"I will give away all my sins to know thee"

Добрый день!

I am the luckiest girl in the world. From watching the sun rise over the Black Sea every morning, to being apart of the Ukrainian culture that I have so fallen in love with, to having the privilege all day every day to invite others to come unto Christ. I am so convinced that my decision to serve a mission was the most unselfish decision that turned in to the most selfish. As I get lost in this service I am overwhelmed at the blessings Heavenly Father never ceases to give me. Seriously, it is as if the Heavens are always conveniently opened right over my head. I'm just so happy here all the time. And it keeps getting better and better!

Sister Parish and Sister Lee

So, I'm not sure if I talked about Анджела (Angela) but she is amazing. She came to our branch Christmas program a few weeks ago with her inactive friend, I remember as I welcomed her to the program with a hug I was overwhelmed by the strong smell of alcohol and smoke on her breath but then overwhelmed by the love she showed to me, a young American girl she didn't even know. As we talked with her after the program and asked if she would be interested in meeting with us and learning more, she was so excited. So of course that is what we did. Our first meeting with her seriously could have been written in the Book of Mormon. It was incredible. Never have I felt the spirit lead and direct me so much in a lesson before. We had planned a completely different lesson for her but as we sat and talked with her, we knew she needed to hear something else. As we talked about the Atonement with her she was overcome with the spirit. The thought of her giving up her sins to be closer to God was something she so desired, she literally clapped her hands and cried for joy as we talked about it. She has so gratefully accepted the invitation to be baptized and is excitedly preparing for the end of this month. She cold turkey quit smoking and drinking. She has one of the sweetest souls ever! Just a few minutes ago when we were grocery shopping someone came up behind me and wrapped me up in a big hug, I was super freaked out at first until I saw Sister Parish's reaction and knew it was someone we knew, I turned around and found Angela just beaming, so happy to see us. My love never ends for these wonderful people. I cannot get enough of that feeling, the pure love of Christ, it is so real and so good! Please Keep Angela in your prayers as she is going through the process of changing her life, think of her wonderful example and try to be like her. Truly like the father of Lamoni as he says "I will give away all my sins to know thee" what an amazing attitude that we should all have.

I let some potential investigators experiment with my hair this week... it's super curly, it's a fun change :)

This week we did service, real good service. It was so nice! I love working hard. A family in our branch rented a big dump truck and we loaded it full of wood and then unloaded it in another location. As we were driving around in the truck I felt like I was home working with dad again. The driver then belched super loud and I was just waiting for him to say "What'd you say!?" He didn't so of course I had to! Ha! Oh dad I miss you! And I can't wait to work with you when I get home, I'll be an even better worker than I used to be, I promise. Thanks for teaching me to work hard and really give it my all. The get work done attitude I got from you and the optimistic attitude I got from mom makes being a missionary so much more easy and so much more fun! I'm so grateful to my amazing parents for giving me so much!

I love you all! I am always so grateful to get weekly emails and so many letters from you so often! Your prayers and support mean the world to me.

In the words of lovely Grandma Barb "The Gospel is so TRUE and WONDERFUL!!" Amen! It is so true and it is so wonderful! I'm so grateful for the continuous blessings that I receive from the gospel every day and for the opportunity that I have of sharing this deliciousness!

Carry on!

All of my love,

Your sister, Sister Lee

Nastya and Vika (Nastya's friend) at the Opera House in Odessa

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These fruits were delicious!

Hello!

Flat Stanley at the Black Sea

Welcome 2014! Can you believe it is already a new year? Last year one of my resolutions was to start my mission off the way my Heavenly Father would want me to, and this year one of my resolutions is to finish my mission with honor. It is so strange how fast time goes by! I've tried everything I could to slow it down, and honestly it's not happening so I'm just going to live with it and learn to enjoy every second. Not taking anything for granted, because really it goes by so fast.

Family, this week was so awesome. Surprised? Ha, you shouldn't be, because every week is awesome when you are in the service of the Lord. But this week really was exceptional.

Being on a mission is such an incredible opportunity, to be tools in the hands of the Lord is such a privilege, but at the same time it can be so intimidating. A few weeks ago I hit my half way mark on my mission and just looking back on everything that has happened I often ask myself "Did I do everything I was called here to do?" and still "Am I doing everything the Lord needs me to do now?" As I got set apart as a missionary I remember how distinctly I felt the Holy Ghost, like, truly I was given a great power. And you know what they say "with great power, comes great responsibility". That is so true. I am a part of the best work, and I need to do my part, do everything I can to ensure that I am doing all that I am supposed to be doing here. Some times on my mission have been hard, feeling like, truly I have given it my all and then some, but not really knowing if I made a difference anywhere, not sure I really did enough. A few weeks ago President Klebingat wrote us such a good letter, talking about how sometimes we might not see the fruit of our labors, but really we are making a difference! He encouraged us that we really have no idea the impact we could be making. Telling an analogy about Picasso's paint brush, probably just an ordinary paint brush, but in the hands of Picasso made masterpieces. But the paint brush probably never even realized the wonderful work it did. I love President's letters to us, I feel like everyone is always meant for me, man he's so cool!

Anyways this week was a week where Heavenly Father blessed me so much and he rewarded me with the opportunity to see immediate fruits and man, these fruits were delicious! One day this week literally all of our plans fell threw, all of them! What up, nine hours of contacting! As we were walking down the streets talking with everyone, with really little success I was thinking "Why am I here? Like, right now I am not doing anything, no one is being helped by this." We sat down on a bench and regrouped, and decided to stop by some less actives. As we stopped by door after door not being opened or being shut in our face it was a little hard to continue. Later that night we were going to another less active, as we dialed her doma phone she answered, "Кто там?" "Who's there?"

 "It's the sister missionaries." We replied with our fingers crossed, and a little to our surprise, without hesitation she opened the door. As we walked up the flights of stairs we were so excited that finally someone answered their door! We got to her apartment and the door was already open ready for us. She just welcomed us in with a solemn face. "Sisters," she said "my husband just died." as she started to cry to us. Never have I been put in a situation such as this. All I could do was hug her and cry with her. We of course talked about the Savior and his love to us. She was SO grateful to us, so grateful that she had someone there for her in her time of need, and how grateful I was to be a tool in the hands of the Lord at that time!

How grateful I was that all of our plans fell through that day so we could be with Надежда that night, and really be an answer to her prayers. It was such a wonderful experience. Heavenly Father truly does have a plan for every single one of us, a perfect plan. And as we trust and rely on His plan, as our plans fall through, everything will be perfect.

There were so many other instances like that this week. Where we were truly lead and directed by the spirit and as we did so miracles happened. It is such an incredible thing to be here on a mission and have the opportunity for Heavenly Father to work miracles through us, I am so blessed.

So I had a surprise visitor at church yesterday.... НАСТЯ!!!!!!! Настя came down to Odessa for her school break and so she came to Illy to go to church with me yesterday. It was so good to see her once again. She really is one of my very best friends. And she is doing so good! Her testimony is solid as ever and she really is just a joy to be around. All of the members loved her, of course. And now we're actually going to go spend the day with her in Odessa, so I gotta go!

I love you all so much! This work really truly is the best work. I can't get over how blessed I am to be here. Thank you for your love and support and prayers and everything else. Keep on being the best family and friends and just best people!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO PENELEPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All of my love,

Your sister, Sister Lee

New Years Eve with Катя and Sister Parish :)