The latest

Family and Friends,
 
The days are flying by here in Phoenix.  This last week has been really good.  everyday is an interesting day in the mission field.  our thanksgiving was amazing!! full of so many wonderful people, great conversation, and i was able to witness Christlike charity.  I love being a missionary and witnessing things i would have never witnessed otherwise.  Thanksgiving was also great because it was an all day p-day! so we basically spent the day at the Hobbs' house (family we ate with) and hung out with them and helped clean up after the delicious meal.  i was really grateful for them and their hospitality! we ate with Bro/Sis Hobbs, their 3 kids, a recent convert, another recent convert and his kids.  It was really awesome to hear bro/sis hobbs mission stories (he served in chile, she served in madagascar), and conversion stories.  I really loved it.  Also transfers are kinda today and kinda tomorrow..we have a big transfer meeting tomorrow, and Pres. wants all of the visa waiting missionaries to attend.  So that should be fun.  we had a "trainer/trainee" meeting last friday.  All of the trainers went into one room and all of the trainees into another, and we just talked about good ideas, concerns, etc. so that was actually really amazing and a lot of wonderful insights and advice. Plus, i got to see my elders!! all of them!! it was so fun and good to speak russian.  Speaking of russian--i found a guy in my ward who served in St. Petersburg like 9 years ago and i went up to him and i started speaking to him in russian and he asked me how i knew all of what i said and i told him "the mtc. 11 weeks haha" and he said my russian was really good, so that made me happy.  President told us that maybe we would get our visas this weekend? He said he talked to the travel office and they said that there is a "good chance" of them coming in on Dec. 2...so cross your fingers and say a prayer! Don't get me wrong--i have loved my stay here in phoenix.  I have met some people who have changed my life and I have learned lessons that i don't think i would have learned otherwise, but i still think about ukraine and i can't wait to go there and learn more and serve.  I am starting to feel like it's time to go to ukraine.  So i hope it's soon and they give us a few days heads up so that i can pack. hahah you all know how much i love packing.  Also with transfers, hermana kigueta is getting transferred and when we go to the transfer meeting tomorrow she will find out where she is going.  so she will no longer be in the apartment which is sad. I am just grateful to be a missionary.  Grateful to be able to serve the Lord for this amount of time. Grateful to be learning, relying on Heavenly Father, and learning to teach better.  That is one thing that I have learned here is how to teach people, real people with real problems.  In the MTC they drilled us with "teach people not lessons" and i was able to put that into practice here.  We are trying to find more investigators.  Something happened with bernadina last week where she was using drugs--so we are holding off for awhile.  Our investigator debra really wants to get baptized but is having trouble quitting smoking.  i have witnessed with her how much satan works on people and how hard it is to change.  but we are continuing to help her and encourage her.  I really love our ward here and there is so many new members that have touched my life.  A question i ask to new members that i meet is "what was the turning point in changing your life?..what converted you?" and i have gotten some fantastic answers. One lady said "I knew that Christ had to appear to other people after his resurrection...there is no way he only admistered to people in Jersualem..when I found out that the Book of Mormon was a record full of history and Christ appearing to the people in Americas, I instantly knew it was true, and when I read it I felt it's power."  another guy said "The importance of families. I have always knew in my heart and always believed that families could be together forever.  When the Elders taught me about eternal families, I knew it was true. The gospel completed my search and answered my questions."  WOW!!! this is the kind of work we are engaging in, and it is amazing to have the priviledge to witness it first-hand.  Missionary work is not easy--at all--but, i have experienced that the Lord prepares people in interesting ways, and people are everywhere that are searching for the truth.  I love this work.  I am grateful for all of the prayers out there for the missionaries and the support.  I love all of you, and as always, you are all in my prayers.  Don't ever doubt that the church isn't true! It IS true! Heavenly Father answers prayers. We have a prophet.  We know the plan of salvation.  And we are all so so blessed.  I am grateful for the blessings the gospel has brought in my life.  I will keep you all posted with visas. and i love you all!!
 
Sister DeMille