Hello Family and Friends!
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| Art and I (It Says, "I Love the Book of Mormon") |
I hope that everyone had a great couple of weeks!
We have been super busy and I absolutely love my companion, our area, and our investigators. Also... We have some SUPER exciting news! So keep reading;) I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to share everything that I am experiencing with you all. I love that I can share little glimpses of my life through these emails!:-)
One of the most incredible and unique blessings that we have in this area is the Kiev temple. We walk by it several times a day and it is always a great reminder of our purpose on this earth and God's love for us. We also have amazing senior couples who are always hooking us up with really neat experiences... So on Tuesday, Sister Olson and I had the chance to clean the chandelier in the celestial room! It was absolutely AmAzInG. It hadn't been cleaned since the temple was built in 2010. We cleaned every individual crystal and were amazed at the difference that it made. It was an experience that I will never forget.
With our current assignment, Sister Olson and I have the opportunity to work with the sisters in our zone. Sometimes, we do "exchanges" where we switch companion for the day to help train and encourage them. I love exchanges because I learn so much about different ways to do missionary work. In the past couple of weeks, we had the opportunity to visit two cities outside of Kiev to do exchanges.
We first visited Vinnytsa! It is a beautiful city that has really different architecture than most of Ukraine. It looks a lot more Western European than the usual Soviet style. I worked with Sister Peterson and it was a blast!
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| Sister Olson, Juice and I |
The second city that we visited was Bila Tserkva. I served with Sister Curtis and I loved getting to know her better:) After being requested to buy diapers by a Babushka and the store not having any bags big enough to hold them, we had a fun time walking through the streets with two large bags of adult diapers. We got some good stares and laughs from people on the street;) Also, someone told me that they thought that I was a native Ukrianian when they first met me so I guess mission=accomplished. Just kidding!;)
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| Sister Peterson and I |
I also caught a pretty bad virus while we were in Bila Tserkva which caused for a really rough night. And shortly after that, that bug spread to my companion and other missionaries that we were in contact with... I may have started an epidemic.... But I have been so grateful for our friends here who have gone out of their way to help us out. Investigators have given us medicine and senior couples have dropped of soup.. We are feeling the love!
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| Sister Curtis and I |
Okay, now I will share the COOLEST thing that happened. Back in November, there was a family who started coming to church every week! The family includes 15 year old twins, Igor and Darina, Tanya the mother, and Sergi the father. At first, they were super hesitant to meet with the missionaries, but after a while of just trying to develop a friendship with them, they asked to meet with us and learn more about the church! Unfortunately, on the day that we scheduled our lesson, their son, Igor, fell and was in critical condition in the hospital. It was a really scary time and we didn't know the extent of the damage. We fasted as a ward and Igor received a blessing from a ward member which really helped comfort the family. After two months of recovery, Igor is back to full health! It truly is a miracle. The whole family has been coming to church every week and we had a really special first lesson with them where they all basically asked us to be baptized! My heart is so full for them. They are so precious and are so excited to become members of the true church of Jesus Christ later next month. Also, Igor and Darina asked how they can start preparing for missions and when they can receive their Patriarchal blessings..... They are amazing!
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| Burger and I |
I love the work I love Christ, and I love all of you!
Love you!
Sister Merrill
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| The Escape Rooms Here Are Awesome and Cheap |
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