Crimea

The Crimea played an important role in helping to keep the intensity level high in the mission. We were really excited when President Trythall called and asked us if we would be willing to take responsibility for the Crimea and Kherson. We did not hesitate to accept this challenge. We liked the idea of having more branches where missionaries could be branch presidents and we thought missionaries would enjoy the challenge of living in some of the most beautiful parts of Ukraine. We also realized that it would require us to change our pattern of zone conferences and our visiting branches which were under the mission district. We had been meeting with the missionaries on a monthly basis. The process of adding the Crimea changed our zone conference rotation schedule from a monthly basis to a five or sometimes six week interval. This was difficult for some missionaries who wanted to see us often but we were able to work the telephone lines well enough to keep everyone happy. The drive from Donetsk to the Crimea took most of the day. We left Donetsk and traveled towards Mariupol and then turned West towards Militopol and then South towards Simferopol. There were times on the drive where you could see both the Sea of Azov and the Black sea. There were also some small mountains around Simferopol which were a welcome change of scenery. Yalta and the Southern coastline of the Crimean peninsula are beautiful. Sevestopol and Evpatoria are equally scenic. Kherson is right on the Dneper river and is a beautiful city. We felt sorry for the missionaries who labored in Evpatoria in the summer time because of all the beaches in the city. We had to emphasize the need to look up or down because of all the swim suits being worn in the city. During the winter months, the Crimea was fun because of the mild weather. The branches in Evpatoria, Semferopol, Kherson, and Bogota were functioning well when we took over this area. Sevestopol had been closed but we opened it again just before leaving the mission. It would surprise us very much if there wasn’t a missionary who didn’t want to serve some period of their mission in this area. The first missionaries we sent to the Crimea were some of the best in the mission. We needed people who were going to set high standards of missionary work and member cooperation that only Donetsk Missionaries could set. After a few months, it was apparent that the members liked our standards and the emphasis we place on them. We had a couple of Crimea Conferences where we got all the members together so they could see they were part of a large organization. We made a big deal out to the dedication of the Chapel in Semferopol and we had some wonderful young adult conferences. We also spent a wonderful Christmas with the members and missionaries in 2001. One of the most spiritual zone conferences we ever held was on the 25th of December 2001. We held the conference in our hotel room and for about four hours we studied the scriptures discussing the life of the Savior. We also had a fun dinner at the hotel. We liked our hotel room because it looked like a small apartment and was very reasonable. We had a large room with a big table that could seat all the missionaries in the zone. They also had a nice sitting room and large bathroom. We didn’t eat many places in Semferopol except at the hotel and the McDonalds. We only stayed one time in Evpatoria and that was at a resort hotel that was very nice. The church rentals in Evpatoria were adequate but really hot in the summer time. We understand that we are building a chapel or one has already been built. This should really help the growth of the church in this area. Bogata was a beautiful little town to the East of Semferopol. There was a small but functioning branch in this town that was set up in the mountains. We went there a couple of times and had nice meetings. We spent time in Kherson learning to love the branch in that town. The hotel we stayed in was right on the Dneper river and the scenery was beautiful. We ate at a restaurant we found in the center of the city. It was fairly good and we had some fun times with the missionaries in this place. The branch really liked our missionaries and the work seemed to get better and better as time moved along. We started with just two missionaries in each location in the Crimea and we tried to up the number to four in each location. We always felt it was healthy to have at least four missionaries in each city. We were fairly liberal on companionship exchanges in these situations. We were able to take a day with the one of the area presidency to travel to Yalta and go through some of the museums in the area. It was probably the only day during our entire mission that we had a full preparation day. We drove from Semferopol through the mountains to Yalta and then along the coast to Sevestopol and then back to Semferopol. It took all day. We certainly saw some wonderful scenery. The greatest thing about gaining the Crimea in the mission was to watch the growth of the missionaries who served in that area. We loved watching the branch presidents fall in love with their branches. We loved watching them build their own portion of the kingdom. We loved watching the zone leaders take care of missionaries and members alike. We loved watching the missionaries taking care of their investigators and members. All in all there was a special spirit in the Crimea. The missionaries felt they were part of something special which can do more than anything else in keeping the missionary zeal burning in the soul. There are times when we think it would be nice to be able to get in the car and head to Semferopol to stay in the Moscow hotel, but only if the assistants were with us and we could discuss the developments taking place in the Ukraine Donetsk Mission.