Mariah, week 52, Poltava

Hedgehogs, adventures to the сило, and 101 investigators.


Hello world. I'm not dead! Promise! Oh man, this past week has been crazy. It's felt like I've been on two totally different sides of my physical and emotion spectrum as a missionary. Oh, the life of a missionary. Как жизин у меня есть. (What a life I have.)

So pretty much a bajillion and five things happened to Sister Patterson and I this week. Which in a quick summary, included eating fancy at a fancy~ish restaurant, petting a wild hedgehog that a drunk man caught in a park (apparently hedgehogs are native to Ukraine?). I FINALLY learned how to read Ukrainian (there are a few letters that sound different in Ukrainian compared to Russian). Zone Conference happened last Monday, hence why our P-day was on last Saturday... which, to be honest, kind of threw off the rhythm of our week... but Zone Conference was good. It had a really big focus on contacting and finding families... which is my mission's new focus. We don't go out to contact anymore. We go out to teach street lessons and find families to meet with. So far this focus has treated our area very well because we've found five new ladies to teach this week... Granted, we haven't been able to meet their families yet -- but only time will tell!!

Um what else... On Friday, Sister Patterson and I spent the early afternoon in the сило (you say it like Cee Lo Green -- except without the Green) which means "village"... and boy are there ever villages in Ukraine. Villages are where almost everyone and their dog goes out to during the weekend to take care of their доча -- their country house -- where they grow all kinds of vegetables and fruits and just to be frank, being out on the village is like living out on the farm. It's too cool out there. N'waay so we went to one of the villages outside of Poltava to visit the branch president and his wife. I think it's pretty safe to say that they were one of the first members of the church here in Poltava. They became members 15+ years ago. Сестра H. is the branch's historian and has the whole history of the Poltava branch -- every single baptism, almost every single anything that has happened in Poltava, she has pictures of it. It was so cool to flip through the three thick binders of the history of the church in Poltava. They were such good hosts. They fed us feast of samples of delicious Ukrainian food... and afterwards, Сестра H. took us around their farm and gave us all kinds of fresh fruit and vegetables! 

Fresh carrots and onions! Score!

Seriously though!! Fresh fruit and vegetables is something that I'm seriously going to miss about Ukraine. At this time of the year in June, there are people lining the sidewalks selling their goods -- fresh cherries, berries, onions, dill weed, cucumbers, and x-number of other kinds of veggies and stuff. And it's dirt-cheap compared to how much someone would pay for fresh produce back home. Fresh strawberries grown without pesticides for 14 грн (about $1.25) for a kilo? Deal!

Sorry, America -- but Ukraine wins this one.

And I dunno what else that Ukraine has brought to Sister Patterson and I this week. Plenty of things, I'm sure... but my time's almost up. So... testimony time! I know my Savior lives and I feel His love for me everyday. Everyday that I'm here in Ukraine, I'm slowly starting to come to recognize how this is His work -- not my work. I am just an instrument in His hands. And the church is true and the book that I am here to give a chance for everyone here in Poltava to read is awesome. If you don't have a copy of the Book of Mormon... let me know and I will do what I can to make sure that you have your own copy and you can read and know for yourself what I'm talking about.

And that is all. TTFN

xoxo

Sister McCrea