Who Says Ukraine Is Cold? E-Mail - March 19, 2012

Hello Family!!

I hope everyone had a great week, it sounds like it from all of your emails. Mom, Alise on facebook is a member here in Ukraine in one of my branches.  She has the calling to play the piano in sacrament meeting. Something I really wish I would have had more diligence learning. The church actually pays for her piano lessons and right now she plays the hymns right hand only on the keyboard in our building. She's super nice and is a great example of the people here. Our branches are awesome, they're all so new. The oldest members of the church here have been members for about 13-14 years. Together there is about 70 people who come regularly, and about 40 who are less active. We cover both branches so we're at church for a total of 7 hours every Sunday. Zach, we definitely have coat racks here in Ukraine.

It's actually been really gorgeous here the last few days. It hasn't snowed since last Sunday and it's probably been in the 40s or 50s. The only difference here is that there is a certain dress code in Ukraine.The babuskas (grandmas) yell at you if you don't abide by it. And that is that you wear tights, boots, coats, scarves, hats, and gloves until they say winter is over. Which might not be until April. And you better not wear short sleeves until then either. It's intense. And really, really, warm. The heat here is interesting. All of the buildings are heated by hot water running through the pipes. On April 15th, they turn off the hot water, and then every one has their own boiler for individual hot water.

Work here in Ukraine is much different than it was in Virginia. One big difference is that we walk, everywhere. I actually really like it now that most of the ice and snow is melted, it feels so good to just be outside. And honestly, I'd rather walk than ride a marshutka which are buses that go throughout the city that you can take. We also do a lot of street contacting. It's really interesting to meet all sorts of different people. My Ukrainian is slowly improving, I can understand the jist of most things when people are talking. Most members LOVE that I speak Ukrainian and not Russian. Sister Jacobson thinks it's funny. Also they all say my Ukrainian is so pure Ukrainian, I'll take the compliments where ever I can get them.

Mom, I don't know if you would survive here. We live on the fifth floor, and one of our less actives that we see a lot lives on the 9th floor of a building and we take elevators. If you can imagine the elevators here are not what they are in the states. You'd be walking a lot of stairs. We also stay out of our apartment most of the day. We only come home to eat, which is how it should be.

Shopping here is different too. They have the best bread, hands down. We shop at a grocery store which isn't much different than what you find in the states, but if you want something else you can go to a reenik. They are outdoor markets and they remind me of something you would see on the Amazing Race. It's something you just have to experience.

Zach, I have gotten the plane joke already especially since my companion is done with her mission at the end of this transfer. She looked up and said "guess how far away that airplane is?" About 13 months! There are somethings about Ukraine that would be considered third world, but it's amazing, the church thrives everywhere.


I've eaten borsh! It's actually really not bad.

Well, that's all I can think of. I got to go to Kyiv this week and ride the metro, that was really fun. Oh, and I have permission to write people outside of my family via email, so mom maybe you could write that on my facebook page, with this email address, that I can email them back.

Thanks!!

Love you!

Sister Daniel

Walking, Water, and One Room Apartments‏.... E-mail - March 12,2012

Hello Family,

Well, this is my first official email from Ukraine on a p-day. I think I fooled myself. You see, I've been so excited about getting to Ukraine that I forgot that it really is a different culture. We got here on a Wednesday night (I think) and immediately went from the airport to the temple. On the way we got an idea of what our mission president is like, he spoke almost the whole way there. He's a very strict guy that values a lot of honesty. Overall, he's exactly the mission president that I'm supposed to have. He also does crack jokes. Anyway we got to the temple (the mission office is on the grounds) and took some pictures. President loves taking pictures so if you've been on that website you know exactly what happened those first few days. We got to stay in a hotel the first few nights just because there were so many of us. That first night I was the first to be interviewed. It was kind of weird just because I was so tired that I was tired anymore. Sister Ebeling and I went back to our room and pretty much passed out. We didn't have an alarm clock that first night so we prayed really hard that we'd wake up at 6:30. We woke up at 6:27am. Thursday was a long day of orientation and training. We spent a lot of time together as we learned more about the mission. One thing I wasn't expecting to find out right away was my assignment. Apparently, in most missions the president doesn't assign you a trainer until you're here and he's met you. But because of the new laws associated with our visas, we have to be registered by our landlords, which means President has to assign us before we even get there.

On Friday we met our companions and headed out. I about had a heart attack when Sister Jacobson sat down and I realized that she's a Russian speaker!!! We're the only training pair that has different languages. She's from Idaho, Swan valley, and went to BYU-I. She's already done with school, but she was a math education major and a geology education minor. We had some of the same teachers! She is almost done with her mission, in fact this is her last transfer. Which is weird, this means that I'll have a different trainer that will finish my training next transfer.

So Bila Tserkva. There was one thing that I heard about Bila in the MTC and that was that it was known for it's Surgick (spelling??). Which is basically a mix of Ukrainian and Russian. Which means, there is no just Ukrainian here. In order to get to Bila we had to take a taxi, to get to a marshutka (bus) to take us here. Bila is about an hour and a half Southwest of Kyiv. It's named for a white church (that's what Bila Tserkva means) in the middle of the city. We walk, a lot. I guess that just means that I'll finally lose all of my weight. And I'll tell you, I'll never complain about potholes in the US roads ever again.

So the water. Ukrainian water is interesting, it has a light brown tint to it sometimes, therefore it is necessary to have our monster water filter. It filters the water 3 times, then it is drinkable. The apartment is basically one room. The toilet is in it's own closet size room, the sink, bathtub/shower, and washing machine are in another little room. The kitchen's actually a nice size, the living room/bedroom is the main room. We sleep on what are basically pull out couches. It's a really fun experience. Don't worry mom, I'm being safe and healthy. Our apartment is on the 5th floor and has a very interesting elevator though.

We cover the two branches that are here in Bila, along with two sets of elders, one for each. Elder Fisher is the district leader and he's training one of the elders that came out with me. Elder Greenwell and Newsome are the other companionship. They're also a new one in Bila, but Elder Greenwell was Elder Fisher's comp, and Elder Newsome is almost done with his mission. They're all really fun and we see them a lot. Mainly because our area covers both of theirs.

Ukraine is an experience, but I love it.

That's all for today!

Sister Daniel