Week 40 -- This week

How was this week? Spiritually challenging and powerful. For those of you who know what this means. we hit standards!

This week we had an Exchange and this time Sestra Hamblin came to Liberec with me. It was so fun and we had a few miracles including finding Pavel who ended up coming to church and genuinely loves it all AND running into an investigator Pavla who we put on baptismal date because she already knows it is true. Its been a fun time. This week Sestra Stokes and I have bonded on deep levels of embarrassing moments.

Also this week, we found out that Sestra H's baby was stillborn. I don't think I could explain what we have felt as we have been helping the branch members keep their faith strong, but seeing the H family at church alone was a testimony to me that when we commit ourselves to the church and Christ, nothing can stop us. All members of the church are like a big family but for a second I would like to talk about the branch members here in Liberec. They are tender to tragedies, they support one another in their callings, they are wonderful teachers and attend activities when they can. They are not perfect, but they do their best. I am grateful for the example of the H family to strengthen my commitment to the church. I know that they too have understood more of what it means to rely on the church in times of trouble. 

This past Sunday's sacrament meeting was so special. It was also the primary program. Which consisted of 2 eight-year old boys and S who is maybe 3? It was so cute and everyone felt a special spirit there.Even the investigators who came.

At game night we played Dr. Who Risk. That experience affirmed my opinion on Risk and Dr. Who. I am not a fan of either haha. It was actually fun but I wouldn't do that on my own again.

This next week we are celebrating the second annual Thanksgiving here in Liberec! Last year was a hit and all the food was hosted by America. This week will be full of baking and cooking. Someone anonymously appointed us, the sisters, to roast a 14 lb Turkey. We also nominated ourselves to take on rolls, cookies, and deviled eggs for 50 people. Pray for us and enjoy your own Thanksgiving!

mám vás ráda!!!

-Sestra Hale

Blue White and Red, for Paris. lit up every night.

Dr Who Risk

Making Czech sweets.

Week 39 Tooth Acupuncture and Power Hour

Get this. On Tuesday we went to Prague on an emergency dentist trip. Sestra Stokes ended up getting her nerve extracted from her tooth. It was terrifying to watch. At one point the dentist stuck 3 needles in Sestra Stoke's tooth, took an X-ray, then LEFT THE NEEDLES IN HER MOUTH to go look at the x ray for a second. I looked at her with fear. She had no idea what was going on because she was numb. I told her to constantly keep her mouth wide open. Crazy right? The dentist and assistant laughed when we asked to take pictures. That's pretty cool that Sestra Stokes lost her nerve on her mission.

Once at a past training, a missionary explained a hard working contacting hour as a 'power hour' That has been a theme that has stuck with me. This week was that theme in action! We did a cool chalk display and I truly was worm after constantly talking to e.v.e.r.y.o.n.e. We taught a ton of people! POWER HOUR. This also happened later in the week. Those are my favorite hours and sometimes I dread starting them because of my lack of faith...but I know if we talk to everyone we can, SOMEONE will be placed in our path that we can invite to come unto Christ. Once I contacted this man and he said he already read the Book of Mormon. I tried to get his opinion out on the table so we could dissect it and serve the truth but he continued to slander the book and ask if I have read it. "of course I have read it, I'm a missionary" He told me that it was a lie and a shame to the church. It is these moments that my bosom is on fire and my testimony is exploding within. There is no man on earth, no power or tragedy that could change my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have received my own answer that it is the word of God, not only once, but multiple times as I read and study it. It makes me sad that those who reject it are so closed to the idea of this historical record of Jesus Christ's teachings with the people on the American continent. Its not fair to themselves to reject it. -This is one reason I am a missionary.

Our investigator J is so cool. Our member was late to our lesson with him and as we were walking to a nearby bench I told him that I had a favorite street performer and he was playing nearby. So J goes 'would you like a song?' WHAT!?!! Apparently he knows my favorite guitar man and he asked him to sing a song for us Americans. Now whenever I see the performer we say hello. Back to J, he is so cool and we only had time to do a building tour with Sestra H. It was beautiful and perfect and he should be coming to church this next week. It's so cute because he says he doesn't have the clothes to come to church. But listen, do you think Jesus would care more about your clothes, or that you are following one of his commandments by coming to church? :)

It's been a great week. Sestra Stokes knows a lot of the Sons of Provo songs by heart and frequently raps them to me. I want to be like her some day.

MÁM VÁS RÁDA!!! -Sestra Hale

p.s. We just got invited to go to Eva M's house for dinner tonight. Who is excited?? I cant wait to laugh with her!! She is like the czech/older version of Raven Simon.

Also, we bought a Christmas tree and a flower topping for a grand total of 2 dollars!

We only have a few more minutes on these computers but just to let you know, I will send pictures later. These library computers won't allow any attachments.

Week 38 Poslouchej

I always say "Poslouchej" to Sestra Stokes. It means "listen" and she always gets mad. haha

THIS WEEK:

We went trakting and trakted this super old woman who invited us into her house. She was so cute and her house smelled like her cat. We taught her about prayer and she couldn't understand a lot of what we were saying, not only because of the language barrier but because she is partially deaf. I asked what her cat's name was and *in detail* we got a story of where the cat came from, what kind of sounds it makes when it wants to come inside, and how long it has been hers. It was precious. She also gave us some donuts for the road and watched us walk down the street because she thought it was dangerous for us.Then 2 doors down I hop over a little piece of wood on a porch to ring the doorbell. Another very old woman came out and literally yelled at us asking if we were blind, and because of our religion, we intruded her yard, and we were stupid.  That was an exciting evening.

Then we met with our investigator A who at first said she was done with faith and didn't want the Book of Mormon anymore. We asked if we could just talk to her and throughout this on-the-edge-breakup, we calmed her down and she thanked us a ton for bringing her back to the world out of Hell. It was turned out to be a very spiritual time with her for a moment. Sestra Stokes shared a story that I was tearing up over. 

J is another investigator and we taught him the Restoration and it went exactly as planned. You know how you imagine how teaching will go before you actually go on a mission? Certain questions that will come up, how everyone will feel, etc?...His lesson was just like that. He is such a kind man. We're very excited for his progress.

This week we received a call from a member telling us the exciting news of a grocery store having an 'Ámerican Week' so we went there and bought muffins and pancake mix. The pancakes were phenomenal and I made maple syrup (Thank you Sister Young) and it was a nice piece of America. Long live 'Merica.

One time we were on a bus with the Elders and Starsi Vickers was talking to us about how crazy the language is. He said this "Geez! It's like you say the wrong thing, and you bless someone a chair!" we could not stop laughing. He is so right.

WE FINALLY HAVE HOT WATER AND AIR

It was kind of funny that after all this time, the repair only took a total of maybe 40 minutes. Our repair man-Vladimir-was so cool too. We were studying at our desks which faced away from the kitchen where he was working. At one point he had to leave and come back, so as he was walking out he sang a little quiet tune saying "I'll return immediately" (vratím se hned). Once he left we were both laughing. He was so nice and now we are so warm! Sometimes I wake up in a sweat in the middle of the night. Its a comforting yet disgusting feeling. #blessed

LASTLY-we had a beautiful district konference on Sunday. At the end we (the sestry) were keeping the Jarošovi boys entertained in the back of the chapel because Sestra Jarošova was talking to other people. I can't tell all details now but there was a lot of chaos and at one point, Tonda grabbed a hold onto my skirt and almost pulled it off of me. Good thing that only me, Sestra Stokes and Eva saw the whole thing. It was so funny and I was so embarrassed!

Other than that, the work is great and Sestra Stokes is cool. That's it for Liberec. Enjoy this week!

s laskou,

Sestra Hale

Some cool graffiti

Our first photo together - it's going to be a great transfer!

One of my favorite street performers

Pancakes! America week at the grocery store.

That is ještěd there in the distance

This is a lake that we contact by sometimes.

SO GRATEFUL FOR VLADIMIR AND HIS MIRACLE WORK TO REPAIR OUR COLD LIVING QUARTERS. 

we CAN be cute :) 

Week 37 , Liberec Round 2

If I were to explain Sestra Stokes in 3 words, they would be: Marry Poppins, random and funny. I love her and that's it. She also did my hair this last week AND made rolls and oatmeal bars for us. She's winning my vote all the way!

As for our water heater. I feel like this is a fun game for you all and us to figure out when it will actually be fixed. As of right now, nothing is fixed but Prezident is involved, and we bought space heaters that are phenomenal.

We met with a guy and his friend that I met on my second day here in Liberec on a bus. They ended up being super cool! We thought they were just going to waste our time but they were sincere, honest, and we talked about doctrine basically the whole time. It was great to teach them about our different message and about life after this. I love testifying to people, It's become one of my hobbies.

During lunch one day we walked into the town hall (the sign out front said that you could také free tours) so we got a free tour that started when we walked in! It looked so cool and we ended up going to the top of the tower and getting phenomenal pictures of Liberec!

E. M.is one of my favorite members. She works so hard throughout the week  that when she isn't working, she is either a phenomenal teacher and spiritual or SO FUNNY. We played signs at Family Night and she could NOT stop laughing. We were all falling out of our chairs. One day I might try to secretly record her laugh..that's allowed right?

Halloween for us was basically another day besides the fact that we ate eggs and ice cream for lunch, started fasting, cleaned the church building with the elders, and as we were talking to them during dinner hour, we had The Prince of Egypt soundtrack playing in the background. It was glorious. I painted my nails and wore all black except for my orange stripped skirt.

Who's excited for this next week? JA JO! ME! The weather the past 2 days has been glorious. We have seen the sun and earlier today we only had on cardigans. Score!

s laskou,

Sestra Hale

Liberec must have a council that meets often and discusses how to make Liberec more random. This graffiti is found everywhere in all shapes. Lots of cats, monkeys, hearts, and this elephant. 

The Radnice. We toured this. it was a really sketchy stair path to the top tower.

The view from the top tower of the Radnice.

Week 36 Transfers

Staying in Liberec! Sestra Bailey went to Brno today to be in another trio. Sestra Stokes came from Mlada Boleslav to be with me! She is so cool. I'll tell more about her later but for now just know that she loves cats and has cat attire.

We knew we would be out of our area a lot this week so we worked like dogs to make up for it. We set up with a ton of people, met some really cool people, planned a game night for the branch and members (WAY successful) and grew personally after a deep conversation together.

Our mainly progressing investigator is very occupied with finding new work. She's very stressed due to it but as Sestra Bailey and I sat with her and listened to her problems, we felt a calming spirit and were able to lift her spirit by texting members to ask if they knew of any work for her and we also held one of her mice. When we left she was smiling. We are praying for her to find a job a.s.a.p.

After a full day of teaching and seeing people and none of our lessons going through successfully, we talked about the spirit of missionary work being out the window. We talked about the opportunities we do have to meet with people and how to make the most out of them. After that conversation with Sestra Bailey, I realized that for the rest of my mission I will personally make an effort to be a representative of Jesus Christ. I only have 8 more months to randomly walk up to people and talk to them about sacred Gospel topics. I might as well serve with all my might doing it.

Training in Prague! Trainings are becoming a bigger deal. The McConkies are going home the same week as me so they are training and sharing their insights with all their might, the leaders right now are super inspired, and I have had enough experiences on the mission now to really apply the trainings into the work to benefit our branches/areas. We also had interviews with Prezident. He is such a good mission prezident, I wouldn't be surprised if he was called as an apostle one day. Then we weekly planned and...you guessed it...got lost in Prague again. Turns out, Sestra Bailey didn't really know what was going on her 1st transfer ehrn she lived there. I don't blame her. I would feel the same if I started out the mission in a huge city. We found our way though! All is well.

Visa work. I went off with Sestra Andreason and the Prague Sestry to contact for a second until Sestra Bailey's visa work was done, then we literally ran across Prague on the metros and what not to make it home in time for 2 lessons, then our game night! It was SO successful (so many investigators there) and we think everyone had a great time.

Lastly on Sunday we went to see several families. All are doing well and Sestra Bailey was able to say goodbye to everyone. OH YEAH! Saturday we painted the sacrament room in the church all day with the branch! It was so fun and a good chance to get to know the  M boys even better. We are a good painting team.

Zatím,

mám vás ráda!

s laskou,

Sestra Hale

Holding a mouse.

Week 35

Starting with Monday we went to the J family to do Family home evening. They fed us america burgers with deer meat. So good. Then we thought we had a train back at 8. Turns out we were stranded at the train station until 9 when the next train came. This was the bitterest of bitter nights and we were not clothed correctly. We finally get on the right train, take the wrong bus home, get lost, take another bus that gets us to a bus station, then take one last bus home and made it home.

WE ARE SO TRIED OF BEING KISSED AND HUGGED! We met this guy that is 28 and he thought we were so funny so we set up to teach him. He kissed our cheeks with a half hug then walked away. He comes to sit with us on the namesti and I have never been so bold with expectations before. I repeatedly said why we are here and he even laughed as he closed the Book of Mormon in my hand and asked about what we like to do. We repeated, "We talk to people about this book and Jesus Christ". After us being bold he finally was quiet and let us teach him. but good-ness. We just want to be good missionaries but I guess when we put out our hand in a handshake form, that is code for "hug me and kiss my face"

At our English class this week we wrote down a ton of random questions and wanted to answer them all randomly. One question was "what are 3 words that describe you?" Our man D answered "....hmm. Earth...wind....and Heaven!" This taught us the importance of making sure we are all on the same page when giving instruction. D is so funny.

A didn't have a lot of time to see us this week but she invited us over to her house to see where she lives and to meet her pet mice. We even pet one. She is such a cute little woman and is working hard to pay her rent. She already has great attributes of a committed woman. I wish I could help her raise money.

LASTLY...yesterday's church was so cool. There were so many members there and even a boyfriend of one of the members who doesn't ever come to church! THEN H was called to be the branch's 2nd counselor. H is a homie and is a part time DJ and knows some English and is 16 years old. I repeat, 16 years old! Sacrament meeting was really spiritual. Prezident Hanzal spoke about the process he went though as he received the promptings to call H as his 2nd counselor. Everyone is so excited for him!

Update: No hot water yet but we will keep you updated. Last night we moved our beds into the warmest room of our apartment. It was nice! Mom, Do not fret for I am calling the landlord today and demanding them to order and install the new water heater this week! They haven't communicated anything with us but our mission office is involved and knows all the details. and YES! There are 4 radiator heaters in our apartment. The water heater is linked to them so due to that being shot, no heat will run through those. I have 2 big coats and I always layer up :). No worries. 

Mám vás ráda a mějte se hezky!

-Sestra Hale

 Contacting on this path. We also once ran to the skate park over here and ran up and down the half pipes for morning workouts once. Notice how gorgeous the fall is over here!

No heater life. We named the hair blow dryer Filip. He is our best friend for now. This is me while doing language study.

Week 34 Highlights of the week

So many things happened this week and I only have time for highlights.

1. After months of sisters being here with little progression, we now have one amazing investigator who is on baptismal date and is so open and humble to have us teach her and learn with her. She is so cute and has pet mice..5 of them :)

2. There is an army of leadership here in this mission field working for the salvation of many souls. One time this week I was trying to write in my journal but couldn't finish a sentence because our STL and Zone Leaders called to talk to us and express their love and concern for the people we are working with. We have a glorious zone and inspired leaders to help us, help others.

3. Sestra H asked us to pick up some things for a girl we were going to visit. Upon arrival she gave us Jiff Peanut Butter and Pop Tarts. I have never loved those 2 items more in my life. The whole walk home Sestra Bailey and I were shouting "Americaaaa!!"

4. So our water heater sometimes works and we také showers with BURNING hot water, and sometimes it barely works with only a few seconds of warm water. We also have 0 heaters total in our apartment. So we snuggle up really well at night.

5. General Konference! It was so good. I have some pictures to show how we watched it. Everyone takes something different from konference because the Holy Ghost speaks to us individually. For me, I got the theme of taking Sacrament meeting and the partaking of the sacrament more sacredly. I also felt it very important to simplify our discipleship. We are all in this ship together:learning how the ropes work, understanding the direction, learning how to work side by side. As long as we have our Lord at the helm of the ship, we will be guided to zion together! ALSO I love being a woman. And I'm not saying I am marriage or baby hungry BUT I am excited to fulfill my role as a daughter of God and an earthly mother to adhere to the needs of my children.

6. I loooooove the members in this Liberec branch. I love hearing all the stories from Sestra M about every single photo in her phone, I love joking with A about taking selfies with his new shoes, I love running around the building with Sand making him laugh, and I love all the other members.

Good week and the transfer is almost over! We are going to make the next 2 weeks count and serve with our might

-Sestra Hale 

 We got fish pedicures for P-Day. Coolest and most ticklish experience ever.

 Watching General Konference (in English!)

 Trakting in the boonies yesterday...it was SO cold. This picture does not do justice.

 Watching Women's Conference.

Sometimes at night as I am bundled up and writing in my journal, I light my candle 

to keep my face warm.This is how it went last night.