Nescheret Family
Some of the most wonderful people that I met in Ukraine were the Nescherets. They were a family of five girls, which is very unusual there. They were not active members of the church at the time and so we spent a lot of time with them as missionaries helping their family to read scriptures together, hold family home evening and attend Sunday meetings again. The parents were warm and welcoming and Mama Nescheret (as we came to call her) was one of the two best cooks in all of Ukraine. Their daughters are the ones who started attending church again though and so we began teaching the two youngest about our church so that they could get baptized.
They were some of the silliest people I ever met on my mission. One of their favorite games that we taught them as part of having family home evening with them was the animal game where everyone has an animal sign and you clap to a rhythm doing each other's signs. If someone messes up the rhythm or a sign, they move to the end of the food chain. Papa Nescheret always picked to be a monkey and I will never forget how one time he literally started swinging around the room while making very loud monkey noises when somebody did his sign. It may be the hardest I laughed in the 18 months I lived there.
They are a kind a generous family. They invited us to their daughter's wedding, which isn't what missionaries usually spend their time doing but we were so touched that they considered us part of their family. Mama Neshceret was always cooking and baking and it was always delicious. I don't even like eggplant but she would cut it into strips and wrap it up with mayonnaise and garlic and bake it and somehow it became delicious. She made the best cake I ever had in Ukraine and the most amazing vereneki (like perogies or something similar to ravioli) I have ever eaten. She made cabbage ones, potato ones and the best of them all, in the summer she made fresh cherry ones that with some smetana (like sour cream) and sugar sprinkled on top were a piece of heaven on a plate. My husband still says that the meal we had at their house when we went back to visit was one of the best he has ever had.
Papa Nescheret was a wood worker and made beautiful pedestal tables. My companion, Michelle, and I always complimented him and when it was time for us to return home to the U.S., he presented each of us with the most beautiful ones I think he had made. We were heart-broken when we got to the airport and the airline wouldn't let us bring it onto the plane, nor could we afford the $150 to check an additional piece of baggage. We handed them off to another missionary and told him to take care of them because we would come back to get them. Three years later when I went back to Ukraine with my husband, I tried to track those little tables down with no luck. When we went to visit the Nescherets he asked about how our tables looked in America and I had to tell him the sad story. When my husband and I left, he handed me one of the tables from their own apartment and told me to take it with me. It wasn't nearly as beautiful as the one he had made me but I gladly took it as a symbol of their family's love. It stands in my dining room corner today and makes me happy whenever I look at it because it reminds me of my Ukrainian family and the wonderful hours and hours I spent with them.
We had good gospel discussions and the day their two daughters were baptized was the highlight of my mission. We went to church picnics together, ate and ate and ate Mama Nescheret's delicious food, we played games and sang songs and celebrated special occasions together. Their second oldest daughter came with us on lots of other visits we made. They loved us as their own and knowing them and sharing that time with them is a very special part of my mission experience.
They were some of the silliest people I ever met on my mission. One of their favorite games that we taught them as part of having family home evening with them was the animal game where everyone has an animal sign and you clap to a rhythm doing each other's signs. If someone messes up the rhythm or a sign, they move to the end of the food chain. Papa Nescheret always picked to be a monkey and I will never forget how one time he literally started swinging around the room while making very loud monkey noises when somebody did his sign. It may be the hardest I laughed in the 18 months I lived there.
They are a kind a generous family. They invited us to their daughter's wedding, which isn't what missionaries usually spend their time doing but we were so touched that they considered us part of their family. Mama Neshceret was always cooking and baking and it was always delicious. I don't even like eggplant but she would cut it into strips and wrap it up with mayonnaise and garlic and bake it and somehow it became delicious. She made the best cake I ever had in Ukraine and the most amazing vereneki (like perogies or something similar to ravioli) I have ever eaten. She made cabbage ones, potato ones and the best of them all, in the summer she made fresh cherry ones that with some smetana (like sour cream) and sugar sprinkled on top were a piece of heaven on a plate. My husband still says that the meal we had at their house when we went back to visit was one of the best he has ever had.
Papa Nescheret was a wood worker and made beautiful pedestal tables. My companion, Michelle, and I always complimented him and when it was time for us to return home to the U.S., he presented each of us with the most beautiful ones I think he had made. We were heart-broken when we got to the airport and the airline wouldn't let us bring it onto the plane, nor could we afford the $150 to check an additional piece of baggage. We handed them off to another missionary and told him to take care of them because we would come back to get them. Three years later when I went back to Ukraine with my husband, I tried to track those little tables down with no luck. When we went to visit the Nescherets he asked about how our tables looked in America and I had to tell him the sad story. When my husband and I left, he handed me one of the tables from their own apartment and told me to take it with me. It wasn't nearly as beautiful as the one he had made me but I gladly took it as a symbol of their family's love. It stands in my dining room corner today and makes me happy whenever I look at it because it reminds me of my Ukrainian family and the wonderful hours and hours I spent with them.
We had good gospel discussions and the day their two daughters were baptized was the highlight of my mission. We went to church picnics together, ate and ate and ate Mama Nescheret's delicious food, we played games and sang songs and celebrated special occasions together. Their second oldest daughter came with us on lots of other visits we made. They loved us as their own and knowing them and sharing that time with them is a very special part of my mission experience.
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| Sasha, Nadia, Mama Nescheret, Anya, Vira, three grandkids, Papa Nescheret and their son-in-law. Not pictured is daughter, Alina. They sent me this last year. |
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