Important Instructions on sending Amy Letters: PLEASE READ!

MAIL & PACKAGES FROM HOME

 Instructions on how to send mail to Ukraine Kyiv Missionaries

Very Important— Do Not Put The Words  “Ukraine Kyiv Mission” on PACKAGES.  If you put “Ukraine Kyiv Mission” as part of the address, they think it is coming to a business and customs charges are so high that the package will be returned to you.   (Exception:  Pouch Mail – See Below)

 

When you mail Packages – KEEP THEM SMALL.  Along with all their own bags and books, missionaries must often carry the packages and letters on public transportation and then on foot to other missionaries, many who live in outlying areas.  It is better to send two small packages rather than one large one.  Put your Missionary’s first and last name on the package.

Do not require your missionary’s signature in order to pick up the package.

We find the U.S. Mail flat rate box or large padded envelopes work the best for packages.

Please be aware that packages sent through U.S. Mail to the addresses below should reflect a customs value of less than $99 – a higher value will be charged at least $100 customs fee.  Your missionary will have to pay this fee to obtain the package.  The Mission Office does not pay custom fees.  Please remember any package sent across U.S. borders is subject to possible opening and inspection by Customs.  When declaring items, be general and simple.  Examples:  “supplies,” “personal items” and “household items.”  You may be asked to list the items included—if so, list everything.  Do NOT bother to insure, as you could never collect over here.  Packages usually take several weeks to arrive.

We do not recommend Federal Express or DHL or other express services. 

 

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Use this address for ALL LETTERS AND PACKAGES :   

AMY MURPHY

vul. Yabluneva 1

s. Sofiivska Borshahivka

Kyevo-Svyatoshinskiy rayon

Kyivska oblast  08131

UKRAINE        

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POUCH  MAIL: 

The Church provides pouch mail service to countries where other mail service may not be reliable.  Each country regulates this service differently, and the Church must comply w/ these regulations in order to avoid finds and cessation of this service.  

Only postcards or letters that are single sheet, folded into 3 panels, and taped at the top only may be sent through the pouch service. (DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS BELOW)

Any mail/letters sent from home through the Church Pouch to your missionary must be a single sheet of  copy paper (notebook paper is too flimsy) folded in thirds with the open section up where the stamp is.  You can only use one sheet of paper.  Tape the open end at the top with one or two small pieces of tape.  Stamp and address as follows:  

The missionary’s name

Ukraine Kyiv Mission

P.O. Box 30150

Salt Lake City, UT  84130-0150.  

(For Pouch Mail, using the name of the Mission is very important as all the missions have the same P.O. Box in Salt Lake City.)

(Please include your name & address in the top left corner.)

Instructions for making a 3-panel fold (basically it's like how you'd fold a business letter but if you are still confused read on):

1. Lay the blank side of the letter (single sheet) facing down w/ the writing facing you.
2. Fold the top of the letter about 1/3 of the way down & crease.
3. Fold the bottom of the letter to the top of the first fold and crease.
4. Use two pieces of tape or two sticker tabs on the top to secure it, not more than once inch from each side, but do not seal the ends.
5. Do not include any other items w/in the letter.
6. In the top left corner, write your name & address.
7. Affix a stamp in the top right corner.
8. In the middle, write the following:

Sister Amy Murphy

Ukraine Kyiv Mission

P.O. Box 30150

SLC, UT 84130-0150

Some families use “DearElder.com”  (A free service which uses the Pouch Mail.) (see side bar for instructions or email Sandy)

Email from Amy's Mission President

Greetings from Kyiv Ukraine!  Your wonderful missionary arrived here safe and sound after a plane delay.  After we picked up the Elders and Sisters we visited the St. Vladmir Statue.  Very near this site Elder Boyd K. Packer dedicated the land of Ukraine to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ on 12 September 1991.  (This happens to be Amy's mother's birthday!!!)

We also visited downtown Kyiv, ate at a Ukrainian Buffet and after orientation ate dinner with the new missionaries at the mission home.  Tomorrow is Zone Conference(a meeting for all the missionaries in the Mission), then your missionary will be on her way to her new area.  Sister Murphy will be serving with Sister Movchanyuk in Borshahivsky near the site of the new temple which is being constructed..

There is a letter from your missionary on its way to you to be sent Friday in the POUCH mail.  However, it may not reach you for about two weeks.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at this Pouch address.

Ukraine Kiev Mission

P.O. Box 30150

Salt Lake City UT 84130

Sincerely,

President Lane O. Steinagel and Sister Jennefer Steinagel

Amy is in Ukraine!

This was taken in Kyiv, Ukraine at the site for the LDS Temple.  You can see the temple in the background.  It is scheduled to be completed towards the end of 2010 but any actual dates have not been announced by the church. If you'd like to learn more about LDS temples I'd recommend this great video by our church: 

Click HERE

The couple in the picture with her is the Ukraine Kiev Mission President Lane Orin Steinagel, 47 and his wife Jennefer Slade Steinagel.  They both grew up in Sacramento but reside in Provo, Utah and have voluntarily agreed to serve in Ukraine for 3 years guiding and teaching the missionaries w/o monetary compensation.

This is a digital rendering of what the temple will look like when completed.  It is beautiful!

According to LDSChurchTemples.com, "Though only recently introduced in 1991, the Church has grown steadily in this eastern European nation. At 8,500 members strong, the Church in Ukraine reached a milestone on May 30, 2004, when Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of organized the first stake (Our church is organized into regional units across the world called stakes and in each stake is broken down into wards) of seven wards in Kyiv. Elder Nelson blessed members to love their neighbors as Christ that many more stakes might be organized. He also encouraged them in their family history work in preparation for the temple.³

During a trip to Europe in 2002 that included the rededication of the Freiberg Germany Temple and dedication of The Hague Netherlands Temple, President Gordon B. Hinckley visited with the Ukrainian saints. 

The announcement of the temple came just a week prior to the dedication of Ukraine's first meetinghouse in Donetsk on June 28, 1998.⁵

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3. Shaun D. Stahle, "Kiev members revere historic moment," Church News 5 Jun. 2004: 6.
5. "A temple in Ukraine," Church News 8 Aug. 1998: 3.

This is another picture of the whole group who came from America w/ Amy.  Her companion, Sister Howell is on the right.  They both have been placed with other sisters who have been serving for a longer period of time and can provide more intensive language training and advice on sharing the message of the Savior with the Ukrainian people.  

Sister Murphy will be serving with Sister Movchanyuk in Borshahivsky near the site of the new temple which is being constructed.

June 23: (Sorry it's late)

йцуккенгшщзхїфівапролджєячсмитьбю.
добре ден!  -   ранок!!!
я люблю вас!
сьогодні!
Sorry, don't mind that if you can even read it.  I wanted to use the cyrillic keyboard.

Good Morning!  I love you!  and Today!

So, yesterday we had the language countdown.  I told Sandra what my last word was but, it's quite immature for a missionary and I'd rather have you think I'm respectable!  I didn't think of it, it just slipped.  I had really decided to let my last words of english not be english at all.  I had said "Now" in Ukrainian and "ready!"  and then, we had 3-2- and out it came.  But, thats okay.  CTO (100) % Ukrainian for the next few weeks and my district is CTO(100)% dedicated.  We have decided to be the best district at speaking strictly in Ukrainian.  I'm also working on making my dreams in Ukrainian, but those are a little bit harder to control.  Maybe one day soon.  I'm not perfect.  I let the word stomach slip during breakfast.  Sometimes I don't think as fast as I speak (which is crazy because I'm already speaking Ukrainian very POVILHO (slowly).)

Well, Happy Father's Day!  The days kind of creep up on us here, so I'm sorry I wasn't better prepared.  I love you all and I'm thankful for all that you do!  Speaking of creeping days.  We have 2 weeks left here in the safety of our "school"  --  CRAZY.

Well, I already don't have much time left.  I've talked a little bit about my district.  I love how much we support each other.  I really feel unified.  It's not that difficult with only 5 missionaries and 2 companionships, so I cannot compare our district to the other districts.  I'm so luck though, and I just love my companion!
So, now I'll tell you about our teachers:
Sis. GeorGeivia (the most difficult name to pronounce, and the G's are actually almost like h's)
She is from Ukraine!  Her birthday was yesterday!  She is probably 29.  She is a convert to the church and has been a member for about 10 years.  She also served a mission in Kyiv and is amazing.  She is very hard on us BUT, I LOVE IT!  She is bold, strong, and wants the best missionaries.  She has been training all Ukrainian speaking missionaries and even Russian missionaries who serve in the Kyiv mission for 2.5 years.  She really is the best teacher here (we are told that by almost every supervisor and branch leader).  She gets results in obedience and language learning.  I love her!   

Oh no, time is up.  

The two other teachers are male and they served in Kyiv as well.  They are Americans and are very funny, but very supportive and amazing!  They tone it down a bit when we feel overwhelmed and frustrated.  One of them is our tutor so, we don't see him as much but, he helps us more on our needs.  He just got engaged.   Well, there was a whole lot more I wanted to tell you!   I love you all.

Things are going great here, only one more week.

Lots of Love,

CECTPA MURPHY

June 30: Amy's final week in the MTC

Well,

What a week...filled with all kinds of adventures.  I hope I have time and abilities (really fast typing skills) to tell them all to you!

I'll start with the most awesome news.  We had an amazing week BECAUSE it was mission President training.  Maybe a 100 newly called mission presidents and their wives were here for training and the MTC loves them. The MTC goes all out for them, or maybe they go all out because the teachers of the MTC presidents are the Apostles and Prophets.  So, it was just amazing knowing that although we couldn't see them, President Monson and the other Brethren were walking around somewhere.  Then, on Friday night we had an amazing devotional.  SO amazing that Sister Howell and I had to sing in the choir so we could get the best seats.  We weren't sure who would speak to us but, rumors were Elder J.R. Holland.  We waited patiently.  

This is what happens at devotionals:  We are supposed to be seated at least 15 mintues early (and usually it's a battle to find enough seats so we keep pushing up the arrival time).   At 6:45 everyone is seated (which means at least 1,000 missionaries)  and we sing.  We always have an amazing organist and it's just beautiful.  During the singing our guests arrive and take their seats on the stand.  First walks in Elder L. Tom Perry!  (He is the Chair of the Apostle's Committee on missionaries.)  He is adorable.  Next, Elder Neil Anderson and Elder Quinton L. Cook walk in together, followed by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Elder Christofferson and Elder Bednar!!!  The last Apostle to walk in was our amazing motivating speaker - Elder Holland.  Can you imagine how amazing this meeting was?  

He talked about the Holy Ghost and teaching!  Believe me when I tell you I am not a very good teacher and I will be teaching the most important lessons anyone will ever receive in their lives.  It is my responsibilty to use effective questions, be enthusiastic, and help them realize how improtant the Gospel is to them.  I've realized I haven't been very effective at that.  Why is this church so important?  Why does it matter that there are living prophets on the Earth?   What does it mean when I say Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ? 

There are hunderds of answers to these questions-personal, vague or standard.  We all have a responsiblity when we teach someone about the Gospel to be bold.  I'm working on developing more love for everyone - Christlike love.  He of course wants all of God's children to return to Him.  Why else would He suffer and sacrifice His life in humility.  He did it for every single person I meet.  We all can help others return to Him.  We are dealing with the Salvation of God's children.  I cannot make mistakes, but I do and HE loves me still!

Another tangent: Will said in a letter:  "I'm glad you are getting a handle on the language..."   I need to answer that.  I have confidence that the Lord will help me with what I do not know and what I need.  I'm working hard and progressing a lot (not because of what I'm doing only because I will be teaching HIS children).  But, I know I have a WHOLE lot of work to do.  Pray that I will have an amazing trainer, MAYBE A NATIVE!!!  Well, I know the Lord will give me what I need.  I know that I have to be diligent and have faith.  What an opportunity!  I'm serving Christ - I am a representative of Christ.  When I read that I think, No way.  I'm not worthy to do that.  But, who is?  No one.  Yet, He needs us.  So, we have to put our Hearts, Might, Mind and Strength into serving the Lord!

I love every single day, even the days when my district goes crazy!  (We do...)
I especially love my teachers (Sister G.)
She is really stressing over us.  I'm a little worried about her health.

I love the missionaries I serve with, especially my companion!  I'm going to miss her - 3 months and then split. 

O goodness, time flies!!!  Like what I'll be doing Tuesday morning at 8:35 am.  I'm leaving!  It's probably a 2-day flight.  We go to NY, Austria, then Kiev.

Tell andrew I said Hi.

Tell, the ward I'm sorry I haven't been the greatest at writing!

It's crazy busy.

TELL EVERYONE I LOVE THEM!

I LOVE YOU!

Can you believe I'm going to Ukraine?

I'm a missionary?

WOW!

Love

Cectpa Murphy

p.s.  I think about you a WHOLE lot more.  I just cannot write you!

Random Short Spurts to Family...ENJOY!

Grandma & Grandpa,

What a wonderful e-mail from you!  DUBNO, I love you!  (I'm not going to tell you what DUBNO means and I doubt you'll be able to translate.  I'll give you a hint: it's a WEIRD word!)  Your the best!  HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!   I think I missed it.  Days are all flying together.  I don't even know what day I'm on until we plan at night.  Life is so wonderful here!  I want a garden.  You need to teach me all your tricks.  Funny story.  So the MTC and the temple of course have beautiful grounds.  Every day they have people working on them changing flowers or nurturing trees.  It's amazing  AND It's lovely.  I don't know that much about flowers or trees but, you have taught me a lot more than most other missionaries here.  (APBiology helped a little bit too.)  When we walk around studying I can identify the trees and flowers and my district looks at me like I'm some crazy nature lover.  (I totally am).  

Primary is the best.  I miss kids.  Every time we are on the field working out, running, or walking I stop to say hi to the kids walking to their friends or something.  The best.   On Sundays there are always families taking pictures at the temple too or families in the branch presidencies, the cutest kids, dressed in their little suits and stuff.  I like seeing them!

I love you!

Have lots of fun with Joyce and Kevin.  Tell them how wonderful they are and of course I love them too!  (ZVIDhANO)

DObPE DeHb!
My companion and I are being really productive today.
Have I told you how amazing my companion is.  My biggest fear (Will helped funnel it) was that I wouldn't get a long with my companions.  The Lord definitely blessed me with an amazing companion!  She puts up with me and makes life so much easier.  I only have 10 minutes left so I'm going to type extremely fast.  DObRE!
Well, an amazing week.  Last Tuesday Elder Bednar spoke to us!  It was the most wonderful talk ever.  He talked about feeling the influence and understading the Holy Ghost.  It was simple.  His instructions were this:  Be a good boy, be a good girl, keep the commandments, and the Lord will work through you.  If you can find it, read it.  Wednesday we had more Russian, Ukrainian, and Armeanian Missionaries come!  I LOVE THEM.  Everyone is a convert to the church.  (10 years are less)  There are 7 (5 sisters & 2 elders).  One Elder will be going with us to Kyiv!  Oh, Kyiv has some amazing dress ties.  Every missionary and teacher from Kyiv wears the most beautiful ties I have ever seen.  

The other Elder just got Quarintined.  He has the flu.  So sad.  BUT, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory of Music - and is a renowned concert pianist.  They all have amazing sense of humors and they are super patient with my efforts to speak to them!  I occassionaly say some pretty crazy things - then we just laugh like crazy.  Oh, I gave my first talk in Ukrainian on Sunday.  Pretty exciting.   I'm in charge of the music in the branch, go figure.  It's nice, I get to force all of our new elders into singing and playing.  (Although I don't have to force anyone, everyone here wants to particpate and do everything!) 

Pres. Monson's daugther was here Sunday.  I shook her hand!  She told us some funny stories!

I have some amazing experience in the RC (people call in for free Book of Mormons or DVDs.)  I wish I had time to tell you about them.  My district is amazing.  We are having way too much fun.  Ukrainian is fun.  We are being blessed way beyond our means.  Although, I still have a lot of work left to do.

LOVE YOU LOVE YOU ALL!

Thanks for your support!

Love.

CeCTPA MURPHY!

Sandra & Will,
Thanks so much for the package...TOO MUCH FOOD.  I shared half of it with my district so, plenty of it has been taken care of.  Did I tell you I wanted popcorn? THE BEST!  Thanks!  I am healthy as oppossed to half of the MTC.  Um, I do eat a lot!  The food is okay and there is always a selection.  Don't worry, I'm not gaining weight yet!  You seriously need to try this schedule.  It's amazing how much you can do in one day.  I'm also so alert.  Try it for a week.  I DARE YOU!  

I'm going to judge Will, that's what sister-in-laws are for.  I could care less if he was a calligrapher his handwriting is still disgusting.  JUST KIDDING.  Will, I praise you everytime I talk about you.  

Love you both!

CeCTPA

Amy's latest letter

A short email to her sister followed by the longer one to everyone:

The Lord will heal us in our infirmities!

So, I like what you said, it's even more June now.  Indeed.  I love it
This is just my first e-mail today.  We are going to divide it.  So let me tell you first.  I'm am going to use the Lord's time wisely.  We have four weeks left (I'll get into that into my next e-mail) and Have a lot more work to do.  We have a new group of 80 missionaries all learning Russian and we'll be getting Native Ukrainians who will be trained in 4 weeks (since they already know the language).  So, we will all leave about the same time but, all of us will be on different flights since we'll be going to different places.  You should find some of the prophecies about this mission!  Crazy stuff!  This is really where we will Gather Israel.  By the way, I've heard that they moved the temple dedication back.  Do you think that if I am the best I can be and really learn the language, I can speed the process along?  Or is there more at stake than missionary work?  

So, this is the hardest thing I've ever done!  I'm doing ok.  I could be much better though.  It's hard to work w/ 2 other companions.  We all have different strengths, different ideas of work, of plans, and of what we need to do.  And one of us isn't even learning Ukrainian.  I will not be successful if I don't love them and see the necessity of change.
So, I'm only going to write one big e-mail.  I'm going to be bold too.  Good!

Sisters leave a lot of stuff, so I'm going to send you some crazy stuff I found but, it'll be fun!

Also, I found a German MTC workbook.  Some of it has been used but, wouldn't you like to look at it?  What do you think?  Also I found some Spanish dictionaries and another spanish MTC book.  Does  you or Will want that?  I love the give away box.  We have a nice collection of shampoo, conditioner, soap, and BUBBLES!  (R HE ZHAU)  (I don't the english version of the cyricllic alphabet.  It doesn't quite work.)  Well, you asked when we get mail.  2 x a day: Lunch & Dinner (ObID i  BECHIPR).  I'll save the more exciting stuff for the other letter.  

Love you strongly (I'll explain more of this later!)

CECTPA  M.

This is the longer email she referred to above:

DObPE DENb!   Moi  CHEDOVY CIM'R

I wish I could write to you all today ALe (but,)  I didn't use my time productively today.  SO, I'm going to type as fast as I can. Please (BUDLACKA)  excuse (VUBAhaTU)  my random thoughts and my attempt to write amazing Ukrainian words (CLOBO) using the English alphabet.  I would write to you all in Ukrainian, but that would take me15 months and, I've still got a lot (bAHATO) to learn. 
Um...weeks are like roller coasters.  You love every minute except for the minutes you want to get off.  BUT, Missions are way better than roller coasters...
This week my companion got sick.  She developed bronchitis, but it wasn't the swine flu!  YAY!  Seriously crazy infulenza.  The MTC was crazy this past week.  It was so packed, but missionaries are finally leaving and I'm so excited for all the good they will be doing.  

Oh, my companion, so of course we all had symptoms (it's all psychological.) But, she woke up Saturday and just felt terrible so, we had to go to the BYU health clinic  (MTC's hc is closed on Sat.) and she received three perscriptions and sleep orders.  So, that's what we did.  I absolutely love my companion and I really did enjoy the opportunity to serve her.  NO LIE!  PLUS, I actually got to get organized and review this crazy wonderful language while she slept.  Our teacher made her promise that she would courageously brave her illness and be in class on Monday.  Of course we were.  Our other poor elders (remeber Job?) - Elder Behunnan has had a rough recovery from his surgery and also missed class on Tues - Saturday.  That pulled out a companion - (stay together right).  Needless to say this little Ukrainian District has got to do a lot of work the next four weeks.  FOUR WEEKS.  Can you believe it?  July 6 is when we leave.  I know to you that seems like a long time.  BUT it isn't.  These weeks fly by so fast I'm going crazy thinking about being in Ukraine.  

The good news:
We received about 90 new missionaries last week.  They are wonderful.  Sacrament meeting was just fabulous!  Bad news: they are all learning Russian.  THE GOOD NEWS:  one of them is also from Arkansas!  He's great!  THE BETTER NEWS:  Late last night we had two sisters arrive into our room.  They are from Russia and spend the next 4 weeks with us.  They are beautiful sisters!  They get to go to the temple for their first time Thurs. and have amazing experiences here!!  THE BEST NEWS: we get 3 sisters from Ukraine tomorrow (their plane got delayed in Kyiv) and two elders!!!  Fabulous.  The sisters are going to be my best friends!  (next to my current companions.)  As a trio we are finally getting a long great.  I had a little breakdown earlier this week.  But, I learned something: It's great to work hard and serve the Lord.  That's why I am here.  But, I also need to be Christlike.  I had to learn that being Christlike might take me away from working as hard as I want but that's what Christ did.  He gave us all our agency and he served others and His whole entire life...
I'd say more but, I have 25 seconds
I LOVE YOU!!
BE THE BEST!!
I'll do my best!

Pictures of Sister Murphy

Funny Email about her district and the Swine Flu. Enjoy!

Hello my magical CIM'R...(almost...I cannot find the cyrillic alphabet...so for now, that will have to do.)

What an amazing week this has been.  So, I'm not sure if I told you that last week we became a trio and that it was tough.  Well, we had a companionship inventory and have had the best week ever.  This week has been by far the best week.  I'll start with Wednesday: Our Teaching Appointment (all in Ukrainian) was not that bad!  Well, it won't fly in Ukraine, but for the first time...sure I'll boast in what the Lord has been blessing me with!  Things are going great.  I definitely need to work harder.  I want to be exhausted every evening.  I have 36 days before I leave the country!! HOW EXCITING!

So, we have a lot more to learn.  This week we are meeting someone at a store and purchasing a few items.  Then we share a gospel message and go back later and teach for another 35 mintues.  What fun, but, that's tomorrow.  So, we've got a lot to do!

I want to tell you a little bit about my District now!  They are amazing.  Have you seen pictures yet?

I'll start with Elder Hill, he just got released from being the District Leader.  He is from Arizona and is quite accomplished.  He plans on going to Law school after his mission.  He has worked as a graphics artists and designed a pretty awesome label for a salsa company!  He's had some crazy work experience that I won't bother with.  He also play violin.  We are going to do some sort of musical entertainment in a week or so if we can find time to practice (5 minutes before lunch or dinner probably.  We are experts at completing a meal in less than 20 minutes! I know that's nothing but, we're working on it)  Our teacher calls him donkey - he loves to talk and has a great attitude.  He has great work ethic and is working hard!

Elder Behunan...we call him Job.  He has had illness after disease and is having a pretty bizzare surgery today.  The health clinic is where he spends all of his free time!  We are hoping this is the last of it, unless the dreaded swine flu strikes our branch.  (I"ll talk more about this later).  He is our new District Leader and he is from Utah.  He is very humble and has been blessed despite his trials.  He's learning fast!

Elder Penrose is awesome.  At first he seems very quite, but he isn't.  He has a very interesting life story and has overcome many trials!  I'm amazed at his patience.  It seems like he is having the hardest time learning the language but he works and doesn't give up.  He fasts at least once a week and has strong faith that he'll get it.  But, he has a lot of support back home (he's moved a lot as well: Chicago, Utah, and some Island where his mom is currently in medical school).
The Elders each get a package of goodies a week, Elder Penrose, though, almost one a day.  They share!

My amazing companion is Sister Howell.  We have been learning a lot from each other.  I'm learning how to listen!!  We are both learning how to work - effectively!  I'd tell you more but there just isn't words to express how much fun we have together.

Our new companion is Sister Mitchell.  She isn't in our district - she is learning Russian down the hall.  She has a great attitude.  With her I've learned to wake up every morning and say:  I'm so excited...do you know what today is?  IT's Monday - we have gym...It's tuesday - we are going to the temple...It's Wednesday - we have TA...it's Thursday - the best day of the week: WE HAVE SERVICE!!l....It's Friday - um...hmm...We HAVE GYM (we have gym every day but Tues. and Sun.  But, some days it is just more exciting!).   IT's Saturday - we have 4 hours of MDT!!    It's Sunday - totally the best day of the week - Sacrament !! 

Well, Today we had a great morning in the temple!  We were able to get there earlier enough to do init.  as well!  What fun!!

So, you know how I love PIGS a whole lot!  Well, they have come to the MTC in enormous numbers!  It's called the Swine flu.  I belive it's been a big deal around the world well, now it's a big deal in the MTC.  We are not allowed to shake hands (haven't been since like the 2nd week here).  We were safe until last week when the Influenza just started spreading like crazy.  Many missionaries are quarantined and no one is leaving this week!  It's going to be a mess today and tomorrow when all the new missionaries arrive.  Also, families are not allowed to bring their missionaries into the MTC and if the missionary is sick the mission is postponed.  It's so fun here.  We had to go to the health clinic and it was packed.  I hope I don't get sick.  Everytime someone coughs we laugh.  I'm going to eat an orange every meal...NO FLU FOR ME!  I hope.  

Other exciting things...it's JUNE!!  YAY!  That also means we will have the pleasure of listening to many Apostles and Prophets!!!  I'll let you know as the days come!

Well, I only have a few more minutes, but, I love you all.  I hope this e-mail helped with getting to know a few of those I serve with.  There are amazing missionaries here...and some not so amazing.

Hmm,  I'll tell you about the RC yesterday.  First call was awful...he was a very nice man, but, he liked to argue and might just be a little confused.  So, after that long and draining call I spoke to an amazing girl.  I'm so excited for her!  Well, time is draining.  I love you!  I hope everyone is doing well.

Make sure you send this to everyone please Sandy!

Sandra, you are a wonderful wife!

the best sister!

LOVE YOU ALL!!

Amy's Email to the Thompsons

I got your email!

I'm so glad!  YAY!!  My life is complete now.It's a beautiful day in Provo!  How is the rest of the World?   Love to Kevin and Joyce both.  I would not have know how to fix it so thank goodness for them both!  So, grandma grandpa, I heard peaches died.  I'm so sorry.  I love you!  Isn't the gospel great though!  We know that no matter what we are going through we can still find happiness thanks to Christ!  I absolutely love you, my entire family.  Families are the best and I'm so glad we can be together for eternity.  This week we lost all of the Russians and the rest of our group, so it's been crazy here.  But, they were ready to begin teaching.  

(Amy's District)

I have a district of 5.  It's pretty small.  3 Elders (male missionaries) my companion and me.  We are the only 5 learning Ukrainian and we were surrounded by a whole lot of Russian speaking and learning missionaries.  IT was great.  We could actually understand a lot of what the Russians were saying.   So, today was kind of lonely.  Yesterday was kind of lonely too.  The hallways in our Russian floor building are quiet.  Gym was rather dull, and our special spot in the cafeteria is always empty.  BUT, I didn't come on my mission to make friends.  I came to serve the Lord.  Although, it was helpful to have their support and of course we practiced with the Ukrainians.  Now we are the old group.  We are preparing to double the branch next week with 80 new missionaries though.  

I'm going to try speaking my language more.  100% by next week?  We shall see.  Of course it will be awful and I'll have to live with my dictionary (I pretty much already do.) The language is very difficult but, I'm loving the experience.  I know that Lord is blessing me!  But, I am excited about this opportunity and I have wonderful teachers. 

I think they moved us up a week and we might be leaving July 7.  I'm excited about that.  I'm always trying to remember who I serve, and How wonderful it is to serve Him!  I love 3 Nephi chapter 13 - so that is my goal - keep focused on Him and our purpose as missionaries.  Not only invite others to Christ but keep coming Closer to Him as well.  I want my heart and eye to reflect!  

We got a new companion.  That's been hard.  She is a solo sister going to Russia.  She was with the other Engilsh - Russian sisters, but we don't have anymore Russian sisters.  So she moved in with us and I've had to get used to that.  It's hard.  I was trying to be awesomely nice to her and she practically despised us because we are speaking Ukrainian, so I totally wasn't happy for a day.  Oh, well.  We'll learn to live with each other! I love keeping my schedule.  Why do we plan if we aren't going to follow it?  But, I suppose their are other things that are more important.  I think I'm to rigid.  I know I should loosen up a little bit and enjoy life a little bit more (Any advice would be great).  BUT, I also am learning a language in 3 months.  This is going to be an extremely hard week for us.  TOMORROW, we teach completely in Ukrainian.  It's going to be a crazy crazy experience and tough...

We are surrounded by the mountains out here.  They are beautiful!  

Tell everyone hello.  Things are wonderful.  Read 3 nephi 13.  That's what we all need to do:  Keep an eye single to His glory!  Come closer to Christ always!  Reflecft His light.

 LOVE YOU ALL!!

You are the best!!!
Have a happy day!
Love CECTPA MURPHY!

Amy's 2nd letter to Sandra on May 19th

Hello (In Ukrainian)

So, I'll share one funny Ukrainian Crobo (word).  The word nucatu (pronounced pecatu) means to write only when the accent is above the a.  Last week, during laundry time I asked the elder from Ukraine who he was nucatu (writing) to.  However, I accented the u.  I actually asked who he was urinating on.  Thankfully I used poor grammar and the whole sentence didn't make sense.  

So, it must have been a prophesy.  Last week I wrote home to people and said I had listened to Elder Russell M. Nelson when I meant Elder Russell Ballard.  Heavenly Father must really love me because on Tuesday night Elder Nelson came to motivate & encourage us.  

This week my district got fired up and I'm excited.  We are going to put 100%.  I'm going to be more bold.  We are speaking 100% every morning although I'm not conjugating anything right.  I'm teaching all the native Russians Ukrainian because I don't know Russian but, I love to talk to them.  I tell them to "LuBiAkO" (pronounced shvidko) a lot.  It means hurry, hurry!  We only have one more week with them.  Our branch will shrink.  I'm sending some pictures next week.  I'm sorry I didn't take very many good ones. 

 If there was anyway I could share with you all that I've learned and all that I'm doing.  

Do you have any suggestions to make my emails go smoother?  I should probably just do one big email but there is so much I can say to you and Grandpa & Grandma.  I wouldn't feel comfortable telling everyone else.  

I woke up early today.  But, I think my mood was a little off because of it.  We squeezed in a hair cut today.  Sister Howell has beautiful hair.  She is beautiful!  I'm so glad we are companions!  I post-it noted an elder's Preach My Gospel book.  He left his awesome post-its in the class and we had fun with them.  We found the best page on overcoming addictions!  I also take random pictures when the Elder's leave their cameras.  :)

This week we gave up dessert! 

We are trying to teach in the "TE" (This is where they practice teaching their teachers.) at least two times before we have to teach in the TEC on Wednesday night. (This is where they practice teaching pretend investigators.) We've been doing well!   We have lots of improvements we can make though.  We are trying to ask better questions and teach simply the doctrine.  I love our teachers.  There was one disaster.  Last week at the TEC our "investigator" was studying for a calculus test.  I was angry at him because he "wasted" our time.  But, our teachers said that we wasted his.  We are working on being more bold.  Next time, I'm going to tell Josh, "Dude, this is your salvation, we can come back to teach you when you're ready to listen.  Maybe you'll realize Calculus isn't more important.  

I do need to work on boldness.  I'm studying how the Savior taught.  He was bold, caring, loving and asked amazing questions!  Our time at the Call Center was amazing this week.  The Gospel is going forth.  I cannot wait to get into the field.  Be Bold and courageous!  Follow the Savior.  This is His Gospel!  He is helping me!  I am thankful!  I love Him!  I love you!

Will don't forget your spanish!  What a blessing it is to have that gift.  I pray for it every night.  Keep reading your German Book of Mormon!  I've been reading my Khura Mopmoha and I know it's been helping me.  

Have a beautiful day and make sure you share this w/ G-ma & G-pa.

Love,

Cectpa M

Amy's 1st letter to Sandra on May 19th

Cectpa Taylor,

My Lovely Cectpa and best friend,

I miss you.  We had a devotional today, but it wasn't an apostle.  It was still amazing.  Help me forget myself - forget my weaknesses.  I'm serving the Savior - He will take care of me.  That's actually what the devotional was about.  He was a 70.  His new wife was divorced 2 times and she felt categorized.  She even felt like she did not deserve to be married to a general authority.  However she was really neat and President Packer approved of her or their marriage or something like that.  I think I socialize too much.  I am a people person though.  Talking to people makes me happy - sharing their spirit.  My mission goal is to be as happy as I can and to love every second and every challenge.  

I am so happy I have you and your wonderful family.  Make sure Grandma and Grandpa know I love them.  I appreciate all they do.    You are amazing!  Work hard and sleep enough, but not too much!  I'm almost converted to the 8 hrs of sleep.  I hope I keep it up when I'm home.  I'm glad you are working hard in the serving the Lord too!  Let's keep informed and grow together.  Tell everyone about www.dearelder.com!  It's free to the MTC and I'm here for 2 more months.  I've got to read Khuta Mopmoha & sleep.  

Love Cectpa Murphy

May 19, 2009

Hey family!

Things are amazing here!  The day was perfect!  

I have to type extremely fast, so please don't be too critical of my mistakes.  

I love you and I appreciate the mail.  I haven't gotten much.  One week the seminary class sent me letters.  Pretty awesome.  My district was bitter!  I still need to reply back though. 

Today we went to our typical temple day but we stayed longer to do sealings.  I love our Russian and Ukrainian missionaries.  They have the sweetest spirits and the most amazing testimonies.  Most of them have never been to the temple before so it was a special day for us all!  They get to go to the temple 2x a week but this was the first, and probably the last that they get to do sealings until after their missions!  One sister even had names!  Can you imagine most of them live days away from a temple.  Most of them are converts and many of them even received their patriarchal blessings last week.  I love them all.  Two sisters and I have become very close.  She has the sweetest spirit.  So, last week we heard from Elder Nelson.  That's good becuase I got Elder M. Russell Ballard confused with Elder Russell M Nelson and told many people I had heard from Elder Nelson.  So, Heavenly Father gave me the privilege of hearing from them both.  The most awesome news; July will be full of Apostles.  Our District is getting fired up.  We only have 2 months left and we've been pretty lazy.  I want to work hard- every second is the Lord's and I'm trying to do my best.  Well, I don't have much else to say.  I've decided to use the mornings to try to speak 100%.   Nextt week we have to teach the entire first lesson, The Restoration, in Ukrainian...AHHH! Tomorrow night we contact for 15 minutes and teach them how to pray.  We have a lot of work to do today.  The Older Russian group and the Natives are all leaving on Monday and it will leave the small group I came with and one other district of about 9 left.  There is another branch though.  We'll only have about a week until we become the old group though.  Wow, life goes fast here.  Ask any missionaries you know about language planning.  It's so tough to learn everything I need to know and I want to be able to speak it.  I need advice!  This keyboard is tough and I'm writing as fast as I can.  We didn't have much time today.  The sealings after our endowment session with the Native Russians and Ukrainians were nice, but LONG.  Did you do the names I sent you already?

I've veen very busy, trying to be a disciple of Christ and using His time wisely.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

CECTPA MURPHY

p.s.  Crazy Brother Taylor - bishopric!  I'm really impressed with both of you and the obedice and dillegence you both have!

Email on May 12

Hey beautiful...and beautiful's husband.

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor,

I heard someone say today Bishop Bishop...I thought of you! (Bishop Bishop was my Bishop at college before Will & I were married.)

It's not fun when I don't get an e-mail from you.  Oh, well.  I'm a servant of the Lord so, I guess I shouldn't worry about such trivial matters.  I'm writing you first.  Sorry about last week.  So, this week has been crazy. Some amazing insights though.  I'm slowly going through the talks you sent and the one by Neal Maxwell was amazing.  I just finished that one today after our temple trip, I had a few minutes.  I loved what he said about Peter's lack of faith.  I'm also experiencing that.  I need to have faith in the Lord and I know He will bless me.  He is blessing me.  Yesterday was a little overwhelming but that is because I forgot.  I am His disciple and He qualifies those He calls.  I just cannot get distracted by the winds and the waves.  Well, We are typing with the Ukrainians today.  I'm not going to even try to spell the word (CLOBO) for elder.  It's ridiculous.  Russians are funny.  We are actually able to understand them, the few words we know, but they have no idea what Ukrainian is.  So, I'll be blessed with that knowledge when I get home.  Make sure g-ma and g-pa know how to e-mail me.  I haven't heard from them yet.  They might not have-my e-mail correct.  We've had some ups and downs this week.  We are working on unity as a district.  They are good Elders but, young of course.  The blog is great idea, thanks for doing that.  CECTPA Howell sent some pictures to her sister, she'll put them on facebook and hopefully you'll find them.  I'll send pictures probablly next week.  The Lord is taking care of us but, I've got a lot of work to do as well!  My goals are to smile ALL OF THE TIME and be Happy.  I don't mind annoying people, I do that a lot.  Sunday I played the piano for my branch and did a not so good job.  It's not like I would have had time to practice even if I knew the hymns we were going to sing.  Oh, well. 

I hope you are having a great day!

Life here is the same; Apostles and stuff.  It doesn't change! We did just find out that Pres. Uchtdorf is going to the mission the month before we get there with Elder Anderson and they are having a mission conference...SO JEALOUS!  The group before us (all Russian speaking, mostly going somwhere in Russia) are at 100% now meaning they only speak Russian.  So, we don't communicate very much with them.  We still have a few English speaking Russians in the Russian Missionaries group here for about 2 more weeks.  But, they aren't learning a language. so they don't always have the same schedule as us.

Well, I have other e-mails to write.  LOVE YOU!

CECTPA MURPHY!

Sister Murphy's Companion

Sister Murphy's companion is Sister Howell from Modesto, CA.  They met on the Kiev Mission Website and became friends through facebook.  They both thought they might end up as companions and both were glad they did.  The following Sister Howell wrote in a letter to her family, that they later posted on her blog.

"I am so blessed to have Cectpa Murphy as my companion! She is so wonderful and always has a positive attitude. Even though it would be nicer to have an extra hour or so each day to study, Cectpa Murphy helps me get to bed right at 10:30 and get up at 6:30 just like we are supposed to. There are so many other things that she helps me out with that are too many to name, but I will be very sad when I get a new companion in July."

Amy's letter to Sister on May 8 & 9

Cectpa i Gpat Taulop!

She writes the following in Ukrainian: Good Day!  How are you? 

Today was a much better day and it ended with an even more amazing talk by Elder J.R. Holland.  It was a talk our teacher showed us called "The Miracle of a Mission."  Absolutely amazing!  I have to write extra speedy because I wasted a little bit of time.  My district, tell me how I can push them...I do.  I help them realize this is the Lord's mission.  Elder Holland said that the life of missionary work is a chance for us to glimpse, if even that, the life of the Savior.  He knows about cups we do not want to drink.  He said that it's going to be hard, but welcome to the Gospel. It's time for us to grow up and pledge heroic efforts to the Gospel.  He said nothing more is required them to do the best that we possibly can.  He said the Gospel (EBaHre^io) is not meant to be easy.  "Salvation is not a cheap experience."  

But, we are His disciples; disciples of Him who did Atone & die--if we are going to be His disciples can we expect to never experience any sorrow.  We should be grateful for the opportunity because we will never come close to His Atonement.  But, anything hard should be an opportunity for us to grow closer to Him.

So I sill had to read my KURU MormoHa.  It was a race to make it by 10:30.

 I had a little time this morning to read some of the leadership stuff you sent me.  We have gym after breakfast most morning so we go get a sack.  For me it usually consists of a bowl of grape nuts cereal, milk, 12oz of H2O & an apple. So, we come back & I read.  Then I went to run w/ some other sisters serving in Russia, attempted some sit-ups & push-ups and here I am. 

I have to be exactly obedient.  I believe it says somewhere in the white handbook, "170 years of missionary work & the way to do it right...that I'm only supposed to write on prep day.  So, I can only write you on Wednesday.  I love you.  I have a lot of Ukrainian to learn!

Please Pray for me!

You are the best!  

Tell G-ma & G-pa hi & love!

Love,

Cectpa Murphy

Letter to Sister (May 6)

Hey Sister!  

So, I don't think my email sent to you.  I'm sad, but it wasn't very good so, o well.  So I have a few minutes before bed so I thought I'd jot a little note.  I should e memorizing James 1:5 or John 3:16 in UK or memorizing the first vision.  But, I really miss you.  I had not so good of a day today.   I don't want to leave my companion and go run, but sometimes I just have to get a good sweat and kill my negativity so I feel like I'm just dumping her into another companionship.  

 I absolutely love being a missionary.  I am learning a lot & I love Sister Howell.  Sometimes I do get annoyed with the Elders but they are wonderful.  So, help me be humble, (The Lord is doing a pretty good job at showing me I'm not.) and help me develop charity.  I want to love everyone and I want to inspire and motivate the Elders to be the best that we can be.  I haven't had time to read the leadership talks you sent me.  I'm kind of learning a language in 3 months...I really like to fill every second to be as productive as I can. 

I barely find time to read the letters you write but thanks!  I love you & Will!

Um...could you get Val's address and Dad's e-mail.  I need to write Dianne.  She sent me some amazing sheets & a cardigan/sweater.  Life is great though.  There are 3 Ukrainian Elders & I asked if they would be my best friends.  They said sure & now avoid me and wave awkwardly as I pace back and forth outside their classroom.  No just kidding.  Their schedule has been off today & I don't really pace back & forth.  I just peek in every time I walk by.  They are very kind & supportive & absolutely love that we are serving in their country.  I told them to give me some referrals!  But, the Ukrainians are awesome, we contact them (speak Ukrainian) as much as we can.  

We heard from an apostle Tuesday night!  Rumors were a little off...I should have known it wasn't Elder Bednar, he was speaking to you.  It was Elder M. Russell Ballard. He spoke to us about desire.  I'd share more but I only have 15 minutes & I have to wash my face and brush my teeth & read my KHUTA (Book) MOPMOH (Mormon) for 10 minutes out loud.  

You are absolutely amazing.  I wish I could have your help.  Call Grandma and tell her Happy Mother's Day for me and that I love them and miss them!

I am absolutely happy to be serving the Lord!

P.S. No I don't know where the Granola is in the Caf and the wraps are still not so good

P.S.S I'm almost a vegetarian.  The meet here is so bad!  I tried Chinese today...hmm...makes you think...

P.S.S.S Thanks for the fruit snacks!  I'll deplete your food storage if you need me to!  

May 5, 2009

 I only have 30 minutes and it starts to count down as soon as we open the window, logging on and loading take like 5 minutes, so that leaves me with only 25 to write and read.  So, the Elders said we will not be calling home until we leave for the airport.  That's okay, it's only 10 weeks away.  Every day but today (Tuesday, preperation day) and Sunday are exactly the same.  Well, I guess they do their best to make it a little different.  We have RC on monday - we call out to make sure people received the videos or whatever they ordered.  Or people call us to see if we can send them something.  I haven't had any "inbound" calls but I've made a lot of outbound.  We call at a pretty bad time so I probably got about 30 answering machines.  BUT, I had two amazing experiences!  One lady ordered a Book of Mormon and has been reading it every night!  She is from Mississppi and is a cute little black lady (don't think I'm horrible, she told me herself!)  She was also willing to meet with the missionaries!  So, I'm trying to get a hold of her again.  Her grandkids live with her so she is pretty busy...(you might now something about that Grandma!)  I hope the missionaries go to see her.  The other man is from NY.  We couldn't talk much b/c he was  in the middle of something, so he said to call back.  

We have three amazing teachers.  Sister ...uh...I cannot even say her last name yet...so I'm not going to even try typing yet.  She is the best teacher in the whole entire MTC, according to her statistics in preparing missionaries for the field.  We are spoiled, not very many people have teachers who are native.  So, that is helping us a lot.  Our other teachers are of course RM's (younger even then I...) and I don't feel like I learn as much with them.  They keep us entertained though.  They are still growing up if you know what I mean.  My district is the best.  I love my branch.  We welcomed two districts from Russia and Ukraine last Week.  I am even more blessed to have more native speakers who make fun of my accent and help with pronunciation during lunch, dinner, and laundry!  This morning is our temple day and as you know the first temple in eastern Europe has not been dedicated yet (yes, it's in my very mission!!) so many of them had not been before.  So, although they were set-apart we had a huge RUSSIAN!! session for about 8 Elders and 4 sisters!  Can you imagine how amazing our temple day was today!  Then we had a district breakfast in the Cafeteria in the temple.  They had a pears!!  The Ukranians are amazing saints and I cannot wait to serve among their people.  

We had an amazing testimony meeting last Sunday.  Many of them got up to tell us their stories and of course how excited they are for us to go to their country.  The Ukrainian elders said that Ukraine was the most beautiful country, that it was like a piece of buttered bread.  We'll see if we can find a better English analogy.   

MTC food is pretty good.  I'm still getting used to it.  I don't like the meat, it's always too salty.  So, I pretty much eat salads and soups.  Sister Howell thinks I'm boring!!  But, they have a different Salad every day.  Tonight we have another devotional.  We never know who it's going to be but, we sure enjoy guessing.  My guess...it's totally the Prophet.  Actually, Every missionary guesses the prophet, and we are always wrong.  There are a few bolder ones than I who say next week Christ is coming! 

We have hardly any free time, and I love it.  I'll have to write to you and tell you the amazing compliment I got from the counselor in the branch presidency on Sunday.   Oh, no times running down.  LOVE YOU!!

CECTPA Murphy!

Happy Mother's Day,

Thank you for everything!

Letter From May 1, 2009

Sandra, 

I'm glad you are happy.  We had a good devotional on Sunday.  Go to Alma 26:27.  Do it.  Do it Right now!  I am writing this letter to share this awesome scripture with you.  So find some scriptures and read this verse.  Sure, it has missionary application, but we are all disciples of Christ.  So, while you look for that scripture I'll tell you, I have definitely felt depressed, overwhelmed & hopeless. But, then somehow someone reminds me why I am here and that I have been set apart, my calling is form the Prophet & the Lord picked me to do this.  Can you apply this in your life?  Now, get your husband to send me his wisdom.  How am I supposed to do this?? But, today we had to contact 2 complete strangers (RM-fluent in Ukrainian) & introduce, bear testimony, and make an appointment.  There is so much for me to learn! Ahh!  I need to plan better.  How can I make better goals, get distracted less, be more patient with my companion?  Ok well scripture.  The speaker said, "Don't let Satan push your buttons" & told a really funny story about how he tormented a poor primary kid trying to get a drink from the water fountain w/o him realizing it.  He also said, "Don't let Satan push your buttons.  You are worthy.  Satan is really unhappy w/ you & will do anything to make you miserable.  It's time to give up your burdens" -some of my notes. 

I have to memorize my meta (purpose) in Ukrainian.  I know it in English!

To invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ & his Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, & enduring to the end...

Call G-ma & G-pa --I love you all!

Love, 

Cectpa Murphy