June 6th, 2011

You want to hear something crazy? Today I will go renew my visa. This month is me on a mission for a whole year. I keep trying to remember what it was I was doing a year ago at this time, but not much is coming back to me. I remember Kelli's wedding, but that was in May. Campaigning is pretty much the only thing that comes to mind...the DeMordaunts should be really flattered. :) Beks, go birth some miracles!
This week was just so so wonderful! Really, like so so SO SO!

Yes, Ludek was baptized!! AAAAND his ma came! She told us that she's been praying for Ludek to find God for years and she was just so impressed by how kind and friendly everyone is that now we're teaching her! We gave her a Book of Mormon last Tuesday and when I called her on Friday she said that she's been reading it every night and that she's already on page 50! WOOO! She's kind of an old lady, which is a big shame because she has some sort of illness that makes it hard for her to get up in the mornings which means that church is looking like a huge obstacle for her....but hey, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. And yesterday Ludek bore his testimony!! It was so wonderful! I didn't hear most of it because a baby in front of me start crying really loud when he began to speak, but I did hear him say my name and Sister Christensen's name and then I heard two other people refer to his testimony and how it touched them later that day. He was so dang excited about the triple combination afterwards--he told us all about the maps and Joseph Smith History and now he's continuing in the Book of Mormon, but also reading the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. He's always talking about new things he's learned from his reading. Serious face, this man's stake president material someday. We just need to find him an eternal family, that's all.

Also, Elder Pearson from the Q of the 70 came and wreaked havoc on missionary life as we knew it--in a completely fantastic and spiritual sort of way. When I was there I remembered how Dad would always talk of being on his mission and listening to general authorities and wishing it could last all day, which is exactly how I felt. But he almost did take all day--that man does not run out of things to say! We actually missed a meeting because of it, but everything ended up all right in spite of it. So many things stuck out to me from his talk, but one in particular was that we are making our work harder and less effective than it should be because we don't ask for referrals. He promised us that we'd see twice as many baptisms as we do if we'd begin doing that with everyone we talk to and in every meeting. It's a little difficult because it's just not a habit yet and I tend to forget about it once the lesson gets underway, but I am determined to do it! I will be a Provo missionary in the Czech Republic and it will be beautiful. He also talked a lot about how we're establishing the church not only in the Czech Republic, but in ourselves. It was so inspiring.

2 more things.

Awesome girl named Lucie came to the baptism. She's 20 and really interested in the gospel, but hesitant about baptism because she doesn't think she'd be able to live by the law of chastity or word of wisdom. Well, she taught her sister what we taught her about repentance and her sister liked it so much that she's started coming to our meetings too. They are just the cutest girls--blonde and happy and beautiful, but also deep-thinkers and willing to try things for themselves. I think this will be the key for her--to have that support and the opportunity for the two of them to share the things they think and feel together. She just seriously began reading the BOM, so pray that she will really feel the truth of it all.

And another MIRACLE! So Saturday is our Pday. In this mission we work from 6pm to 9pm on pdays and the rest of the time we have to ourselves aside from studies. However, in Prague that proselyting time ends up being sports day (a great activity to bring investigators to) and a district Czech-practicing meeting. So they've been talking about ways to fix that. Friday night our district leader decided that we were going to do 3 hours of proselyting in addition to everything else to make up for it all. I won't lie, I was a little bit stressed out because I didn't know how we'd fit everything in because we had a few other things to do. So we planned to go to this place called Karlak and talk to people for a while. That night I was praying and asked God to help me feel good about the new schedule we had the next day (writing all the while, as I've begun doing). I got this impression that there was someone He really needed us to find there. So I wrote that down. Then certain things began coming to my mind about who this person was and what we should talk with him about--just a little older than me, short facial hair, talk to him about prayer.

The next day the district leader decided to change his mind about the proselyting hours--we were to just do one extra hour on our own time. Normally we would have called some formers because we have a huge stack of papers in our apartment, but I was just so sure of Karlak. I even told Sis C about the facial hair, which we both kind of laughed about. But, lo and behold, the first person we see as we set foot in the area was a man walking towards us with short facial hair, maybe a few years older than us. No lie! So we said a quick prayer. He was really nice, didn't really believe in God, but not because he was convinced, just because he didn't really know. We testified of the power of prayer in helping him know if God existed and we saw him soften a little as we spoke. Then we got his number and he had to leave. We'll see what this week brings, but keep a man named Ondrej in your prayers. :)

Sister C is making loads of progress. She's still working to get over the fear of looking stupid when she speaks--sometimes she'll just start laughing because she feels silly, which we're working on. But she really has so much potential and is working so hard. Once she's moved to a place where every other person doesn't speak English her abilities will take off, I just know it.

Danielle, I have been thinking about you so much lately! Here's my idea--you, as a mature 16 year-old woman of experience and persuasion, should convince mom and dad to let you come pick me up from my mission. It'd be SO cool--the best Christmas present ever. You have several months, so start scheming. Please don't kill anyone with that new license when you get it--I'll be praying for everyone else in Idaho. :)

Daddio, your comment about fasting reminding me of this: "Fasting, when practised in prudence and genuine prayer are conducive to the development of faith with its accompanying power for good...Have you some besetting weakness, some sinful indulgence that you have vainly tried to overcome? Like the malignant demon the Christ rebuked in the boy, your sin may be of a kind that goeth out only through prayer and fasting." That's from Jesus the Christ and I wrote it down in my scriptures--looks like you and James E. Talmage are on the same brainwave. I hope the work there in Idaho is just swell, especially with the new temple coming in! You're my missionary hero. :)

I have a family of rockstars.

S laskou,
Sestra D

(heyyy, there's a Sister BEAN coming in next transfer--how funny would that be if we were companions?!)

Also:

Heads up to anyone who's reading this while still at BYU--the COOLEST girl from Kazakhstan is leaving for BYU on Friday. Her name is Jane. And she is absolutely wonderful and speaks English like a native. If you don't find her and be her friend you might as well just give up any hopes you've ever had of being cool.

As far as Ondra Tomsik's (the Czech in the MTC) comment... that was in Ostrava and kind of a weird story that can't really be told via email. Someday remind me to tell you about one of the times when he taught with us. As much as that may sound like a compliment, that is probably every Sister missionary's worst nightmare.

Peter and Susan Bellows and Family--you are just the BEST! Thank you so so so much for the package! I have been eating up last conference and saving so many of my clothes from a stain-filled tragic ending. Your kids are just so big!

Aaaaaand we're teaching someone in Thai. But we don't know how to speak Thai. And we're waiting on an order of things to come. If anyone has anything in Thai that they'd like to send our way, we'd LOVE LOVE LOVE it!