"Chicken Nuggets, Grand McSundae and Alcohol"

Nazdarec!

It's picnic season here in the Czech Republic, and I couldnt be more stoked. Get ready for a velký email, cause it's been an exhausting week. 

We did service at a member's house. When I was in Prague last year, we were helping him dig a massive hole. This time we were glueing rocks onto this insulated box so he could put it in the hole. Good times. Also, while I was there I saw that their kid has a bike that says "Mesa" on it. Just a little reminder of home. These members live outside of Prague in this little village. I'm obsessed with Czech villages. They're gorgeous. On our way home, we were driving through the Czech countryside with the Prague city skyline in the background and a GORGEOUS sunset behind it. Oh man it was insane. God's the best. 

We met up with a lady, and she took us to the top of the dancing building. (The dancing building is the curved building that's a tourist attraction here.) There was a super cool view of the city. Stilson and I say "dude we live here" at least 3 times a day. It's still so surreal. 

Just in case you were curious, they sell beer at McDonald's here. And beer is cheaper than water in this country. Peeps love their pivo. 

We had lunch at the stake patriarch's house. He and his wife are some of the most genuine and loving people I've met. Before he was called as patriarch, the members here had to go to another country, get their patriarchal blessing in a different language, then find a way to get it translated to Czech. So it's a huge blessing that the members have a stake patriarch in their own country and language. I always love hearing about the history of the church in this country from the patriarch and his wife. 

We went to this little village outside of Prague for a lesson. On the way there, I realized I forgot my mask, so I had to use a sock, and then Stilson realized she forgot her tag, so she just wore a picture of Jesus on her dress for a bit. Then this guy took us on a spontaneous hike to a viewpoint overlooking the city. You haven't been a real missionary until you've hiked in pros. I've hiked in a dress more times than I can count now haha. The lesson was really good though. Our friend is praying, and he wants to know if what we're teaching him is true. We've taught him about the Plan of Salvation, and he says it makes sense to him. It's gonna be cool to teach him more. 

Alright. If you've read this far, then you deserve to hear about the highlight of the week. KARLŠTEJN!!! So on July 24th, 1929 on Priest's Hill behind Karlštejn Castle, Czechoslovakia was dedicated for the preaching of the restored gospel. Every year on July 24th, all of the missionaries get together and hike up to Priest's Hill. It was such a good day. I got to see a ton of my friends, and we all got to celebrate the dedication of the mission. Then we had zone conference, and it was so dang good. I highly recommend looking up the history of the Czech/Slovak mission. The saints here are incredible. They've sacrificed so much to keep the church alive in these countries. I'm here because of them. Dang I love all the history here. 

Also gave a talk at church on Sunday. In Czech. Kind of intimidating. 

Spiritual Thought: 

So this zone conference we talked a lot about comparison/success/self compassion. Something Presudent said hut me hard. Something to the extent of "We're all a family. We all love each other. We're all here for each other. There's no reason we should compare ourselves to each other." That got me. It's so easy to compare, but in reality we're all on the same team. There's no reason to compare. We all just got to love and support each other and help each other become a better version of themselves. We're all a family. We love each other. We're here for each other. 

Love you all so much! I've missed everyone a ton this week, but I love the people here so much. It's been a good week to be a missionary. 

Sestra Lewis

                                            

 

"Mac & Cheese, Rainy Days and Wild Fruit"

Ahoj!

It was a busy week, but it was a good one. A lot of little random things happened. 

We played some ball in the park with this dude and his girlfriend. The dude had a man bun, and they were both way cooler than us. But it was chill and super fun. 

We had exchanges in Brno. I got to be comps with Sister Jarvis for a day. That's the first time we've been together for that long since she trained me. It was so good! So much fun to get to hang out with her again and spend the day with her. She goes home this transfer which is kind of insane. Time flies. 

While in Brno we went to a going away party for one of the members there. He's moving back home to Italy. I'm gonna miss him a ton. He's a good one. I also got to see a lot of the other people that I was close with in Brno. The Ferrels just came back from AZ and they brought me back Mac and cheese. :) It was such a good night. 

We met up with one of our friends the other day. We were gonna go to a cat cafe, but then it was closed. So we walked to this other cafe, which was in this suuuper cute little area of the city. But it was busy and didn't have many options so we left. About this time we start hearing thunder, and I was getting stoked. I love the rain. We start walking to this other cafe to hopefully get there before the rain starts, but that one was closed too. So we walk back to where we started, and at this point it's pouring rain. We're soaked. I'm loving it. We get to the cafe and had to ring our hair and shoes out before going inside. Literally the best. I love getting caught in the rain. 

We have a new investigator! We met him on Facebook, and we met up with him and started teaching Plan of Salvation. He doesn't believe in God, but he decided to imagine He exists and pray. I'm excited. He's such a cool dude, and he's super willing to learn. 

We did weekly planning in the park and there were some dudes playing cricket  so we watched them play while we planned. I still have no idea how to play it, but it was entertaining to watch haha. 

For pday we went on a výlet to a little town near Prague. We met up with some people from CBud and they took us to this church on top of a hill (Svatá Hora) and then they took us on a hike through the forest. We ate wild blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. It was a pretty chill pday. I always love getting out of the city for pday. 

Spiritual Thought:

"...coincidence is not an appropriate word to describe the workings of an omniscient God." -Ronald A Rasband

Coincidences are really just evidence that God is aware of you and loves you and is there for you. God is really in the details of our lives. He cares about the things we care about. He wants us to be happy and succeed. He's there to help us do that. 

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

Sestra Lewis