Happy 4th of July!!

Dear Family and Friends, 

Happy late- 4th of July! I hope you had a great BBQ weekend! We did! :)

 On Friday (The 4th of July) we had a 3-Zone Conference with our new mission president, President Packer and his family. THEY ARE THE CUTEST! 

 Zone Conference July 4th 2014 Picture

 Kati with Elder Sant a good friend of Danelle Larsen in Colorado!

 Double photo bomb!!

 Me and my beautiful companion :)

 4th of July. 'merica pride

 

 They have 4 kids, 2 teenage boys and 2 young girls and their kids are all so cute and good. I guess I never really thought about what the kids of mission presidents would have to "sacrifice", but these kids gave up sports, friends, toys. All of the kids are very involved in sports,  - Basketball, baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, fishing, gymnastics, horseback riding, cheer leading - and they left their teams and their sports to come and serve the Lord. They are a great example to me of "going and doing what the Lord commands". 

The whole family has had a crazy past 8 weeks as they have learned about the call and packed and moved and started serving as mission president and family. Normally I think mission presidents get 6 months to prepare, so you can imagine that crazy journey. But they are here and excited to be here and we had a great conference on Friday! From that conference, I again just felt that the Lord is preparing the hearts of people here. President told us several times that during conversations that he had with different apostles, they all would say that Ukraine is the place to be serving right now. People are ready here in Ukraine! That is why we are here, and especially why I (Sister Ford) am here! :) To help people come unto Christ and learn about His restored church! :)  

Because it was the 4th of July, instead of typical pizza, we had Hamburgers and Hot-Dogs! YUM! :) So American! There was watermelon and strawberry shortcake. I spent some time cutting up peppers to help the senior couples. All the peppers were orange and I remarked how they looked like Jack-o-lanterns. Before long, with the help of one of the senior elders, we carved a jack-o-lantern into one of the peppers. So we celebrated many American holidays all at once :) 

That was such a fun part of this week, but some parts of this week were a little stressful. After a couple really weird, not good, and strange experiences with our landlady, we decided that we needed to move out. So this week, we (in the few spare moments we had) looked for apartments. Looking for apartments isn't that fun, although we looked at one today that had a bathtub literally as big as a swimming pool... And two bathrooms. And a microwave and a couch. and carpet. It was really nice. I'll keep you updated on the search, but just pray that we will find one before too long, I hate that we have to use our time to find an apartment. We keep praying that the apartment that we move into will have a landlady that wants to be baptized :) I know that the Lord can lead us to people that are ready for the gospel even if it is while we are looking for an apartment. 

 doing dropbys in beautiful Ukraine

We got lost in a cemetery. They are pretty here in Ukraine 

Also this week, I finally got my Ukrainian Passport back! YAY! That required a trip to Kyiv, where we stopped at a little cafe to get lunch after 2 hours of paperwork. This magical little cafe had FLOUR-FREE chocolate cake. Oh my goodness it was so good :) That was a little blessing :) 

Flour-free chocolate cake :) 

One really special tender mercy: Do you remember IRA? From odessa? My friend!  Today I had a special tender mercy when I read my emails. I read an email from Ira (now Sister Esaulenko). She told me the experience of how she was set apart to be a missionary today. She told me how special that was for her and how she has never before felt the Spirit and the power of the Priesthood so strongly. Ira had a hard time deciding to serve, because she was worried about leaving her mother. When she finally decided to go, delay after delay after delay kept her from receiving a call and leaving when she had planned. Yet again, big trials came as her mother passed away. But Ira never gave up and now is going to be a great missionary in L'viv! I'm so grateful for the chance I had to meet her and to be her friend. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to teach her the temple preparation class. Those lessons were some of the most spiritual experiences of my mission, because she was so prepared and ready to learn. I am so excited for her and the step that she is taking in her life! 

And then in a especially special tender mercy, I just barely got to talk to Ira on the phone and tell her I love her and how great she will be! That was so special for me and one of those special moments where I just felt so grateful for the chance I have to be on a mission and met these incredible people :) :) 

I love you all! Missions are the best! Keep on, Keeping on! 

With Love, 

Sister Ford