Turkey Day

It is November Already!!
Thanksgiving will be here before you know it. I am so Grateful for so many things. I don't know where to begin.
I am thankful for family members now long past that had the courage and the Faith to Join the Church of Jesus Christ of later Day Saints and to come across the plains or to sail the Atlantic and come up the Mississippi or to trek to Utah any number of other ways. I am thankful for parents that knew the blessings of a Temple marraige and the fact that they worked hard to make it Celestial. Our home was a place of love and tenderness. Thank you Mother and Dad for all you have done to show us how to live our lives as loving companions. I am working on it really hard while I have Ralph's undivided attention;-). I am thankful that I grew up in the 50's I know freedom and I recognize Liberity. I am thankful that I can stand for both and not be afraid. I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon and the examples of how to survive in tumultuous times. I am thankful for miracles that happen in my life every day. I am so amazed at how I can get around Ukraine and manage the discomfort and the pain. I am blessed everyday.I am thankful for children. All children. My little wonders in Ukraine who can understand both Russian and Ukrainian when they are so small. I miss our grandchildren so much. I am very proud of them and I know that they are working hard and learning new things also. I am thankful for the desert. I miss the smell of rain on the desert. I miss the smell of creosote and sage brush. I am thankful for my Amazing, wonderful children and their spouses. You all bring me so much joy and happiness. Thank you for being strong,worthy,helpful,kind loving,generous adults.(:-) Almost the Scout law) I am so grateful for a loving companion. He is amazing. He is getting Russian and I am so proud of him. Oh, I have so much to learn from him. He is always thinking of how he can better help everyone. I have a hard time keeping up. He is the most genuine person. I love him!!So these are just a few things i have been thinking of.
I that your Special Turkey Day is filled with remembrances of joy, happiness and gratitude.
All our love,
The Missionary Mayberrys

Hello Dear Family and Friends,

We have been so busy with just life. We have been to Armenia this past month and it was a joyous experience. We were able to spend time with Pres. and Sister Carter once again. This is our third meeting and we still really get along.lol We had a great driver Ruben, and a wonderful interpreter Grigor who insured we had a great time. We taught 3 classes to the missionaries in 3 different zones two in the North and one in the south. Vanazor, Gumery, Yerevan. In Vanazor we were able to meet up with two of our Sisters from the Kyiv Ukraine mission. They served in Bila Tserkva with us and we love them so much. It was wonderful to see them in their own city and see that they are still faithful and active in the church. They must have so much hope and faith. The economy of Armenia is so poor and it is so hard to get work. There are no young men to marry and the hope of living a life that they lived while on their mission as far as room ,board,food,safety is not secure. No real medical prospects there either. On to Gumery same story second verse as far as hospitals. Yerevan was great and we found the Nari hospital which is owned by the wife of the President of Armenia. Yep no corruption here. :) We loved meeting the members and the missionaries. We met Elder Lush , who is the grandson of the Strongs in SV. in Yerevan.

Okay that was two weeks ago and on to the more recent past. My being sick has been a damper on things a little. Still have been able to go with Sister Klebingat and look at a new facility that is 3 years old and it looked pretty good. Very modern. Just hope that the techs and the Doctors are as competent. We have gone to Bila Tserkva and our turn out to Khmelnitsky was taken by General Conference.
I really loved general conference. Elder Bennet's talk was moving. He a counselor in our Area Presidency and is really a thoughtful man. Our Area Pres. Said the closing prayer to conference. Pres. Gary Switzer.

As I watched Fox News this morning and heard Pastor Robert Jeffers state once again that Mormons were not Christens I near went through the roof. After listening to Conference and the powerful testimonies of the Savior and the council we were given over two days I was just sick. They will never get it as long as they depend on the philosophies of men. As long as they hold to the Nicaea Creed they will always be in the dark about what it means to follow Jesus Christ. The Baptist stand under the flag of John the Baptist, the Catholics under the flag of the Pope or even Peter,the Lutherans under the flag of Martin Luther. Only the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints stands under the flag of Jesus Christ. We claim the direct revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. No other church on the face of the earth claims this truth. One Lord, One Faith, one Baptism. A God that is the same Yesterday, Today and Forever. You have got to love it.
Sorry for the rant. I wrote a letter to Pastor Jeffers now I just need to figure out how to send it.:-)

Love you all so much and I am thankful for all you do to keep us out here.
Got to run.
Love,
Mom/ Sister Mayberry

Dad

Dear Ones,

Today I spent the morning in the scriptures and the afternoon walking around the Temple. (it is closed for cleaning for two weeks). I have had a rough time of it. but I have the peace and calm of knowing that there is a plan. it is a lovely plan and I know that if I do my best at living this life like the Savior then i will be welcomed home and I will once again see Dad.I have been thinking of you Mom. I have shed more than a few tears for you. I love you dearly and I hope that you can see the beauty and the joy in heavenly Fathers plan. I know you do I just want to make sure especially today. I let balloons go and Ralph has been a dear. He has tried so hard to do just what I needed to get through the rough spots. Here are some pictures.

Wedding Pics

Here are some pictures we took the day of THE wedding.

Work and more Work

We have been so busy the last little while. we have been to Deneperpetrovsk and to Donetsk. We have helped a Sister missionary get home and then get back to her mission two weeks later. We have gotten our Elder Yarmak to the temple and are helping him get ready to leave on his mission to the Arizona Tempe Mission in October. We have had our first interviews with our New mission Pres., Pres. Klebingot. We have had our first mission council with Pres. and all the Senior Couples that are shepherding branches in the mission. WE have learned so much and we are so thankful for the blessings of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are so thankful to be here and we know that Pres. Klebingot is so inspired. We can not expect the Lord to send us investigators if the Branches are weak and not following the handbook. So the gloves have come off and we are to stop the meeting and correct when we have to. Pres. had sent a letter to all the Branch Pres. and he has met with all of them personally and he has told them that we are representing him.What ever we say it is if he had said it. So Now we have clout and we will use it.
We will be off to Harkive tonight and back tomorrow night. Just can't stay home.

Uncle /Elder Ralph/Dad was kind enough to buy me a sewing machine for my B-day. He is so cute. He puts up with all my hairbrained ideas and I love him for it. I will be making covers for the backs of the chairs in Primary so the children will know where to sit to give the talk, the prayer and the scripture. I hope that this will help them want to participate.Here are some pictures. Love you all so much and I just want you to know that this is the best thing that has happened to me next to being Wife to Ralph and Mom to you. Hugs!
These are the missionaries serving in Bila Tserkva. Elder Jackson, Elder McEntire.Sister G, Sister Jacobson, Sister Mayberry, Elder Newman, Elder Muir and Elder Mayberry took the the picture.

June 26 2011, Khmelintsky, Ukraine

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.

one more time

pics