MTC Week 4 WOWZA!!

Ahoj, moje oblibená rodino!

I'm so excited to be emailing you again. It is a highlight of my week to fill you in on the latest and greatest from the MTC. The time here is really starting to fly - Christ was right in saying that the days are long and the weeks are short here. Time seems to all blend together. But it's good - it's ALL good!

How crazy to think I've been here 4 weeks! I'm almost halfway done here - 5 more weeks and I'll be in Prague. Wow! WOW! I'm so excited, and so anxious/nervous at the same time. The language is coming along great - but i don't feel like I could just start talking with a  native speaker haha. But I think that's how I'm going to feel right up until the day I leave. It's like how I am with tests - I don't feel prepared right up until the moment I take it, then it's pencils down...and I usually do OK. The Lord is on my side, after all - how can I fail?!

Thank you so much for the packages and letters you sent! When i opened it up and saw 2 boxes of thinkthin bars and like 50 fruit leathers, I smiled big time. And then, the next day, receiving the "not so healthy" package with like 15 boxes of sour patch kids? Haha, I love you so much - Mullens go big or go home. And I, like you, am going big here at the MTC, and most definitely NOT am going home. Thank you for the pictures, too - I LOVE them! I love how there isn't one sad looking picture from that last day -  we were smiling and laughing right up to the drop-off and beyond. I love it - I think that's how it should be: full of joy. I'm so glad you got my pics, too - hopefully it gave you just a taste of MTC life!

Now for some stories: Last Tuesday, Elder Nelson of the 12 Apostles came to speak to us with his wife! Wow - 2 apostles in 3 weeks. I love the counsel they give and the spirit I can feel there. Like I mentioned last week, we sang "This is the Christ" for him as a choir - Boy, was it powerful! To sing that for a prophet of the Lord who knew President Faust? What an opportunity. I raised my voice with the missionary Choir (yes, it is all volunteer - whoever comes to practice will sing!) in the praise of the Lord for one of his Chosen servants. I got chills - I felt the Spirit. It was wonderful.

I had a great experience in the temple last week, and guess who I saw in the Celestial room? Sherry Hoffman Nevers! It was so neat to see her there. I kind of did a double take when I saw her - I kind of forget sometimes that time goes on in the "outside" world haha. I went over to her and gave her a big handshake. It was neat to see her.

We're continuing to teach our investigators about 5 lessons a week, not including the 2 a week we teach to volunteers in the TRC (teaching resource center) - all in Czech. Unfortunately, Mario went on a "vacation" and we lost contact with him (bro. starling, who plays him, is getting married, so he had to leave. Understandable.) So now we're teaching a new investigator - Jarka. She doesn't believe in Christ, hasn't really ever read the scriptures at all, and believes in God but doesn't really believe in heaven. Hmmmmm...where to start? It's going to be a great learning experience for us to teach her - that mentality is apparently pretty common in Czech from what I hear. Bratr Johnson, one of our teachers, said Czechs are like M&Ms - a little crunchy on the outside, but as soon as you break through that crunchy shell, they're the most loving people on earth. I'm so excited to serve them!

I had the wonderful opportunity on Sunday to watch "the testaments" with our district. It is such a wonderful movie. They captured the spirit of that event very well. I love movie days here on Sunday evenings - a little taste of good media is a huge booster for me. It made me think of Dad - Testaments always brought the spirit when we watched it together.

The language is coming along nicely. It's definitely overwhelming at times, but I just remind myself I've been speaking Czech for less than a month. It's amazing what I can learn with the Lord's help. I'm reading out of the Czech Book of Mormon, Kniha Mormonova, every day, have memorized the first vision in Czech, am close to memorizing the Czech declination sharts (look them up - they're crazy!), and am still finding time to plan lessons for our investigators as a companionship that will uplift them. Wowza.

Our district continues to grow closer every day. We all appreciate each other for our individual strengths and laugh a lot together. Please keep Sestra Bean in your prayers today - she is having laproscopic surgery for a pre-existing condition, and we all want her to heal quickly so she can join us on schedule with our departure for Czech.

I got a haircut this morning from the MTC barbershop. I miss Farrie. I don't think anything else needs to be said on that subject :)

We've been focusing this week a lot on Sacrament meeting and helping investigators to come. All of our teachers said that the Czech members are SO wonderful! They are so friendly to investigators, and it is normal to have at least a couple there every Sunday. Neat! How excited I am to get there and meet these people - I already love them, and haven't even met them!

I'm so glad to hear Geeg is doing well. She is in my prayers. That's awesome, too, dad about your calling! It is an awesome calling, and I hope that you enjoy every minute of it - studying the gospel is invigorating!

The missionary parent dinner sounds like an amazing idea! Let me know how it goes!

Know that I love you all, and all is well here!

S Laskou,

Starší Mullen