I AM GOING TO UKRAINE!!!

TERE everyone!! I just received news that in order to get my visa, I need to leave the country for a bit, so I am going to UKRAINE! 

Eliza in Kyiv, Ukraine as a young girl when our family 

visited the country to volunteer at orphanages.

Beautiful Ukraine!

I am so excited for this mini-adventure! It should only be for 2 weeks. I am so excited to experience the Ukrainian culture and maybe even pick up some Ukrainian and Russian! The best part of it all...I get to go to the TEMPLE in Kyiv!! Maybe every day! I might even be working there! I don't know all the details yet, so I can't say for sure...but I know it will be a wonderful experience. 

Since I am leaving Monday morning (my preparation day), I will not have the chance to email everyone about my week here in Pärnu. But I got permission to email today and let everyone know what was happening, haha! Ühesõnaga, we had a week full of miracles. What week isn't full of miracles, let's be honest! 

I love you all and pray for you. Thank you for your prayers. Õde Tullis and I feel them. I know Ukraine is where God needs me to be right now, and I am so excited to find out why! 

SEE YOU SOON, UKRAINE!

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace. 

Õde Smith-Driggs

Proverbs 3:5-6 

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

_______________________________________________

"Mom addition" to the blog:

Most of you who are Eliza's adult friends do not know our family feels particularly connected with Ukraine.  I will explain why below. Also, unbeknownst to Eliza's mission president, prior to receiving her mission call, Eliza had an experience that she felt would connect her LDS mission to Ukraine. So she is particularly grateful to be able to spend some time there, even briefly. I have no doubt God will use her there for His purposes even in the short time she is there.

Many years ago, our family felt God prompted us to go to Ukraine to adopt some children.  We tried to adopt these three boys on our first trip: Vasil and Victor (brothers) and Volodya.*

They all lived in orphanages located in western Ukraine (about 12 hours by train from where Eliza will be the next two weeks). We had no idea how to adopt from Ukraine, and we volunteered at orphanages for three weeks outside of normal adoption protocols.  So many wonderful Ukrainians and Americans helped us in our endeavors.  We saw daily miracles as we drove hours and hours on Ukrainian country roads with six people in a little car, including wonderful translators from the local LDS branches who helped us understand the orphan situation in Ukraine.  

Amazing woman in charge of all adoptions in Ukraine. She radiated the light of Christ.

Fantastic LDS helpers!

(and Vika from Kyiv, not pictured)

Most of the "orphans" we met had families who lived outside the orphanages (parents, grandparents, siblings).  But the children were not allowed to live with their families for a variety of safety reasons.  Adoptable children were also allowed to choose whether they wanted to be adopted.  

Even though we tried to adopt four children over a two year period (the three boys listed earlier (first Ukrainian trip) and Julia (not pictured from our second Ukrainian trip), three chose to remain in Ukrainian orphanages where they had a chance to see their families on occasion (Victor, Vasil, and Julia). Julia chose to stay in Ukraine the day we went to pick her up because of pleas from her family who visited the orphanage the night before we came. We understood her dilemma and could only hug her and leave in tears knowing what a difficult choice she had to make. The fourth child, and the very first one we met on our initial trip that we knew we were supposed to try to adopt, Volodya Stabrun, was ultimately placed in foster care, outside the adoption system.

Dear Volodya, the boy pictured below with our family, claimed our hearts from the moment we met him. 

He was allowed to stay with us legally in America for seven weeks, called a "hosting" visit.

He loved building with Legos.

And he LOVED dogs!

He was worried he would never see his birth mother again if we adopted him, and he was also not yet legally available for adoption within the Ukrainian system. When he returned to Ukraine after visiting our family, his orphanage placed him into the newly-developed Ukrainian foster care program. That placement legally precluded us from ever adopting him.  Our hearts are forever connected to this little boy (now about 14) somewhere in western Ukraine. We are praying that somehow, some way, we will connect with him again.

YOU HAVE SPIRITUAL GIFTS!!

TERE!

Thank you all for your continued prayers. They really are making a difference! Even on the bus ride into town to write this email, I talked with a happy woman who believes in Jesus Christ! I told her about the Book of Mormon, and she seemed super interested in the fact that it answers our questions (which it does!). We are going over to her house this Friday to give her the Book of Mormon! Oh my goodness there are miracles everywhere, friends :)'

Elder Krommenhoek (middle) went home this week. 

We will miss him!

The work:

• One of the biggest miracles this week was a woman who has come to English night with her granddaughter but is now interested in the Church! She came to church last week and cried because she felt so much peace. She is so excited to read the Book of Mormon. She is truly just one of the dearest older women I have had the privilege of knowing, and we are excited to continue growing our relationship with her and helping her form her relationship with the Savior. 

• I don’t know if any of you remember this...but a few emails ago, I wrote about a woman we ran into on the street on our way into the library to write our families. We ended up teaching her about the Plan of Salvation on the library bench outside....any of this ringing a bell? Well, we met with that woman this week (again, on the library bench), and taught her more about the Plan of Salvation! That was our official "first lesson" with her. And guess what?? She said she wanted to be baptized once she knows it is true!! Miracles upon miracles upon miracles. 

• All the missionaries in the Baltic countries have started fasting every week together so that we can find more people to teach. Well, one of the things we were fasting for this week was that we could get in contact with the woman who got baptized a couple weeks ago. We haven’t been able to reach her for a week, and she won’t answer our texts or calls. We have been very concerned. But just hours after we started our fast, she responded to a text! It was a small miracle, but after a week of not hearing from her, it was a big deal. I believe in the power of fasting. 

• Zone conference this week!! All the missionaries in Estonia went to Tallinn on Friday. So much fun. Many missionaries go home this week...once they go home, there will only be 12 Estonian speaking missionaries in Estonia. 6 elders and 6 sisters. FEW IN NUMBERS BUT MIGHTY IN SPIRIT!

The funnies:

• An older woman in the branch (we call her our grandma here) saw we didn’t have sweaters on for a branch party we had outside. She went back into her house and grabbed us some of her sweaters, and we wore them over our clothes the whole night! It was so fun wearing babushka sweaters all night...and they were so warm :))) 

The culture:

• This weekend was Jaanipäev!! The longest day of the year! It is a two day holiday here in Estonia. Pretty much, everyone gets together in the countryside, eats a ton of meat, drinks a ton of alcohol, and parties around huge bonfires. The sun doesn’t really go down the entire night, so everyone just parties like crazy. This is how bright it was outside at 10 p.m. on Saturday night. 

• Our branch got together for a Jaanipäev party on Wednesday night, and I felt so Estonian! We sang Estonian hymns with an accordion, ate meat and a potato salad Õde Tullis and I made with our grandma from the branch (the same grandma who gave us her sweaters), and played games! HEAD JAANIPÄEVA TEILE! 

Spiritual thought:

Marvin J. Ashton's talk, "There are many gifts," talks about spiritual gifts. (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1987/10/there-are-many-gifts?lang=eng) He lists many gifts I had never heard of before, including “the gift of asking; the gift of listening; the gift of hearing and using a still, small voice; the gift of being able to weep; the gift of avoiding contention; the gift of being agreeable; the gift of avoiding vain repetition; the gift of seeking that which is righteous; the gift of not passing judgment; the gift of looking to God for guidance; the gift of being a disciple; the gift of caring for others; the gift of being able to ponder; the gift of offering prayer; the gift of bearing a mighty testimony; and the gift of receiving the Holy Ghost.” 

I hope as I listed those gifts, you realized you have some of them! God has given you so many gifts, and I hope you can see those gifts in yourself. There are also many gifts we can ask for. God has told us, "Ask and ye shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened unto you." We can ask God for certain gifts! But think of it this way - if you wanted a new camera as a gift from your parents, would you walk into the room and say, "Mom and Dad, can I please have a new camera?," then walk out again? No! They would expect you to explain why you wanted the new camera and explain how you would use it to grow your strengths, help other people, etc. Then, you would listen to their reasoning behind giving you the camera or not. It would be a discussion, not just a one-sided question.

The same goes for asking for gifts from God! We can’t just say, "Please give me the gift of charity today," then end our prayer (i.e. walking out of the room without discussion and listening). God expects us to explain why we need it and what we would do with it. So, is prayer a discussion? Yes! Does praying take mental energy and patience? Of course! You are talking with the Father of the universe! 

Prayer is something I am continually working on. This week I learned a lot about how to really discuss with God and explain why I need certain things. I keep a pen and paper right next to me and write down impressions I receive during my verbal prayers. I only started doing that this week, and I have absolutely loved it. 

So, friends, if you want a certain gift or if you want anything from God, do not be afraid to pray and discuss it with Heavenly Father. He WANTS to bless you with everything He can give you, but He wants you to learn how to humbly ask for things. I am still learning how to do this every day. I pray that we can all continue to learn together how to discuss issues with God in prayer. He wants a relationship with you! He loves you as His child. :)

I love you all. I am sending my love from the green plains of Estonia!

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

Mosiah 24:14-16:

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.

CHOOSE JOY . . . CHOOSE GOD!

TERE!!

To start off...HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, DAD!! Thank you for teaching me the importance of dropping everything to serve someone. You truly live to serve. I am grateful to have you as my patient, loving, hilarious dad. I hope the fam pampered you yesterday! You deserve it! 

The work:

• We have 4 NEW INVESTIGATORS!!! Thank you all for your prayers in helping us find and teach more people here in Pärnu, Estonia. Clearly, your prayers are making a difference. Please keep praying!! One of our investigators is our neighbor. Missionaries have tried talking to her before about the gospel, but they haven’t tried teaching her for a long time. We saw her on the bus, and when we asked how she was doing, she said, "Terribly. My mom died last week." So sad. We gave her a Plan of Salvation brochure and talked about it a bit. She believes she can see her mom again! She read the brochure that night. When we went over to talk about it more, we showed her the "Prince of Peace" video at the end of the lesson. It is an extremely powerful video, and even if you have watched it before, please watch it again!  (Link to video: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2017-02-1000-the-prince-of-peace-find-lasting-peace-through-jesus-christ?lang=eng) It is only about 2 minutes long, and you will feel a very special spirit while watching it. Anyway, after we watched it, she said she felt a lot of peace in her heart. It was amazing to tell her the good news that she can feel that peace all the time because of Jesus Christ!

• I don’t even remember where we were walking, but I did a double take at our shadows one time..I could have sworn I saw a third shadow of someone walking with us. It was a beautiful, gentle reminder that Christ and his angels are walking with us! :)

• We were running to catch a bus, and the bus started to drive away. Then the driver saw us running. He pulled in front of another bus, then came back to the bus stop just to pick us up!! Õde Tullis said she has never seen a bus driver do that before. Huge miracle!!

• We stopped by a woman’s house yesterday hoping to have the opportunity to teach her. She let us into her beautiful home. After getting to know her, we talked about happiness for a bit. She is a choir director, so music makes her happy. We shared 2 Nephi 22:2 from the Book of Mormon, which talks about Christ being our song. She liked that verse and the Book of Mormon a lot and started shuffling through the pages. She was very thoughtful, and we could tell she was really pondering about the magnitude of what we were testifying of. It was amazing to be able to testify to her that if she read the Book of Mormon when she had a question, she would find her answer every time. I have experienced that, and that is why I love sharing the Book of Mormon with others here! I am sharing my instruction manual for life! I am really excited to see where things go with this woman :)

The culture:

• At most restaurants here, instead of the waiter bringing starter bread to you, you go and get it yourself! All you can eat bread...and free...mmm so good :) 

The funnies:

Before a branch birthday activity, we taught an 80 year old member the English phrase, "Cool beans." And it was so cute to hear him say it throughout the rest of the night!

Spiritual thought:

Well, family and friends, this week was honestly really hard for me emotionally. But I was reminded in church yesterday of my own advice - CHOOSE JOY. God wants us to feel joy - that is why He provided Jesus Christ for us to look to as an example. Jesus Christ understands exactly how you feel...at this very moment. And because of that, you can feel joy in knowing that no matter if everyone leaves you alone, you still have one eternal best friend - Jesus Christ. And He is the best kind of best friend!! He will NEVER let you down or betray your trust. And He will NEVER stop loving you.

So how do we choose joy?? This week, I came to realize one major way we can choose joy. Think about it...if God wants us to feel joy, then who wants us to feel unhappiness and depression? Satan. Who is more powerful - God or Satan? GOD. But whenever you are feeling Satan’s power in your life, how can you get rid of him? ...By letting GOD into your life. God will always beat Satan. The feeling of joy will always chase out the feelings of unhappiness if you let them.  

So now the question is...how do we let God into our lives? By reading his words...the scriptures. It is the simplest but most powerful way you can allow God’s joy to flood your life. I cannot tell you how many times I felt Satan’s grasp on me this week...causing me to think I am not doing enough, making me feel homesick, and  making me feel icky inside, for lack of better words. But AS SOON AS I opened my scriptures, those feelings faded, and I was able to feel God’s love for me, his daughter. Immediately! Because friends, Satan cannot be there when the Spirit of the Lord is there. And you invite the Spirit of the Lord into your life and into your heart when you read the scriptures. The Spirit literally kicks Satan out!! The scriptures are the ultimate Spirit medicine. 

So my invitation to you all this week is this - when you feel unhappy, instead of grabbing your phone and scrolling through Instagram or Facebook to try and numb the unhappiness by distracting yourself, grab your scriptures instead. Start reading. Anywhere. Read from the Bible or the Book of Mormon, and let the words of God heal you. Reading the scriptures doesn’t make your problems go away, but it invites the Spirit into your life and makes your problems seem more manageable with the Lord’s help. Satan wants you to think, "I can’t do this." By reading the scriptures, God helps you to think, "I can do this, with the Lord’s help!" I know that with the Lord’s help, you can achieve the seemingly impossible. I have experienced it. 

I love you all. God loves you. He wants you to feel joy. When you choose joy, you are choosing Him.

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace.

Õde Smith-Driggs

2 Nephi 4:28-30: 

28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

29 Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.

30 Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

ANOTHER BAPTISM!!!!!!!

We are best friends:) 

One of our less actives gave us flowers!!!

TERE!!!!

Thank you all for praying that we would find more people to teach (now that both of our investigators have been baptized)...we have multiple first lessons set up for this coming week, and we found many more prepared people this week! In fact, even on our way into the library today to write to our families, we talked to a woman and ended up sitting down and teaching her all about the Plan of Salvation. She believes in so many of the same things, she is SUPER HAPPY (was laughing and smiling the whole 25 minutes we were talking), and wants to meet up again soon! So friends and family, YOUR PRAYERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

On another note, HUGE shoutout to my parents this week!!! It is their 28th wedding anniversary!!! Thank you both for teaching me everything I know. Thank you for being an example of a beautiful marriage focused on God. Love you both to the moon and back.

The work:

• OUR INVESTIGATOR GOT BAPTIZED!!!! Her parents both came, which was a miracle. Õde Tullis and I sang a musical number. (We sang a song that is only in the Estonian hymnbook called, "Mu süda ärka üles."). After the program, she got baptized!! So amazing to witness. When she came up out of the water, she put both her hands up in the air immediately as if to say, "I did it!!" She was beaming. I feel so grateful to have met her on the bus almost 2 months ago. On that day, I was talking to another young woman about God, and she wasn’t interested. I remember distinctly seeing the reflection of our investigator in the glass in front of me on the bus. I didn’t know her, but her reflection stood out to me for some reason. Then, when the other young woman I was talking to got off the bus, our investigator got out of her seat, came to me and said, "I am a Christian!!" She had heard me talking about God. We got off the bus together. I shared 2 Nephi 22:2 from the Book of Mormon with her, and when we offered her the book, she practically grabbed it out of our hands, she wanted it so bad!! Now, almost two months later, she has been baptized and has been given the wonderful gift of the Holy Ghost. I feel humbled to have been a small part in helping her find this glorious gospel :)

• Do any of you remember the story I told of a woman I talked to on a bus in Tallinn about a month ago? I shared 1 Nephi 17:13 with her, and she said that scripture answered a question she had had for 4 years...amazing. Well, I felt to try calling her again this week, and I’m so glad I did! She said on the phone that ever since we talked on that bus, many things have started happening in her life. But she said the complete "answer" or "direction" still has not come completely. We had an interesting and insightful discussion about how God waits to give us complete answers sometimes... but that it is all for our good, and He truly does know best. Even if that means the answer takes time. But she said our meeting on the bus and her answer from the Book of Mormon started the ball rolling, so to speak. We are Skyping this week to talk more! Please pray that it will go well!

• We participate in a small choir here in Pärnu, and we performed a concert on Saturday! SO cute to sing Estonian songs to a crowd full of babushkas who were singing along. And my new friend that sings next to me in choir (in her 60s) drew me her family history! In ENGLISH! What a gal :) We have become dear friends. 

• We went over to watch Meet the Mormons with our investigator who got baptized last Saturday, and it was amazing to see how much she has changed already by having the gift of the Holy Ghost with her! She said she no longer has the desire to sin, and she is more patient with her son too. Amazing. 

Culture:

The clouds here are different than in Utah! I believe the main reason is because there are no mountains here. But I thought I’d share some of my favorite pictures of the clouds from this week! 

We walk dogs for service.

Beautiful clouds again.

Funnies: 

When Õde Tullis and I made the program for our investigator’s baptism, I was laughing so hard because Õde Tullis wanted everything perfectly centered...we printed out 4 different copies of the program, and eventually Õde Tullis took a ruler to it!! Hahahahaha.

Spiritual thought:

I’ve been thinking a lot about forgiveness this week. It has seemed like such a big word and big idea to me, so I wanted to try and figure it out this week :) I definitely don’t have it all figured out yet, but I have realized a few simple things I would like to share with you all.

I’ve realized that forgiving others and forgiving yourself simply means giving your grudges to the Savior. One grudge at a time. I’ve also realized that forgiveness stems from charity. When we have charity for others and for ourselves, it is easier to forgive. 

I ask you all to think about the Savior on His knees in the Garden of Gethsemane, suffering for every painful feeling you have ever experienced, every tear you have ever shed, every grudge you have ever felt...imagine Him saying your name out loud as He suffered for you. He did that because He loves you. 

Now, think about someone who has hurt you recently (that person might be yourself). Once you have thought of someone, think of the Savior again, on His knees in the Garden of Gethsemane. Now imagine Him saying that person’s name out loud as He suffered for that person’s pains and as He felt everything that person has ever felt or will feel. That thought makes you realize how important that person is to the Savior, right? 

I know the Savior suffered for all of us, even the person who hurt you (and remember, that person could be yourself). I know that when you remember all the Savior did for you AND that person, it makes it easier to forgive that person. (It makes it easier to forgive yourself.) 

To those who want a challenge this week, my invitation is simple :) Pray to be filled with charity every day this week. I promise if you do, by the end of the week, your heart will be softened, and you will be able to forgive the person who hurt you, even if that person is yourself. I promise.

I know the Savior loves each of you personally. You are daughters and sons of Heavenly Father. He loves you. And I know you love Him :) 

Thank you for your continued prayers. I feel them. We all do. 

Trust in the Lord. Choose joy. Find peace :)

Õde Smith-Driggs

2 Nephi 22:2: 

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.