Also--transfers were this week and yep I am staying in Odessa! I am really happy. This is the best area in the mission, hands down. It is also the hottest in the mission so pray that we don't die of heat stroke in a marshrutka.
We started the week with doing registration in center for Sister Butler. The branch president of the Center Branch (Dima) helps all the missionaries do registration here and Sister Hatch was trying to make small talk and instead of asking him how his new baby was (his wife just had a baby girl last week), she asked him how his new girlfriend was hahaha. It was awesome and Dima got a big kick out of it.
We were also able to do some service for Sister Raya in our branch and it was seriously one of the highlights of the week. Service is the best and Sister Raya has done so much for our branch, it was nice to do something for her. Plus we were finally able to meet her son (who doesn't really want anything to do with the church but he was pretty nice to us and he wants to come to english pracice now!). We did it with the Elders and Sister Raya was even doing it with us (we were carrying old wooden logs from one house on her street to another house) even though she is in her 80's! Babushki here are beasts.
This week we also met with Jenya who works as a security guard at ATB while he was working and we gave him a Book of Mormon and talked to him a little bit about it (he didn't have a lot of time) and invited him to church this Sunday. He really wants to come! And he was asking all these questions about what he should wear and if he should wear a tie--I really really hope he can come.
On Thursday after soccer we sat on the field with Obi and gave him an english Book of Mormon, and talked to him about it and had him read Moroni's promise at the end and the spirit was so strong when he read it, it was awesome. We're trying to help him to get to church this Sunday, but he usually has soccer games :( When we played with him this morning he told us we five were like his family! Aww Obi is the best!!
We finally set up an appointment with Alina this week for before english practice, but she canceled last minute and said she was too busy. That was a big bummer. But we are not giving up! This week is the week, I can feel it.
We also met with some of our branch members and did lots of contacting. When we were contacting on Sunday we ran into a super nice lady that had met with the missionaries before us last winter and already had a Book of Mormon and we got her number and are trying to meet with her this week.
Ok, as for the title of the email (I apologize for the length)! On Saturday we were tracting with the Elders in an apartment complex and we get to the 9th floor and I step out of the tiny elevator that we are all crammed in together and the minute I step out, this old fat, boxer-clad Ukrainian man (beer bottle in one hand, cigarette in the other) starts yelling at me to leave and all this stuff and so I book it back into the elevator with the elders and sisters, and we sisters go two floors below to tract and the
elders go one floor below the crazy man. Sister Butler, Sister Hatch, and I start doing our tracting thing, ringing doorbells to talk to people about the best book ever (aka the Book of Mormon) and a few minutes in we hear more yelling and the elevator doors open and it's our elders. They tell us that the crazy man is coming down the stairs and was saying he was going to "make us leave" and so the elders thought we should just try a different building and leave this one. So we all get into the tiny, dimly lit elevator and press the first floor button, and then the elevator just stops. The elevator broke! And then the crazy guy starts yelling at us again through the closed elevator doors and we are low key freaking out a little bit at this point. We said a prayer together (never thought I would have to ask Heavenly Father to help us get out of an elevator) and yelled for help and eventually the elevator started to go again, and the doors opened (not where the crazy man was--blessing) and we ran out and booked it down all 12 flights of stairs to the bottom as the crazy man yelled at us from above to never come back. Ha yeah don't need to say that twice. So I officially have my first stuck in an elevator story! Good times. Sorry, that was long. But, good story.
Well that is about it! We are doing good here in Odessa. The work's a little slow and Russian is still Russian, but I love my comps and every day is an adventure and being a missionary is pretty great, even when it's hard.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Kropelnicki
Us with our soccer friends--Obi is on the left
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