Dear Family,

We finally got snow this week! I woke up and the snow was coming down. We got on a bus to head over to the office, and I really wanted to talk to someone on the bus. By the way I am able to wear my name tag now! So I planned in my head to say "Wow, at last we have snow" to the guy standing next to me to start a conversation. Something happened and I just blurted out "Hey, by the way there is snow." The guy looked at me like "well, duh..." Sometimes talking with people is awkward, but I love being a missionary because talking with other people makes me very happy. The restrictions that we have in L'viv may look like the limit us on the surface. But nothing can stop the work of the Lord from going forward. Success is an attitude. And it is one that we have here. We are still able to talk with as many people as we can. We might not be able to flat out talk about the gospel, but that is not stopping us from reaching the people of L'viv. They see the light that we have in our eyes and they want to know what we have that makes us happy. And that is all it takes. Even though serving in L'viv may seem like a challenge, I think it is a huge blessing. Both to me, and to the people who live here!

Well, this week has been quite the crazy one. On Friday President Lattin pulled Elder Robinett and I into his office to talk with us. He said that he wanted to mix up the companionships in L'viv and he felt it would be a good move. So I am now serving with Elder Randell, he moved from Center out to my apartment, and my old companion went to center. I have been with Elder Randell for a few day (we moved on Saturday) and he is way great. He is from Alaska/Tennessee. The funny part is that I am the tallest Elder in the mission and he is the shortest, so it looks kind of funny when we stand by one another. I am really happy to be able to serve with him. He is really nice, and we get along really well. He has a very strong testimony about the gospel. It was sad to slit with Elder Robinett, but we decided it was ok, because we will always be good friends. We planed some fun outings after our missions to look forward too!

This Sunday Elder Randell and I were in Ternopil! As always I feel so blessed to be able to go there and have interaction with the saints there. They are remarkable people. I have never felt the spirit stronger in a church meeting than I have sitting around a small conference table in a hotel room in Ternopil, hearing them tell about their love of the gospel and their love of our Father in Heaven.

This week for Ukrainian Christmas we took a fun trip out to a village to visit a member and his non-member family.  After some struggles getting out there we had a really good day. He has a really cool family, but was a bit scared to share the gospel with them. So we got to know them and they told us about themselves and we ate dinner. Dinner was good. Welcome to the Missionary life!

I love you all so much! I hope you have a good week. I hope my picture proved to emily that pigs are not cute animals. And I hope you remember to say your prayers!

with love,

Elder Hadfield