dear family and friends,
it was another busy week and I'm glad it's p day haha. Here are just a few of the highlights. So we made rice krispies for the picnic last weekend and everyone loved them, so we decided to do a demonstration of them on how to make them this week for a relief society activity. So we made coffee cake, demonstrated how to make rice krispies, and made rach dip with veggies. Oh man, they loved the ranch dip. They saw the veggies and then the dip. they were like "for what reason do we need this sauce with the vegetables?" and we just told them to try it! haha so they did and they immediately wanted the recipe. I explained that i just had a packet of ranch that my mom sent then i just mixed it with buttermilk and mayo and such. They were like, "okay we get that you made it with buttermilk and mayo. but what are these green things in it? and how do i make it?" haha we just settled on finding them a recipe online and translating it haha. it took a long time to get them to settle on that. but they liked everything and it was a good activity, even though only 3 women came. We also got to do service last week for this woman in Kherson that is re-modeling her house. She had us scrub walls to prep for wall paper, and i made a door frame out of mud and straw. yes, mud and straw. that's what her house is made out of! it's pretty awesome. i can check that off my mission bucket list now!!
things in nickoliav are also good. we have been finding new investigators from the Area Book and it has been really good. we had a few good lessons last week with new people. we are trying to follow up on other people that we have found. we have an investigator Vika here, and she is so great. i seriously love her, she has great faith and is such a good girl. She is 18, but she lives with her parents and her parents won't let her get baptized. she has been investigating for 3 years and she prays everyday that she can be baptized. We asked her what would happen if she just got baptized, and she said her parents would kick her out. Please keep her in your prayers! We don't really know what else to do besides pray for her. we asked her if we could meet her parents and if that would help, but she said no. so we just keep praying for her. she is so adorable. She has taken it upon herself to help us with our accents, so she has us read out loud and correct us on pronunciation and such. It is hard work and i feel like a five year old. haha, but i really do want to speak russian well and to sound well. sometimes i wonder if i will ever learn russian, but I tell Heavenly Father every day that He called me russian speaking, so I need help haha. It has been helping studying with our district and having Vika help us. learning russian is humbling all around. i hear people tell their cats and dogs something and the cats and dogs obey and do what the person says. Then i'm like "wait what did they say?" haha, so cats and dogs understand more russian than i do sometimes. russian will take a while, but hopefully before i leave this mission i will speak russian haha.
there is another girl in our branch here named Dasha. we have been helping her study Preach My Gospel, because she wants to serve a mission, she is also so adorable and asks amazing questions. she plays the piano really well and yesterday she played a musical number and it was "armies of heleman". i have heard that song a billion times, but i was really touched when i heard it yesterday. i think about the armies of heleman in the scriptures, and how heleman calls them his sons "because they are worthy to be called sons". and how even though they were young, they were exactly obedient, cared more about their father's lives than their own lives, and remembered what their mothers taught them. they pursued the lamanites with boldness and without fear. because of their diligence and obedience, not one of them died. some of them received wounds, but they all survived. the other armies with them all suffered losses. they were good armies and pretty obedient, but not like the armies of heleman. i compare it to life and to missionary work. through life we might receive wounds, be faced with danger, hardship, see losses, and have to make hard choices, but if we are obedient and diligent, we won't suffer in the end. there is a big difference between doing all that you can and being obedient, than just being a good person and following some of the commandments or something. i love the armies of heleman for their example to us. their parents were good, just like Nephi's parents. think of how many generations were saved because of the goodness of the parents, and the goodness of their sons. i love their example!!
i have realized something, that everyone in life faces hard things. i knew this, but on my mission it has become more apparent of how we can act when faced with something hard. i think of interruptions in life: some just happen, and some interruptions are "Godly". I read a talk recently about Christ's mother Mary, and John's mother Elizabeth. Both of these women experienced "Godly" interruptions. Elizabeth wanted a child for her whole life, and at the time when it was not the best time for her to be pregnant, she was pregnant. then there is Mary. she had ordinary dreams of having a family with Joseph, but wanted that time to be after they were married. she received a "Godly" interruption, and was informed that she was pregnant before marriage. I think of how these women handled their interruptions, and also their husbands. Godly interruptions can affect not only the person directly, but also their family and friends. But people like Mary and Joseph accepted this interruption, and handled it the best they could. I appreciate them for their examples of nobleness and relying on God. i know that sometimes interruptions are hard, whether it's a Godly interruption, or just a life interruption. But i know that we can take a look at these interruptions and amidst all the confusion and heartache, we can decide for ourselves how we will act and if we will rely on God. I really really know that if we rely on God, everything will be easier. He can see the big picture for us, and He wants what is truly best for us. I am grateful for the knowledge that we have of the Gospel and the comfort it brings. We all know our purpose, and that can bring us peace in hard times. I love you all and I'm grateful for your prayers and support! The work is moving forth, and remember that we are all Sons and Daughters of God! I love you all!!!
Cectpa DeMille
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