Mikkelsen Muzings: 2016-03-13

Week of March 7-13, 2016
We didn't find out until Friday but this whole week people were celebrating a spring holiday called, Maslenitsa. We wondered why there were so many people out, why there were balloons and celebratory things all over. Then we found out we should have been eating pancakes for breakfast all week!!! Well make up for it this week.

People were out in the streets everywhere. This pic we took
cause he reminded us of Mike Lister. He was really good!

Offering rides in Limo's. Later in the week, we saw a wedding
with 5 of theses all decorated up.

Took this picture without knowing what it said :)
It says, pancake, or the name of the celebration!

This was on P-day. Were going to lunch at a new restaurant
with the sisters. Changed plans and headed to their old
favorite, a Ukrainian buffet.

When we got there, there were other missionaries already there.
In fact, the whole zone turned up in the same place.

масленица (a name for pancake), or Butter week, or Crepe week, is probably the oldest surviving Russian holiday. It began as a sun-festival celebrating the end of winter. Now it is celebrated the last week before Lent. Meat is forbidden (to some) and its the last week that eggs, cheese, milk, and all dairy products are allowed. The most traditional food during the week is блини, or thin pancakes like crepes, filled with all kinds of amazingly wonderful fillings. Wikipedia says they serve pancakes because in pagan times the round shape and golden color resembled the sun.

We saw stacks of these pancakes at the market and had know idea why.

We may not have served pancakes, but we did serve food in the round. At FHE it was decided we would serve pizza. That day was also "Women's Day". We thought many of the youth would be home celebrating with their families, so we planned for the usual number, 12, thinking there would be leftovers. We were so excited when the last person walked in, there were 18 instead! We had pre-baked some pizza crusts and left the rest of the dough for them to bake their own. Things got a little crazy in the kitchen. We ended up with dough left over, not because they were full, I'm afraid, but because it was taking too long to bake! Next time, we'll order in!

A YSA sister was in charge of the lesson this time. Usually we can
catch enough to know what is being taught. This sister speaks
so fast we had no clue.

yum!

So many people! So fun!

Used every flat pan we could find. They even cooked some in the
microwave.

Games after. They always have the lesson first
so they can party after!

At lunch with the missionaries, they were giving Ned a hard time
cause he didn't have a gift for me for Women's Day.
Then, at District Meeting, first, the sisters came in with a
beautiful yellow tulip. Such sweethearts!
Then some Elders came in with some more!
We have only the BEST here in Ukraine!

Only a few of the apartments in our zone have ovens. Most of the time, they are not needed. They have microwaves, stovetops, etc. But once in awhile, missionaries like to bake things to take when they make visits. This week some elders wanted to bake cookies. They came over during an English lesson. A sweet sister is studying to pass an English entrance exam. Some of the study material is grueling. Ned and the Elders were listening in as we discussed some very complicated discourses on aggression. Darwin, Freud, and cognitive theories can be difficult to translate, but she was doing so well. I read later in Ned's journal of the discussion they had had as they listened in. He said to the elders,
"You know how lucky we were to be born in the church in America to active families. Look at her working her so hard to try and get a head and for us it is mostly just given to us. I said we don’t have much to complain about do we. Elder D said, 'You know, I used to feel bad when I lost a ball game and thought the world had ended." He said, ' Never again. I realize how blessed I am."

You can't tell by looking at this shot but, this is a beautiful
scene we see each night where we come out на улица

I wish he had caught the other half of this sign. We sometimes
feel so silly. It takes forever to sound out a word. It takes even
longer to cognate its meaning. We laugh when we finally
realize what it is. "U- t- ah. It says UTAH!!!!!

Those are wooden cut-outs all glued to the wall.

We ended up going to the new restaurant later in the week. It was
cute. Also a Ukrainian buffet but not as good as the favorite.

New elders coming in at transfers are always lots of fun.

Just thought you would like to see that these trees are no longer
weeping.! Spring is just around the corner :)

chill-axing

The week ended with quite a change to our normal schedule. We got a call saying we were needed in Kyiv for a few days. So, a few phone calls to find, cancel, or change plans and we were off to the voksal to buy tickets. Our first experience on the night train. We left at 10:00 PM and arrived in Kyiv at 7:10. That gave us just enough time to make our way to the Temple Site where we could clean up a little before church started. It was actually quite a wonderful experience to sit through an entire church service in English