The Black Sea is beautiful, Crimea looks like Utah, and other fun facts from my life
Greetings from the Crimea! :) (Which, in case you don't know where that is, is the little peninsula at the bottom of Ukraine that goes into the Black Sea.) Can I just say that I absolutely love Simferopol?! It's a beautiful little city. And I'm excited beyond all belief that the entire Crimea is my area - including Yalta, Yevapotoria, Sevastopol, and others. Basically, I don't think that life could really get any better than it currently is.
My last couple days in Dnepr this past week were a little surreal. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to all these people that I have grown to love so much. And there's something slightly terrifying about leaving your investigators, because all you want is for them to grow in the gospel and you want to be there to help them and see them make those changes and experience the joy of the Atonement. But I know they'll be in good hands with the other sister missionaries, so I shall try to not worry too much. :) On Tuesday, Sister Lewis and Sister Bates came up from Simferopol to pick me up and drop off Sister Lewis, who is taking my place in Dnepr. I hadn't seen Sister Lewis since the MTC, so it was one of the sweetest moments of my life to get to be with her again. (Haha - in her words, "Wow! The MTC was real!") She and I actually got to spend all of Wednesday together on splits, and it was nothing but pure joy to get to take her all over Dnepr and introduce her to the people I love so much. We taught three lessons together and did some contacting. And laughed. A lot. Few people can make me laugh the way my British companion can. That was definitely a treat. :)
After the fabulous day of splits, Sister Bates and I headed down to Simferopol. I just have to say, I'm excited beyond all belief to be serving with her! Ever since we found out a year ago that we would be serving in the same mission, we've dreamed of serving together, so when we got the call last week, we were both incredibly happy. It's been a joy to serve with her and get to know her even better. (And discover how similar we really are, what with our brown, curly hair; flute-playing skills; German language background; and love of all the same books and musicals, plus a thousand more things that I shan't take the time to list. But it's fun.) We had a couple adventures trying to get onto our train (my first train in my life!!) and ended up having to take a tram with all of my luggage because there were no taxis available. But we eventually got on the right (we thought [and luckily we were right]) train, and eventually the elders found us and gave us our tickets and the train employees stopped worrying about us. Good times. After 8 or 9 hours, we rolled into Simferopol. It was almost like my first day in Ukraine all over again (except this time I knew Russian) - that sense of excitement and not knowing quite what to expect.
Our apartment is so cute! Unlike the Dnepr apartment, this one is decidedly Ukrainian, from the ornately upholstered arm chairs to the mirrored china cabinets to the plastic chandeliers. (Admittedly, we are missing the standard rug hanging from the wall, but I guess we'll have to do without that.) I love it! For the first time on my mission, I'm living with just my companion. It's been a little bit of an adjustment to not have two other sisters around, but it's a lot of fun, and Sister Bates and I are having a great time. I quite like it.
One of the most exciting things for me about Simferopol is that there is an actual church building!!! (And the fact that we live close enough to walk and don't have to spend half-an-hour on transport to get to church or lessons. Best ever!) The branches in Dnepr still meet in little rented floors. (The Dnepr church building was finished in June, but we are still waiting for registration things to be completed before we can use it, so I've never been inside.) I don't quite know how to explain how I felt as I walked into the Simferopol branch for the first time - it honestly felt like coming home. There is such a powerful spirit in dedicated houses of worship, and I've never been more grateful for that in my life. It just feels incredible. (Also, the fact that there is carpet inside the branch is an additional benefit. With one possible exception, I think that may be the first time I've seen carpet in Ukraine.)
More important than the building, however, are the incredible people! I absolutely love all the members and investigators I have met so far. There are about 50 or 60 active members in this branch, which is bigger than in Dnepr. They are all just so welcoming and warm, and being at church with them yesterday just really felt like being at home. I am so excited to get to work with these wonderful people and get to know them better. I know without a doubt that this is exactly where I need to be, and that's an incredible feeling. I'm so grateful that I get to serve in Simferopol!
On Saturday I had my first trip out to Sevastopol. (There's a branch out there and four elders, and then we travel in every so often.) The hour-and-a-half bus trip was incredible - I honestly felt like I was driving through Spanish Fork Canyon. The mountains and hills and trees and valleys were absolutely breath-taking, and I knew without a doubt that I was the happiest person alive at the moment in time. And then we arrived in Sevastopol and my breath was again taken away by the beauty of the Black Sea. Wow. The branch is located right on the sea, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I quite enjoyed the minutes I spent on a boardwalk next to the Black Sea at sunset as Zhenya told me her conversion story. Pretty incredible. (Also, there are a large number of sailors in that city. Seeing them of course reminded me of the very useful phrase we learned at the MTC - "Oo matrosov nyet vaposov." Which means "sailors don't have questions." But that's really not relevant.) While in Sevastopol we met with a recent convert named Nina. She's 28 and absolutely wonderful! I'm very excited to get to work with her and help her prepare to go to the temple soon.
I'm so grateful to be a missionary right now and in this place. I know that Christ lives and that He is our Savior. I count it such a precious blessing to get to spend every day bearing witness of His name.
Happy Thanksgiving this week!! God truly has given us so much (everything, in fact), and we have so much for which to be grateful.
I hope you all enjoy some pumpkin pie. :)
-Sharisa
My last couple days in Dnepr this past week were a little surreal. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to all these people that I have grown to love so much. And there's something slightly terrifying about leaving your investigators, because all you want is for them to grow in the gospel and you want to be there to help them and see them make those changes and experience the joy of the Atonement. But I know they'll be in good hands with the other sister missionaries, so I shall try to not worry too much. :) On Tuesday, Sister Lewis and Sister Bates came up from Simferopol to pick me up and drop off Sister Lewis, who is taking my place in Dnepr. I hadn't seen Sister Lewis since the MTC, so it was one of the sweetest moments of my life to get to be with her again. (Haha - in her words, "Wow! The MTC was real!") She and I actually got to spend all of Wednesday together on splits, and it was nothing but pure joy to get to take her all over Dnepr and introduce her to the people I love so much. We taught three lessons together and did some contacting. And laughed. A lot. Few people can make me laugh the way my British companion can. That was definitely a treat. :)
After the fabulous day of splits, Sister Bates and I headed down to Simferopol. I just have to say, I'm excited beyond all belief to be serving with her! Ever since we found out a year ago that we would be serving in the same mission, we've dreamed of serving together, so when we got the call last week, we were both incredibly happy. It's been a joy to serve with her and get to know her even better. (And discover how similar we really are, what with our brown, curly hair; flute-playing skills; German language background; and love of all the same books and musicals, plus a thousand more things that I shan't take the time to list. But it's fun.) We had a couple adventures trying to get onto our train (my first train in my life!!) and ended up having to take a tram with all of my luggage because there were no taxis available. But we eventually got on the right (we thought [and luckily we were right]) train, and eventually the elders found us and gave us our tickets and the train employees stopped worrying about us. Good times. After 8 or 9 hours, we rolled into Simferopol. It was almost like my first day in Ukraine all over again (except this time I knew Russian) - that sense of excitement and not knowing quite what to expect.
Our apartment is so cute! Unlike the Dnepr apartment, this one is decidedly Ukrainian, from the ornately upholstered arm chairs to the mirrored china cabinets to the plastic chandeliers. (Admittedly, we are missing the standard rug hanging from the wall, but I guess we'll have to do without that.) I love it! For the first time on my mission, I'm living with just my companion. It's been a little bit of an adjustment to not have two other sisters around, but it's a lot of fun, and Sister Bates and I are having a great time. I quite like it.
One of the most exciting things for me about Simferopol is that there is an actual church building!!! (And the fact that we live close enough to walk and don't have to spend half-an-hour on transport to get to church or lessons. Best ever!) The branches in Dnepr still meet in little rented floors. (The Dnepr church building was finished in June, but we are still waiting for registration things to be completed before we can use it, so I've never been inside.) I don't quite know how to explain how I felt as I walked into the Simferopol branch for the first time - it honestly felt like coming home. There is such a powerful spirit in dedicated houses of worship, and I've never been more grateful for that in my life. It just feels incredible. (Also, the fact that there is carpet inside the branch is an additional benefit. With one possible exception, I think that may be the first time I've seen carpet in Ukraine.)
More important than the building, however, are the incredible people! I absolutely love all the members and investigators I have met so far. There are about 50 or 60 active members in this branch, which is bigger than in Dnepr. They are all just so welcoming and warm, and being at church with them yesterday just really felt like being at home. I am so excited to get to work with these wonderful people and get to know them better. I know without a doubt that this is exactly where I need to be, and that's an incredible feeling. I'm so grateful that I get to serve in Simferopol!
On Saturday I had my first trip out to Sevastopol. (There's a branch out there and four elders, and then we travel in every so often.) The hour-and-a-half bus trip was incredible - I honestly felt like I was driving through Spanish Fork Canyon. The mountains and hills and trees and valleys were absolutely breath-taking, and I knew without a doubt that I was the happiest person alive at the moment in time. And then we arrived in Sevastopol and my breath was again taken away by the beauty of the Black Sea. Wow. The branch is located right on the sea, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I quite enjoyed the minutes I spent on a boardwalk next to the Black Sea at sunset as Zhenya told me her conversion story. Pretty incredible. (Also, there are a large number of sailors in that city. Seeing them of course reminded me of the very useful phrase we learned at the MTC - "Oo matrosov nyet vaposov." Which means "sailors don't have questions." But that's really not relevant.) While in Sevastopol we met with a recent convert named Nina. She's 28 and absolutely wonderful! I'm very excited to get to work with her and help her prepare to go to the temple soon.
I'm so grateful to be a missionary right now and in this place. I know that Christ lives and that He is our Savior. I count it such a precious blessing to get to spend every day bearing witness of His name.
Happy Thanksgiving this week!! God truly has given us so much (everything, in fact), and we have so much for which to be grateful.
I hope you all enjoy some pumpkin pie. :)
-Sharisa
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