Sister Merrill Teaches You How To "Slam"

November 4, 2019

Привет Family and Friends!

I hope that you all had a fabulous Halloween! Halloween is not a very big deal here in Ukraine. In fact, we celebrated with a family who didn't even know that it was Halloween! We brought over cookies and milk and taught the family how to "slam".  Slamming is the word that missionaries here use to describe the way that we eat special cookies called Kontik here in the Ukraine mission. They are similar to an oreo covered in chocolate. We bite holes in the cookie and then suck the milk through the cookie. Anyways, we were all in tears from laughing so hard by the end of it because the Grandma in the family would not stop putting her whole face in the bowl. Halloween 2019=Sucess:)

I have moved from my sweet, little, city of Cherkasy, and am living in Kiev! There were many bittersweet goodbyes to English class members, friends, district members, Sister Maisey, and ward members. But! I had the opportunity to see Cherkasy branch members and the temple earlier this week. This included seeing Nastia! (My BFF who was baptized in August) It was so special seeing her visit the temple for the first time.  She was full of light and so much love for the gospel and the temple. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to see the Atonement of Jesus Christ work in her life and change her. When we taught her, she had such a strong desire to become closer to Christ and it was incredible seeing her acting upon that desire by visiting the House of the Lord. It was definitely one of the best moments on my mission so far!

In our area, we cover both an English speaking branch (a branch is a smaller congregation), and a Russian/Ukrainian speaking ward (a ward a larger congregation). It has been so fun meeting new people and making new friends. It was also so strange attending a English speaking church service. I kept forgetting that I was in Ukraine!  

Also, one of our friends that we are meeting with came to church with us! (the Russian/Ukrainian speaking service) She loved hearing everyone's testimonies and said that she felt a special spirit. Even though I could not understand all of what was spoken about, I too could feel that "special spirit".

This week, almost every person that we planned to do a lesson with cancelled:( Although we sometimes felt discouraged, it was a good reminder that part of the beauty of our life here on earth is our ability to make decisions for ourselves. We call this free agency! I am grateful for free agency, even though some people use their free agency not to meet with us:) 

I love being a missionary! I love Christ and I know that he is our Savior. 

Love, 

Sister Merrill

1. My new comp and I! She is so cute and just got into the BYU nursing program so YAY!

2. (above)  Two of my favorite things:)

3. View from our apartment

4. Our walk home every evening. The lights are an all year deal!

5. Nastia and I am the temple<3

6. Some Ukrianian cooking lessons!

7. Some members of our district. Thanks for the hand-printed meme, Evan!

Пока Cherkasy!

October 21, 2019

Привет!

Transfer news arrived, and I will be leaving Cherkasy:( I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve the people here. I will miss the incredible brownies on the walk to the church, the wild dogs that roam around, visiting little villages, seeing familiar faces from English Practice around the city, the huge river Dnipro, my favorite Georgian restaurant, our pink church building, Sister Maisey, and of course, the people. I am leaving a little piece of my heart here<3  

I am so grateful for the people I have met, and the relationships that I have made here. The people of Cherkasy welcomed me with open arms and made the start of my mission absolutely fantastic.  I love you Cherkasy! 

Although it has been sad saying goodbye to members of the branch here in Cherkasy, I will be serving in the area with the Kiev Temple! So I might run into them when they make temple trips. I am grateful that many "goodbyes" have just been,"see you laters";)

I will now be serving in Kiev! It is an area called Sofiivska Borschahivka and it covers a large area with two wards, including the international ward. With my new assignment, I will also have the opportunity to work more with the sisters in my zone. I will go on splits (when you change companions for the day), and be able to see other sisters' methods of missionary work. I am so excited! It will be quite the adventure:)

Here are some of the Highlights from my last full week in Cherkasy:

 - WE FOUND A HEDGEHOG! He was just chilling on the side of the road as we were walking home from a lesson. It was a happy day!

- I was talking to a woman about California and she mentioned that she had been to Santa Cruz. I asked her if she saw a banana slug while she was there and I then attempted to explain the tradition that the first time that you see a banana slug, you have to kiss it. Apparently, I used the wrong word for "kiss" and I basically told her that we "make out with banana slugs". She was very confused and I am glad that I was able to clear up my mistake:)

- After complimenting a Babushka's lipstick, she pinned me up against the wall and forced the lipstick into my hands. The grandmas here are both strong, and selfless!

- A woman that we are teaching came to say goodbye to me and gave me jam. She then explained that there is a Ukrainian tradition that when someone's child moves away, they give them jam. My heart was so happy! Then she told me, in her broken English, "I hope you... beautiful horse". Thank you Tanya! Earlier this week, Tanya called us to let us know that there were a lot of people at the park and that we should come and contact there. AND! Whenever we pray with her, she blesses Sister Maisey and I's parents because she knows that it is hard having a child move away. I am convinced that Ukrainians are the most authentic people who just want to see their friends happy and successful. We need more Tanyas in the world!

-One day this week, we were contacting for quite a while and not one single person wanted to talk to us. People were being less than friendly, and I was feeling down because not one person that whole day wanted to hear about the beautiful message that we have a Savior that loves and knows each of us. I was on the brink of tears, when I said a little prayer in my heart and decided to keep attempting to share Christ's message. Seconds later, the next person that I stopped was so excited to hear about the restored gospel and even invited us over to discuss more! I know that God loves us and answers each of our prayers. Tender mercies are so real!

I love being a missionary with my whole heart. I wouldn't trade being here in Ukraine and helping people come unto Christ for the world! 

I love you all! Write me!

Sister Merrill

1. (above) A very happy missionary

2. Service!

3. The cutest family ever

4. See you later Настя!

5. Sister Maisey and I's English class. They are the best! We teach the middle group and this past transfer, our English club has tripled in size!

Fast and Furious: Kiev Drift

October 14, 2019

добрый день!

This past week was fantastic! We started our week in Kiev, because we needed to complete some registration.  We had the opportunity to spend a little bit of P day there and we walked around the city for a bit. We also met with a darling friend of Sister Maisey's for a cup of hot chocolate. We arrived at the restaurant and as we were searching for a seat, a man heard us speaking in English and invited us to sit with him. We sat with him and it turns out that he was from Tennessee and that he came to Ukraine to look for ancient treasures/artifacts.(?) He was the second American that I have met in Ukraine (besides missionaries)! He was really kind and got really excited when I told him that hedgehogs live in here in Ukraine. 

The next day, we had to get to the other side of Kiev for registration and after a chaotic hour of taxi's canceling on us, one finally came and we started what was the scariest hour of my mission. The taxi driver heard us talking with our registration helper and apologizing for being late. I think that he then made it his goal to get us to the registration place on time. I spent the next hour holding my breath as he would say "Excuse me, girls" and then plow over side walks and weave through oncoming traffic to avoid any sort of stand still. We made it safely and at record speed!:) I am grateful for determined-Adidas-tracksuit-wearing taxi drivers.

We saw a woman walking her raccoon, complete with a leash and a tiny backpack! We love Cherkasy!

On Thursday, we visited our friendly fellow babyshka (grandma), Alexandra. She is so cute but suffers from a lot of pain so we help her get groceries and other tasks sometimes. This time, she wanted us to buy her fruit. After we walked to the "Miki Mayc" grocery store, we called her to see how many plums and apples she wanted. She told us that she wanted two plums and three apples and we were really confused because it was so few. When we returned, Alexandra took one look at the little bag of two, ping pong ball sized plumbs and three apples and started to laugh so hard that I was worried she would hurt herself. She kept saying, "I will never forget this for the rest of my life!" (in Russian) and laughing. It turns out that she meant two kilograms and three kilograms of the fruit. Then, we returned to the grocery store and purchased the correct amount. 

Speaking of ping pong, we have intense ping pong matches during our game nights every Saturday. As we were setting up the ping pong table, I turned to the woman next to me, Mela, and asked her if she enjoyed playing. She then motioned to her outfit, which consisted of what you would wear to a gym, and said, "Well yes, I dressed for it". In Cherkasy, Ping pong is not just a sport, it is a lifestyle. 

While contacting (talking with people on the street) the other day, I was approached by a man who was interested in the English cards that I was handing out. After hearing that I was from America, he was so excited and kissed my hand. We definitely meet some characters when contacting!

I love my friends here with my whole heart! On two separate occasions this week, our investigators brought their friends on our lessons! We met with our babyshka friend, Galina, and she invited her granddaughter. Throughout the lesson, she would tell her granddaughter all about her readings and the purpose of the Book of Mormon. I was so touched and it brought tears to my eyes! It was so neat to see how much she loves the Book of Mormon and that she wanted to share it with people that she loves. 

The next day, we met with Lydmela and she brought two of her work friends to our lesson! They asked some really interesting questions and I was grateful for Lydmela who was so proud to tell them all about the restoration of the gospel here on the earth.

For one of my studies, I decided to study why we need the Book of Mormon when we already have the Bible. Then during our companionship study, my companion and I discussed it.  I was so grateful that we were prompted to study that subject because later that day, we visited a woman who hasn't attended church and a while and she asked us, "What do we tell people who say that we don't need the Book of Mormon because we already have the Bible?" My companion and I were shocked and so happy to discuss what we had learned. We were able to read 2 Nephi 6-11 and talk about how the Book of Mormon and the Bible work together and compliment each other. The Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and fills the gaps and changes in the Bible. It contains truths that are necessary for us to come unto Christ and live with our Heavenly Father forever! I am so grateful for these experiences, where I can see the Lord's hand directing us as we teach and prepare to teach others. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I know that they work together and through reading and studying them, we can become closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love you all! Write me:)

Love, 

Sister Merrill

1. (ab0ve) The tiniest baby cactus that I have ever seen! One of our friends gave it to me as a gift just in case if I leave Cherkasy for transfers:(

2. The local "miki mayc" grocery store. Fit with plums and all!

3. Ferris Wheel in Kiev!

4. English class:) Sister Maisey and I teach the middle group. It is always a party.

5. Selfie with treats from babyshka friends

6. (above ) Corn Corn Corn

И-Ха! (Hee Haw!)

October 7, 2019

Привет friends!

I love you all and hope that you had a great week! I also hope that you are all keeping warm... It started to snow here today! Thank you so much for your love and support

Here are some highlights from the week: 

- Playing Бенг (Bang: a Wild West themed card game) for our game night on Saturday.  I think that I have mastered the cowboy accent in Russian...Everyone that we were playing with got very competitive and it reminded me of playing the game at home with my brothers. Except at home I didn't need to use google translate to understand each card. But now I know how to say a whole lot of cowboy words! 

- We had exchanges in Cherkasy! During exchanges we switch companions for a day. Sister Daines and I spent the day contacting and teaching. We met with a sweet woman who started off our lesson with a 25 minute long prayer. We were shocked, but impressed at her sincerity and reliance on the Lord. 

- (Not a highlight) We food poisoned ourselves with our tacos we made:-(

- While we were waiting for our interviews at our President's house, we watched the movie, "The Saratov Approach". It is basically a story about a pair of missionaries who get kidnapped in Russia. They filmed the movie in Ukraine so it was cool to see the different scenes and knowing exactly where they were filmed... It was also neat to understand the Russian that they were speaking in the film! 

-My favorite part of the week was meeting with our friend, Galina. She has already read half of the Book of Mormon and loves to tell us all about her studies. Attending church is difficult for her because her husband is extremely sick and he needs consistent care. During our lesson with her, she repeatedly referred to the church as "our church". So precious!! I love seeing how the Gospel completely changes and blesses lives.

Mission life is hard. I often miss my family (and peanut butter) and everyday my companion and I face rejection after rejection on the streets. But I know that this is all worth it because the message that we are sharing is true. It is the only way to experience true joy in this life, and the life to come. I love being a missionary! I love Ukraine! And most importantly, I love Christ! 

Thank you all!

Love, 

Sister Merrill

1. Beach Selfie!

 2. On the streets

 3. We Love Buba! (Our fav Georgian restaurant)

4. A man gave me his book of poems. The title of it is literally "Poems and Pigeon". Just one Pigeon.

5. Girl Gang!

6. (above) Exchange Sisters Gang!

Leaves (and golfball-sized nuts) are falling!

September 30, 2019

Привет!

Fall has arrived in full force in Ukraine! The leaves are falling from the trees and unfortunately, also golfball-sized nuts. We have not been hit, but there have been some close calls already. The women have pulled out their fur coats and I LOVE IT! My favorite fall look has been from the woman in the metro who had a red leather jacket and a skinned fox stapled to each shoulder.

We visited a Buddist Temple today.

We had a week full of lessons with both our old friends and new. It is pretty incredible how quick relationships can be formed and how much you can love people only after a couple of weeks of knowing them! We have been continuing our new member lessons with Hastea and I am AMAZED at what she understands and how she applies the gospel in her life. She even went contacting on the street with us yesterday! On Friday, we met with three of our investigators. Each told us how they feel something special when they are with us. My heart was bursting! I love the people here so much. And I especially love the message that we are sharing. I am so grateful for the opportunity to help our friends recognize that the feeling of love and warmth that they feel is from the Spirit!

The language is coming, slowly, but surely! I am understanding the basics of conversations and have a newfound sense of gratitude for people on the street who have the patience to talk to me and attempt to understand me. Here is a Russian language fun fact! The word for "to meet" and "to date" is the same. We use this word when we are setting up lessons with our friends, but I had no idea that it also meant "to date". I learned this a couple of days ago when a woman started setting her son and I up on a date. I agreed and was excited because I thought that she wanted us to teach him the gospel... Luckily, my companion stepped in and cleared everything up. Thanks, Sister Maisey!

I also taught our English class how to "dab". Exciting stuff!

I love you all! Thank you for your constant love and support. These four months have flown by and I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. Write me!

Love, Sister Merrill

Sister Maisey and I!

Temple trip with our recent convert friend! It was her first time<3

Cherkasy! All the sidewalks look like this.

Kiev West Zone

бесплатная книга!!!!

новое письмо от сестры меррил

September 16, 2019

Привет!

Greetings from Kiev! Most of my past week has been spent in Kiev because of transfers and now zone conference. It is so fun spending time seeing and working in other areas of the mission, but I miss Cherkassy and the people there:)

My previous companion, Sister Goncear, finished her mission and headed home. It was a bittersweet goodbye. I miss her, but I know that she will do awesome things in Moldova.

Now, I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Maisey and she is so amazing. We have a fun time trying to figure out how to get around because we are both pretty new to the area. First day together, we danced and sang to Baby Shark with group of university students on the street. So we can already tell that it will be a great transfer;-)

Miracles are real! We had our District Council meeting at the church and as we were wrapping up, a woman walked right into the church. She started to read through church pamplets and we introduced ourselves. After talking for a bit about the gospel, we asked her how she heard about our church and she pointed at me and basically said, "I saw her on the bus". So cool! She read my nametag and wanted to learn more. I am so grateful that we were at the church building so we could welcome her and teach her a little bit about the gospel.  It is so neat to see how the Lord leads and guides people to be at the right time and the right place!

I LOVE serving here! I love the people here and seeing the joy that the gospel brings into their lives.

Thank you for the love and support!

Sister Merrill

Trump in a Vishivanka and me

Me on a tank! Power moves only!

Girl Gang

Photo at top of page-  Sister Maisey and I at the Motherland Monument:)