Hello again everyone, I've had a pretty interesting week again.
So, first of all, I did indeed get transferred. In fact, I was pretty much shipped all the way across the mission. I'm now in a really cool little city called Ivano Frankivsk. It's in the southwest corner of Ukraine, right near the Carpathian Mountains. It is really, really cool! Western Ukraine used to belong to Poland, so the architecture in Ivano is a lot more old western European looking instead of boxy Soviet concrete. The city is really pretty.
It's fun also because the people are crazy. There's a fairly large city square where you can walk around and go shopping, and there's a guy there who asks people for money that we call the Pany Man because he always says, "Pany, day para kopek," which means "Sir, give me a couple kopek," or he'll say "Pany, day zhurnal" ("Sir, give me a magazine"). He's fairly crazy, but for some reason he really likes us missionaries, and whenever we walk past him he tells us jokes. We also have two senior sisters serving here who are the craziest people I've met in our mission. There's Sister Borisenko, who's a native from Russia, who for no real reason really doesn't like one of the elders here (she kept asking if he really had the priesthood, and she never trusts him when he translates for her); and then there's Sister Todd. Sister Todd just turned 72, and she just finished a mission in Nauvoo. Now, she's technically a proselyting missionary, which she decided means she needs to learn to language. Now, I'm not entirely certain what duties a proselyting senior sister has, but I know for certain from President Davis that learning the language is not only not required, but it's not expected, it's never been done, and odds are, it will not be done, and in a lot of ways, worrying about it only hurts the work. Sister Todd, however, remains convinced that not only will she learn the language, but she'll learn it really, really quick, faster than we younger missionaries would. Unfortunately, that's not been the case (to say the least), which has led to her worrying waaay too much about not speaking Ukrainian. In order to discuss things about them while we're around them, we nicknamed Sister Borisenko "Flash" and Sister Todd "Laser."
The really nice thing about Ivano, though, is that everyone speaks Ukrainian! No more guessing what on earth people are saying in Russian. (Although it was kind of fun getting to learn a little Russian...by the way, Sean Connery in "The Hunt for Red October" has a terrible Russian accent, so everyone makes fun of one line he has where he says "Mizh gavarim pa Russki?" or "Can we speak in Russian?" It sounds funny with a Sean Connery accent). My companion is Elder Isaacs, who's really cool and really funny, and because the town's pretty small, we basically work all the time with the other elders in our area, Elder Tanner and Elder Aird. It's a lot of fun. The only problem is, the area's slower than the last one I was in, so the work'll be tough. It seems like I'm just going to have to get used to hearing that.
Well, I love you all, and I'll write you again next week!
Love,
--Elder Brett
Another week, another e-mail (March 21, 2007)
Hello again! I actually have a lot to write about this week, so I'll try to type quickly and get it all fit in.
First of all, last Wednesday I visited this large World War II museum underneath a huge statue in downtown Kiev. The museum was really cool (except everything was in Russian...). It talked about the war from the Soviet point of view, and especially about the siege of Ukraine and the battle for Kiev. Then, outside the museum and around the giant statue, they had a lot of Soviet tanks, planes, and helicopters. It was really, really, really fun! I got to sit in a Hind helicopter, we saw a truck that they used to carry ICBMs (nicknamed "Satana," or "Satan" in English), and we saw a MiG 17, a MiG 21, and a MiG 23. The whole time I kept thinking, "Adam and I could spend a week here and still not get bored."
Then, on Monday, Elder Hanson and I went to the office to drop him off so he could go home (which was a little strange, to say the least). Since then, I've been in a threesome with two other missionaries from my district, Elder Larson and Elder Gassaway. That has been a LOT of fun. They're both really cool elders, and we get along really well. It's too bad we're not staying together for longer than three or four days.
So, I don't know if I wrote this before or not, but the past few interviews Elder Hanson and I had with President Davis, he kept hinting that I'd be staying in this area after Elder Hanson went home, and that I'd be taking over here. Well, plans changed, and tomorrow I'm going to be transfered to somewhere else in Ukraine. I won't find out until tomorrow, so I won't be able to tell you where I go for another week, but I'm excited to see where I go, and a little sad to leave here. I really like the ward and the area here. Elder Larson is getting transfered too, and he's really bummed to be leaving.
Anyways, yesterday the three of us were out contacting and we realized we'd forgotten some things we needed for our English class that night (twice a week, missionaries here give free English discussion groups to anyone who wants to come), so we headed towards our apartment building to pick it up. We turn around a corner to where we can see the only entrance to our part of the building and see a gigantic crowd standing directly in front of the door, with a group of militsia (policemen) and soldiers standing in formation nearby, and a Pravoslavnic priest chanting and waving one of those little incense-balls. As it turns out, someone in our building was a military man who passed away recently, and we just happened to walk in on his funeral! There was a militsia band that played the most mournful, melancholy, Soviet-esque funeral music, and after the priest blessed the coffin, the soldiers led a little parade through the parking lot to the large van that they were using as a hearse. There was a soldier in the lead holding a picture of the man, followed by three soldiers holding his medals on red pillows, and then a line of mourners with black or gray rags tied on their arms; then there were several soldiers carrying something that looked like a really thin coffin that had the man's sword (he must have been an officer) and some other effects, as well as a loaf of bread on a white cloth that the priest must have blessed and placed there; this was followed the coffin itself, which was carried by more soldiers, and was led and followed by two pairs of soldiers holding rifles and goose stepping in formation. All of the soldiers were wearing the really big Soviet army hats and had long, fur-lined gray overcoats. It was really impressive. I wanted to take pictures, but there are very specific rules against taking pictures of public events, especially when the militsia's involved; apparently they look for excuses to try and hassle Americans. We had to take off our missionary tags to watch.
All right, I'm running out of time, so I'll write this last part really quick. I got stuck in an elevator for the first time on Monday night. Elevators here are highly unreliable and not of good quality, and so it's only a matter of time before you get stuck. Fortunately, it was only for about twenty minutes, but it did mean that we didn't get to plan anything for Tuesday, which meant a lot of finding activities and no lessons.
All right, that's how I've been doing. I love you all, and I'll write again next week from wherever I end up!
--Elder Brett
First of all, last Wednesday I visited this large World War II museum underneath a huge statue in downtown Kiev. The museum was really cool (except everything was in Russian...). It talked about the war from the Soviet point of view, and especially about the siege of Ukraine and the battle for Kiev. Then, outside the museum and around the giant statue, they had a lot of Soviet tanks, planes, and helicopters. It was really, really, really fun! I got to sit in a Hind helicopter, we saw a truck that they used to carry ICBMs (nicknamed "Satana," or "Satan" in English), and we saw a MiG 17, a MiG 21, and a MiG 23. The whole time I kept thinking, "Adam and I could spend a week here and still not get bored."
Then, on Monday, Elder Hanson and I went to the office to drop him off so he could go home (which was a little strange, to say the least). Since then, I've been in a threesome with two other missionaries from my district, Elder Larson and Elder Gassaway. That has been a LOT of fun. They're both really cool elders, and we get along really well. It's too bad we're not staying together for longer than three or four days.
So, I don't know if I wrote this before or not, but the past few interviews Elder Hanson and I had with President Davis, he kept hinting that I'd be staying in this area after Elder Hanson went home, and that I'd be taking over here. Well, plans changed, and tomorrow I'm going to be transfered to somewhere else in Ukraine. I won't find out until tomorrow, so I won't be able to tell you where I go for another week, but I'm excited to see where I go, and a little sad to leave here. I really like the ward and the area here. Elder Larson is getting transfered too, and he's really bummed to be leaving.
Anyways, yesterday the three of us were out contacting and we realized we'd forgotten some things we needed for our English class that night (twice a week, missionaries here give free English discussion groups to anyone who wants to come), so we headed towards our apartment building to pick it up. We turn around a corner to where we can see the only entrance to our part of the building and see a gigantic crowd standing directly in front of the door, with a group of militsia (policemen) and soldiers standing in formation nearby, and a Pravoslavnic priest chanting and waving one of those little incense-balls. As it turns out, someone in our building was a military man who passed away recently, and we just happened to walk in on his funeral! There was a militsia band that played the most mournful, melancholy, Soviet-esque funeral music, and after the priest blessed the coffin, the soldiers led a little parade through the parking lot to the large van that they were using as a hearse. There was a soldier in the lead holding a picture of the man, followed by three soldiers holding his medals on red pillows, and then a line of mourners with black or gray rags tied on their arms; then there were several soldiers carrying something that looked like a really thin coffin that had the man's sword (he must have been an officer) and some other effects, as well as a loaf of bread on a white cloth that the priest must have blessed and placed there; this was followed the coffin itself, which was carried by more soldiers, and was led and followed by two pairs of soldiers holding rifles and goose stepping in formation. All of the soldiers were wearing the really big Soviet army hats and had long, fur-lined gray overcoats. It was really impressive. I wanted to take pictures, but there are very specific rules against taking pictures of public events, especially when the militsia's involved; apparently they look for excuses to try and hassle Americans. We had to take off our missionary tags to watch.
All right, I'm running out of time, so I'll write this last part really quick. I got stuck in an elevator for the first time on Monday night. Elevators here are highly unreliable and not of good quality, and so it's only a matter of time before you get stuck. Fortunately, it was only for about twenty minutes, but it did mean that we didn't get to plan anything for Tuesday, which meant a lot of finding activities and no lessons.
All right, that's how I've been doing. I love you all, and I'll write again next week from wherever I end up!
--Elder Brett
Hello Again (March 14, 2007)
Hello again everyone! I'm pretty sure I start all my emails about the same, so you'll have to forgive me if it's kind of redundant. Anyway, things have been going really well, but first let me say, Happy Birthday Dad!
It's finally warming up to spring weather, which has been fantastic. It's so nice to wake up and have the sun shining. As far as I know, Ukraine doesn't have daylight savings, so I haven't had to miss any sleep as of yet, but it is really strange to think about the fact that this is my second daylight savings time change as a missionary; I was in the MTC for the one in fall. It's crazy that I've been on my mission for five months already. It honestly seems like I went in the MTC two or three weeks ago. It's only when I remember all the specific events that have happened that I realize it really has been a long time. It's funny; when your on a mission, time stops making sense. Some days seem like they last forever, but then every night as I climb in bed, it seems like I just barely got out that morning. Individual days seem like normal, but weeks go past blazingly fast. I'll be talking about something as though it happened earlier that week, but then be reminded it actually happened three weeks ago. This next week is the end of my second transfer in country, which seemed like it was a quarter as long as my first transfer. (This also means that my companion, Elder Hanson, goes home this coming Monday...that's really, really strange to think about).
Well, like I said, transfers are coming up next week, but I've been pretty well assured that I'm staying put, which means that I'll be holding down the fort in Voskresenksy for my third transfer. It's kind of funny how people will ask how long I've been in the area and I'll say "Two and a half months," and then they ask how long I've been in the country and I'll say, "Two and a half months." But, the good news is I really like this area. The work is hard and so far not really producing much visibly, but we are able to serve in a fantastic ward (the Voskresenksy Prykhod, "prykhod" meaning "ward"). The bishop, Bishop Gluko, is a nuclear physicist who translates general conferences into Ukrainian, and his wife, Zoya, translated the Book of Mormon into Ukrainian. There's a family called the Musyenko family that is great; the mom is this really funny lady who works as an artist, and her daughter, Katya, speaks near-fluent English and is probably the closest I've ever seen someone to being a perfect member of the church. Our missionary correlation leader is a large bald surgeon named Valeri (emphasis on the "er") who is the most gung-ho person I have ever met; on the phone once, he told us that we need to spend more time on P-Days playing sports; he then paused for a second and said, "My wife has informed me that I'm not giving you good advice. Good bye."
My language is improving as well. Now, instead of asking me if I'm Canadian or American straight off the bat, people ask if I'm Polish. Apparently, most missionaries somehow develop a Polish accent. I've had a lot of people ask me if I'm German, too.
All right, I've run out of time again, but I love you all, and I'll write again next week!
--Elder Brett
It's finally warming up to spring weather, which has been fantastic. It's so nice to wake up and have the sun shining. As far as I know, Ukraine doesn't have daylight savings, so I haven't had to miss any sleep as of yet, but it is really strange to think about the fact that this is my second daylight savings time change as a missionary; I was in the MTC for the one in fall. It's crazy that I've been on my mission for five months already. It honestly seems like I went in the MTC two or three weeks ago. It's only when I remember all the specific events that have happened that I realize it really has been a long time. It's funny; when your on a mission, time stops making sense. Some days seem like they last forever, but then every night as I climb in bed, it seems like I just barely got out that morning. Individual days seem like normal, but weeks go past blazingly fast. I'll be talking about something as though it happened earlier that week, but then be reminded it actually happened three weeks ago. This next week is the end of my second transfer in country, which seemed like it was a quarter as long as my first transfer. (This also means that my companion, Elder Hanson, goes home this coming Monday...that's really, really strange to think about).
Well, like I said, transfers are coming up next week, but I've been pretty well assured that I'm staying put, which means that I'll be holding down the fort in Voskresenksy for my third transfer. It's kind of funny how people will ask how long I've been in the area and I'll say "Two and a half months," and then they ask how long I've been in the country and I'll say, "Two and a half months." But, the good news is I really like this area. The work is hard and so far not really producing much visibly, but we are able to serve in a fantastic ward (the Voskresenksy Prykhod, "prykhod" meaning "ward"). The bishop, Bishop Gluko, is a nuclear physicist who translates general conferences into Ukrainian, and his wife, Zoya, translated the Book of Mormon into Ukrainian. There's a family called the Musyenko family that is great; the mom is this really funny lady who works as an artist, and her daughter, Katya, speaks near-fluent English and is probably the closest I've ever seen someone to being a perfect member of the church. Our missionary correlation leader is a large bald surgeon named Valeri (emphasis on the "er") who is the most gung-ho person I have ever met; on the phone once, he told us that we need to spend more time on P-Days playing sports; he then paused for a second and said, "My wife has informed me that I'm not giving you good advice. Good bye."
My language is improving as well. Now, instead of asking me if I'm Canadian or American straight off the bat, people ask if I'm Polish. Apparently, most missionaries somehow develop a Polish accent. I've had a lot of people ask me if I'm German, too.
All right, I've run out of time again, but I love you all, and I'll write again next week!
--Elder Brett
Hello Again! (March 7, 2007)
Well, I hope everyone had a good week; ours was all right here. Our investigators are slowly flaking out on us, which isn't good, and it doesn't help that Elder Hanson's going home in approximately 11 days and is working with both feet in the grave (so to speak). However, I'm still plugging away, and I definitely see improvement with my Ukrainian, which is nice to be able to see.
My birthday was pretty good, as it turns out. The day before, as it turns out, was Elder Hanson's birthday, and that night we had an English class where, at the end, they threw a surprise birthday party for both of us. It was a lot of fun. Then, on my actual birthday, we went to the family whose house we're helping to build, and they made actual American-style brownies, which were EXCELLENT. Most people here don't like brownies; they say that they taste like burnt cake. I say, maybe they do, but it's a GOOD taste.
A week or so ago, Sister Davis--our mission president's wife--told us that today we'd be having an apartment inspection, which sounds like a nerve-wracking/generally not fun thing, but as it turned out, it involved us going to the mission home in Center ("Center" meaning "downtown"), eating an actual home-cooked breakfast by Sister Davis, getting a ride in their car (it's amazing how nice riding in a car feels after months of trolley buses and metros), and a five minute inspection that we passed quite well (except for our fridge...we had a power outage for a couple days recently in our building, and someone--ie, Elder Hanson--left the fridge partly open, which led to a little bit of a mess).
Other than that, everything's going well. We're actually getting some warmer weather, which is really nice, except that in Ukraine, everyone dresses for the season instead of for the weather, so we still have to wear big, heavy coats or else we'll get yelled at by babushki (which, by the way, happens a LOT).
Well, I love you all, and I'll write you again next week!
Love,
--Elder Brett
PS--We've been asked to start using only our myldsmail email addresses, at least for the time being, so if it's all right, please write me at that one. Thanks!
My birthday was pretty good, as it turns out. The day before, as it turns out, was Elder Hanson's birthday, and that night we had an English class where, at the end, they threw a surprise birthday party for both of us. It was a lot of fun. Then, on my actual birthday, we went to the family whose house we're helping to build, and they made actual American-style brownies, which were EXCELLENT. Most people here don't like brownies; they say that they taste like burnt cake. I say, maybe they do, but it's a GOOD taste.
A week or so ago, Sister Davis--our mission president's wife--told us that today we'd be having an apartment inspection, which sounds like a nerve-wracking/generally not fun thing, but as it turned out, it involved us going to the mission home in Center ("Center" meaning "downtown"), eating an actual home-cooked breakfast by Sister Davis, getting a ride in their car (it's amazing how nice riding in a car feels after months of trolley buses and metros), and a five minute inspection that we passed quite well (except for our fridge...we had a power outage for a couple days recently in our building, and someone--ie, Elder Hanson--left the fridge partly open, which led to a little bit of a mess).
Other than that, everything's going well. We're actually getting some warmer weather, which is really nice, except that in Ukraine, everyone dresses for the season instead of for the weather, so we still have to wear big, heavy coats or else we'll get yelled at by babushki (which, by the way, happens a LOT).
Well, I love you all, and I'll write you again next week!
Love,
--Elder Brett
PS--We've been asked to start using only our myldsmail email addresses, at least for the time being, so if it's all right, please write me at that one. Thanks!
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