Another week has gone by and I think Sister Ebeling and I are coming down from baptismal high pretty hard. We ended up getting dropped, and then we dropped investigators it's always really sad when that happens. There isn't a whole lot to write this week so I'll just explain my title.
A Wedding - Pasha and Marina are members of one of our branches. They've been dating for about a year now, and Marina is a recent convert of almost a year. Well, this Saturday they finally tied the knot. The crazy thing was, they invited all of the missionaries to the wedding so we got to see a traditional Ukrainian wedding. They will be sealed in the temple next month but right now they just got married civilly. So we all went to the City Hall here to see them get married. I have pictures but I forgot the cord to hook up my camera, sorry. Anyway, they go in to get married and they have a pretty "normal" ceremony then the Ukrainian comes out. So the parents of the bride and groom have this crazy intense bread that is decorated with like birds and flowers (I'll send a pic next week). Well, at the end of the ceremony the couple bows to the parents three times and kisses the bread! It was really fun. What was also cool is the majority of the people at the wedding were church members. It just goes to show you that the branches here are like family they are so tight-knit. There was even a returned missionary that came to see the wedding from America.
A Pinata - So apparently over time missionaries have been sharing American culture with our Ukrainian members because last week one of our members asked us to make a pinata for her son's birthday party. Needless to say, it was an interesting endeavour and I will have pictures next week, the party is today.
An Orthodox Holiday - Tradition here is tradition and there is no breaking it. Every member of the church at one point was orthodox and nearly all of them have a babushka (grandma) who cursed the day they were born when they joined the church. This devotion to tradition is never more apparent than on an orthodox holiday. This week it was "Green Saturday" we're not really sure what the purpose of this holiday is but every person goes out and buys palms to put somewhere, I don't really know, the guy who was explaining it was in a hurry but it was really interesting to see a bunch of people walking around with this big green palms. Oh the things we do. One thing I've been really grateful for on my mission is just to experience and gain respect for another culture. It's always really fun too, to see how people celebrate their faith in Jesus Christ.
Have a good week everyone! Look out for deer, apparently they like to hurt people in Kentucky. Much Love!
Sister Daniel
PS Just so I don't forget...when Zach comes home I want to see pictures of the triumphant return!
