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