Happy Easter!

Spring is in the air! And it seems to be so is love. Oh how I love getting on the Internet every Monday only to find out another 5 of my friends are now engaged. :) Oh well, life goes on.

So while it seems like all my friends and family are already moving on with their lives ;), and have already celebrated Easter, Ukraine only just celebrated it yesterday!

 On Easter in Ukraine EVERYONE makes this little Easter bread and they put it in baskets and walk around giving it to their friends and family. And the best part is that everyone says hello that day by saying "Jesus was resurrected!" and then you reply "for truth, he was resurrected!"

I think it is such a wonderful tradition and it seemed to be the whole city was just filled with the love and light of Christ that day. People on the street who can sometimes not be so cheerful ;) , were extra happy and accepting to us.

As I think about the feeling of happiness and gratitude I felt throughout the day yesterday towards my Savior, I cant help but think what if we tried to remember what the Savior has done for us EVERY DAY. I truly do believe if all of us strived to better remember our Savior and what He has done for us, what we can become through Him, we would see and feel so much more happiness. I am so grateful to be here, to wear a nametag with the name of Jesus Christ, and to be reminded daily of His infinite Atonement. Jesus lives! I love you all, Happy Easter! :)

Oh also, we passed out these cards for a little, but powerful, two-minute video of Jesus Christ. Take a look! :)

Oh below is a super "cute" photo of Tuesday when Sister Rice and I got caught in a wild awful rainstorm. We survived. :)

xoxo

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Cectpa Morris

Ukraine-Dnepropetrovsk Mission

March 21st - Happy Spring!

Hello my dear friends and family! 

Happy first week of Spring from Ukraine!  The country decided to celebrate with a lovely spring blizzard!  So to the right is a picture of my Easter candy and coat and hat. :)

Paltava is a charming, wonderful, miraculous city!  I love it here.  I am learning so much.

I read a very interesting talk about faith this week.  A giant myth about religion and God is that people think we must be perfect in order to be worthy of receiving blessings; however, that's not true! 

I am reminded of the man that told Jesus, "Lord I believe, but help thou mine unbelief." 

Heavenly Father doesn't expect us to have perfect faith- what He expects us to do is to call upon Him and ask for help.

"It matters not what sins we have committed or how deep we have sunk into that proverbial pit.  What does matter is that Christ is pleading our case before the Father.  That is what really matters and what should give us all renewed hope and a determination to try one more time, because He has not forgotten us.  I testify the Savior will never turn away from us when we humbly seek Him in order to repent; will never consider us a lost cause; will never say 'Oh no, not you again,' will never reject us because of our failure to understand how hard it is to avoid sin.  He understands us all perfectly.  Repentance has the power to lift burdens and replace them with hope." 

Elder Allen D Haynie

I truly know that the Lord loves each and every one of us.  I also know that we cannot live fulfilling lives without Him.

HOPPY HOPPY EASTER!!  I love you all!!!

xoxo

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Cectpa Morris

Ukraine-Dnepropetrovsk Mission

February 8th - Hi It's me and I'm still alive

Sending you all a warm Здравствуйте from Ukraine! 

Well, I survived my first Christmas, my first New Years, my first haircut, and almost my first winter here in good ole Ukraine! 

Im learning so much here.  I love talking and meeting people from all different areas of life.  It's remarkable to realize how many trials people have here.  I am filled with gratitude for all that I have.  I am also so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has given us commandments, or guidelines, for a happy life. 

The secret for a happy life: FOLLOW THE COMMANDMENTS.  We know that God created us, we know that He knows us each individually and personally.  He knows exactly what we need in order to have a happy, successful life.  Those commandments are a sign of His love.  Yes, they are hard to follow at times; but its not because what He asked you to do is hard.  Sometimes commandments are difficult to follow because those around us choose to disobey and we want to be with the crowd. 

One of my favorite verses from the Book of Mormon comes from the book of Jacob 6:12, "O be wise; what can I say more?" (paraphrased: Don't be STUPID)  Remember YOU are in charge of YOUR life.  You are RESPONSIBLE for the choices you make.  We will have stand before Heavenly Father one day and answer for those choices we made during our earthly lives.

There is so much we all need to do in this life that we cant wait until the last second.  I encourage you all to take advantage of the opportunities the Lord has placed in front of you!  Start living life on a higher level!  Go out of your way to lift others up, to serve, and to love.  As you do so, I promise you will feel the warm praise from our Father in Heaven and amazing joy.  SO.. whats holding you back? :) 

I love and miss you all so much! Happy Monday! <3

xoxo

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Cectpa Morris

Ukraine-Dnepropetrovsk Mission

Bonjour!

Well life in Ulraine is changing! The weather is getting colder, the leaves are turning yellow and red, and I'm even understanding a little more Russian!

Hmm.. Whats happened since I emailed last.. I had the opportunity to try both liver and pig fat. Which yes, as you may guess, is as disgusting as it sounds. 

I also have a new companion! She is from Bellarus so Im super excited to be serving with her! 

I've learned so much in the short time I've been here. I've learned that when we open ourselves up, when we share our stories and get to know other people, we can see how much they need our help. Sometimes that help requires just a simple telephone call to say hello, or sometimes it requires a service project. The more people I meet, and truly get acquainted with, the more I realize the importance of our relationships. Its so interesing to think that everyone you walk past on the street has their own story. Its so easy to forget that when we get so consumed in our own lives. We forget to appreciate the simple beauty of lfe. 

SO -- I challenge you to make a better effort to reach out to someone you aren't very familiar with, make someone smile! :) Because we are all God's children, and no matter what we've done in life, we all deserve to be loved. 

I love you all, thank you so much for all your love and support! 

xoxo

-- 

Cectpa Morris

Ukraine-Dnepropetrovsk Mission

A little update from Ukraine!

A little update from little Ukraine! 

Life is good, the people are great.  

A "funny" for this week: Since being on my mission, I've realized how "patience" isn’t one of my strongest qualities.  I decided to pray for the ability to have my patience grow and to be able to be a more calm, less frustrated person.  The next morning, I walk into the bathroom to find a beautiful cockroach on the floor.  Wasn't exactly what I had in mind about "patience"... but what can you do. 

Another funny: So every week we have a "sports night" with the youth in our branch.  We play soccer, basketball, volleyball, Ping-Pong, whatever people want to play that day. This week' s activity happened to be Ultimate Frisbee.  While in the middle of the game, my companion decided to take a moment and show how much she loves me by launching the Frisbee, from a distance of five feet, at my forehead.  I had a cute goose egg to show off for a couple days after. 

I'm learning to love the endless amount of irony my life has -- it definitely keeps it interesting!

Something very impactful I learned this week is related to something an apostle said, "God cannot teach someone with an inquiring mind." 

Because we all have been given agency, the choice to choose good and evil, God will never make us choose the right.  He WILL however, ALWAYS show us the right way, the right choice if we are sincerely seeking the answer. 

Again and again, I have been asked, "How do you REALLY know this is true?"  I know this gospel is true because I have not only felt the Holy Ghost answer my prayers, but I've committed to live the gospel standards.  As I have committed to live the gospel standards, I've seen my life completely transform.  I am so grateful that all of us equally have this opportunity.

Thank you for all your love and support!

xoxo

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Cectpa Morris

Ukraine-Dnepropetrovsk Mission

Hello!

Sorry, I haven’t emailed in a while.  Emailing time just goes by SO quick!

Anyways, a little update from Ukraine:

This week we had a really fun activity with the youth of our branch.  We went on a little hike to an area by the river and just played tons of different games.  The youth here are simply AMAZING.  Most of them are the only active members of the church in their families, but their testimonies of the gospel are just beautiful. 

I also took a little tumble down a few stairs this week. ha ha (Gotta love Ukraine's dark, uneven stairwells).  I also happened to be holding a loaf of bread we made for the members we were visiting.  LUCKILY, the bread survived and I was able to recover my graceful self right before she opened the door.

Spiritual Thought:

I read a talk this week that talked about how the US Army has a saying "Be All You Can Be." It talked about how we as humans, have no capacity of what we can become-- but God does. God knows everything about us, things we don't even know about us. That is why He asks us to "Come unto Him." He WANTS to bless us, make us happy, and help us develop into all we can be.

It reminds me of the quote "The only time you find yourself is when you lose yourself." Don't be afraid to give everything over to the Lord, trust Him!

I love you all, thank you so much for you support!

xoxo

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Cectpa Morris

Ukraine-Dnepropetrovsk Mission

I'm Alive!!!

Hello!

This week has been a little long and a little rough!  We have spent a lot of time contacting ( talking to people on the street all day about the gospel ).  Did I mention I can't speak Russian..?  But I was able to meet one girl who spoke English and we got her number and she seemed really excited!!  It was such a blessing. 

As many of you knew before, I'm not a cook.  At all.  So you should all be very proud that I cooked chicken and potatoes this week and did not get food poisoning.  What can I say; I'm a changed woman.  Although, Yogurtland might have some competition because the ice cream here is pretty delicious!

Today I was studying Agency.  If you take a moment to reflect on your life, it’s amazing to see the blessings we all have.  God created us, and then He gave us scriptures, prophets, the gospel, all of the commandments so that we can know exactly how to return to Him.  Then He STILL lets us choose whether we will follow Him or not.  I've learned no one can or will make you have a relationship with God.  This is something you have to work on and develop yourself and it takes a lot of work.  But it brings more blessings and happiness than anything else ever could.

I love you all!

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Cectpa Morris

Ukraine-Dnepropetrovsk Mission