It has already been 3 and 1/2 years since Piter got to America and we got married. What a whirlwind of a life we have had so far much of which you can see in our Archives and on Facebook. As I was looking back through the pictures and blogs I realized that we've come a long way. Someone asked me the other day if I had written our story and since I am not a writer...I of course hadn't...although I now recall that I did write about our time in Ukraine in my journal...Our story is really not that unusual but then again it's not the common story either....so I will try to write it and see how it goes.
Piter and I were searching online for someone to fill the void in our lives . Piter's friend Illya was helping Piter on one end and my daughter Chalea was helping me on this end. She signed me up on ldssingles and after about 4 month and a few dates I knew this wasn't my comfort zone and I wanted offline. I decided to fast and pray and ask Heavenly Father for answers. I prayed to know if there was anyone on site that He approved of for me would He please show me so I could get off the site. I wanted off either way but didn't want to stay on if there wasn't someone for me on there. After church I went to visit teach one of my sisters and she asked me how it was going on ldsmingles and I told her I was on singles. She told me I needed to go on mingles. Monday morning I signed up for mingles. Unknown to me Pyotr (Piter) had also fasted and prayed for answers also and he saw me on mingles and sent me a hi. This was March 14th 2005. I sent him one back and so it went until Friday the 18th. I was home getting ready to go to the singles conference and got online to check my site and Illya and Piter started "talking" to me on instant messaging although at the time I had no idea it was Illya. I didn't even know Piter was from Ukraine until that talk!! We "talked" for quite some time and ended up getting e-mail addresses and phone numbers. After we got offline I printed our conversation (good thing since I used it for our paperwork), finished packing and left for conference. After about 3 weeks or so I finally found out that Piter didn't speak English and Illya was doing the translating for us...I was very surprised but since I had confirmation that if we wanted to pursue this relationship Heavenly Father approved I took it in stride and moved forward...of course it was our choice....In June I went and bought the Learn in your car Russian level 1 CD and started learning Russian because I had decided to go to Ukraine to meet Piter since he couldn't come here without me going there first....believe it or not it all sounded perfectly logical to me but crazy to everyone I knew!!! Even after I bought my tickets my daughter didn't think I would really go...you see...I had never liked travelling anywhere alone and am really much more of a homebody! Anyway, I got a worldwide talk program for my cell phone and started communcating with Piter through my limited Russian and music from our hymn book. It was a long and tedious process but we learned a little about each other. After getting my first $500 telephone bill that stopped very abruptly!! I did however write a couple of card and letters in Russian and he sent me a couple as well during the next several months...but mostly we e-mailed back and forth when Illya had time to translate. Piter was trying to learn a little English as well but it was slow going ( really it was more like no going). He was however talking marriage but I told him that it would have to wait until we met. I would go there as a friend and we would get to know each other and if it didn't work out...no hard feelings. November loomed and I was excited about my trip...I had gifts for everyone and my luggage was very heavy (I mean I wanted to leave it behind heavy) When I forgot my water bottle in the RR...there was no way I was lugging that bag back to get it...but it was worth it! Unbeknowst to me I also was carrying my engagement ring in a package sent for Illya from Sarah...yep taped right under the lid of the peanut butter was my Ukrainian Choose the Right ring....anyway... He met me at the airport with roses on November 8th 2005 and with Illya in tow and we spent 3 weeks enjoying each others company. We traveled from far East Ukraine to far West Ukraine and went to several castles....the first of which was Uzhgorod and on November 19th 2005 3:20 pm Ukraine time outside the kings chambers Piter took my hands and said "Heidi will you marry me" in English. This was both of our first castle ever.... I found myself being suprised by the proposal because I had actually forgotten in my excitement and enjoyment of being in a wonderful country and having a awesome time why I was there in the first place... I know people were worried about me but in reality I never felt more protected or more loved in my life... and once I saw his recommend I knew I was in the right place...besides I was on prayer rolls everywhere! It was so cool. I also met his Bishop and we went to church together, we also went to institute where I met the Hubbles from Oklahoma....I of course accepted his proposal and a year later after much paperwork and money Piter arrived in America...Oct. 6, 2006 and we were Sealed Friday Oct. 13th 2006 in the Dallas Temple for time and all eternity. Well, as I said I'm not a writer but I think this about sums up our story in the beginning and the rest is posted here and there and yet to come!!! I hope you enjoy the story and feel free to comment any additions you think I left out or need clarified!
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