June 15, 2009

Dear Family,

This week I have learned so much! I learned a little bit more about what the Lord feels about His children. How He feels pain and how He feels joy.

This week we had a really, really hard experience. We have been teaching Jitka and Sasa for a while now. Jitka has a baptismal date for July 4 and we were sure that Sasa would have one soon. There big thing is that they have to get married first. But we thought everything was going well. On Wednesday we taught them a great lesson. At the beginning Sasa asked for Sister Austin's first name (because in the past he had always called Sister Lee by her first name, and I had been trying to get him to stop calling me by my first name). Well we explained that we wanted to be called Sister Hill and Austin. He seemed cool with it, and then we taught them about obedience and we had a really good spiritual lesson. Then on Friday they called and cancelled their appointment because Sasa was supposed to work late, then on Sunday they didn't come to church. We called them and they said they were coming, and then they never came. We had set up to do an FHE with the them and the Pavluvovi (a really cool family in the branch) after church so we called them again. Finally only Jitka and their little boy came. At the end Jitka told us that Sasa does not want to meet with us anymore. She said he was angry that we can't be friends, because they can't call us by our first names. I really think that there is a different concern than that. We have really been searching for a different concern, but we don't know what it is. It just makes me so sad that he doesn't want to meet with us anymore. I am praying that he will recognize the difference in his home without us coming over, and will invite us over again. And I also just really hope that this will not stop Jitka from getting baptized. She wants to continue to meet with us, but I am afraid it is going to be really hard for Jitka without his support and it will be really hard for them to get married. After Jitka told us that Sasa doesn't want to meet with us, I felt so sad. I really felt like I was feeling a little of Heavenly Father's pain.

Well this week we also a really good experience. We taught Jirka a lesson about letting Christ in to his home, having his home clear of things so that Christ can enter his home. (we know that he has some porn on his walls). He has told us in past meetings that he just couldn't feel the same things in his home that he could in his meetings with us. It was a great lesson and we gave him a picture of Christ knocking on the door and wanting to come in. He committed to take down his pictures and put up the pictures of Christ. I am so happy. We promised him that he will feel Christ's spirit has he has the different pictures in his home and as he reads and prays. This week I could really felt so many of the different feelings that Christ feels. I really felt God's love for His children through me. I felt His joy when Jirka decided to take this step and take down the bad pictures and I also felt part of His sadness when sasa decided he didn't want to meet with the missionaries anymore. It is hard work to be His representative, and I just want to do better.

Our new members are doing awesome. Nada is happy. We started her doing her family history this last week and is loving it. She came to church yesterday and said that she filled out what she could on a four generation chart. And she is trying to find people that she can ask so that she can continue with that.

This transfer I am going to learn so much. Right now I am a little stressed out with being the person who is responsible for the relationships that we had with members and investigators, but I know that as I let the Lord take care of things, life is so much better. I just have to learn how to "cast my burdens upon the Lord." This is His work and I know that He will help me. He wants me to be able to help His children here. I am also going to (and have already started) to learn more about patience. I need to learn patience for myself and for others. Because I have been stressed out the last couple days I have not had patience for anyone, for our investigators, for my companion, and for myself. I really need to be better. I need to have Christ-like love for everyone.

Well I love you all, a zatim Ahoj.

Love,

Sestra Hill