Sister Amanda DeMille

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