10. JULY-Hello my American friends!

First off i want to apologize in advance for not replying to any of your emails in this post, cause i haven't read them yet (I'll print them out and will have reading material on the marshrootka bus home!) and the fact that i forgot the password for my email definitely didn't help. Not even a week in the field and im already forgetting things! Let's hope i can get rid of some of that English too, eh? Well greetings from Ukraine!! On the way over here to email i walked through a nice thick cloud of cigarette smoke and i think i might have stepped into a puddle from a broken bottle of vodka so you can say that i am smelling and blending in well! Oh the familiar sounds, smells, and bearded babushkas i feel like im back in Russia! Except for the small fact that everything is in Ukrainian, yeah just a small difference.

Such a surreal morning. I was so nervous i couldn't eat dinner the night before and ended up eating box of cheese-it's as i stayed up into the late of night to finish packing

Last glimpse of the temple as we're on our way to the airport

Here we go!

It was during my travels that i gave away my first Book of Mormon! His name is Lance Douglas Bruce and i met him on my first plane ride, and let me tell you he was ready! He totally fit the description of fresh meat cause he had just barely moved with his family and was looking for "nice" people and i was like well dear sir you came to the right place! I then told him about our church, promised him we were about the nicest people he would ever meet, OK not really but somewhere along those lines, and told him how much the Book of Mormon had blessed my life. He took it and said that he would get in touch with some friends who he actually just remembered where LDS. Oh, and i sat with a sweet 12 year old girl on the next flight, her name is Maia and she loves red lip stick, so we may or may not have had a mini photo shoot right there on the place, and i wrote on a pass along card bearing my testimony that this me and this gospel will always be there for her when she needs it. So i guess you can say i just earned the official missionary badge. After passing out my first i was in predator mode, why did i not have 100 copies with me?! I wanted to tackle everyone i saw including the cash register lady at taco bell. It's like i saw everything with a different purpose.

I spy...... A GIANT.

As soon as the plane touched ground i had this HUGE rush of "IM HERE!" After all the talking, and waiting, and training, there i finally was shaking President Klebingats hand there in the airport. Words can not tell you the relief i had when i saw his feet.....he wasn't wearing running shoes. A tender mercy from above because i hardly slept a wink the during the entire flight process across the globe. All of our luggage was packed into cars, and I and two other sisters hopped in the car with our President and we all headed strait to the mission home. It wasn't too long until we spotted the temple in the distance...

It wasn't until we had reached the mission home that all the lack of sleep suddenly hit me and i felt like a ton of bricks, and i don't think i was the only one. But as much as we wanted sleep we were kept busy filling out paperwork, listening to a few presentations, and writing a letter to our-self to read on the flight home (ha! that is gonna be a good read seeing how i dozed off and drooled on it...) Finally we headed to our hotel!

Our hotel on our first night.

But alas, sleep was still kept from us as we only went to our rooms to put our luggage away (pretty sure the sight of that bed brought a tear to my eye as it glowed under those florescent lights) and we headed back down for a provided dinner. At this point i was so tired, i honestly can't even remember what we ate...i just remember a lot of mayonnaise....from there we had a little walk around the neighborhood with President and Sister Klebingat, as their house was just a few blocks away from the hotel. From the av average Ukrainian looking out the window of their house however im sure it looked like a mass of sluggish, well-dressed, zombies, because no joke my knees started to buckle it was so done with this conscienceness junk. AT LONG LAST we were allowed to go up to our rooms, but were highly encouraged to stay awake another half hour or so, so as to adjust to the time change as quickly as possible. I was asleep, fully dressed in my bed before my companion was even out of the bathroom.

The next morning was the day i met my new companion and trainer! Her name is Sister Lamoreaux and she...is...an....ANGEL! Couldn't have asked for a sweeter, kinder, can make a mean stir fry, her Russian ain't too shabby either, companion! This is her 5th transfer so she know's what she's doing and is training me well!

It was my 3rd day here when Satan came creeping along with all his self doubt and fear. I felt so out of place, so foreign and felt so far away from home, so i clung on to the only thing at the time that could give me comfort. This gospel. I dived into my scriptures like they were a safe haven and prayed and prayed and prayed. I even caught myself just praying in the bathroom to tell Heavenly Father hello! (sorry for the deets there folks but this was really important) And to make matters worst an Elder accidentally ate my dinner!  But all is well in Zion, i found a leftover mayo sandwich (no seriously this sandwich had so much mayo on it that when i bit into i think i shot a mayo into my companions eye).

Our first district meeting in the primary kids room!  President Klebingat walked in and just started chuckling at the sight (the elder on the far right is the one who ate my lunch...)

After being brought to my new home, which is the cutest little thing ever, though i couldn't even describe what it smells like, me and my companion still had 15 minutes of the Lords time left so we went out and found a sweet old babushka on a bench and talked with her! She was so sweet and really had fondness for me so i set a date up with her for next time, yay! I then went home and took a "shower" it's kinda tough when you don't have a shower curtain so it was more like being crunched over in an elevated tub like Smeagel holding a shower spout above my head. I love it!

HOME SWEET HOME

My backyard

Sister Lamoreaux made me french toast in the morning, the angel, and later that day we had miracle! This sweet old lady stopped us right in the middle of the park, walked strait over to us, pointed at the book with wide eyes, smiled huge and asked if she could have it. We gave it to her and she practically ran away with it saying thank you over and over again. Im not sure if she had ever even heard of it before, but the way her eyes light up when she saw it just proved to me that there are people here ready for the gospel! Another little miracle, if you can call it that....it all started with me getting hit on by my first drunk man! Bleached slicked comb over, bear gut, cigarette in one hand, a bottle of vodka in the other, golden teeth, the whole shabang. Well after about the most uncomfortable conversation known to mankind we gave him a pass along card and invited him to church just to end things off. Sunday comes around and there i am meeting and greeting the amazing members of Kiev, when in comes......the drunk man!!! I smelt him before he entered the door, but we being good missionaries....passed him along to the elders he he he. He stayed for sacrament meeting and said he will come next week. Don't quite know his intentions, but i couldn't think of a better place for him to be on Sunday.

I also got to witness my first baptism this Saturday! It was beautiful and i can't wait for the next! I wish i had time to tell you all more, but i gotta get started on my email to President Klebingat! I love you all so much and can't wait to "talk" to you again. Keep the prayers a com'n! 

XxoxOxoxoXo

-Cectpa Po

Oh! Here's some pics from our 4th of July celebration!

P.S. may my hairdryer rest in peace. This morning i went to blow dry my hair turned it on and was blasted so hard i think i singed my eye lashes and my cheeks shook, and then it was *poof* dead.

P.S.S. Since im right here at the mission home you can send me DearElders and ill get them when you send them! I am so blessed i get to see the temple everyday!

Week 10

9. JULY- IM HERE!!!!

IM IN UKRAINE!! I kinda can't believe it and i think i can blame sleep deprivation and "oh my gosh im finally here" shock for that. It feels like im back in Russia! It's so amazing because i see everything through different eyes now. I understand bits and pieces of Russian conversation and now they dont look so scary! Im about to get interviewed by President Klebingat as i sit here in a building not more than 50 feet directly outside the Kyiv Temple. It's beautiful! Guys, i feel like im in a dream right now, after all the talking and day dreaming and occasional nightmaring im finally here! I want to tell you all about it, but frankly i dont have time, and frankly i think i left half of my brain on a plane somewhere. I have P-day on Monday and i shall tell you all things that have come to pass! I'll give you one piece of awesome news though.....i placed my first Book of Mormon! I am safe and sound and living, though not sure for how long because i have to somehow stay conscience for another 5 1/2 hours. ohhhh myyyy goshhhhh......I love you all! Thanks for the prayers and keep em coming!

-Cectpa Po

P.S. A collection of "lasts" ...

HERE WE COME!!

Our last day in the MTC!

Our last day with Brother Seitz. We're doing the "Griff-it" an inside joke of our district

Our last day with Brother Wells

"Griff-it" strikes again

My last time with Sister and President Cranney, my mission president of the MTC

Just in case you forgot where we are going...

All the Sisters!

A little bit closer now...

Elder Seitz

Elder Feil

Elder Danielson

Love these Elders!

All together now! (7 of us Ukraine bound, and 2 bound for Moldova)

The Last Supper

Week 9

8. JULY- The Last Email from the USA........

I hope you freaked out reading the subject of this email just as much as i freaked out typing it. Exactly one week from today i will be flying across the world and show Ukraine something they have never seen before! I just received my flight plans the other day and im leaving this next Tuesday (July 9th) at 5:30 of the AM and my flight leaves Salt Lake City at 9:48, so that means....I WILL BE CALLING HOME!

So yes i will be able to call home, so family at home, are you listening? (hey that means you too mccall if you can be there) I will be calling home AROUND 8. maybe even 8:30. I  have no idea how long it will take to get all my luggage checked in, but be there. None of this getting the answering machine business cause this is the last time you will hear this angelic voice until Christmas. From Salt Lake i will be taking a long long...long.....loooong flight to Amsterdam! From there it is only a 3 hour overlay until i fly strait to KYIV, UKRIANE! Rumor has it the mission president is waiting there with running shoes and he takes you on a run strait from the airport. I might follow this email with my will as it's most likely i may not survive.

Hey, we're still human...

My Russian name tag showed up too! yes, it's a byute. All two letters of it..... "PO" i shall wear the Asian name with pride.

Ok, so what has happened this week.....well i hosted for the first time! It was so strange to be one of those missionaries with the huge "HOST" sticker on my chest greeting the newbies when it feels like it was only me a couple weeks ago clinging on to my dear sweet parents smiling through tears. Definitely brought back memories. The first girl i hosted actually had a little 5 year old sister with down syndrome who also came out, and after saying good bye to her sister, not even really knowing why, came over to me and gave me one of the sweetest tenderest hugs. My heart fell off. It made me really appreciate all the missionaries who make sacrifices to go on a mission. I only got lost once......maybe twice.....okay 3 times, but that's ok, its not like we were dragging around 130+ lbs of luggage under the hot sun. 

The devotionals have been amazing lately. Just what i need to hear before going out, i can tell the Lord is trying to boost me up as much as He can before I set off. Believe me im doing everything i possibly can to have the Lords strength with me right now. Things are not easier, but i can feel strength from all of you, and the Lord. I even went to a counselor this morning! (thank you wendy for the dearelder! that dearelder just put all of my thoughts onto paper, it was EXACTLY what i needed to hear at the time) He took my stress "pressure" and said i was definitely over the level of "stress" and into "distress" but he is helping me. I even have one last meeting with him for Friday. It's just so nice to be able to openly talk to someone about my feelings, troubles, worries, fears, and just my life. My companion has kinda had enough of that to be honest. We have been struggling, probably my biggest struggle for a while, which is strange cause i thought we would be such great friends. I am trying so hard to not get hard hearted towards her, yesterday i even kneeled down onto a cold dirty tile bathroom floor (the only place to have solitude around here) and prayed that we could have Christ like love for each other. I didn't feel a huge wave of love come upon me, but somehow through out the day i had a desire to serve her. So im gonna use this last week to shove as much love down her throat as possible.

"I love you more than fat boys love cheesecake". -Brother Wells

Ive been using this past week to memorize the 1st vision and my favorite scripture in Russian, i hope to show it off when i make my phone call, so prepare yourselves to be amazed. I also did my first lesson via Skype with a guy named Sasha. He is living in Russia right now and at the end of our lesson i gave him a challenge to pray out loud to feel God's love for him, and i told him i would do it as well. He actually asked for our emails, we asked if it was all right of course, and he emailed me! He said that he actually didn't pray out loud, but he did read a couple chapters of the scriptures which is a big step up for him seeing how he hasn't been reading them for a couple weeks. Ive also been trying really hard with what we call SYL-Speak Your Language, which my district has made a goal to speak nothing but Russian all week. It's tough, and im not perfect and half the time i dont understand everybody, but im trying, and that's all i can do.

While going down the list of cleaning requirements for our room, we decided to go above and beyond and clean our the air ducts, and found this little treasure hidden inside!

Some funny moments this week.....i was sitting listening to a speaker during a devotional when my nostril hairs starting to burn and i was like "what elder just crapped his pants?" i look around to see, 9 seats down to my right, an elder from my district looking at me with pleading apologies in his eyes. A 9 person fart radius people, it was impressive. Also during that same devotional while a lady was giving her talk, her husband came up right in the middle of it and gave her a sneak attack smooch! The whole crowd went into an uproar and all the elders stood to applaud! Welcome to the only action you  will be getting for the next 2 years boys 

Girls night with MASH and a purpose to devour all our care packages in one night

Also my district stayed in past dinner to hear one of teachers tell a story, so for dinner our only options were the vending machines. With grumbling stomachs we made our way down to the machines to find.....they were broken! food....so close yet so far. We had no choice but to try to find a source of food else where, so me and my companion wandered the MTC campus, i was barefooted mind you, asking if anybody knew where some vending machines were. At long last we found the holy grail of food in the laundry room. And that is how i ate my hot pocket dinner, barefooted, in the dark of the night in the MTC laundry room.

Our last night with Brother Rutter!

Mom i got your novel! I particularly liked the part about the dancing centipede, a story i never thought i would hear from you! I am now adding it to my collection of novels to read throughout the mission.

Im so excited for the 4th of July! It's so awesome that i get to spend one of my last days America celebrating it! They're even going to let us escape from the gates of the MTC to watch the fireworks and stay up a whole half hour longer! #missionarylife

The chain link countdown using old exercise booklets that previous missionaries left behind

Gosh i wish i had more time, this happens every time where my fingers fly so fast that they're a blur. You have all been so great at making me feel loved and supported, like honestly.....good work! 

Wow, this is it. Next time you hear from me i will be in Ukraine. Though i still feel unprepared in a way, i also feel like the Lord has prepared me as much as i can be. I feel like my battery is full and now it's just time to go. Words can't even describe how tough a mission is, and im not even in the field yet, but at the same time i know without a doubt it's all worth it. I trust that this is where i need to go. I have faith that if i let Him, the Lord will lead me to His lost sheep. The Lord knows how much my heart is in this, He knows that i want to give this mission my all. I can't wait for all the stories i can tell you. I'll be thinking of you all during my flight, if you have any last words you better DearElder them quick! Dasveedanya!

Love,

Cectpa Roe

Week 8