WAHHHHH! I LOVE SEEING PICTURES! (April 26th, 2011)

Seriously--you all just look soooo great! Danielle is just so skinny! Ma, I forgot to tell you--I was showing someone pictures of our family the other day and someone could not believe that you were my mom. Most people think you look way younger than you actually are, according to all the pictures. Thought you'd like to know--live it up, you're gorgeous.

This week has been SO crazy, SO packed! I'm going to number the things I have to tell you so that I don't forget everything because it's all just so wonderful I can't leave anything out!

1. Last Tuesday we went to Brno (my birthplace!) for specialized training, which is what we have instead of Zone Conference each month. Lots of dying missionaries gave AMAZING testimonies...and the weirdest part is that they are missionaries who came out with my trainer, who died a long time ago. I remember meeting them and thinking to myself that they still have an entire quarter of their missions left! I'm starting to realize how fast time flies. I can't even waste a second!

2. DUSAN DUSAN DUSAN! He's still so cool--in fact, ever since President Irwin taught him with us he's become a legend around the mission. President is telling everyone during each specialized training how cool our investigator is! Woo! We talked to him again about baptism. He says that he's positive he wants it, but his girlfriend, Martina, just wants him to go a little slower. Her mom is a Jehovah's Witness, and I think she's just a little cautious when it comes to joining religions because a lot of JWs sign their lives away when they're baptized. But get this: he sent us emails of the potential cars he is thinking about buying and wants us to help him pick (Audi, BMW or Lexus...tough decision, eh?). He says that of course he wants Martina's opinion too, but he wants us to help him decide. It's amazing how much people trust you when they know you're sent from God.

3. Wednesday, as a part of Awesome April, was another ALL DAY, ALL CONTACTING mega session. But this time MISSION-WIDE!! As a district, we decided to beat our record from last time and go for 1300 contacts and at least 50 solid numbers (some of the 72-day numbers were a little quesitonable...I think a few girls afterwards were hoping to go on doubles with some of the Elders...hah--that's only kind of a joke) aaaaaaand we ended up with 1365 people contacted and 55 phone numbers! WOO! It's so amazing how much the Lord works with us when we set righteous goals! He really really wants us to succeed--I'm convinced of it. Every hour we re-grouped, prayed, counted, and went on splits with a different missionary. At one point, Elder Nielson and I made a goal to get 4 phone numbers in that hour--not unheard of, but something that definitely requires a bit of effort. Scheduled to regroup at 15:00, we found ourselves at 12:50 with only 3 numbers. But we were determined to work until the last second--we talked with everyone we could find and cut short contacts that were obviously headed nowhere--and at about 12:58 we got it! It was just another small miracle in a day full of miracles--in a lifetime full of miracles, really. God loves us! We also ran into Martin during the day and he came and contacted with me for a block. It was really interesting--like having a greenie or something....except he understood everything perfectly. It was a little glimpse into his future, I hope. :)

4. On Friday we met the next Martin Grochol! Really! His name is Jirka, he's 19, and AWESOME. We talked with him about what brings him joy in life. When we mentioned that faith in God can bring us lasting joy, he told us that he's been thinking he should start believing, but hasn't quite yet. Turns out, he's had some experiences with answered prayers, and really has begun believing all the while, he just hadn't realized it or done much about it. So we talked with him about this and then he asked us--so, what should I do? We took him to KFC right then and taught him about God and prayer. He came to church on Sunday and stayed all three hours! He said he really liked it! He's so so so cool, I'm kind of obsessed with him! WAHHH!

5. Speaking of Martin Grochol, on Saturday we had a meeting with him. He finally told his staunchly-Catholic grandmother that he'd been baptized into our church. And, well..she kind of had a conniption. So he came to us with all sorts of questions about polygamy and cults and such things. We were able to have a good talk about it, but he was a little unsatisfied with how little he knew about everything. On Sunday he came to church, passed the sacrament, and then left in some kind of hurry. When we called him about it, he told us that he was going to church with his grandma "searching for truth". I felt my heart break in a thousand different places and I couldn't pay attention to anything for the next two hours. I couldn't help thinking how hard it would be as a parent to have a child reject all the things you've worked so hard to teach them. Gloomy foreshadowings in my patriarchal blessing didn't really help me feel much better with this. But, as the clock of the church next door chimed noon, I couldn't help but think of the BYU bells and how they always chimed "all is well" at every hour. I got this sudden feeling of peace--that things would be okay. Sure enough, when we talked to him later, he said it was really weird at his grandma's church--something was missing.
This got me thinking a lot about my own testimony, how I came to know for myself, even though I don't know everything about every religion. But the glorious thing is that we don't have to be really knowledgable to know the church is true--we have to know what it's like to feel the Spirit and trust in those feelings and all the rest will come.

(I'm in the library right now and someone is drinking alcohol next to me...typical Czech Republic.)

6. Easter. Yes, I was whipped. Not hard, by any means, but yes, it's with the branches. Our clever Elders woke up at 5 AM to come and attack us while we were on our morning run. Unfortunately, Sister Laws looked out the window before we left and saw them, so they lost the element of surprise. I thought I was going to hate it, but we did it all in the spirit of good fun and Czech culture. Still, probably not a tradtion I'd take home to America with me. A lot of Czech women don't like it either. Then we went to Ostrava Castle with so many of my favorite Czechs (including Martin, Rosta, and Jirka!, among others) and then I played Risk for the first time ever and took over the entire world. I think that's a foreshadowing of baptisms to come.

Sorry, I know that's a lot. In closing, I just really wanted to let you in on a little secret: did you know we have a mission song?! Yeah, no one else in the world has this song, except for Czech Prague missionaries. Cool. I nearly cry almost every time we sing it. Here are the lyrics:

We come from places far and near to find the Lord's elect. With faith to work his miracles, our souls with strength are blessed.

Past martyrs of the land we place in reverence and respect. They died for freedomes we hold dear. And we will not forget.

The seeds are sown, the field is white, in Czech and Slovak tongue. Come join the harvest of men's souls, until God's work is done.

Chorus:
We are called of God to a land once cold, bringing forth his wondrous light. And with us the Lord labors here.


I love that so much. I really know the Lord is working with us here. I see it every day and I feel it as I'm typing these very words. This gospel is oh so true. Don't forget it, even for a second.

I love you! Next week I'll be emailing on Wednesday because it will be transfers and I could very well be in an entirely different city! AHH! I don't want to think about leaving...

s laskou,

sestra dean

P.S. Ma--don't send me anything expensive. If I could ask for one thing it'd be a Tide stick--the little kinds that look like a marker. Yes, I'm a messy eater. I don't really want anything else. Except maybe a letter from Danielle.

My pix aren't uploading at all today. Don't know what the big d is. I'll figure it out next week.

Beks: I have pics all printed, all ready for you view pleasure. :) Don't forget: God loves you, Sister! (direct quote from the asian compy-doo)