Just Keep Swimming!

Dear Family and Friends, 

You know the saying, "When it rains, it pours". That was this week, literally and figuratively. We got poured on this week. 

In the literal aspect of things, there was a couple days this week, where it would rain and downpour and then stop and then start again. It was impossible to predict! A complete sunny day would turn into a rain pour within 10 minutes.  Ukraine... It also had a funny habit of pouring rain whenever we were outside, walking, with no umbrella. It was fun! I love the rain! 

But figuratively, let me try and paint this picture of this week: 

Our really golden potential investigator totally rejected our offer to learn about the gospel, our golden family has been avoiding us to no end, our cute progressing investigator, in the middle of a great lesson where she asked about baptism, suddenly announced her plans to vacation in Crimea for a month. So our teaching pool has basically shrunk to nothing. But we will find more! 

This week, on Thursday night, our landlady called, and told us that they are going to remodel our apartment and she had a replacement apartment for us to move into. But we had to move out by Saturday. I'm not sure that is legal, but in Ukraine, anything goes... So we quickly packed up all of our stuff, and all of the random missionary stuff and on Saturday, the elders helped us as we moved. The new apartment was right down the street, which was nice. As far as this temporary apartment, we are praying that it will only be temporary. It is old and has some fun quirks. Again no hot water, and our stove and oven are an adventure. Our beds... I don't even think you can call them  beds. But This morning we unpacked and cleaned. I hung up all my cards and quotes and you know what, I think it will be okay. At least we have a roof to keep all of the rain out :) 

I know last week, I said that I was feeling better. Yeah... not really true. I ended up visiting the doctors a few times this week. I think I have had enough of Ukrainian doctors, where most things are pretty normal, but every once in a while, they say or do something, and you are like, "really?" But this doctor place was super nice and the doctor spoke english (YES!) and so that was an adventure. None of the tests that the doctors have done have found anything, but they think that it is a gluten intolerance. So that will be an adventure, especially since my mission food staples are bread and pasta. We will have to get creative :) But not going to lie, a few self-pity tears have been shed. 

So yeah, I could keep going and mention a couple other things, but I think you get the picture :) But moral of the store, This week has been hard for me. Really hard. Today I read a conference talk from President Monson, and part of it really comforted me. He said:

"Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we must pass. We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve, and when we maybe tested to our limits. However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us,and to become something different from what we were—better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were,with stronger testimonies than we had before."

So I know, that God is just helping me to grow. He is shaping me into the person that he wants me to be! And it is hard sometimes, but it is good! I can so clearly see the growth that I am making and the lessons I am learning and that is a huge blessing in my life!  So although, things are hard, I'm just going to keep on swimming through the rainstorms. And like President Uchtdorf has said, I'm not going to wait for the rainbows without taking the time to enjoy the rain! That's so true, I've seen so many blessings this week! 

For example:

Our branch president is getting married this week! I consider it a blessing that the relief society asked us to help them prepare. I love weddings :) 

Our elders had a baptism, the husband of a member. I love seeing the gospel bless the lives of other people! 

I had so many emails to read this week! thanks everyone for the love! 

And most of all, I've learned that there is always a reason for a smile and a laugh. Last night, in a huge tender mercy, Sister Larcabal and I found a book of Bible Jokes. For example:

Who is the fastest runner in the whole Bible? 

Adam, he was the very first in the Human race. 

hehehe. So we laughed at those for a long time last night! 

So everything is looking up! Pray for Ukraine! :) I love you all! Yesterday marked 4 months until I am home! I can't believe how fast time is flying! Scary! 

Love, 

Sister Kati Ford 

PS- Funny Story, This week we were on the computers and noticed that there was a new Mormon Message. I watched it (http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3609934299001) and then it got to a point where they showed a picture of this man named Walter, who was dead. I was watching it and got so confused, because Walter looked just like my GRANDPA! I must of watched it 3-4 times, trying to figure out if maybe my grandpa had a long lost twin, if I had been super forgetful during my mission, or if maybe my grandpa was Walter. I could not figure it out for the life of me! Thankfully, the problem was solved today when grandma emailed me and told me that Grandpa had played a role in the new mormon message! Well, grandpa, you did a great job :) I loved it! 

Sorry also, I took pictures this week, but forgot my camera at home. :(

Happy Tuesday!

Dear Family and Friends, 

How is everyone doing? Is everyone enjoying the summer? Can you believe that it is already June?

This past week it really started to feel like summer here! I love it! It is beautiful and warm and everyone is going on picnics and having fun! The little lake by our house has turned into a swimming pool for all the little boys and every once in a while I see them diving in the water from the bridge, which alerts my lifeguard senses because the water isn't more then a meter deep and there are rocks and stuff in the bottom. So if I end up jumping in to save some drowning little kid... that would be quite an adventure. haha. 

The weather and the people out and about has reminded me a lot of my first few weeks in Odessa and here in Ukraine! I remember this hot, humid weather, and it is bringing back a lot of good memories of those beginning transfers! I love the summers in Ukraine, everything is so green and beautiful! I didn't realize how blessed I was last summer to be in an apartment with air conditioning and screens on the windows and hot water.. Because now we don't have any of those. It is a lot like camping, so that is fun :) We've started boiling water so that we can at least have a little bit of hot water when we shower! Oh adventures of a missionary in Ukraine.. :) 

This week was pretty uneventful. I really was sick for most of the week, so that was no fun! I still am, but slowly getting better. I spent a lot of time sleeping. and eating the food that Sister Larcabal made. She loves to experiment in the kitchen and in our Branch Newsletter her first week here, she wrote, "I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen. Then I make Sister Ford try what I made. Sister Ford is very brave". So now whenever we talk with any members, they reference to her cooking attempts and my bravery, which is funny. But she really did experiment this week. Most of it was really good. She made some sort of sweet and sour chicken with peaches and Ramen noodles... and some gyros with strawberry yogurt and pepperoni. So that was fun this last week. 

I've had a lot of time to think this last week, while I was sick, and I decided that missions are way to short. As I look back on this last 14 months, I feel like I have only been gone for about 3 and like I should still have more than a year to be here in Ukraine. So when I realize how short of time I have left and how long I have actually been here, it makes me so sad. Especially being stuck inside, sick. But it has been really good motivation to work my hardest all the time and to not waste any time, because it is so short! Sister Larcabal and I, together with the elders in our district, have decided to talk only in Russian, after some teaching from President came out. We want to be the best in Russian that we can and the time where we can talk all day, every day in Russian, is extremely short! So if my english seems extra bad, that is why :) 

Yesterday was a national holiday in Ukraine, and so our branch had a picnic! It was so fun! 

 playing games at the picnic

 

We played games, and talked and ate some Plove (chicken and carrots and rice) that was coooked over a fire. It was so fun! I was grateful especially for the chance to meet and spend time with the young women. 

 picking and eating wild cherries from the forest :)

We took a break from the forest and went to buy ice cream with them and it was just so fun! They are great girls and examples to the youth here! One of them, just got her mission call, to TEMPLE SQUARE! yay! She is going to do so good there and I can visit her! President Klebingat's son also got his mission call, to the Baltic Mission, Russian Speaking! After being there last week, he is going to enjoy serving there :) 

This coming week, we have an appointment with a potential FAMILY! Oh, that is so rare here and we are so excited! :) I can't wait to let you know how that goes :) Also, we have transfers this week, but basically everything is staying the same. We are being joined in our district by Elder Bolt, which will be super fun! Elder Roggow is going down to Odessa, so we said goodbye to him today. 

 District meeting pictures

 

Yesterday was his birthday, so we ate some cake and it was really fun! :) 

I love you all! I hope everything is happy there :) Enjoy the summer! Go swimming :) 

Love, 

Sister Kati Ford

I am the Luckiest!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

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! :) 

Where in the world is Sister Ford??

Dear Family and friends and everyone! 

Happy Memorial Day! Yay! Although I didn't even think about that until just now. I hope everyone is BBQ-ing and doing all that fun summer stuff! :) 

 darth vador is running for president

 TGIF! Yum

It rained and stormed everyday this week 

 

I'm still in Ukraine, but in about an hour, I'm meeting up with the workers at the service center to catch a flight to Latvia! Yay! Last night, Sister Hunt, Robertson and I all met up and then stayed in Center Kyiv with SIster Larcabal and Roe. It was a party! It was probably one of the funnest nights of my mission thus far...We ate some left-over pizza and chocolate and shared a bed and it was great fun. Missionary sleepovers are the best :) hehe 

sleepover :)

This week was REALLY GOOD! Do you remember Natasha from last week? We ended up meeting with her several times this week! She is so cute and she came to church! 

We just had a man come in and sell us ties, I got some sweet ties :) :) :) 

  the new ties that I just bought

But unfortunately, I ate away my email time and now we are going to have to run to the service center :) But now that I love you all! I'm so grateful for all that you do! ;) Thanks for being so great! 

I love you all, the church is true! I'll tell you so much about Latvia next week! 

Pray for Ukraine! :) 

Love, 

Sister Ford 

We just met the BEST babuska!

Dear family and friends, 

Happy Monday! Happy Spring! Happy rainstorms every night! Happy soaking wet sister missionaries because we forget umbrellas everyday! Happy missionary life! 

I love you all! I love missionary work and today I am just especially grateful for my opportunity to serve in this mission and to be on a mission! The church is so true! 

Russian Headdresses that we found in the church :) 

This week was great! It was so good! It was a little crazy but good. Life is good! I am happy! And we are seeing a lot of miracles and happy things here in Brovary! I don't even know where to start! 

First off, we just went outside to buy a snack and oh my, it is so pretty! the sun is shining and there are so many white fluffies floating around (I don't actually know what they are) that it looks like it is snowing! I love Ukraine! 

ukraine beauty :)

This week we got transfer and learned that Sister Larcabal and I will be together this transfer! We are really excited and we know that it will be great! :) So a part of this week was packing and unpacking but that was a pretty small part!

This week, we headed up north for an exchange! we were in the cute Chernigov! It was an amazing exchange! Us four sisters together had 6 lessons, found a new investigator and met with a girl that then agreed to be baptized! It was a really fun day! I served with Sister Powell and we had a blast! We even went to this cute Vereniki (dumpling) restaurant and it was really fun! :) 

exchange pics :)

This week, we met with a lot of members to get better acquainted. We had a fun lesson with a family with a few little kids. We taught about how doing the little things strengthens our testimony. We had balloons and we blew them up while we talked about all the little things that we could do. Then we talked about how if you tied the balloon off and didn't add anymore air, it would shrink and not be as big so we need to always be adding more air. :) It was cute and the kids loved it! :) 

We also met with our new branch president and his family! They are the best. Our new branch president is about to get married so we talked about that a little bit. Eventually we got on the topic of their conversion story. It was so cool! Then they feed us Borsch. It was a great meeting! I love members here! They are always so nice and good :) 

 Sister Powell on Exchanges :)

rainbow in the park

Funny story, Sunday morning, we were studying and we got a call. It was President Anton, our branch president. He then asked me to speak in church (Which started in two hours), with the theme of MODESTY. ???? Before he told me that topic, I didn't even know how to say that in Russian!! So originally it was a five minute talk but two minutes before the meeting started, they asked me to speak for 10 minutes. Oh my oh! It actually went really well. Everyone said that it was really good. Haha :) 

Last Monday night, our lesson fell through so we went to look for someone. We had their address but nothing else. So we went and when we got there, they were not home. We had brought some Banana bread to give to our friend, but she wasn't home. As we walked out, we saw these two grandmas. We decided to give our treat to them. As we approached, one said, "Sister Ford, I love the book you gave me". Turns out that I had given the babushka (grandma) a book of Mormon before and she loves it! So we got to talking and before we knew it, we had 4 new babushki friends. They even invited us to live in their house with them. It was so fun! :) I love the babushki here :) 

don't think we are too weird, but some district pictures... 

Yesterday and Today, We have been able to witness an amazing miracle. Yesterday, Brother Roman (Family, you met him, he was the first one you saw), came up and told us that he met this lady and that we could meet with her and him tomorrow. so we agreed for that and today we came and he came and she came and we met Natasha. She is the super cute hip babushka that loves ping-pong, is a professional at the accordion and knows 4 different languages. We taught her about the restoration of our church and a little more about what we believe. It was really awesome. There was a strong Spirit there. At the end of the meeting, she asked to meet again and have more lessons. So we set one up for Thursday. But then, as we played some ping-pong (she plays so well), she asked if we could meet tomorrow too! So we are really excited to meet with her and help her learn more about the church. She told us about how she felt really strongly that she needed to come into our building and that she loves what we are teaching already! she is super fun :) 

Because all of the Donetsk missionaries left, I got to choose if I wanted to come home in September or October. And I chose October, so see you October 15th :) Also, I'm not sure when you will get an email from me next week, because next Monday at 11:45 is when I fly to Latvia to renew my visa! It will be interesting! :) I've had to do a lot of paperwork for that this week, but it has been good :) Hopefully everything will go as planned! :) 

Natasha, our new babushka friend

 

This coming Sunday, is a big day for Ukraine! election day! On Tuesday, as we were walking home, we walked right into a political rally. One of the candidates was speaking in our park. So that was interesting! There was so many people there! Everyone right now has so much Ukrainian Pride. Pray for them this Sunday, that everything will resolve in a peaceful way! 

I love you all! Have a great week! :) 

Love, 

Sister Kati Ford

All is Well! All is Well!

Dear Family and Friends! 

Happy One Day After Mother's Day! I love my Mother and I'm so grateful for her example and love. She is the best! Also, a BIG SHOUT-OUT to all the other women that have had a great impact in my life, my grandmothers, teachers, friends, aunts, cousins. Y'all are so great and I love you! I hope that everyone enjoyed a happy Mother's Day yesterday! 

I got the best present on Mother's Day this year, I got to talk to my family! Yay! :) I have the best family! Just so you know, my companion was VERY impressed by my brothers. She thinks that you are the best brothers that any sister could have, and I agree. :) I love you all so much and miss you and am excited to see you in the fall! :) 

Site seeing in Kyiv

WHEW! What a week! I'm sure many of you have MANY questions about what has happened this last week. I'm sure most of you saw this update on some sort of news site: 

"Due to ongoing uncertainty in Ukraine, 67 missionaries formerly serving in the Ukraine Donetsk Mission who had previously been transferred to other areas within Ukraine will be reassigned to missions within their home countries to complete the remainder of their service. Forty-one missionaries who anticipated serving in Ukraine have been reassigned to other missions."

and I'm sure that many of you maybe even thought I was being reassigned or coming home. But I'm still here (and actually part of the Kyiv mission). But my companion, Sister Walker, was part of the Donetsk mission and that actually should've said ex-companion because she is already back in America, serving in California. I'm am confident that she is doing an excellent job there, but I miss her here! 

We found out in the middle of zone conference on Tuesday that all those missionaries would be leaving and it completely changed our week. We found out Tuesday and spent all day Tuesday in conference with President (of the Mission) Klebingat and President (of the Area Presidency) Bennett. The next day, Wednesday was when we found out that they needed to be packed by Thursday and so she packed. Thursday I dropped her off at the mission home, where all of the departing missionaries got one more chance to meet with President. Then they all flew out on Friday morning. If any of them are now serving in your ward, you are so lucky! They are amazing missionaries and you are lucky to have them there! We miss their presence here and really feel as though we lost half of our mission!. 

Since Sister Walker left, I have been serving temporarily with Sister Larcabal; whose companion also left. Sister Larcabal is awesome and we have been having some good times together! She got to meet my family and I got to meet hers so that was really fun! We probably won't be with each other past tomorrow but I have enjoyed serving with her! 

Sister Walker and I 

One fun memory from Sister Walker. We ended up meeting with a less active family on Wednesday night. We had a very spiritual lesson and at the end, her sons brought out their pet bird. We got to play with it and it was really cute, or at least that is what I thought! But Sister Walker is terrified of birds, so she was just so freaked out the whole time and scared to death. But hey, she let it land on her head and overcame her fears :) It was a good moment :) 

I've learned a lot of lessons in this last week, with the biggest one being that the Lord has a plan for us! He loves us and wants us to be happy! He has a specific plan for each one of us! He knows that this plan will give us all the knowledge and experience that we need in order to become the person that he wants us to be. When we were at our conference, President Bennett spoke a little bit about how when new trials or experiences come, many people say, "Here we go again" and how, to better face those trials and experiences, we can change it to "Here we GROW again" and take the time to find the lessons that God wants us to learn in every experience! I have a testimony that God works in mysterious ways but that they are only mysterious to us because we can't see the whole picture. When we see it all, we will realize that it makes perfect sense! 

At our conference, we ended with the song "Come, Come Ye Saints" which was the same song that Sister Larcabal and I sang yesterday as a musical number. The following words were very comforting to me during this strange and eventful week. Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
'Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell--
All is well! All is well!

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
'Tis not so; all is right.
Why should we think to earn a great reward
If we now shun the fight?
Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;
And soon we'll have this tale to tell--
All is well! All is well! 

 

especially the second verse! I'm excited to take up more courage, to trust in God more and to really have the faith that the Lord is watching over and has a perfect plan! His work is moving here and hastening along! I love you all and am grateful for your prayers and love! Keep up the good work! 

Pray for Ukraine! They need it now more than ever :) 

Love, 

Sister Kati Ford 

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Hola Amigos! 

Haha just kidding... I'm in Ukraine, not Mexico!

HAPPY TRANSFO WEEK! That is the real celebration of this week! This week was pretty crazy, but really good! I love being a missionary! 

I'll start with last P-day.... It was probably one of the best P-days that I have ever had! After we finished our studies and email, we headed into downtown Kyiv! We went to what is called the Spoosk. It is a huge long street with souvineer shops all the way down it! It was so fun! They had EVERYTHING! :) I ended up buying some soccer scarfs, a real fur hat, a Vishevanka (Traditional Ukraine Shirt) and some magnets. We met one man, he would give us really good prices on everything. It was so nice! I got almost all the souvineers that I wanted... the only problem is that now I want more because I saw it there!  :P  I hope I can send pictures today, because we have some fun ones. We brought one of our recent converts with us, which was really great because he carried all our bags AND protected us from the sometimes intense salespeople....  We also had a really yummy dinner of traditional Ukrainian foods. It was so good! :) 

The rest of the week until Wednesday was spent with Sister Winsor saying goodbye to all of her favorite members. It was really weird that EVERYONE except Elder Roggow and I left, I was all the sudden the one that had to know how to get everywhere...Thank goodness Brovary is SMALL! :) 

On Wednesday, I got to go over to a lady names Nadedja and her family. They come to our english! They invited us to make Shashlik with them, which is Ukrainian Shiskabobs. They were SO good! It was such a fun day! We got to share a little bit more about what we believed with them which was really special. Nadedja is a Mary-Kay saleslady and as we were walking out the door, she comes up and says,

 "girls, when was the last time you had a face mask done?" 

"umm... long long long long time ago..."

To which she replies 

"I can tell" 

Then proceeded to give us face masks and makeovers. It was nice of her. She gave us a bunch of free makeup and a book about Mary Kay. In russian... That will be my language study when I get home... haha :) 

Thursday was transfer day and I headed into the mission office and picked up my new companion! Sister Walker is from Utah, and is a funny, cute 20 year old sister from the former Donetsk mission! She is my age on the mission and we are having a blast together so far. She loves hashtags #whodoesnt and to share clothes, so I think we will get along great. She also has connections with everyone... it's crazy! We are now the ONLY sisters in our area and it is really fun. I haven't been without another set of sisters since November and it's different! But it will be so great! We will have a lot of work to do with the branch and will all of the investigators and people from English! :) 

This rest of this week has been a blur of getting settled into a new companionship, planning and setting goals, and normal missionary life!  We had an awesome Saturday, complete with soccer (I'm getting so much better!!!!) and game night (also getting better there!) haha. With all of the old missionaries gone, everyone looked to me a lot more. It was different to take the lead in everything but really good. I'm really excited for this transfer, I think it will be so good! :) 

Sunday, we got a new branch president! About time, the old one had been in for 12 years. Wow. But out new branch president is 24 ( i think) and way cool. He is getting married in a month, nothing like becoming branch president and getting engaged in the same 2 weeks. What a champ. I'm excited to work with him more to help the branch! 

Funny Ukraine Story Time: So yesterday we went to stop by a less active. We had heard some weird things about her, but the Relief Society President asked us to take her something. So we took the elders with us. We got there and rang the doorbell and no one answered. So we were getting ready to leave when a man came up the stairs too. He rang the doorbells too, for the same apartment. We explained that no one answered, but he still kept ringing the door bell. When we were going to leave (because no one was answering the door), he just told us to wait. So we waited. After about 10 minutes, the door opened and someone answered. Moral of the Story??? Just keep ringing! :) Our tracting approach will be much different now.... haha not really :) 

I'm sure everyone has heard at least somewhat about everything that has been happening in Ukraine and especially this last week in Odessa. It breaks my heart to think of all that suffering and fighting in the city that I love so much. Please pray for them. Also, know that we are being cared for and watched out for. President Klebingat talks often (even everyday) with security and they are watching out for us. We are very cautious about where we go and what we do. The Lord will protect His Missionaries. 

 

Sometimes it is a little hard to be a missionary in the midst of so much sadness and hardship. In the midst of this war, it could be easy to convince ourselves that people aren't interested in our message right now. But that is not true! I can testify that despite all the fighting and chaos right now, people need this gospel! In fact, people need it more with all that is going on! And the work here is progressing -- all over our mission! We are having a lot of success. Just last night, Sister Walker and I talked to a couple who expressed to us their concerns about not knowing where to find peace and answers in these hard times. It was such a blessing being able to answer and express my testimony that we can receive comfort and answers through prayer and conversation with our Heavenly Father. He has a perfect plan for us. He has a perfect plan for Ukraine. 

And so we continue in our work here, knowing that we are blessed to see the Lord's hand everyday working to bless and protect us! 

I love you all! I hope you have a great day! and week :) 

Love, 

Sister Kati Ford