Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The week with Hives

WOW! Let us just talk about the crazy life here in Uzgorod! I say this every week, I can't believe that the time is passing so fast and this week I feel as though we have lived 3 weeks in one. Sister Echols and I were just talking about everything that happened this past week and everything that will happen this week, it is just so crazy! We have so much to do, I don't know how we manage to get it all done and have everything work out. The Lord is so good to us!
After I emailed last week we had a crazy P-Day, trying to get everything done. We ended P-Day a little early to have a meeting with Olya. She is just a dear, and I love her so much. I have never met someone so dedicated to this cause and not a member yet, not by choice of her own, of course. We talked with her about fasting because she had had a question about fasting. Olya is trying to get into University as well, making a lot of big decisions in her life and we thought that it would be good to help her understand fasting and the power of fasting, fasting with a purpose. It was a really good lesson.
On Tuesday we had english start up, that is always so fun! I feel like I learn more Ukrainian at english than I do at any other time in the week.This week I was sitting next to Sasha, one of our members, and trying to translate for him... It was quite a sight. Sister Echols was laughing at me because I said some pretty ridiculous things. It was really fun though, and we had some new people come, hopefully we get some more people coming regularly as well.
After English on Tuesday we went over to Sasha's to have a lesson with Silva. We took Elder Tribett and Elder Millard with us to help us on the lesson. Silva has a little friend that she needs to get rid of before she can get baptized on the 3rd. The Elders were there to help us kind of scout out the situation and help us for when we do address the Law of Chastity again with us. Plus, Silva just loves Elder Millard for some reason and was so happy to have him over for dinner.
When we got back from Silva's though I had hives. Ugh! I didn't know what they had come from, but they were really bad.
When I woke up on Wednesday I still had them, so Sister Echols made me call the mission doctor to just make him aware of the situation. He told me to take some Clariton and if I have trouble breathing to go to the hospital immediately. So, I borrowed some Clariton from the Elders and called it good for the day.
We had Family Home Evening that night, we played signs, always so fun! Yeva came to FHE as well, I love Yeva. She calls me her "Bilo Sneeshka," which means "Snow White." I don't know why. but she thinks that I look like Snow White. It is a Disney Princess, so I will take the compliment.
After FHE we went to have a lesson with Silva and talk about the Law of Chastity with her. Too bad we didn't get to far into the lesson. We ate with her, then I started not being able to breath. It took all the concentration in the world for me to breath with deep breaths to make sure that I could get enough air. So, Sister Echols excused us and got us out of there. Poor Sasha thought that I needed to go in the ambulance, we told him no and that I was fine. 
We left the house and Sister Echols was freaking out, not knowing what to do. I was more worried about her than I was for myself! She called Elder Millard and Elder Tribett and told them to meet us at the church because I did not want to go to a Ukrainian hospital if I could help it. Elder Millard and Elder Tribett met us at the church, I sat down and just kept breathing. Sister Echols was freaking out, Elder Millard didn't know what to do, good old Elder Tribett though called the doctor to see what to do and what hospital I needed to go to.
Turns out, Uzzhorod is such a new area that the doctor didn't even know. Don't worry, it all works out because apparently the other Elders had met a guy who is a doctor that the church has sponsored to go to Oregon and study medical stuff. So they called him, and long story short... They gave me a blessing and I ended up in a Ukrainian hospital. Luckily the doctor spoke english, Elder Tribett explained what happened, that I couldn't breath and that would be why we are here. The Elders waited out in the hall while they checked me, and I got two HUGE shots of hormone so that I could breath again. Sister Echols about passed out from the shots and they didn't even go near her. The poor thing!
It was quite the adventure and a half, needless to say, we got home a little late that night. Don't worry, everything is fine now. We are all good, and now they are calling a specialist in from Kiev to scout out hospitals and doctors in Uzzhorod that missionaries can go to if needs be from here on out. Look how helpful I was being!
Turns out that I am allergic to a brand of juice here in Ukraine. It is called "Dobray" brand, which means "good" in Ukrainian, it isn't good for me we have found. So, now I am off all juices for the next month and on Clariton for a week, then I can start having juices, avoiding that brand. Yay! It is so hard to go without juice here, they drink it for everything, but I don't think I am willing to experience that again. I am so grateful for Sister Echols and the Elders though, especially being able to have the Elders give me a blessing before we went to the hospital. 
The rest of the week has just been as crazy and well! In was Anya's birthday on Thursday, so we celebrated with her a little bit. She is just so great! I can't wait for her to get baptized on Saturday!!! She has already read through 2 Nephi, went back and reread it as well becuase she didn't fully understand it! That is just amazing! The Gospel is just making sense to her, it is amazing! I am so grateful to be able to watch the change in her as she progresses in the Gospel. That whole family is just amazing!
Sasha is such a good example for them, what a great guy! Ah, I love Sasha! I love all of them, they are such an amazing family that just gives everything they have to other people. I am so blessed to be able to know them. They truely are just amazing, hardworking people, who love their family. It is so amazing to see how much the Gospel has already blessed them and changed them, and on the 3rd, on Saturday, they will be blessed even more when Sasha gets to baptize Silva, his mom, and Anya, his sister! Ah, so exciting!
Being here has just been such a blessing and I love this place so much! I am so truely blessed to be among these amazing people! I love them all!


Monday, July 22, 2013

Gardening this week

Hello family! Another week has gone by and I can't believe how fast the week has come and gone! What a week it was though! Monday was absolutely just crazy and it set the tone for the rest of the week. I loved every second of it though! It was just the funnest thing ever! After we left the internets on Monday we had a meeting with Olya and one of her friends that didn't end up happening, so we just talked to Olya. She is making some really tough decisions in her life right now, with University, the church, and all other things that happen when you are about 18. It made me empathize with parents a lot because I just want what is best for her, what her Heavenly Father wants for her, however she needs to make her own decisions and we can only help guide her. It is really hard. I know that she will do what is best for her though. We then had time for some walking around center for about an hour before our next lesson with Silva and Anya. They are both being baptized on the 3rd of August! It is so great!
Sasha gets to baptize his sister and his mom! How exciting is that?! I am so excited for that family, they are all just so amazing and are all taking the lessons and coming to church. What a great family they are! I just love them so very much!
Tuesday was Elder Millards birthday! Yay! He is 20! We had District Meeting that day so all of us were at the church. Sister Echols and I made him a Kontik ice cream cake with 20 Kontiks in it, it was pretty good. We also decorated the church a little bit with some streamers (AKA cut up plastic table clothe) over the door. He got to open some presents too from members and the other Elders. It was a fun little birthday party!
On friday night we had a great little movie night and watch The Mountain of the Lord. I am going to have to say that the Elders have gotten pretty good at turning our little sacrement room into a decent theater room. We had a pretty good turn out and they liked the movie, I understood the movie this time a lot better than I understood the last movie, that is a plus. Or it could just be that I have seen that movie a million times in English... either way, I understood it better.
Saturday.... let us just talk about Saturday. I am still physically recovering from our Saturday adventure, literally. We have this lovely little garden, patch 280 centimeters by 650 centimeters, and it was looking just really sad, the members were starting to notice how sad it looked, so on Wednesday Elder Ward, Elder Terry, Sister Echols and I came up with a plan to work on it before FHE, and after FHE ran the plan over with the other Elders. I love the people in my district, they are all just so smart, really good at science, math, all that stuff... creativity, I think that they think that I am crazy, but it is okay! So we came up with this plan and on Saturday we decided to carry it out. Of course, very different from the original plan because of budget.
We got up Saturday morning and were at the church by 8. We saved some of the plants that were worth saving, then started digging. We had to dig out this HUGE hill and take a bunch of dirt out because it was over flowing and we wanted to lay a weed tarp and some wood chips down. The poor Elders got the carry bags of dirt accross the street and down a little ways to dump it. It was quite an adventure. After 2 hours Elder Terry and Elder Millard went on a split to teach some lessons, so Elders Tribett and Ward were left with us to Sisters digging and hauling the dirt, leveling it all out... Wow, it was like working in the yard all over again. I felt right at home just digging my little heart out. We finally finished around 7 that night, we took an hour for lunch in Center, and it looks SO good! Elder Ward did buy an even amount of plants, that was tough to work around, why would you buy 10, doesnt't he know you have to do things with odd numbers?! It worked out okay though, and Elder Tribett was genious with the wood chips. Man, it really looks so good!
Today and yesterday though, I am feeling that digging though! Whoa! It looks so good though! It looks very, very American though! While we were working on it we were the entertainment, 6 Americans working on this project, speaking english... Yup, and not very often, as in never, is a project in Ukraine started and completed in a day. It is a very American looking garden, but we all love it! The Elders just loved the weed tarp more than anything. Elder Ward was like a kid in a candy store when we got to start laying that down. It was so great! I will have to send a picture.
P.S., I got to speak again in Ukrainian. That was a scary experience, but I survived!
LOVE YOU ALL!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

I cannot believe that I am writing you all again, I think that I say this every week, but it is so true that time just flies bye! What a week we had though, I don't even know where to begin!
Last week, it was so great getting to chat with you all, sorry that it was so early, but here it was almost lunch time. After we got off here we went grocery shopping, and I made sure to take a picture of the juice isle for Kabes. Ukrainians LOVE their juices, I am pretty sure that they make everything into juice, she would think that she had died and gone to heaven! We also bought 3 water melons, because the water melon here is the best thing I have ever tasted in my life, but man that was crazy trying to get it all up to our apartment, that poor taxi driver.
We then had to race off and cut Elder Terry's hair. We got to the church a little early, so we went upstairs to eat some of our lunch and hide from the Elders, we closed to church up to make it look like no one was there, see if we could punk them a bit, and it worked. We heard them come in and waited for them at the top of the stairs, but they just sat in the foyer. When they started talking about us being "late" we called to them from the top of the stairs and it scared them! They deserved it though, they started eating the dessert they had bought for us because we "weren't there." Funny little Elders!
The rest of the day we spent buying some souvineers around Center (city center). Sister Echols wanted to get some things for her family and I wanted to get a few little things to send home with her for you guys, she is from Payson, FYI.
Tuesday was just a crazy day! President came down to visit Uzzhorod, so we had District Meeting with him and interviews, I awkwardly got to wait with all 4 Elders while Sister Echols was in her interview, it was so great! After the interview we had to run to the store really quick because we had totally forgotten that we had the L'viv sisters coming down for exchanges and didn't have enough food in the house for all of them, and we were in charge of treats for the fireside that President was going to have for the members.
It was a crazy adventure trying to get all of that and come up with some healthy treats that we could provide at the fireside. Thankfully the Elders came to help us carry it back from the bus stop to the church. The fireside went well, and poor Elder Ward had to translate, the poor kid. He didn't want to have to do that, thankfully Olya helped him out with it.
That night, so Tuesday night, late the L'viv Sisters came in for exchanges. Siser Von Stockom is the Sister Training Leader, and her to companions, Sister Benion, who is just the sweetest person that has ever walked the planet, and Sister Wallace! My MTC companion!! YAY!
On Wednesday I spent all day with Sisters Benion and Wallace, that was fun! It was so crazy, we did a book table with Elder Ward and Elder Terry to advertise english, Elder Ward got to teach me some new words after I totally had this awkward conversation with someone because I didn't understand what they were saying, and he just sat listening to it. Then Elder Terry got to save me from this drunk person who was having a conversation that I didn't understand with me, it was quite an adventure! Then we went back to church, got some treats for FHE for Elder Terry and Elder Ward who didn't have time, I offered trying to get out of the Spiritual thought I was supposed to do, saying we would get treats if they would do the thought, they said deal!
Funny story about that though, Elder Ward conducts the meetings, and we still got to give the Spiritual thought. It was terrifying having to do it without Sister Echols there, but it worked out. I felt like the MTC again as Sister Wallace and I struggled through the language, but we said what we needed to and it worked.
Thursday I had exchanges with Sister Von Stockom, it was so fun! She is such a cool person! She is from the Netherlands, but her english is so good! Almost without an accent, she is really great though. We taught Silvia, Sasha's mom, a lesson on the Plan of Salvation, then did some tracting and contacting. We had this huge rain storm start to blow through and that was just funny and we were trying to get home before getting wet, and there weren't too many people out at that point anyway. Ukraine is very funny that way, atleast in Uzzhorod, by 7 most people are home and no one is out.
Firday the sisters left after coming to a lesson with us at Silvia's. 5 Sister missionaries she insisted on feeding, having us help her make holopsey. Which is the best food on the planet! The sisters left after that, and Sister Echols and I got to run to the church, without umberellas in a down pour, it was so funny. We walk in and the Elders just laugh as we are soaked! It was so funny!
After that meeting we had a lesson with Maria and Olya, it went ok. Maria, I think, knows that it is true but is scared to change tradition. Olya, as always, was just amazing to have on the lesson and really helps out, they are both just cute good girls.
Saturday we had a lesson with Silvia and her grandkids were there. I am pretty sure that they are just the best family ever! Silvia just loves her kids, she has 8 kids, super uncommon in Ukraine. All but one her  children live in Uzzhorod, a son in Kiev, and her oldest daughter has 2 daughters and a husband. On Saturday the two grandaughters were there and it was so fun talking with them they are the sweetest things ever. The youngest one has an obsession with the cats, I felt so bad for them, they were running from her all day!
Silvia is so great though and she is just progressing like crazy, so is her family! Sasha has been such a good example to him, it is just amazing! You have to love Sasha!!! Silvia brings her two youngest boys, Marion and Ivan, 11 and 14, to church and Marion just loves us! He is so great! He asks us everyday if we are coming over and tells us that he loves church. They only stay for sacrement, next week we are going to try to coordinate with the Elders to see if they can do come kind of fun lesson with them to get them to stay. We also go to meet with her 21 year old daughter Anya, she has read all the way to 1 Nephi 16 in a day, and wants to stop smoking, it was just amazing to meet with her!
We have also met with Oksana, the mother of the two granddaughters, and with Tanya another one of her daughters. It was so great! Sivia wants her whole family to join the church and all of them have just been doing so great! AH! THEY ARE JUST THE BEST!
They seriously are just the best family ever though, I want to bring them all home with me. Silvia is the most amazing cook, she just piles the food on our plates telling us the we need to eat more, we are going to get home to America and be so skinny (that is kind of the point, really) and our mom's will be so sad because it will look like no one loved us. It is so funny!
They are just the best! AH! I love it here! Even if we are wearing coats and scarves in July! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
Happy Birthday Todd, Teresa and Colby!
 


Mission President and Wife with Olya 
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  • Friday, July 12, 2013

    Picture of L'viv Missionaries

    Dear Parents,
    We thought you would enjoy sharing a historic event that your sons and daughter have just participated in. The Ukraine L’viv Mission was officially created 1 July, 2013. The first Ukraine L’viv Mission conference was held on the 6th July 2013 with President and Sister Lattin. These missionaries are the cream of the crop. We have known them since they arrived in Ukraine. It is an honor and a privilege to serve in the kingdom with them. They are very dear to our hearts. We too were transferred to the new mission to assist the mission president until another mission office couple comes to relieve us of our assignment next month. Thank you for preparing dedicated, steadfast and immovable sons and daughters who are obedient and are serving with their whole might, mind and strength. They are examples of Christ-like behavior and have strong testimonies of Jesus the Christ and the Plan of Happiness.
    Warm regards,
    Elder and Sister Ricks
    L’viv Mission Office Couple
    (032) 232-0034
    Ukraine L’viv Mission
    P.O. Box # 2182
    L’viv 79026
    Ukraine

    Monday, July 8, 2013

    A catholic church down the road from our church, their bells ring every Sunday and it is like straight from the Sound of Music




    
    A street in Uzzhorod


    Pictures from Ukraine

    Olya has an obsession with watches, and she took all of ours and the elders watches
    Me, Nadiya and Yeva under the tree


    Got to talk through email

    Today is July 8th and is Rylan's birthday, so he wanted to speak to Karissa really bad.  He stayed up until three in the morning to catch her while she was on the internet and he did.  He woke me up around three thirty so I got to chat with her through email.  It was so fun to have a real live conversation with her and she is doing as good as it sounds in her blogs.  She is loving Ukraine and the people over there.  Her companion and her have decided to eat better so they have been getting up and running every morning and eating no bread, which is really hard, but she was so proud to let me know she has lost twenty pounds.  So here is this weeks blog:


      I can't believe that I am here again writing another email to you all! The weeks are flying bye so much faster than I would like. This is the last week of my first transfer in the country, can you believe it?! I can't! We also got a bit of news when we were in L'viv this week, that news being.... That we have 11 Sisters coming into the L'viv mission at the end of this next transfer, there are only 11 Sisters in our mission now, and two will go home after this next transfer. Do you know what this means?! It means that Sister Shaughnessy will be training on her 3 transfer! Don't worry, this only slightly freaks me out to the highest degree! I am so nervous, but at the same time, I have learned so much in the past 6 weeks that I just have to remember that Heavenly Father qualifies those who he calls, so it will all be fine. I hope...
    This week was so great! Ah, our little area is doing so well, I am so excited to see where it goes in the next couple of months! Our two previous baptism dates dropped, which was really quite sad. It breaks my heart a little when that happens, but it is okay. They are still working with us which is good.
    Let us talk about the amazing miracles that happen this week; Sasha's Mom. OH, MY, GOSH! After she came to church on Sunday like I said and we have met with her almost every day since that time. She has progressed so much! She is just the best thing ever, and has referred us to her daughter to teach as well, it is just so amazing!
    Everytime that we go over there she has made us some kind of food, which is some of the best food I have ever had in my life! I have now gotten Borsht, which was divine and holopsey, they are like lettuce wraps, but so much better. I am trying to think of what else she has made us, it is all just so great! Everytime that we eat over there she puts a ton of plate and just keeps piling it on. She tells us that we need to gain weight, we can't go home looking like someone hasn't loved and fed us....
    Yesterday we had a lesson with her, after she brought her whole family to church. It was just so amazing, Sasha was on the lesson and wow... It was so great, he bore an amazing testimony. He told his mom how much he wanted her to change, but new that he couldn't change her, but God could and just all this amazing stuff. She has a baptism date for August 3rd. She has stopped drinking and everything on her own as well. It was just amazing to see how in one week the Gospel has changed this family's life so much!
    We also headed to L'viv this week to meet our new mission president. He "pocket dialed" us and Elder Millard and Tribbett this week, those were some awkward phone calls, so it was nice to actually meet him in person. We took a night train on Friday at 11, got into L'viv at 6 in the morning on Saturday. Had the conference which was so great!
    The Lattin's are definately not the Klebingats, but I love them. Sister Lattin is just that cookie cutter mormon mom, as Elder Millard put it. She is the sweetest thing that I have ever seen in my life. President Lattin is so great, very gentle and just grandpa like. I love them both. They told us a little about their lives and everything, and just enjoyed them.
    It was so fun to see everyone from my MTC district as well. They are all doing so well! It is fun to catch up with everyone. Most of us are in the same zone as well, so we will see each other frequently.
    After the conference I got to cut Sister Ricks hair, the Ricks are the Senior couple in our mission. They go home in a month, but they are the sweetest things around. I love them both, and it was fun to cut her hair. We then did some weekly planning and headed back to the train.
    We had a night train at 8 until 2:20 in the morning, then we got to get up, take a cab home with the Elders, then get up at 6 am for studies and church. It was quite the week, but so great! (The train ride was fun because we have bit to just hang out. We just sit in the coupey and talked a bit. I learned that one of the Elders in Uzzhorod, his dad created Call of Duty, Rylan will be happy to know/)
    Sister Echols and I have set a goal to eat more healthy, which is not hard here at all. The members give us whatever fruit is in season, I have had some of the best cherries, raspberries and watermelon I have ever had in my life here. It is so great! The other morning we went running through the park accross the street from our house, and there they are setting up a Circus! So I got to run through some pretty crazy stuff. They had like life size dinasours and stuff, pretty crazy!
    Life is just so great here, and I am so beyond grateful I have to be here, it is truely amazing to watch how the Gospel changes people's lives for the better. до зустричи!!!



    Monday, July 1, 2013

    First Letter from the L'viv Ukraine Mission

    What a week, I can't believe that I am here writing again! This week was such a great week I don't even know where to begin with all of it! Monday after emailing home I got to go to the church and cut all the Elders hair (including Elder Tribetts again), that was an adventure. I can't say that cutting hair in the church will ever get normal. It was a funny experience though, we had a line up going. I would cut the hair, they loved the straight razor, p.s., then they would take turns vaccuuming each other to get all the hair off, it was quite funny.
    We also committed another girl to baptism. She is one of Pavlo's friends. She is 17 and a cute girl. Renatya is her name, and she is really sweet! She is the same age as Olya, so Olya will be a great friend for her.
    I have to preface my next story with this, just so you all know, Ukrainians have this 6th sense with weather that is just ridiculous. We planned a picnic for family night on Wednesday, and Lydia kept saying that it would only happen if the weather would cooperate, it had been so hot here that we thought she was just being crazy! We wake up on Wednesday morning to rain. It has been raining all week in fact. Go figure! Never doubt a Ukrainian when it comes to weather. Every time we see a Baba on the street with an umberella we make sure that we have ours on us because it will for sure be raining.
    Our picnic on Wednesday was not canceled, it was just moved to inside the church. Elder Millard and Tribett said that they were going to bring all sorts of cool things to this said picnic to make it still like a picnic, so Sister Shaughnessy decided that we were going to bring the outside in. We had to make a salad for the picnic, and just so you know a salad in Ukraine means tomatoes, cucumbers and olives in oil and vinegar. So while at the store to get those said items (p.s. I love tomatoes now, because I have no choice but tolike them), we picked up paper to make a tree and some flowers. We set up our pretty sad looking tree in the foyer in front of our meeting room. It was quite great! We put flowers all along the wall and everything as well. We hoped that everyone would know what we were trying to do and they would even know that it was a tree.
    Natya and Yeva were the first ones at the church and they loved it, so it worked out. It was kind of fun! The picnic went really well. We had about 20 people there and ate some Ukrainian sandwiches, which consist of sausage, cheese and butter on some bread, some salad and deviled eggs.
    Also, I had my first encounter with Holodets. Thank you Elder Ward for telling Lydia that we all love Holodets. If you don't know what that is, think of meat and fat jello, you get the picture...She made us 2 bowls of it! Luckily we got to take it home. The Elders gave there bowl of it to the dogs on the street and took our bowl with them, I don't know whatever happened to it, nor do I really care. I was not going to try that if I didn't have to. The Elders wanted me to try it, but not if I can get away with not eating it.
    On Thursday we had a meeting with one of Olya's friends, Maria. It went really well, and she commited to read the Book of Mormon. She is a devout Catholic though, we will see how it goes. We sang hymns with her and she loved it! The Spririt was really strong as we taught her the Restoration. She is friends with Olya to, and Olya is such a good example she will help her out.
    This week as well we also met Olya's dad! He gave us a ride home from the church, it was amazing! He was SO nice, so nice! We thanked him for the ride and later in the week we called him and invited him to church. We told him that we wanted to give him banana bread for the ride home. He is such a nice guy it is hard to see him being so proti about Olya's desire to get baptized.
    We also went to Sasha's house on Saturday after cleaning the church. Sasha is the greatest, while we were cleaning he was playing music on our little keyboard that we have at the church. He played christmas music, so we taught him how to sing jingle bells in english. It was so great. All the way to his house we were singing Jingle Bells with him. It was so great! 
    Meeting his mom was a great experience, she was such a nice lady. She was kind of tipsy, but really nice and friendly. She sent Sasha to the store to buy us some juice. We talked with her for over an hour and invited her to church, we told her we would come get her the next day to walk with her, she didn't protest. Right before we left cute Sasha totally dumped the last of the juice down the front of Sister Ekolz, it was so funny! And so Sasha! You just have to love him!
    Now, Sunday.... Let us just talk about how amazing Sunday was! We went and picked up Sasha's mom for church, and she came! It was so great, we were so excited and you could tell that Sasha was too. He can now bless the sacrement and stuff, so of course he wanted to do that yesterday to show his mom. She stayed for the whole meeting to, and Lydia was such a good little friendshipper for her.
    Also, as we sit down with Sasha's mom, Renatya comes to church with Pavlo, so great! Then, Olya walks in with her dad! AH! We were so excited, he came to church!!! How great is that? She has wanted him to come for so long and he came! It was so great! We were so happy, then Olya leaves for a second and comes back with her friend Maria!
    Our jaws like dropped! It was so great! We were so excited to have all of them there! Renatya had to leave little early for work, but everyone else stayed the whole time! How cool is that? We were all so grateful to Heavenly Father for that, it was so amazing! Maria was really feeling the Spirit to, she cried all through sacrement. 
    After sacrement Sasha's mom invited all 6 of us missionaries over to their house for juice, is what she said. However, we walked with her and she had to go to the store to get the juice, so we waited outside as the Elders went home with Sasha. She came out with two HUGE bags of food. We got to their house and she like through together this entire meal for us! I had to be incharge of making the salad, and I as not cutting those tomatoes fast enough for her.
    It was quite the experience to have all 6 of us over, there home is not very big, nor do they have much, but she insisted on all of eating, and eating a lot. We had a lot of good laughs, before we started eating she stood up and thanked us for church and all this stuff, then she said that she is going to pray in Romanian, because that is her native tongue. We all bow our heads, and nothing happens. For like 30 seconds it is just quiet and we are all trying not to laugh. Elder Ward started laughing and then I lost it, then Elder Millard and Sasha went, and we were all gone. When she said that she was praying in Romanian she ment for herself, because the rest of us wouldn't understand her. It was so funny, Sasha was giving her a hard time about it, saying that we all thought she was going to pray for all of us. 
    It was one of those, you have to be there moments, but it was so funny! The rest of the meal was great with them as well. We shared a spiritual thought and got a return appointment for us Sisters with her this week. 
    It was such a great Sunday, and it was just such a great week! Ah, Heavenly Father is amazing and truely preparing these people to hear the Gospel. Uzzhorod is growing, and it just so amazing!