Hello Family!

Hello again on this beautiful Monday morning.

Happy Birthday again Grandma!   You probably know now that the "parcel" is from me!  YAY!!  Well, I hope it is and that you received the "parcel" I sent.

So, here we drink a lot of tea, and you might as well get started because when I get home that is something I probably will crave!  I'm sure there are some nice fruit/herb teas there.  I was always cautious to drink tea because I never knew which one was harmful to our bodies, but I've heard now that it is just red and black tea or maybe it's black and green.  Hmm…The colors red and black in Ukrainian sound just a like so, I'm always confused.  

Anyways, there is this weird food I sent home that is actually very tasty.  We enjoyed it one night with a cup of blueberry tea—hot chocolate might be just as good!

Another temple in Italy!  That's awesome!    Arkansas will come.  We have to build up Zion first.  We need to activate and prepare for the temple and then baptize!!

Tell the Williamsons hi and I hope you enjoy their company tonight.  

I think we had one day in the forties; it's getting cold.  It's almost Winter.  I was given a coat by one of the senior missionary couples who left at the end of August.  However, it's just a little too big.  So we are going to find someone who can hem it up just a little bit for me.  I think it will be difficult, but I don't really want to buy a coat, so maybe I'll just layer up and deal with it.

My suspicions were right!  I am now in Bila Tserkva.  I live in a little house.  It’s cute. Well, it's home.  Our land lord invited us to try her tomatoes and apples!  I'm excited about that.  The heat will be turned on this week!  I'm also very excited about that!  We've been using our gas stove and turning it on in the morning.  Fun times!  My companion is Armenian, which means she is very beautiful! . She is very nice. She speaks Armenian and I guess they learn Russian sometime in school or something.  She understands probably a majority of Ukrainian because, well, she's serving in Ukraine.  She also understands English, I think.  But, she speaks to me in Russian, so I'm learning to understand Russian. Hooray for opportunities.

It will be a challenge to communicate.  We have some high goals, but we want to be obedient and have the dedication to work.  I'm excited about this transfer.  IT STARTED THIS MORNING!  So, here we go.  I have an extremely happy companion.  VERY POSITIVE and that is what we are--very positive that we are going to find people to teach!  Pour your hearts out in prayer for us this week.  I love you!

Bila Tserkva is south of Kiev.  I don't know how to describe it.  It's smaller for sure.  We work with two small branches.  Many of the priesthood holders have been in jail. (I think they were in the Russian mob or something).  We also have 2 companionships of elders (2 elders in each branch = 4).  It's going to be a great transfer.  They are fun elders!  Today I think we are going to go bowling!  We'll see if we have time.

I know there are so many people here who need the gospel.  I want to share it with them.  I want them to find the true and simple path to our Savior.

We have a baptism on Saturday!  She is a beautiful lady!  Her name is Halina.  She is super excited about the gospel.  We are also working with another couple.  They come from a very humble background - it's been easy for them to accept the gospel, just difficult for them to understand.

It was hard to leave Borshahivsky.  It's a beautiful family ward, we had a beautiful apartment, and we walked by the temple every other day.  We had amazing people we were teaching...

Marina is having difficulties.  Her husband doesn't trust her.  Her son was sick and she had to miss church and other things.  We asked her if she would like him to receive a blessing.  On Monday we brought the Elders and had a nice visit until she received a text message from her husband.  He left a web camera so he could hear what would happen.  Well, we still believe in miracles.  So, we are praying to continue meeting with her and that her husband will also open his heart.  We met her on a Marshutka (bus).

Valentina is a super woman.  Her baptism is scheduled in 2 weeks.  She came with us to a very fun Ukrainian wedding reception!  She comes to church every Sunday.  We met her on the street!

We also taught English to two other wonderful ladies, Vika and Lana, but they wanted to learn more about the gospel right a way.  Lana is darling.  She is going to do a Ukrainian TV show about dieting.  Her husband left her because she wasn't as skinny as most tiny Ukrainians.  She is beautiful.

I hope they will both continue in the gospel and that I will see them again soon maybe at their baptisms!

We have a lot of work to do!

I never got to tell you about the crazy wedding we had.  Or other amazing stories...

Here is one.  We were on the way home from an appointment and there was this beautiful older woman who got on the bus.  She had two huge baskets.  She was coming from the cello (village where people have gardens and small homes).  She had baskets of fruit and flowers.  I told her how beautiful they were.  She held them up so I could smell them.  Lovely!  She didn't know what kind of flowers they were.  I told her they were marigolds in English, but they were HUGE!  My companion asked her about her family.  She is taking care of her parents—they are really old.  I gave her a calendar with the picture of Ukrainians beautiful temple.

Then, she dug in her basket and pulled out two of the biggest pears I have ever seen and said HERE!  She was the nicest lady I've ever met on a bus!

I absolutely love being a missionary.  It's such an amazing opportunity to build up Zion.  I am thankful that I don't have to do it alone.  Zone Conference was amazing.  I learned so much about missionary work and how to be an effective missionary.  This week Sister Nakashawn and I set some high goals and we are going to try to work to "punish our feet for supporting us" and incorporate what we can into our service this week.

I am thankful for every opportunity I have and I hope to grow and learn and always find ways to improve.  I'm excited to be in Bila Tserkva.  Yesterday, I saw two wonderful branches that can grow.  Today I saw many people who probably have no idea how much their Father in Heaven loves them.

I'm excited to find!  Even now, I'd much rather go out and see who wants to come to our baptism on Saturday than write e-mails.  I hope you have a great day!

One other thing: I don't want to be so boring.  What can I do to be more excited; besides learning the language...I'm still working on that.   I want to be happy (well I am happy) but I want to make others happy and when people are wrong, I want them to know I love them and that they change.

I love you! 

I hope you have a wonderful week.  Thanks for everything!  You two are the best!  Enjoy your yummy meals and your cute puppies!

Well, that is Chac. 

Love,

Sister Murphy