Week 79- OCTOBER- All Hail The Sister Missionaries

So i have to be honest with you and not take credit for this beaut. A good friend of mine was so kind enough to send this to me, and i thought it just fit perfectly with the week that we've had. I mean, if there was a woman big enough to top me off with a floral crown and carry ME around in her arms im pretty sure it would have happened this week, because this week i was treated as royalty. And let me tell you....it felt goooood.

We went to go visit a friend who is having liver probems and has been in the dark bland depths of a Ukrainian hospital for the past week and to lighten and flavor her day we decied to stop by with some balloons and pumpkin bread! We decied to take the long touristic route there and found a hidden cathedral! Aaaand cue photo shoot with a large leaf...go!

And we found a large arch! Aaaand cue another large leaf photo shoot!

Aaaaand balloon photoshoot!

While we were walking towards the cathedral we walked past a begger woman with her son and you should have seen the bulging eyes of this little boy. We kept on walking but i just couldn't get those bulging eyes out of my head, perhaps because i felt them pressing in on the back of my skull all the way down the street until i was out of site. I finally stopped in my debate to give him one of our balloons, trying to decide if it will be ok if we gave our liver ill friend two death balloons instead of 3 healthy balloons......i figured two death balloons is better than a balloon-less begger child.
I couldn't get the balloon untied and so eventually i start attacked it and ripped off the blue balloon with my teeth (oh you should have seen my companions face) and oh the look at this boys face was priceless! I handed it to him and....well you can see that he is holding an orange balloon, so i don't think it takes much to guess what happened to the blue one. Not more than 3 seconds passed and that blue balloon was long gone in the sky. Don't worry, i tied that orange one on reeeeal tight. One healthy balloon the the sick livered coming up!

Liza was not aware in the slightest that we were coming by, and neither was her mother. And so in feeling so mortified that they were not prepared they felt that they had to feed us there entire years harvest of potatoes! And then while we were talking to her mother she all of a sudden got down on her knees and i was like, "Op, ok, are we going to pray?" and then saw that she had her arm under a dresser and was digging around until she pulled out a box. Guess who got to eat her body weight in pickles, cabbage, and potatoes off of special golden dusty silverware? Yup, this sister right here.

Would you believe me if i said this was just the first course?

And our friend Anna invited us over to her dorm the other day, but when the gaurd wouldn't let visitors in Anna said, "but she's American!" and he said, "oh really?!" and quickly let us in. Ohhh yeah, where's my red carpet?
We also had a fun dessert outing devouring apple pie and cheesecake with an awesome future sister missionary who for some strange reason oddly loves the junk out of me even with my Russian social awkwardness.

In preparations for our upcoming Halloween party i made a FAILED batch of the flattest oven backed donuts known to man.

And yes, this is a bob selling cardboard boxes of frozen meat

And yes, this is the begger man that i say hello to every day that we pass

And yes, we did do a helping hands service project raking a whole lot more than a bucket load of leaves

And yes, Darth Vader had invaded Kiev, Ukraine.

May the force be with you,

XOXOXOXO
-Сестра Ро

YOUR WEEKLY SUNDAE- Don't Worry, Be Happy

Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistiation,” and so in an attempt to be sophisticated, and leave my long ramblings behind, I'll try to keep this simple :)

So thinking back on our last email (and I congratulate you if you finished reading it!), if the purpose of life is to prepare to return to our Heavenly Father, and be happy while doing so, then why does God allow evil and suffering to occur? But before attacking this beast of a question i think it would be important to first understand...what IS happiness?

To be honest i never really thought about this, happiness was just....happiness! If circumstances allowed it i was happy, if circumstances weren't to my liking, i wasn't. How do you like that black and white way of living?

Now I'm no means a professional on the subject, as I'm still learning myself. I mean you're talking to a girl who yells at computer screens when they decide to glitch, but it's doesn't take much to see that life is so much more than black and white! And through all the color shades of life we really can be happy. Not so much being happy for things, but being happy in our circumstances-whatever they may be. If there is one thing that i have learned about happiness it's that it's an inside source, NOT an outside. Happiness is not being able to put checks on your personal checklist titled, "The Things I Need to be Happy," but by realizing that happiness is in the journey, not in the finish line. I HATED hearing people say, "It's easy, just be happy" It made me want to do something to them that would definitely make me happy, but them maybe not so much, because it's NOT easy, but it IS simple. I've narrowed it down to two attributes:

FAITH and GRATITUDE

First, Faith.

Think of the happiest person you know, were they happy because of a lack of trials? I bet my money that's a big fat "NO". From my personal experience the happiest people i know are the ones who 

have proven that happiness is not a lack of trials, but having the strength and resources to endure faithfully with an eternal perspective. It requires faith, but take it from me an eternal perspective always tends to lighten things up.  What's helps me apply this theory more fully in my life is by applying two attributes that are intertwined with faith: PATIENCE and OPTIMISM. Patience to understand that my plan for happiness is on the Lord's timetable, not mine. And optimism because i have always found that the best results come by laughing, and/or trying to make the best out of any situation that could lead me to be unhappy. Not easy, but simple, yes. 

Next, Gratitude.
There's a scripture in the Book of Mormon from the book of Alma that says, "by small and simple things are great things come to pass," Sometimes i think that so much of our time is spent looking for the great things, that we completely miss the small and simple which i believe are the majority of the moments that fabricate our lives! We have big moments, oh yes, but the small moments are countless in between! So look for them, and when you find them, be happy and grateful for the small things of life. Take the time and slowwww dowwwwn....

So, forget not to be happy now. BE HAPPY by exercising faith by means of patience and optimism, and keep an eye out for any moment to be grateful. The happiest people are not those who find their "golden ticket" (read this awesome talk or Sister Litvinova's email); but those who choose happiness rather than letting their circumstances choose for them. They are those who discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, let go of the things that are supposedly going to make us happy, and step by step move towards a life of faith and gratitude. These are they who are truly happy.
We all have this place inside us that wants to be filled with the happiness, and if we don't fill it the world will be happy to fill it up with something else, and usually that something else is not particularly good for you. So beat the world to the punch and fill it with things worthwhile and not fleeting. Don't get caught up thinking that success is what it takes to be happy, but remember that happiness is what brings success!
You know the routine, if you have comments or questions you know where to send 'em!

Have a happy and successful week!
-Sister Roe

P.S. Come to our Halloween party this Wednesday at 6:30 at ул. Шота Руставели 16 3й этаж, and bring your friends! Costumes are optional. Happy Halloween!

Week 78- OCTOBER- Sleeping Beauty

Ok you punks that decide to bombard me with emails all at once, this is what you get. Technically our date who is going to take us on a secret adventure in Kiev should have been there 10 minutes ago so you have exactly until she walks into the door.

So to keep it short ummmm I found sleeping beauty, or a dead body, but i rather go with the first option. Ukraine is absolutely mind boggingly gorgeous in the fall, i ate a cup of literal melted dark chocolate with one of my favorite Ukrainians, homeless men have got SKILLS on the piano, Ukrainians have got SKILLS with their pastries, i ate a fish, we said our farewells to a lot of sisters this week including Sister Lee my fellow St. Georgian, and my dear...Sister Parish! Oh, and im famous.

XOXOXOXO

-Сестра Ро