"First Transfer Dreams Come True"

 Ahoj!!

There was a lot packed into this week. It was a good one. 

We went to some cool trhy (markets) in a part of town I've never seen before. I love those things.

We went to Plzeň (remember that name) for exchanges! We got to hang out with Sister Goldthwaite and Sister Foster. I love them so much. We were able to meet with a few people while we were there. We talked to one man about baptism, and it was super powerful. He definitely felt the Spirit. 

We had zone conference!!! It's probably my favorite thing of the transfer. I freaking love seeing all the other missionaries. They're my best friends, and it does so much good for my soul to see them. There were a ton of really good trainings that got me way pumped for the new transfer. I gave a training on finding the positive in negative situations, and it was pretty cool how much I learned from it. I'm not sure how much it helped others, but I learned a ton. I feel like that's always how it works though. 

Now for the good part. We have transfers this week. I'm headed to Plzeň to serve with Sister Graham as STLs. I'm way pumped. We're blinding in to the area (both of us are new to the area), but Sister Graham knows it more cause she served there at the very beginning of her mission. We talked about serving together in Plzeň in my first transfer, so dreams do come true haha. They're closing Prague to sisters right now, which is super sad. The members are all really bummed about it. There's still 2 sets of elders in Prague though, so they'll be okay. Also, Plzeň is the beer capital of the Czech Republic so that's fun. 

I'm stoked for the new transfer. We're gonna do so 

much good and I'm stoked to see how the Lord is going to lead us to do what needs to be done. 

We said goodbye to 3 sisters this week who finished their missions. It never gets easier saying goodbye to the missionaries. I'm so grateful for all the friendships I've made here though. The relationships you form are one of the biggest blessings of the mission. 

We had a lesson with our investigator, and he told us he believes in God now. I'm so dang happy. He's been praying, and he's had experiences to help him know that prayer works and God is there for him. It's been so cool to be a part of that process and to help him get to this point. I'm gonna miss teaching him, but I'm excited to see the progress he makes. It's been cool to see our our very imperfect teaching skills have been enough as the Spirit has stepped in. I'm glad the Spirit is the real teacher and not us. 

Spiritual Thought:

So we were reading Come Follow Me this week, and we got to Helaman 5. We were reading the story of Lehi and Nephi in the prison. It talks so many times about the walls of the prison. They tremble, shake, and almost fall but they never do. Even when God is speaking they tremble three different times. But they never fall. I was wondering why. Why does it talk about them so many times and then they never fall? If you think about the prison like the world and the walls like our trials and temptations, it has pretty cool symbolism. Sometimes God doesn't take our trials or temptations away. He's always there through them, and He shows us that He is bigger than them, but He doesn't take them away. Sometimes it's just something we have to learn to live with and trust God through it all. 

Love you all! Have a great week! Pray for us as we get this transfer started and try to adjust to the new area!

Sestra Lewis

"There's a Cat On My Table"

 Čau!

So this week went by pretty fast which is kinda scary. We're already halfway through August. I don't like the way time flies as a missionary. 

We finally started up English class again, which is good. It's a good finding source. We didn't have too many people show up, but I did get to meet a spiffy old man who just wrote a book about Vincent Van Gogh and who owns a lot of Van Gogh's original paintings. I love weird European people. 

We went to this super cute hole in the wall cafe with this Turkish lady and her Brazilian friend. It was pretty cool. We got to find a new hole in the wall place in Prague, and we made some more international friends. Two of my favorite things. 

I got to hold 2 baby kittens this week. If you're ever having a bad day, just find you some kittens or puppies. It will make everything better, I promise. We also went to a cat cafe this week. It's exactly what it sounds like. You walk in, and there are cats everywhere. Jumping on the counters, sleeping on the tables, running around the floor, etc. I've wanted to go to one since my first transfer just to say I've been, so I was stoked to go. 

We had our last district council of the transfer, and to make it a good one, one of the elders bad the idea to do a district potluck. So we all brought food and had a potluck lunch together. Couldn't have thought of a better way to say goodbye to the district. 

Not much of an update on the investigator side of things. Things have been in a kind of limbo because of transfers coming up soon. We're trying to figure out how to best proceed with the area without knowing what's gonna happen. But one of our friends is doing great! We didn't get to meet with him this week, but we are still in contact with him daily, so it's been good. 

Oh. I also hit my year in the country mark this week. Still haven't wrapped my head around that. 

Today we just spent our time walking around Prague and taking in everything. We also looked at some of the trhy (markets) on the naměstí. This city is gorgeous. 

Spiritual Thought:

In the words of Ben, one of the best members here: "I miss it when the world was a little good." 

The world is kinda hectic right now. It's probably not gonna slow down anytime soon cause we're in the last days, but we can still create that goodness in our lives even if it's not there in the world. Just look for the goodness. It's there if you look for it. 

You guys are all the best! I'm so grateful for you, and I miss you a ton! Go hold a kitten or a puppy this week. You won't regret it. 

Sestra Lewis

"I'm Obsessed With This Country"

 Nazdarrrrrr!

This week was really busy and really unpredictable. 

On Wednesday we went to Brno for MLC. It was super good. We talked a lot about the future of the mission and just the future of missionary work in general. Missionary work has changed so much, even just in the amount of time I've been here. Social media and technology isn't going away in missionary work. It's just gonna keep coming. It makes the work so much more effective. It's so cool to get to see it. It's so cool to get to be a part of it. 

After MLC we stayed in Brno for exchanges. We planned to just stay for a little but and leave the following

afternoon. But we unexpectedly had to stay until Friday morning. It was kind of a mini miracle. Because we decided to do exchanges on Thursday instead of Tuesday, we were able to be in the right place at exactly the right time to help out where we were needed. 

We had a lesson with one of our investigators. It went really well. He's started praying (he still isn't sure if God exists though). He prays every night, and he says that he feels like it helps. He wanted to know how he can feel that good feeling more in his life. So this time we talked about the scriptures. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he's excited to start reading it. It's kinda crazy cause he has zero religious background. So we brought up scriptures and he had no idea what they were. It kinda caught us off guard. We weren't really sure how to explain it at first cause it's such a simple concept that we've just grown up knowing about. We're super grateful for grace though and the fact that the Holy Ghost is the teacher and not us. We definitely need that. 

Today we went to vyhlídka máj. It's a cool bend on the Vltava River. And then we just went on a little hike through the forest. It was so dang pretty. I freaking love this country. It's so pretty. Especially the countryside. Ugh it's just so good. 

The other day a super cute old lady drove our tram home. Literally made my day. That's all haha

Duchovní Myšlenka:

It's sometimes easy to do good and to feel like it isn't recognized. It's hard to consistently be putting in effort and then to feel like it's not really making an impact. But I found a quote this week, and I really love it. It's from Jeffrey R Holland (So you know it's good). 

"I have struggled to find an adequate way to tell you how loved of God you are and how grateful we on this stand are for you. I am trying to be voice for the very angels of heaven in thanking you for every good thing you have ever done, for every kind word you have ever said, for every sacrifice you have ever made in extending to someone—to anyone—the beauty and blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

I love you all! I'm grateful for every good thing you've done for me and that you've done for others. Thanks for the love and support. Have a great week!!

Sestra Lewis

"I Held a Frog"

No čau!

I literally can't remember what happened this week. It was kinda a blur. We were only able to meet with one of the peeps we're teaching, so there isn't much of an update there. 

I went to Jičín this week for exchanges. I haven't been back to Jičín since my first transfer. It was kinda crazy going back. I've changed a ton since being there. It was so cool to get to see it again and remember how small it is haha. It's such a cute little town. 

Funny story. I was on a tram and it stopped really fast, and I ended up getting flung into a babička (grandma). Definitely also hit my head. It's chill though. The best person to run into is a Czech Babi. They will do anything to make sure that you're okay. I'm surprised she didnt give me food or something hahaha. I just really needed an excuse to sit next to her. 

We went to these tower ruins with the district. Then we just walked around this little forest in the middle of Prague. It was also a rainy day. I held a frog. And we made pazookie. Such a dang good day. 

Cool little miracle that just happened a few minutes ago: we were on our way home from the church, and we were gonna take a tram, but I had the thought to take the metro instead. So we get on the metro decide to take it to a different stop than we have been taking it to the past few days. The stop we took it to requires a little bit of walking to get home, and the other way would have had a tram straight to our apartment, but we went for walking cause it's a nice night. Right as we were on our street to go home this dude stops us asking for directions. He was from Pakistan and was kinda lost and didn't have internet. So we were able to help him figure out where to go. It was pretty cool. The timing was perfect. 

Spiritual Thought:

"We will be surprised by goodness in unexpected places."

This applies to so many situations in life. There is so much goodness in this world and in the people around us. Even in the trials and struggles we have. God's whole purpose is to help us be happy. He finds the good in any situation. He turns every situation for our good. 

Love you all! I love this work, and I'm so blessed to be serving here. Have a great week!

Sestra Lewis