Monday, June 1, 2015

Whshew!

   
   Week of May 25-31, 2015
It is amazing to me what a little sunshine and warm weather will do for the population of a country.  Bus rides in the winter are silent with everyone staring out the window (at least by the end of winter when we arrived). But, now...!  Yesterday morning we were squished into a bus we didn't think we would ever fit into (the doors didn't close all the way behind me till everyone got jiggled around a little bit as we hit a few bumps) and as I listened (couldn't look around-too many people) the bus seemed to be alive.  People chatting, smiling, seemingly happy.  It was awesome.  The only trouble is, now they want to talk to us.  Sometimes we can understand them and say a little back but mostly we have to ask if they speak English.  This usually brings a big smile, a knowing nod, and a few laughs (sometimes, a look of disgust).

     As most of you know, I am not a photographer so when it s my week to write, the photos may seem to be lacking--something.  I wish I had a picture of people on the streets on Saturday.  Every other person was carrying around what looked like a handful of reeds, which were being sold on every street corner.  I felt like we should buy some too, but Ned "Why'd"that.  It looked just like the day they were selling pussy willows last month.  The willows were important in a religious holiday regarding spring.  We finally found out this was true again.  That is one thing that makes living in a small country fun.  The people are so passionate about their customs, traditions, culture, language...anything that has to do with their country.  We always see people dressed in traditional Ukrainian clothing or costumes.  My traditional American dress is jeans and a t-shirt. One day someone asked me what foods were traditional American foods only found in America.  I didn't know what to answer-  fried chicken, cornbread, and a mess of greens in the south, a clam bake or shrimp in the Northeast...hamburgers?  I guess we just have a little bit of everybody =)  Maybe that's why its so important for us to find our roots.
 
This church has become our friend.  This is how we see it from our
window.  We pass it everyday.  The domes are on the ground waiting
for the renovations to be completed. 
Can't wait for it to be put back together again.  It is a beautiful building.
                              
The highlight of our week---whshew!  The last stump is finally out!
That right "Helping Hands"
We had a little extra help as you will see in the pictures.  Just after we got there we saw Bro Сисов working on his old tractor. It took awhile but he got it going, drove it over, hooked it in, started pulling, and- the cable broke.  Then, they dug more from the inside of the stump, found a hole they could thread the cable through, hooked it back up and it just slid right out of that hole. It was beautiful! Now we can move on to the next step.  Wednesday we prepare to put up the frame for the greenhouse.
Looks like it would be perfect for tractor tipping but its beautiful to us!

oops! try again

threading the cable

     But- first we must finish the parable.  (Can't leave you hanging.)  So-  we work, and work through trials, difficulties, sin, to root those problems out of our lives but sometimes we just can't do it by ourselves.  We need help.  We need a tractor to come to our rescue.  Someone with more strength, power, knowledge, authority, than we, who can guide, lift, and help us through our struggle.  We need to be able to take a step back, realize/accept our limitations/needs, humble ourselves and allow the Lord to do His work, having faith that He has a plan and that plan is a plan of happiness that when used, WILL bring happiness.   And happy we are.  Excited for what the next few weeks will bring.


     We are so grateful for the many people here and at home who are helping make this wonderful experience possible for us.  Everything is not all as rosy as it seems in the blog.  No one wants to hear that stuff, but it all has been invaluable to us.  We love you all!!!!!  Have a wonderful week.
Love the Mik's
Fun playing games with some members

Jacob getting ready to clean the chapel for Sunday after an amazing conference
with Elder Bednar, another 70 and 2 Area authorities
Oh ya did we mention our Grand Daughter?!!!