"This Is Paradise"

No, AHOJ!

Šťastný nový rok! 

This week was a nice one, way less busy then last week which gave us some time to recover haha. 

We had district meeting in Ostrava this week. Got to add another city to my list of cities I've seen. That's always way cool. It's always way good to get with the district and get spiritually rejuvenated with them. I get to serve with the best missionaries. 

We went to the Raj again (the member's orchard). This time some of the elders came with us. The Raj is probably one of my favorite parts of the week. It's so much fun and such a good time. 

A member invited us over to watch a fairytale that she's been really wanting to show us. This one was called Anděl Páně 2. It was so freaking hilarious. I'm obsessed with Czech fairytales. It was such a good language study too. I'm finding out that immersing yourself in the culture is one of the best ways to learn the language. 

Alright enough of the boring stuff. Let's move on to New Years (It's probably still gonna be boring for you to be honest, but you're the one who signed up to get this haha). So our apartment literally has the best view, it's on the top floor of a house that's at the top of a hill overlooking the city. It's pretty sick. So on New Year's Eve, we ate some tacos, then we sat there playing Skip-Bo, listening to gospel tunes, and had the lights turned out as we watched all the fireworks across the city. It was the definition of bliss. It's moments like those that you wish you could capture with a camera and live in forever. That night we got permission to wake up before 12 to watch the fireworks, but we chose sleep haha. But then at about 11:45, we got woken up by all the fireworks. The firework laws are not as strict here, so normal people can buy the massive fireworks. We sat and watched the fireworks, and it was probably one of the coolest things I've seen in my life. There were massive fireworks covering every inch of the city for miles. And there were peeps setting some off right outside our window, so we watched them light the fireworks and set them off. It was so insane. I can't even describe how cool it was. And they didn't stop until probably 20 minutes after 12. It was a pretty cool night. Definitely one I'll remember. 

This week we had some cool missionary moments too. We had a referral from a member, and another member is trying to set up an English teaching opportunity for us. And then we got two other potential investigators just because people sent us random texts to everyone in their contact lists wishing everyone a happy new year and so we decided to respond. We're pretty stoked. Being a missionary is the best.  

Duchovní myšlenka!!:

First I just want to rant real quick about the Book of Mormon. I started studying the Book of Mormon this week in depth with the new Come Follow Me for 2020, and man that book just has so much freaking power. Just studying that book every day has an insane effect on your life. Try it. I promise it's true. 

Anyway now to get on to my actual thought. It comes from the Book of Mormon (naturally). In Alma 24:14, there's a phrase that stuck out to me: "because he loveth our souls." There are things in life that are really good. It's those moments I was talking about earlier that you wish you could live in forever. And because God loveth our souls, He creates those moments for us. Because He loveth our souls, He created Sunday night game nights with our siblings. Because He loveth our souls, He created Nesquik chocolate milk and Kraft Mac and Cheese. Because He loveth our souls, He created sunsets and rainy days. On the other hand, there our times in our lives that aren't as great. Sometimes in life (more often than we would like probably), we have trials that cause us to question. We question why. It's confusing and hard, and we can't understand why God would allow these trials to happen. But in those moments of questioning, we can remember that phrase: "because he loveth our souls." Because God loveth our souls, He gives us trials that will test us and change us and help us reach our full potential. Because He loveth our souls, He puts us in situations so that we can strengthen our testimonies. And because He loveth our souls, He won't leave us alone in our trials. And even though there are times when we can't feel Him there, I promise He is there. As we trust in Him and give our will to Him, everything will work out as it should...because He loveth our souls. 

Whelp that's all I got for this week. Hopefully I'll have something more excited for you next week, but asi ne. I hope you all have a great week! Good luck going back to work, school, and real life. Thanks for all the love and support! Love you all!

Sestra Lewis

Skipbo games won: 10/16 (Sorry, Sestra Twitchell).