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. 

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!

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 

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)