From Sofia to Sophia

Well, Ukrainian Christmas. 

This week was a crazy week, and there is way too much to say, so I'll just write the highlights.

(Also, because I had 54 emails this week and just spent all my time reading those. Ooops....)

Thursday morning, I woke up and felt so anxious. I was nervous, and upset, and was trying to not get discouraged. I went to personal study very prayerfully, and ready to get some real revelation from my Father in Heaven about the whole situation. There was a reason I was in Bulgaria, and I needed to figure it out. 

On Thursday afternoon we got word that we would be in Bulgaria until January 10th because the embassy was going to be closed the next day for the holidays. So we only had 24 hours to get a call from the embassy, or we'd be stuck for another 2 ish weeks. 

What did we do next? 

Sister Olds and I decided to start a fast. We were praying harder than I've prayed for anything in my life, that I can recall. To be set apart as the Lord's anointed with a sacred trust for missionary work in a certain part of the world, and not be able to be there, is seriously one of the hardest things in the world to handle. I had no idea I would feel that way, and in the beginning I was actually quite excited for the whole thing. But by this time, I was ready to go back and be a missionary again. 

So we prayed. And we fasted. And I was getting really antsy, but kept feeling like I needed to have faith, and not get discouraged....even though by this point it was so easy. 

President Wilstead told us that the man in charge was really upset, and told him that there was nothing he could do, and he needed to stop going over his head and trying to talk to other people to get it fixed. There was nothing we could do to change the process. But we held strong, and kept the faith.

Thursday night something very special and sacred happened. I have learned throughout the course of my life how the Spirit speaks to me, and the Lord normally answers prayers in this specific way because He knows I can recognize them better. I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do....nevertheless I went forth (In Nephi's words), and my answer was found. I felt deep in my heart the words, "There you go. This is why you're in Bulgaria." 

I'm not going to share with you what happened, but just know that I acted in faith, and was shown the way. The next morning we woke up, and I felt a calm assurance come over me. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew we would somehow get back to Ukraine faster than they told us we would. 

The first scriptures I read for personal study were these:

D&C 98:

 1 Verily I say unto you my friends, ^afear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give ^bthanks;

 2 ^aWaiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament—the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.

 3 Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been ^aafflicted shall work together for your ^bgood, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.

Within an hour of reading this, President Wilstead peaked his head in and said,

"2:30 today you're going to pick up your visa from the embassy."

And there was our miracle. 

The next day we hopped on the plane to Kiev, and stayed the night in the Sophia hotel. The next morning, we were picked up from the hotel from none other than President Jorg Klebingat and his entire beautiful family, and went to church with them in the International Branch. Literally couldn't have dreamed up a better Christmas present than to get to spend the entire day with my favorite people in Ukraine. I LOVE THE KLEBINGATS! It was such a blessing to get to see my mission president before the end of my mission. I cannot describe the feelings in my heart.

We ate dinner, went on a long walk, and were dropped off at the airport, and picked up by the Lattins. It was so great to finally get to be with them again. 

We're home for the Ukrainian Holidays. It truly is a Christmas miracle from God. 

Prayer is real. It works miracles that are out of our hands. Remember that.

Love,

 Sister UKRAINIAN Webber

Katie and the Klebingats at Christmas

It's a Holiday in Bulgaria

Wow. It's been a wild week. That's a definite understatement.

Where to begin?

Well, for one, we got word this morning that we'll be here for another 14 days. It can't be real, but it is. Sister Olds has hope that we'll be out in a week, and deep down I do too, but I'll try not to get my hopes up. Yesterday I had a really intense personal study on consecration, and I wanted to jump out the window and run to Ukraine to preach the gospel.

I came down with a bad cold, and thought my life was really hard, until the next day when I woke up and BAM. I had the bulgarian stomach flu. I felt 10x better after I had a head-on collision last summer than I did on this day. I honestly spent 5 hours trying to get out of my bed and just crying the whole time. Then I threw up. My eight year record of not throwing up went down the drain within 48 hours of being in Bulgaria. What a joke. 

So I lost about 10 pounds in 3 days, and then today Sister Olds and I were feeling a lot better, and we went to Dunkin Donuts and gained it all back. It was a good choice. 

We went site seeing in Sofia (emphasis on the "O". We got some flack from a very particular missionary who said he wanted to "gag" when he heard our "American accents". Too good).

Anyway. Enough of that. Long, really boring story short: I'll be spending Christmas in Bulgaria. And New Years. And possibly Ukrainian Christmas (January 7), and maybe even Ukrainian Old New Years here too (January 14).

But they said at least 14 days. At the least. So guess what? We've got some time on our hands. And we saw everything there was to see in the last 5 hours, so I'm not really sure what we're going to do, but in the meantime, Sister Olds and I haven't run out of things to talk about amazingly enough. She's like a combination of all my favorite friends, and we're practically sisters now. I'm planning on her being an extension of the family when we get back....heads up.

Also, there's an H&M here, and we definitely went in there. The style was wacky, and kinda scary. And I'm hoping that's just the European H&M, and hasn't reached America...

How scatter-brained and trunky do I sound right now? Visa trips+Flu. Gotta love it.

Meanwhile, pray for my investigators that they don't disappear while my companion is stuck in L'viv for the next 2 weeks. Kill me! Ah!

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. Drink some homemade eggnog for me.

Love all of you! 

Sister Bulgarian Webber

Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Having fun with Sister Olds in Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Sister Webber loves donuts

Dunkin Donuts in Bulgaria

Deep thoughts in Bulgaria

Derpin' in Bulgaria

I have too many details to include into my story, so I won't even try to weave it into a funny tale...because I just don't have that kind of time. Forgive my grammar mistakes. I know you'll forgive me anyway.

• Packed my bags for one week. they said could be 3 days, could be a week. I just needed to leave the country for my visa trip. technicalities.
• All they say is that we're going straight to Bulgaria
• My MTC district got sent to Armenia, but Sister Olds got to come with me. Good thing.
• We get to the airport, and President says, "Have fun in Germany!" as he drops us off.
• We realize we're stopping for 5 hours in Germany. Good to know.
• Get a call from the assistants while in the airport, "You don't have your approval to re-enter the country as a missionary....could take 22 days. We'll put extra money on your card. Buy yourselves a nice little Christmas gift. We love you!" 
• Realize I packed for one week. 
• Really confused...and also amused.
• Almost missed our flight to Germany.
• I eat Asian food in Germany while on my Ukrainian mission, en route to Bulgaria. Trippy.
• They charge through the nose on money exchange (mom, I got you a german magnet)
• Got to Bulgaria and ran into 4 other missionaries from our MTC stay. Happy Reunion.
• They keep telling me I'll be in the country for 22 days.
• Stay in the Mission Home with Ally Modersitski from Alpine. She's incredible, and already fluent in Bulgarian (as far as I know) 4 months in country.
• Realize that I'm supposed to be speaking at Zone Conference with Sister Olds on Friday.
• Not happening.
• Get word that I may be leaving Bulgaria tomorrow, and going back to Ukraine as "American Citizens" unable to proselyte for the next month, return to Bulgaria, and then do this all over and see what happens.
• Still not sure what's going on.
• To top it off, Nodding your head means "No" and shaking your head means "Yes" in Bulgaria. I keep thinking these are the weirdest missionaries on the planet. 

But I'm here in Bulgaria, and things are great. And Sister Olds and I are having a really nice time together, despite the potential anxiety that could be caused by this shindig. But really, I'm just easy like Sunday mornin'. 

I'll know tomorrow if I'll be in Ukraine tomorrow...or if I'll still be in Bulgaria by the time ya'll go back to school and stuff. Crazy. 

Well....we're not allowed to proselyte here so I don't know what to do with my hands. I'll just  automatically point to my collar bone every time someone asks for my name #nonametagwoes.

Anyway.

I'm excited to see you all on Christmas! I'm praying that things work out and that I'll be able to talk to you! We'll see what crazy things are in store for us. :) Keep sending emails, because you all are way too funny for me to not hear from you. I love it.

Love

Sister Webber

Real Quick

Hey mom and dad!

 I don't have any time, but I hope that you are all doing great. I'm leaving to Bulgaria this morning, and I will hopefully have time to email later this week. I have no idea. But I love you all, and I'm sooo excited to see you at christmas! ahhh! I seriously can't wait!
You are all so awesome. I miss you so much. I hope things are good. stay warm! 

I'm safe. don't be worried. I love you all. 

kate

Honey, Aussies, and Orphan Annie

Thanks for all the pictures everyone! Photos are my love language. Keep them coming.

To start off, I was reading a bunch of scriptures this week (obviously), and I felt like a lot of them really applied to sister missionaries. For example:

• Eat thou honey, because it is good: Prov. 24:13 

Mmmhmm. Honey. This applies to Ukrainian missionaries more than anyone else. The honey here is seriously to die for. You will never know....unless I send you some. Get excited. I go through a jar every other week...and it's pretty obnoxious how much honey I consume.

• He that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat: Prov 28:25

Also applies to sister missionaries. (As Trevor always warned....)

• Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves: Matt 10:16

On a more serious note, this was totally written for sister missionaries. I can't count the amount of men I've encountered where they start with a big ego and have in their mind that they're going to end up with a date or something, and then we confound them. And they're struck dumb. This scripture rings in my mind whenever that happens, and it's pretty fulfilling, if I say so myself.
This week was a little all over the place. We had exchanges, and the sisters came to our neck of the woods. We had some really neat experiences with them, and we always seem to come out of exchanges with so many miracles. I love it.
We went to English club again--I love that place. The guy leading it last time was an Australian in the Peace Corps. He's too legit. I love him so much. We've had some really cool experiences with him over the last few weeks, and his humor is right up my alley. He's a future leader of the church, and I would put money on it (but I don't gamble....soo....). I left the last club saying to my companion, "If Kerry isn't one of the 6 people I meet in heaven, I will be SHOCKED." I was supposed to meet him. I'm sure of it.
Yesterday we were getting off the bus to go to the church, and a little girl got off. She was a baby-face version of Sister Garrett, my MTC teacher. I tried to be nonchalant about it as she walked in the church behind us, and started up the stairs. She hesitated at the second floor, and I said, "Come with us." She followed us up to the third floor, took off her coat, and came back to the sacrament hall with us. The elders' faces were priceless as I said, "We found a stray". She sat next to me while the prelude was going, and I asked her a few questions, let her look at my photo book, and tried to figure out where she came from. Her name is Julia, she's 9 years old, has no family here, and has been to church one other time. She sat next to me all during Sacrament Meeting. During the hymns, she kept looking up at me, and I'd smile back at her. The words of her loving Savior came to my mind as clear as a bell as I looked at her, "For of such is the Kingdom of God".
If the feelings I'll have when I'm a mother are anything like the feelings I had yesterday for this little angel, I will be perfectly happy for the rest of my life. I was getting so choked up feeling the overwhelming love our Father has for each and every one of His children. She slipped out before the meeting ended, and just like that, she was gone. One of the missionaries said, "A young, innocent child sees two representatives of Jesus Christ on a bus. Of course she's going to follow them."
That statement changed my life. I feel like my perspective of my mission was altered with a single experience. We really are representing the Savior. We should do as He does. We should act as He would. I know most missionaries have figured this out, but it really just sank in a little deeper yesterday. What a blessed experience that Heavenly Father allowed me to have.
During personal study, the lyrics to a hymn were going through my mind. It was getting louder and louder, and I couldn't get it out of my mind. As I flipped open to this hymn, I was reading the lyrics to the verse that was in my mind, and then read the other less-known verses. It was the Spirit trying to teach me something. Incredible. No one will ever fully understand what I've gone through on my mission except for my Savior. And He's the only one who can help me through this.
"Fear not, I am with thee, oh be not dismayed, for I am thy God and will still give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand--upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand."
"When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace, all sufficient, shall by thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine."
If you ever wonder if God is aware of you, know that He is. He's very aware. You can bet that the tears were flowing freely. I know I'm being prepared for something much greater. This mission thing is pretty great.
I love you!
Love,
Sister Kate Webber

Too much going on

I don't know where to start, so I'm just going to do a play-by-play of my week, okay?

This was probably one of the best weeks of my mission. This one was for the record books, but I'm soon going to have one that is even better than this one. :)

First: Happy 21st birthday to Madi! I am so grateful you're almost a year into your mission, instead of just starting it. I'd die if I had to wait another year and a half to see you. 7 months! Woo! I hope you loved your Bday/Christmas package. I love you sugar plum :)
Also, I got two baby announcements this week. Carls and Aaron! and Bryce and Kasumi! Congrats to all. I am so excited for you! And I can't wait to have a fat asian baby in the family. Look out! 

Monday:
Train to L'viv. President and his wife had borscht waiting with steamed bread from Uzhgorod--which tasted like Noni's Thanksgiving rolls. Tender mercy, am I right? I said goodbye to my comp (She went home this week, for those who didn't know...).
I got in the elevator with President, took a big sigh, and he looked at me and smiled.

"You did it."

Yes, I did it. 

He dropped me off at Sister Old's apartment. My mission best friend, sister, soulmate, and we had the greatest reunion the L'viv Ukraine mission has ever seen. 

Tuesday:

I was with Sis Olds and her companion. We dropped her comp off at the other sister's apartment, and I had a lovely time with her around L'viv. It was magical. 

Wednesday:

Spent day with Sister Olds and Sister Lattin. We went on a walk/run through the Central Park of L'viv. 

I got Madi's package at the Lattin's, and cried happy tears. Poor President and his wife have had to deal with a lot of my tears lately. They keep a little jar of them. The package literally came at the exact moment that I needed it. Dad's email was attached and I cried a little more. Did I mention I have the best family on the planet? No one's even compares. 

Then President revealed a little Christmas surprise for me and Sister Olds. I'll get to that later.

Also, I went to TexMex. Best restaurant in L'viv, in my opinion. Wooo!

Thursday:

Thanksgiving in L'viv! We had language study with a member, and I realized I don't know Ukrainian. So that's a bummer. 

I read through Madi's notebook that she sent me--she told me to get a priesthood blessing if I hadn't for a while. I immediately called President, and went to the mission office.

I had a really cool and sacred experience with that. I'll tell you about it one day.

Then he pulled us aside to give us more details about our "Christmas Surprise".

MTC District. Bulgaria. 14 days from today.

After a year and a half of not doing this, they're bringing back visa trips. And my group is the first to go.

I don't even have to explain how much I'm obsessed with my MTC district--everyone knows it. Sis Olds and I were high-fiving all day long, and I feel like my insides exploded from all the happiness that was going on. AH! :) SO EXCITED. (I avoid caps lock and smilies in my emails home in order to avoid looking like a sister missionary, but hey, when in Rome. Or BULGARIA.)

My new comp got in, and we went to McDonalds to celebrate Thanksgiving. Yes, I may or may not have wanted to do that just so I could say I did that. It was so packed that we had to eat outside, and they were all out of fried apples pies. The nerve. 

So we ate Big Macs. On a park bench in freezing L'viv, on Thanksgiving. It was a moment to remember forever.
Also, they have curry sauce for french fries. Can America jump on that real quick? To die for. 

We boarded our train, and got back to Chernivtsi safe and sound.

Friday:
We had English, celebrating Thanksgiving. I was in charge of it, and we had a combined group. We had a huge turnout! There were about 40 people there, and there were a bunch of people that I had found who came! We made hand Turkeys and wrote what we were grateful for, then shared it (3 people said "Sister Webber." What's up), then we split into groups of girls vs boys and made up Thanksgiving Day skits. I wrote criteria on the chalk board:

Pilgrims

Indians-How!

Turkey
Feast

Sasquach
Thanksgiving Prayer (had it written up there, the prayer was in our passports. Cool.)

The Sasquatch was a funny story. I was thinking squanto when I wrote it, and then when someone asked the elders what it was, and they said, "Big Foot" I almost died laughing. I was cracking up so hard, and I finally managed to say, "I meant Squanto, but Sasquatch is way funnier. Leave it."

That ended up being the funniest part of the skits.
We then ate pumpkin bread and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (Made from scratch! Martha Stewart here. Seriously. Although I can't take credit because I got the recipe from the real Martha Stewart in Elder form). They were delicious.

It was a fun, hilarious night, and it was a great welcome back into the city of dreams. One of the boys I found wants to learn more about the church from the elders!

Saturday:
Dasha's baptism! Everything went as planned, and she looked so happy! It was a really cool experience, and we had just as many nonmembers as we did members.

Sunday:

It was a fast of gratitude. Gratitude to the Lord for my family and friends, that he has a plan for me, that he's aware of my needs. I am full.

Natasha came to church for the first time, and I almost cried. Above all, it was the highlight of my week. Honestly. She's the best. And we're praying hard for her to decide on a baptismal date soon.

We had a lesson with another investigator, and she wants to meet with us daily.

I think we're back in business.

One of my favorite quotes that Madi sent to me in her cute little notebook said,

"God doesn't waste our time. He does refine us, which on occasion, takes time."

When all you need is a miracle, you're almost there. I'm so grateful to the Lord and all His mercy. He truly knows what's best for us, and he will never abandon His flock. Of this I know.

Love,

Sister Webber

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, all you yankees! 

This will be a quick one this week, I apologize in advance. :)

President and Sister Lattin came to town this week! They brought good tidings of great joy. I got a few letters (Thanks to Mom, the Millers, and Jen Armitstead. I love you all), and a Christmas package! I'm way excited. That thing was heavy. 

I had a number of interviews with President while he was here, one of them being an ecclesiastical interview. He took one look at the paper, and threw it back at me. Yes, the man is an impulsive one. He's not too happy about the fact that the horizon of my mission is drawing nigh, but what can you do about it.

The other day we were on a trolley bus, and I noticed a man looking at my Book of Mormon. I smiled, and asked him if he wanted to read it. He was reading the cover, the inside, and flipping through the pages and handed it back. He asked if I had anything smaller he could read. I gave him a small pamphlet that briefly explains our church and the history of it. He contemplated how small it was, and then asked how much it would cost to buy my book. I smiled and told him it was a gift from God, and I handed it to him. The look in his eyes was like a small boy on Christmas morning. He whispered, "It couldn't be." He held that book so close, and the joy in his eyes was too much for me to handle. I started tearing up. He then said, "This feels like a pure drink of water." I had to laugh, because I'd never gotten that response before. Oh, I love these humble people!

We went to English club this week at the Library. We were ten minutes late, and as we walked in, one of the main guys said, "We were just talking about you. Sit down, we've got some questions." 

Question after question about Temples, baptism, the Restoration, Book of Mormon, tithing, word of wisdom, eternal families, and even profanity came up. 

"What's the worst word you can say? For example, you're hammering something, and you hit your thumb. What comes out of your mouth?"

"Dang it....?"

Everyone started cracking up.
The questions continued for an hour and a half. Everyone seemed to have a previous connection to, or knowledge of Mormons, and they were all equally fascinated. Not a single one was in the corner silently stewing or rolling their eyes. 

One man asked me if I could help another guy in the class quit his addiction to cigarettes. The guy started laughing and said, "I'm not addicted to cigarettes. I'm addicted to vodka. I enjoy cigarettes." Ha, oh boy. 

Another man from Australia (He's also in the Peace Corps), said that he was invited to attend a temple open house in Australia. He said it was absolutely stunning, and he went into every room that they'd allow him to go into. He was curious beyond belief. I seriously love awesome people who are interested.

One man came up to us afterward saying he wanted to meet and learn more.
Another girl was interested in what she had to do in order to be baptized.

And another man came up and said, "I was born and raised in an Orthodox family, but I will come to church on Sunday. I am open to changing my mind."

"Well, we're here to change it."

"Good. See you Sunday. Tell Katja I say hello."

Already knows a member. Hallelujah.

One girl asked us if we thought there could be one church on earth to unite all the Christians. I told her that I honestly knew that the Church of Jesus Christ was that one church. The more I talked about it, the more everyone became interested. We've really got it all. It's wonderful. 

I hope you all have a great week being thankful for this restored, true church on earth. I love you all. 

Give thanks. Eat Turkey. Pray over your pie.

Love,
Sister Webber

On dreams, discouragement, and Jdubs.

I'm pretty overwhelmed. With a number of things.

I'm overwhelmed at how loved I am.
I'm overwhelmed that I have so many people praying for me.

I'm overwhelmed that I had 50 (count em) emails from people who are supporting me.

You're the greatest.

It's always best to stay pretty vague with things that are hard, and to be detailed with things that are incredible, so I'll focus on the positive. :)

This week, I'll get a little more personal.

Each night when I go to sleep, I ask for a very specific blessing. I ask that my dreams will bring me peace, happiness, and encouragement to face the next day with a smile, and with a little extra something to keep me going. I haven't done this my whole life, or even my whole mission, but about two weeks ago I realized that it could possibly be something that the Lord would want for me. So I do that. And it happens, because I need it. And this week, one of the most memorable dreams was of my best friend Madison Rose. I even woke myself up multiple times because I was laughing so hard (awesome for me, creepy for my companion). We were serving as companions in a trio with another sister in my mission, and it was a blast.

Oh, if Madi and I could be companions. We'd be the best dynamic duo there ever was. I've debated visiting the NC after I get home just so I can go on splits with her. Member Presents, Baby!

Anyway.

This week we found an English Practice group in the library by our house, which is run by an American who is in the Peace Corps. His name is Daniel, and he's from Indiana. He refers to us as his "Marmans" (with his little Indiana accent. Warshington. Mom, you'd get a kick out of his sayings). We gained a nice little following to OUR English Practice afterward. Nice.

We found a family this week! We called a girl from the potential list, and went out to her little village outside of the city. It took us 2 days to figure out how to get there, because we got off the bus 20 minutes early, but when we made it, it was awesome! We got to know the family, and we had to go before we could even really share anything. It was a little disappointing. But while we were waiting for the bus, the mom was asking us more questions about our faith. Her 11 year old was hugging me to keep warm, and she said, "Tell me a story from your church." So I told her the Joseph Smith story, and at the end I said, "And that's how the church of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth again." And the little girl who was hugging me had wide eyes and said, "Whoa." Then her mom said, "In your religion, are you allowed to dance?" I said yes, and I think that sealed the deal. These are my kind of people. We're going back on Wednesday.

The other night, we were coming back from a ward activity, and we were about to get into our apartment door when I noticed a lady light up when she saw us. I turned back and started talking to her, and within a few seconds she told me she was a JW. We started talking, and I shared with her the message of the Restoration and about modern-day prophets. She was fascinated, and wanted to know more. She openly wanted to meet with us. A Jehovah's Witness. I told her that our purpose was to become like God, and to live with him again. She stopped. Again? Yes. As in we lived with him before? Yes.
Then the bible opened....aaaaannnd the rest is history. I was really frustrated after talking to her. More than I probably had been my whole mission. It was a number of things that had been building up for a while, but it hit me hard. Once I got inside, I just started crying, and couldn't stop for a long time. I woke up the next morning and was still feeling terrible about it, about myself, about my ability to be a good missionary...and a few other things. This woman just seemed so interested, and then the conversation shifted, and I felt so defeated. I had some very specific thoughts come to me about the situation, but it was still hard. 

The next day in church, a member of the mission presidency was there. He started talking, and all of a sudden he changed subjects and started talking about Jehovah's Witnesses. Literally the first time I'd ever heard a member talk about JW's. He said, "These people are so nice, so wonderful. They live what they believe, they are so dedicated, and they are very honest, loving, diligent people. But they cannot accept the gospel, because they have closed themselves off to modern-day revelation. They will not, and they cannot accept the true gospel under the beliefs that they have. 

This hit me so hard. It was straight from Heavenly Father, and I was overwhelmed that he would answer my little pleadings and help me to see that I'm doing just fine as one of His servants. 

This church is true. I promise. 

Thanks for all your prayers. I love you all so much.

Love Sister Kate Webber

ps. Thanks for sending me the video of Harrison singing. Amen to Quincy's question:
"Who knew Bud could sing?" 

I didn't even recognize his super deep voice. He's changed so much since I left. What a man. Mr. Star of the School Musical. I can't wait to watch that when I get home. Harrison, be prepared to sing all your songs for me one day. I love you. Everyone said you did a great job! :)

Miracles

First, an answer to a question from the famous Lacey Cramer Bleazard. She's apparently the member missionary of the century, and my answer to her question is YES. I get really nervous/excited every Sunday waiting for my investigators to come! Speaking of which....cool story:

We were on exchanges this week, again. I do that a lot these days. (The number of sisters in this mission is increasing each transfer. We are officially at even numbers in the L'viv Ukraine Mission! When I came into the mission, there were only 7 or 8 ukrainian sisters. Crazy.)

Anyway. 

I was with Sister Lewis, and it was getting late. We wanted to go find a recent convert who had recently gone missing, and all we had was her street name. We looked it up on the map, and there wasn't a street in the city with that name. There was one similar to that, and it was out in the middle of the forest...and it didn't feel right to go out there. But we both wanted to find her so bad! We eventually decided to go downtown on the walking street. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's usually in the center of the city, and it's a place where cars can't go (hence the name), and there are a bunch of touristy shops. People go there just to walk up and down, and relax. It's a lovely place to be.
We were walking, and there weren't a whole lot of people out. The lights were adorable, the buildings on either side were very western european, and there was a man down the path who was playing smooth jazz on his saxophone. Very Midnight in Paris-esque. It was romantic. And I put a passalong card with 5 hrn (approx70cents) in his hat. The worth of souls is great, alright? We were gushing about how beautiful it was, and how incredible this town felt. We were all starry-eyed and happy, and we were coming up on a small group of people. One man leaned out toward us and said, "Hey girls, can I have your number?" I just shrugged him off, because I thought he was just hitting on us, but Sister Lewis turns and said with a big smile, "What did you say?" His reply, "Can I have the number to your church? Someone gave me a card to your church a long time ago, but I lost it and don't have the address anymore." 

What?!

So we stopped and started talking to them. There was a woman there, and she said, "Give me your brochures." So I gave her our Family Proclamation, Living Christ, Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and told her about the Book of Mormon. They seemed extremely interested, and I was sort of weirded out by how interested they were, and they were all really normal, too (Sounds bad...but you know). I was trying to figure out if they were being sincere, but it was just a group of young adults, who were obviously searching for something in their lives.

As we were talking to them, there was a woman who came up and hugged Sister Lewis from behind. It was none other than the recent convert who we wanted to find. OH MY. Talk about being in the exact spot we were supposed to be, at the perfect time. Sis Lewis got her number, and the lady was so happy to see us. It was a miracle.

We kept talking to the young group of people, and the man said, "I see you around town all the time. And I just can't figure out what is going on. You have magic in your eyes. I can't explain it. It makes me want to do whatever you ask me to do." And he proceeded to put both hands out, and walked like a zombie. The guys with him were cracking up, and I was just so amused, and confused. They had to go, and we didn't get their number. But it was an interesting conversation.

We walked back the same way we came, and a young man stopped us and said, in English, "Hey, can I have your number?" The two of us just looked at each other, and then he said, "I want to come to your church, I just don't remember at what time you start. What's the church address again?" Oh my word. What the heck.

So then, to answer Lacey's question. I was at church...waiting. So excited, and really curious. 

Church started, and I didn't see anyone that I had talked to. After the meeting, I stood up, and I saw none other than the Zombie guy with his girlfriend. They came up and asked if they could meet with missionaries and know more. Seriously, I was dying of happiness. They are so cool! 

We saw so many little miracles this week, and I'm constantly in awe of the miracles wrought in each of our lives. We just need to be ready to receive them. 

Life is good. The word is true. The work is moving.
Thanks for all your love and support. All of you.

ily,

Sister Kate Webber

ps. 

So, an elder told me that when you're where I am at the mission (3 transfers left), you do the Doctrine &Covenants challenge. You read a chapter of the book each day until the end of your mission, and you will finish the day before you go home. You can start from the back, or start at the beginning...whichever you prefer....but I'm already 5 chapters down today. If anyone wants to read the Doctrine and Covenants along with me, go for it. :) I'll be excited if someone does it with me

Ladybug

I seriously am so grateful for the emails! You all are incredible, and I'm so happy that I have the most wonderful friends and family! The support keeps me going on hard days!

We started the week out with exchanges again. We had another inception exchange, and Sister Lewis came with me. She's just my little go-to when we have emergencies. It was Sister Bennion from Beaverton, and Sister Moffitt from Tempe. Ps. Sister Moffitt's parents graduated from USC, and her little brother went there before his mission as a trumpet player in the marching band! How cool is that?! Kindred sisters. She went to Stanford though, so she's a little bit smart. 

Anyway, my exchanges were in Chernivtsi, I let them come to my city so I could work here for a change. We had an incredible meeting with one of our golden investigators, which brought her meetings for the week up to 3. Can you believe it? I can. Because she's awesome. 

Dad wanted more info on meetings and investigators, so I'll give you the details.

I've told you about our investigator a little. Her sister lives in Florida with her husband, and they're both members. She's friends with all the young single adults in the branch, and she has been associated with the church for 10 years now. She never met with missionaries seriously until I came around. I found her in the Potential investigator list, and called her up. When I first met with her, I thought, "Ehhh...she doesn't seem too interested." We met with her twice that first week, and then she got pushed to the back burners for about 3 weeks because I had zone conference, leadership conference, exchanges, transfers, and then had to go to L'viv for an emergency transfer. Anyway. 

Fast forward three weeks, and we started meeting with her again. Each week we've had at least 2 meetings, and we've basically talked about everything there is to talk about. We're getting into pretty deep stuff, like talking about the Mosaic Law vs Higher Law, and the levels of the celestial kingdom, temples, church history, and things like that. She's reading the Book of Mormon every single day, and she even fasted on Sunday! She's all ready for baptism, but the only hang up is that she has to come to church consistently. She lives an hour outside of town, and buses are rare on Sundays.

I was talking to her best friend who is an active member of the ward, and she said, "I just find this all weird. She's known about the church for 10 years, and I talk to her about it all the time. She's never once been interested in learning more, or reading the scriptures until you came along."

For some reason, there are just certain people that you're meant to meet on your mission. 

Last night we were on walking street downtown, and we saw a cute little lady sitting on a bench. We sat next to her and started talking, and got into a wonderful conversation. Short, powerful statements confound the wise. She looked truly enlightened by the Spirit, and after I told her about the restoration and the keys of the kingdom on earth to get back to our Father in Heaven, she drew a long breath, and looked me straight in the eyes. She said, "Ladybug (that's their cutsie name for girls....it's adorable in Ukrainian. Probably one of my favorite things), I'm pretty sure you're right. I'm old, and my legs don't work very well. But I'll be here on this same bench every night. Come to me and tell me more every day." 

You can bet the love that our Savior has for her was pulsing through me. I couldn't even contain how much I already loved this woman. 

I also got a wonderful call from the Lutsk sisters saying that one of our investigators (who was supposed to get baptized in August with me and Sister Dunford), will be getting baptized! Her brother gave the green light, and they'll just finish teaching her the few lessons we had left, and she'll be a member of the church! :) I'm so happy about that. :) 

Also, in case anyone was wondering. My personal study is getting pretty intense these days. I was reading all the accounts in the scriptures about people who saw God. I'm studying the nature of the people, the events leading up to that, and the situations surrounding the appearance. It's been enlightening.

There was a scripture in Exodus. 24:11 to be exact that said in the middle, 

"Also, they saw God."

Um. What? Oh by the way, they were so righteous and dutiful that they got to see the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Not a big deal. 

No.....huge deal.

The scriptures are truly fascinating. I had to gently rebuke someone earlier this week for saying the scriptures were "a little dry, too deep, and kinda boring." When I feel strongly about something, everyone knows it. I feel strongly that the scriptures are the key that God has given us to open the gates of heaven for revelation to flow freely from our Father to us. Why someone would neglect that is officially beyond me. 

But anyway. :) Happy November everyone.

I love you all. So much.

Love Sister Ukrainian Webber

Miracles All Around

Wow! So much to say this week! First of all, thanks for all the emails from friends and family. I never have nearly enough time to be able to express how truly and deeply grateful for all the faithful people who send me emails. I can't say it enough. I love each and every single one of you, and I hope you know that!

Some little shout outs:

Chy: Happy Birthday! The waffle party sounded great. I miss and love you! 

Harrison: Good luck this week with your play!

Madi: Your emails are killer. Seriously. 

Janae: Congrats on the job! 

Karl: Thanks for the update!

Anyway. This week was awesome. I had exchanges in another city, and because of some registration in the city that my comp had to do, I had to take Sister Lewis with me, and leave our two trainees together in the big city. I tried really hard to not put on my party hat, because Sister Lewis and I are like soul sisters. So we set out on the night train (and felt like Harry Potter....I am always awaiting a stout British woman to stop by our door and say, "Anything from the trolley dear?" And then I pull out my Ukrainian gold coins and say, "Well take the lot!"...but instead we just get a slightly drunk old man who comes around playing his flute recorder things that he made himself, and wants to sell them to us. I'll probably end up buying one of them one day for 70 cents. Anyway), and we headed to Ivano.

We got there, and the first day I was with Sister Jardine. That girl has faith out of this world (She was the one I was with for a week before my first trainee got here). She literally always says, "Well, we are going to see many miracles today!" And then we do. And I wish I was more like her! Our day went as follows:

We had to go out to a random village. We didn't know where it was, or what bus to take, or even what stop to get off at. But we went to the bus station and told them the name of the village, and got our tickets. We were waiting to board the bus, when this man was standing by us trying to read my name tag. I said hello to him, and he got up closer to talk. We got into a really good conversation, and then I introduced the Book of Mormon. He said, "Mormon...are you the ones with a lot of wives?" I said, "Nope. We're not. There's only one mom in my family." (Because, lets face it....we're not. So I don't say that). I explained the book, and he seemed really interested. I invited him to church, but he said he lived over 100 km away. I told him to look us up on mormon.org so he could learn more, and he told me he didn't have internet. Hm. 100 km away. No internet. How was this man supposed to learn about the gospel? He opened up to the cover of the book, and there was a sticker in there with the picture of the Chernivtsi church with the address and time that we meet for services. He lit up and said, "I actually live closer to Chernivtsi!" he flipped through the book and found an english card, and got excited about that too. We kept talking to him, and he said, "Oh, your President was almost Mormon, right?" Mitt Romney. How the heck did a man who lives in a random village in the middle of Ukraine with no internet, know of the  religion of a man who was almost president in another country.
I'm forever amazed. 

The bus was driving away, and we hopped on, and we happened to get off at the right stop somehow. We couldn't get ahold of the lady that we were trying to get to, and so we walked up and down the streets asking people where the address was located that we were looking for. Everyone pointed us in different directions. We came across a castle (I'll attach a picture), and that was cool...but it wasn't where we needed to be. We were making our way over to a taxi to drive us to the address, and while we were on our way to the car, I felt prompted to talk to these two old ladies sitting on a bench. I decided to ask them for directions, and the man sitting on the next bench overheard us, and wanted to help.
We got talking to him, and he gave us very specific instructions on how to get to this address, because his grandmother happened to live just 4 houses down from where we needed to go. As we were talking to him, he asked us what we were doing here, why we had accents, and what was our purpose in Ukraine. He started talking about how he was searching for truth. He said, "I know that there's only one true church on earth! I have been searching for it, and I can't find it anywhere. All these churches are built up by man. When Christ came, he organized his own church. Where did that church go? I think if His church was on earth, he'd need to come and organize it again, because it was absolutely lost over time. And in the scriptures it says, 'Many are called, few are chosen.', but why are only a few chosen? What does that mean? I feel like I have been called, but how do I become chosen?" 

My heart was about to explode.

I was looking at Sister Jardine with the least amount of shock that I could muster, because I wanted to jump up and down and give this man a huge hug and yell at the top of my lungs, "YOU HAVE FOUND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR! IT'S RIGHT HERE! GOD SENT US TO YOU! AHHHHHH!!!!!"

I introduced the Book of Mormon, and told him that there were Elders that would love to meet with him and talk more (He asked me if they had accents too, because he wasn't used to accents...and I had to try not to roll my eyes). But he seemed so accepting and ready to hear whatever we had to say. I testified of the Restoration, and he was all set to go. He had an appointment that he had to run to, but I would've sat him down and committed him to baptism right there. 

It was awesome.

We had an incredible meeting with one of our investigators and she's doing great. We decided that we would look beyond baptism, and talk about things that happen after that. Here it's kind of difficult to simply focus on baptism because many think, "It doesn't matter what church you're in, as long as you're loyal to that church! There's not one church. All good paths lead to God." So we decided to talk about the temple and how we can gain eternal life. She lit up. That was it. We found her connection to heaven. She wanted to talk about everything that had to do with the temple, and at the end I asked her if she believed what we had taught. She gave me a face, and said, "Of course I believe." I asked her if she believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet. "Yes, I believe everything you've taught me!" In a normal setting, I would've committed her to be baptized right then, but my mouth would not open. For some reason, I was kept from inviting her. I don't know what happened, but it just wasn't the right time. But we're meeting with her tomorrow, and I am really interested to see where the lesson goes this time.
It's interesting. We prepare, and prepare, and if we are close to the Spirit, it always goes in the exact direction that the investigator needs to be able to find their initial connection to the church. That sweet spot that seals the deal, and helps them first recognize the Holy Ghost. There are few things that are more exciting than being able to witness that moment happen for someone you love.

Ah. Missions are the best, aren't they? I love it. 

On Saturday we had a Helping Hands activity. We cleaned up an ancient cemetary in town...and there was so much fog, and it was a little chilly. It was perfect for the pre-halloween festivities. (Which, I got a few questions about that...they don't really celebrate it. It's not part of their culture, but anyone who has been somewhat Americanized--meaning members-- love Halloween, and love to celebrate it. But the Branch Pres put his foot down and said we're not allowed to have a church sponsored activity this year, because it's not Ukrainian. The Young Single Adults fought that one for a while, but finally gave up.) It was so fun and scary. There was a portion across the street that was only for Jewish people, and I wanted to go there and support the Blood of Israel in my veins, but we ended up going to the Orthodox side of the street. It was still cool. I'll attach pictures. 

I love you all, and hope you're seeing little miracles in your own lives. :) 

You're the best!

All my love and prayers, 

Sister Webber

Chernivtsi, Ukrainian helping hands!

The synagogue where we almost got to have helping hands.

This grave was open.....and we saw skeletons. A few of them. so creepy.

I hope my posterity does this for me. (haaaaa.....not)

Haba. Praise to the man who can pull off an ascot. What a classy fellow.

that's the street I live on.

chernivtsi.

the restaurant vavilon. Babylon....we want to eat there one day. 

They call this the Barbie house

Ukraine meets The US of A. Merica.

The castle, in the village of Halich, Ukraine. It was destroyed by Invadors hundreds of years ago, and is now just artistically beautiful. I died when I saw it. 

just an outhouse in the middle of nowhere. Lovely. 

Money from the USSR