yesterday this utah girl learned what beer breath smells like

fam bamily,

first of all, everyone is mentioning the mission ages. considering i'm only in my first week in-country, i'm probably the last person who should comment on it. but let's just say i don't know how i feel about it. especially having just come from the mtc. let's just say they're absolutely not ready to handle numbers like that.


now for the real things. it's been a wild ride.

my companion is cectpa megan armknecht from layton, utah. and she's been in-country since the end of april. she's great. and we're in XTZ which is in kharkov. i never know how to spell things between them trying to write things in ukrainian some places, russian others, and english in others. go figure. it's pronounced har-cove, if that means anything. the thing about this mission, is that it's basically like being in russia, more so than missionaries in kyiv. it's kind of interesting to have so many signs and things in ukrainian, and sometimes it slips into people's speech as well.

i don't really know where to begin. last week i spent the first two days in the mission home because after our initial orientation, and then transfer meetings on thursday, they had a special sister's conference for the first time in a very long time in the mission, so all the sisters in the mission were gathered. there are 12 full time sisters serving and 2 temporary natives serving mini-missions. jet lag hit me harder than it ever has for any other trip i've taken in my life, so that made trying to stay awake during the sessions a little interesting. especially because i obviously have absolutely no control over my eyes suddenly crossing like crazy as i force myself to stay awake, not always succeeding. it was neat to meet all the sisters, but weird as well because i don't have anything to relate with any of them on since i'm so brand new whereas for them it was like a mini-reunion with former companions, etc. i guess it was a test of sorts so hopefully they get it approved and get permission to do it again someday while i'm still here.

there are 8 sisters in harkov total, so all of us coming up here took a train friday evening which was a six hour ride. i ended up sleeping for a lot of it - dang that jet lag. and then we arrived around 10 and didn't get to where we live in xtz until 11 or 11:30 since it's on the opposite side of the city from the train station. the zone leaders came with us though and helped give us the key, etc. did i menion that? we're white-washing the area and they haven't had sisters in nove doma (xtz) for a very long time. in other words, we have no idea what we're doing. well, i don't. c.arm is a champ and at least knows how to speak russian and be a missionary.

there are 6 missionaries in novi doma, which is our district. four elders and us. harkov is seriously absolutely beautiful. and the area we're in is absoultely stunning. it's like a forest, really. there are trees everywhere. and they're golden yellow and have fallen all over the streets as well. it's stunning. like a fairy tale in some ways, honestly. and the smells here! our apartment (super ghetto, but charming in its own way) and the staircase up into it smells like romania! i adore it. so many of the smells are like romania. but outside it smells like being up the canyon in the fall. it's so great. i adore it.

i've been in a weird sort of haze from the jet lag, and i probably understand only 10-15% (optimistically) of anything going on around me. that percentage went up a little bit at church since that's the vocabulary i know, but not by much. people speak SO FAST! it's inasane. sooooo we'll see how that goes. there's so much i don't know, that's for sure. russian is crazy. the members here are so kind, though. and so strong! a fair number of them have been in the church for 10, 15, or 20 years - practically since the church began here. it's beautiful, really. it's kind of funny how similar ukraine is to romania, and yet it's not at all. the metro stations are very very USSR-ish. but generally speaking, where we are, anyway, it's not as ghetto as romania. but there also aren't gypsies on every corner. in other ways though, it's more ghetto than romania.

i decided that when it comes to missions, there are three cultures within them that take adjusting to: culture of the place, culture of the mission lifestyle itself, and then the language. i'm very blessed that i don't have to deal with culture shock as far as the place goes, because it literally is just like being in romania. when it comes to language and mission lifestlye on the other hand? very different story. i essentially have absolutely no idea what i'm doing, so that's been fun. and then when you add the jet lag and lack of normal schedule, it's been a wild ride this week. i still haven't had a single normal scheduled day since we had the sister's conference, and then mormon helping hands service project on saturday, and today was pday. it's weird, but i'm excited to be in more of a routine and for the fact that the haze of jet lag and uncontrollable exhaustion is starting to ware off. when it comes to mission set up and culture, it's an interesting one. and the language is a complete joke right now. but time will help. as will experience. since we're whitewashing, we don't know where things are, we don't know people, and we haven't had any times that people could meet with us in order for us to start getting to know them. it's interesting, but thank the heavens for trainers.

i don't really know what to say. it's been a hard week, if we're being honest. really hard. not so much in a way that i want to come home. just in a way that i'm not really sure what exactly i'm doing and i feel a little bit useless because i don't understand much and i can't say much. i knew it would be hard coming in, and a shock as far as language goes, but i don't think i was prepared for it to be quite like this. i don't think i realized in the mtc how much they only feed us religious vocabulary. and the longer i'm here, the more i realize the mtc isn't really that good of a preparation for a mission in ukraine. you kind of just need to be thrown in. in these past few days i've thought a lot about the other members of my district in the mtc and how their first weeks in russia and donetsk (the ct. from my district that are in this mission are both in areas in donetsk) have been. if it's been hard for me, i know it's been hard for everyone. it helps to have previous confirmations to look back on concerning even being here at all, and i think about how many people are thinking of and praying for me. i had a few moments this week that involved controlling myself from bursting into tears walking down the street while people around me are speaking russian like no tomorrow. or in the grocery store. that was a wee bit overwhelming. things really are starting to look up. and i can see from my romanian experience that soon i'll adjust and it all will become more normal. but for now i'm just taking baby steps. having an irregular schedule has not been very helpful. i do love this place though - i can't get over how beautiful it is. while contacting last night and walking down tree-lined streets, i can't get over how dreamy it seemed. all the leaves in the fall. i'm a little (lot) nervous for winter, but i'll cross that bridge when it comes. speaking of contacting last night. that's where i got to smell some super strong yummy beer breath. we'll end that story there. the rumors that people, mostly men, just walk down the street with alcohol in hand are true. ha.

i was sad to miss conference this week. too bad we left just barely before it happened and therefore didn't get to see any of it in the mtc. we'll get to watch it next weekend, though i'm not sure how much of it. and i'm pretty sure it will be in russian, so that'll be fun. in other words i probably won't get much out of it. but we shall see, i suppose.


shoutouts: roslyn, i got all your letters! you sent them straight to donetsk, that's why i never got them in the mtc. i'll try to write you back sometime soon. i'll see what i can do. but i got them. // grandma, thanks for your note! i loved your whole email, and i'm sad i don't have time to reply. but it meant a lot to me.

anyway. i have to go. we're going to fhe with a few less-actives at a senior couple missionaries apartment tonight, so that's exciting to start meeting more people. this letter is kind of lame and there's not much to say for the first few days, but we're starting to get more acquainted with the area, and one of these days hopefully i'll start to have some sort of idea of how the money works or what's going on around me. i know there's nowhere on earth i'd rather be, and as i flew away from america on a plane out of chicago last week i had the distinct impression that i really shouldn't be in america right now. take that to mean whatever you will. eastern europe is the best. and someday i'll know russian. cool, huh? no better place to be, no better message to be sharing.

lots of love,
cectpa em.