"We Are Family"

 Zdarec!

We had a good week. We're still in quarantine. The Czech Republic came out with some system that is supposed to start loosening restrictions soon, but we probably won't have Christmas markets this year which is super sad. 

We ran an ad this week all about how the energy that a lot of people here believe in is actually God. It was super fun to make. We got a few responses, but no one who is actually solid. So that's kinda annoying, but I'm hoping the ad will do well in other areas. We're currently trying to run an ad a week. 

We've been calling members every day this week. Mostly we've just been calling the babičky. They're my favorite to talk to. You don't even have to say anything. You say hi, and they go on a long rant for 5 minutes. Then you agree with them, and they go on another long rant. It's so much fun. I love them so much. It also just helps for the members to get a call from someone. It's been cool to see how something as simple as a phone call or text message can make someone's day. 

We had a random dude call us and ask us if we could meet with him. We called and talked with him, and he seemed cool. But then we noticed he was marked as "do not contact" in area book. So we reached out to some past missionaries, did some digging, and found out he's a creeper and we should block him. So that was exciting. If there's one thing a mission has taught me, it's how to deal with creepy men. 

Highlight of the week was Zone Conference. It was all over zoom which was a huge škoda. I miss seeing everyone in person. But it was still a good meeting. It was about 5 hours scattered throughout the day. I love this mission. They're my second family. Perks of having a small mission is that everyone gets super close with each other. It's seriously the best mission. 

Also for the last session of zone conference Prez surprised us all with a video. He had all of our families record videos of themselves giving us encouragement. It was super cool. I was way grateful for it. 

Today we went to these castle ruins (Valštejn Hrad). These ones were cool, cause normally castles are closed on Mondays (and cause of Covid), but this one is open 24/7 and is free to the public. So we just walked around for awhile. It was just in the middle of this tiny town. The castle was just a little guy, but it was fun to see it. The history in this country is insane. 

Spiritual Thought:

We were talking to our friend, and he was talking about how during Communist times, it got rid of the "casual Christians." The people who just said they were Christian but picked and chose what they wanted to follow. Because no one is going to casually claim that they're Christian if the police will detain them for worshipping. Those who were really devoted continued to worship, even though their life was in danger for doing so. I don't really know where I'm going with this, but I just thought it was a cool idea.  When you're really converted to something, even if it's not religion, but a certain belief or hobby or něco takového, you're willing to practice that belief even when it's hard. Even when others try to tell you not to believe it. It takes little effort to be a casual believer. What really makes a difference is believing all in, no matter the cost. 

Have a great week! Just love others, and remember that relationships are the biggest blessing in life. Love you!

Sestra Lewis