Week 58: Christmas Miracles and hitchhiking

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas!! Today has been such a good day! We had something so so awesome happen this morning, but first, tons has happened in the last week and a half and we're getting sushi with our elders for dinner so I'm a little short on time! So let's get to it.

Last week we had Zone Conference and it was so so good! We were a little nervous for it because we have been planning for it for a while because we did a service project at the end of it and there were a lot of moving parts but everything worked out better than we had hoped.

Side note, Elder Payne may have accidentally worn Sister Chen's nametag to the meeting we have before zone conference with President Wirthlin because he is green-blue color blind and her jacket is green and his is blue! Haha we almost lost it during the meeting but I don't think President noticed! Hopefully.

Anyway, zone conference. We had a bunch of really awesome musical numbers and had a testimony meeting as a zone. These past few months we have been reading The Book of Mormon as a mission, focusing on the names and roles of Jesus Christ. It has been so cool for me to see all the names and roles He has, and it strengthened my testimony of how The Book of Mormon really does testify of Jesus Christ. My favorite name was "A light that is endless that can never be darkened." He is our light and He has been my light this past year, and my favorite part of being a missionary is seeing how His light changes lives.

After zone conference we split into two groups and we took one group and decorated the family center (the care facility for children in difficult family situations) and the other group set up the rooms to play games with the kids! It was so fun to see their faces as we decorated their rooms and President Wirthlin came with us and we made snowflakes and it was so fun! Then we booked it back over to the church building because the kids were coming! We did four different stations (crafts, cookie decorating, the four corner game, and they watched The Christ Child). It was a little crazy at first getting things moving, but it the kids absolutely loved it and it was just so fun. Seeing how happy everyone was just made all the planning worth it. Definitely my favorite zone conference.

Right after Zone conference ended we went into Center to practice for the Christmas Fireside for our Kharkiv district, and then we practiced again on Saturday before it started. It ended up being really awesome. They had a live orchestra and we sang and watched little Christmas clips and so many nonmembers come! We invited a worker we met from the family center and she came and loved it! It was awesome!!

We also met with a contact this week from the Elders and it was pretty good, it was quick because she had to go to a meeting, but she was super nice and wants a Book of Mormon in French! We're hoping to meet with her at the branch this week.

We were able to go visit a member, Sister Sveta, who lives outside of Kharkiv, with Louda, a cute member in our branch. After missing our bus stop and having to hitchhike back to their tiny little village (thank you random Ukrainian man) and getting lost in the middle of the wilderness of Ukraine trying to find their house, we got there and had a great time in their cozy home. Her daughter just had her second child and we shared the Christ Child with them and drank tea and cake and then she gave us all socks that she had knitted! They are so cool! And then she gave me the cutest little baby sweater and hat! So I can dress my future child!! Haha it made me so happy. Sister Sveta is the best.

And then today! We were praying before leaving the apartment to go contact for a little and we had the thought to carol to our neighbors (we had been thinking about it for a while but never had the time to) and so we decided to do it. We went to the top floor of our building where we were pretty sure a family lived that we've met a few times and we knocked on the first door and it was an old guy in a tank top and he told us he didn't need a song... :(  But! we knocked on the next door and the family answered! And they were ALL home and the dad invited us INTO their apartment! What! We were kind of in shock and their apartment was sooo nice and their family was so kind and they started to make food for us and it was so fun! They were decorating their tree and we sang for them and ate with them (still don't really believe it happened honestly, that has never really happened to me on my mission...) and talked about why we are here and how we usually celebrate Christmas and they said we could come back another day and share a Christmas message. We got their number and then left for lunch at the senior couple's home! It was the best Christmas miracle. Wowwy.

That is about it for the past few days! We had some other stuff too but these were the biggies. It's definitely weird to not be home for Christmas, but this Christmas on my mission will always have a special place in my heart. Being here in Kharkiv with the lights on Soomska street and the giant Christmas tree in the square and the Christmas music in Park Shevchenka and watching The Christ Child multiple times a day showing it to people, helping people feel and notice the light of Christ, talking to people about Christ and His life and helping people learn about His restored and living church on the earth--it can be hard sometimes but it has been one of my most favorite Christmases. It's so much more meaningful when we focus on others and what we can give rather than thinking about what we can get. I know Jesus Christ was born for us and lived and died for us, and was resurrected so that we can all live again. He was the first and greatest gift, and He is my Savior. I love Him and am so grateful for this time to serve Him in Ukraine. Have a very Merry Christmas everyone.

Love,
Sister Kropelnicki

Our Zone Conference service activity for the kids from the family center

Week 57: Metro Croissants and transfers??

Hello everyone and happy Monday! This week was great and full of lot of meeting with people and planning for zone conference and all the christmas things coming up in our Kharkiv district and we finished with some crazy news that we just got this morning! But first, last week:

On Tuesday we had Mission Leadership Conference in Dnipro so at 6 am we met the elders and off we went in a little van. It was crazy foggy but that didn't stop our driver from going crazy fast haha. They drive that road all day every day so he could probably do it with his eyes closed (hopefully cause that's basically what he did). MLC was great, we talked about the new missionary standards book and zone conference and Christmas (!!!) and two of my old companions, Sister Rawlinson and Bevziuk were there too and so it was just a great day. This is also their last transfer until they go home which is soooo weird! It was hard to leave the mission office when we finished because it would be a while before I see them again!

Our Kharkiv district is also doing a Christmas fireside and President Wirthlin and Sister Wirthlin will be there and we as missionaries are singing some songs and the members are running with it and it's going to be so good!! There's going to be a live orchestra and its gonna be великолепно.

Sister Chen and I are also trying to get out of the city part of our area because we have a pretty big area and haven't been to every part of it. So we decided to go to the bottom part, to a seelo (village) called Babai and we did some good old fashioned tracting! It was actually kind of fun, and people actually answered their doorbells. It was kind of weird because the only tracting I've ever done is with apartments because that's all they really have in the cities I've served in, but it was my first time doing the typical tracting. People were interested in why the heck we were there, and that started some good conversations.

Straight from there we went to visit Sister Alla who has been sick lately and hasn't been to church for a while. We talked to her about Christmas and we watched the Christ Child and she really liked it. We also visited another babushka in our branch the next day, Sister Ludmila. She showed us her old Book of Mormon that the missionary who baptized her gave to her. It was so cool! The gold letters on the front were totally worn away and it was all marked up. You could tell that it got a lot of attention! Our members are amazing!

We also had a lesson with Peter and Janna and we talked about goals and what goals they have with meeting with us, and we talked about how they feel like their lives have changed since they started meeting with the missionaries. They said that they have noticed a difference since they've met with us, and we talked about some goals that they could set for this year and we talked about baptism and they immediately closed off (whenever we talk about baptism they kind of do that), but they are praying as a family now! So that's good, and they are going to read a chapter a day together from The Book of Mormon (because Janna doesn't really like reading). We still feel a little stuck with them, but they are making progress :)

We also had exchanges this week with the Novy Doma sisters and I was with Sister Smith! She is so awesome!! She is one of the most diligent missionaries I know and wow she was teaching me the whole time! We went and visited the parents of the first counselor in our branch. I've only met his mom, but this time his dad was there too and we had a really great lesson with them. We showed them The Christ Child (our mission has a goal to share it 10 times before Christmas :) and they really really loved it. We also invited them to the Christmas Fireside this week and they said they want to come. Cross your fingers!

Also random, but sister Chen ate a croissant that she dropped on the ground in the metro this week. She is a brave one.

And then today! We got a call from our mission President and he told us that for the rest of the transfer (three weeks) we will be in a trio with a sister whose companion is going home this week! Woah. We were a little surprised but we are so excited! I think I am destined to just be in trios half my mission or something hahaha. But it'll be a fun time, we can't wait.

This week I've been trying to really take time each day and really think about where I am and what I'm doing and put it all into perspective because my mission is going by so fast and I never want to forget this time, especially being Christmas time. We were sitting in Sister Alla's cute little kitchen and we were drinking tea and talking and laughing and it just hit me for a split second how much I just LOVE everything about where I was in that second. And there are so few other places that I would rather be. I am just really darn grateful for my mission and the good and the hard times. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I love you all and hope you are having a wonderful Christmas time! This is the most wonderful time of the year because it's focused on Christ! And He is the source of everything that gives us true happiness and joy. Have a wonderful week! Merry Christmas!!!

Love,
Sister Kropelnicki

Kids in the snow!!!

We met with a super awesome member in our branch that just got married

Nutella things. Yum

Lunch with the Hongs

Week 56: Snow in Kharkiv and Miracles

Hello all and happy Monday! This week it SNOWED and it was so beautiful!! I felt like a kid on Christmas, but Sister Chen was not having any of it haha. She's more of a warm weather kind of person. A little bit about her! She was born in Utah but was raised in Taiwan and knows Chinese better than English (but she's still fluent in English...she's amazing). She's been on a mission one transfer more than I have and she is super chill but hard working! I could brag about her more but the Elders want help buying Vishyvanka for their sisters so we're helping them out with that ;)

This week was good! Some of it was spent getting Sister Chen all familiar with the area and the branch and the rest was talking to people outside and meetings and all that jazz. The first week of a new transfer is always kind of weird but we still got lots done :)

We have to plan a service project for our zone conference and so we brainstormed what we could do and ended with some ideas but nothing concrete because we couldn't find phone numbers for places. BUT then like an hour later the elders got a call from a lady saying that years ago our church had done service for their care facility for children in difficult family situations and they were so grateful and would love some help with some other thing! It was such a miracle!! We were so blown away. Leave things up to the Lord and He takes care of things!

We also went over to our branch President's place and had dinner with them and our elders and we showed them The Christ Child and talked about what we can give to Christ. They are just a wonderful family! And Lev, their 5 month old is just the cutest.

We also were able to meet with Peter and Janna and we also watched The Christ Child (here is the link: The Christ Child: A Nativity Story/ #LightTheWorld) with them and they said they felt all warm when they watched it and we talked about the Holy Ghost and how we can have that feeling all the time after baptism. My favorite part of the film is at the end when the wiseman puts the things down in front of Jesus as a little boy and then starts to cry. I feel like he looked at what he had brought and then thought about everything that Christ would do for him and how inadequate his seemingly big sacrifice was. I feel like that on a mission a lot, we give a year and a half or two years to him, but on your mission (or just in life) the more you serve him and learn of him, the more you realize how inadequate everything you could ever do is! And that is so humbling and makes me want to tell people about everything He has ever done for each of us. That's why I love being a missionary!

That is all for this week! I love you all!!

С любовью,
Сестра Кропельники

Week 55: Goodbyes and Holodets

Hello everyone and happy Monday!! This will be a little shorter because it's been just a few days since my last Pday! But our days were so good and busy because we were trying to cram in as much as possible into Sister Egbert's last days in Ukraine!

We visited lots of members this week which was so fun! And sad, they were all so sad to see Sister Egbert go (yeah I am too). We met with Sister Tamara and she fed us the most delicious food, as always, and we talked about gratitude. Vitya, her grandson who is my favorite also joined in on the lesson and it was just so good in their warm little apartment, drinking lemon tea and talking about what we've learned about gratitude and what we are grateful for. I love that family!

We also got a call last week from a women named Sheera in Moscow that said that she was coming into Kharkiv and she is a returning member and she was baptized in our branch like 20 years ago! It was crazy and awesome and she told us that she wanted to meet with us! So on Friday before English practice we met with her in our branch building and it was a really great meeting. She talked about how she joined the church and how she felt and how she really wants to go to the temple in Kiev. She also came the next day to a Relief Society conference for the Kharkiv area and to church the next day! And she brought us cute little necklaces! She is really cool and hopefully she'll be in Kharkiv this week so we can meet with her again!

We also had interviews with President Wirthlin on Saturday and those minutes with him are always some of the fastest and most spiritual on my mission! I am so grateful for him!

On Saturday morning we also had transfer calls! I knew I was going to get a call since Sister Egbert is going home (sad) and I found out I'll be serving with Sister Chen!! Which I was so excited about because we knew each other in the MTC! She's one transfer ahead of me and she is so nice and I can't wait to serve with her!!

Sunday was so good and so sad! President and Sister Wirthlin came to our branch and the Shepherds were with them and the Shepherds said goodbye testimonies and Sister Egbert did too and then we sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" and it was so sad but it was like we were a big ol' family. I love our branch.

After church we contacted for the last time together and we were blessed with some really great conversations with some really nice people. I will so miss serving with Sister Egbert! She is someone special and she has taught me so much about dedication and hard work. I can't wait to see where she goes in life! I'll treasure the time we had together, but I am so excited to serve with Sister Chen!

We also were able to meet with our favorite member Louda! And her sweet Mom, Tatiana. I love them to death and it was a great meeting. We were fasting and we weren't really planning on ending our fast with them but her Mom really wanted us to try her famous holodets (infamous meat jelly) and so we broke our fast with our favorite food! Joking, it's one of the few foods that I can't really handle. But it was a fun way to end Sister Egbert's last day! We also talked about how we can be grateful for things before we are forced to be grateful for them (like if we lose electricity that's usually when we realize how lucky we are to have it), but it's even better if we already are grateful! Before we left Sister Tanya was so sweet and told us how much they love and admire the missionaries and how grateful they are for us. She called us her lights and said that they consider us one of them! I will take that compliment any day! And then when we were walking back it started to snow! Good day.

And then today Sister Egbert left for Dnepr! So weird and so bitter sweet. But I'm excited for this next chapter in my life. I think it'll be a good one.

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Kropelnicki

Week 54: Sawing Pianos and Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone and happy Thanksgiving!! Our mission president had us move our Pday to Thursday so we could do something fun for Thanksgiving with our zones on the actual day! The Kharkiv zone where I'm at is getting together at the center branch building and doing a kind of potluck Thanksgiving dinner. Sister Egbert and I are doing сырники (searniki, little cheese pancakes that are my favorite) and stuffing (pray for the stuffing, we both have never made it before and we are a little limited ingredients-wise and oven-wise ;) But that also means that I have a week and a half to write about and we've got lots of stuff today so let's get to it.

So last week we had two exchanges with the Sisters from Poltava and Saltovka. They both were so much fun and were full of contacting (because our planned meetings didn't quite work out) but we got lots of great contacts and conversations and it is always fun to show off the best city in Ukraine! ;) Speaking of which, the Christmas decorations are all going up in the huge square by our branch building and we walk by it every day and it makes us so happy!

Also, some sad news but the Shepherds are officially in Dnepr center as the office couple so that the old office couple can go home, because one of them got really sick :( so sad all around but now we have Sister and Elder Hong in our district instead so at least there's some good news! They are awesome :) And we can always call sister Shepherd in the office when were needing some of her :)

We also met with Jane, a returning member who we are working with and we talked about the importance of the Holy Ghost and she talked about the first time she felt it strongly that she could remember and it was a really great lesson. We also practiced a song we were going to sing for our branch lunch on Sunday. She has an amazing voice!

We had lunch with Niki and talked about mission stuff and talked about the new missionary handbook (SO good!) and I think it made her even more excited to get out there on a mission!

Sister Labonova invited us over this week and taught us how to make блинчики (like crepes) at her apartment and it was so fun! She is the best and she let us eat them afterwards. I also learned a new Russian phrase, первый блин всегда комом, "The first pancake is always a lump," aka practice makes perfect ;) And that is a true phrase because my first crepe was definitely a lump.

On Saturday we did some service for a newly married couple in our branch and we helped them clean out their backyard (everything from sawing a piano in half to creepy old dolls to someone's buried dog?). It was a good time! Service is always a good way to start the day, even when it's like -15 outside!  We also went over to the Shepherd's apartment for last "family dinner" before they left for Dnepr and it was bitter sweet. It's weird how close you all get and then people get transferred and everything changes! But we've had a lot of good times with them and they will always be our grandparents away from home!

Sunday we had our lunch all together and it was so fun! And man, the branch went all out on the lunch. Ukrainians do not mess around with food. It was all SO good!! We sat by Martin and talked about baby pandas and how healthy bamboo is for you. It was fun. We also did some music numbers and people bore their testimonies about experiences they had during the Harvest Day that our mission did a little while ago.

Sister Egbert also started to pack on Sunday :( That was sad.

We also were able to meet with a returning member, Sister Larissa and her husband and we talked about how they can feel the Holy Ghost like they felt it when they were new to the church. It was a good lesson and the spirit was really strong. It was our first meeting with her while I've been here so we also got to know her a little bit better. She also had like 12 cats and a dog that would bark at me every time I moved haha.

Wednesday we had lots and it was wonderful! We sent sister Egbert's bags to Dnepr (always an adventure, every time without fail crazy stuff happens. You just have to go into it expecting it!), so that was a relief for her to have that out of the way--sad for me :(  We met with two member families back to back and I'll say it again, we just have the greatest members. One of the couples we met with had served in the Kiev temple for 4 years so they talked about that and with the second couple we talked about the iron rod and we played with their crazy adorable cat and they fed us SO MUCH food, we were struggling towards the end but we soldiered through ;)

And then today! Today was the funnest day, we got together (it's the evening now so you get an update) with the Kharkiv missionaries, ate so much good food (color me impressed, even the elders brought home-made things and it was GOOD like cinnamon scones, potatoes, cookies, rolls, the works), played games and laughed so hard and had a testimony meeting. It was just fun! It's been a while since I've been a part of something like that and it was needed for all of us I think. Definitely a good day, plus we got to think about all the things we have to be grateful for. Being in Ukraine and away from everything I know and love, and seeing the people here and how many of them have so little but still treasure what they do have, has taught me a lot. It's hard to put into words but we are so blessed in so many ways, and that's great and wonderful but it's good for nothing unless we acknowledge it and use what we have to bless others. We have what's really important, and I am grateful every day (well, sometimes it can be a little harder to be grateful ;) that I can be here to share the light of the gospel with these people. Life is good and I love being a missionary!

And I love all of you!!! Happy Thanksgiving and take a moment to really think about your blessings, and not just today but every day! You'll find there is so much to be grateful for even when times are hard.

You are wonderful!
С любовью,
Сестра Кропельники

Nikki :)

Sister Labonova!

Sisters!

Thanksgiving

Week 53: Martin's Baptism and Windows!

Hello everyone and happy Monday! This week was another crazy one but so good!!! Wowwy. Side note, I got my Russian Bible (after it traveling all over Ukraine trying to find me and so many phone calls from random post offices and help from my main woman Надежда from the book company) after 5 months! Haha. Tender mercy that it actually found me, and it's so pretty! Pictures hopefully attached below ;)

This week! We've been trying as a mission to be better at meeting with and using our members to help with the work so we met with a lot of members this week which was so good because they are just the bestest. We had lunch at our branch president's apartment and we got to know him and his cute wife and their even cuter 4 month old baby!! They are such solid people and they made so much food for us it was so sweet!

Ok, Wednesday. We spent the whole day out on the streets talking to as many people as we could find about the Book of Mormon! I honestly was a little worried because we were also fasting and I was having dumb doubts about what if we don't give out very many, blah blah, but wow!! It sounds cheesy but we saw so many miracles and were kind of reeling when we ended the day (partly from exhaustion but mostly because it was such an amazing day!). Literally the first person we talked to outside our apartment door took a Book of Mormon and we got his number! And it just kept going from there. We did contacting in the park with the Elders, and some members helped Elder and Sister Shepherd talk to people, and we did a tea table in the evening and honestly it did not feel at all like we were on the streets all day, we just felt so happy! We talked about it all afterwards and how we can make every day on our missions have a piece of that goodness and blessings that we experienced. We know that the blessings and miracles that God provides are always there and available to us, so it just depends on us how we expect and choose to access his blessings. He will give it to us if we ask for it! In short, harvest day was one of my favorite days on my mission, and it made me realize a lot of things that I don't really have time to write but wow, good day!!

This week we also met with Sister Ella, a babushka in our branch and we helped her clean her windows and get them ready for winter (Ukraine has enlightened me on this process... and let me tell you, it is a process). She also made us okroshka, which is a cold soup that they usually eat in the summer but she made it special for us :) It was interesting and a little different but not bad!

We also met with the Labonova's (man I love their family!!) with the Elders and it was so nice. Their home is just a good place and it's kind of like we're all Sister Labonova's kids haha. She is the best!!

On Saturday was Martin's baptism!! Oh my goodness, if he was a happy guy before, after his baptism he was practically glowing. It was such a good day. Sister Egbert and I got him a little panda (his favorite animal/thing in general;) and he was so touched. Ah we love that man. He also taught us some Chinese. Um nope can't it's harder than russian I think.

After the baptism we contacted for a little and a bunch of random events led us to running into a lady I knew from when I served in Odessa! It was such a crazy coincidence. We talked for a little and I gave her our card, I was so blown away by it. Missions have forever changed how I think of "coincidences."

We also visited our favorite member Sister Looda that evening. She is always a ray of sunshine. Some things that she talked about that I loved was that a lot of what we get out of life is what we expect and ask for. And if we are living worthily, we can expect blessings. If we go into a sacrament meeting and it's maybe not the most engaging or something, we ourselves can make the choice and still receive revelation and guidance all the same. It's how we focus our lives and how we view things more than what is happening. She is just the best!!!

We also met a super nice man from Nigeria who's a doctor here and he wanted an English Book of Mormon so we met up with him and gave him one and hopefully he can come to the English group sacrament service!

We also talked to Peter and Janna this week, he is doing really good in Germany but is really looking forward to when he comes home at the end of this month! We are too! Nastia is doing good too, she works crazy hours in Poland but she is happy and doing well. Right now we're trying to meet with the people whose contacts we got during harvest day and teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ! The work is good here in Kharkiv. I love it here. Also! Just remembered, I hit my year mark on the mission this week! That is so weird to think about but I wouldn't have it any other way, so much has happened in a year it's crazy, but I am so grateful for everything I have learned and gained and seen. Time is flying!

That is all for this week, I feel like I'm forgetting something, but its already a long letter! haha. I love you all so much and hope you are doing dandy wherever you are.

Love,
Sister Kropelnicki

One year mark!

Sister Ella

Martin's baptism!

Martin and the panda we gave him :)

Week 52: Back to Back to Back!

Hello everyone, another week gone by and woah it was a blur but so good!! Let's get right to it because we're having district council in a sec.

Monday night we had Family Night at the Lobanova's! They LOVE their board games and I think their game collection would make my mom cry haha, except most of them are in Russian so there's that (but they even had Settlers of Catan in Russian!). We played games, ate candy and gave a spiritual thought (we're doing the post baptismal lessons with them and we had them teach us the restoration). It was also really cool to get to know their dad, Sasha, better. He is so funny and is also really good at board games... He is just a good guy and there was definitely a different spirit in their home compared to before their baptism. It was really cool to see the difference in their family.

This week was also jam-packed with back to back zone conference preparations, driving to Dnipro for Mission Leadership Conference (MLC), doing exchanges with the Sumy sisters, and then Zone Conference. It was great.

MLC! So we went to the train station... because the elders had our tickets and thought that they were for a train... figured out we misread the tickets and we were supposed to be at the bus station...good thing we were early! All is well.

MLC was soooo good. Elder Boom of the seventy is doing a mission tour right now and he joined in and wow he is so cool and Sister Boom is the sweetest person. And I literally saw almost all my old companions because they're all Sister Training Leaders right now! Good day. We then went back to Kharkiv with the Sumy sisters and started an exchange. Also our driver kind of forgot that he needed to pick us up from Dnipro so we got back to Kharkiv a little late but we were up and ready the next day, all is good and we even tried a new yogurt flavor on the way that was literally black... not my favorite but we couldn't not try it.

Exchanges! I was with Sister Pope who is from Provo Utah and she is hilarious! And she also introduced me to taco seasoning in smetana with vareniki so I already have mad respect for her ;) We contacted and talked to some really awesome people, met a guy from China and exchanged numbers (always weird to do it in English), met with Jane, a returning member that we're working with right now (had a really good lesson about the liahona) and ate шоколадные трубочки. Her favorite. And even though she was sick she still came! She's the best!

Zone Conference! So good and everything went without a problem (what a relief). There were soooo many good thoughts shared and I am so excited for CHRISTMAS. We watched a video called "The Christ Child" and it comes out officially in a few weeks but OH my goodness it is sooo good and wow just a wonderful video. You all have to watch it the minute it comes out it will make you feel all the Christmas feels. Elder Boom also talked about a time he was able to assign individuals their mission calls with Elder Anderson and every time I hear about how that process works I am reminded of how true it is that we are called to the precise place that we are needed. He shared an experience when there was an individual who was assigned to serve in a group of islands, and elder Anderson went over it and said that he was close, but he needed to serve one mission over because that's where his last name comes from and their ancestors need to be taught by him. Wow. He knew the geographical location of where the missionary's last name came from and he was assigned to go there!! So cool.

Saturday morning we did another round of the Book of Mormon project #easternukrainestyle! It was so good and we got some great contacts.

Saturday was game night and Misha usually leads it but he was out of town so we did it instead and Natasha (from Novy Doma) came and it was really fun and a good chance to check up with her. She also did a little Russian grammar lesson for me so that was fun :) Russian is so cool but MAN it gets me sometimes.

Sunday! Zoia wasn't able to come and Zhanna is sick :( So that was a bummer. But for the upcoming Harvest Day that our mission is doing we had all our members write their testimonies in copies of The Book of Mormon (priceless! Our members are so solid!) and the elders had a lesson with Martin, who is the greatest human and he is getting baptized this Saturday!! Woohooooo. We were so excited when they told us after their lesson! We also helped the Hong's (one of the senior couples. They're in charge of the English group) teach a man and he had tons of great questions, but he isn't really progressing. He asks questions but is still working on acting on the answers and seeking his own answers. It made me think of Joseph Smith and if he had only had good questions, but didn't act on the answers he got to them. Acting is so important, and questions mean nothing if we don't plan to act on our answers (or even lack of answers sometimes).

Well that is all for this week! I love you all so much and hope all is well wherever you are. I pray for you and never forget you are the wonderfullest!

С любовью,
Сестра Кропельники

Natasha and Sister Egbert waiting for the metro :)

Zone Conference!

Cool metro station :) Ukraine colors are the best!!

Week 51: Brother Baptism and Keys

Hello everyone and happy November! Last week it stayed around a balmy zero degrees and the wind added a nice touch so we were more than a little ready for our heat to be turned on (which it did!! On Wednesday!) and the big coats are officially busted out and people on the streets (especially babushky) always ask us if we are frozen (Вы замёрзли?) so it must be winter in Ukraine!

This week!
We met with Niki and had lunch and caught up with her for a little. She's still working crazy hours but she is so excited for her mission! She gets her wisdom teeth out in a little and that's one thing she is not looking forward to ;)

We also had exchanges with the Novy Doma sisters and I was with Sister Wilhite in Center. She's still in training but wow she is so fearless and bold, it was a great day! She also really wanted to carve a pumpkin so we found some kind of squash which is the next best thing! Haha. We talked to some people in the park while we were contacting in the evening and they talked about how many "rules" we have in our church (one of them, keep in mind, was that we couldn't get married, hm.) but it did make me start to think about why we do have so many "rules" and it reminded me of a talk I read a little bit ago. The speaker talked about how commandments/rules are evidence of the love that God has for each of us. He knows what will make us eternally happy, and he cares enough about our eternal happiness that he tells us what we need to do. It's a blessing!

Friday was a crazy day because there was a huge youth activity for all of Ukraine basically and also Russia! So we had to get creative with English practice because they were using all the big rooms! But it worked out good in the end, and I got to see Katia who I met on my first day in Ukraine when I was in Dnipro with Sister Larson. It was such a surprise and so awesome!! She says that I'm 100% going to serve in Dnipro someday so we'll see each other again ;)

This week we also did Book of Mormon contacting in the park and it was so good again! People have the best answers, it kind of blows me away! It's cool how just any page of The Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ. After we contacted we did some marathon planning for zone conference and Gleb and Egors baptism (!!!) and it was good to get that stuff done! We asked Egor what his favorite hymn was and he said "Families Can be Together Forever" so we practiced that as a district.

This week we also visited a cute couple in our branch, Sister Lena and Brother Victor. They are so amazing! Their testimonies are so solid, they kind if gave a huge spiritual thought the whole time we met with them, it was great! Our members are the best!!

On Saturday we had Gleb and Egor's baptism!!! It was one of the happiest days of my mission I think, seeing their family all together, laughing and smiling (I don't think I've ever seen Sister Lobanova that happy before!), just made me soooo happy. And sister Egbert and I were the witnesses for their baptisms :) We had so many branch members come to support them (when our branch president took our picture altogether he literally had to open the window, jump outside and take it while standing in the bushes to get everyone in the picture!). It was just a wonderful evening!

On Sunday Gleb and Egor were confirmed and we also had a baby blessing! That was a good sacrament meeting :) Peter also came to church (Janna and Danya couldn't) which was awesome because we found out last week that he's going to Germany for a month for work! He'll be back before Sister Egbert leaves so that's nice :) But it's a bummer. We'll stay in close contact though. He was picked out of like 5,000 applicants for it so he was so happy and we are happy for their cute family!

Side note, we may have also forgotten our keys at the branch after the baptism . . . and had to call a taxi back to the branch possibly later than we should've and ran through the branch to grab our keys from some angelic members that were watching over them for us ;) We ran back to our taxi waiting for us outside the branch and he looked at us like we had just robbed a bank haha he was so confused. But we now have our keys, all is well, and I will never lose keys again!!

That's all for this week! This coming week is going to be craziness but so good! Stay tuned :)

С любовью
Сестра Кропельники

Katia and me

Gleb and Egor's Baptism!! With their mom and dad, ready to be baptized.

Gleb and Egor with me and Sister Egbert

Week 50: Pizza Night and Mcullins!

Hello everyone and happy Monday! Weird how darn quick the weeks go by! I can't believe its almost November. Woah. Here in Kharkiv everyone's getting ready for winter because it's right around the corner! This week it's supposed to get below zero and then kind of hang there for a few months haha. Not really, but maybe? Посмотрим.

This week went completely different than I originally thought it would go, and it had some rough parts but looking back on it now, I can see how I've grown from those experiences that were not so pleasant in the moment, but they taught me things that I really needed to learn. Weird how life works like that. If that made any sense.

Wednesday it felt like we sat all day! It was kind of a struggle, we just had so many different missionary leadership meetings. But they were so good!! We planned our upcoming zone conferences and Elder Boom (he spoke last general conference, also it's pronounced "bohm" like "home" for those of you who wanted to know ;) It will be a great conference! But a little stressful because we and our elders are in charge of planning it which is a lot of pressure but we're all pros at it now ;)

We were able to meet with Karina, who we met last week and were really excited about, and we had two lessons with her this week and ultimately she just wasn't quite ready yet. It was hard to go from feeling like she was so ready and then seeing that she just isn't there yet. But! We're keeping in contact with her and we'll always be here for her when she is ready! Sometimes people just need a little more time.

We also met with a returning member, Jane and Sister Shepherd ordered pizza and made brownies (she makes legendary brownies... they don't really have boxed foods here so you gotta make things from scratch and wow it's so much better!!) and we watched the tree of life Book of Mormon video and it was a really great meeting with her. She is so nice and is really just lonely. She talked about how people would make fun of her when she was younger and how no matter what, Jesus Christ is always nearby and will always love us. She is so sweet and it was a great "girls night" haha.

We also did Book of Mormon contacting in the park again with the elders and it was so good!! It was definitely the highlight of the week. 28 people read a page of the Book of Mormon in under two hours! And every person liked it and a lot of people wanted a copy. We asked them "Why do people need this book?" and we heard some really awesome answers. So we can be happy, so we can grow closer to God, so that we know what to do on this earth, etc. It made my heart really happy to have so many people read the best book. We got a few contacts and had some good conversations and it was super effective. So good!

We also met with Peter and Janna this week and it was a good meeting. They started to all pray as a family!! That's big for them because they literally have like an hour every day where they're not doing something. It's crazy. But they talked about how good they felt when they prayed together and we told them that that is the Holy Ghost! And we talked about how we feel it whenever we meet with them and I think that was really helpful for them. Sometimes we just assume that they know what it feels like, but a lot of times people are still kind of figuring it out. This week especially I've been thinking a lot about the significance of, and indescribable blessing that the Holy Ghost is. This week I had some experiences that really stuck with me and reminded me how important and essential the Holy Ghost is. And being on a mission means we can help people have this same gift!

Also, while we were contacting, a babushka came up to me and started weighing the pros and cons of marrying either of our elders hahaha it was hilarious and she would NOT stop talking! Haha. Contacting always brings some good stories :)

Gleb and Egor update: their Dad came to church on Sunday! And their baptism is set for this Saturday!! And their Dad's going to baptize them! Woo.

We also talked to Nastia for a little bit last night! She had a really bad connection but she was so excited to see us and we were so happy to see her cute face! She is doing well and misses Kharkiv and is excited to come home in December (we are too!!).

Sunday we also had a branch activity after church to celebrate the Mcullins who are leaving this week to serve in the Kiev temple for two years. Their son came in from Moscow and he showed a PowerPoint of cute family pictures, us missionaries did some musical numbers, the Mcullins spoke a little and we ate some really good food! Our branch is the bestest.

Well that is about it for this week! Kharkiv is still great, missionary work is still the best and hardest thing ever and you all are still my favorites!!

Have a wonderful wonderful week!
С любовью,
Сестра Кропельники

Week 49: Metro Yogurt and Чудеса (chudesa--miracles)

Hello everyone and happy happy Monday!
This week. Wow. It was so good!! Every week's got good stuff, but this week was just one of those special ones, we saw so many blessings and miracles. Also, I got yelled at over the intercom in the metro for drinking yogurt on the escalator, so for all of you thinking about visiting Kharkiv, drinking is запрещены! Haha, bad things just seem to happen to me in the metro here... which I'm going to be using for the next 12 weeks at least because transfer calls came on Saturday and I'm STAYING in Kharkiv and I'll be Sister Egbert's last comp and then I'll most likely train the next Sister Training Leader (STL) and then who knows after that! But I am SO happy, and our district is staying the same as well so that is great because we have the greatest district.

This week! On Monday night we had family night with Aliona and Misha (they're siblings and Misha just got back from serving in the Kiev mission and Aliona just got engaged), and it was such a fun time! We had dinner and did a spiritual thought and then we played a game that was kind of like a Russian version of Settlers of Catan and sister Egbert won like a boss.

Tuesday we had exchanges with Novy Doma and I was with my angel of a (old) companion Sister Bevziuk and also with Sister Smith! They are in a trio right now training Sister Wilhite and so I was with them in Center and it was a blast. We met with a member, Sister Labonova and contacted in the park and it was a good time. Sister Smith is amazing and even though she visa waited for a transfer, she is so ahead of where most missionaries are at in their third transfer! And it was sooo good to be with Sister Bevziuk again, man I love that girl. We also made сырники (syrniki) together (little cottage cheese type pancakes which are the best!) and listened to Russian Disney as we cooked. Being an STL is the best!

Wednesday was a CRAZY day but SO good. We went contacting in Tye park with the elders but we did something new! We used pages of the Book of Mormon and had people underline wherever it mentions Jesus Christ and then we had some other questions that they would answer as well! I honestly didn't know what to expect but it was a hit! It was so cool! I don't think there was one time when we didn't all four have someone we were talking to, and it just made my heart all happy to see people actually reading The Book of Mormon and then we would ask them "what is this book about?" and they would say, "well, God and Jesus Christ of course!" We even had people come up to us and ask us what we were doing... we needed more missionaries! We definitely want to do it again, and next time we want to tweak a few things. But overall it was a great contacting idea and we were all four blown away by how well it went.

After contacting, Sister Egbert and I went to meet with a returning member who lives kind of far away and it was our first time meeting her and she was so cool! Her name is Nadia and she is the mother of the first counselor in our branch. She and her husband haven't come to church in a long time and we're trying to help them come back! It was a great visit and she gave us some of this delicious cake she always makes for missionaries and she gave us the rest to take home. She is so sweet!

From there we met up with Sister Shepherd at the branch and went to visit a cute couple in our branch, Brother and Sister Kalashnuk, and they made us borscht (yuss) and these delicious boiled stuffed peppers. It was sooo good! And we talked with them about how they first met the missionaries and Brother Kalashnuk has the best story! So he picked up this Jehovah's witness pamphlet one day and on the back it listed a bunch of books like the Bible and the Koran and so forth, and at the end of the list was The Book of Mormon, and he was like, huh weird, I've never heard of that book before. And then a few days later he was standing in the metro and a girl came up to him and gave him a church card and he decided to go and see. He walked into the building and there were the missionaries and one of then was carrying a Book of Mormon! And the rest is history. Haha, so good!

We also were able to meet with Peter and Zhanna and Danya and it was a pretty good lesson, we talked about prophets and covenants and why we are on earth and we watched some of a really good talk by President Nelson. They also talked to us about how they are working to have prayer as a family every day and how they feel a difference from doing it.

Friday we also met a woman on the street, Karina, while we were contacting and she is so cool! She has an adorable 2-year-old son, Mark, and she asked about how we can know what truth is and she was interested in meeting with us! We also called her the next day to invite her to a baptism that was happening in the Novy Doma branch and she said that she could come! So we met up with her on Saturday and took her to the baptism and she really liked it, and she commented about how she felt really good and she loved the people there. We're planning on meeting with her tomorrow!

Sunday was probably one of the best days of my mission, it was really just чудесный (chudesnyy--wonderful). Peter, Zhanna, and Danya came, and so did ZOIA (Nastia's Mom who we've been calling and checking up on and she just works so much), and Karina and Mark came as well! It was amazing! And then right after sacrament we met with Zoia and went over the baptismal questions with her and it was really good and she said that she will come every Sunday! And the elders also had a lesson with Martin, the man from China and he wants to be baptized in two weeks (!!), and there was also 8 people at the English group, including a member that has kind if dropped off our radars for a while since he's been baptized but he came! And sister Egbert spoke in sacrament! And! There were a lot of returning members that came to church as well! It was so good to see and wow I am still so blown away by everything that happened yesterday. So cool.

Well that is it for this week, Sister Egbert and I are running around Kharkiv today getting sisters on buses and trains heading to and from their new or old areas! It's a fun time but kind of crazy. But I am so happy to be staying here!! It's the best and so are all of you!

Have a wonderful week!!
С любовью,
Сестра Кропельники

Visited some awesome members!  And their cute cat

This is some of the sisters we were with today! (They all got on their trains and buses safe and sound)

Ukrainian roads!

Week 48: Sumy part 2 and 11 months!

Hello everyone and happy cossacks day! On Ukrainian holidays they put up this ginormous Ukrainian flag on this big government building in center Kharkiv so holidays are my favorite!! Ukraine has definitely got one of the best flags, not biased.

This week was great! We had a lesson on Tuesday with Gleb and Egor and it was our last lesson with them until their baptism! They basically taught us the lesson and they're baptismal date is set for next Saturday woot! And their dad came to church yesterday too (he's been inactive but he's been coming to church recently and he wants to baptize them :) It'll be so great!

We also visited Looda and her mom Tanya, and it was a great time. We talked about Ether 12:4 and finding hope in Christ. They also gave us some compote (SO good) and fruit cake (before I came on my mission I would've been like ew but they do fruit cake right here). I also found out that Looda knew Matt Duffy when he served in Kharkiv (he was in my ward back home) and she asked all about him! The members here love love the missionaries, they call them their "angels."

Sister Egbert and I also went on a google maps chase to try and dig up a phone number for missionaries in Poland so we could connect Nastia with them, and after like 5 numbers we finally got one that worked! We were like "Hi, do you speak English?" and the guy on the other end was like "yeah!" so we got the number of the sister missionaries in the city where Nastia is! Haha, it was super weird to talk to missionaries in another country. It was a cool reminder of how many there are of us, day in and day out working to help our brothers and sisters :)

We met with Peter and Janna and we talked about a lot of stuff, but it was a really good lesson I think because they are starting to think a little more about religion in general. There's this idea in Ukraine (and everywhere) that all churches are good and there are many paths to God, and as long as you are trying it doesn't matter what church you are in. It's frustrating but we're working on it.

English practice was great and hilarious. We've got a really great group and it kind of feels like a big family, it's so cool. We were talking about our favorite animals and we learned some... interesting things. One lady apparently has a pet raccoon, and she even went as far as to say that she showers with it hahaha. English is always a good time.

We also had exchanges this week in Sumy! We took a 4-hour bus ride up there and it was so great to be back there!! It's the first transfer with sisters there and I was with Sister Hendricks and we knew each other from Odessa and it was awesome! We visited a cute member and showed her one of the new Book of Mormon videos because she isn't able to see them on her phone and she loved it. Side note: Friday night has become our movie night because that's when the new video comes out every week and its the best!!! SO good.

Saturday there was a baptism in our branch building and it was wonderful! And we also met Martin!!! Martin is a man from China that the Elders met this week and he is kind of my new favorite person! He is HILARIOUS without trying and he is so cute!!! He makes everyone around him happy and we're a little obsessed. It's also SO cool because he doesn't speak Russian and President Wirthlin just organized an English "branch" in our building and they meet at the same time as the Russian branch but since there are so many foreigners in Kharkiv they organized it and Martin was able to go to it! The timing of that still just blows me away. It is so so cool.

On Sunday we also got to finish General Conference and woooooow it was soo good. Also, shout out to Elder Uchtdorf for quoting Harry Potter, so good.

It's also so crazy that this is the last week of the transfer, which means I've been out for 11 months on my mission! Time is going by way too fast and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I love my comp to death and Kharkiv center is literally the best area (not biased, everyone in our mission wants to serve in center Kharkiv, ask them ;)  There are hard days, but the good times more than make up for the bad. I love it here.

And I love you all ковши!!!
До следующей недели!)

Сестра Кропельники

Sister Egbert and me with Looda

Vika and Veronika got glasses!

Big flag!!

Exchanges in Sumy :)

Week 47: Conference and Crepes

Hello everyone and happy Monday! I'm pretty sure winter is here to stay in Kharkiv and Sister Egbert even busted out her big winter coat so its official! This week we also got caught in some crazy rainstorms that came out of nowhere and we had a few babushky tell us that we were going to get sick and would never recover from it so now we're being more careful to check the forecast so we don't die ;)

This week was another good one in the books, and it ended with a miracle and General Conference (!!) so I can't complain. On Tuesday we had to help the Shepherds with registration stuff at one of the government buildings and while we waited for them to do finger prints and stuff we met some people from Iran and talked to them for a while and invited them to English practice. We talked with them about their families and what they're doing in Ukraine and it just made me happy to meet some cool new people. People are the best.

We also met with Sister Tamara who is one of the most solid members I know! It was awesome. She made us some of the best borscht I've ever had and blinchiki (like crepes) and we talked about The Book of Mormon with her, and how she came to know that it was true. She told us that the minute she started to read it, she knew it was true. She said the hard part for her was just starting, and she said that she wished so hard that she had just gotten over her own pride and taken the step of faith to read it! She is so cool.

We also had a lesson with Peter and Janna and it was ok, we pretty straight-forwardly asked them about baptism and what is keeping them from baptism and how we can help them, but they just told us that they weren't ready and they still see themselves as having a long ways to go. We talked about how important The Book of Mormon is because basically everything we talk to them about hinges on that book. And if it's true, then this is the restored church of Jesus Christ, and Peter told us that he hasn't yet prayed about The Book of Mormon, so we challenged him to do that this week. They are just so stinkin' ready, but they just don't see it yet and that's so hard to see. I feel like on my mission I've been able to feel the tiniest piece of what Heavenly Father feels when we aren't able to see our true potential and we are just standing still because we don't know how bright our future could be with His help and guidance. We all have limitless potential and there is so much more ahead! I just want to shake the people that we are teaching right now when they just can't see it, and I can't imagine how He feels.

We were also able to do exchanges with the Sisters in Saltovka this week and it was great! I was with Sister Deahart, who is on her second transfer and wow she is so cute and so amazing! We had a really good conversation with a guy that was really interested in our church and he talked about how he's never really felt comfortable in any church before. We talked about The Book of Mormon and we exchanged numbers and it was really cool. Being an STL is seriously so fun, I'm not prejudice at all, but we have the best sisters in our mission :)

Saturday night we watched the Saturday morning session of general conference live and it was SO GOOOOD. Wowwy, from the get-go of Elder Holland's "Welcome to General Conference" it was just such a needed lift and answer to my prayers. And we haven't even watched the Sunday sessions yet (we're watching them next Sunday. Count your blessings you lucky ducks in the states!). Our branch went all out and made a bunch of food for the session and we ate as we watched and it was a great time. The branch here is so good.

That is about all for this week, Nastia is doing well in Poland, she just started her new job and is liking Poland, but she misses Kharkiv and man we miss her too! But we sent her the link to watch conference so she was excited about that. Also, everyone here thinks I'm from Poland and sometimes they don't really believe me when I tell them I'm not haha. never thought I would have to convince people I'm from America! But Poland seems like a cool place and everyone here knows that my name is Polish so it makes sense! Also, it's really funny because literally everyone pronounces my name KropELnicki instead of KrOPelnicki and at first it kind of bugged me but now I'm kind of used to it. I thought my last name troubles were going to be over here... but to no avail haha. I love it!

And I love all of you!! Have a wonderful week!!!

С любовью,
Сестра Кропельники

Scarf weather!

The Mcullins!  It was their last Sunday before they leave to serve in the Kiev temple for two years

Sister Egbert and I got caught in a downpour... without rain jackets!

Exchange schwarma! With Sister Deaheart 

Week 46: Everyone Goes to Poland!!!

Hello everyone and happy Monday! Yesterday it rained Ukrainian cats and dogs which was awesome but made me miss Seattle!! This week was another great one, with some disappointments but in the end, everything worked out I think.

On Tuesday we went to the opera with our district for our "cultural activity" and it was so fun! Elder McCoard liked it but Elder Paine was SO bored, but he brought cookies to keep him happy and was a really good sport ;) Direct quote, "I'm glad I went to my first opera in Ukraine so that I never need to see one again." Haha, elders.

We also met with Niki, one of our recent converts who is getting ready to submit her mission papers and we talked about missions with her and ate lunch together and it was really good. She's worried about how her family's going to be while she's gone because a lot of her earnings go towards helping her family and without it it's going to be harder for them, but we talked about how we're promised that while we're on our missions, our families will be taken care of. She is going to be the bestest missionary!!

We also met with Ira and read Mosiah 4 with her and talked about what a great blessing it is that we have the knowledge that we have, but it's worthless unless we act! It can seem like there's a lot that we have to do in the church, but I think it's because we know that action is so important to our personal growth. You can learn anything, but actually doing it is the harder part! It was a great meeting and she is so solid!

On Thursday we also met with sister Loubov (Любовь) outside the city in her cute little home and talked to her about her family and how if everyone read the Book of Mormon every morning, everything would be so much better! Couldn't agree more. She also let me wear her giant fur vest so I wouldn't get sick because I didn't have a coat ;) That was definitely a highlight.

Thursday morning, a small panic session started when Maxim, Nastia's brother, told us that they were both going to Poland for 3 months and they would be leaving on Sunday!! :( It was disappointing, but we talked to Nastia and she said that she still wants to be baptized, it'll just be later. So we met with her on Saturday and finished talking about the word of wisdom and tithing and it was a great lesson. She is so amazing! She blows me away every lesson. When we talked about the fact that we don't drink green or black tea she was in shock a little but once we talked about it a little more she was like, ok yeah that makes sense, and boom all was well! Crazy. We'll miss her, but I really hope I'll still be here when she comes back. We also called her mom, who wants to get baptized with her and we told her that Nastia is getting baptized on December 28th now and her mom, Zoia, told us that she wants to be baptized with her on that date! So that was some great news!

We also met with Peter and Danna (Zhanna wasn't able to come) and we talked about prophets and the Holy Ghost and as always, he came with the deepest questions ever! Haha, for example, what is truth? But it was a pretty good lesson. Still are a little stuck with them, but it'll work out.

On Sunday our Relief Society president brought her son's friend's mom to church and it was awesome! She's from Turkey and just speaks a little bit of Russian, and she is so sweet! We sat by her and talked about church and we exchanged numbers and invited her to family night tonight, so hopefully she will come!

That is about all for this week! Sister Egbert and I are having a ball of a time together, it's like the chillest companionship I've ever been in, she's the best! And it doesn't hurt that we're serving in the best area of our mission ;) Seriously though, Kharkiv is the bestest and I am so grateful to be here.

Слава Украине!
С любовью,
Сестра Кропельники

Random angelic babushka we met on the street

Visiting Sister Loubov

Nastia and Maxim

At Sister Loubov's house in the slippers and fur vest she had me wear so I wouldn't get sick

Opera!

We met an American couple from Oregon at church! We ate lunch with them the next day.

Week 45: Slow Trains and Conferences

Hello everyone and happy Monday! This email is coming to you from a freezing cold missionary in northern Ukraine in the middle of September! I don't know what happened but this week as been SO cold and it even almost got into the 30s last night (wut). But good news because we figured out this morning that our air conditioning ALSO does heat (sort of) so we won't freeze while we wait for the city to turn on the heat (which could be in more than a month)! Blessed.

This week was kind of insane, but really really good despite the craziness. On Monday we had a lesson with Gleb and Egor on a bench outside because their parents weren't home yet. They are so smart! We taught them about the commandments but they already knew them all (and showed us all the cutest song to remember them) and we played a scripture chase game at the end and gave them candy so I think it was good:) Right now we're trying to also work with their dad who is a returning member so that he can baptize them when they finish the lessons. That would be so awesome!

On Tuesday we got 2 sets of bunkbeds from the Poltava Elders delivered to our apartment and luckily the Shepherds came and helped us take them up to our apartment and set them up (you are now looking at a pro bunkbed setter upper) and we then went to the train station to catch our train to Poltava to do an an exchange with the sisters there. Unfortunately, the APs got our times mixed up and they bought us tickets for Tuesday morning instead of Tuesday night! So Sister Egbert and I asked the ticket counter if there were any more trains that night to Poltava--and there was! So we bought them, so relieved that we could still do the exchange... until we got on the train and realized that our train would take 3 hours instead of the usual 1.5 to Poltava! It was a super slow, old, all night train that was going all the way to Odessa but it stopped in Poltava. Oh my goodness, that was probably the most stressful train ride (maybe when I'm home I can tell you all the whole story!) but короче we made it to Poltava, way late but we made it. Never buying my own train tickets again!

But! The actual exchange was great! I was with Sister Perry who is on her second transfer and beforehand we talked about what she wanted to get out of our exchange and she said that lately they've had a really hard time getting good conversations with people, and so we decided to talk to everyone we passed and we got tons of conversations! It was awesome and we had a good time. She knows Russian sooo much better than I did my second transfer, wowwy. Also, Poltava is so pretty! And we ate this Poltavian specialty called "galooshka" for lunch and it's basically bread balls in this gravy sauce with chicken and it was REALLY good the first few bites and then woah, it was just a little too heavy...

That night we took the train (normal) back to Kharkiv because the Poltava sisters had interviews, and then we all went back, now with the Sumy sisters and had a big sleepover the night before Zone Conference!

Zone Conference was SO good and we talked about The Restoration lesson in Preach My Gospel and how to improve how we teach people. We role played and Sister Egbert and I had to role play doing a 1-minute version of the Restoration in front of everyone and it went really good I think. President Wirthlin also talked about Michelangelo and how, when he sculpted, he was letting the person go from the rock. They were in there the whole time, and only he knew what a big rock could become. President compared that to Heavenly Father and how He is the master sculptor and knows what masterpieces we are capable of becoming. Sometimes we have to go through times when it seems like He's taking big chunks off, and sometimes he's just doing little things to make us who we can become. And as missionaries we have to see people as what they can become, and not just what they are right now. And that includes ourselves!

After conference we met with a recent concert, Ira, and read 2 Nephi 2 with her and talked about opposition and how much of a blessing it is. We also lost our keys that night because we gave them to the Sumy sisters to lock our apartment and then they left them at the branch building but they kind of disappeared :) So we also had to call our landlord that night so he could let us in!

Friday we had a really awesome lesson with Jannah and Peter and talked about baptism and what they thought about it, and religion and churches in general and we learned a lot about where they are at preparedness-wise and we extended the commitment for them to pray as a family every night about baptism. They were also able to come to district conference on Sunday and meet Elder Sumiken of the Seventy and President Wirthlin was there too and it was really great.

That is about it for this week! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful Monday!!

С любовью,
Сестра Кропельники

Poltava exchanges!  Me and Sister Perry

Ditto

Pre-Zone Conference Sleepover!

Ukrainian wheat fields😍