New Year, New Hair

I Love the Temple and The BOM

January 27, 2020

Привет всем!

(Hello everyone!)

I hope that everyone is having a great start of the year. I cannot believe that it is already the end of January! And that I will soon be hitting my 8 month mark!? Crazy. We have had a great couple of weeks meeting with old friends and new.... This includes Simon!

We met Simon on the street. Simon is from Nigeria and he is here also as a missionary/pastor from a different church... but we admire his dedication:) He does not know one word of Russian or Ukrainian, but that does not stop him from going out on the streets and talking to people about Christ. Simon even asked us if he could go contacting with us! We took him to a University and spoke to people about what brings them hope. Simon also invited us to his church. It was very different from our church services. It was all in English and there was more singing, dancing, clapping, Louis Vitton belts, and hallelujahs. Also, we were the only women, so that was interesting! It was a great experience and I loved meeting people who share our same love for Jesus Christ. Simon and his "Boss pastor" friend attended our church service on Sunday. They seemed to enjoy themselves and I really appreciated the talks that were given and the members who welcomed them. The speakers used verses in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon and our friends were shocked at how both of these books work together. 

Contacting With Simon

This past week, we had interviews and zone conference! That meant that all of the zone needed to gather for a couple days. We had so many sisters at our place! We call our apartment, "Hotel Borshchahivka":) At one point, we had eight sisters at our apartment... Crazy! I love getting to know the sisters and I am grateful for all of their hard work.

I really enjoyed Zone Conference this transfer. Sister Olson, the Zone Leaders and I gave a training about contacting. We did an interactive portion of the training and one of the scenarios we planned was contacting a "gopnik". A gopnik is a word for a stereotypical man who slav squats, wears adidas, and smokes.  Anyways, just a little Russian word of the day from Sister Merrill:)

 It was also focused on the Book of Mormon and I learned so much! I walked out of zone conference with a desire to dedicate myself to immersing myself in the Book of Mormon whenever I have the chance. I know that when we study the scriptures, we become better, happier, and closer to Christ. We had a lesson with a less active woman who has served a mission and read the Book of Mormon. She told us that she does not need to continue reading because she already knows all of the stories. We had a powerful lesson where Sister Olson and I bore our testimonies about the importance of continuing our conversion through constantly studying the Book of Mormon. I know that because of this book, I am a better daughter, friend, and missionary. The peace and joy that it brings in my life is undeniable. Every time I study its' teachings I am reminded of God's love for us. He has given the opportunity to read his words and feel of His love. I encourage you to start to study the Book of Mormon if you haven't had the chance. If you do study the Book of Mormon, reflect upon how this book has helped you become closer to Christ!

For P day today, we attended the memorial park, Baba Yari. Here, in 1941, the Nazi forces murdered 33,771 Jews over the space of two days but it is estimated that while the Nazis were there, over 100,000 people were murdered at Babi Yar. The Nazi forces forced these people to a ravine, where they stripped them of all their belongings and shot them. There were literal corpses upon corpses. I am not going to write about everything, but if you look up Babi Yar, you can find more information about what happened there.

A Memorial Statue at Babi Yar

It was a very sobering experience. It is so hard to imagine that there, thousands and thousands of men, women and children were murdered. So many dreams and lives were stolen. 

The Ravine

I am grateful for the hope that comes from the knowledge that we can live with our families forever, even in the darkest of times. I am also grateful for these amazing experiences that I have had in Ukraine.

I love you all!

Sister Merrill

Oh, uhh...I died my hair!