But for every good thing, there has to be a bad thing.  Mine came in the form of servere food posioning. It was really sad because it was so bad I couldn't leave the apartment yesterday and we missed the confermation.  But we heard it was great. And in case you were wondering, I feel much better today, just a little tired.

 my music poster

dancers at the park (every weekend)

Also, this week is transfers! We are sad because Sister Busch is leaving but Sister Hunt and I are staying together! And Sister Leavitt from our zone is coming to us! We did exchanges with her earlier this transfer so we are super excited! :)

 CHOCOLATE :) hard choices :)

 

The food is good.  I really like it actually.  I haven't had anything I haven't liked yet

The members feed us but not very often.  Sometimes just snacks.  I think tonight we will get fed so that is exciting!  We usually have really good food with members. :)

I use my exercise book all the time! I'm so glad I have it.  It is the best thing!

Sister Hunt doesn't like to run, or workout at all haha so no running right now...I use my book!

Trying to take LOTS of pictures!  Will work on getting more with the members!

Pdays are busy shopping emailing, cleaning, doing laundry, studying,trying to do something culture in there too!

I love my companions. Being with them is so fun! We have way to much fun! I can't think of a day in the last 2 weeks where we haven't been laughing so hard that we can't breathe.  Sometimes we get frustrated but we get over it quickly. I am so lucky! BUT also, I LOVE sister Leavitt. I can't wait to work with her! She is absolutely great! :) Sister Busch is awesome! I can't believe that she goes home next transfer. We joke about her being married before we get home! hehehe

The branch presidents and Rs presidents are awesome.  I especially love the Branch President in Suvorskey and the RS president in both.  They are so sweet and helpful.  The BP in Suvorskey knows English, which is awesome:)

Sacrament meetings are similar from what I understand.Which is not much :)

Yes! Cute babies everywhere and there are always mom's out with strollers pushing their babies!

Shwarma, one of my favorite things, also gave me food poisoning but oh well.  They eat it at the end of the Avengers...blew my mind when I found that out! :) hahah watch it!

Shwarma and mail...what could get better :)

 Here are some pictures from our baptism service on Saturday! It was a great service.  It was beautiful, on the beach and the spirit was strong!

 Here are some pictures from our baptism service on Saturday! It was a great service.  It was beautiful, on the beach and the spirit was strong!

our apartment

 city life

view from a less actives window = pretty!

This week we set really high goals so we are excited to work to accomplish them! It is going to be a busy week! But an awesome week!  We have been recieving so many referrals from members in the ward, thanks to the misisonary broadcast, they are so excited to help us! :)

I love you all! Choose the Right! Share the gospel! Pray for us to find new investigators!

love,

Sister Ford

HAPPY JULY!!! Week 5!!

Dear Family, Friends, and Everyone Else!

Can you believe that it is July already??  Crazy?!?!  Less then 6 months until Christmas...

I hope that everyone is having a good summer!  I would love to hear about what is happening and vacations! :)

This week was really good!  I am loving being a missionary!

I think I will begin by sharing an experience from last night.  Sister Busch tells it in a very humorous way, so I think I will quote her here:
"It was a wonderful week here! Among the myriad and marvelous miracles we encountered, a particularly funny happenstance went down just last night. A dear sister in the northern branch in which we work was admitted into a hospital in Center last Thursday, so we decided to use the remaining time afforded to us last night to pay her a visit, as said hospital wasn't terribly far from where we live. When we left the apartment, rain threatened, but nothing ominous; we're talking light umbrella and/or poncho weather maximum. However, as we walked up the street, the Lord decided that a monsoon was in order, so the windows of Heaven opened and what must have constituted at least 500 years worth of angels' tears cascaded down on our relatively uncovered heads from that vast celestial reservoir. Of course, given that the evening was already hastening on, we opted to brave the deluge and continue on with love of God and love of all mankind burning brightly in our hearts. However, when the time came to disembark from the bus (the rapidly rising water level turned the 127 bus into something akin to the Good Ship Lollipop as it sailed down the street running parallel to the hospital), the rain had only intensified in its desire to moisten us and flung itself all the more vehemently down upon the streets of Odessa. Returning to the nature of our lack of preparation for such a ferocious downpour, I became wetter than I've ever been in living memory in a matter of roughly 30 seconds (and that's saying something, as I bathe very regularly). And, wouldn't you know it, but the bus overshot our stop entirely, meaning we spent another 20 minutes meandering through the flood-washed streets in search of this hospital. As luck would have it, my companions were both equipped with a poncho and an umbrella--that kept them considerably drier than myself; my intense wetness enabled the mood to remain light and we walked on with light hearted and very, very heavy feet (both Sister Hunt and I had be-YOND water-logged shoes, Sister Ford had rainboots :)). When we finally found the hospital, it was coming up on 8 o'clock, and we feared that some sort of visiting hours policy would be working against our desire to visit the sick and afflicted. However, as good fortune favors the soggiest missionaries, this hospital was true to Ukrainian form and admitted us without the slightest hint of resistance. While the whole trek to the hospital had been highly amusing and thoroughly enjoyable, nothing could compare to the feeling of being greeted by the huge smile of our sister who had been confined to her hospital bed for the past four days. She was so excited for visitors, especially visitors of the sister missionary variety. We shared a message with her about the Atonement, which invited a really sweet spirit into the rather depressing hospital room, and we promised to come see her again on Thursday with banana bread, as per her request. It was so sweet to know that every walk through the cold, dark, wet night, when done in faith, will lead to the light of a miracle on the other side."
 

 

Pretty good telling of the story...although she left out the sketch taxi ride home so we could make it on time, which required us running in the middle of the street to hail down a cab.  and the fact that true to the nature of Ukrainian hospitals, I saw a cochroach like 4 inches long.  And the nurse just smashed it.  And left it squished on the ground. Gross. I know :) But an exciting night! I also stepped in a puddle up to my calf! Thank goodness I had my rainboots :)

So one other thing that we did this week was meet with an active member and discuss how she can help do missionary work.  We asked her to share how she learned about the church, and her testimony of the gospel.  The spirit was so strong and although I didn't understand all of it, I could feel the power of it.  And in addition, the Spirit was teaching me and I received promptings and answers to prayers because it was such a spiritual enviroment. 

The first big prompting that I received was just to be grateful for blessings I had in my life, mainly the blessing that it is to be a missionary in Ukraine.  It became real in that moment, having a lesson with a modern day pioneer, in a Ukrainian kitchen. I'm so blessed to be here!  Especially right now :)

The other major prompting I had was to record my testimony and send it home this week.  I don't know why but I'm going to do it! Hopefully it blesses somebody to hear my testimony of the gospel!

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christ's restored church on the Earth today. I know that it was restored, meaning that all the power and authority of God was restored through the prophet, Joseph Smith.  I know that as a young boy, he had a question.  I know he prayed in faith and asked God.  I know that he recieved an answer to that prayer. In answer to his prayer, he saw our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ. They appeared to Joseph Smith and through him restored all the fulness of the Gospel, including the Book of Mormon. 

I have a strong testimony that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It works together with the Bible to truly testify that Jesus is the living son of God. The Book of Mormon is holy scripture that compliments the Bible. It expounds on what the Bible teaches and together the Book of Mormon and the Bible explain how we can find happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God because I read it.  I read about the prophets teaching the gospel, I read about Alma the Younger receiving a remission of his sins, I read about the promised signs of the Savior's birth, and about the fulfillment of those signs.  I read about the Savior's personal ministry among the Nephite people (the people on the American continent) after His resurrection.  After I read, I took Moroni's (a prophet from the Book of Mormon) challenge, which is, after reading from the Book of Mormon, to ask God if the Book of Mormon is true with a sincere heart and with real intent and desire. He promises that if you ask, you will come to know that it is true.  I did ask, and I did receive an answer. I know that the Holy Ghost testified to me that the Book of Mormon is true.  The Book of Mormon can bless the lives of all who will read it. Every aspect of my life is improved through study and reading of the Book of Mormon.

In addition, I'm grateful for prayer and how it blesses my life.  I know God hears and answers my prayers.  When I pray in faith and then sincerely listen for an answer, he always answers me. The answers I receive guide every aspect of my life.

I'm grateful for my Priesthood leaders.  I know that they are called of God.  I  know our prophet, Thomas S Monson is a living prophet on this Earth today. He and the apostles living today are special witnesses of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We can become closer to our Savior by following the words of our living prophets. I know that they receive revelation from the Lord.

I know that this Gospel brings happiness and peace to those that embrace it. Through this gospel, I know that my family can live together forever. Thanks to the sealing power available in temples, my family does not have to be seperated at death, but rather can be an eternal family. I love my family and I am grateful for their love and support. It may be hard to be seperated now, but the time passes quickly when I keep things in an eternal perspective.

I know that we are Spiritual sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father.  I know He loves us. I know that He wants us to be happy.  He hears our prayers and He cares enough to answer them.  He loved us enough to send his son, Jesus Christ, making it possible for us to gain eternal life. He has a plan for us and I testify that it truly is a plan of happiness.

I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I testify that He was chosen before this life to be our Savior, that He came to Earth, lived a perfect life, suffered in the Garden, and was crucified and killed. I know that He rose again after three days, overcoming all that stood in the way of us returning to live with God again.  Thanks to Christ, and His atonement, there is no need to return to feel dispair. Not only does the Atonement make it possible to return to live with God and repent of our sins, but the Atonement can also comfort us and bring us peace. Christ knows exactly how we are feeling and can comfort us.  I know he comforts me when times are hard.  Christ is my Savior, my Redeemer, my brother and my friend.  I am grateful for His love, His support, and His comfort in my life.

I know that God lives and that His son, Jesus Christ lives.  They know us and they love us! I  know that this church is true and that through living the gospel, we can return to live with God and our families again after this life.

I'm grateful for this opportunity I have to serve a mission.  I love helping others come unto Christ. I love how my testimony has grown simply by sharing it with others.  I can't think of anything else I would rather be doing right now!

I promise that the Gospel will bless the lives of every person in this world. Please share your testimony with your friends. The missionaries need the help of the members! In the ideal world, members would do all the finding and the missionaries would do all the teaching! Help your local missionaries! :) Please :)!  It isn't hard to share the gospel and I know that you will feel joy as you bring the gospel into their lives! And if you aren't a member yet, I invite you to read the Book of Mormon and ask God about the truthfulness of this gospel.  I know that you will receive an answer of its truthfulness.

I know this church is true! The gospel is true! The Book of Mormon is the word of God. God lives! He is our Heavenly Father and He loves us! Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior. I love this gospel and the light and happiness it brings me.  This is my testimony and witness that I give in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen!

Love you all! have a great week! (Sorry I don't have time to write more!) If you want to know how to help me, write me, send me recipes, and watch the Hastening the Work of Salvation Broadcast on LDS.org, tell me what you thought and the  apply it in your lives! Also, if anyone has a burning desire to send Peanut butter, Mac and Cheese Cheese Packets, Taco Seasoning, or American measuring cups and spoons, I would love you forever and maybe repay you with some Ukrainian chocolate! :)

Love,

Sister Ford

PS-  Write me :) I would love mail and email! kati.ford@myldsmail.net

Also, no pics this week...Our internet club won't let us send them :(  I will have a ton next week!!