School Volunteering and Orthodox Cathedral

This week has been crazy! It's been difficult to meet with people lately but we've done a lot of other fun things in the meantime. Earlier this week we went to go do service at a school with kids around the age of 10-12. We talked to them about food and our favorite things to eat and then proceeded to make pizza with them! It was a crazy adventure hahaha. While we waited for our pizza to cook we played games with them outside. It was just so much fun. I could barely understand them but it was a great time anyways.

I can't say much this week - not much has happened honestly but I love missionary work so much. It's been such a wonderful, incredible experience. I know that this is the Lord's work and that this is all accomplishable through Him. 

Philippians 4:13 -  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.  

I can testify of the truth of that scripture. Everything is done through Christ. Every success we have and everything that we have been given. I love the gospel so much and I'm so very grateful for our Savior. 

The Lavra: Traditional Ukranian Orthodox Church

The Orthodox church is HUGE in Ukraine. Everybody says that they're Orthodox even if they legitimately never go to church or care about God. I'll say this about the Orthodox church - it is really, really strange. There are no spots for people to sit inside their churches. Their ceremonies are filled with strange "acts" they have to do and so there's no purpose in sitting. The services are not given in Russian or Ukrainian - they're given in old Slavic, which nobody can understand. It's a language that only the old priests know and can speak and so even when people go to the Orthodox church and try to learn about God it's impossible for them because it's in a completely different language. The priests are dressed up extremely fancy and they are EXTREMELY traditional. It's basically a religion based upon tradition. People here say that they're "Orthodox" when really they only say that because their family line has always been Orthodox so they don't want to change. We try to talk to them about what they believe but they're not even sure what they believe (because they cannot understand) so it makes it very difficult to have a meaningful conversation when they're pushing back against everything you say but they don't even know what they believe themselves. 

We went to the giant orthodox church here in Kyiv and had a great time. we couldn't wear missionary clothes because it's a different church and would have been awkward, but it was super interesting

The Orthodox church is obsessed with icons which basically means that they're obsessed with pictures of Mary and really old Orthodox priests. We see these pictures EVERYWHERE. On tons of the busses, the drivers have little icons in the front, they're sold in every little outdoor market, and they're just in random spots. Really makes you wonder how they follow the commandment of having "no graven images" when they legitimately worship pictures of old priests. The pictures and decorations of Jesus look exactly same as the pictures and decorations surrounding the paintings of the priests, so they are in a sense elevating themselves to the same level as Jesus Christ in their art. 

The Lavra is this huge Orthodox church in central Kyiv. It's basically this really giant religious compound where priests study, are trained and are prepared to have their own services in other buildings throughout Ukraine. Orthodox priests here look very strange. They wear all black and have black skirts. They grow out their hair and their beards and look a little frightening. They also consider it a 'temple' of sorts, where people come for religious enlightenment. Women show respect by wearing a covering over their head on the inside and the men are supposed to wear long pants.

One of the most amazing parts of the lavra is this room you enter where it is full of pictures of old saints and apostles and pictures of Jesus. The room is covered in gold and the paintings have gold painting within them everywhere which makes them shine. The biggest painting is one of a major council of old Orthodox priests that most likely happened a hundred years ago, which shows you where a lot of their focus is on.

The most interesting part of the lavra is the catacombs underneath. There are no lights in the catacombs, it is completely lit by candles, so before you go down you buy a candle which you hold in your palm and you let the wax drip into your hand.

The catacombs are really tiny and really interesting. On the sides, the whole way down are tiny little glass coffin-boxes containing a collection of their saints over hundreds and hundreds of years. The bodies are covered with blankets are incredibly ornate and decorative. Occasionally there is a blanket with a purposeful slip in which they allow the hand of the saints to hang out of. These bodies are hundreds of years old, so these hands hanging out are incredibly shriveled up and old and black. They're preserved incredibly well being hidden underground in a humid cave with practically no light. Occasionally there are small rooms decorated in the same unique golden walls with more paintings of saints and biblical figures. There are candelabras full of holes for dozens of candles for people to come down and to place their candle as a prayer offering for repentance or good health or etc. People who are really dedicated to the faith kiss the top of every single little coffin-box that they pass. 

It was an incredibly interesting experience and very eye opening into more of what the Orthodox church is all about. I've heard rumors from members in our ward that the entire Russian Orthodox church is run by ex-KGB agents. The Russian and the Ukrainian Orthodox churches recently split into two separate organizations which is a source of intense tension.

One thing that is incredibly funny about Eastern-European people is how upfront they are with you about everything. They don't feel any need to beat around the bush about anything that they say. The other day I was contacting a woman by giving her a survey concerning questions about their beliefs that seems to work decently well in getting people to be more interested in what we believe. As I was giving this woman the survey things were going a little rough until eventually, she said in Russian: "You speak Russian really terribly and I cannot understand anything that you are saying, so goodbye." Unfortunately for me, I understood THAT perfectly, but I just laughed it off and kept on contacting. 

There is the nicest бабушка (grandma) in the whole world who lives in our ward named Sister Голина (Goal-ee-nah) who has always wanted to feed us the entire time that we've been here. She explained to one of the sisters serving in our ward, Sister Garner, that she couldn't have all of us over to eat because: "My kitchen is very tiny, and one of the elders here is... huge." She said, referencing to me. I thought it was the funniest thing I have ever heard in my life. This is the nicest old lady in the world, they just don't have any concept of being offensive. The opportunity arrived for us to go and eat lunch with her at her daughter's house where the kitchen was much more spacious (still extremely tiny compared to American standards). When we entered into the kitchen, she directed me towards the far end of the kitchen table and said "You go sit down over there and take up all the room that you need. We'll fill in around you." I love that woman so much. She is one of the kindest, most Christlike women that I have ever met. The members continue to impress me every week with their kindness, their faith, and their love for this gospel and for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The members continue to be great examples to me of true disciples of Christ.

Member meals here are one of the most fun and rewarding parts of missionary work. There is nothing that gives me more hope and more joy than by seeing people that have been truly changed by coming in contact with this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ and its teachings. One of the funniest parts of eating with members is that they feed us SO MUCH. Especially as a bigger individual, they love to give me more and more and more food. The food is unbelievably good, and I make sure to tell them how delicious it is and how much I appreciate it. They always take this as a great opportunity to offer me more, which after I'm full I politely decline. They reject my attempt to stop eating and decide to pile my plate full of food again. Thankfully, the Lord somehow blesses my stomach and I am able to push all of the food down. It truly is amazing. There truly isn't anything that I have eaten that I haven't enjoyed. One of the delicious things that they make here is called компот (com-pOt) (that big O is supposed to be the actual name of the letter.) It's a juice that everyone makes at their homes. Many people here have this thing called a дача (dah-cha) which is a small little home outside of the main city where they grow fruits and vegetables. One of their favorite hobbies is to leave Kyiv and to go and work on their дача. They take the fruits that they've harvested from their дача and put them in a pot full of water and sugar and boil it, making this wonderful juice. It's one of the most delicious things that I've ever had and is the personal highlight of the meal for me.

me over Kyivs