At 12:00 noon, Tonya Bobko, the ‘egg lady’ came to our apartment and dropped off some painted plates for us to deliver when we get back home. We also clarified the details of our order of Christmas ornaments. At 1:00 pm, Natalie and I met Vera (the lady who took care of the Hunter’s children’s mother’s grave) at McDonalds. We took care of some last minute business concerning the grave marker. It was such a beautiful, sunny Sunday. I asked Natalie if she wouldn’t mind walking home instead of taking a taxi/bus home. She agreed and we enjoyed a beautiful walk home through the heart of Sumy and past the picturesque Psel River to our apartment.
Psel River, Sumy, Ukraine
Calvin By Psel River, Sumy Ukraine
While Natalie and I were gone, Vladimir had taken Roman to the orphanage so he could say good-bye to his friends one last time and pick up his tooth brush. Nadia was out visiting some of her friends to say good bye and Cheryl stayed home in bed trying to nurse her flu. Nadia had also made arrangements to have several of her friends over to our apartment at about 5:00 p.m. to visit and say good bye to her.
Natalie and I took a taxi/bus to the orphanage where we met Roman at Maria Andreana’s home (Roman’s ‘mother teacher’) for ‘tea’ at 5:00 p.m. (Maria lives a few doors down from the orphanage.) Maria had outdone herself with her splendid table spread with open face sandwiches of different varieties, an assortment fruit, and cakes for desert. Besides myself, there was Natalie (our translator), Roman, Edward, his son, Serge Mehilovich (Roman’s music teacher), Serge’s wife and son along with our host Maria. Serge peppered me with all kinds of questions about the United States from income levels to post-secondary school opportunities and programs. Being the numbers guy that I am and working for BYU, I believe I was able to give him a lot of information concerning the cost of living, cost of education, wages for teachers as well as wages for skilled and unskilled labor. Serge’s wife asked us why we would adopt two children when we already had children of our own. I was able to tell her briefly of how we are a religious family and that we believe that God had asked us to do this thing. I told her when we gathered our own three children around us - either at meal times or for family prayer - that our family did not feel complete. One thing led to another and we ended up here in Ukraine adopting Roman and Nadia. Their questions then were interlaced with questions about our Church beliefs which included discussion of several topics including eternal families, prayer and fasting, fast Sunday and helping the less fortunate. Serge was familiar with many of these as he had just returned from America with the last group of 45 orphans who visited host families. Serge commented on the gymnasiums as part of the church buildings he saw in America. I mentioned the church here in Sumy only had a room with a ping-pong table, but one day they would have a church building in Sumy. A couple of them looked surprised when they found out there was a Mormon church here in Sumy. Natalie (our translator) told them were it was located, above the electronics shop. She also mentioned the missionaries gave free English lessons, of which (I believe) Serge was aware of. I asked Serge if he would like me to have the missionaries contact him about the free English lessons, or to answer more questions about the Church. He politely declined and told me he knew where the Church was located and would go there on his own. I have no doubt about the goodness of these people. One always hopes they will investigate the Church at some point in their lives, but if they do not, it will not change their goodness and how I appreciate their efforts in educating and mentoring these young orphan children.
Dessert
Dinner Group
Roman Saying Good-Bye to Friends
On our way home (Edward drove us in his car), Natalie got a call from Nadia, who was stuck in the elevator with her friends, in our apartment complex. When we got home, Roman and I found the elevator had stopped on the second floor. We went and knocked on the elevator door. One of Nadia’s friends was able to open the door, which revealed her friends in the elevator with the floor of the elevator perched about 1 ½ - 2 feet above the floor of the apartment building. As 16 year old girls, do, they were all laughing and giggling. I told them all to get back in the elevator as I wanted to take their picture. After a couple minutes of pictures and laughing, we were able to take the stairs down to the ground level where I walked with Nadia and her friends to the bus stop. I waited on one side of the street while she walked her friends across the street and visited with them for about 5 – 10 minutes until they had all boarded their respective taxi/bus. I walked Nadia back to our apartment with her arm in mine, to insure my new daughter would not slip on the ice. I sensed she enjoyed having a new papa to look out after her.
Nadia in Elevator With Friends
Nadia With Friends
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