New Mission President!

Happy belated Ukrainian Constitution Day! (June 28th) We didn't really do anything to celebrate, but apparently there was a parade. And it was fun to see the billboards everywhere declaring the holiday. Unfortunately, it also meant that most of our 11 investigators were out of town (or sick, but the holiday had no bearing on that) so we did a lot more contacting this week than usual. Sister Hooker and I have been trying to do what we call "creative contacting." So one night after planning we re-taught ourselves how to make paper cranes, then we wrote scriptures about Christ from the Book of Mormon on them, along with the name of the church and our phone number. Who doesn't want a cute little paper crane from two American girls, right? :) We definitely got some smiles and laughs through that approach, and some people talked to us who I don't think would have otherwise. That was quite a fun experience.

Also, happy belated Canadian Independence day! (July 1) Our resident Canadian sister missionary/roommate, Sister Kochel, sang us "O, Canada" last night in both English and French. I don't think I'd ever heard it in French before, so that was really fun. I've decided that this time of year must be the most popular season for starting a country, seeing as how we've got Ukraine, Canada, and the US all within about a week. Fun stuff.

President and Sister Nielsen left last Friday. In their honor, Sister Hooker (who shares my love of writing poetry) and I wrote new lyrics to "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" dedicated to the Nielsens. We then had our district sing and record it after district meeting and presented it to the Nielsens. They were quite amused. And possibly touched. The best part of the song is decidedly Elder Nishademov's solo - I can't quite describe how delightful his Russian-accent is as he sings the sweet/hilarious words to a tune he'd never heard before. (I don't know if I've mentioned him before, but Elder Nishademov is one of the coolest people I've ever met. He's the only native-speaker in the mission, so we're really lucky that he's in our district. He's from Russia. He is honestly the sweetest person ever, and an incredible missionary. It's a joy to watch him teach, and I've definitely learned so much from him about being a good missionary.)

President and Sister VanBruggen arrived last Friday, and after four hours with the Nielsens were entrusted with all 56 of us missionaries as well as the 1600ish members. We were able to meet them on Saturday when we had interviews with President, and they are an incredible couple! They're from Canada and our both so enthusiastic about the work. President VanBruggen actually baptized Sister VanBruggen when they were younger and they both subsequently served missions. He served in Holland, and he said he was even in Groningen for a while - I thought Steven would think that was cool. After our interviews, we were able to walk them down and show them the branch where they were going to a fireside. It was fun to talk with them as we walked and get to know them a little better. I'm excited to get to work with them.

We were able to meet with a new investigator this week. She's 40 or 50 and her name is Valentina, and she is seriously incredible! I don't know if I've ever seen anyone more prepared for the gospel as I feel she is. We watched the Restoration video together, and she was visibly touched by it. Afterward, she was telling another investigator who happened to be there (because of some interesting circumstances the lesson was more like a Sunday school class, with two sets of missionaries, two members, and two investigators. 'Twas fun.) that he can't just blindly deny the Book of Mormon, but that he's actually got to pray about it. Wow - it's so cool when people understand that without you even having to tell them! She was so excited to receive a Book of Mormon, and when I talked to her yesterday at church, she said she likes it and believes it. In Sunday school, she was even giving incredibly doctrinally sound and insightful answers - she honestly seemed like a member. She has a basically perpetual smile, and I don't really know how to describe the goodness I feel emanating from her. Basically, I think she's golden. ;) I absolutely loved church yesterday, because I was able to sit next to her and talk to her. It made me happy when her perpetual smile would widen and she grabbed my hand or arm and grinned. I felt such love for and from her, and it was just really neat. I may not be able to understand everything she says, but I can love - and that's the most important part, especially when she can feel and understand that love and know how much I want her to accept the gospel and receive these blessings. I'm really excited, because we're meeting her for FHE tonight! (As a side note, it's kind of funny when you unthinkingly use the acronym "FHE" with a member here. Even if they speak English, it's rather confusing for them. But then they end up liking it and using it too. Funny stuff.)

Last night we were able to go to an incredible fireside with the president of the Kyiv temple and his wife. They had served as mission presidents in Russia previously, so they both knew a little Russian. They gave incredible talks on the light that we each carry and on the importance of temple and family history work. The president made some incredible, bold statements and promises. He talked about angels and ancestors on the other side of the veil working to bring people into the church so that the work for the dead could be done. He said the day would come that the Kyiv temple would be so busy that it would have to be open for 24 hours a day (although, I hope that before that happens there will be a temple in Dnepropetrovsk!). It was a very inspirational, motivational talk, and it made me want to work even harder as a missionary, because I'm not just helping the living, but the dead as well. I'm infinitely grateful for the temple and for the covenants and ordinances that can only take place there. It's such a miracle that there is a temple in Kyiv! And I'm very grateful for 'nash Keevsky, Ukrainsky khram' (our Kyiv, Ukraine temple) that the members so often mention in our prayers. This truly is the Lord's work, and I am grateful to be His servant and help people make it to the temple where they can receive priceless covenants and blessings that can only be found in the Lord's house.
--Sharisa