"That's a Lot of Cats!"

Ahoj! 

Not a lot happened this week. 

On Friday we went to do service at this sketchy little animal shelter in this tiny Czech town in the middle of nowhere. It's owned by this couple and they run it from their house. They had 120 cats, a ton of disabled dogs  some chickens, rabbits, sheep, a blind cow, and the most massive pigs I have ever seen in my life. We literally spent 3 hours cleaning out the cat cages. Sister Scott and Starší Campbell almost threw up, I almost got an eye taken out by a cat, and we almost got pooped on by a cow. The things you do for missionary work. It was chill though. Definitely made some memories that's for sure. 

We went to a member's house and learned how to make cukroví (These little Christmas cookies that are everywhere around Christmas time) and perník (gingerbread). That was pretty cool. Everyone is getting set up for Christmas. They have a ton of little trhy (Christmas shops) lining the namestí. Everyone just walks around drinking alcohol in these little Christmas cups and going to all the shops. Besides the alcohol and the weed, it's so pretty. It feels like its straight from a Hallmark movie. I'm stoked for all the cool Christmas traditions. 

Today for dinner we went to a member's house and they made us a Thanksgiving dinner with Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, yams, and homemade pie. It was so dang good, and they put so much effort into making it. I seriously love the members here so much. They're such incredible people. 

I was talking to one of our investigators this week, and she basically wrecked my self esteem when it comes to Czech. I have no idea how the heck I'm supposed to learn this language. At this point I'm just doing everything I can and praying really hard. 

We don't really have anyone that we're teaching which is rough. It's hard having such a cool message to share and people not wanting to listen. But we're doing our best to try and find people. We've just been focusing a lot on service and trying to be an example to people. We did a random acts of kindness finding activity the other day and that was fun. Sometimes the only thing you can do is just make people smile, but if you've done that it's a great day. 

Nothing else really happened. An old lady in an antique store yelled and cursed at me in Czech today. Good thing I only understood half of what she said. 

Spiritual thought: 

I don't really have much to share other than the fact that I just really love my Savior. Because of Him, we can overcome any negative, painful, and hard thing that comes as a result of mortality. Those things aren't permanent. In the end everything will work out because of Jesus Christ. He's there for us, and He understands and loves us perfectly. 

Love you all! I miss everyone, but there's no place I'd rather be than right here in the Czech Republic. I love this place and the people here so much, and I'm so stoked for that love to continue to grow. Have the best week!

Sestra Lewis

"That's it. I'm Moving To Moravské Bránice"

Ahoj! 

This week was one of the longest and most exhausting weeks I've had in a long time. I feel like last a-day was 3 weeks ago. But it was a good week, so on to the random stuff that happened. 

On Wednesday we had Zone Conference. Tuesday night the sisters from UH came and spent the night with us. We woke up at 4am and took a train to Bratislava in Slovakia. This conference was the mission tour, so Elder Kopischke from the Europe Mission Area Presidency was her with his wife. He gave a super good training about different ways we can find more effectively. The training was 6 hours, so super long but way good. It ended at 5pm, and then we started exchanges with the STLs. So I took a train back to the Czech Republic with Sis. Curtis. We got back between 8:30 and 9pm. It was an exhausting day. Still haven't quite recovered from that one. 

The next day we had exchanges. It's kind of weird doing exchanges with a trio. We still haven't really figured out how to do it yet, so the exchange was a little all over the place, but it was good. The elders were doing an exchange too, so there were 9 missionaries in Brno for the day. Definitely got some weird looks while walking around haha.  I got to hang out with Sister Curtis for a little bit again so that was chill.

Remember that Facebook fight I started? Well we actually got some cool opportunities from it. A dude texted us and asked us if we could help him out. He lives in a little town about 30 minutes outside of Brno called Moravské Bránice. Holy cow that place is so insanely gorgeous. It was unreal. I'm still so obsessed with it. Our district decided we're all gonna move back there together and live on the same street and drive tractors around the town together. I'm stoked haha. The dude was actually way chill. He was super nice and made us a really good lunch. After the service, we played a board game with him and then he took us on a walk near the river and around the lake. It was way cool. Halfway through the walk he may or may not have started smoking something that definitely wasn't tobacco. He was wearing socks with pot leaves on them, so I'll let you decide what he was smoking haha. He was a way chill dude, and we're hoping he stays in contact. He gave us other ideas for organizations we can provide service for, and it turns out he used to work with one of the members in our ward. Small world. Man I love doing service. 

We got a new handbook! Goodbye White Handbook, Hello Turquoise Jesus Book. I'm really excited for it. It's based a lot more on principles rather than set rules, and a lot of it puts responsibility on the missionary to be guided by the Spirit. I'm excited to start applying it and see where it takes us and how it helps us. 

On Saturday we went to an ice hockey game. One of our investigators plays professional ice hockey for a youth/young adult team and he had a game in Brno, so we went to support him. It was way sick. That game got intense haha. If you ever get a chance to watch a Czech Ice Hockey game I highly recommend it. Czechs love that game haha. 

For Pday we went to a little town on the border of Austria called Mikulov. We walked around and then went on a hike to a huge hill overlooking the city. It was gorgeous. I'm obsessed with little Czech towns. It's so insane that places like this exist. I'm so blessed to be able to serve here!

Spiritual Thought:

I realized this week how much we take the Book of Mormon for granted. This book was literally written for our day. At zone conference, President Gehring was talking about likening the scriptures to ourselves. He mentioned that Heavenly Father specifically told Mormon which plates and chapters and stories to include in the Book of Mormon. The stories that we have in the Book of Mormon are in there for a reason. They were specifically put in there for our day. We all can be more appreciative of the Book of Mormon and the truths that are revealed there. I'm grateful for the restored Gospel and that we have the Book of Mormon to help give us strength and power in our day. 

I hope you all have the best week! Thanks for all the prayers and support!

Sestra Lewis 

ReplyForward

"How To Start a Fight on Facebook"

Ahoj!

Jak se máte?! The weeks just keep going by faster and faster. Somehow we're already halfway through the transfer. Not sure how that happened, but we're rolling with it. This week was a pretty solid one. A lot of random stuff happened. 

We found out a few weeks ago that one of our English students teaches a pottery class. We freaked out and told him we would love to come to it, but instead he decided to give us a private pottery class. So he dropped off a huge slab of clay and the other day before English he thought us all how to make cups and bowls and rings. It was so chill. Czechs are the best. 

All the districts were told to take district pictures for the Christmas card, and Sis. Scott made sure our district went all out haha. She color coordinated everyone, got a photographer in the ward to come with us, and we went and had a photo shoot around the main náměstí in Brno haha. The pictures turned out so good, and it was so fun to just hang out with the district for an hour. 

I learned how to start a fight in Facebook this week. Step 1: Ask if anyone has any service opportunities. Step 2: That's it. There is no step 2. People are ridiculous. This week I posted on one of the community Brno pages asking if anyone had any service opportunities for us. Apparently that was a bad idea cause 3 days and over 100 comments later, and people are still fighting on that post haha. There's people bashing us and people defending us. It's insane. That's been our main source of entertainment all week. We did get some cool opportunities out of it though. One lady messaged me saying she was going insane that morning thinking about how much help she needs getting her house organized. She said she was at the end of the rope and had no idea what to do. Our post was just what she needed. We're going over to help her in a week. We're excited. 

This week they had the primary program. As always it was so good and so entertaining haha. There are these kids in the ward from Hungary, so we had Czech, English, and Hungarian going on during the program. The kids did so good. Sometimes I miss playing piano for primary. It's one of the best callings you can have.

Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned our friend who told us we showed her what true friends can be? Well this week she officially became an investigator!!! Aw man we're so dang stoked. She prayed for the first time this week and says she feels like her prayer was answered. She has such a strong desire to believe in God, and we're so excited to help her do that. I can't wait to see how much she progresses. She's so dang awesome.  

Spiritual Though Time:

As I was reading in the Book of Mormon this week, I got to 3 Nephi 11 where Christ visits the Americas, and something stood out to me. Verses 13-15 says:

13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:

14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

What I love about this is that Christ didn't just have 2 or 3 people come up and feel the prints in his hands and feet and then have them go tell everyone else that it really was Him. He had every single person, one by one, come up to him so that they could gain a witness for themselves. He wanted each person to have the experience of gaining their own witness. As members of the church, we have each witnessed for ourselves and gained our own testimony of Jesus Christ. We do our best to share that with others, but ultimately we don't want people to just take our word for it. Christ wants each person to witness for themselves that He lives and that this is His Gospel. So as missionaries and as members of the church, we should be doing our best to not only tell people about Jesus, but to help them receive their own witness that He's real and that He's our Savior. Christ is all about doing things one on one. He wants an individual relationship with every one of us. He wants everyone to come to Him and receive their own witness that He is "the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and [has] been slain for the sins of the world." I'm so grateful for the Savior and for His sacrifice for each of us. He's there for us. He's right there with us during the good and the bad. He's our older brother, and He loves us. I hope everyone of you receives your own witness that He lives and He really is our Savior. 

I hope you all had the best week and that this week is even better! You all are great and I'm so grateful for all of your support!

Sestra Lewis

"I See Dead People"

AHOJ!

It was a pretty busy week, but those are always the best kind of weeks. There were a ton of holidays this week, so that was cool to get to experience. 

Last Monday was the day that Czechoslovakia became an independent nation. Everything was closed and they had a ton of memorial things going on. It was cool. This country definitely has a ton of history, and I'm grateful to all the people who fought for religious freedom so that the people here can worship freely. 

They don't really celebrate Halloween here. It's pretty much the Americans that live here that do everything for Halloween. But on Friday night our ward did a Halloween party and it was so good. The Young Women and YSA did everything for it, and it was incredible. Over 80 people showed up. I was way impressed. Also, there's a couple that lives here from Arizona and they made Mexican Food for the Halloween Party. So. Good. I didn't realize how much I missed Mexican food until that glorious night. 

Friday was also "All Saints Day" and Saturday was "All Souls Day." All the families go to the cemetery and decorate the graves. Saturday night we went with some members and a less active to the cemetery and got to see all the graves covered in candles. It was pretty cool. 

The more I get to know the members here, the more I love them. The members in this mission are incredible. They're so special and just the best kind of people there are. Every time I spend time with them it reminds me why I'm here and how much I love being a missionary. 

Everyone can stop worrying now. I finally bought winter clothes haha. I'm definitely not a fan of this whole "winter" thing. It's pitch black outside at 5pm, so I always get way tired at around that time, and then I have to tell myself it's only 5pm and I still got a few hours of work left. Brutal. BUT the city has started decorating everything for Christmas so I'm way stoked about that.

Also. We found an American/British candy store here, and they sell Kraft Mac and Cheese! It's 89kč so that's kinda a bummer, but eventually I'll convince myself to splurge and buy a box haha. 

Spiritual Thought:

The greatest philosopher of all time, Dr. Suess, said "...When you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on. So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact, and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.

And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!"

A lot of times in life God gives us trials that we have to get through. We find ourselves at the bottom of a huge mountain that we have to get over. Just looking at the mountain and how big it is can be exhausting. It seems impossible. You just want to give up before you start. But when those times in life come, we have to remember why they're there. God doesn't give us trials just for the fun of it. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and more importantly, he knows who we can become. He gives us hard things to help us become who he wants us to become. With every step on the hike up the mountain we get closer and closer to the top. And in reality, there's no way we can climb the mountain by ourselves, but the good news is that we don't have to. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are with us every step of the way, giving us the strength to keep going  and keep climbing. They're there to lift us up when we fall and cheer us on when we make it another few feet. We've got the entire Godhead on our side. That's the best support team around. Will we succeed? With God on our side, it's 110% guaranteed. So when those mountains come, just remember who's climbing it with you and remember how much stronger you'll be at the end of it. Enjoy the little things along the way, and when you get to the top you'll realize the view is way better than anything you could have imagined. 

Love you all! I hope you have a great week! Thanks for all the prayers and support!!

Sestra Lewis