Some things are the same where ever you go.   Saturday was a children’s fun day at the park across from Gary’s office.  As I was walking though the park I heard all this hammering and then I saw all the children and parents making pre-cut birdhouses.  It was like Home Depot Saturday at the park.  One thing different, they had nice oil based paint for all the kids to paint their birdhouses after they were built.  From the pictures you will see that they went through gallons of paint and I am sure they are still drying as  it was painted on so thick.  Of course the parents were doing more than their fair share of the work, which is usually how it goes.  It was just really cute to see so I have included pictures.

 Home Depot Saturday at the park

Finished birdhouses

Sunday we had a wonderful experience.  We went to Lutsk for the branch church services.  As you have to get train reservations a least a month in advance we hired a driver and left really early in the morning.  I was so glad we did because it was so fun to see the countryside of Ukraine.  We saw so many cute little villages and all of them each had a beautiful orthodox church.  The little cottages are so cute and there are so many different styles and they all have amazing gardens.  The soil is unbelievably fertile here.  There were farmers riding in horse drawn wagons, farmers plowing their fields with horse drawn plows, and we saw one farmer taking his cows to pasture.  The cows were all tied together and he was pulling them along on a bicycle.  There are no fences in the pasture areas so the cows are tethered to the ground and spread out all across the pasture.  Chickens and turkeys are feeding along the roadside and we saw several storks sitting in their nests atop power poles.  As we drove through the various towns we saw many people going to their churches with palm branches and flowers to celebrate Trinity Day.  We even saw a college graduation.  We really enjoyed the scenery and the pictures I am including were taken at 140 km per hour so they aren’t the best. 

 Farmer taking his cow to pasture

Storks sitting in their nest atop power poles

Village with church

Cottage with garden

Gas station attendant

The branch that we are responsible for has about fifty members.  They are all the sweetest people and all speak Ukrainian.  One of the members, Lucy, served a mission so she speaks great English that she learned from her companions.  She is the heart and soul of the ward.  She has four callings and plans all the activities for the branch.  We are hoping that she finds someone to marry right there in Lutsk so she doesn’t leave.  She gave an incredible lesson in Relief Society on Visiting Teaching.  All of the people  have such strong testimonies of the gospel and such a great love for each other.  Several people attend the branch that have not been baptized but just like the spirit that the feel there.  (This branch reminds us of the Arbon Branch.)  After the church services they had a luncheon and for us.  Everyone brought something to add to the Borscht and it was delicious, served with great bread and cookies.  We are really looking forward to serving in this capacity and already just love these wonderful people. 

Lucy

Branch friends

 Branch President and Counselor

 High Priest Group

 Missionaries checking out the Borscht

Soups on!

Gary has also been called as the Branch Mission Leader in the International Branch which we attend here in Kyiv.  He is going to be really busy but that is why we are here, to serve wherever we are needed.

I am really enjoying my English classes with the people that work at the service center.  The class has grown from 5 students to about ten. We do have a lot of little weird sayings that really make no sense to people that don’t understand our language.  For instance, “What does chicken out mean?”  I was teaching practical phrases that they might use every day and  learned that “set the table” translates to “lay on the table”.  We always laugh over these funny things.  Our favorite part of the class is when we read the Book of Mormon together at the end.  If we can learn Russian as well as these people are learning English we will be happy. 

English class at Gary's office

We have started our third month and all is going well.  We appreciate all of your kind e-mails – it is so fun to hear from home.  I want to close with a quote from Elder Todd Christofferson  (who by the way is one of our conference speakers this weekend):

 “In reality, there aren’t very many things in a day that are totally without significance.  Even the mundane and repetitious can be tiny but significant building blocks that in time establish the discipline and character and order needed to realize our plans and dreams.  Therefore, as you ask in prayer for your daily bread, consider thoughtfully your needs – both what you may lack and what you must protect against.  As you retire to bed, think about the successes and failures of the day and what will make the next day a little better….Your reflections will increase your faith in Him as you see His hand helping you to endure some things and to change others.  You will be able to rejoice in one more day, one more step toward eternal life.”

Gary and Natalia, our Russian teacher

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