Добрый день! (Good afternoon!)
Missions are incredible. Seriously amazing. I cannot think of anything else that could set the foundation for the rest of my life than these amazing experiences that I am having here and now on my mission. And nothing, could have made my testimony more sure. Thanks to my mission, there is NO doubt absolutely no doubt in my mind that this church is truly The Church of Jesus Christ. This is his church. Wow. The church is so true.
Yesterday in Gospel Principles we were talking about sacrifice. Брат Паша asked us all to think of things that we would have a very hard time giving up if asked to. He looked at me and said, "Oh Sister Lee and her earrings, she would have a hard time giving up those!" (Брат Паша and I go way back so he knows how much I love my earrings.) But really as he asked us to think, I truly took it to heart and I thought of things that would be hard for me to sacrifice. As the lesson continued of course I began to think of the things I have already sacrificed for one year and a half so that I could come here. Here is just a small list of the things I sacrificed:
St. George Sun, red rock, weather, air, everything wonderful about STG
Sleep
My cute car
The best job in the world (shout out to my kids, Noah, Sarah, Sami, Dani! Miss you!)
Along with sacrificing my job, sacrificing my income
Jeans and other cute clothes
My favorite pair of earrings (little did Брат Паша know I have sacrificed earrings, you know the ones I bought from Cara's foundation, the beautiful hoops that the orphans from Africa made?)
Durangoes, grilled chicken salad sounds so good right now!
Movies
wally ball
sand volleyball
watching sports
Hiking
The Office
Music, oh Jack Johnson
pinterest
My phone
Facebook
My education
being at friends' and family's weddings
My Best Friend (not only for 1 and a half years but 2! love you Ash)
The opportunity to go to the temple whenever I wanted
All of my nieces and nephews (every time I see a child I just want to pick them up and anaconda squeeze them just so I can think my cute nieces and nephews!
My grandparents
My siblings (in laws included!) , wow I miss you guys.
My dad, I really don't think anyone has as cool as dad as I do.
And last, but definitely not least, my mom. Probably the hardest thing for me to be with out. Everything about her, her hugs, her cooking, her smile, her encouraging words.
Alright, so I didn't write this list to make you pity me. I wrote this list to put into perspective how much I am more than willing to give up for the opportunity for someone to receive the same joy that I have found in my life through this gospel and the knowledge it has given me. I really do love those things that I wrote, as pathetic as some of them may seem they are just who I was. I just want to tell you that I would not give up all of those things if I did not know that this gospel changes lives! It has changed my life as I have become whole and found solace in the principles I have learned time and time again. And now I have had the opportunity to see it change the lives of so many wonderful people here.
As much as I love my mission and the experiences I am having there is no way it would be worth everything I gave up, if this church wasn't true. If I didn't know for a fact that Joseph Smith saw God the Eternal Father and His son Jesus Christ and that through him, they restored the true church. Friends and family, if your testimony is wavering, if you are not quite sure you know the church is true please think of me in Ukraine! WHY AM I HERE?! BECAUSE IT IS TRUE! That's all there is to it. It is as simple as that. I'm a smart girl, remember. I don't do things just for the heck of it, just to have a fun experience (although I'm all for fun along the way!), there has to be a reason for me doing something. There is a reason to me being here thousands of miles away from all of the things I listed earlier. And now you all know the reason. Never let it be unknown why Mariel came to Ukraine. I am here because I know God lives and I know He loves us so much. And I am here to tell people that we can return to live with Him and I'm here to let them know how!
Friends and family I love you so much! SOOOO MUCH! I'm sorry if this email was a little strange today but, it's kind of just how I've been feeling. I hope you all know why I really am here. I hope you all know I love you so much that I would never want to leave you for this long of a time if I didn't know it was true. If I didn't know that I can be with you forever, so really a year and a half isn't that long at all! I always want the Lord to know that I am so grateful for everything I have thanks to him! So many times these lyrics (do you remember when Malory sang this at my farewell and everyone was crying like a baby because it was so beautiful!) by Kenneth Cope go through my head
"Because of thy life's mission Lord, I too must serve,
I'll leave the comfort of my home to preach thy word
I'll seek thy sheep who've gone astray,
and those who've never know the way,
I will make thy work my work today."
In other news we had an awesome activity at the church on Saturday, it was super fun and it got many of the ward members and investigators to become closer friends! I spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday and that's always fun! Настя is doing great, better than ever, but I do continue to plead for you to pray for her parents' hearts to be softened. Speaking of Настя we're going to hang out with her right now, so I gotta go!
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All of my love,
Your sister, Sister Lee
My cute car
The best job in the world (shout out to my kids, Noah, Sarah, Sami, Dani! Miss you!)
Along with sacrificing my job, sacrificing my income
Jeans and other cute clothes
My favorite pair of earrings (little did Брат Паша know I have sacrificed earrings, you know the ones I bought from Cara's foundation, the beautiful hoops that the orphans from Africa made?)
Durangoes, grilled chicken salad sounds so good right now!
Movies
wally ball
sand volleyball
watching sports
Hiking
The Office
Music, oh Jack Johnson
My phone
My education
being at friends' and family's weddings
My Best Friend (not only for 1 and a half years but 2! love you Ash)
The opportunity to go to the temple whenever I wanted
All of my nieces and nephews (every time I see a child I just want to pick them up and anaconda squeeze them just so I can think my cute nieces and nephews!
My grandparents
My siblings (in laws included!) , wow I miss you guys.
My dad, I really don't think anyone has as cool as dad as I do.
And last, but definitely not least, my mom. Probably the hardest thing for me to be with out. Everything about her, her hugs, her cooking, her smile, her encouraging words.
Alright, so I didn't write this list to make you pity me. I wrote this list to put into perspective how much I am more than willing to give up for the opportunity for someone to receive the same joy that I have found in my life through this gospel and the knowledge it has given me. I really do love those things that I wrote, as pathetic as some of them may seem they are just who I was. I just want to tell you that I would not give up all of those things if I did not know that this gospel changes lives! It has changed my life as I have become whole and found solace in the principles I have learned time and time again. And now I have had the opportunity to see it change the lives of so many wonderful people here.
As much as I love my mission and the experiences I am having there is no way it would be worth everything I gave up, if this church wasn't true. If I didn't know for a fact that Joseph Smith saw God the Eternal Father and His son Jesus Christ and that through him, they restored the true church. Friends and family, if your testimony is wavering, if you are not quite sure you know the church is true please think of me in Ukraine! WHY AM I HERE?! BECAUSE IT IS TRUE! That's all there is to it. It is as simple as that. I'm a smart girl, remember. I don't do things just for the heck of it, just to have a fun experience (although I'm all for fun along the way!), there has to be a reason for me doing something. There is a reason to me being here thousands of miles away from all of the things I listed earlier. And now you all know the reason. Never let it be unknown why Mariel came to Ukraine. I am here because I know God lives and I know He loves us so much. And I am here to tell people that we can return to live with Him and I'm here to let them know how!
Friends and family I love you so much! SOOOO MUCH! I'm sorry if this email was a little strange today but, it's kind of just how I've been feeling. I hope you all know why I really am here. I hope you all know I love you so much that I would never want to leave you for this long of a time if I didn't know it was true. If I didn't know that I can be with you forever, so really a year and a half isn't that long at all! I always want the Lord to know that I am so grateful for everything I have thanks to him! So many times these lyrics (do you remember when Malory sang this at my farewell and everyone was crying like a baby because it was so beautiful!) by Kenneth Cope go through my head
"Because of thy life's mission Lord, I too must serve,
I'll leave the comfort of my home to preach thy word
I'll seek thy sheep who've gone astray,
and those who've never know the way,
I will make thy work my work today."
In other news we had an awesome activity at the church on Saturday, it was super fun and it got many of the ward members and investigators to become closer friends! I spoke in sacrament meeting yesterday and that's always fun! Настя is doing great, better than ever, but I do continue to plead for you to pray for her parents' hearts to be softened. Speaking of Настя we're going to hang out with her right now, so I gotta go!
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All of my love,
Your sister, Sister Lee
| My best friends :) Настя and Sister Grandy :) |
| Look dad we're just like you! :) |
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