Back to the Future

Week of November 9-15, 2015
The wonderful world of missionary life.  It is amazing as we look back at the pictures we took this past week and think, "That just happened this week?".  There is this "back to the future" type of phenomenon that exists while you are serving a mission.

This is just how fast things happen here

We are transported to a country where all the people talk and dress differently and things look kind of the same, but you know it's different. Then the next thing you know, you are just doing your missionary thing and you realize that the life you were thinking that you needed to return to was the alternate reality and you are really in the correct timeline of your life. We see on Facebook and USA Today all the terrible things that are happening around the world and you think, "wow! That is not part of this life".  Maybe that is where the scripture comes in that says (D&C 25:10) "And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better".

walking path at local park

Babies and strollers are part of the landscape here

As a missionary you are transported to this wonderful world of serving and doing and you are not bogged down with the things of the world.  We still have to do laundry and wash the dishes and clean the apartment but that is all part of keeping your house in order.

 We are blessed because our entire day is set towards service.  We get to visit wonderful people and be part of their lives.  We work with awesome youth and feel of their spirits and their desire to serve the Lord.

 Out for some fresh air

 Helping clean the church

Young singles learning a Christmas song

Oh yea don't forget to play Skip Bo with treats of course

As we move from one place to another in this wonderful blessed area we see the beauties of a country that many people have no idea exists.  All they know is it was on the front page of the paper months ago and can't even remember why.  But we live here and work here and feel here and love here. We are not a headline or a lead-in story for the nightly news.  We are the "Good News" and these wonderful people are the people of God!
So since we were not on the front page of your local paper or on the Nightly News, here is the real news from the "Real World".  (Oh unless I forget to say it you to can be part of the "Real World".  Just go visit your bishop and he can open up your paperwork to start your mission.) Yes Monday is laundry day and yes we have a built in drier as you can see from the picture.

Notice the forced air heat source

We have the opportunity to visit some of the best people in the world and on the way, we do we find all kinds of interesting "photo opps" This cat had to find a place to get away from all the kids that live in the local apartments so he is content to perch in this tree out of harms way.

Ready to pounce on an unsuspecting child

This past week a huge event took place in the world of the church. (not what you are thinking.)  It was the release of Meet the Mormons in 20 different languages.

The people here were so excited about it they had to have a movie night the day after the release.  There were many tears shed and testimonies strengthened. The other news release that you thought about has no meaning to this country because the issue of same sex marriage is not even talked about.  There were many young locals that were annoyed by the reaction of people in America. The prophet is the prophet and revelation is revelation.  Just kneel down and you can get the answer if it is from God!

We had another movie night where we showed Mountain of the Lord, the movie on the building of the Salt Lake Temple.  The group we had at the church that night consisted of members and and non members and at the end of the movie Sister Mikkelsen and I stood in front of them and bore testimony that it is a house of God and that we had the privilege of being sealed there 37 years ago.

One of the best blessings of serving here is the fact that we don't have a car. We never have to stop and fill up or try and find a parking place or have the tires rotated or the 101 other things that car owners have to worry about.  We get to ride on the public transportation and meet wonderful people, sometimes in much closer quarters than you would like, but everyone understands the process and you move in and out of the trains, trams, and buses with little effort.

"This is not even crowded why are you taking a picture? "
"When it's really crowded I can't get my camera out of my bag!"

But after the rides you get to walk and enjoy the beauties of the city that you would miss if you were driving a car. You would never stop at the little chocolate shop like the one pictured here because there is no place to park nearby.  But while we were there many happy couples bundled up in their fur hatted parkas came in and enjoyed a warm cup of Hot Chocolate.

Our returned Sister Missionaries serving us Hot Cocoa

This is a wonderful Cafe. The  Liviv Chocolate Shop
They make world famous chocolates

This was so thick my spoon almost stood up in it

just in case you need need a little snack after your hot chocolate

We have said before that the best part of the week is the little kids at English.  They love learning and we love teaching and even though we can't mention the church or the Savior they know that He lives and loves them.

We learned about land and sky things today and these are the
winning pictures

This is the building we teach the kids in

 "Suffer the little children to come unto me."
We had a nice dinner yesterday and invited several people over.

Elder Quorum President and his daughter, Sister Volya,
Single adult girl from Odessa going to school here and the missionaries

 We also invited our neighbors over for treats at 6:30-7:30.  Two apartments are people from Africa and speak English and two apartments are local Ukrainians.  Sister Mikkelsen wrote a note in Russian inviting them over.  We used Yandex, which is a computer translation application, to write the perfect note. No one showed up so the Elders looked at the Russian note.  It was really good until it got to the place that said we would have tasty treats and would "eat the translator". The elders said it was really good accept in the wrong case and so it looked like we were going to eat them and the treats.

you would think people would come to see
how a translator tasted.

Well, that about sums up the week for us but the adventure continues. Stay tuned into the "Not of this world" channel  for more adventures from Ukraine.
We love you all and wish you were "Back to the Future" with us.  Elder and Sister Mikkelsen

PS

Our Stripling Warrior in Cancun now the mission Finical Secretary

soon to be 8 months old