There's a tank in the Park!!!

Dear family and friends,

First off... don't be overly concerned about the subject line. Yes, there is a tank, but it's not attacking anything....yet! haha just kidding, it's only a statue. But when I first saw it, I was like, "Hey Sister, there's a tank in our park." And Sister Winsor responded, "Not funny, Sister Ford". But then it was the truth :) 

 the TANK!

As far as the status report on Ukraine and missionary work goes, the Mormon Newsroom was only slightly misleading when it said that the 85 missionaries were going to other parts of Ukraine. In actuality, they ALL came to Kyiv. That's a lot of missionaries! We doubled our mission OVERNIGHT! The wards in Kyiv now have more then 20 missionaries in them! In Brovary, we only got two new elders, so we aren't sharing an apartment or anything, but our branch of 40 (on a good day) active members will now have 8 Missionaries! Wow! The work is going to progress so much faster here in Kyiv! :) We don't know how long everyone will be here, at least 3 weeks, maybe longer. Everything is kind of depending on Russia and the election for Ukraine in May. So we will see... 

Can I just say, I LOVE CONFERENCE! seriously. I"m obsessed. and it was SO GOOD THIS TIME! I learned so much and felt like the speakers were speaking straight to me! :) The major theme that I noticed was "dedicating your life to be a disciple of Christ, through obedience and covenant keeping, making your eternal progression by the means of the Atonement the highest priority of our life, even if it means living your faith by yourself." So yeah. I really loved that! I love our Prophet and the Apostles and the Seventies and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! I love it all! If you haven't watched it, watch it! If you did watch it, remember that President Monson recommended that you read it as soon as you could. It's all right on LDS.org :) 

Let me share a promise that I love from Preach My Gospel, "As you treasure up the words of the scriptures and the latter-day prophets by study and faith, your desire to share the gospel will increase. You are promised that the Spirit will help you know what to say (page 19). I know that is true! And may I add that you need to act on what you hear! I love this story from the bible, which most of us know, about the wise man and the foolish man. Have you realized what made the difference between the wise man and the foolish man? Look at these verses,   

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his  house upon the sand; And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it" (Matthew 7:24-27) 

The difference isn't that one heard and one didn't. In fact, applied to modern day life, they probably BOTH went to conference, they probably BOTH listened to the talks, took some nice notes, even made some goals to improve. The DIFFERENCE between the wise man and the foolish man of this story and the wise man and foolish man of today, is that the wise man DID the things he heard. So now that conference is over, PLEASE be wise and act upon what you heard, the commitments and challenges offered by the servants of God, and most importantly, what you felt prompted and instructed by the Spirit to do. "O be wise, what can I say more? (Jacob 6:12). I know that blessings will come into your lives as you listen and then APPLY what you learn from General Conference! 

This week, I had a huge blessing in my life! I GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! Yay :) we got to go do baptisms for the dead with our branch and with our recent converts! It was so good! Our entire district got to go and it was great! One recent convert got to do the proxy baptism for his father, so that was really special. :) I love the temple! I know it is the house of the Lord :) 

 temple with Kingsley! :)

 more temple pics.

awk district picture...I don't know why it turned out so weird haha 

This week we also had a Movie Night, where we watched 17 Miracles. I don't know that I've even seen the whole movie before, I love it! In russian, it was a little hard to follow sometimes, especially since one man translates all the parts, but it was so good and everyone loved it. I LOVE THE PIONEERS, so after the movie, I got up and bore my testimony and of course, started crying... Something about crying makes the Ukrainian people love you... so now the entire branch just loves me... haha :) That's the secret to the hearts of all ukrainian people :) We also made Russian Pancakes, so everyone loves us even more :) 

Cooking with some members, loving the mexican :)

I don't really know what else to say! I love being a missionary! It is very clear to me that the Lord is hastening His work here in Kyiv! Why else would we add 85 new missionaries here?? I know that the Lord has a perfect plan, and even if it doesn't make sense to us now, someday it will! I know that the Lord protects his missionaries and that miracles happen everyday! I wish I had time to write home all of the miracles I see everyday! When I get home, I will tell them all! :) 

Also, HAPPY EASTER THIS WEEK! Everyone, please take some time to remember Easter and what it means and why we celebrate! I was asked to speak next week in Church, (EASTER...wow) and I am so excited to immerse myself in study of the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ! I saw this message today on mormon.org (http://easter.mormon.org/) and I strongly invite all of you to watch it. It is a powerful message about Christ how his Resurrection and Atonement blesses each one of us! Think of all that is made possible BECAUSE OF HIM! He knows how we feel and he will help us and carry us through all of our hard times! "As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, he can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ (Preach My Gospel, 52)". I love my Savior and my Redeemer! I know that He lives and that he loves each of us! I know that His Atonement has the power to heal us, and help us, and enable us to progress and grow so that we can return and live with our Heavenly Father again! I love sharing this message! The message of the Atonement is what people need, and that is why I am here on my mission! I promise you that the Atonement can help you, whether you feel lonely, unloved, sad, guilty, angry, or unnoticed! He knows YOU and He loves YOU! I can testify of that, that I know that is true. I was touched by the words of a hymn we sang this morning during companion study, 

 How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,

1. Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
   What more can he say than to you he hath said,
   Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
2.  In ev'ry condition--in sickness, in health,
   In poverty's vale or abounding in wealth,
   At home or abroad, on the land or the sea--
   As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.
3.  Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
   For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
   I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
   Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
4.  When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
   The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow,
   For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
   And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
5. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
   My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
   The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
   Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
6.  The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
   I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
   That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
   I'll never, no never, no never forsake!

I know that God and Jesus Christ love us! They are with us every step of the way! Please use the Atonement in your life to bring peace, relief, and happiness! The Lord will help us, and even though we will go through deep water and hard trials, the Lord will never let us drown. His grace is sufficient and His love is everlasting! I know this is true! I love being a missionary! 

Have a great week! Happy Easter :) 

Love, 

Sister Kati Ford