Halloween in Dnepr

Twins! Aren't we cute? ;) You can't really tell in the picture, but we also have matching flower headbands. Courtesy of a very sweet Ukrainian babushka.

Let's start out with some funny name stories. Seeing as "Nay" is a rather unusual name in Ukraine, I've got a lot of them. I may have mentioned this before, but in Russian saying "with her" and "with Nay" basically the same thing. Confusing. Yes. The other day, my companion and I were arranging a lesson with a contact. He was going to meet us before church and we were going to have a passing lesson with the elders. Sister Bascom had talked to him on the phone the day before, and I'd talked to him that morning. As the three of us were heading up the stairs, he asked who he'd been talking with the previous day. Gesturing to my companion, I told him that he had been talking "with her." 

"Oh, so you're Nay?" he asked my companion.

"No, no, no." I replied. "I'm Nay. Yesterday you were talking with her. And today you were talking with Nay." (In Russian - yesterday you were talking snay. And today you were talking snay.) Needless to say, he remained slightly confused, probably wondering why we both had such an unusual name.

On another day, we were in this lesson with a sweet old babushka. As she was feeding us (in true hospitable Ukrainian style) she asked me what my mother calls me. She offered the suggestion that perhaps my mother calls me "Nayechka." (In Russian you can do something we call "cutesie form" which is basically just adding an ending to make it the diminutive form. And that's what she thought that my mom should call me.) I replied that no, in fact, my mom does not call me Nayechka, but rather Sharisa. She paused, not seeing how that was at all related to "Nay," then replied, "Well, I guess she's your mother so she can call you what she likes." My companion and I suppressed our laughter, and did not explain to her that Nay is actually my last name.

This one's not so much a story as it is another sound-alike for my name. When the word 'country' is in a specific case in Russian, it is pronounced "stranay." And when you are on the street and you hear that all the time, it honestly sounds like people are just saying my name very quickly. So all the time when we're outside, I hear people calling my name . . . but then realize they're just talking about being in a certain country. It always makes me smile. I was always fond of my last name, but now I just love it even more after all these fun Ukrainian experiences. 

Mom asked if we celebrate Halloween in Ukraine. It's not really a Ukrainian holiday, and most people we talk to don't even really know what it is (unless they study English or America or something). But the young single adults in Center Branch put on a Halloween party this past week. Sister Bascom and I invited our investigator Gifts, and the three of us showed up together. Seeing as how Halloween is Sister Bascom's favorite holiday in the entire year, we decided to create a fabulous plan for our costumes. It just so happens that we each own an outfit that is basically the same. (Yes, I don't really know how that happened, either, but it did. The buttons on our shirts were even the exact same, so I'm pretty sure they came from the same store.) So we were twins. And everybody at the party loved it! While it was slightly ridiculous, it was well worth it to have Vloda and Natasha (two teenagers from Povelgrad) be in complete awe the entire time and insist that we must have bought the clothes together. Good times.

We had a lot of miracles again this week. We were able to meet with most of my favorite investigators, as well as add some new ones. We even were able to meet with an active member who absolutely loves missionaries. (And loves feeding the missionaries.) We went out to her little home in the outskirts of Dnepr with the Merrills - the senior couple who is going home in a couple days. It was a wonderful experience to be able to spend that time with the Merrills (who have been a lot like my parents out here in Ukraine) and Sister Elena. Basically, I just love the people here!

We had a really neat contacting experience one afternoon this week. We felt like we needed to contact a certain stretch of road. And then one of our lessons fell through, meaning that we would be contacting for an additional couple hours. I won't go through all the miracles we saw during that afternoon, but it was definitely one of those experiences where you know without a doubt that you are standing exactly where God wants you to be. We were able to have a first lesson on the street with a woman from Saint Petersburg who was visiting Dnepr for a while. Back home, she lives right by some members, and she has a copy of the Book of Mormon! We taught her about the Restoration and explained what makes our church different from other churches, and it was just a really neat experience. Soon thereafter, we talked to this woman and taught her about the Book of Mormon. She wasn't interested, and then we found out that her father had just died, and we were able to offer her comfort and testify of the reality of God's eternal plan for us. I know that God truly does lead His missionaries, and I'm really grateful for that. It's so exciting to spend each day, every day, talking to people about the Savior and His restored church. I know without a doubt that this work is true, and I love it!

-Sharisa