"Vylet or Family Bonding Time?"

Ahoj, Fešaci!

This week was kinda of a blur. I feel like the stuff we did at the beginning of the week happened 2 weeks ago. It was a good one though!

All of the members went on a temple trip for a few days this week, so we got to spend a lot of time figuring out how to find new people to teach, and we got to focus our time on finding new peeps. It was really needed. Also, it's always so cool to see how excited the members get to go to the temple. The closest temple is in Germany, and it's about a 5 hour drive from UH. They were there for 3 days, and it was all they could talk about for the past few weeks. Then when they got back they were all so happy and filled with so much love for the temple. I loved it. Also we got German candy from them, so that's another plus haha. 

We went to the Raj again (my favorite place in the Czech Republic)! We started digging the holes for the member's orchard. Man, I love that place. We were super wrecked and sore afterwards, but that didn't stop us from teaching an impromptu lesson that night. We don't get solid lessons very often, so we decided to go for it. It ended up being a really cool lesson. "Some of the most rewarding times of our lives are those “extra mile” hours given in service when the body says it wants to relax, but our better self emerges and says, “Here am I; send me.”

So we've been really focusing on finding new friends to teach. We've been working with the members more and just trying to talk to more people every day. I feel like we haven't had much success, and it's been hard. You start thinking if maybe the problem is that there's something that you're doing or not doing that is getting in the way. Or maybe you aren't working hard enough. It's frustrating doing your best and not seeing results. It's been a little rough, but this week I definitely saw God's hand. He just let us know that our efforts aren't wasted. There were a few times this week when opportunities to find new people kept popping up. At English we had 2 new people show up, and now we're meeting with them this next week. We went to a cafe this week, and a dude stopped us and was talking to us and asked if we could do a presentation on America at the cafe in the future. There were 2 other people that we were able to set up with as well. I don't know if any of these people will turn into actual progressing investigators, but it definitely shows me that our hard work is paying off. There are people prepared here to hear this message, and as long as we're trying our hardest, Heavenly Father will lead us to them. 

It's just been really cool this week to see how much God's hand is in this work. He's leading us. It's His work. He's willing to show us miracles, we just have to want them and ask for them and look for them. He keeps His promises, and He's got our backs. And when we put in our best efforts, and it still doesn't seem like enough, He's there to make it enough. 

For pday we went to Trenčín Castle in Slovakia with the district. I love my district. They're all just so down to do anything. Výlets with them feel like family trips haha. I kept having moments where it hit me that I get to live in these countries. It's insane. Still feels surreal to me sometimes. I'm so grateful for the experiences I'm having. 

Spiritual thought:

I just want to testify of the power of the Book of Mormon. I know that as we read it with real intent (the real intent is the key part), then there's a power that flows into our lives. I don't know how it works, but it does. Parts of our lives that don't seem in any way connected to the gospel or the Book of Mormon start falling into place. It's incredible. I love that book. 

Alright thanks for hanging in there and reading the whole email. If you actually read this far then I'm proud if you, and I'll make you brownies some day as a reward haha. Thanks for all the support! Have a killer week! 

Sestra Lewis 

"Have Fun Storming the Castle"

Ahoj!

It was a pretty good week. Life is good.

We teach English in Kroměříž, a city near UH, for some of a member's students. On Tuesday, only 2 of the students showed up. But it was the 2 students that have shown interest in the gospel. So the member, being the great missionary that he is, turned the whole lesson into a gospel lesson. It was so cool. After that one of the students sung for us, and it was so dang good. That kid is going places. We sang "Come Thou Fount" together, and it definitely brought the Spirit. 

I saw my first wild hedgehog the other day. I've been wanting to see one my whole mission. Fun fact: they like peanuts. A member walked by as we were giving it peanuts, and she started making fun of us for feeding a hedgehog peanuts in the dark at 8pm haha. She loved it though. 

We went to the Raj again! They cut down the last tree. Kinda sad, but also exciting for the member. His orchard is slowly making progress. I freaking love that place. The member was laughing at me cause I love the Czech Republic so much. He told me "I think you like it here." I mean...he's not wrong haha. 

We had zone conference! I love getting together with the zone. This time it was in Trenčín in Slovakia, so I got to see another city in Slovakia. I love how much of the mission I've seen. There were a ton of good trainings at conference. President has been really getting us to focus on setting solid goals and actually keeping them, and it's been really cool. I'm excited to see the success that everyone has with it. 

We create a member plan a few weeks ago, and we started doing it with some members this week. The goal is for them to give us the name of someone we can either start teaching or that they can introduce to the church. We did it with one member and within a week he gave us 4 names of potential people. The members here are so dang cool. 

For pday we went to Buchlov castle with the district. We can see the castle from our apartment, so it was pretty cool to actually get to go to it. We had another picnic at the base of the castle and then we played some frisbee and volleyball. I love this country. I love my district. I love my area. I love my calling. Life is so good. 

Spiritual Thought:

So I've been studying the restoration from heaven's point of view this week. I was looking at the phrase "Hear Him" and was wondering why Heavenly Father would choose to say "hear." "Listen" is more of a command word. Your basically telling the person to hear what you have to say and obey. But with "hear," the person hearing the words has the freedom to choose whether or not they obey. In that moment, when Heavenly Father was restoring His gospel on the earth after years and years of it not being on the earth, He respected Joseph's agency. Joseph had the choice whether or not He would listen to what Christ told him. I think that's pretty cool. It shows how much Heavenly Father respects and honors agency. Even in pivotal moments in history, he still doesn't take away agency. I love that. 

Whelp I don't know about you, but I'm ready to have a great week. It's gonna be a good one. Thanks for all the love and support! Love you all!

Sestra Lewis

  

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"The Police Crashed Our Ward Party"

Ahoj, my peeps!

First week of the transfer down, and it's probably been the smoothest first week of the transfer I've had so far. I kinda like being the one to stay in an area haha. The trio's going great. It's been so much fun. It's definitely something this area needed. 

Highlights of the week:

We were talking to this random dude on the street, and all of a sudden we hear, "cirkev je pravda!" (The Church is true!"). One of our members comes walking up shouting her testimony at this dude. This is the same member that walks up to groups of teenagers smoking and shoves a Word of Wisdom pamphlet in their faces and starts telling them about it. That woman has no fear when it comes to sharing the gospel haha. Anyways, she starts telling the dude on the street all about how the Book of Mormon is life changing and how he should get baptised. She didn't scare him off completely. He still responded when we texted him later, but he didn't have interest. Škoda. Probably one of the funniest moments on my mission though haha.  I love the people here.

On Friday, the youth had a pizza making party. Czechs make some insane pizzas haha. One of them had 5 different types of cheese on it, and they literally just cut huge blocks of cheese into smaller big chunks and threw it on the pizza. I'm a fan. It was really good. During the activity, a random dude from the street who was probably high walks in and starts trying to steal stuff. It was kinda cool seeing on the men in the ward get all tough and surround the guy so he couldn't leave. The police had to come and make sure he didn't steal anything and then they took him away. Love me some ward parties haha.

We went and helped some members in their garden. A lot of Czechs have a piece of land that they buy just outside of the city where they have a huge garden. It's my favorite thing. I'm gonna have to buy my own garden at some point. I'm obsessed. It was really fun to just work in the garden all day and spend time with some of my favorite members. Those are my favorite kinds of days. 

One of our friends taught us how to make Gulaš. It's technically originated in Hugary, but it's been adopted by the Czechs. It's basically a stew, and it's so dang good. One of my favorite meals here. We're making Halušky (my favorite Slovak dishes) with him next week. Pro tip: asking peeps if they can teach you to make classic Czech food is a great way to set up with people. 

For pday we went to a castle in Slovakia with the elders and senior couple in our district. We went to the castle and had a picnic and played volleyball and frisbee in the field right next to it. Then we went and stormed the castle and played Skipbo. Literally the most classic výlet I've ever been on. So. Much. Fun. I love our district. 

I. Freaking. Love. This. Area. I love this ward. I love these people. I never want to leave this  place. Missions are so dang cool. You get to meet the best people and build such good relationships with them. Man I love being a missionary. 

Spiritual Thought:

I just found this quote this week that I really love:

“Hang on the walls of your mind the memory of your successes. Take counsel of your strength, not your weakness. Think of the good jobs you have done. Think of the times when you rose above your average level of performance and carried out an idea or a dream or a desire for which you had deeply longed. Hang these pictures on the walls of your mind and look at them as you travel the roadway of life.”

I think this is such a good quote to live your life by. It can be really easy to be too hard on ourselves. We just naturally pick out the things we do wrong. But we should focus on the good things we do. I think as we start focusing on all the things we'll do right, then we'll surprise ourselves with how much we do right. 

Alright, my peeps. Thanks for all the support! Love you guys! Have a great week!

Sestra Lewis 

"Christmas in February?"

Ahojjjjj!

A lot of stuff happened this week. We made Christmas dinner, we started building a fence around the Raj, and we got transfer calls.

We have this awesome member family that is basically our best friends. Their daughter came home from her mission in Canada this week, so we went to help her mom get stuff prepped for when she came home. They planned to make her a traditional Czech Christmas dinner, so we got to help her make all the food for that. I thought it would be another year before I had to make carp again. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The member also gave us some lard on bread to try. Never thought I would purposely put a ton of lard in my mouth. The things you do for members. It wasn't terrible, but it definitely isn't something I'm planning on snacking on haha.

We went to help the member in his orchard again. He named his orchard "Raj" (Paradise), and it literally is paradise. I'm obsessed with that place. One of my favorite places on the planet. We started building a fence around the orchard, and almost all the old trees are cleared out. It's starting to be spring weather too, so we're gonna be able to get a lot more work done. Dang I freaking love the members here. The Czech Republic is gorgeous, but it's the people that are the best part about it. 

It's time for transfers again! I'm staying in UH, and I'm back in another trio! This time it's with Sister Ray and Sister Ockey. I'm pretty stoked. I feel like a trio is definitely what this area needs, plus both Sis Ray and Sis Ockey are pretty chill, so it's gonna be so good. It's gonna be a freaking party. 

Spiritual Thought:

I found a quote this week that I really like.

"The unexpected is God intervening...His whole purpose is to bring us to the best things."

Sometimes we get curveballs in life, and it can be hard to understand why things happen the way they do, but I love the thought that the unexpected is God intervening. It's Him giving us something better than what we want. His whole purpose is to bring us the best things. He's not gonna do anything that prevents us from getting the best things. We just have to trust Him, and everything will work out. 

So I guess a lot of stuff happened this week, but a lot of it wasn't that interesting haha. I'm also kinda short on time, so I can't really go into detail about the stuff that did happen. Life is good though! I love the mission life. I love this mission. 

Thanks for all the love and support! Have a great week!

Sestra Lewis

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