"God Sent Me an Old Lady"

Ahoj everyone! 

 

Dang it feels like I've been here a month, but it hasn't even been 2 weeks. This week was better than last week. It's still way hard and I'm still adjusting to everything, but it's been better. All the adjustments have wrecked me. 

 

Let's see...what went on this week? Get ready for a massive email. 

 

Probably the most eventful thing happened at a member's house. It was honestly a miracle. I ate my entire meal. Everything. I know. Hold the applause. Everyone is so shocked by how little I eat haha. My district leader loves it though cause he gets to eat everything I dont finish haha. Also, to everyone who said I was gonna go to a place where they eat everything with their hands (since I eat everything with a fork): you were wrong! The people here eat everything with a fork and a knife. Everything. It's great. No more weird looks or judgments when I eat a doughnut with a fork haha. Also, everyone here eats icecream. There's icecream shops everywhere. And the buses all have specific stickers saying that icecream isn't allowed on the bus. It's so funny.

 

Jičín is super tiny and a lot of the people already know who we are and they aren't interested. It's really hard to find people. And sometimes people will meet with us just to mock us and waste our time. It's rough. We have about 180 people on the ward list, but only about 30 show up to church. So this transfer we're focusing on just becoming friends with all the less active people. We want to remind them of why they got baptised in the first place, and hopefully we can help them get their testimonies back. We did get a new investigator this week though. He was contacted by the missionaries years ago, and we found him on a list of potential people from a few years ago. We met with him, and he's so cool. He basically told us he's meeting with us because he has half faith and he wants to know how he can strengthen his faith and get a stronger relationship with God. We're so stoked because he's so ready to hear the Gospel. 

 

As far as the language goes it's still pretty nonexistent. I'm over the shock of hearing people speak Czech, so I'm beginning to understand a little more, but I'm still nowhere near being able to have a conversation with someone. People keep telling me I have really good pronunciation so that's cool. The bishop told me I pronounce things like I was born in the Czech Republic, but I'm pretty sure he was just saying that. The members are so helpful. I'll be saying a prayer or teaching something and if I forget a word they'll lean over and whisper it in my ear and help me out. They're some of the most genuine and kind people I've ever met. 

 

Now for one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. So there's this old lady in the ward who loves feeding the missionaries. She feeds them every Sunday. The problem is that she's such a crazy old lady. This lady is legendary in the mission. When I found out I was going to Jičín, one of the other trainers found me and warned me about her house.  So we go for dinner, and she piles food on your plate (and it's not the best food). When you finish that she comes out with a second course, again piling it on your plate. And the whole time she's serving it her nose is dripping. I was terrified it was gonna go into the food. And then she just sits there and talks and talks and talks about random stuff while you try to eat as much as you can. We had to get super creative about getting rid of the food. Her water was amazing though. It was such a weird experience, but it was also super entertaining haha.

 

Today for pday we got together with the district (we're all in 3 different cities so we don't see them a ton), and we went and hiked up to a castle. It was pretty chill. The castle ended up being closed, so we didn't get to actually walk inside it, but it was still cool. All the walking gave me a chance to soak in the fact that I'm walking the streets of the Czech Republic as a missionary. It still doesn't feel real sometimes. 

 

Some tender mercies from this week:

So I've been having a super hard time adjusting to everything and having a rough companion just adds to the adjustment. I've been praying for Heavenly Father to just give me some little things to be grateful for. There were a few this week. 

 

1. On our first day in Prague I lost my rings in the hotel that we stayed in. I was super bummed about it and just kept praying that I would get them back. I got a call this week saying that they found them and are holding them for me!

2. We went to the Bishop's house for dinner. They live out in the country, and it was raining and foggy and just gorgeous. I was in awe with how beautiful it was. Definitely a reminder of God's love for me.

3. On an especially rough day I was praying so hard for something little to be grateful for. As we were out talking to people I saw this old lady walking down the street. I love old people with all my heart, so I went up to talk to her. She ended up being the cutest little old Czech lady, and talking to her turned my whole day around. 

 

God is so good. I know there's so much I'm supposed to be learning from this transfer. It's so so hard, but He's there for me every step of the way, and He's got my back. Even though it's so brutal and so difficult, I have 100% trust in Him and that this is where He needs me to be. He loves us so much, and we can turn to Him whenever we need Him. He cares about even the tiniest things, we just have to reach out and talk to Him. 

 

Love you all!

Sestra Lewis

"Refreshments or Five Course Meal?"

Ahoj!

So we left the MTC Monday morning and got the Czech Republic on Tuesday afternoon. We were all so stoked to leave and finally get to the field. Our first day in Prague they took us on a Prague Walk and gave us a tour of the city. It was crazy actually being in the place we've heard so much about. The next day we got our area and trainer. I'm in Jičín with Sestra Jarvis (more on that later #teaser). 3 out of our 5 elders got sent to Slovakia right off the bat. So they spent 9 weeks learning Czech, and now they're in a country that speaks Slovak. They'll do great though. 

Mějte se hezky, Sestro Johnson! I'm gonna miss our comp studies that turned into either ranting about how our teacher hated us or watching the worms and snails, our deep doctrine discussions, our residence hall spikeball games, and everyone freaking out about how unified our companionship was. You're gonna kill it in Pardubice!

Now for the real reason y'all are on my email list...the Czech Republic!

My new comp is Sestra Jarvis. Not gonna lie this first week has been really rough. Jičín is tiny, which is cool, but I dont understand anyone and all I have is my comp to talk to. It's super lonely and has been way tough. But it'll get better. Our apartment is attached to the clock tower, which is kinda cool. The members here are way chill. They're super helpful and super awesome. I can't wait to understand them so I can be their best friends. The Czech translation for the church happens here in Jičín, so there's a lot of ward members who speak English as well as Czech. So I've been able to talk to a few of them which has been way cool. 

Some things I've noticed/learned so far:

-If you say the English word for "peaches" it's a really bad word in Czech. Good thing the Czech word for peaches was one of the first words I learned in the MTC (Shoutout to Starší O'barr)

-Candy in the bishop's office is a worldwide thing

-When Czechs have refreshments at church events, they bring out a full on meal

-Czechs have a hard time keeping commitments, and they have the weirdest excuses (Russian girlfriends that may or may not exist that keep them from committing, not wanting to give up the tradition of drinking beer with certain foods, etc)

Overall it's been a pretty intense week. A lot of ups and downs. But I've noticed that the quote "forget yourself and go to work" really does work. The times when I've had the most fun so far are when we're out finding and talking to other people, when I can forget about how hard things are and just help others. This gospel is so true, and it's worth every hard time if it means that people are coming closer to Christ. 

Love you all! Have the best week!

Sestra Lewis

P.S. Whenever people read my name tag, they automatically say "Levis." So Sestra Lettuce is back and better than ever hahaha!

"Sestra Lewis has Arrived!"

Dear Lewis Family,

Sister Lewis has arrived safely in the Czech Republic.  She will meet her trainer tomorrow (Wednesday) and will travel to her assigned city.  She is a very impressive Sister.  It is a pleasure to have her in our mission. 

  

"Last P-Day in the US"

Ahoj Všichni!

Another week, another long email about stuff that no one's actually interested in haha. 

We had another TRC this week, which is where we skype people in the Czech Republic. Our person wasn't answering, so our teacher skyped the previous mission president, and we got to talk to him for a little bit! It was cool to meet him and talk to him about the mission. There's a sister from the Czech Republic that will be serving in Canada, and she just got to the MTC on Tuesday, so we got to talk to her! It's cool seeing her around and attempting to speak Czech to her haha. 

Our only form of entertainment has been the construction. They're starting to knock down all the old classrooms, and it's happening right outside our classroom building. So during all of our breaks there's just a huge group of missionaries crowded around the window watching them knock down buildings. I'm kinda mad we won't be here to see them finish haha. 

There's an elder in our district who thinks he knows everything about the language. He is constantly correcting us or trying to correct the teachers. There's three dictionaries in our classroom, and he literally keeps all three on his desk. It's so easy to mess with him though, so the rest of our district has been playing pass the dictionary and we try to keep all the dictionaries off his desk at the same time and see how long it takes for them to end up back on his desk. He hates all of us now haha. I swear we're super nice to him though.

Now for the best news in the history of my MTC stay. I GOT MY FLIGHT PLANS!!! YESSS!! We leave Monday, and we fly to Amsterdam, then we have a short layover before we fly to Praha (Prague). We'll get there Tuesday afternoon. I'm so stoked to leave. I know absolutely zero Czech, but it's okay! God knows Czech, and this is His work, so He'll help me out as long as I do my best. I'm so ready to just get out there and spread the Gospel. It's gonna be so incredibly hard, but I'm so stoked for it. I'm gonna learn so much. 

Now for a little spiritual thought. On Tuesday we had our last Tuesday Devotional (I'm not crying, you're crying). The speaker last minute switched the last song to "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." He told us very specifically that as we sang the song we had to sing it with as much power as we could manage. Holy cow. That was one of the most powerful things I've ever experienced. Over 2000 missionaries singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" all at the same time and actually meaning the words with all of their hearts is an experience unlike anything else. And as we sang, everyone just automatically got super loud as we sang the words "Oh sweet the joy this sentence gives, "I know that my Redeemer Lives.'" It was so incredibly powerful.  The Savior lives. And because He lives, there's nothing that we can't do. He's there for us every step of the way, and He'll help us through even the hardest times in our lives as we turn to Him. "Oh sweet the joy this sentence gives, 'I know that my Redeemer lives!'"

Love you all!

Sestra Lewis 

                                                    Miss Mittens crashed their study party :)

The sister on the left is a twin from the Czech Republic. She just got to the MTC for her mission in Canada. Her twin also has a mission call. They were trying to speak Czech to her. 

"So I'm a Dealer Now"

Ahoj moje rodina a kamaradi!

Buckle up for another heck of a long email full of a ton of random stuff haha.

I've officially put in my two weeks notice to the MTC. They're devastated that they're losing me, but they'll get over it. In about a week and a half I'll be on a plane headed to Prague. But who's counting?

Random stuff from this week:

The MTC has been packed since the second week that I've been here. This week though, a ton of missionaries left for the field. So we had 2 glorious days of no lines in the cafeteria. It was beautiful. But then Wednesday came, and we got over 700 new missionaries. Now we're back to waiting in line for 20 minutes for our food. Our district got to host the new missionaries this week, which was pretty chill. Sestra Johnson and I were in the parking lot for hosting, and it started pouring rain right in the middle. Literally the best. We got soaked. I love the rain. We also got out of class for about an hour for it, so definitely a fan of hosting. 

Our room is on the first floor of the residence hall, right by the vending machines. Well half the time they don't have spoons for the icecream in the vending machines. Somehow people found out I have a box of spoons in my room, and now we get random people knocking on our door all the time asking for spoons. So I'm a dealer now. I'm highly considering charging them for the spoons, but as a missionary I can't accept money from people, so they better appreciate their free spoons. 

The other day there was a random dog on the exercise field. We don't know whose it is or how it got there, but we do know that it loves playing frisbee and loves getting attention from the missionaries haha. Miss Mittens has some competition? 

So there's a girl in my stake/from my high school that is here at the MTC. Ever since 7th grade people have been mixing us up. They constantly called us by each other's names. Either that or they thought we were twins. Well that's carried over to the MTC haha. I've been called Sister Green so many times. And people keep asking her if she has a sister here. Even with a name tag people can't get my name right haha. 

One of our teacher's last day was this week. Sis. Garner has a family reunion, so we won't see her again before we leave. All our teachers are so cool, and it's so sad to say goodbye to them, but I can't wait to see them again after the mission and be able to speak fluent Czech to them. They're either gonna be so impressed by my skills or so disappointed in my lack of skills. 

Now for a spiritual thought:

Everyone go watch the video on churchofjesuschrist.org called "The Hope of God's Light." Even if you've already seen it, watch it again. It's. So. Good. It's insane how much our Heavenly Father loves us. He's right there with us every step of the way, and He's in every single detail of our lives. As we call out to Him, He'll let us know He's there. It may not be in the way we want or expect, but He'll be there. 

"It is part of our condition as mortals to sometimes feel as though we are surrounded by darkness. But even though we may feel lost, God promises to illuminate the way before us. No matter how long it takes." 

Love you all! Mějte se dobře!!

Sestra Lewis

We hosted! And got super wet while doing it.

With Sis. Garner, one of the language instructors. She is going to a family reunion and they won't see her again before they leave for the field.