HAPPY
SEPTEMBER FIRST! This is one of my favorite Ukrainian Holidays. Every
year, on September 1st, school starts. So all the little kids get
dressed up in their best school uniforms, and they go to school with
their families to meet their teachers and get books and all that. The
girls all have huge white bows in their hair, and most of them have pig
tails. It is so cute :) All the kids take huge bunches of flowers to
their teachers (I'm not sure what the teachers do with so many flowers)
and chocolate and such. It is so fun to see all the teachers and
children together and to see them going back to school. It is super
cute! :)
This
week was really good. Full of lots of little miracles and tender
mercies! I love being here in Ukraine! I love being a missionary! This
week hasn't been easy, but I've found that as I trust in God, and take
one step at a time I realize that He is continuing to mold me into the
person that He wants me to be. He has a perfect plan for me, and it is
different then what I want, but exactly what I need. No one can argue
that the Lord doesn't know best, right? :)
This
week was full of tender mercies, especially in considering who I saw! I
got to do an exchange with Sister Hunt
Sister hunt and I on exchange :)
and it was so much fun as we
celebrated our 17th month mark on a mission! We reflected on how far we
have come together, and how great being a missionary is! I'm so glad
that we have always had each other, from day one on this amazing
journey! I also got the chance to do mini-exchanges with Sister Leavit
and Sister Sink, who go home this week! We got to talk, and I loved
spending a little bit of time with both of those special sisters. It was
WAY interesting to spend a night with 3 of my former/current companions
all at once. We had a lot of fun! :) I also got to spend a little bit
of time with Sister Carr, who I knew in Odessa. And of course with
Sister Larcabal. We continued to bond this week, relishing our last days
together. Sister Larcabal and I have had a LOT of adventures together,
so learning last week that she wouldn't be my companion anymore was
kinda sad. But I'm excited for new moments to come.
game night :)
"attitude" at game night.
I
found out that I will be serving with Sister Batalova next transfer,
here in Brovary! Woo-hoo! With a native from Russia! I can't believe it.
I've always wanted to serve with a native, and she is super cute! i
think we will have a lot of fun together! :) and I am so excited to stay
here in Brovary and finish my mission here! I love the people here and
doing missionary work in Brovary is the best! Our investigators are
still doing well, I didn't get a chance to meet with many of them this
week, we had some unforeseen things pop up, but we have been able to
talk with them on the phone. Because Sister Larcabal is going to Kyiv to
serve, we were able to set up to meet with Oksana this week! YAY! I
can't wait to see her! :) She is still so sad that she can't come to
church or see us anymore, but we are just so excited to see her during
her lunch break :)
Celebrating with ice cream
Birthday party for Sister Clark,
can you even see me?
I love the
feeling that I get from time to time, confirming that the Lord leads
this work and that he is preparing people for the gospel. I got that
feeling several times this week. One moment was when I got on a bus,
heading into Kyiv. I sat down next to this man, and noticed that he was
reading the Bible. THE BIBLE! who reads the bible on the bus? So I asked
him, "Do you like to read the Bible?" (great opening line, I know? haha
like anyone would read the Bible on the bus if they didn't like it).
and so of course he answered yes. So I asked him what church he was part
of, and he told me that he had looked around a lot, but had never found
the true church. And so, I took that opportunity to teach about the
restoration and the Book of Mormon. He was so excited and eagerly
accepted the Book of Mormon and the invitation to learn more and meet to
take the missionary lessons.
We
talked the whole bus ride into Kyiv (like 30 minutes) and he was just
full of perfect questions. In Preach My Gospel, there is a section
called "Questions of the Soul" that teaches where to find answers in the
Book of Mormon to questions of the Soul and at that moment, Dima
(that's his name) was pretty much asking questions straight off that
list. It was so fun to testify that the Book of Mormon could answer his
questions-- because it can! If you read the Book of Mormon with a
prayerful heart, it will answer almost any question that you have! I
love the Book of Mormon! :)
I
love being a missionary, especially in unplanned teaching moments,
where you don't have anything prepared, so you just have to rely on the
Spirit. I love those moments, because you feel the Spirit so strongly,
and He helps you know what to say and how to say it and helps you
remember the Russian words that you need. It is so AWESOME :)
I
feel like I have already said it about 20 times in this email but I
LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! I love sharing the gospel. I am savoring every
day that I have left, because I know that these moments are special. The
gospel is true! Christ lives and He loves us! He and Heavenly Father
have a perfect plan for us! They want what is best! Through the
Atonement, we receive comfort during hard times and they will never
forsake us!
It's a great message to share, and I feel so blessed that I have been called to share it here in Ukraine! :)
I love you all!
Love,
Sister Kati Ford
No comments:
Post a Comment