Week 11: Made it to Ukraine!

Hello everyone! Wow this week has been one of the craziest of my life, but also one of the best--and I thought that a lot happened at the MTC... I was wrong. The MTC is so chill compared to here. I had no idea. Also this has the potential to be very long so you have my permission to skim.

Real quick to recap my last days at the MTC, we had our last lessons with our investigators/teachers and they went really well. We really lucked out with our teachers and I miss them a lot. They helped me with so much more than just my Russian and I will be forever grateful to them for that. I learned so much at the MTC and I know that everything I learned will be so helpful in the field.

On Monday morning my companions, Sister Richter and Sister Thompson left for Rostov which was bitter sweet but I know they will be such a blessing to the Russian people. They are some of the kindest people I have ever met and I feel so lucky to have been able to spend 10 weeks with them.

I am still extremely embarassed about Tuesday morning and I debated even putting it in here, but long story short, I shut off my alarm at 2:30 (I had to be to the travel office at 3:45 am) and accidentally fell back to sleep for another 2 hours and woke up at 4:30 (such a miracle that I somehow woke up on my own at such a crazy hour even when I was so tired--I know it was not me that woke me up) in full panic mode. The STL's called the front desk and I threw everything together and we ran to the travel office (thank you Sister Gehring and Sister Bowers, you are angels). They told me that I possibly could make it, which was all the encouragement I needed. I got on the bus to the train that took me to another train, which got me to the airport with 20 minutes until my flight boarded (despite being stressed out of my mind, I was pretty calm given the circumstances. It was tight, but I knew I was going to make it, because why else would I have woken up without my alarm?). As I was sitting on the train and I watched the minutes tick by I thought "oh boy there are going to be some miracles in order for me to make my flight!' And I was right. There were so many miracles that happened and without them, I would have missed my flight--and I don't even want to think about what would have happened if that had happened! One of which is that the lady that checked my bags let me go in the TSA Precheck line, and the Elders going with me to Dnipro were waiting there for me. They were a beautiful sight.

The rest of Tuesday was a long day of traveling, but it was so nice but also so weird to be out in the real world again. Everything went smoothly on our three flights, and on our Chicago to Vienna flight, there was hardly anyone on the plane so we got to stretch out and take entire rows for ourselves--it was so nice! We also agreed that our in-fight dinner was probably the best meal we've had in 10 weeks haha. The MTC food wasn't really that bad, but it did get a little old.

From Vienna we flew to Dnipro and our Mission President, President Wirthlin and his wife were waiting for us along with the AP's, the STL's and the missionaries that would be our companions. The Wirthlins are really nice and they gave us little welcome gifts and took pictures with us at the gate. I also got to know who my trainer would be there since she was the only sister that wasn't an STL:) Her name is Sister Larson and she's from Utah and she is THE BEST. She only has 2 more transfers so I will probably "kill" her (I will be her last companion). She is really really good at Russian, she is so funny and kind and we are basically the same person (seriously, we literally like all the same things it was a little weird when we were getting to know each other). We're already best friends and I love her to death and want to be just like her when I'm getting to the end of my mission! I also found out that we will be serving in Odessa, which is the southernmost city in our mission and everyone says it is the best city with the best people!

From the airport we went to the mission office and did a little orientation and then went out into the blizzard to do some contacting. I was really nervous for it, but it ended up being ok, and we even placed a Book of Mormon. Sister Larson did most of the talking, but I was able to bear my testimony and it was nice to be able to say something! The people were all really nice though, even if they weren't interested. Afterwards we had dinner all together (I had my first borscht, it was actually not bad) and then we slept at the STL's apartment.

Wednesday we had some more orientation and sent my luggage to Odessa (they have this really cheap system in Ukraine where you can mail stuff all over the country and it gets there in like a day or two. I was still a little nervous about it though), got some pizza for some of us and ate it with a 14 year old girl named Katya that Sister Larson taught when she was serving in Dnipro.

From there we left for our night train to Odessa which would leave at 7 and arrived in Odessa at 6 am. The moment I saw the train, I knew it was not what I was used to haha. Thus began a very memorable night in Ukraine. I won't go into a lot of detail but it was a very old train and I after that night I will forever be grateful for clean sheets, mattresses, and blankets that don't feel like they are made of steel wool haha. There was no running water and when you "flushed" the toilet, it actually just emptied onto the tracks below (going to the bathroom at a stop is discouraged and now I know why). It was just a little different than the spotless bathrooms at the MTC. It was another reminder of how stinkin far from home I was, but it didn't make me very sad because mostly I'm really excited to be here.

Sister Larson and I talked for a while because the train was so loud it was kind of hard to sleep, and it was great. She was at BYU a year before me and she likes horseback riding (she did show jumping), soccer, hiking, dancing, and the Office and Psych, so it's going to be a fun time:)

Once we got in Odessa, we took a taxi to our apartment (news flash, no one wears seatbelts here and they drive like maniacs) and got ready for the day! The next few days were a blur but some highlights were meeting with some of the members (they are all so nice and are very understanding of my Russian), tracting (knocking on doors) into a lady that Sister Larson had met in a park here almost 3 months ago and having tea with her and her husband (of all the apartments in Odessa we tracted hers and the right floor, what are the odds), and meeting all the members of our branch. There weren't a lot of them there this Sunday because it snowed pretty hard Sunday morning but the people I did meet were so welcoming and spoke slowly for me and it was great. I can't wait to get to know all of them (and be able to understand them!). They are so faithful and there is so much I can learn from them. We also contacted a lot and that had its ups and downs. Sometimes it's great, and sometimes it's not so great, but in those times I was so grateful for the Holy Ghost and Sister Larson, because without them I'm not sure how I would be feeling at this point.

This week was just a lot of new stuff and trying to understand what was going on all the time, but even with my struggling to communicate and understand, I knew I wasn't alone and I knew that the message we were sharing with people was true. I know these next weeks and months will be hard, but I know that if I put my trust in the Lord, I will be led to people that are seeking this perfect gospel. It has blessed my life and I am excited (but also a little nervous) for the next 16 months.

Sorry this email was so long and a little scattered, next weeks will be more organized:) I left my journal at our apartment (yeah I know, killing it).

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Сестра кропельниски

Week 10: Hello from Dnipro!

A note from Lydia's mom:  Lydia had a bit of a wild morning leaving yesterday for Ukraine--she slept through her 2:30 a.m. alarm, and I think the Spirit woke her up--2 hours late!  She had to really scramble, basically grab her bags and dash to the bus by herself--the rest of the group had to leave--and then the train, not sure all the way whether she would make her flight. She arrived at the airport 10 MINUTES before her flight was leaving!! She got to the checkin desk with her suitcases to check, and one of them was two pounds overweight.  She thought that was the end, but magically the computer said it wouldn't take anything more to bump up to the next weight level! Security had long lines, but she had TSA precheck and sailed right through, and the rest of her group was waiting for her on the other side, and they just made it to the gate.  Many miracles.  We got to talk to her on the phone for a few minutes after she got onto the plane.  Phil found her a place to shower at the Chicago airport where she changed planes, and we got to talk to her again after she was done and had time between flights.  It was wonderful to hear her voice, and she was very happy and excited to be on her way to Ukraine.  This morning we got an email from her (her Wednesday evening) saying she arrived safe, and telling us about her first day.  Here it is:

Hey guys! After some stress and a nice shower we made it to Dnipro. It is snowing like crazy and really cold and windy but I love it here! All the buildings are very soviet but the city has a really pretty park that we tracted in for a little. When we got here we took some pictures with the mission president and his wife (I attached them) and they are really nice. We went to the mission office, learned who our companions are and where we are going (my companion is sister Larson and we are going to be serving in Odessa! She has been serving for about a year). And then they sent us out into the city for a few hours to tract. She is from Utah and I love her so much already!! She is so nice and we had the best time tracting. Like seriously I was really nervous for it but we placed a Book of Mormon with a neat lady and got her phone number, and she wants to meet with someone in a few days. I actually said things and started some conversations and I think its mostly trainer bias but sister Larsen says my russian is really good so since thats not very true it is nice of her to say:) We also handed out a bunch of english class cards. First impressions, Ukrainians are pretty nice for the most part and it kind of feels like this city is frozen in time, everything looks a little run down but I love it. I can't wait to go to Odessa! We'll take an overnight train tomorrow and the city looks so beautiful and everyone says its the best city!
This is getting long. I love you guys so much!

LOVE LOVE LOVE
Cectpa Kropelnicki

Week 9: The End of Eternity

Hello everyone! I hope this email finds you well and happy!!
This week has been great, but also really weird because everything is kind of wrapping up as we prepare to leave for Ukraine next Tuesday (!!). I can't believe the end is actually in sight--sometimes it felt like we would be here forever.

On Thursday we got our flight plans! It was like Christmas morning when the email came haha. Elder Cottam, McWhorter, Holt and I will leave on Tuesday morning at 3:45 (woot) and we fly to Chicago, then to Austria and then to Dnipro (it'll be a long day, almost 23 hours of travel). I'm trying not to be too sad about the fact that Sister Thompson and Sister Richter are leaving Monday morning so I'll have to spend a whole day at the MTC without them :( But they will do wonderful things in Rostov!

This Sunday we got to hear the new presidency speak and it was really great. Something I loved that they talked about was that "faithfulness is the mother of faith" and if we just get to work and serve, our faith will be increased and our questions will be answered. We don't need to wait for some big event to happen or for all of our doubts or questions to be answered before we really get to work. We have to simply start and be faithful to what we do know, and the rest will follow.

This week Brother Griffiths talked to us about his mission and about Russian culture and it was super fun. He told us that something he really wished he could change between Russians and Americans is that both sides think that the other doesn't like them, and so that is how they rationalize not liking the other side. But in reality your average Russian likes Americans and wants to talk to them and get to know them, but they have just grown up thinking that they aren't friends and so that's the general feeling. It's sad but also gives me hope because in the end, we're all just people wanting to find happiness, and the gospel is that happiness that people need. We think that the world is going to a bad place in a hand basket, but really it's still full of good people who want to meet and understand people that are different from them. Don't let stereotypes or what you "think" someone thinks about you deter you from sharing the gospel, or just talking to someone. We have to love people despite what we have grown up being taught, because in the end we are children of God and really want the same things (not sure if that tangent made sense but yeah).

Yesterday we had a devotional by Elder and Sister Gay and it was SO GOOD. The time flew by and they talked about so many good things. One of my favorite things they mentioned was the importance of personal revelation. This topic has been brought up a lot while I've been here and it's been so awesome to learn more about it. They talked about how missionary work is revelatory work, and we will always be guided to where we need to be if we are in tune with the spirit. He shared a story about when he needed a haircut when he was visiting a stake for stake conference and felt like he needed to go to Walmart to get his haircut, even though he would never go there by choice for a haircut because it's Walmart, but he really felt like he should. The lady cutting his hair ended up being a less active convert to the church, who was trying to decide whether or not she should stay in the church and be sealed to her husband. Elder Gay challenged her to stay with the Lord and become worthy to be sealed to her husband, and told her that when they were ready, to call him and he would seal them. A year later he gets a call from her and he seals them in the Salt Lake temple! After they were sealed the lady showed him her journal entry from the day before she gave him a haircut and in it she had pleaded with Heavenly Father to send someone to help her know if the church was true. It is so amazing how involved Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives. We must be close to the Lord and to the Spirit if we want to receive promptings and be a tool in His hands. I feel like after this life we will look back and see that He was way more involved in our lives than we ever even thought. My time here at the MTC has taught me time and time again how much our Heavenly Father loves each of us, and how much he wants us to return to Him. I am so grateful for this love! And the more I learn about it, the more I want to share with the people of Ukraine.

Well, that's the highlights! Russian is still hard but it gets better with every week and with every lesson we teach. I am so scared but also so excited to be able to get to Ukraine and share my simple Russian testimony with the Ukrainian people. I know I'll never really feel ready to leave the MTC, but I will never be alone and even with my MTC Russian, I will be able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. I love you all so much, and thank you for your prayers and emails! I am so grateful for them. I know this is the Lord's true restored church and that this is His work. I am so grateful for this time I have had here at the MTC. I'm grateful for the ups and the downs, because I have come to know my Savior better because of them. I will miss the people I've met here and grown to love, but this is just the start and I can't wait to serve and love the people of Ukraine for the next 16 months.

Until next week (on the other side of the world)!

Love,
Cectpa Kropelnicki

Week 8: Teach by the Spirit

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful week and are not finding it too hard to get back into the swing of things after the holidays:) This week was so good for so many reasons but I will just mention the best of the best.

This last Friday we taught our first lessons with Olga and Egor with no Russian notes and man, going into them I was so nervous. We usually have our questions written down and some of what we want to say in case we forget what to say (which is quite prone to happen), but this time we went in with our scriptures and a few pamphlets to use for pictures and they were our best lessons that we have had! When we taught Olga, we went in thinking we were going to teach her about the Plan of Salvation, but before we started we asked her if she had any questions or doubts. She told us she was still unsure about Joseph Smith and whether or not he was actually a prophet and saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We spent the rest of the lesson sharing scriptures on faith and bearing our testimonies and at the end she said that she would pray about Joseph Smith! The lesson wasn't anything groundbreaking, but the spirit was so strong and with our simple testimonies and by using the scriptures we were able to help Olga strengthen her faith. We have never really just taught a lesson like that before without any planning because usually we are so focused on what we needed to teach, instead of who we were teaching (our Russian has also gotten a lot better! It is so great to see the progress. Week 2 me would've never thought that she could've taught the restoration with no planning and all in Russian). It testified to me of the importance of teaching by the Spirit. He knows exactly what people need, and if we are in-tune with him, we will be guided as to what we should say (and it will be 10x better than what we could ever say on our own). I am so grateful to have seen this first hand, and it makes me so excited to be able to do this for the next 17 months.

This week for our Sunday devotional we heard from Brother Mills, who is in charge of all the MTC's around the world. His talk gave me a much needed lift and he talked about living in the moment of your mission and not wasting your time worrying about things you don't have control over. Our missions will hold some of the greatest memories of our lives, and we should be 100% in our missions for the next 18 months to 2 years, otherwise it'll be wasted. This really struck me because especially at the MTC I feel like this is just something in between me and finally getting to Ukraine. And if I think that way, then it will be. But if I instead see it as an opportunity to grow and learn and become a better missionary, then that is what it will be. The time we are given on this earth is exactly what we make of it. We can't control everything that happens to us, but we can always use the gift of agency to react to our circumstances. I am so grateful for this, and as my time here at the MTC comes to an end (and my days of everything being scheduled for me coming to an end with it), how I spend my mission will rest solely on me and my companion. I want to look back on my mission, knowing I did everything I could to serve Christ and bring others to Him (sorry, that was sort of rambling, but it's just been something I've been thinking a lot about lately).

Some other stuff:
-WE GET OUR FLIGHT PLANS ON FRIDAY. It's crazy and I am so excited but also freaking out inside so it's weird.

-We got the picture from a few weeks ago when the Mongolian government official came to our class and we laughed at how happy Brother Griffiths looks in it. He was in his prime there.

-In our last lesson with Egor we were teaching him about baptism (he accepted our invitation to be baptized last week! Even though it's not real, it feels a little real and you got to recognize the small victories, even if they are fake), and he asked if he needed to cancel his old baptism when he was a baby. When we finally understood what he was asking, it was so hard to explain in Russian haha but we did it and it wasn't too bad.

-I had a tender mercy to end all tender mercies happen to me today! As my companions and I were walking out of the temple, who should also walk out but Craig and Kathy Smith (they are my mom's cousins but we stay with them all the time so I feel like they're just my aunt and uncle). Oh my goodness I could not believe my eyes! Needless to say lots of hugging and "I can't believe you're here!" ensued. Thinking back on that, it is so cool to see how many things needed to happen in order for us to have met up so perfectly. Just seconds more or less and it never would've happened. It was such an answer to my prayers because lately I've been thinking a lot about my family and how much I miss them as they're all starting new semesters, classes, and lives in other countries. It was the greatest and I still feel like I'm on cloud 9. Wow I am so grateful for my loving Heavenly Father! He does answer prayers, sometimes it's something small and sometimes it's seeing actual family at the temple.

That is all for this week, there is so much more I could say but, as always, I must keep these to a manageable length (it's good practice because once I'm in Ukraine I will only have an hour or two to do all my emailing--yikes!). To close, I want you all to know how much I love and appreciate you. If you've stayed with me to week 8 and are still reading my long emails, I just want to say thank you (even if you haven't, we're all cool). I know that our Heavenly Father loves and knows each of us perfectly and wants nothing more than for us to be happy and for us to make others happy. His hand is always in our lives, and I have seen so many tender mercies that didn't have to happen, but they did because He loves me and cares about me. Even with all of my times of doubts and selfishness, he is always there. Saying that I am grateful for Him and my Savior seems so inadequate (every week I feel like it is less and less adequate), and I feel so blessed to be able to show Him my gratitude by serving His children and my brothers and sisters.

I love this work and I love all of you so much! Do something good for someone else today, or tell them why you are thankful for them. It will make this world so much brighter!

Love,

Cectpa Kropelnicki

Our district with the Mongolian government official and his wife

Me with Craig and Kathy Smith

Week 7: Skyped a Babushka!

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!!
I can't believe that this is week 7 and we now have just 3 more weeks until we hit the mission field, that is so crazy and exciting and scary to me (but mostly exciting).

So last week our district had the opportunity to host the Mongolian head of immigration for part of our class and I am pleased to announce that he is now taking the missionary lessons. Haha kidding (that was one of the things we were definitely not allowed to do), but it did go really good! It was pretty short, only like 15 minutes. We introduced ourselves, did some grammar and then he talked to us a little about Russia and their culture, and then we got to take a picture with him and the MTC president and a member of the 70 (picture coming soon) that were also there. It was super low key and hopefully he was able to see that we are just normal people that want to share something good with others.

On Sunday we had a really awesome devotional by Brother and Sister Coslett (who I think are friends of President Martino), and they are both converts and told us their heart-wrenching/inspiring stories about how they came to find the church. Time flew by so quickly, I wanted them to just keep talking! Brother Coslett said something that I really liked, he said "Sometimes it's easier to believe in Christ than to believe Christ. That really resonated with me. I've found myself thinking sometimes about whether or not I can actually do this to the level that it needs to be done, and I know I need to be better at believing Christ because I know that He knows I can do this (if that makes any sense). I believe in Christ, but I doubt myself more than I care to admit, and doubting myself means that I am not believing Christ, and that is exactly what the adversary wants. But this week I have really been trying to put my faith in Jesus Christ because I know He believes in me. I am so grateful for that (otherwise there is no way that I would still be doing this)!

On Monday morning we had our first member Skype TRC, and I met my very first Russian babushka, Iryna. She showed us her Christmas tree, her cute granddaughter and a super awesome scarf that she had knitted. We taught her about charity and even though it was a little difficult to understand her sometimes (the connection was not always the best and whew understanding native Russian is waaaay harder than understanding Brother Griffiths!), it was so awesome to be able to talk to someone who was actually in Russia and share our testimonies with her and be able to hear hers. So cool. Monday was kind of a sad (but also happy) day because Sister Dixon left us for St. Petersburg, so we are now back to a trio. I miss her so much! But man she will do so so amazing in Russia. She is the best and we already have an epic trip planned when we both get back, and our goodbye wasn't super sad because she's going to Weber State and that's not even that far from BYU:)

Funny of the week: In one of our elders lessons they were teaching about the atonement and one of them forgot the word "to perform" and so he whispered to his companion "how do you say perform?" in Russian, but his companion told him "Ya zabweel" (I forgot) and so the elder turns to the investigator (aka Brother Griffiths) and tells him that Jesus Christ forgot the atonement hahaha so good. Apparently they had to take a little break because Brother Griffiths lost it. Language mistakes make the best stories.

Well, that is all for this week! I love and appreciate all of you and am so grateful for your example and friendship. Our district has decided to focus on gratitude, and we are trying to notice the other good things that people around us do, and tell them when we see them do something we appreciate. Having a heart of gratitude is one of the best ways to be happier and closer to our Heavenly Father. We have so much to be grateful for, and if everyone worked a little harder to see the good and point out the good, this world would be a whole lot happier  place. Compliment each other! Spread the love!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,

Cectpa Kropelnicki