family and friends,

well this week started off a new year and we were on quarantine! it was pretty awesome. we did a lot of cleaning and organizing, ate a lot of good food (scones/honey butter, wassail, chicken with potatoes and carrots, and some chocolate). The fireworks on new years eve were CRAZY. It was a warzone! I woke up out of a deep sleep and thought we were seriously being bombed. Then i remembered if i was not a missionary, i would be out with the normal people watching the fireworks! I got up and took a sneak peek and they were pretty. Ukranians love fireworks, and the bigger and louder, the better haha. They are still lighting them off every night haha. But it was pretty funny, just really loud. It was hard to get back into the swing of things on wednesday, but it was a good week.  The "work" is still moving slow, but we are having some luck finding old contacts and investigators, and our less-active work is on the up and up. 

I love my district here (which consists of myself, my companion, and a set of elders haha) and we are calling ourselves "the january district" haha. we made a lot of good goals this week as a district and for the branch, and we are determined for fulfilling the goals!  My district leader also decided to make a "fun" goal, which consisted of-and i quote!- "sister demille baking treats for the elders every week." hahaha gotta love it.  

We had a great lesson with a less active this weekend, and she was expressing how she wasn't really happy when she was active, and went through phases of happiness/unhappiness.  So we posed a question to her, "what is happiness?" i thought about it a lot. like real, true happiness, what is it? i came up with a lot of different answers because it depends on the phases of life we are in and such, but i can honestly say on my mission i have been TRULY happy. it doesn't mean it hasn't been hard and i haven't been bubbly/cheery all the time, but i have really been happy, and i owe it all to living the commandments of the gospel.  commandments truly make us free, instead of restrict us.  I see the real effects of sin around me and i am more grateful everyday for a Loving Heavenly Father who knows us better than we know ourselves, and He has given us a plan to be truly happy.  The gospel is perfect! It isn't easy proclaiming the gospel and teaching and calling people to repentance, but it really is the ONLY way we can return to Heavenly Father.  I hope the new years thus far has treated you all well, and it's going to be a great year for the work of the Lord to move forward!  I love you all and you are all in my prayers!!

Cectpa DeMille