Trip to Povelgrad

Yesterday I got to go out to Povelgrad (that city of about 300,000 people that's about an hour outside of Dnepr) for church! That was definitely the best Sunday I've had in Ukraine. I was companion's with the senior sister in Dnepr, and we were accompanied by her husband and two elders. I love the drive to Povelgrad - it's a solid hour of driving through endless rolling fields bordered by trees. It's so neat how the city abruptly stops and you find yourself in the middle of a vast gorgeous landscape. I quite like it. Before the church meetings, we met with our little investigator, Vloda, who is 12 years old. She's best friends with Natasha Poved, who is a member, as is Sister Poved. I was a little nervous to be teaching a lesson on my own (as Sister Merrill know possibly 20 Russian words), but it went really well. (I'd been praying super hard for a long time for the gift of tongues, and I really felt it that day as I was able to communicate with the Poveds and others.) The elders sat in on the lesson as well, and it was neat at the end to hear their testimonies when I invited them to share their thoughts. And the most exciting part is Vloda's mother has finally given permission for her to be baptized!!! For a long time, her mom was against the church and it even took a while for missionaries to get permission to teach her. So it is a miracle that she has given her permission. Vloda is incredibly excited and says she can't wait to be baptized. 

Church in the Poved's living room was probably my favorite Sacrament meeting I've ever been to. There were 11 of us total - five missionaries, five members, and little Vloda. The Spirit was so strong as the single Aaronic Priesthood holder (Ivan - 15 years old and the son of two solid church members) passed the Sacrament and as the two elders shared their talks on the plan of salvation. It doesn't matter how many saints gather to worship the Lord - He is there in their midst.

As we were walking back to the bus stop after church, we walked through the cemetery next to the Protoslavny temple. Ukrainian cemeteries are beautiful. They are incredibly ornate, and each grave or group of graves is enclosed by a little gate which you can open in order to walk into the garden-like plot. It was very colorful and beautiful. As the five of us we were walking through, we were approached by this man who seemed very eager to talk to us. He took us to the grave of his teenage daughter who had died almost 20 years ago. He told us that he comes to the cemetery every Sunday and thinks about her. As he told us this, he cried openly. We told him that we believe that we can be with our families even after death, and he became very excited and his whole countenance lit up. The elders got his information, and he seemed very eager to meet with them. Maybe something will come of that. It made me very grateful for the knowledge I have that families are forever and that this life is not the end. What a beautiful, comforting doctrine.

Saturday night about a dozen of us missionaries went to the opera Rigaletto. Elder Fillmore, who has been trained in opera, was particularly excited. The program was printed in Ukrainian, and the singing was in Russian, so we were all pretty clueless as to what was actually going on. We spent the intermissions trying to decipher what had just occurred. Finally, one of the elders had a woman in the orchestra explain the story to us, so that was enlightening. The costumes and the music were really wonderful, although the plot was definitely not my favorite. 'Twas quite an enjoyable cultural experience.

We had a big contacting activity in Red Rock the other day. There were probably 20 of us throughout different streets in that area, and I quite enjoyed it. It was my first time actually being able to participate in a group finding activity like that, so I quite enjoyed it. We set up a table (carrying a kitchen table through the streets of Ukraine is quite a fun game to play) and covered it with magazines, books, and pamphlets then called out to people to come get free stuff. We also did some good old-fashioned approaching people. It was a really good day - we ended up with at least 5 people to meet with, so I'm pretty excited about that. Two ladies kept coming back to our table for more things and then walking back to their spot about 50 yards away where they were reading together and talking about it. They both took copies of the Book of Mormon and are really excited to be meeting with us. It always makes me happy when somebody wants to listen. :)

One evening this week, Sister Hooker and I met with a member of the branch named Tatiana and sang hymns. She is a solid member and always so kind to the missionaries. As we were talking, she told us about some of the things she's been going through lately, but how she trusts completely in Heavenly Father. It was really powerful to listen to her testimony and feel of her strength. She told us that she loves to sing, but it's never quite the same alone so she has been praying that God would send sister missionaries who like to sing so that she could sing with them. It was kind of neat to be told that we were an answer to her prayer.

- Sharisa