"We Got Played So Good!"

AHOJ!

This week was a pretty good one, so get ready for a heck of a long email. 

Random Moments From This Week:

They've been cleaning out the church building here and throwing out everything that they don't need. One thing about Czechs is they don't like to throw things away, so they just collect random things. So the ward rented a huge dumpster to throw everything away, and they had an elders quorum activity where they just got rid of as much stuff as they could. We were wondering why they just made it an elders quorum activity, but we found out when Sunday came around. We looked outside and all the Relief Society sisters were outside taking things out of the trash to take home hahaha. Gotta love Czechs.

On Tuesday the STLs had a leadership conference in Brno, so I got to go on an exchange with the sisters in Brno for a day. It was so much fun. I loved it so much. I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time. While we were there a senior couple in our mission came and did an escape room with us, and that was way fun. That day was probably the highlight of my week. Such a cool city, such a cool district. 

On Saturday we went to do service for this member. He owns this piece of land, and he's building this underground smart greenhouse. It sounds way cool. Every week the missionaries go and help him dig the hole for it. When I stand in the deepest part it's up to my eyes. It was so much fun, and I'm stoked to see how it all turns out.

Sunday was wild. There was some Doterra conference going on in Prague, so there were a ton of Americans at church. You walked into the chapel and all you smelled was essential oils haha. Anyway...the Sunday school lesson was on the Book of Mormon. After the lesson this girl tapped Sis. Curtis on the shoulder and asked her for one. Sis. Curtis started talking to the girl and her boyfriend. They said they're from Russia and they heard about the church through some event, so they were super curious. They're on vacation in Prague and decided to come to church. Then they asked if we could teach them right then and there. We got a Russian member in the ward to talk to them and become friends with them. And then we invited them to an inspiration night that we have every Sunday. We were so stoked. They came, and they sit down. The dude looks at us and goes "actually I was born in the states." We start trying to guess where, and finally he goes "I was born in Utah. I actually grew up there. So I actually know all about the church. Actually...I'm a member. I just wanted to see what it was like to be an investigator." FREAKING TURD. Dang we were so mad. BUT his girlfriend is actually from Russia and is not a member. She's golden. We asked her if she had any questions about church and she goes "Just tell me everything. Right now." She was so cool. We still haven't quite forgiven her boyfriend, but they were both cool so it's chill. 

This week we tried a new finding idea that I'm pretty stoked to keep using. We went around and told people that we're from America and are learning Czech. Then we asked them if we could read something and have them correct our pronunciation. We whipped out the Book of Mormon and read our favorite verses. It's a natural way to introduce the Book of Mormon while also getting some language practice in. I'm excited to see how effective it is. 

Today for pday we went on a výlet with our district and Sis. Johnson's district. We went to Kutná Hora and went to the bone church there. I've been wanting to go to it since I first heard about it before the mission. Basically in the 1300s this dude made a church out of human bones. It was insane but so cool. People are whack sometimes haha. It was chill seeing Sestra Johnson again. We may or may not have taken some awkward family photos together. #dreamteam

Spiritual Thought Time:

I found a talk this week and I highly recommend everyone go listen to/read it. It's "The Dual Aspects of Prayer" by Francis M Gibbons in the October 1991 General Conference. Basically he talks about how prayer is one of our greatest defenses against the adversary. It's an amazing talk and totally changed my perspective on prayer. Highly recommend it

"In his wisdom and mercy, God has provided a channel of communication between him and his children on earth that Satan, our common enemy, cannot invade. This is the channel of secret prayer. The significance of this...is profound, for by this means we are able to communicate with our Heavenly Father in secrecy, confident that the adversary cannot intrude." -Francis M Gibbons

Love you all, and I hope you have the best week! 

Sestra Lewis

She says they live in Babylon. :)