Gary and I traveled again to Lutsk this weekend. I was one of the speakers but the other
speaker didn’t show up so Gary filled in and of course did a fantastic job with
no preparation. I had spent all week
getting ready. I did pass one
milestone. I bore a very simple
testimony in Russian. I kind of felt
like Peter stepping out of the boat (Oh thou of little faith) and going one
step on the water and sinking. Maybe
next time I will be able to take two. There are a lot of really quirky things when
you learn a foreign language. Say a word
with the accent on one syllable and it means one thing, on another syllable and it means another. For instance, redeemer means “to save” if you say it one way and “to kill” if you
say it another. Just a little difference. It was a wonderful day and we love the branch
and the missionaries. The missionaries
had us for lunch and believe me, I am gaining an even greater appreciation for
missionaries and the conditions in which they live. Senior missionaries get much better living
conditions. I really appreciate my
apartment. We had a great rice dish and
then they taught me all the things I could do to save money on groceries. Even though it is a ten hour drive, I love
every minute of it.
The countryside here is totally enchanting. The drive to Lutsk makes me feel like I am
walking through one of my favorite novels by L.M. Montgomery. As we pass by the little villages at 6:00 AM
we are able to observe the simple lifestyle of the people in the villages in
northwest Ukraine. Their cottages are
simple but neat, surrounded with seasonal flowers which are now roses,
hollyhocks, daisies, delphiniums and poppies.
There are trees that shade the little homes and then their gardens are
amazing. Little square plots of
potatoes, tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, and in the bigger gardens
even wheat. There are chickens visible
in the yards and even an occasional goat. A babushka is working in the garden, picking berries, or gathering eggs,
always in a dress. It reminds me of the
‘50’s when our mothers wore housedresses all day, even to mop the floors. The morning light captures the wonder of this
lifestyle.
Later on you will
see a single dairy cow or a small herd
of cows being led to pasture. Sometimes
there will be a man or a woman walking
and leading with a rope, sometimes a person on a bicycle leading a cow or cows
to pasture and sometimes they are led by a horse drawn wagon. Men are raking the hay in stacks by
hand. Just over the hill comes a hay
wagon loaded with hay. Where there is a
visible stream running through the village women are washing clothes, to be
dried later by hanging them on a line strung between trees. There is a distinct feeling of living close
to the earth and being sustained by what God provides. Since we are all sustained by what God
provides it is sad that we get too busy to notice that in our lives.
The barns are small but picturesque. An open door into the loft reveals a supply
of hay. In the fields people are harvesting crops by hand and the new, rich, dark soil is being tilled for
yet another crop with a horse drawn plow.
There is a peaceful calm about the way they live. It is almost like watching it in slow motion,
even going 120 KPH down the road. We are
in a car, but there are no cars to be seen off the main road and no roads
except those made by horse and wagon in the villages. Neighbors stand visiting over fences and
later in the day when all the chores are done you see them sitting on common
benches that have been placed outside of
their fenced yards. This is such an
opposite lifestyle of what we observe in the city.
Even though it is only the 16th of June the
potatoes are blooming and the corn is much higher than knee high. The garden plots outside of the villages look
like beautiful patchwork quilts. There
are the same crops as in the smaller gardens. It is a delight to drive along and observe
hundreds of these patchwork quilts. Further out in the country the wheat fields stretch for miles. New crops are added. Sunflowers (just starting to bloom), canola fields which have given Ukraine their
flag (canola fields against blue sky) and most magnificent of all, the bright
red poppy fields. Pictures cannot
portray the beauty of these fields nor words
describe.
The mode of transportation is mostly walking, but then there
are a lot of horse drawn wagons and bicycles. In the countryside there are a lot more bicycles on the road than
cars. It is funny to see parents “pumping” their children on the back fender
or the “sissy” bar of their bikes. No
fancy pull along little children carriers.
I love the willow woven fences and the picket fences.
On the drive home in the evening we saw many cows staked
randomly in the pastures and several empty wagons in the fields with their
horses untethered and grazing. Where did
the farmers go? Every river, every pond,
and every stream you can observe fishermen enjoying their day, but I am sure
expected to bring home a great catch for dinner. No catch and release in this country. Also there are people along the roadside
selling whatever they have in excess, which isn’t much. Maybe a few jars of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries,
herbs, mushrooms, whatever. They are
enjoying each other’s company and happy when someone stops to make a
purchase. Other people are now returning
from the fields. A horse-drawn wagon
with an older man and woman hurries across the highway(as fast as a horse can
pull them) as cars race along at 120 kmh. I can feel the wives fear at her husband’s daring move. I really want to escape to the village and
live there for about a week.
Our driver’s wife is
visiting her grandparents in the country and in two weeks when we go back we
will pick her up and I will get to see inside one of these quaint
cottages. There are no roads but just a
wagon path to their home so that will also be interesting.
Back to city life and one more interesting story from the week. In April, Denton and Daisie sent Gary a jar of
Costco Smoked Almonds for his birthday. Well, it had been two months since they sent it and we hadn’t received
it. I probably would've just forgotten it, but they paid $25 to mail it so it was a $35 jar of almonds, so I decided to
take the bull by the horns and see what had happened to those almonds. It took going to three post offices that were
situated in a fairly close proximity to Gary’s office before we found the package. The post office was about 1200 square
feet. A little counter and then a back
room. In the area where the counter was
there were several large bins filled with letters. The back room was filled with similar bins
and no sign of an automatic sorter. After Gary showed his passport they retrieved his package. I was
feeling hopeful so in as few words possible (don’t know that much Russian) I
asked if they had the two letters that we also hadn’t received. They went to the back room and started
sorting through one of the bins. In about
five minutes it turned the magical hour of 2:00 PM. They kicked us out of the post office, locked
the doors and all left for lunch. Later
I learned that postal workers expect to be tipped and we hadn’t done that so I
don’t know if I will ever see those other letters. One thing that has been amazing is that we
have received letters at our apartment. The first few took about three weeks, the next one ten days, and the
last one we received in 6 days. I think
we have a little better service than downtown.
And to close this
blog ……a quote from President Joseph F. Smith. “We are told that we should remember Him in our homes, keep His holy
name fresh in our minds, and revere Him in our hearts; we should call upon Him
from time to time, from day to day; and, in fact, every moment of our lives we
should live so that the desires of our hearts will be a prayer unto God for
righteousness, for truth, and for the salvation of the human family.”
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