Sundays Are A Killer

OK, before everyone begins to think that I am blasphemous, please hear me out on this one! My Sundays start on Saturday when I start packing our lunches and making breakfast for Sunday. I get up on Sunday 6:30 A.M. which always seems to come too early. Long gone are the days when I could just sleep in! And now that Lillia has joined are family I seem to need way more time to get out the door...much more than seems logical to me, maybe I just need more practice. :) So that I don't have to get up any earlier, I make our Sunday breakfast on Saturday, something that I can throw into the oven and just reheat on Sunday morning. I also make our lunches and the food that we will eat throughout the day at church.

Sunday morning I get up and get myself ready and the breakfast warmed up. I pack a bag for Lillia which includes a whole range of clothing as the weather seems to be so unpredictable and since we are, for most of the trip, walking around outside, I have to make sure I am prepared for everything, such as going from a piping hot train to a windy outside, and back into a stifling hot bus, etc. I make sure my bag contains everything for my Primary class. Than I pull out lunches that were made the day before and get them packed. Lillia wakes up usually early and I just let her play while I get ready. Once I am ready I get Lillia dressed, than I eat breakfast and than I feed Lillia before we head out the door. Than I wrap this incredibly long MobyWrap deal around me that I carry Lillia in, and grab the umbrella in case of rain or sun (yes, sun), Dmitry grabs the backpack that is very heavy by now and her little travel cot and we run out the door. Now, does it really need to take me one hour and 45 minutes to do this??? I don't think it sounds logical, but I am always breathless and running out the door at the last minute.

Ha-ha, see how happy I am! Yes, that is me, being stressed out that we won't make the bus. Angela snapped this of me when I wasn't aware. Boy, no more walking into church 5 minutes late. :) So we leave the house around 8:15 to catch the 8:25 bus.

Here we are making the 10 minute walk to the bus from our house. And no, polishing shoes does no good, they either get dusty or muddy within the first 10 minutes of our trip along the dirt roads here. But I still polish mine on general principle... well, on most days. ;)

Angela and I sitting on the bus for our 10 minute ride into the train station in Fastov.

Our train is the gray one on the right. It leaves at 8:40 in the morning. To get into the train you have to climb 3 very high steps, which puts you up on the train about 1.5 to 2 meters high off the ground. I have decided that my long skirts are totally impractical, since they are in danger of brushing on the very nasty dirty steps if I don't hold them way up high, which I find uncomfortable while carrying Lillia. So my shorter skirts are becoming very "in style" for me.

The big old train. Smells like cigarette smoke almost constantly, your knees have about 2-6 inches between them and your neighbors knees (depending on how tall they are) and you are usually 3 to a seat which is quite....tight. We ride on it for about 45 minutes to the city where our branch is, Belaya Tserkov. These trains have no air-conditioning and in hot weather are simply unbearable...I have stripped Lillia down to her onesy many times. That is her cot on my knees
and we lay her there in hopes that she will get a short nap on the ride.

Here is a picture of a private vendor selling her wares. Vendors are constantly walking up and down the train from wagon to wagon. You can buy everything from hot peroshki (rolls with stuff inside), ice cream, cold water, cold beer, knives, flashlights, pens, train schedules, handkerchiefs, books, magazines, newspapers, pads of paper, and more. Plus you have the accordion player..he is my favorite...the first few weeks we traveled with Lillia his music put her to tears, it was too mournful sounding for her...now she doesn't even bat an eye when he comes by. And than you have the beggars that come by as well...it is a very busy train most of the time. And you see those doors behind the lady, well, right above them it says "no smoking" and also right behind those doors you will find several people smoking much of the time.

We get off the train and than walk for 20 minutes to the church building. A nice walk with the "friendly" dogs barking at you along the way...good thing they are behind the fence. :) On a hot day this walk can be a killer. By the way, Ukraine tends to be very hot and humid or very cool and breezy...I love the cool and breezy, especially when traveling.

And here we are, finally at our destination. It is usually about 9:50 by the time we get to church. Church starts at 10:00 and ends at 1:00. However, unlike at home when you jump into your car and go home, we have to wait for our train which goes home at 2:50 (it used to be 3:10...amazing how just 20 minutes earlier makes such a difference). So we eat lunch, try to get Lillia to get some sort of nap in and chat with other members who are there.

I think Sundays are really hard for Lillia because she gets so little sleep, the trip is long, and napping once we get to church is so sporadic and she usually does very little of it. It usually takes all of Monday to recoup from our Sundays, but she is a real trouper and is so patient with everything.

We usually arrive home about 4:20 on Sunday afternoon and we are all pretty much worn out. From walking out the door to arriving back home it is an 8 hour day. So as I said, Sundays are a killer, and they hardly feel like a day of rest. But, I love going for the sacrament, feeling the Spirit, seeing my little Primary kids and seeing my friends here. The Church is such a great thing and even though it is so hard, every time I go I am so grateful that I have gone, even if I might feel totally worn out once we get back home. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church of God on the earth today and I can say that the blessings that come from being members are real and so worth it. It is wonderful to see how the Church blesses the lives of its members all around the world.