Yesterday we left Sweden fairly early, took a couple of puddle jumpers and made it to Ukraine a little after 1 in the afternoon. It still hadn't really hit me yet that we were actually back in the country that I had left just 6 months before, but it soon came back once we were bombarded by taxi drivers trying to rip us off, sat in a hot a muggy bus for 45 minutes, and got into a taxi that didn't really understand the concept of a speed limit ("Usually it's 60mph..." - I looked at his speedometer, and he was going 100, ha).
Once we had gotten settled in our hotel, which was a bit of an upgrade from the broom closet we had in Sweden, I took dad to the first and last restaurant I ever ate at in Ukraine - Pusata Khata (I would have included the picture we took there, but the manager yelled at me for taking one and made me delete it, that wasn't the first time I had gotten in trouble with him that night...nice guy.). After we had thoroughly stuffed ourselves of Ukrainian goodness, we headed over to the temple. On the way we ran into quite a few missionaries that I come to know very well.
The temple was absolutely amazing. It looks huge from the highway and even bigger up close (obviously)! It is the most beautiful and most peaceful place in all of Ukraine, even in all of Eastern Europe for that matter. We got to the temple around 6, and stayed until a little after 9. It just so happened that several members from Odessa and Illichovsk (two areas I served in on my mission) were at the temple for the day. I honestly wasn't expecting to see many people I knew, but every other person there seemed to be someone from one of the branches I served in! It was so great to see so many familiar faces.
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| Natasha and Dima from Tairova, Vova from Illi and Tanya, also from Tairova |
I can't even describe the feelings I had as we toured through the temple. Each room is so gorgeous and even though it hadn't been dedicated yet, the Spirit could still be felt in a very strong and special way. I walked out on the verge of tears! We walked around the grounds for quite some time, all the while running into old friends and mission buddies. What a wonderful experience!
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| (L-R) Elder Drzayich, me, Cvetlana and Maksim Anisiforov from Odessa, and Elder Sheets |
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| Bro. Kikhno, the MCL in Voskresenski |
This morning we went to Sacrament meeting in my last area - Voskresenski. It's a pretty big ward, but there were several more people there that had come for the dedication. Once again, it was so great to see so many people that I had come to know and love so much. Being back in that ward made me realize even more how much I love this country and these people. Both dad and I are stoked for the upcoming week. We'll be having FHE with one of the members of the ward and the missionaries tomorrow and we'll be heading down to Odessa on Tuesday night.
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| Bishop and Sister Gulko |
More updates to come! Yeah buddy!
Awesome blossom! You're reminding me of those fantastic memories of when the family went back to the LBC after I got home - it's a different, but very wonderful feeling to see so many you worked with as a civilian vs. a FT missionary. My favorite thing was being able to finally hug all of the hot girls that I worked with while I was there...k, didn't really work with many hot girls in the LBC - but I'm sure you're huggin' it up now!
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