Dear family and friends,
another week has passed and there are signs of spring in the air. the sound of birds in the trees and a feeling a warmth when you walk from the shade into the sun. its actually pretty warm for march right now, there will probably be one more stretch of cold soon before it stays warm for good, but....i think its coming really soon. ive upgraded to my waist length pea coat and scarf, and only wear my hat and gloves at night.
so this weekend was 'district conference' for the branches here in Odessa (5 branches)-so its their 'stake conference'. we had a relief society activity on Saturday to celebrate the 170th anniversary-we watched broadcasts talks from the general primary, young women, and relief society presidency. it was really cool. then had lunch served by the 'brethren' and then did service-made shawls for the church buildings so you can wrap one around you when its cold in the building, and then made blankets for an orphanage or something.
yesterday was our general meeting-there were about 150 members there, i thought that was kinda low, but everyone seemed really happy to see so many members. i guess seeing 150 members in the same meeting is really cool when you're used to seeing 30-40 each week at church. One of our branch presidents was put in as the district president which is way cool- i like him a lot, he'll do great job. President Klebingat was there and then our presiding seventy who came was elder minisan, the area representative from Armenia. i know, like wow. he shared some really cool stories from members in Armenia. it was a good reminder as i sat there listening to him that i am serving in a really cool part of the world-its hard- but how neat? sure im just in Ukraine but the work is spreading around us. i don't know if you've heard, but i think last month they finally sent in proselyting missionaries into turkey. they pulled four elders from the Bulgaria mission and had them start working there. turkey has had senior couples and humanitarian missionaries for awhile, but now they are sending in the 'big guns'-the young missionaries. i really can't imagine. i know there are already members there in turkey-the last liahona had a picture of a missionary from turkey-but its going to be hard. when we run into Muslims here, we don't have a lot of hope to get through to them, we just try to end the conversation peacefully and walk away thinking how hard it would be to teach a Muslim. but those missionaries there now...thats who they talk to everyday, every single person is Muslim. but...they've got to have an opportunity to hear the gospel somehow.
elder minisan shared a neat story about members in Armenia. i figure these kind of stories don't make it into the beehive news or other church newspapers, so I'll just pass it along to you. this takes place in a very dangerous part of Armenia which is under a kind of Turkish rule-it was very dangerous at one time (maybe still is) to talk about 'other religions' , meet with missionaries, or, heaven for bid be baptized into a different church. he started telling about this woman who came in contact with the church through very secretive means, read the book of Mormon, and decided she wanted to be baptized. Because of the danger and risk in doing such a thing, she was baptized in secret, not even telling her husband, which was a very hard decision to make (to not to tell her husband). some time later her husband came to her and said, 'i need to tell you something. but you have to promise on your life that you will not tell anyone this, and that you will not turn on me when you hear this...i have been baptized into the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints" the wife "ME TOO!"....wow. the lord knows everyone and he has the most patience in the world as he knows that everyone needs to here the gospel in their own language and given a fair opportunity to live the gospel. here in Odessa, we're pretty blessed-the fact that we have meeting houses for our church says a lot. there are still places in the world not far from here where members meet in homes and apartments. serving here i still have a lot of conveniences of a 'western mission' , but i get to be exposed to a lot of the work thats going on around me in other countries that really opens my eyes to the greater work of the lord-and how truly everyone in every land is precious to God, and he wants them to return to him.
after the meeting, i went to talk to elder minisan, to thank him for his testimony and ask him if he knows any of the Armenian members i know (all 3 of them ive met since ive been on the mission-1 lives in Kiev with her husband and two were sister missionaries here in the mission and went home last summer). he did. it was neat. he said to me, 'you missionaries are supermen. people think so many other people in the world are 'superman'- big business men, or rich people, but they are wrong. you missionaries have the best privilege in the world." then he turned to me specifically like he wanted to say something, so i sat there and waited as he looked at me. okay, i thought, here comes some advice some a seventy from Armenia, what is he going to say?..... He said to me, " You are just ....shining. You are just shining. thank you for all you are doing" again, what a neat experience and privilege to be serving in this part of the world among these strong, pioneer members.
i was able to talk with president klebingat for 20 seconds after the meeting. the first thing he did to me was put his fingers on his own cheeks and showed me a smile. "sister little, smile. you are doing a great job. really, i mean it"
so i guess, even when i don't feel my best, when Satan is working his hardest on me....i guess im an still doing 'good', serving a good mission, working hard, etc.
it was a good weekend. i hope everyone enjoys their spring break (whatever that is).
i love you all, miss you all. thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.
love,
sister little
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