That
subject line sounds a little bit better when translated into Russian,
but it works in English too. Today, if I have counted right, marks 500
days on a mission! WOW! I can't believe that! It doesn't even seem like
that long! Sister Larcabal and I tried to think of what we could do to
celebrate, or what we could eat 500 of to celebrate... but we didn't
think of anything that would be possible to eat 500 of. Oh well!
So
yesterday in Relief Society, I was asked to give the Spiritual Thought.
I thought back to a verse in the Book of Mormon that I had read a few
weeks before, which says,
I told the ladies in
Relief Society that when I had first read that verse a couple weeks
earlier, I had decided that I would pray to know and see that the Lord
was preparing the hearts of the people here in Ukraine, in Kyiv, and in
Brovary! Then I was able to share with them a few examples of how God
has been preparing people here through his angels! It was so fun to
share with them how the Lord has been preparing people all around us! I
have everyday seen how God is preparing people to receive the Gospel at
this time, especially here in Ukraine.
For example:
This
last week, I was waiting for the bus, when a lady came and and sat down
next to me. I started a conversation up with her, and before long she
was looking through my family pictures. As I shared with her how the
gospel had blessed my family, she saw that I was holding a Book of
Mormon. She was like "I have that book!" It was so cool to see how she
had met missionaries before and was now still being prepared to meet
with us now. Unfortunately, her bus came before I got her number, but
I'm sure we will see her again on the street, Brovary is pretty small!
Yet again, we
were on the street. We were running so late for district meeting. We
briskly walked by this old lady. I saw out of the corner of my eye that
she watched us walk by and had stopped. Although we were running late, I
turned around and talked to her. Turns out that as we had walked by,
she had seen Jesus Christ written on our name tags and had wanted to know
more. As we told her a little bit about our message, she started
crying, talking about how things in Ukraine and so hard and scary. God
had prepared her to receive our message of joy! She agreed to meet again
and learn more about God's plan and how he has a special plan for her
and everyone in Ukraine!
We've been
taking a lot of buses lately, I guess. Yesterday on the way to the
church, We were on a bus. I sat next to a lady and noticed that she was
in a dress. So I asked her if she was going to church. She said no. And I
responded, "well...you should!" and she laughed and we started to have a
really good conversation. She shared how many years ago, she had helped
repaint our church building here in Brovary. I asked her if she had
ever been to our church services, and she said no. I asked her why and
she said that she didn't really want to then. I asked her if she would
be interested now, and she said yes! So that was special! She goes out
of town this week, but will be back in the end of August! :)
Also, this
week, I was on an exchange in Kyiv (first time I have ever been in Kyiv
for more than a few hours..which is funny, because it is the name of the
mission). But we had an opportunity to meet with a little girl named
Eva. She is from a city in Eastern Ukraine, and evacuated here with her
family. Her aunt and older brother are members of the church, but her
mom is not and until recently, her mom refused to let her met with the
missionaries, saying that she is too young. But when the family
evacuated here, her mom was able to closely interact with a lot of
members of the church. They are living in the apartment of one of the
members in Kyiv, the members bring them clothes and food and are helping
them with everything. So the Mom's heart was prepared and she is
allowing Eva to take the lessons. She was the cutest little girl and
literally knows everything about the church already and has a testimony!
Cute! We taught her about tithing, and did an object lesson where we
poured blessings (In the form of candy) down from the windows of heaven!
It was fun :) She loved it! :) She is a doll!
Sister Pugh and Lena our member friend
Eva and I making bracelets
See how the
Lord is preparing people here in Ukraine! It is so fun to be a
missionary now, here! We get to have so many fun moments on missions.
For example, this week, we had a Birthday Party, at which Sister
Larcabal and I played together (her on the piano, I was on the violin)
to the star wars theme and a couple other songs.
Happy Birthday Dallas! :)
We impressed all the 10
year old boys there. Or for example, when we were on the street and in
the space of an hour, we received tomatoes, pears, and bread all for
free from people on the street. Or for example, when we helped a grandma
in our ward learn to index and she asked if we could get permission
from the mission president for a sleepover....hmm.. probably not but it
was a sweet offer :)
See!
So fun to be a missionary! I love it! It is so easy to see how the
Lord is blessing the people here and helping them prepare to learn more
about the Savior! :) I love being a missionary! It is so fun! :)
I LOVE YOU ALL!
Love,
Sister Kati Ford
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