Dear Family,
So this week I have learned so much! This week we had zone conference on Monday. It was an amazing zone conference. President Slovacek talked a lot about rules and that if we want to be blessed even more, that we have to be 100% obedient to the rules. He specifically mentioned how we have a very obedient mission so that he just wants us to be 100% obedient. I realized how much this applies to everything not just obey the white handbook and other mission rules. I was thinking about D&C 82:10, "I the Lord am bound when you do what I say, but when you do not what I say, you have no promise." The Lord is waiting there for us to bless us, we only have to be obedient. Something I relearned this week is that includes obeying all the promptings of the spirit even when they are really interesting (which happened a lot this last week).
One example: we had about 1 1/2 hours before we were supposed to go home on Saturday night. It was really overcast and looked like rain. There was also a visiting teaching conference which we had been invited to. Well that seemed like the logical thing to do because we had been invited and it was going to rain. But Heavenly Father had a different plan in mind. Both Sister Austin and I felt like we were supposed to go contacting in Stromovska, a park about 20 minutes from the building. So we went there and their were only young couples holding hands on dates (we contacted a couple of those) and mothers who were hurrying home with their children (we contacted some of those). Well we found this little path that was covered in mud, but we felt like we should go down it. There were tons of benches but no one was there. We finally saw one guy and we decided to talk to him. We asked if we could ask a question, and he said I don't want to talk to you about your church, then I asked if I could ask him a question to understand Czech people better. Pretty soon we were talking about the gospel. He is really looking for something to change his life. His name is David and I am so excited to teach him about what can change his life. We ended up teaching a lesson on a bench under a tree while the rain poured down. It is amazing how the Lord leads us when we try to be obedient to His promptings.
On Monday night after we got home we decided we needed to do something for the Jandovi, so we made a pie, then on Tuesday night we dropped it off. When we rang the zvolnik Sasa answered and was surprised to hear that we were there and then just sent Jitka down to open the door and he didn't want us to come up to their apt. Then on Wednesday we had an appointment in the middle of the day with Jitka. When we got there, Sasa was there too. He decided that he wanted to listen to the gospel even though we won't be his friends because he can't call us by our first name. Then the lesson continued. We ended up finding out from him that he really doesn't want to give his will over to God. That he wants to decide what he wants to do and then he will do it. He doesn't like that we have the rule that he can't call us by our first names. He doesn't like that we have a prophet and we are supposed to do what he says. We tried to explain that we are just using our free will when we choose to obey God. That then he can bless us. I am grateful that we really know what Sasa's concern is. Now we can really try to help him. This week we also talked to Jitka a lot. Her baptism was scheduled for July 4, but that is not going to happen. Her new baptismal date is September 26. She is living the gospel except the Law of Chastity, but we are still waiting for Sasa to get some papers from the Ukraine so that they can get married. She can see the difference in her life and it is awesome.
And Jirka, he is really trying. This week we taught him about the WofW. It is really really hard for him. He lives alone and loves his pivo. He doesn't know if he can live without it. We committed him to live the word of wisdom and has done pretty good, but had a couple times he has drunk beer. If you want to pray for Jirka that would be great!
Another cool thing about the Czech Republic. Everyone here basically has two birthdays. In the Czech Republic they have name days and birthdays. So everyone who is born in the Czech Republic has to have one of 365 names or their families have to pay more for them to have a different name. Then they have calendars that have all the name days. Well, since Hana is a Czech name, I thought I would let you know that my name day is in August. (I think it is August 15 but I can't remember exactly). In the Czech Republic people give gifts on name days and celebrate it like another birthday. It is great! Sorry family, but I don't know that any of your names are Czech. Actually, Eva is a really Czech name. There are 3 members in Prague whose name is Eva.
Have a wonderful week. I can't believe that this week is going to be July. We want to do something fun here for the 4th of July, but who knows. Maybe next p-day. We can celebrate the 6th of July can't we? I love you all!
Love,
Sestra Hill
June 20
Dear family,
Well I know this might be a surprise that you are getting this e-mail today instead of on Monday, but we have zone conference on Monday so we are doing p-day today. I will just say that I am so grateful that we usually have p-day on Monday. I really like having all week to help investigators want to come to church. Although today it is pouring rain so maybe it is a good day to do p-day so that we have sunny days to contact later. We'll see.
This week we went to Pilsen for a zone flood. All the missionaries in the Prague zone went to Pilsen and we just talked to everyone. We had about 14-16 missionaries there. Pilsen is the city that is famous for it's beer. It is where Pilsen beer was founded so when we came back several of our newer investigators asked us if we enjoyed the beer there. We just got to tell them that we don't drink beer. When we were in Pilsen I was also thinking of the game Turns and Taxis, which we always play. Isn't Pilsen one of the cities on there? While we were there on the zone flood I went contacting with a sister who has just been in the country a couple months. She is a transfer younger than me. It was fun to see how much I have learned in the last 2 months. Sister Rees is really good at the language for how long she has been here, it is just amazing how much the Lord helps us to learn in such a short time.
This week we have really been working with Jitka a lot. Sasa still doesn't want us to come over, but jitka said that he isn't mad at us anymore, so that is good. And Jitka still wants to get baptized on July 4 (which is only two weeks away) so we are really working towards that goal. She still needs to solve the problem that she is living with Sasa. So we are praying really hard that something can be done so they will get married before July 4. They are going to be such a happy family.
I just have to say I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we focus on that, nothing can go permanently wrong. It is just like president Hunter said, "If our lives and our faith are centered upon Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong." We can find peace in anything that comes. When we focus on what our Heavenly Father wants us to do, he gives us peace even when we don't see any reason why we should do the things that we do. For instance, something that is really hard for me are extra contacts, things like talking to people when we are on the metro or waiting for something. When I am willing to do extra contacts, even when I don't see any results from it, the Lord gives me peace and happiness because I know I am doing what he wants me to do. And I know that is how it is with everything in life.
Oh, and family, I wanted to tell you one more thing. This week I got a call from an elder Barker in Brno. He called me to find out more about the girl from Brno who you sent a package with. I had given the referral to the sisters in Brno but she lives near a different set of elders. So Elder Barker said they went over and talked to her so that they could get the package for me. He said that kamila was very excited to see them, that she invited them to come back the next day when her whole family would be there so they could teach her whole family. So he was just calling me to ask for more information so they could prepare to teach the whole family. He said that the whole family is very interested in the gospel. I am so grateful that you sent a package with her to ensure that missionaries would have to contact her. I will send you updates on her family as I get them. I love you all. Have a great day! And Happy Father's day tomorrow!
Love,
Sestra Hill
No comments:
Post a Comment