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
Monday, October 28, 2019
Monday, October 21, 2019
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
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!
Monday, October 14, 2019
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
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 :)
Monday, October 7, 2019
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
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
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