dear family and friends,

the work is going..slowly haha. i'm not going to lie to you all, it was a rough week but the work goes on and i'm still here trying to serve!  we only had a few lessons and did a lot of finding.  the one investigator we met with we are probably going to have to drop. she is so sweet and has progressed a lot, but basically told us she would never get baptized..so that doesn't leave us a whole lot to work with.  the one bright moment of the week happened yesterday, we were in a lesson with a former investigator, and her friend came over with her 2 sons.  her friend knew a bit of english and was so happy to meet 2 american girls and really liked us, and knew that we were mormons. i was about to ask for her phone number, but she took the initiative and invited us over as guests and wrote down her address/phone number. it was definitely a tender mercy from the Lord!  

it has been COLD! like i pulled out all of my winter gear and we wear it every night. not only does it keep us warm, but people are so proud of us girls that we are dressing warm haha.  it's very funny how much people can approve or not approve of the way we dress!  last week we had to do the final round of registration for my companion and it was great times with Olga our registration lady.  One funny moment happened the other night, we contacted this man and invited him to church and he couldn't understand anything either of us were saying haha. i thought, is my russian this bad? then he is like "you know, i have been drinking a little vodka so maybe that's why i don't understand. i will try to understand later!" haha it made us laugh.  we are working on having Charity and making that the whole basis of our work.  

other than that, its life as usual! i love the Book of Mormon, words of the Prophets, and I love studying and learning everyday.  I'm thankful to be serving the Lord and I know the gospel is true! I love you all! sorry this is short, hopefully in the future i will have more to write about.  thanks for your support!

sister demille



Shopping for shopkas




Modeling the Shopkas:)





family and friends,

not too much to report about last week, except zone conference.  we left here wednesday, stayed with the sisters in Kherson on wednesday night, and then we all got up bright and early to get on our train at 6 am.  unfortunately there was not a magical lady with a cart or kids in robes like on harry potter, but my comp and i and sister johnson and her comp sister kochel, were all in a "coupe" together. just a little room where we can chill basically.  we had a good time and we got in Simferopol around noon that day. we helped set up the branch for zone conference, studied, and went on splits that night with the sisters there. it was fun, but COLD! i thought down in the south in crimea it would be warm, but i was wrong.  zone conference the next day started at 8 am and went until 6 pm! it was amazing! it was such a pleasure to have Elder and Sister Bennett from the area 70 presidency with us.  we focused on having Charity and implementing that into our contacting and teaching.  we actually went out and contacted and our goal was to just have charity, and it was awesome! we are trying to just be more charitable and see everyone as children of God.  it was a great experience!  we all learned so much that day and the spirit was so strong! at the end of the meeting we had the opportunity to all share a short testimony, and the missionaries here are all so amazing and so strong! it was truly a special day and we are all trying to do better in our work because of it.  the cool thing was is that Elder Bennett and Pres. Van Bruggen have been friends since junior high! and Elder Bennett was a big influence on Sister Van Bruggen and her conversion at age 19.  She made a joke how the two pushiest people (her husband and Elder Bennett) that helped here into the church were in the same room as us! haha. it really was amazing and they are so humble and serve so well.  

this week i had a realization of how important your mission language is.  for me, it's russian haha. i used to think that "oh, people will be able to understand me and the spirit will just testify what i'm saying anyway" but i've realized now more than ever, that connecting with these people in every way possible has been such a blessing and so hard, but i learned and i love it.  russian used to be like an enemy, like a big wall that i would just try to climb around or under, instead of climbing over it and conquering it.  i am not a pro at russian nor will i ever will be, but i have been blessed to be able to communicate with them in their language in a way that they can understand me.  it has been a hard experience, but amazing nonetheless.  

we had an interesting experience last week. we decided to go see some churches of the main faiths here in Nickolaiv. so we went with the elders and our branch pres. was our "tour guide" and we saw 3 churches that are more like cathedrals.  they were beautiful and interesting, but you can tell the distinct differences between our faith and our churches and their faith and their churches. but i am glad that the people here worship and are devoted to faith, regardless of what it is.  the day was topped off with seeing a brand new car get blessed with holy water (it's a tradition to bless new cars). it was interesting!  

i am so thankful for the gospel and the peace it brings into our lives. i realize how many people are without the knowledge of the gospel and truth, and are wandering in darkness.  it's hard work to try to find the elect, but we are doing it to assist in the true gathering of israel.  i have seen so many blessings and miracles from being a missionary and i love it!  i know that God is watching over us and He is leading us and guiding us. He is more involved in our lives than we think!  sometimes the future is scary and unknown, but God will never forsake us as long as we are obedient.  I love you all and I'm so thankful for your support!  

cectpa demille



Pretty churches



                                                        Cute little Nastya! we love her



Sis Kochel and I having a sleep over



 

                                                     Party on the train! Sis Johnson and Kochel

family and friends,

this week was another week of missionary work, but it was a bit better than last week! update on the weather over here: we had a few really cold days-one night of contacting in the freezing rain haha-but now it's warm again! i don't get it! but it's okay and i'm fine with a few more warm days i guess.  it sounds like america is doing alright besides the hurricane in NY. crazy!  we have this religious discussion in english every thursday night and this nice boy that comes wanted us all to pray for the people in NY and we did and the spirit was great! i love little things like that.

well we didn't have too many lessons this week. we have been keeping in touch with ludmilla and now her husband calls us all the time and just loves us! way cool! but we haven't been able to meet with them yet.  the other night we called to see if they were home and we called ludmilla and no answer, so we called her husband Yuri, and he said "come on over!" i asked if ludmilla was home with him and he said "yes, she's here!" so we go over there and i asked again, ludmilla is in the house, right? and he said "yes!" so we walk in and he is like "luda! luda!" and she doesn't come out, so i'm like "is she here or not?" and he is like "no! she's not home! haha" and just starts laughing haha i couldn't even be mad that he was trying to be funny, but we made a quick exit seeing as that is against the white handbook.  

we had a few small miracles, but miracles nonetheless. we went to drop by an investigator randomly, and we happened to run into a girl that has been to church a few times and is friends with everyone there, but is not a member. we told her she should come to english and she said she couldn't, but when we went to english she was there, and we had a lesson with a member and her afterwards. it was so cool! i love tender mercies like that!  and then another day we again, decided to randomly drop by an investigator we hadn't been able to get ahold of. we rang the doorbell, no answer. but we looked down the street and she was walking down the street and was way happy to see us and we were able to meet with her the next day! it was great.  

we also had a great experience with a less active family last week. we went over there and the little girl named Nastya was sitting on the couch crying, so i just hugged her and we started the lesson. she just perked right up and started smiling and laughing and told us that even though their family life was hard, she knew everything would be okay. her mom bore her testimony in relief society about it yesterday and thanked us for coming over and recognized that the whole spirit changes when the missionaries come over. it was touching and made me really happy!

in english last week we taught everyone "trick or treat, trick or treat, give me something good to eat!" they laughed pretty hard and loved it. and i don't know how but one of them found out my first name and called me "amandeshka!" (refer to "cutsie form" from last weeks email". i had to tell him not to say that, but it did make me laugh pretty hard.  

so this week we are going to Simferopol and Elder Bennett from the 70 is coming, he is over the Eastern European area. it should be cool! i'm nervous though because i had to send my passport away to get my registration renewed and we are supposed to take our passports with us if we travel to another city. i hope i don't get pulled over by the cops and get thrown in jail! haha. but we are all taking a "wagon" in a train down with the Kherson missionaries too, so it should be a party on a train. also, the other night our neighbors decided to throw a party and i fell asleep to loud singing and dancing! haha it was pretty hilarious and annoying and funny.  

well, i just wanna say that i know the scriptures are true! i am reading the book of mormon for the 6th time on the mission and i still learn new things everyday and i love it! a little girl named Eve (5 yrs old) bore her testimony yesterday and said "i know the book of mormon is true. and so is the bible. and they are both very interesting!"-i second that! they are interesting, and true! and that's the beauty of it all.  i know the gospel is true, that's why i'm here! i love you all and i know the Lord is watching over us and He is spreading His gospel through the whole world! keep up the good lives you are living over there, i love you!!

cectpa demille



Sis. Dickison, Olga, Sis. DeMille




Us looking nasty after contacting in the freezing rain



The Sisters and the Elders



                                                    jack our jack-o-lantern-orange haha



                                                                  just a bit of scenery