More Missionaries Coming to Ukraine!

We received some incredibly exciting news this week! The number of missionaries in the Dnepropetrovsk mission is going to almost double by the end of this year!!! We currently have about 50 missionaries, and by the end of December we are going to have 96. I'm super excited for all the implications of that increase - the work of the Lord is truly going to take off in this mission. And we also heard a rumor that with that increase, there are going to be sister missionaries in every branch of the mission, which thing would be quite joyous. This is truly an exciting time to be a part of the work of the Lord.

We saw a lot of miracles this week. (And despite the fact that we see miracles every day as a missionary, it never gets old. I continually delight to see the hand of the Lord in our work and in our lives.) We had been doing some searching through our area book for former investigators that we could try to visit again, and we identified several that we wanted to try. So one evening, after trekking for nigh unto an hour through a frozen wilderness (well, not really wilderness - it was right by a road) we found ourselves in front of the home of one of these families that had formerly met with missionaries. We knocked on their tall metal gate, and after waiting for a while with to no avail, we decided to just leave a note with our name and number. As we were writing said note, we heard somebody come outside of the house. We knocked again on the gate, and a young woman opened it. We began talking with her, and she invited us in. We sat down with the grandmother, son, and two granddaughters in their living room and had a wonderful conversation. The grandchildren have all read the Book of Mormon and really loved it. And they all remembered missionaries visiting them five years ago. I was especially touched when the grandmother said, "See! They haven't forgotten us!" We don't know yet if this family is ready to progress yet, but we were very excited to make contact with them, and we're quite looking forward to teaching them again tonight.

I received my first ever media referral! A couple weeks ago, we had been given a mysterious phone number from the elders in Sevastopol who told us they had gotten this number from the mission office. We had tried before to call her, but this past week we were finally able to get a hold of her and set up a lesson. As Sister Bates and I walked into the branch building for the lesson, we found this woman with her husband talking with the branch president - triple wonderful! It turns out that they have always kind of believed in God in their hearts and are looking for a church where they can be with a society of believers. (Good thing we happen to know of one, right?) We gave them the copies of the Book of Mormon they had requested online and talked with them about the Restoration. They have three children, and I'm quite excited to begin teaching this family! It made me really excited to realize that there are people out there who are finding the Church website on their own and wanting to learn more. That makes our work a lot easier. :) (As do member referrals . . . take that as a subtle hint to any of you who know anybody who wants to learn more about the gospel - the missionaries really need you to introduce them to your friends! Missionary work is so much more effective that way. *removal of soap box*)

On Orthodox Christmas, our district went Christmas caroling in the evening. There was a special spirit there as we stood on the icy street and sang praises to our King. A lot of people stopped and listened and a we received a few contacts from that. I quite enjoyed that experience - there's something powerful about Christmas music. And Christmas. And the gospel in general.

Andrey continues to do great! He's read up to the middle of Mosiah now (well, probably even more than that by now). Since his family is not interested in the gospel right now, the elders are going to be working with him. But I'll let you all know when he gets baptized! (Which hopefully is quite soon.)

I know that Jesus Christ lives. I love Him with all of my heart, and I want the whole world to know that. He truly is the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. And He knows each of us personally. He knows our troubles, pains, and hardships, as well as our joys and progress. He cares for us deeply and wants each of us to accept and apply His Atonement into our lives. I am deeply grateful for His atoning sacrifice and the light and joy that brings to me. I'm grateful that I get to share that glorious news here in Ukraine.

-Sharisa