April 5: Thompsons

Hello and Happy Easter Grandma and Grandpa!

I love you! How was your Easter? Flowers must be beautiful and I sure miss the dogwoods. I see them when we show the Restoration video and I am reminded of our lovely home and the beautiful trees that dot the south-glorious creations of our Heavenly Father. Well, I have a lot to update you on. It was a crazy weekend. I hope you are reading these e-mails slowly so you can understand.

I was serving with a mini-missionary, not a full-time missionary, a regular Ukrainian girl who was baptized 4 - 5 months ago. She is 21. (You have to be 18 to serve a mini mission) Well, it is basically to help the sisters here serve in more areas. They serve anywhere from 2-6 weeks depending on there schedule. She could only do 2 weeks. Which was supposed to be today. We had a great time! She is a wonderful, amazing person! I love her very much. On Friday, she got a call from her grandma telling her she had to return home. Her mother is living in New York right now, working for a few months, so she had to go to her mother's house to protect a few things. I don't know the story; I just know it was really urgent. I called our leaders and asked what I should do. I needed a companion. We tried to decide, but it was rather urgent. Due to the haste, they sent me to Lviv where I am now serving in a trio.

It’s hard, and I'm trying to enjoy this change. I love L'viv. This is my third random visit to this city. It seems my fate to end up here. My goal is to just serve where I am and to love it and just do what I can. My heart is in Xmelnetsky with the people I was working with there though.

So, now we are searching for a companion, who will also be a mini-missionary. Or I'll just stay here, living out of a suitcase that I had approximately 20 min. to pack while trying to prepare a cake for our Relief Society birthday, buying other refreshments, finding someone else to share the history of Relief Society, finding a teacher for primary, and paying rent. Then, we had a challenge of which transportation to take. We could have gone by train, bus, autobus, or taxi. We tried all 4 options only to be disappointed with the results of all of them. In the end, we took a taxi. Defiantly the more expensive, but it was worth the drive. The peace to Sister Yarova and the beautiful Ukrainian countryside were nice. It was also Saturday, the day before the Resurrection where Ukrainians take baskets of food and Pascka (it's their traditional Easter bread/cake) to the church to get blessed by the priest. It was so beautiful to see people walking all throughout the country to the churches carrying little baskets with small-embroidered towels covering their food. Ukrainians are beautiful. So, I spent Easter in L'viv! We had a nice lunch after our fast and then handed out "Living Christ" brochures in the cities center where thousands of people were just walking around! It was such a great afternoon. Now, today I get to experience a western Ukrainian tradition. I haven't heard the name yet, but it’s basically the day after Easter when everyone gets soaking wet. We have a branch activity where we were warned without the possibility or ability to take defense. I'm probably going to be soaking wet all day today! I'm glad I get to experience so much tradition during this craziness. I heard that people just dump out water from the balconies and just splash any innocent bystander walking on the street. Also, complete strangers will drench you in water as you pass by without warning or pretense.

Well, that is my news. We had a great Easter party in Xmelnetsky before I left. It was so much fun. We actually had an Easter egg hunt and dyed a few eggs and played lots of games. It was a great turnout. Then on Sunday our numbers dwindled to 13 again—4 of them were elders.

Well, I love you! I am thankful to serve wherever God needs me I just hope that I can learn and be better and not waste any opportunities.

I know the church is true. We will get to watch conference this next week. I'm excited to hear what council we are given. I am thankful to have a prophet and I'm glad that I know that he was called by God. He is his mouthpiece. I love to study the words they speak to us. I love the Lord. I love the Church. I love the prophets and apostles. I love the scriptures! I am so thankful for the power of prayer and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The gospel is such an amazing blessing and I just wish it were easier for people to see and accept it. It is for everyone. But, for now we will just try to find those who are ready.

Well, I have much to learn and many ways to grow...so...I should probably start figuring out what's next!

I love you!

Please pray for me!

Sister Murphy