Week 19 The moths are attacking!

Funny story, Sestra Daugirda and I were talking one night and the only light on was in our living/study room. S. Daugirda all of the sudden hops like a bunny in fear over to me in the lighted room because something was in the kitchen where she previously was. It was a huge nasty moth! ---now I don't remember this because of the fear controlling me at the moment---but I guess I dodged to where she was, moved her out of the way so I could find safety in our bedroom. We were both squealing like babies. I then found courage to kill it so I grabbed a notebook and tried to find it, turning on and off different lights. Nowhere! It must have flown back out the window. Except we are still living in fear that it is in our apartment somewhere waiting to attack us in its flight patterns.

Our new district is sometimes painfully awkward. Probably just because we all don't know each other very well and maybe our personalities aren't all the kind that naturally mesh together? that's Fiiiine, I secretly have a plan to crack the awkward beans out of everyone so we can have a good time. A lesson I have found important is to just Hug every situation and laugh through all the weird times. That way, they will all be good times :) 

Enough with that, bad weeks only mean that miracles are around the corner. Haaaaay, BRING IT! 

Sestra Daugirda is the cutest thing from a fairyland. S. Behunin previously served with her and we quoted S. Daugirda a lot last transfer. She says things like "Im going to scream" and "oh my dear goodness" Its phenomenal and sometimes we just laugh at how funny she is. ALSO talk about testimony on everything! Its such a blessing to get a companion who has a strong testimony on things that you have been working on and having doubt about. We are about to get real with the spirit. Seriously it is going to be a transfer full of miracles and we are planning to give it our all to see the miracles.

We are teaching a guy who has a baptismal date for the 18th and we are soooo excited. We asked him the other day why he wants to get baptized. His response "..because this is Christ's church.." That is a good answer ladies and gentlemen. 

Fun Fact to end the email, I finished 1 Corinthians this morning. What a great few last chapters! I never knew Paul talked to the people about their grooming of hair. Odd, but that's Paul. He also was saying to the people that he had faith to move mountains, he had a gift of speech, but he lacked charity and that meant he was basically nothing. It is so true, if we all had charity and acted in charity towards one another, think about how different life would be.

Mám vás rada!!!!!!!!

-Sestra Hale

p.s. go big on the 4th of July. I'll probably eat ice cream to celebrate.

Our new district - Photoshoot!

Week 18 Transfers

I am Staying in České Budejovice and Sestra Behunin left. She is on her way to Ostrava. We were SO sad. My new companion is Sestra Daugirda! (Dah-grr-duh).

Well last week we hit standards. We worked like wild mammoths to finally hit our weekly goals of teaching certain people and having people at church and BAM! We did it! It's so cool how Heavenly Father works. Our entire 10 weeks together we prayed, fasted, prayed, suffered, worked, worked and worked, so that we could have some success from our labors. It took 10 weeks but we finally did it and are on a GREAT starting track for this transfer. It is going to be SO good! BRING IT !

Yesterday we had a konference in Prague. It is like Stake Conference back home except it was for ALL members who could come and some Slovak members too. It was huge and amazing. Elder Kearon of the Quorum of the 70s was there again and some other wonderful members of the area. The talks were amazing. I couldn't pay attention to them the whole time though because I sat right next to one of our recent convert families with a hyper active child and I basically had an ulcer from trying to help them with reverence. But it's fine haha.

The weather is sooo nice here. I keep forgetting it is summer time because I am often holding an umbrella over my head or wearing a long sleeve blouse or cardigan. I am hearing that back in AZ it is hot hot hot...I am so grateful to be in this weather here ;)

Nothing too exciting to report. I am way excited for this transfer because I realized only a few weeks ago that I am naturally getting lost in the work. I am forgetting the life back home because I am so in love with working with the people here. The missionary effort is huge in this country. I know that our background knowledge of the organization of the church is important and can help the members here. My testimony of true disciples of Christ has grown. There are so many sacrifices being made in order to have this branch here function. We really are searching with the Spirit to find people who will build the branch. I could not be happier to be a part of this work. Especially with my new companion! She is so cute. I already love her.

-Sestra Hale

p.s. Also Lindsey Williams, Owen, Hazel, Shannon Wheat, Aunt Lauri, Suzanne, and Sister Pickerd: you are all SO great for writing me a note. Thank you :) I love hearing from you all !!!!!

p.s. Oh! For those who want to, I want to hear about girls camp! Send me something that was the highlight of the week, something that built your testimony, and something that was hilarious. (note: Melanie doesn't know I had everyone at camp that knew her write her a note, already in the mail today. But if I missed anyone, or if you think of anything else to share about camp, send her a note)

p.s. I love you all AND I'm sorry for being late but no one celebrates Fathers day here...SO HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD! You are the coolest example to me of being a cheerful person, a misisonary. and a hard worker. I am grateful for all the principles you have taught me over the years. I also love your letters. And you. Have a wonderful next year of being a great father to 4 amazing children/all the kids in primary who love you! ;)

Melanie writes a group e-mail (above), but also writes some personal notes home. Here are some additional excerpts from her other e-mails this morning:

 "also-  did you know they do not have brown sugar here? I am afraid I will never be able to make my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe here.  Hmmm . . . a birthday present wish list item!  I've always wanted brown sugar for my birthday!!"

"Oh my gosh mom, Rachel told me about grandpa remembering that I am his fav. granddaughter. That is so awesome!"

Note -- Melanie's 92 year old Grandpa has some severe memory loss issues - to the point that he often doesn't remember his own sons. The last time he visited our home (sping 2014) Melanie was teaching him a trick - every time she came through the house, she would introduce herself - do you remember me? I'm Melanie, your favorite grandchild! After doing this many many times, she would sometimes quiz him. Do you remember my name? I'm your favorite grandchild. "Marian?" "No Grandpa, but it does start with an M. I'm Melanie, your favorite grandchild" Occasionally he would get it right. We all thought it was a funny parlor trick to get him to repeat that while he was here. Melanie's cousin, Tristina, was caring for him in Utah recently, more than a year later -- Here is what she shared: Earlier today Grandpa and I were talking about his kids. He asked where everyone and their family lived, and how they were. I gave him a little update (as much as I knew) about marriages, births, moves, graduations. We got to Melanie, and her going on a mission. He says "Oh, that's wonderful. My favorite granddaughter is Melanie." 

Surprise party for my 6 month! Hahah I love this district! Inside this box was the leftover cake from Sestra Behunin's one year party!

My Namesti (city square) 

We contacted on temples information. It was awful. Awkward because we were holding a HUGE picture, and weird because it is a deep subject to whip on someone first contact. Next time we practice before jumping into that.

 THANK YOU Dorothy Finn for the year supply of stickers! I am about to Go To Town with those !

Week 17 Come Fly Away with Us

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY RACHEL TANNER! I literally love you so much and I can't believe you are 21! My birthday wish for you this year is to A. not have any car problems the entire year B. all of your schooling will be a breeze with your hard work and perfect grades and C. that you can write the coolest rap in history about being 21. Then when I return I will beat box to it as you rap. Just like after high school every day when we would walk to my car. I love you! 

This week literally FLEW by. It wasn't until Friday that we realized a lot of our lessons fell through and the week was almost over. That is something I have learned--not everything will go our way and that is absolutely okay. When our goal is not the number of things we can accomplish in one day but rather on how much of a difference can we make in one day, the work gets easier. I think this can be applied to life outside of a mission. When someone cancels on a lunch date, or when your To Do list doesn't get fully accomplished, or when an easy work day turns into a stressful one, what can we do to turn our situations into opportunities? I'm stoked to keep learning things here to apply in the life back home.

I had VISA work this past week. We went to Prague, there I met the Holts and Starsi Smith. The office Elder Kleiner took us to this place to get our VISA work started. All we had to do was hand over this folder of previously organized and notarized documents. The only things was waiting before we could talk to someone! It was so fun to catch up with Starsi Smith and his area in Olomouc. So after 1 million hours there, I passed! I can stay in the country. We will have to go back 2 more times until we actually have our Visa card though.

Sestra Behunin had her 1 year mark! The Elders bought her Medovnik. That is honey flavored cake. Czech cake. She was so happy and we also went out to eat with our mission leader since it was right after our meeting with him that we started celebrating. Speaking of...our new Branch Mission Leader is Bratr Křešníčka! He is THE MAN! Whenever I see him we always mess with each other. So we are excited for his help in the work!

We are teaching this new man. He was contacted by Sestra Bailey on an exchange here and we have met with him twice since then. The first time was great-he was really into the history of the Book of Mormon. Then we invited him to church and he ACTUALLY CAME! He really loved Priesthood and asked a lot of questions there and so after church we asked if we could meet-only preparing to talk to him about church and how awesome it was that he came-then the Holy Ghost swept us off our feet because we talked about the Sacrament, our covenants with God, then Baptism. We gave him a date and we are so excited because he is really willing to learn all these new things. Yay!

WE HAD A BBQ! We as missionaries threw it and have been planning it since week 3 of this transfer. It was AMAZING. The food was delicious, there were so many non members there, and the talent show was full of funny, weird, and truly talented people. My favorite was the short hand writing from Vlad'ka's mom. Also the Měšťanovi sang and I had no idea Jana could play the guitar! The numbers were 15 members and 16 non members. It was a success and we loved the fun :) This branch is seriously so great.

This week we get transfer calls. We are sad because we love this area and we love serving together. Starsi Davis must go home. He has been out 2 years and 3 weeks. BUT I wouldn't mind if everyone else stayed here in C Bud. Just saying. 

-Sestra Hale

P.S. Fact: my 6 month mark is in 2 days. Whaaaaaa?

Underneath all the bridges is cool graffiti. So this is us in our city. Owning it!

 We played Bachi Ball or Petank with some people we teach English to .  at the club. 

They were so happy we came and learned how to play. Turns out S. Behunin 

and I are pretty good!

The Grilovani (the BBQ)

Week 16 STL Exchange, a Křest, Hluboka Zoo

Wooooooooooweeeeeeee! (yell that like a cowboy and that is how I feel about this last week)

So in the Czech language there is a formal way to address someone and an informal way. The rules I still do not know perfectly, but I know to me it is super cool when people say we can address each other informally. I am excited to announce that one of the coolest members in our branch this past week said we could tykat. Yay!

Random whatnots: We went on what I call- a Man Hunt. We looked all over C-Bud for less actives to invite them to a grill we are having this week. We hunted with no avail. All is well still.

The sister training leaders from Prague came on Friday. They are a trio so it is Sister White (5th transfer in field) Sister DuBois (6th transfer) and Sister Bailey (1st transfer) THEY ARE ON FIRE! I was with Sestra White and Bailey all day. Our lessons cancelled so we ended up contacting ALL DAY. My first experience with this. Straight up-studies in the morning, contact until lunch, (phenomenal Indian food) then contacting until game night. ALL DAY! It was so great though because our area really has been needing a boost in investigators and different ways of teaching. I admire what Sister Bailey does in her first transfer. She ran up to a lady on a bike at a stop light, tried talking to her, then when the lady said she wasn't interested, Sestra Bailey stuck one of our cards in her bag! It was really nice to have them with us all day even though I have never been more worn out. ---That verse "serve with all your heart, might, mind, and strength" comes to mind when I think about Thursday. I love being a missionary!

Saturday we had a baptism! E is one of the Elder's investigators who has been investigating the church for one year. The Elder who originally contacted her was able to come so it was amazing. E is so cute and the service was so cool. We rented a pool. Yes an indoor pool. That was so cool to witness. As missionaries we also sang 'How Great Thou Art' with  accompaniment of Terezea on violin. I got goosebumps on the 4th verse when we all sang together.

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And lead me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow with humble adoration,

And then proclaim, "My God, how great Thou art!

 It was beautiful. She is the newest member in our branch and we couldn't be happier to have her!

Today we went to Hluboka where there was a mansion full of fish, bears, and ANTLERS! I don't know what to call this place but that is it. Look at some of the pictures I took. Fun fact: It said it wasn't open but the front door was open so we all walked in anyway and helped ourselves to an entire full tour of each level. Cool! My favorite room was the room where all the furniture was made from antlers and animal skin. Crazy! Then next door was the Hluboka zoo! S is member from Germany that is here for a couple weeks (he is SO cool) and T was able to come with us too. My favorite part about the zoo was the bears. The bears were eating grass and we were 3-4 feet away from them doing so! They kept looking up and sniffing at us. They probably could smell our flesh and desired for it. ALSO I was 3 feet from a wolf and there were a few tiny monkeys that were allowed to roam randomly around the zoo. Harmless and so cute!

 THIS room.

 Turns out I am so good at ping pong. Me and Papa went at it. 

We almost bet on the church's piano 

but I said that probably wasn't a good idea.

 One picture is right before the Sisters left back to Prague. Notice: Sister White next to me is SO crispy sunburnt due to hours on end of contacting. Also I have a new dress I bought from a Vietnamese store. It was super cheap and I love it so much. (I thought it was okay to buy a new dress because a girl was painting mine and S.Behunin's nails last week and she spilled a dark blue nail polish on my red plaid skirt...sad but I'm happy to have my new dress now)

The Zoo (I'm not sure what animal I was)

 My missionary badge, cool huh?

Week 15 Training and Movie Night

There were a few highlights from this last week. 

First off we had a training with Elder Kearon from the 70! He is soon to be President over the European Region or something like that. HOLY COW does that man bring the spirit. He taught so much, covered all aspects of how to better serve this mission. He is also a very normal genuine man. He sat by me at lunch and asked about my family and how we all are. He is so fun and has a very cool conversion story. 

Then Saturday night we had MOVIE NIGHT! Since we had branch conference on Sunday President McConkie came Saturday with some of his family and brought "Meet The Mormons". We invited our British investigator . He loved it. We also had interviews while the movie was playing. President McConkie is so great. He is so wise and fun and helpful and I am thankful for him and his family to be the leaders of this mission. BUMMER: We found out that he will go home(released from his mission as mission president) on July 1st 2016 and I go home July 7th. Six days! He said we will still have an interview before he leaves but my actual departing interview will be with the new president. Weird! 

We had branch conference which was great. Members from Plzen, Kradec Kralove, Jicin, and Prague. Why were they all there? Who knows. We were so blessed to hear from President Ambroz(our prez here), President Pilka (Prague branch president) and President McConkie (misison prez). It was so nice to have a full chapel and wonderful speakers.

Fun stories: We met with M again. There is a picture of him and us. He is the cutest! He also brought us both white roses. He is so sweet and loves the Book of Mormon. 

We met with K to help edit her lyrics in English. Then to pay back she gave Sestra Behunin a massage. Right there on the ground in our kitchen/classroom with blankets, candles, music, and a pillow. She is practicing Thai massages for a job so we are happy to serve :) I get my massage next time we meet with her. Yay!

May is over! oh...please disregard one of my recordings when I announced it was the last day in May but indeed it was not. There are 31 days in May not 30. Other than that enjoy! I love you all! 

Prosím dejte mí vědět když máte něco zajemavý v životě :Please let me know if anything interesting happens in your lives! 

I love you all! Try to be the best member missionaries you can be this week. Try it out. It's pretty fun to be a missionary :) 

S Laskou, Sestra Hale​

C-Bud Missionaries on the Namēsti.

Scooters on the Namesti (city square).

 Dr. Seuss style "Bikooter"

 Me and M.  Cutest old man alive. Next to my grandparents ;)

Roses from M

 My 2 areas - aka my 2 'homes'

 Wednesday morning English class. We love them so much. they loved our lesson last week of all the dumb words in English that sound exactly the same but are different. For example: but vs. butt      or       through vs. threw.   

Our Vylet (excursion? outing?) today. It was last minute so I have no idea where we were or what the place is called. Pretty though! They had pet swans in the mote. Swans and their baby swannies.