Dear loved ones,
Saturday night at 6"00 we left Kyiv on a journey to Khmelintsky. We have been given this opportunity by Pres. Steinagel to love the members and build this branch. We are still responsible for Ros Branch and Bila Tserkva branch in Bila Tserkva.You have got to know how much I Love the train. We always get a full coupe and we can stretch out on the seats and even sleep on a pad and clean sheets.But... The bathrooms on the train are not to be used. I have tried and I just can't. So... I was glad the trip to Khmelintsky was only 6 hours. I kind of dehydrate my self the day before and I am a happy camper. Anyway ... I do love the view as we jostle down the tracks. i see amazing things. I actually saw the Ukrainian flag. Blue sky and a golden wheat field. Just for a moment before the trees again blocked my view of the country side.
We arrived in K at midnight and we were really tired.We slept well in the clean and modern hotel Podilla. It is right around the corner form the church,which happens to be above a sports bar in a soccer stadium.( Brent you should like that)
I have to say that our meetings were wonderful. 21 people in attendance (that's with 6 missionaries) It is so difficult to see that all of these people are single. Marriage is difficult as the government keeps everyone in their place and it is difficult to break that hold the old soviet rules have on the people as well as the government. It is difficult to get higher education. Basically you have to buy it. Salaries are minimal and it is difficult to even take care of your self. Having a family comes with money and who you know. Tough row to hoe. Many if not all want to marry and they keep looking beyond the mark. The single people in their branch are more like their siblings. We have mulled this over and beaten it until it is dead with several of the single people we know. We have no solution. They will have to work it out. I digress.
Pres. Megega is a small compact, Russian with tremendous courage and strength. He is the branch Pres. He is also single. We had a special musical number in between My talk and Elder Mayberry's talk. Elder mahoney sang and Elder Hoefling (from Mesa) accompanied him. Sister Yakmova played the violin. She plays in the Philharmonic orchestra.It was Lovely.After church Elder Hoefling and Elder Johnson had a contact and actually the contact came in and asked to be baptized. He had been taught a few months ago and went the wrong path for a while. He now sees the blessing of the gospel and the word of wisdom and wants to be baptized. They will meet with he and his family this week and they have a date for the 30th of June. COOL!
We walked to Elder Mahoney (Canada) and Davis(Ghana) apartment and we waited for Elder Hoefling and Johnson to arrive. Elder Davis cooked a Ghanan dish for our dinner. It was spicy hot. I have now graduated to the not so spicy food. It was delicious and I loved every bite until about 3 hours later. My gallbladder was on fire. I was up until about 4:30 this morning and I still hurt.A little Baking soda in a glass of water has helped.So no more Spice for me.
We caught the train back to Kyiv @7:00pm and away we went. We slept more comfortably on this leg of our journey. Caught a Taxi at 2:15am and home we came. We have had lovely soft rain for the past week. I have prayed for it to go to AZ. No luck yet. Just know that HE is the gardener and we are the currant bush.
So that is our weekend. We love you so much and we think of you so often. Thanks for the pictures and for the letters. Sending a ton of Hugs and Kisses.
Sister Mayberry/ Mom
The pictures are of the Silver linings I see every evening.It makes me think of Dad. Look for the Silver Lining. I remember he sang it to me when he was in the hospital the first time and he was planning his funeral. I sing it all the time now. I am always looking for the Silver Lining. The shield on the wall is of where Khmelnitsky is in relationship to the country of Ukraine.
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