Sister Kropelnicki in Ukraine: Week 43: Transfers! And Nastia!

Hello everyone! This week was great and stuffed full of miracles and surprises. We had transfer calls on Saturday and Sister Rawlinson and I were not expecting to get a call at all but we did and she is getting transferred to be an STL in Dnipro! And she'll be companions with the sister she trained! So she's excited but really sad because this area is literally the best and we are teaching the coolest people right now. But I know she'll do so good in Dnipro! My new companion's name is Sister Egbert and she's on her last 2 transfers so she'll probably die in Kharkiv which she is really happy about because she served in Novy Doma at the beginning of her mission (so we're gonna be good friends) and loved it. We pick her up tonight and then Sister Rawlinson leaves tomorrow along with a bunch of other sisters (Like Sister Bevziuk--she's training again! And she'll be in a trio with her greenie and the sister that she is finishing training! She's a boss!) so we're gonna have like 5 sisters at our apartment tonight... fun stuff.

In other transfer news, President opened Sumy for sisters!! That's the place that Sister Rawlinson and I went to for 4 days a few weeks ago to see if sister missionaries could be put there in the future and now there will be sisters for the first time in like 5 years (and before that like 10 years)! Ah the members will be so excited!!! That place is so cool. And that means that I can go back there once a transfer for exchanges! Woot.

Some other highlights from the week:
We met with a super solid member in our branch, Sister Alla, and also took Sister Shepherd with us so that they could get to know each other better. It was such a nice visit. She made us these little cheese-pancake things called сырники (seerneekee) that are kind of my favorite thing in the world, and she talked about her life and how when she was little she was taught that there was no God and that religion was useless and she talked about that her family always clung to their beliefs even when everyone was saying that God didn't exist. They have this saying here that I really like that's "hope dies last" and she talked about how the hope that they had for better times and in God is what got them through those times. So cool.

We also met with another member, Looda this week and we all left her apartment feeling so inspired and uplifted. She is one of those people that everyone wants to be around because she just has this light about her. She talked about how she wasn't always happy and open like that, but she realized that if we're going to be the same person after this life that we were on earth, she definitely does not want to get there and be unhappy! So she made a decision one day to be happy and look outside herself instead of just thinking about herself and the fact that she hasn't found a husband (she's in her 30's), and trust that Heavenly Father has a plan for her and she just has to be ready and worthy for those blessings. She is so awesome!!

On Saturday there was a baptism for a man who was almost 90 years old and he was the last person in their family to be baptized and it was so touching and sweet. Nastia, one of our investigators, was able to come and she loved it. She said she felt this indescribably wonderful feeling when he went into the water and we talked about the Holy Ghost and then we asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she said yes! She leaving for Donetsk soon to see her brother but we put her date for October 12th but it's basically whenever she gets back and we can teach her the last few lessons. It was a great lesson and we talked about commandments with her and she took it all in and loved it all! It's miraculous to see the change in her from our first lesson to now because she would always refer to the Ukrainian Orthodox church as "her" church, but during the lesson she was talking about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as "her" church! She was also (miracle) able to come to church the next day! She is so awesome and so ready to be baptized.

On Sunday Sister Rawlinson also said goodbye to everyone in the branch and it was sad but she's already planning a return trip with her parents for next summer so she'll be back;) We also superkontik'd with herbal tea with some of the youth after church and I'll just say I'm sticking with milk with my kontiks ;) But it was fun to spend time with all of them. On Sunday we also got to talk a little with the area patriarch who did blessings in Kharkiv this week. He is SO cool and I would give a lot to just talk to him for hours! We asked him about how sometimes it seems unfair that God seems to group people into different groups like Jews and Gentiles, and he said that ultimately the thing that really separates us is if we keep or don't keep his commandments. And He never will love any person or group of people more, but he does reserve blessings for those people that follow Him and His commandments because they are the ones ready for them. He also said he knew my Grandpa Conger when he used to be an Area 70 member so that was cool :)

Today for P-day we also went to a really cool free zoo here with our district and it was a lot of fun! We got some crepes before we left and Sister Rawlinson wanted one with kitkats and they were all out but the lady thought we were weird and cool so she made a special trip to get some more for us :) And it was yuuuumy.

Sorry this letter is a small book! If you've gotten to this point, молодец.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
С любовью,
Сестра Кропельники