Sunday, Monday, Days 6 and 7 of 'The Wait'

Sorry I skipped posting yesterday. First, let me comment to a few people about a few random things. For whatever reason, I can't comment on people's blogs. Sometimes, yes, mostly no.

Anne, please please please blog and make it long. I'm running out of reading material. I've already read three books.

Kels, it's still up in the air, their government is basically still thinking about things.

Kim, it IS all about the food now!

Wendy, Zap is the sixth largest city in Ukraine with about 776,000 residents as of the 2010 census. Dnipropetrovsk is the third largest with just over 1 million. So, where I am staying is (population wise) bigger than Boston (617,594), but smaller than San Jose (945,942). How bored am I that I looked that up?! So, I'm sure there is someplace around here to get a pedi, I just haven't been able to find one. And, I can totally picture Alex looking over his shoulder to you to be sure you are watching him:)

Yesterday I was so so so excited to go to church. I just couldn't even wait. One reason was because it was going to take up nearly five whole hours of my day. An almost hour walk each way, plus three hours of church. I was planning on walking really slow because the walk is really only about 45 minutes. I couldn't wait to be around other people who shared the same values and beliefs and I knew that there would be English speaking missionaries too and I will admit I was looking forward to hearing me some English!!

I ended up walking a little too slow and was a few minutes late for church. I slipped in the back and there was a seat next to a woman and her daughter. She patted the seat indicating to me that I could sit in it. I almost started crying on the spot. I had prayed to please please please not be a basket case, so I'm sure that was the only reason I held it together. Um, I have to add that when I woke up at 7:30 a.m. it was already 75 degrees with 75% humidity. I have no idea how hot it was outside by the time I got to church at ten, but I was wishing I hadn't wasted my time showering. And if I thought it was hot outside, inside was like ten degrees hotter. I sat there for about ten seconds before I couldn't handle it any longer. I pulled out my passport and started fanning myself. It was the smallest thing I had in my purse.

Speaking of my purse, I had worn my flip-flops for walking and carried in my purse my zebra striped heels (love those!!) along with my scriptures, camera, passport and it was full and heavy. Somehow, though, I managed to forget to bring a water bottle. The water in Ukraine is not drinkable. So, I was a little bugged with myself for forgetting that because it meant I had to wait five hours to drink anything. sigh. Oh well.

Okay. Back to church. Obviously, I could understand very little of what was being said, but thank goodness the Spirit speaks a universal language! The little girl who I sat by, I actually shared my chair with. She was darling!! If I wasn't afraid of being thrown in jail, I would've picked her up and hugged her and squeezed her little cheeks and played with her for, like, the whole three hours. Can you tell I miss my kids?! But I refrained. At least I had a little friend. A blessing from Heavenly Father. He knew I needed a tiny little hand to hold:)

For the second hour, Sunday School, I found one of the missionaries to translate for me. He is from Sandy. Small world. First thing I was asked was if I could play the piano. They have a piano, but nobody can play. How I wished I could still play. New goal: make time to practice piano. While we were waiting for the lesson to start, two young men walked in and sat next to me. Now, I am ashamed to admit this, but when I saw them when I first came in, they were sitting on the same row as an older gentleman, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt (only about 2/3 the congregation were dressed in the typical 'Sunday best' attire). One of these guys had head phones hanging around his neck. My first thought was that their father, the older gentleman I assumed, had made them come and that they must respect him a lot because they were obviously old enough to be on their own, but they were still there. I immediately hoped/prayed that we'd be able to help our boys learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ and that they would willingly attend church with us. So, when these guys walked in and sat next to me and not by the older man, I said hello to them in Russian. They of course could tell I was American and surprisingly, they spoke pretty decent English. I began to chat with them and found out that they actually live in Kyiv and had been camping in Crimea for the weekend. They had a TEN HOUR bus ride ahead of them. Doesn't that sound lovely?! They asked where I was from, why I was in Zap and about my family. Then the lesson began and we quieted down. The lesson was taught by a feisty older lady. I love women that speak straightforward and that don't singsong their words. Oh man, that drives me nuts. You know what I'm talking about. During conference when all those women speakers get up and talk like they are speaking to a two year old and sound like they are semi-singing? Can't stand it. I wait to read their talks later. It is that bad for me. Sorry. Anyhow, this lady was not like that and I enjoyed her lesson. Enough that I even commented. Surprise. After my comment she said, 'Spaciba!' and I said, 'pazhalsta!' and everybody thought that was pretty funny. So, back to these guys that were sitting next to me that I judged so quickly. They also participated in the lesson and boy did they know their stuff. We were studying in the New Testament in Luke (by the way, I know I've said this before but I am so glad I can read cyrillic!!! I was able to follow along with the lesson and read in the Russian scriptures and sing the hymns. I had no idea what I was saying/reading, but I felt in the loop) and they were way familiar with what we were talking about. My perception of them had changed when I began talking to them, and I was only more impressed with them as time passed. Here are two young men, probably in their early twenties, who have gone on a little camping trip for the weekend and are on their way back to Kyiv (the bus ride from Zap to Kyiv is ten hours, I bet it is close to that from Crimea to Zap) and they took the time to find out when church was, get off the bus, find the building, attend church, and then get back on the bus to get home! Can't say that I'd have done the same thing. I was so touched that the gospel was important enough to them that they took that detour to attend church. Amazing! One thing that we talked about was Luke 22:40 where Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples and he asks them to wait for him and to pray. Then, they all fall asleep. The teacher brought up the fact that the records for the church indicate that there are over 200 members in Zap, but there were only 38 there today. She asked some great questions. Where were the others? Had they 'fallen asleep'? What are we doing so that we don't spiritually 'fall asleep' and fall into temptation? Do we ever 'fall asleep' when the Lord asks us to do something and miss out on an opportunity to serve, to learn, to be taught? It was great. I love lessons that get me thinking and reexamining my life.

After Sunday School the young men left, they had to catch the bus. I went to Relief Society (like Sunday School, but for women over the age of 18). It was great. The missionary that translated for me this time was from Moscow, and she spoke English. (Can I just tell you how ignorant I feel being over here where so many people speak more than one language and then here I am, only English!! We live in one of the most advanced, greatest democracies in the world, yet I haven't taken the opportunity of learning another language. eye roll.) The lesson was great, the women were great.

There are only two youth in the entire branch, two young women who looked to be about fiffteen. There were only 5 kids under the age of twelve. And only three of them were there. We are so blessed to live where there are so many people who believe the same things we do. It's hard to imagine, because even though there are many different Christian religions in the U.S., we all still believe in Jesus Christ and his Atonement and role as our Savior. Here, that is just not a common belief and to be one of the few Christian people here that have this knowledge and are willing to live it, well, that just amazes me. It's exciting too, to think of all the people there are out there who have yet to hear the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to know what a huge impact that one belief, that one piece of knowledge, will have on everyone.

Anyhow, you'd think I'd have been so overjoyed after church, and I was feeling pretty spiritually uplifted, but when I got back to my apartment I was so homesick. I just wanted to take a bath and cry like a baby. So, instead I took a nap:) And when I woke up I felt much better. I made myself some spaghetti with vegetable sauce. I'm pretty sure Huz and the kids just threw up when they heard that. For dessert I made myself a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup shake. So, I had brought with me two king size packages of Reeses Cups to give to Yana because she loves ice cream and all things sweet just as much as I do, but I keep forgetting to give them to her and I did a really good job not eating them for a week, but I caved and opened one of the packages. Sorry Yana.

This morning I went to the vegetable stand by my apartment and bought myself one kilogram of fresh pomodores (how random is it that they have this latin based word for this one vegetable. At least I assume it's latin based. so, it's a tomato) and one kilogram of ahgooreets (cucumbers). They say kilogram not at all like I would have guessed. It is pronounced sort of like 'clawgrum'. Then, I went to the grocery store and picked up a few things to take with me when I go to visit the boys tomorrow. I also bought myself some mozzerella, more pomegranate juice, and a loaf of bread. And, here comes today's highlight. I think the Lord knew I needed someone to be nice to me. It's not that people are mean, they just aren't anything. Everyone walks around expressionless, paying no attention to anyone else around them. It is so weird to me. So, I'm picking out a loaf of bread and a woman comes up to me and shakes her head no. For a minute, I thought maybe we weren't supposed to get our own bread (they have some weird food rules here) and then she started speaking in Russian. I couldn't understand what she was saying, only that she wanted me to put my bread back so I told her I didn't understand her and that I don't speak Russian (all in Russian:)) and she reaches over and squeezes my loaf of bread and makes a face like 'it's not too bad' and then points over to a rack that is set off to the side full of bread and nods her head like, 'oh yeah! there's the good stuff.' Then she hands me a bag and SMILES AT ME! I could've hugged her. And I must say, she was right! That bread is really good! Another blessing from above, silly as it sounds, was a car stopping for me at a crosswalk. That just absolutely never happens. I have never seen a car stop for anyone. They even honk at old ladies! And, last but not least, the old man at the vegetable stand waves hello to me now and the clerk inside the convenience store where I buy my popsicles recognizes me and greets me when I walk in. When she said hello to me today and tried to speak English to me, I almost jumped over the counter to give her a hug.

For lunch today I had fresh bread with butter on one side that I toasted on the stove with slices of tomatoes on top and then slices of mozerella on the tomatoes. For my side dish, I had sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. It was so good. So good in fact that I had the exact same thing for dinner. Now I know Huz is gagging.

I also went for a really long walk tonight. I wanted to see the sun set because I just knew it would be so beautiful by the river, so I made sure I was close enough to home by 8 and just kind of walked around the immediate area to see when the sunset began and timed how long from then until dark so that I can go to the beach another day for the sunset and still be back before it is too dark. So, I saw the sunset over the Amstor, which is probably not the best setting ever, but I was right. The sunset was beautiful. Even over the Amstor. I can't wait to see it tomorrow.

Well, I'm super excited to see the boys tomorrow. And to see all the sunflowers on the way, hopefully in bloom!!

And now, for the pictures. Captions underneath.

I really, really love that there is a Tide box hanging out of the building. It's so appropriate that it is there. You come to church to learn about Christ and his Atonement that will 'cleanse' us, and Tide is a physical cleanser. Plus, it makes it easy to find the church.

Vegetable spaghetti. I had to just have water, I had run out of my pomegranate juice.

Todays lunch and dinner. It kind of looks like there are big blobs of mayo or something on the tomatoes, but it's mozzerella. And it was really good.

This is the puzzle I finally got desperate enough to start on.

And that's what I have left. I guess I'm not quite that desperate yet...

I saved the best for last. Isn't it beautiful?! Even over the Amstor? It almost looks like the parking lot is the river, but it isn't. Hopefully I'll have a sunset by the river picture soon. I love love love the sunset. That is the something that we don't get in my little mountain town. The mountains block it every night. Back at our other house we had the most beautiful, amazing sunsets every. single. night. And I loved them every single night. And now I miss them. It was great to see this tonight. Another tender mercy from the Lord:)