Californians in Moldova

March 9, 2020

Лошадь!

Good morning everyone! I am here, party rocking in the beautiful country of Moldova. I have really enjoyed my first week here and I am super grateful for the opportunity to serve the people here. 

My last couple of days in Ukraine were bitter sweet. I was so sad to leave my friends there, but I was ready for this new adventure:-) I flew out from Ukraine and made it to Moldova on a 50 minute plane ride. I didn't realize how serious the Coronavirus was until I was in the airport and every single person was wearing a face mask except for me. There has been a confirmed case of the virus here in our city from a woman who came from Italy. Our Mission President has asked us to stock up on supplies and groceries for 2 weeks, just in case we need to stay inside for a while. Don't worry, we have our rice cakes, peanut butter, and cereal. We are all set:)

My new companion is Sister Jones! She tells people that she is from California even through her family moved from California when she was older just like me! We are a power team of fake Californians. 

Speaking of Californians, I met a group of missionaries from a different church the other day as we were riding a trolleybus! It was so strange hearing people speak English. They were all from California and we had a fun ride talking about our experiences here. 

I love Moldova! It seriously is such a neat place. There are stray dogs and cats everywhere, the weather is warm, and March is a party! We celebrate all of March by wearing Mărțișors. They are little ties with a red and white flower. We wear them everyday in March and they symbolize Winter turning into Spring. They eat different food here, which includes Mamaliga. It is literally just cornmeal and water, but it is good! I will attach a picture of it.

Our mission had an amazing activity called "Harvest Day" where we fasted and from 9:00-19:30 we were on the streets all day talking to people and especially trying to give people Books of Mormon. It was a cool way to start my service here and we worked hard finding people who were sincerely interested in knowing more about our message. . We also saw some incredible miracles while were were doing it. For example, as I was on the bus riding to our area that we had planned to contact in, I talked to a man who had previously attended our church. Before I could ask for his information, he got off the bus and I was really bummed. THEN, a couple hours later, we had a book table in a completely different area and guess who walked right up to our table! The man on the bus! I had a really neat conversation with him and he even came to church on Sunday!

Our goal was to hand out 1,002 Book of Mormons as a mission that day. After a long day with a lot of rejections and a lot of conversations, our mission gave out 1,084! yAy!

Natalia (a friend back in Ukraine) wanted to do a photoshoot with me because it was my last time visiting her. She loves jumping pictures. Here are the results!

Thanks, Natalia!

We had a cultural night activity where our district was asked to perform something about Ukraine. We didn't have a lot of time, so in 20 minutes, I learned a traditional Ukrainian dance and taught the whole congregation. It was very epic! Also, at the cultural night I ate holodets. It is basically meat jello and pretty brutal. It had a full on chicken in the jello! I gagged a little bit but it was worth the experience. 

Most of our lessons this week canceled which was kind of a bummer, not going to lie! But that meant that we had more opportunities to find people to teach! On Thursday, we had two lessons that were planned but in the space of four minutes, both canceled. So then we planned out where we were going to talk to people the rest of the day. We even decided to knock some apartment doors to see if anyone in the apartment building wanted to hear the restored message of Jesus Christ! But on the first door that we knocked, we got cursed out by a Babushka. After that, we decided to utilize our efforts elsewhere. So, we hit the streets! It was so dreary and cold and I was pretty bummed about the lessons cancelling and being cursed at by the babushka. But we kept going! As we walked along the street, I had the feeling to stop at a lady's little stand where she was selling Mărțișors. I asked her what the red and white represents and as she explained, she started to cry. I also started to cry:,) I think that we were both having rough days. I was able to share a small message about how we can have hope in this life and bear testimony about how I knew that God loved her. She was appreciative and I was grateful for the opportunity to share that experience with her. 

My favorite Trump-loving Ukrainian couple

I know that Jesus Christ knows us and loves us individually. He knows how we feel when we have those tough days! He loves us and wants us to rely on Him. 

I love you all! Thank you for your constant love and support.

Love, 

Sister Merrill

Mamaliga