missionary melanizzle

missionary melanizzle

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Week 72 -- Každý den s usměvem

Also this week was full of a lot of goodbyes but it wasn't until we were saying goodbye to the strong members of the Jicin ward, that I cried. not me alone but even the members. There was such a different spirit at church. Something about the testimonies that were shared, touched all of our hearts and that same spirit carried us throughout the meetings. I was so overwhelmed with joy when I bore my testimony that I think my smile was what brought me to tears. I love the Czechs. I was sent here to serve them and they in return changed my life and I will always be in debt to what they taught me. Not only did the Czechs themselves show me how to apply the gospel into life but Heavenly Father has proved multiple times that he knows these people personally. I am forever in his debt and will always rely on Jesus Christ, my Savior when I need help. I can not deny what I have experienced and what I have felt to be true. This is the true church, God and Jesus Christ live, and I love it all. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

See you all soon friends, I cant wait to hug you all! 
srdečně, 
Sestra Hale

Note: We were able to pick up Melanie at the mission office in Prague, and then have another welcome at the Phoenix airport on her return. It is so nice to be reunited. 













Saturday, June 25, 2016

Week 71 Clearly I am losing my mind

THIS is the second to last email I will send out as a full time missionary. 
As for recaps of this week, here they are:
Z is a golden sweet soul and he loved church, we last taught him the law of chastity and tithing and word of wisdom and other laws and ordinances. It all makes sense and he is applying the Goapel so well into this life now so he can have a big spiritual experience when he is baptized. One thing that always gets to him and that he is so excited to have is the Holy Ghost. I can tell his conformation will be one of the highlights of his mortal life. He is preparing so well and is doing all he can to be ready. We LOVE our Z! Keep him in your prayers. 

This last week I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with Sestra Bailey. We were in MB and it was a total finding day. Who better to contact all day with, than Sestra Bailey? We had a BLAST and found 4 or 5 total new investigators for that area. Heavenly Father is blessing us soooo much right now. It's so exhilarating! It's also so hot, which makes the work even better because we feel even more like we are hard working missionaries. Yesterday we taught sooo many people all over the city. We even found a really cute pregnant girl who is so merry and excited to have her baby. We previously decided to contact about baptism. That was way inspired because the first words out of this woman's mouth was "where do I baptize my baby? How can I do that? Do I have to be baptized?" What an awesome moment in teaching! We will see her Monday. Why are we being so blessed right now? No idea, but we are not letting the Lord down and we are acting on all of these opportunities to teach.

 My last training happened this Wednesday. It was so good and also so sad at the end because The Holts (office couple I started the mission with), me, Starsi Vernard, and all of the McConkies shared our departing testimonies. I cried like a baby during the closing prayer. and all throughout training. I love this mission and people and the Czechs. I love the Czechs with all my heart. They have changed me forever. Although it was sad, we are all excited for the change of the new mission president this coming week and for progressional changes in general. Change is the only constant in life so we might as well enjoy it! 
s laskou,
Sestra Hale

Fun Facts of the Czech Republic: the walls have no insulation and the toilets and sinks are in different rooms. 
I love you all and will talk to you back on MONDAY next week. The 4th. 










Sunday, June 19, 2016

Week 70 -- Updates

I honestly don't know what to write anymore. 
Guess what? Thursday night President McConkie called us at approximately 8:50 pm and told us the Holt's replacement is coming sooner than expected. Yay! They got their visas! What does this mean for us? Well, I'll try to explain it simply. 
There are not enough sisters in the mission, thus we are covering 2 areas. 
I leave soon, only one sister is coming in. Still a shortage.
The senior couple need an apartment when they come
We are being booted out of Prague and consecrating ourselves in Mlada Boleslav
We are to be out of the apartment (moved and cleaned in detailed) by Monday. 
For the rest of the transfer we will still kind of work in Prague as we try to transition the people we are teaching to the elders who are staying. 
Probably until September, there will not be any sisters serving in Prague. 
SAD!  BUT we are happy to be closer working with those that need us in Mlada Boleslav. 
As far as Z goes, he is AWESOME! I haven't personally seen him for over a week because we had 2 exchanges this week Sestra Cade and I were in Prague both times. BUT Z listened to a conference talk by President Monson and he was also looking around and listened to a talk from general conference about being a Child of God (The night before he prayed to truly know if he was a child of God)  SO cool. we are always on the edge of our seats on the phone after his lessons. He is our favorite!!!!! 

We had a culture night in Jicin this last week. It was a concert of folk music from the Czech Republic. Pretty cool, I was distracted by a cute baby sitting in front of us and the kostel interior. The band also was wearing fancy blouses from times of old. It was pretty nice. 
Love you all! Stay tuned for the last email next week! 
Sestra Hale

p.s. funny moment: a man took a picture of us contacting on the metro. Awkward. #missionariesonthemetro

Sooo many other things happened but I'd rather tell you all in person. Ask me about the bible meeting at the cafe this last week!



Monday, June 13, 2016

Week 69 -- Ahoj Všem!!!

All in all this week has been wild and successful. We have 2 golden golden investigators. One in each area. In MB its Z and he is really feeling the difference of this message in his life. He said he is happier and feels the Holy Ghost a lot and he even wanted to get baptized earlier so he could have this with him always! He's also reading through the BoM with speed and understanding. We are always in Awe after our lessons with him. We are meeting with him today. He is SO Awesome! Keep him in your prayers :)

The other in Prague is H who went MIA for the last 2 weeks but right before the ward grill we were able to meet with him and even teach with (awesome recent convert) S which ended up being a HUGE miracle. In our lesson, we followed up on H reading and praying and since he didn't do either one of those, we taught him right then and there WHY we read and pray daily in the first place. By the end of the lesson he said "well..I should be reading this every day and praying. I will do that!' YES YOU WILL H! It will bless your life! After the lesson H said he hadn't seen the entire building so we started a building tour and went to the baptismal font where the climax hit. S said he hadn't been there since he was baptized himself. So S shared his amazing experience and H asked all sorts of details such as how it looks, who is there, what is said, how far the water goes up, what happens the day after, etc. BOMB OF PERFECT! Lastly, H stayed for the grill and met and talked to a good handful of members who he also asked what their story is like, how they prayed before baptism versus after, etc. H is all about the details. Which I personally love because we are not afraid of hiding anything. I'm not afraid to tell him that going to church is a commandment. And why? Let's read from the scriptures, etc. There are so many sources of truth we have and all of his questions are being answered and he is feeling it. Oh! He also texted us after he prayed at home. He usually doesn't know what to say but he shared with us his experience and wow. The Lord is truly blessing us in our areas.

So in MB we are teaching our favorite Mongolian member E. We are doing Personal Progress with her and it is SO fun! Last week she forgot to prepare a lesson about service so last week we helped her study and get an outline for a lesson then yesterday she comes and said "This hour will be SO good!" Then she whips out chips, 2 bags of candy and a plate with cut sweet bread on it from her backpack and taught us about service using her experiences through school (fundraising money for a place in Afrika), she used the scriptures, and even had photos to go along with what she was talking about. Ohhhh we love E.

This week for English in MB we went on a trip to the Vietnamese tiny grocery store. We walked around in groups with papers and pointed out things and wrote them down in Czech and English. I was with Jiří, the younger, and Vladimir. It was so funny. The store owners kept looking at us and watching us.  I learned the word for diapers is pleny. Then Jiří, the younger, bought ice cream for our group and on our way back to the office we chanted that we were the best group with our arms in the air. It was a lot of fun.

We went on exchanges again this week with Sestra Humphries and DeMann and that was a ball. I like Sestra DeMann.

LASTLY on Sunday we were in Jicin and they called a bishop! The former branch president President Zbranek is the bishop, former 1 counselor in the presidency was Pres. Podlipny, now 1st counselor in the bishopric, and Brother Neckař who served a mission in Idaho and is the coolest man) is the 2nd counselor instead of Elder Gunnel (our senior missionary). It was an awesome Sunday.
Have a crazy week, cause I know we will! This week we are going on exchanges with the CBUD sestry and also Evie McConkie. Wish us luck !!
--Sestra Hale

 First ever Prague Ward Grill

Trip to the wilderness 

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Week 68 -- A Happy Week

Here we are in Prague and Mlada Boleslav and we have had yet another amazingly happy week. In a leadership meeting called Mission Leadership Council we talked a lot about those special converting moments when we change from doing the work out of duty to doing the work out of love...we honestly are feeling this every. single. day. I hit that a while ago and Sestra Fred too and I think it's also rubbing off onSestra Cade so much that her personality is coming out more and more and it's so awesome! We are constantly in contact with our investigators, we are running around and are being SO amazingly blessed with the people we meet. We are having a ton of opportunities to teach and gather the Czechs to the Gospel. We are mostly excited about our member lesson in Stare Boleslav with Sestra Marsikova. That is a miracle in and of itself. Stare Boleslav is between MB and Prague and sweet Sestra Marsikova was willing to drive out to teach a lesson with us. He was originally a referral from someone being taught in Slovakia. He has 2 kids. I have only met one daughter and have already created the plan to steal her because she is SO darling! (Plus she has a sweet cowlick that makes her hair stick up and I think we can bond over that) Ivan is kind of hard to read but he wants to be baptized and is getting used to prayer. He says he doesn't ever know what to say but when he prays its so sincere and the Spirit is evident. 

Another reason we are so happy is our straight up MIRACLE man in Mlada Boleslav! Last week we were on exchanges and met Z on the street. NOTE: The Zone Leaders texted us a challenge to put someone on date in a street contact. This came to pass with Z and he is 200% proof that God prepares the souls here. He has had past experiences that have lead him to ponder the doctrine we are teaching, he loves that we can live forever with our families and understands that when he is in the Celestial Kingdom he will be able to visit his family in the other kingdoms, etc. We have met with him 3 times and every. single. time. we leave with HUGE grins because it's literally hard to believe he exists. He sent us his favorite scriptures in the BoM, he is already in 1 Nefi 17, he asks 'golden' questions that we have the simple doctrine to answer with, etc.  Z will be baptized in the next 4 weeks. We are praying that he will also feel ready sooner for his date on July 2nd. 

Oh my gosh I cannot even describe the joy we are feeling. This companionship is united, the work is always moving in the right direction, and we are on top of soooo many things and enjoying the crazy ride the entire time. We are working hard and playing hard. 

Something else this week was a small but spiritual moment for me. We met with a less active whose brother recently passed away and she said it caused her to wonder if what she believed to be true, was actually true. According to her studies, it's confirmed that the life after death is true but she asked "Where is my brother right now" So I whipped out my little pictures that I used a lot with Sestra Stokes and took out the Duchovni Svet (spirit world) And in one sentence I told her "he is being taught in the Spirit world about our Savior Jesus Christ and is being given a chance to accept Him". It was so small and the conversation moved on but I have No Doubts about the Gospel. If we are ever stumped on the street by an anti Christ or angry person, I enjoy studying it out in my mind and heart using sources like scriptures and talks to find the truth and to reconfirm my testimony. 
There are times when we question our religion. I can say that it all starts with faith and as we move on and act on our faith we have experiences that give us knowledge of what we hoped to be true. I know Jesus Christ is our Savior. He loves us, he established his church for us, he died for us, and he continues to give us revelation through our Prophet Thomas S Monson. We are a perfect church full of imperfect people, isn't that so great? 

-Sestra Hale

P.S. if you want a laugh here it is. Yesterday  we were teaching someone on a tram and I lost my balance for a second because I was getting a pamphlet out of my bag. The tram jolted or braked..I honestly don't know, and I caught my balance on the pole which a innocent bystander man was already holding so if you can imagine this with me: I quickly and firmly held a man's hand on the tram for probably the longest 2.5 seconds of my life.  The air felt so awkward  and we could tell he tried to escape our presence but couldn't because the tram was so packed. That's me. Sestra Trapná (Sister Embarassing)

 Lunch with the Jicin Elders in the Mexican Dungeon -- never again!



the Zoo Zamek (the Zoo Chateau) 

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Week 67 -- A trip to the Zoo

There comes a point in everyday -usually when we go to bed- that I can't get my thoughts together and my brain is foggy and full of a lot of things we have to do, with people I forgot to pray for, with funny stories I remember and want to tell my comps, or when I just shut off and go into Sestra Hale land somewhere in space. These moments don't last long but they definitely happen. Right now that's kind of happening because we are taking it one day at a time and the second that one day is done and accounted for in the journal, it's kind of forgotten. Not in a bad way but there is too much to do the next day that we need more brain space for those worries and thoughts and inspiration. 

Last P Day we went to the Prague Zoo with our Prague district. It was awesome and we saw all sorts of animals. the most exciting parts were the elephants because a baby elephant threw a small fit and ran away from us, and when we went to see the alligators there was a turtle sitting on top of the alligator. It looked so majestic.

Church in Prague was awesome. We were up for translating and that was a party on its own. We sit in the other room with the speaker overhead to listen to and then have a little tiny microphone thing to talk quietly into for the people in the sacrament meeting room with headphones to listen to. But some late comers joined us who also needed translation but we ran out of headphones so they sat next to us and now we were talking louder and had witnesses to look at us as we would occasionally get lost and make a face then testify about what we think we heard. Translating was awesome. We switched off every other talk and Sestra Cade did the prayers.
 
TRAINING! It was such a good training. It was the Prague and Hradec Kralove zones. so..a lot of missionaries. maybe 40. So yes...the time came when Sestra Fred and I trained on the tools we have as missionaries. Time ran from us so it wasn't as we expected but we were able to open up the missionary mind of thinking we don't have a lot of tools to use in our finding efforts. for example: Preach My Gospel manual is NOT limited to missionaries. That applies to members just as much as us missionaries. Training was sooo fruitful. It's so beneficial when we apply what the leaders train on. Moral of the story:trust and follow the council of the leaders who are led by the Spirit. I can promise answers and blessings. 
We had exchanges with the Jihlava sestry here. I served with Sestra Andersen. She is sooo good and I love her work ethic. She's positive and we had a few AWESOME miracles. For example-we were waiting for our lesson to show up to teach the restoration. He didn't show up but we were able to teach a man who was walking by the building we said hello to. He now knows the restoration and we will see him soon! 
I LOVE our Heavenly Father. It's evident that He lives and that His son is our Savior. I love them with my whole heart and I'm grateful for the Holy Ghost to testify that truth to me often. Have a phenomenal week everybody! 
-Sestra Hale


Saturday, May 21, 2016

Week 66 -- HERE IT IS!!!

This is the e-mail you have all been waiting for. http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.uk/article/president-dieter-f-uchtdorf-presides-at-the-creation-of-the-first-stake-in-the-czech-republic

The CR has a Stake!!! It was amazing. The Saturday session was so full that us as missionaries were all standing in the back at the beginning of the session until more chairs were brought in. Even then, some missionaries still stood. It was a beautiful exciting session. President and Sister Uchtdorf were led by the Spirit as they spoke about how we can strengthen ourselves and how we took time to become such a strong foundation of this stake. And. It. Keeps. Growing. As for the Sunday session, we were assigned to be at the front door to welcome all. I don't think I have been that constantly happy in my life.(you can see her as the door greeter in the church video - link is above)  Every single person that came in, we were able to shake their hands and welcome them to the best meeting of their lives! It was so sweet to see people I have served around, members and missionaries, and all those I didn't know on the other side of the country. It was a beautiful historic building and once everyone sat down, the spirit illuminated us. We were in the voluntary group standing along the wall until the last 20 minutes when Sister McConkie ran up to us during the intermediate hymn and said there were 4 seats on the front row we 5 sisters could squeeze on. Perfect timing. I shared half a chair with Sestra Fred and half a chair with Sister Alder (the wife of Elder Alder from the 70's ) We love Sister Alder she is so cute and funny. So, this means we were front row as lucky lucky sisters for Sister Uchtdorf and President Uchtdorf's talks. It was so memorable I can't even describe it. No one wanted to leave this building. All the saints were talking and taking pictures with one another. President McConkie in tears every once in a while, called the first and new Stake Presidency. These men are perfect. They are truly called of God and I, along with all those who were in favor of their calling, know this is right. It's so right. When it was announced that the Czech Republic's first Patriarch was to be called, EVERYONE gasped. I have a feeling they forgot about the Patriarch because of the excitement about WHO will be the new presidency?? Then when Bratr Čanek stood up, That's when I teared up. These men are called of God. Amen to their worthiness and priesthood! 


The rest of this week has been full of deep conversations, tough questions and situations from investigators, preparing for the training this week, MIRACLES, and careful wording as we talk about our newly called bishops and wards. It's so awesome to say those words. I love this land and these people. We have the best companionship and we are on the Lord's errand to invite these people to be a part of the Stake! Its so exciting. Can you feel it too? 
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!! 
-Sestra Hale
p.s. we are going to the zoo today with our district! 




Saturday, May 14, 2016

Week 65 -- Oh man Ohhh mannn


I literally cannot express how on fire we are because of this huge weekend. I hope it has somehow reached the homeland news but the Czech Republic is forming its FIRST STAKE. I apologize for not mentioning anything until now because I wanted to spill the beans with the family on Mothers Day but please please please ask me sometime in life how this process came together. There are not enough minutes or emails long enough to explain God's hand in the work here. We have heard testimony on testimony from around this country from members that didn't ever think it would actually happen one day that we would have a stake formed. It's so special and sacred and the spirit has been building up all over the country. This weekend is going to be historic for the Church in Europe and we somehow have the privilege and blessing to be here to witness it and to rejoice with the Czech saints. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf is coming to organize the Stake and basically have on President McConkie's keys are being handed over tomorrow instantly when the stake president is called. OH MAN. Please ask me about this sometime. I could talk about all the hardships and miracles we have witnessed in preparation for this event. 
On another note we have been soaking up the spirit and excitement from the stake in all that we have done this week. We have Stake Fire with us when we teach, contact, travel, and call. This last week alone we were teary eyed when testifying to an investigator that we know he is ready for baptism, we are going to fast with an investigator that's been taught for the past 9 months to be baptized in 2 weeks, we found and met with an awesome long ago less active who was so honest with us and told us his story and he will be coming to the stake organization, AND we have put our hearts, might, minds, and literal strength into this week. I am beyond grateful to be here at this time. Our Heavenly Father knows us so stinkin well and loves us more than we can imagine. This church is His church, He loves me and I know because of the miracles I have in my life, and I know that Jesus Christ, His Father, and all of Heaven will be rejoicing with the Czech saints tomorrow when the stake is organized. This. is. huge. 

I love you all and wish you a PHENOMENAL weekend and week!!! 
s laskou, 
Sestra Hale

Fun fact. Every time we are in the car we take a picture. This is one of many. 

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Week 64 -- Prague Mlada Puzzled Madness

( I asked Melanie about the logistics of covering 2 different cities. It looks like these cities are 45 minutes apart by car, over an hour by train. I didn't think she'd ever be in an area to have a car, but they do now.) SURPRISE! In Prague, P-day is on Saturdays! and good question! To be honest, we live in both areas. We are trying to make it possible to be in one place for at least 1.5 days but it's hard to plan that when you work with 20 people's schedules. This week we are basically driving every day to the other area. Right now I am in Prague but am sleeping in Mlada Boleslav tonight


I CAN NOT EVEN EXPLAIN THE MIRACLES WE HAVE SEEN IN THIS ONE WEEK TOGETHER. 
Monday: Made it safe to Prague. Followed Sestra Fred and Andreason around Prague in lessons and appointments. 
TuesdayLessons and less active hunting with Sestry Boza and Manners (training but stuck in limbo together until we pick up our babies. We had a trainer's meeting and it was a small group and we had time to go out to dinner with the McConkies and take our own little Prague walk to see the city. We saw the Lennon wall, Charles bridge and walked down the main touristy streets and were in the main town square. GORGEOUS. We talked about so many things on that walk as missionaries. I'll save that for a surprise for tomorrow's skype.
Wednesday: We gave birth!! Sestra Cade was actually Sestra Witzel's MTC companion, but had to stay in the states waiting for her visa to come through. We finally got her and she is in for an adventure. We taught a ton of people then headed to Mlada Boleslav to teach English class and teach a recent convert
Thursday: District meeting in MB. GET THIS: District leader is Starsi Smith who I started the mission with in the MTC and in the field. He's training and back in Jicin just like I am back in MB! After district meeting was when it really went down. Starsi Smith brought his guitar so we could do a singing display. We started to walk to the park when we ran into a kid Sestra Fred and I met on exchanges a month ago! (10 minutes previously, I asked how this kid was and that we should call him) THEN Ludvik (his name) and his friend Terka let us sing for them, Ludvik played and sang for us a song he wrote, then they both even sang a hymn WITH us! We also met 2 amazingly golden potentials in this finding time. I don't know what is going on, the the blessings are flowing in like the Niagara Falls. 
Friday: GET THIS...we cover 2 areas. That means we have 1,000,000,000 people to plan for. I'll let you guess how long praying and planning went with these 2 areas. Guess high..5 hours!! I started to develop A.D.D. It is so needed because if we are not organized or planned out, we can NOT function this transfer. Finishing that long and guided planning time was a miracle in and of itself. Then we saw my favorite person!! Enka!!! She is so cute and we had a great lesson with her. We taught some more people then drove back to Prague where we had game night. It was a nice time to get to know the members here. I taught them the hand tapping game where you cross arms over one another in a circle and tap and there's a rhythm, etc. It was awesome. Then we had a lesson planned with a man and thanks to the fact that we teach people (not lessons), we taught one of the coolest enlightening lessons about the law of chastity ever! (side note: we taught an embassy guard the law of chastity the other day while contacting with a member in the park. This man was on duty and asked where we are from because we said hello. Then the law of chastity law came up quickly and it was taught honestly. haha story for another day..
Saturday: HERE WE ARE IN PRAGUE. This morning we taught a great lesson with a member from Nigeria who is awesome and was also taught in the lesson then went to a RS conference. Sestra Fred and I translated for the whole thing and  I saw beloved members from Liberec and met a girl visiting here named Dasha who is tight with Sestra Senkane! Dasha is from Estonia and said all the active members know each other really well over there. SO AWESOME! We are basically running around like mad successful women until tomorrow when we skype. and then we'll continue to run around like mad miraculous women for the rest of the transfer. 
ITS SO FUN.  Honestly the society here is SOO good. Its going to be so hard to leave this area with the people, stories and updates we get about people from all over Europe and missionaries and. . . .I can't explain it. It's simply a society of the European area and we hear about so many awesome things. Family- I'm excited to see you TOMORROW on Skype !!! 

-Sestra Hale
p.s. We have the coolest and best trio. Sestra Fred and Cade are so awesome and I'll have to let you know a fun fact about them every once in a while. Today's fact is that Sestra Cade likes cats and Sestra Fred is currently craving Panda Express.




The Lennon Wall in Prague



President McConkie, Sestra Hale, Sestra Cade, Sestra Fredrickson, Sister McConkie


Our first car ride together (I think Melanie doesn't hear directions when someone says "let's take a cute picture together !" , Somehow, she often hears "Time for a crazy picture!") 

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Week 62 -- French. Busy. David. Baptism. 6000000chili

Did I ever tell you I'm learning French tooo? Sestra Witzel teaches it before we teach English. 

We had a few of those FULL busy consecutive lesson days this week. One ended up to be a 1st lesson with help from a less active. She taught the whole lesson basically and it was SO fun! We are having a ton of progress with our investigators and finding. 

D is the real story. 3 weeks ago the elders sat down to pick names of less actives to work with. They came across the B family. Visited with success. The father is a less active and has since had 2 children with his wife. The oldest son D was put on baptismal date 3 weeks ago and was baptized on Saturday. He is the biggest and most obvious example of elect I have ever seen. He bore his testimony after receiving the Holy Ghost and there are NO worries  from the branch or us as missionaries that he didn't know what he was getting into. He is SO kind, so loving, and his family is perfect. They are cute and supportive and we as a district are working to get the whole family in our branch family. It was an amazing experience to witness and be a part of. We had a picnic afterward and played baseball. Members, the B family, and 2 investigators stayed the entire day with us as we took the spiritual baptism spirit with us to a fun afternoon! I REALLY HOPE I STAY IN OSTRAVA NEXT TRANSFER. This branch is on fire. 

A member invited us to a food carnival. Not what we were expecting but it was good nonetheless. the highlight was Starsi Marcucci being gutsy and tried chili sauce that rates 6.000.000 on the hot scale. the video/pictures are hilarious.

Next week transfers, whats going to happen!?!! 
LOVE YOU ALL!
-Sestra Hale



 




Week 63 -- TRANSFERS

Here we are! I literally only have 10 minutes to e-mail and send this. Guess what!! I am serving in Prague and Mlada Boleslav with Sestra Fredrickson and we are expecting a baby!! (due on Wednesday)  and Sestra Fredrickson and I are Sister Training Leaders. (missionary lingo: 'expecting a baby' is training a newly arriving sister)

My mission has prepared me for this last transfer. We are going to WORK and change and work together in unity like a presidency. BRING IT. 

Last week of Ostrava was so deliciously golden. I will only share one miracle experience with you all. On Thursday, Sestra Witzel and I jump on a train to catch another train to take us to Bohumin to see Sestra Kvasnicova. The second we sit down in her lesson I realize I don't have my bag of my Czech scriptures or Czech Preach my Gospel. We broke down in English as we tried to figure out WHAT we could do and who we could ask to maybe find my bag. We had a great lesson on plan but the whole time I just felt a deep sick and sad feeling :( We had a great lesson and it was super spiritual. THEN in the Bohumin train station I tell the information desk lady about my situation and she calls a ton of people and finds the train I was on yaddah yaddah yaddah. No success. BUT while waiting for her to call people we met a man from Lithuania and I ended up translating for him to find something. THEN we go to Ostrava and are finally directed to the lost and found and that sweet train station lady worker got a nice big hug from me as she fetched my bag of holy scriptures. I was SO HAPPY. So I was celebrating with Sestra Witzel and started to pray out loud with her as we were holding hands or something (I honestly don't know. I was overcome with joy) Then MID PRAYER another train station worker walks up (we've talked to this one before) and she is holding up one of my necklaces I thought I lost a few days ago and she asked if it was ours!.....MIRACLES! If that is not evidence that God lives and knows and loves me, I don't know what is. 

I'm excited to be where I am now and I know more and more every day that this church is true and that God and His son Jesus Christ live. I love you all and wish you a good week! 
--Sestra Hale


A visit to Hukvaldy.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Week 61 -- The foetus of my kidney

In the scriptures we read "the fruit of my loins" and in Czech it is translated as "the foetus of my kidney" I don't know about you but I prefer the kidney foetus phrase.
It has been an eventful, successful week. 
This week we:
1. met a ton of great people, exchanged numbers with them, tried to set up a lesson, and a lot of the time it fell through. It's successful, then agency and prioritizing issues get in the way. That's been tough, but we are still finding like crazy and meeting the Coolest people with a ton of potential! We expected 4 people to come to church. None of them came BUT 3 of our less actives did, and the other elders had a total of 5 investigators at church. The mission is united and successful and we all feel it! 
2. every. other. day. we have sun and a cool breeze and it's beautiful. the other days it's overcast and people are whipping out their scarves again. Make up your mind weather! 
3. Bratr Kolek has hooked up our district this week with a fun service project for his neighbor who has a bee farm. This old man (his look and voice reminded me of a nice old hobbit) and his wife have several bee hives in their backyard. It was so cool to see how it all is supposed to work and how its all organized. We also tried some fresh honey. SCORE. We will return to help build hives. NEXT on Saturday there was a city wide service project. Only a small group of nice people actually showed up though. Our group cleaned up the garbage alongside the river. SO. MUCH. TRASH. Glass bottles, plastic bottles, bags, a backpack, a large rubber tube, clothes for dayyys, I even found underwear! It was insane and sad. But we worked so much and met some cool people! The police officer that walked alongside with us is a greenie officer and we were talking about his work and his english and he was so awesome. We also were talking to all the people in our group about whatnots and getting to know them. The best way to get to know someone is to work alongside with them. It was so fun and since we were right next to the river, you better believe I was tempted to tube down it. but that can wait
4. Culture night! We last minute got together with 2 members and one of our English students, dressed up fancy (casual missionary attire) and saw HAMLET THE OPERA! But wait, it gets better. It was a French Opera. That was a treat. Sestra Witzel and I had to leave an hour early to be home on time. #obedience.
That's about it. We are always meeting the coolest people and having fun and growing together. Our mission is so unified and we are all doing a great and inspired challenge to bring someone to the waters of baptism by June 30th. We pray as a mission every Thursday morning at 7am so we can strengthen our force. Join us! We need the blessings and divine intervention to continue being guided to find the elect and to work with the progressing. 
mám vás ráda!!
-Sestra Hale


 The beekeeper Mr. Sladkovský


 We found this while tracting. Best day ever.

If you zoom in closely, you will see that I am surrounded by a ton of bees flying to and from their hives. ahhh!!

 Let's Clean the Czech event.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Week 60 -- Week 7 already?

(confusing title, I've been counting weeks since Melanie arrived in the country-- 60 weeks since she arrived in the Czech Republic. She titled this week's entry as Week 7. She is on week 7 of this nine week transfer period. After that, she has only one more 9 week transfer and she'll be home, can you believe it?)

Time honestly flies when you're running around 2 cities finding, teaching, organizing, meeting, planning, and having fun.
This past week we were able to go on exchanges. Not only was it a TREAT to be back in Mlada Boleslav❤❤❤ and to be with Sestra Fredrickson, but it was also full of miracles! I swear, the Lord loves exchanges because He puts elect people in our path. Sestra Fredrickson and I were chalking the city with "mormon.cz" and "#ldsconf" hoping to catch the eye of the curious on the streets of Mlada Boleslav. We met a man who met a Mormon in New Zealand 5 months ago and this member was able to produce for him, a Czech Book of Mormon! That left such an impression in his heart that someone would go out of their way for him, that when he met us on the street, he was SO ready! HE SAID THESE WORDS: "I am still looking for something but haven't found it yet...I have an open heart to find it" Holy elect, right? Anyway, that was sooo fun and rewarding. Sestra Fredrickson literally cried and we had a few minutes of a tender and sweet spirit as we exchanged numbers with him and testified of the truth of the Gospel. 
I ALSO SAW E! (picture attached) she is a straight up YOUNG WOMAN now. She is gorgeous and has experiences in the Gospel and is so bright and hilarious! I am so grateful I understand Czech nowadays. She was talking about the food diet her mom puts her on because her mom loves E's teeth. She says her mom makes her eat only fruit to a point that E doesn't like the taste of fruit anymore. Then she says she loves visiting her aunt in Russia over the summers except her aunt spoils her with chocolates and candy when E is sad. Plus her aunt cooks well so E said it's fun to see her aunt except she gains 7 kilos on a weekly basis over there! I was dying. I love that girl. 
We watched General Conference this weekend and made a ton of crepes for lunch for everyone. It turns out, Sestra Witzel is a crepe flipping master. who knew? We watched Gen Konf in Czech with the members but has English subtitles for us missionaries. I now understand where foreigners come from-they don't have the privilege to draw close to the literal voice of the prophet and apostles because they have to be translated. I missed hearing their voices but I also know a few of the Czech translators personally so it was fun to hear their voices as well. 
OH MY GOSH! Last thing, The Holts are the missionary pair in charge of the humanitarian efforts in our mission. They came to town, we met one member and went to the Salvation Army facility to deliver 2 blankets, take pictures for documentary purposes, and to offer our humanitarian services as a church, to theirs. I and Sestra Wolfova (the member) were the actual ones to deliver the blankets into the hands of 2 clients of the Salvation Army...this is when I grew jealous for the ministry of Christ. The woman I handed a blanket to was teary eyed as I walked up to her with a fleece blanket. I gave her a hug and cried with her as she thanked me...This experience touched my heart. I cant imagine being among Christ as He performed miracles. I would be a bawling mess. It was so beautiful and later this week we finished the rest of the blankets and will deliver the rest to the facility with all the rest of the members of the Relief Society for them to see the joy they are bringing to these precious people! It was a blast to translate for the Holts and to be a part of this project.
I love our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I love our Prophet, his counselors and apostles, our leaders and their spouses. I know that this work is the true and best work and blesses lives. Enjoy this week and be a better disciple of Jesus Christ! Let us allow ourselves to change for the better! 
-Sestra Hale