finally settled in (hopefully)

Dear friends and family, It was another busy week here in Kherson and Nickoliav.  We officially moved back to Nickolaiv into our new apartment.  It is big, pretty unique, and still great location, so we are happy.  We took a taxi last week from Kherson to Nickolaiv (the cities are an hour apart), and it was hilarious.  The elders were with us and we called the taxi and we threw everything in the car. I sat in the front seat and the driver reaches across me, all up in my business, and buckles me in my seatbelt haha muttering about how us girls need to be safe! I am just laughing and all red in the face and I look at the elders and they are just doubled over laughing.  Good times with taxi drivers! Last week besides moving, we met with a lot of less actives and got to know more members both in Nickoliav and in Kherson.  We witnessed a very interesting contrast one day.  We went to visit a less active named Olga, and another less active came for the lesson.  We shared Pres. Uchtdorf's message "You Matter to Him".  We started reading it and Olga just stops us after the part where he quotes Moses and says that man is nothing.  She is like "Moses is wrong and so is this Uchtdorf guy".....we were like what?? that offended my soul a little bit, you can't say that Moses is wrong, he is MOSES!!! And Pres. Uchtdorf is Pres. Uchtdorf and you can't say that he is wrong either!  Then Olga just went crazy!! She is like, how dare he call us nothing! Look at us, we are made out of molecules and all this junk and goes on and on.  So we take control and read a couple more paragraphs that explain what he means and she liked that, but kept going on about how they were wrong that man is nothing. Then the other less active, Larissa, is like telling Olga to calm down and explains how she feels about it which was great and right in line with where we wanted to go with the lesson.  But Olga just couldn't let it go and kept arguing.  Long story short, Olga told Larissa that basically she was nothing and junk like that, and Larissa left basically in tears, but told us that she was happy to meet us.  So we didn't offend her or do anything wrong, but the situation was bad.  Olga just kept going and tried to tell us why she was right and how Larissa was wrong.  We pretty much just got up and were like "well, thanks!" haha we were nice, but abrupt.  It was the craziest situation and we realized how far she was away from the light of Christ.  Later that day we went to an older woman in our branch.  Her name is Anna and everyone calls her Mama Anna.  She is so adorable and probably one of the best people I have ever met.  She saves up her pension (like social security money) every year so that she can go to the temple.  Her and another lady in our branch go together and they save up enough money to go for 5 days, and they work in the temple from morning until night.  They can only afford to go once a year for a week, and they look forward to that week all year.  The contrast of being with angry Olga to angel Mama Anna was so drastic! One place was empty of the spirit, the other was so full of the spirit, it was almost tangible.  I love the temple and I miss going to the temple so much, but I don't know if I could handle 5 days straight in the temple, it would be exhausting! But these people here who don't get to go to the temple a lot, cherish their time there and I am so blessed to be able to hear their experiences!  There are some very special people here that I am getting to know, and it is such a priviledge to associate with modern pioneers.  Other than that crazy day, it was a great week.  Last week was Sister Johnson's birthday, so we had a few celebrations for that, complete with the Russian version of "Happy Birthday"! They have the version of the normal birthday song, but then they have this extra one that is pretty hilarious and fantastic.  The elders even led their english class in a round of happy birthday for her haha.  It was great.  We are hoping that our situation here is permanent and that we can just focus on both branches like crazy.  There is so much work to be done, it's overwhelming, but I am grateful to do it and I know that we are supposed to be here in these 2 cities.  When we lived in Nickoliav the first time, there were these 3 Babushki that would sit on this bench outside our apartment and always talk to us.  We saw them again this weekend and they were stoked! They were like, "girls!!! you are back!! we thought you left but you are here again and we are so glad!!" haha it was so funny.  They made us give them the rundown of what has been happening lately. Gotta love little moments like that.  Another cool experience was that we found out that the branch in Nickoliav worked hard to get missionaries back in the city.  They decided that if they all learned the First Discussion (the restoration), they knew that the missionaries would come back.  So they all learned how to teach The Restoration, and then we found out the apartment was good to go.  I love seeing people exercise their faith!!   It truly is a wonderful time to serve the Lord and assist in the gathering of Israel.  I am so grateful for the Savior and His sacrifice for us so that we can go return to Heavenly Father.  We have to work everyday at overcoming our weaknesses, but it is worth it as the Lord helps us.  I am very grateful for your prayers and support.  Some days are really hard and I just tell myself to keep going, but sometimes I receive extra strength that comes out of nowhere, and I know it is from the prayers at home.  So thank you all!!! The gospel is true and it always, always will be.  Have a great week!! Cectpa DeMille

back to Nickoliav

dearest family and friends   things are always changing in the life of a missionary, and last week was no exception! we got a call saying that the members in Nickoliav had found an apartment for us, and so we took Elder/Sister Maxwell with us to go check it out.  It's pretty nice, big, and good news, the electricity is fantastic and everything works.  So, we are moving back to Nickoliav on wednesday.  I feel like this transfer has just been a moving transfer, but hopefully we will have some stability soon.  We plan on spending equal time in Nickolaiv and Kherson.  Looking back, it was a big blessing we got to be in Kherson for a few weeks. It gave us a great opportunity to get to know the members here and to get a feel for the city.  Had we not spent time here a lot, we would have put Kherson to the back burner.  Now we know both cities fairly well, and starting to build relationships with members in both branches.  I have a feeling it is going to be craziness going back and forth, but craziness is awesome.  We had quite a bit of extra time this last week, so we went contacting a lot.  Contacting is hard, takes courage, you never know what you are going to get, but it feels good to do some finding and we had some great conversations with people.  We saw this one Babushka eating this ice cream thing, and we were like "cool, she is a babushka who likes ice cream, lets go talk to her" so we pretty much sat with her on a bench and had a 45 minute lesson with her haha.  I don't know how "interested" she is, but she loved what we had to say and she loved us.  We showed her a mini Strength of Youth pamphlet, and she lovveeedd it! She was like "we need to teach these things to the youth in ukraine! Look at this, i even just love the title of it!" haha we had a good laugh and it was great.  It's interesting to go around talking to people who are living normal lives, when we are set apart from the world.  But it's all part of the work and we love it.  Last week we helped the Maxwell's out with Family Home Evening, and we talked about the Plan of Salvation.  We gave the rundown of the plan, and then we topped it off with "Pin Yourself in the Celestial Kingdom"! Oh yeah, leave it up to sister missionaries to think of awesome games to play.  Haha the people loved it and it was a big success.  Yesterday President/Sister Nielsen came to church and it was their last time in Kherson, and my last time seeing them.  It was not cool to say goodbye to them, but these things happen.  Us missionaries up and  decided to do an accapella (spelling???) version of "God be with you til we meet again" it was pretty awesome and it brought tears to some people in the congregation. tears=success.  We met with a lot of members last week to get to know more people, and it was great.  We have been a big hit in Kherson, seeing as the last sister missionaries here were here in 2008.  So we really have tried to help the women and we love it.  There are some amazing people here and we are really trying to find the elect.  I hope you all are reading the Book of Mormon!! I finished Alma last week, and I love it love it.  I am so grateful for the power that the Book of Mormon brings into my life.  We are doing well, keeping busy, and working hard through the heat (it is hot!).  I love you all, you are in my prayers, and it is a great time to be on earth.  I passed my half way point last week, and I can't believe it.  I love you all!!   Cectpa DeMille

our toilet room haha

our mailbox

this should have been a sign as to how our apartment would be, but our mailbox was complete with pistachio shells

Crimea Zone Conference 18

my last day in zap.  sister cardon and me with Lydia

in nickolaiv just chatting with some babushki about the gospel

puss'n boots guarding our door

awesome graffitti

our bathroom in nickoliav haha it smelled like mold

from our balcony view in nickolaiv

the work continues

dear family and friends!

happy mothers day to all you mothers! it was a great day due to the fact that all of us missionaries got to talk to our families. good times! well, this past week has been busy.  we are trying to get adjusted to a new city (again) and figure out ways how we can help improve the branch here.  we had a few lessons with our one investigator (haha). her name is Elena and the elders were teaching her, but passed her to us.  she is very poor and doesn't have a job, therefore no money.  she says she is too sick to work, but who knows. besides that, she is really wonderful. she is very spiritual and accepts everything that we teach her.  we want her to get baptized, but who knows with her financial situation.  we taught about the Book of Mormon on one of the lessons and focused specifically on why we have the Book of Mormon and why we read it.  the spirit confirmed to me again just how important it is that we study and read the Book of Mormon daily and how big of a blessing it is in our lives.  i hope you all are reading everyday! if not, do it! i promise it will bless your life more!

we had a busy weekend because we went to zone conference in a city called Simferopol down in the crimean penninsula of ukraine. it was about an 8 hour drive each way, so a lot of traveling in 2 days, but zone conference is really awesome.  it's always awesome to see other missionaries and of course, pres./sis. nielsen.  we were definitely spiritually uplifted.  one of my favorite talks that was given was by sister nielsen, and she talked about miracles and paradoxes.  here are just a few: Christ died so that we can live.  think about that for a second. the only perfect person that ever lived, suffered for our sins and died so that we can live again.  amazing right? another one: Heavenly Father who is also perfect wants us who are so imperfect, to become like Him.  Pres. Uchtdorf talked about that in oct general conf. Man is nothing, but to God, we are everything.  Heavenly Father has such a strong love for us that He wants us imperfect humans, to become like Him as Gods.  His whole purpose is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life.  Sometimes it hits me how perfect His plan is for us! anyway, it truly was a great conference and we need spiritual boosts like that as missionaries.

Everything else here in Kherson is great. i really like this city and i feel that we can do a lot of work here.  sometimes it's overwhelming to think about, but it's exciting as well. i'm just grateful to be a missionary and to share the gospel.  pray that we can find the "elect"! in district meeting we talked about how everyday we try to find people to teach and somtimes it feels like a "weeding out" process. we just are searching and searching for those who are prepared.  we talked about how the missionaries in the scriptures faced a lot of opposition, just like missionaries do today. there are a lot of haters out there, but we aren't here for the haters. let the haters hate! we want to find those who are ready to change.  it's hard work, but wonderful.  russian continues to make us stretch and push everyday, but it's great.  we are trying our best and the Lord is helping us! i hope that this email finds ya'all well and healthy.  this gospel is true, and the work will go forth no matter how many "haters" come in our way.  i love you all!!!

cectpa demille

KHERSON!!

dear family and friends..   I thought our lives here couldn't get any more crazy, but oh how wrong i was.  Our week last week was going awesome.  we were meeting with less actives, contacting a lot, and really making progress with our branch in Nickolaiv.  Then friday rolls around and we get a call from Pres. Nielsen..he was like "sisters, i'm sorry but you're getting kicked out of nickolaiv." WHAT!!? long story short, there are some big problems with registration and the police department was making things really difficult, and denied to register us in the city.  so president told me that i was going back to Zap and sister johnson was going back to Nepper and we didn't know how long we would be there for. so we pack our bags and get ready to head out the next day.  we were soo sad. i loved zap, but both sis johnson and i knew we were supposed to be in nickolaiv.  so then saturday morning comes and president calls again and tells us that they worked it out so that we could move to Kherson (hersone).  we were sooo stoked! it's where we have district meeting once a week anyway, so it works out great.  the best part is that our apartment is like a palace! i feel bad because the elders who were living in it had to move out into the other elder's apartment, but they said its fine and stuff.  our apartment used to belong to a senior couple, so it is really nice.  i have a huge bed! we have electricity! and a washing machine that works!! it is great. seriously i almost cried when i saw it.  Kherson is a really clean more european city.  I love it so far!! The branch is quite small, but there is a lot of less active work for us and we will keep busy.  eventually we hope to be able to work here and again in nickolaiv and go back and forth.  there is so much work to do in both cities, so who knows.  i feel bad for the elders in nickolaiv, they got kicked out too and don't know when they are going back.  the government here really makes it hard for missionaries to do work.  sister johnson and i think that because there has been so much opposition here, we are definitely supposed to be here. satan tries to win and he loses!  another downfall.....mosquitoes. i am getting eaten alive.  i got bit a hundred times (ok a bit of an exaggeration, but a lot), and then i broke out into hives. yesterday i took a benadryl, and it made me sooo loopy. sister johnson wrote down everything that i said and it was really embarrassing and we both laughed really hard.  gotta love it. another super funny thing. we met with a less active in nickolaiv last week named Olyessa.  she is really awkward and it was funny. her prayer at the end was "dear heavenly father we are thankful for this day. in the name of jesus christ amen." then she looks at us and smiles and says "i don't pray for very long". hahaha we tried so hard not to laugh, it was great.  we told our branch pres there that we met with her and he was like "oh olyessa..she is one french fry short of a happy meal" hahahaha oh gosh, i love when ukranians can speak english and throw out random idioms.  so funny.  we also met with another less active and she wanted to pray at the end, but she didn't pray out loud. she kind of just looked at the ground...and 5 minutes later said amen. haha, long awkward silence.  love it! well the work will move forward we hope with not too many more interruptions.  i can feel all of your prayers and i really appreciate the support. please pray that we can stay here in kherson!! i hope all of you mothers out there enjoy mothers day coming up! the gospel is true and if we are on God's team we will always win. love you all!!!   cectpa demille