Day 3 at Dnepro

Day 3 at Dnepro
Where do I begin on this day? First Dave and Tyler said that they want to write the blog for a day and tell how funny I look lighting the gas stove. They have been making fun of me but I am having so much fun that I don't mind. I am sure we look pretty silly as we try to live a more primitive life. I have to admit that it will be like heaven to get home to nice big fluffy towels (the smallest thinest towels in our house at home are luxurious compared to the ones here.) Sometimes I look around my kitchen at home and see all the pans and appliances and ask myself: "Do I really need all this stuff?" the answer is an absolute YES!! I guess need is no t the right word but there are so many things that make life easier in America. So far here we have had to be creative (which is fun and ....comical.) I have cut up potatoes to make friench fries with a dull butter knife (try that..just for fun) and grated carrots, cheese and cabbage with a grater by hand. Today I grated my
thumb while grating cheese. I already mentioned the brownies in the sauce pan because we can't find any baking dishes at all in this country. Of course lighting the oven may require a fire marshal and so they probably take them away when Americans rent a place. I told Oksana that i was going to make Borsht for Corrbetts when they get here and she laughed out loud like really loud. I spent most of my time at BYU in Home Ec Education, I will find a way. When Oksana wants something she finds a way and so I am determined to make Borsht for the Corbetts. (Don''t worry Dean and Sonja, you don't have to really eat it,)
In case you are planning a vacation to Ukraine anytime soon be aware that there are no convenience foods here. Nothing grated or chopped and we are yet to see any lettuce in the land. So if you are planning to just grab a bag of salad mix for lunch, leave your salad dressing home, there is nothing like that here. I did however see some chicken that had even been skinned and so you don't have to catch and kill your own chckens.
We started the day getting to see the kids at the orphanage. They let us take them out twice yesterday. We want to or apartment and ate ice cream and talked, watched part of a movie. Tyler has about 100 movies that are in Russian on his hard drive and so they liked that and I thought that the plane ride home will be better than I worried. We played outside on the playground. Vitaly is really good at gymnastics and loved showing us his tricks. Oleg followed right behind. Alina has not turned back once to thinking that she doesn't want to be adopted . She is still a bit shy but has really warmed up to us. They all hug us when we get there and when we leave, and often they are watching for us when it is time to visit and so we feel ike they are happy to see us. Our favorite thing to do is go to the store nearby and buy an ice cream cone or frozen popcycle. The 2nd time we went Vitaly ran to the freezer thing and pulled out the kind that I had the day before and handed it to
me and said Mama. I was going to try a different kind, but how can you turn down that gesture. He also is so cute to take my purse the moment we get to the store and put it in the lockers they have at the front of the store and then give me the key. He is such a cute boy.
Between the visit in the morning and the afternoon, we had been invited to one of the teachers' house for lunch. There are actually 2 teachers at the school Svetlana and Marina who are sisters. They told us that they love the childen that we are adopitng and wanted to have us to their house in the villiage for lunch to meet their family and get to know us better. We were excited to see how the villiage people (not the music group) lived and we were curious about their kind invitation. Both sisters wear a dress and scarves on their heads everyday. They told us that they were Christian and wanted to meet with other Christians. They later told us that they had noticed a difference in the kids that returned from America last fall and how they had good things to say about the families and their belief in God that they wanted to know more about what we believe. She said "I can tell in your eyes that you are good Christian people and we want to spend time with you." One of the
sisters had had a dream about Oleg and Alina and wanted to adopt them herself but couldn't and so she wanted to make sure that we were good enough for her kids.
We rode the bus to the villiage where they live. It is called Elizzabetica. It was only about 10 minutes from town. It was absolutely picturresque. I kept telling the sister that came to take us there that it looked like a picture. There were tiny houses with what looked like mud roofs and green green green everywhere. On the way down the lane to their house I was worried about the impression we would make. I didn't wear a scarf and Tyler is trying to grow some kind of a beard on this trip and hasn't shaven for a couple of days. I was running through the scriptures in my mind to see if there was one about being clean shaven. We didn't want to offend them. As we were walking down the lane to their house, a man with a long beard rode up on his bike. It was their father. He was going to buy some bread. I was relieved that the beard wouldn't be an issue. We walked on to the house which was a cute house in 2 parts. It had a kitchen room with the sink, stove and table and 2
big buckets of water. They had a jar of fresh cow's milk on the counter. We sat down at the table and were introduced to the other people who had joined us. The people who were there were the 2 sisters, their mother, Alla, and father Geoge. There was also Tomora and grandma Ira and Tomora's mother and her son Sasha. They were intorduced as sisters in Christ and everyone wore a scarf and a dress (except Geoge and Sasha.)
The meal was wonderful!! They served us mashed potattoes with beef cooked like a roast in a gravy on top of the potatoes. They had a salad with sliced radishes and green onions and basil and mayonaisse. Then these wondeful rolls with eggs and green onions inside as a filling. The people here sure know how to make yummy things inside of rolls. They also had sliced pickles and for dessert they gave us a cup of milk and bread with fresh honey on it. I am sure that they grew everything themselves (my Dad would be proud of them) except the honey that they bought from a neighbor. The meal was absolutely delicious but the conversation was the best part. They wanted to compare what we believed in. They said that they were trying to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. They did not attend an organized church but met each Sunday in their house with others and read the bible and tried to apply the teachings of Jesus. We could tell that they were very good people and honest seekers
of good. Everytime they would find something new that was in the bible they would apply it to thier life. They had forsaken alcohol and anything they thought was bad and were constantly seeking for truth.
It was like being on a mission with Tyler. They were very impressed with him and so they hung on his every word. When they asked us to explain what we believed, they said,"We believe that by their fruits ye shall know them and since you have come to the other side of the world to take in some of our orphan children we can tell that you are good and good fruit comes from a good tree. We need to know where you get this goodness."
Tyler was right on that one. He told them about the book of Mormon and how it is another testiment of Jesus Christ. He said that we live from the teachings of both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Dave and I piped in periodically and he would translate. This discussion around a little table in Ukraine was one of the best experiences of my life. I can not wait to put on a nametag and have that experience on a regular basis. I came to more fully understand the rewards of missionary work. I know a tiny bit more of why our boys leave college, use their own money and live in primitive countries for 2 years. An experience like that makes it all worth it.
Several times the father said that he could feel the Holy Ghost very strongly. They all got tears in their eyes and were so intrigued with what we were telling them. Dave offered to get a copy of the Book of Mormon to give to them in Russian and said that we would be very happy if they would recieve it as our gift to them. The Mother Alla said "I want to know what is in that book!!"
They said that they would like for us to come back and tell them more while we are here in town. There are no missionaries in this town and so we will see if some from Dneproportrovsk are able to teach them.
The kids had to not have visitors from 1-4 because they make them all sleep for this time on Saturday or Sunday. When we went back for our 2nd visit at the orphanage I saw cute Andre walking down the halll with his broken arm in a sling made with a colorful scarf. He saw me and smilled a huge smile and gave me a big hug. He is such a sweetheart. If the Corbetts were not already planning to adopt him, I would be asking how I could take him home.