Every other missionary from my mission that I have seen since coming back from Ukraine has told me that they hate me...
and you know what??
I can't blame them!
I
just had the most miraculous week of my life with some very special
experiences, the highlight probably being meeting and talking with Elder
Bednar... yes, Elder David A. Bednar, like of the quorum of the 12
apostles. It was amazing! But let me start from the beginning!
So
last Monday, Sister Hunt and Robertson and I went to the service center
and started our crazy visa trip. We filled out some paperwork and then a
taxi took us to the airport. At the airport, we were eating some food
when we looked around and to our surprise saw 3 elders from another
mission in Ukraine! They had been the MTC with us so it was so good to
see them again, and especially to learn that we would be going to Latvia
together! It was fun to see what great elders they had become and kind
of feel like Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah, This is what they
said, "Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren and what did add
more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and
they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth...and when they
taught, they taught with power and authority of God" (Alma 17:2-3). So I
feel like I could say that, "[Sister Ford] did rejoice exceedingly to
see [her MTC friends] and what did add more to [her] joy, they were
still [her friends] in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the
knowledge of the truth...and when they taught, they taught with power
and authority of God". So we took the journey with them!
So
all together, we flew to Estonia (such a beautiful country) and while
there, ate at Subway!
Subway in Estonia
a view from the Airport
Yum! They don't have those here in Ukraine so we
all splurged on footlongs. yum! Then after a few hours there, we flew to
Latvia! I must admit, I had some culture shock on arriving to Latvia.
This is a famous statue in Riga
Everything was so clean and beautiful and I just didn't even know what
to do! And everyone spoke english! Weird... I don't know what I am going
to do when I get to America! I think I need to stay here forever! :) We
got there late at night and so all three of us from Kyiv crashed with
some Russian sisters there!
gray peas, traditional latvian food!
I made some stuffed peppers like a boss.
Some yummy desserts in Latvia
The
first night there, we found out that Elder Bednar was coming to Latvia,
the day after we were leaving. So that was a bummer because originally,
he was planning on coming to Ukraine. So it was sad because now we were
missing him 2 times. So we decided that we would pray to see him and
somehow still be there. It was a weird prayer though because we were
also praying that nothing would go wrong with our visas and that
everything would be ok. So we were really praying for a miracle!
The next few
days were filled with time at the Embassy, studying, eating yummy
Latvian food and enjoying the culture of a different mission! The Baltic
mission is amazing and I learned so much there! After the first night, I
was assigned to be with a different sister, Sister Mitton.
She is from
Utah and is a Latvian-speaking sister. So we were what is called a
"zebra companionship" which means that we just mixed Latvian and
Russian. Which sound nothing alike. So basically, whenever anyone was
talking Latvian, I was completely lost. So I spent some time with her in
an area called Imonta, in Riga. We had some lessons, did some drop bys,
and contacted through some beautiful forests.
This is me with a Russian and Latvian
book of Mormon! Rocking the zebra! :)
It was a great
experience. Meanwhile, with our visas, we do everything at the Embassy,
and they tell us that we will get them back on Thursday and fly back on
Friday morning. and they bought our tickets. So that meant that we
wouldn't see Elder Bednar, which was a bummer. But I really wanted to
see him, so I keep praying...
Beautiful, isn't it
The church in Lativa
On Thursday, we
received our visas back and got our flight plans and everything was
looking good to go home early Friday morning. They had been checked by
the visa clerk and the senior couple and all was good. So then it kinda
sunk in that we probably wouldn't see Elder Bednar. But I was looking at
my new visa, when all of the sudden, I saw that my birthday was wrong!
Like 40 years and a couple of months wrong. So because of that mistake,
when all the other Ukrainian missionaries left on Friday morning, I had
to stay in Riga.
This is Sister Mitton, Sister Robertson, Sister Hunt and I.
You may
notice I am on the phone, telling the
Assistants that I won't be coming
home yet... haha
I WAS A LONER! I had to get a new visa (so now I had 3
in my passport, but one is completely invalid! It only took a few hours
and by noon on Friday, I was ready to go. But I still was praying to see
Elder Bednar, who was coming Saturday afternoon. So after approval from
President Klebingat (isn't he the best!), I got permission to stay and
came home Sunday morning!
This is me and sister Mitton and her normal
companion Sister Woodland. I don't know why the
lighting is so weird...but yeah...
So it was a
miracle and an answer to my prayers because I got to meet and be in a
meeting with Elder Bednar. And you know what? He is truly an apostle of
God and a special witness of Jesus Christ. He holds all of the keys that
have been restored in this dispensation. On Saturday, Elder Bednar met
with Priesthood holders all over the Europe East area through video
conferencing. About 30 minutes after that, he met with all the
missionaries serving in Latvia (and me). That was about 40 missionaries!
And what a special experience that was. He told us that it was the 4th
time he could remember meeting with such a few amount of missionaries
since getting called to the 12. We were able to meet with him and have a
discussion for about 3 and a half hours. Him and his wife are both
amazing people and so good! But despite the calling he has, he is still a
normal person. That was interesting to learn, that he is still human
and funny and nice. He even told us that "his pants still go on one leg
at a time".
I learned so
much in this conference we had with him. We learned all about personal
revelation and consistency. We learned that we are representatives of
Jesus Christ. We learned more about study and how to receive answers.
But I think the biggest thing that I learned is that the best way to
learn and to receive answers is through the Holy Ghost. Because Elder
Bednar brought the Spirit in such a powerful way through his teaching,
the Spirit could help each one of us with our individual needs. It was a
miracle!
At
the end of the meeting, I got a very special opportunity to shake his
hand. When I shook his hand, I told him that I wasn't a missionary from
the Baltic mission, I was from the Ukraine Kyiv mission. And I asked him
if there was anything I could share with the members and missionaries
there. And, he took the time to give me a specific message for the
people here. To tell them that this work is true and then he told me
that it is my responsibility to take what I learned in our meeting, and
help the missionaries and members around me learn the same things. Quite
a commitment, Isn't it??? I was able to talk to him, and it was so
special because the whole time we talked, he just looked me right in the
eyes, and we were still shaking hands and I could just feel his love. I
could feel it for the people of Ukraine, for the missionaries of
Ukraine and I could especially feel it for me. It was an answer to my
prayers and a miracle.
So
after that amazing opportunity, I said goodbye to the beautiful land of
Latvia, and SOLO-ed a trip home. That was strange. Talk about 2 taxi
rides, 3 hours in an airport, 2 hours on a plane, and traveling all over
Eastern Europe... BY MYSELF!
it was my first time by myself in the real
world in 14 months. And I didn't like it. I'm going to miss my
companion when I get home! But the good news is, I made it! I finally
made it back to my area last night and I'm excited to be back! I'm
excited to work extra hard now and to take what I learned from the
Baltic missionaries and from Elder Bednar and become a much better
missionary!
This
church is true! I love being a missionary! I love our Prophet and the
Apostles and can testify that they are called of God! They aren't just
big faces that we see on the TV at conference, they are men that have
dedicated their lives to the service of God. They have been given real
power from God, and trust me, I know, that power is visible when you see
them. I'm just the luckiest sister in the world! I have been thinking a
lot, "why me? Why did I get to be the one missionary from Ukraine, who,
through a mistake happened to be in Latvia to meet an apostle?" and
although I don't know that answer, I do know that I have a loving
Heavenly Father, who hears and answers my prayers. I'm grateful for that
knowledge! I love this church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so great :)
I love you all! Make good choices! Share the gospel, because it's true! :)
Love,
Sister Kati Ford
PS-
Sorry there aren't any pictures of Elder Bednar... not really
allowed... But he looks just like he does on the tv and in the pictures,
but he is shorter than I thought and tanner. But other than that, just
imagine me meeting the man from the pictures and that's him! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment