A cottage in the wilderness outside Ivano (Apr 16, 2008)

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a good week. Ivano’s been pretty bipolar recently between hot and sunny, and cold and rainy (which is how it is today…). Personally I’d be fine with it picking just one or the other, as long as it picked hot and sunny…

We’ve been pretty busy this week; in fact, we’ve been REALLY busy. We’re the only missionaries in Ivano except for the senior couple, and since they don’t speak any Ukrainian, their abilities here are limited. This all means that a lot of responsibility falls our way; and as senior companion and district leader, a lot of that responsibility falls right on me. It’d be kind of fun if it weren’t for the little times that always spring up where we realize that nothing in our plans is working and everything’s falling apart. Actually, I really like the busy life. I’ve had the opposite before, and trust me, contacting all day every day isn’t a fun way to spend a transfer.

So, one of our tasks has been finding an apartment for when sister missionaries come in next transfer. We’ve been seeing a lot of apartments all over the city and have been visiting a lot of different real estate agencies (it’s almost impossible, if not fully impossible, to find an apartment without an agency here). So, a day or two ago, we met with a real estate agent who told us that she had the perfect place for us. The three of us got on a marshrutka and started traveling. First, we passed by where the Hinckle’s live near the center of town, and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if the apartment was right next to theirs?” But we kept going past that stop. Then, we went past our old apartment building, and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if she showed us the apartment we moved out of last transfer?” But we kept going past it. Next, we past our branch president’s building near the edge of town, and I thought, “We have to be going here. Otherwise we won’t even be in the city.” But we kept going. Eventually, about ten minutes later, we arrived at a small run-down cottage with a very angry german shepherd in a small cage out front. We were taken on a tour of the place, including the bathtub (right next to the front door, as in, in the hallway next to the front door), the water pump (out in the front yard area), and the large field where we could grow our crops. (You’ll notice I didn’t mention them showing us the bathroom. You see, you need to HAVE a bathroom to show it to people.) We decided against it.

Well, I’m out of time already. Things are going really well here. I love you all, and I hope you have a good week!

--Elder Hurst