Mission Advice

Dear Family and Friends, 

Well...I think that everyone in our family is thinking about the same things right now, mainly HOW SOON JACOB LEAVES ON HIS MISSION! 9 days! WOW! I'm so excited! :) I can't believe that he is going and leaving and will be in Mexico and in the MTC there... wow. 

So I have been thinking a lot about my mission and things that I wish that I would have done different or that I would have known...so that will be the theme of my email today. But even if you aren't a missionary, or if you won't ever be a missionary, just remember that "every member is a missionary" and I'm sure that there will be something here for you :) 

MY ADVICE FOR FUTURE MISSIONARIES :) (cough, cough... Jacob) :) 

• Being a missionary is the best :) Just remember that the mission can for sure be the best 18 months or 2 years of your life, but it is your choice :) 

•  Related back to the last point, although sometimes 18 months or two years can seem like forever, the time that you have to serve is SO SHORT! You can't waste a minute!  

• Set goals and plan well. :)

• This one may just be me, but sing together in companionship study everyday. Singing makes missionaries happy! 

• The mission is the best time to start good habits. If there is something that you have always wanted to do (like study the scriptures everyday), the mission is the best time to start doing those things everyday, and those habits that you start now will turn in the lifelong habits if you do them everyday on your mission. 

 Speaking of habits, I will mention a few: 

• Journal writing. Write about everyday, what happens, good things, funny things, sad things, miracles, so on and so forth. You will regret it if you don't have something written about everyday. And plus, it makes writing letters home easier. 

• Exercise. As President Klebingat would say, "Sweat is weakness leaving the body" Don't be lazy and actually do some good exercise. Like run :) Or like I did today, play basketball 

• Be clean. Do you dishes. Organize yourself. You can feel the Spirit more strong when your surroundings are clean. Plus as a missionary, you don't have that much stuff, so there is really no excuse. :) 

• Get enough sleep. Go to bed early and wake up early. This is a habit that I am trying to set in stone for after my mission. There is so much that can be done between 8-11 in the morning, so I think it is better to get to bed early and use that day time wisely! 

• Learn how to cook :) 

But back to general advice: 

• The best way to learn the language is to speak it. The best way to understand the language AND the people is to listen. Find a good balance. 

• Create a good relationship with the members of the church. Let them know who you are. Be the awesome missionary that you always wanted to be around at home. 

• Take with you a photo album. Put in there pictures of your family, but also add pictures of you and friends, hobbies, pets and so on. Have a couple funny pictures. Share those pictures with the members, so they can get to know you. Ask to see their pictures too! 

• You can't love the Lord if you don't love His rules. You can't love your mission if you don't love the mission rules. Learn to love your mission rules and be exactly obedient. Just be obedient because you have too, be obedient because you want too! Always try to be more exactly obedient! And be obedient even and especially if everyone around you isn't obedient! Be the example

• ALWAYS have a back up plan. Because if you don't your first plan will always fall through. like clockwork... 

• Don't be afraid to love the people. LOVE them with all your heart. Let them know that you love them. Love is the secret (one of them) to missionary work! 

• Missionaries are examples to people all the time. Remember that you are an example to everyone around you. Live worthy of their trust! 

• Count your blessings daily! Be thankful and don't complain! There is a miracle everyday, if  you can just see it! Look for the little happy things every day

• Love the food. Enjoy trying new things, even if they are gross! 

• You determine your destiny! Take the high road and work hard and choose to be happy and successful! 

• Love conferences, love the temple, love the general authorities of the church. First off, that sets a good example to others, second off, seriously, for missionaries, zone conference, mission conference and especially general conference are like holidays and same with going to the temple and having meetings with any church leaders. Don't forget how big of a blessing those are :)  

• Don't be upset by the small things! 

• Take LOTS of pictures! And take pictures with everyone! You don't want to forget! 

• Bring an English dictionary. People that are learning English will know random words that you don't know. 

• Remember that all you have to do is try your best. Do your best and put the trust in Him! You aren't perfect, but he is! He has all power! And together with him, we can be all powerful! The Lord qualifies those whom he calls! And he has called us! 

• Be yourself! The Lord called YOU! 

• Play sports :) With members, investigators, missionaries! Sports are the best! 

• Remember that you represent Jesus Christ. Remember that it is really not about you, but all about who you represent! Let people come to know CHRIST! You represent him in all that you do!

• Don't be afraid to INVITE! Be bold. An invitation born out of love can't offend anyone! Let them know that you care by inviting them to change, act, and repent! 

• Learn of Christ and his Atonement and how it can strengthen and empower you! (See The Enabling Power of the Atonement)

Speaking of the last point, my testimony of this has really grown in the last few weeks of this. I remember that I was really worried when the doctor asked me to stop eating gluten. I was worried about all that I wouldn't be able to eat. So I prayed for strength to continue on and I have seen and felt that strength. The Lord didn't take away the intolerance that I have been having to gluten, but he did strengthen my will power. He has helped me so that I don't desire or feel sad about not being able to eat those foods that I miss. He has helped me learn to love even more fruits and veggies and rice! And he has blessed me to be happy and healthy so that I can keep doing his work here! He loves us and is always close to strengthen and help us!  

 mission picture last with klebingats :)

 

My week was good! President Packer flew in! We had a taco party! We made milkshakes with our recent convert! 

 

 Making milkshakes with Kingsley

 

We found a new investigator and she tried to set us up with her neighbors... Oh missionary life :) 

 

Sometimes...it is too hard to play ping-pong standing up :)

 

Have a good 4th of July! :) 

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Love, 

Sister Kati Ford

Goodbye President Klebingat!

Dear Family and Friends, 

How is everyone doing? I'm doing good! Summer is so beautiful here in Kyiv! It hasn't been too hot, for which I am very grateful! But it is beautiful! Everyone is having a lot of success in their garden's so everyone keeps giving us lots and lots of yummy fruit! I love it :) 

This week was really good, but sad! On Saturday, we had a conference with our whole mission to say goodbye to the Klebingats. It was such a great meeting! We talked about a lot of different things, including dating, education, children, the world...basically all of his last advice for us! It was really sad to realize that they won't be our mission president and family anymore, but he also helped us get really excited for the Packers, who fly in on Saturday. 

I'm so grateful for President Klebingat and everything that I have learned from him and his family. He has an amazing testimony and he is such a great example of diligence and hard work. I am so excited that he is a 70 because that means that he will be in Utah every conference and every summer! So yeah, I can't wait for that :) Also I'm super excited to see Katja at BYU! :) 

At our conference we talked a lot about being strong and standing and being an example, especially in an ever changing world. It was so good! It is so important to have the faith to follow the prophet, even if the world doesn't agree with what he says. Especially when the world doesn't agree with what he says. 

The conference was also really great because all of the sisters from our MTC group were there! 

Yay! We got to talk to and see all of them and it was awesome! It is crazy to see how much they have all grown and to see how we are all teaching the gospel and helping so many people come to Christ! wow! 

At the conference, we took one final mission picture, and we all said goodbye. There was a lot of tears as we hugged President and Sister Klebingat and Katja and Daniel and Alex goodbye. We will miss them! 

 I found a hedgehog!

This week, we also had the opportunity to do a lot of service for members in our branch! Service is so much fun and it made me so happy! 

We made Primary posters for the Primary president to help them during singing time! That is some of my favorite service because I get to be so creative. We made a singing time zoo and a clothesline and a flip chart for a song, it was a lot of fun! :) Our Primary president was so relieved and grateful for the help, she almost started crying! I put a dinosaur in my zoo... hehe ;) 

We also went and did service for the Clark family this week! yay! we picked Cherries and berries and it was a lot of fun! I was on exchanges for that day, so I took Sister Welling with me and it was a lot of fun! The Clark's paperwork is getting closer and closer to being done, so I am so excited to see them in America :) yay! :) 

 Ukraine pride

This week our branch president got married! We didn't have time to go to the wedding, but I hear it was cute! But we did help them out a lot! We helped them stuff walnut cookies and we made four cakes and we helped cut some grass and decorate and some things. It reminded me a lot of wedding catering that I did in the past. Sveta (the mom) was so cute and was asking us about what we want for our weddings and such. It was so cool to see a new family start and to see them be sealed in the temple! President Anton's wife, Katja is super cute and nice! At church on Sunday, she gave us bananas. Nice girl!! :) 

We also helped a grandma in our ward do some indexing. 

Wow. Hard work. But she was determined to do it! I'm not sure how much of a help I was because I don't read old Russian, but I think I helped a little bit... I hope so anyways :) 

 Fun picture from the baptism yesterday!

I love serving and helping others! It is so true that "when you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17) And on top of that, I think it is impossible to be sad when you are serving someone else :) So if you ever are having a bad day, just find someone else to serve and I know your day will get better :) 

I love you all! Enjoy the summer! Go swimming and enjoy the outdoors! 

Love, 

Sister Kati Ford

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! :)