I'm just so excited to begin this work that I've been waiting a lifetime to begin!!!

Once again, I am so excited to be emailing you this wonderful day! This week has been absolutely wonderful, so I just want to start telling you all about it!

I have my flight Itinerary!!!  We got them last Thursday, and BOY am I excited to go next Monday! We leave the 4th of July flying to Dallas Fort Worth, then on to London Heathrow, after which we fly to PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC!!!  So during either of the airport times is probably when I'll get to call! How exciting is that!? I'll send you a copy of my flight itinerary, so hopefully you get that :) So fun!

I hope you got my forwarded email of Jeff's - I just opened up my inbox last week and 3 emails were sitting there - one from you, one from Chris and Jenna, and one from Elder Whiting!  How cool!  I loved hearing from all of you, and I love the opportunity to keep you updated on the latest and greatest in the MTC!!!  But how crazy is it that I'm almost done?!  Wowza!  The next time I email you will be from my first area in the Czech Republic! Oh gosh, I am excited! And I'm also so excited to talk with you for a bit! I've missed that, and it'll be fun to tell you first hand how my MTC experience has been!

We hosted last week, which was a neat experience!  Unfortunately, we can't take pictures at the hosting area, so I don't have pics...but guess who I did run into?!  Elder Tyler Tanner! We hosted a couple elders together and had a fun times catching up on the last 13 years or so haha. I also saw Elder Evan Christensen come in, and it was fun to see him and catch up with him, too!!!  We might be hosting tomorrow, so if we do, I'll be sure to look for Elder Davis! And I'll also keep my eye out around campus - how fun that he's coming in and starting this amazing journey!

Definitely one of the highlights of the week - and of my whole MTC experience was a special devotional we had on last Friday.  Almost our entire district sang in the Choir, singing a medley of primary songs (I feel the spirit/Jesus is my shepherd) and we all stood with wonder as in walked: Elder Anderson, Elder Scott, Elder Oaks, Elder Nelsen, Elder Bednar, Elder Ballard, and Elder Holland! I was amazed at the marvelous spirit that flooded that room. What an opportunity to be in the presence of and sing for over half of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles! Elder Bednar spoke to us about becoming a Preach My Gospel missionary, and it was truly a wonderful address. He specifically addressed 5 ways to become a PMG missionary: Understand we serve and represent Jesus Christ, Be worthy, Treasure up the words of eternal life, Understand the Holy Ghost is the ultimate and true teacher, and Understand that teaching is more than talking and telling. The spirit was so strong, and all of us truly were instructed. Those men truly are men of God and special witnesses of Christ.

My talk on Sunday went very well, I think. I'll send a copy home that you can post on the blog haha! I was a little jittery before I gave it, as I always am, but I think it ended up being exactly what it needed to be - a simple but powerful testament of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. A lot of elders and sisters - inside and outside my zone - have come up and complimented me on it. That felt really good - what an incredible opportunity I was given! How grateful I am for my Savior and His infinite atonement for me and for all!

Yesterday, we taught our last lessons to Milan and Jarka, and had some wonderful overall feedback sessions from Bratr Johnson and Sestra Austin, who played the investigators. It felt wonderful! The both said how well we're doing and how much more prepared we are to go out and speak and be an asset in our companionships than previous groups of missionaries who weren't on the pilot program. They commended us on our ability to teach people, not lessons, and focus on exactly what their needs were at each point in the teaching process. Both of them remarked that the investigators would have gone on to be baptized, and despite some difficulties, would have probably remained active in the church. What a wonderful compliment and privelege that was to hear! What an awesome experience I will have in the Czech Republic! This pilot program has truly worked wonders. I don't have much to compare it to myself, but from all I've heard, it is so much more effective at preparing us for the field. I actually feel confident in my talking and teaching, despite my still glaringly limited speaking skills. I know that the Lord is with me and will bear me up - D&C 84:88 - 

"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also,

for I will go before your face.  I will be on your

right hand and on your left, and my spirit shall

be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you,

to bear you up."

 I have loved the opportunity to teach Jarka and Milan, and now I'm just excited to teach real people over there! Both investigators were based off of people they actually taught, and how excited I am to get over there to my first area and start teaching those people whom I already love and will only love more!

There was an elder here at the MTC, Elder Tomsik, who is from the Czech Republic and talked with us a bunch. He kind of is the celebrity of our district. haha - Anyway, he left this morning, and yesterday he came and took photos with us. He lived in Ostrava, and said that every Friday, he would have game nights with the elders in Ostrava, playing Monopoly and drinking Kofola and eating crackers, sometimes with some other people in the ward or investigators. How fun does that sound!? I'm just so excited to begin this work that I've been waiting a lifetime to begin!!!

Thank you SO much for all of your packages and mail and letters. I love the tie (I'm wearing it right now haha), I love the letters, and you really are just too much with the packages! I love it! How shocking it was to open up the mailbox and see 6 package slips for me, containing everything necessary for an incredible district party?! Bratr machado joked that you have spent more money sending me packages than his parents have spent on him his entire life. It was pretty funny, and we were quite the sight walking around with 6 packages under our arms. Everyone in the district said that they just want to be adopted into our family!

Well, know that I love you and think of and pray for you often. This truly is God's work. Jesus is the Christ.

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

Hello, Hello, Hello!!!

Hello, hello, hello!

 

This week was great! and I just want to tell you all about it, so here it goes!

 

Last Tuesday, I had a wonderful time at the temple and had an awesome devotional given by Sister Wixom, the general primary president. We sang in the choir again, which was wonderful - we sang Jesus once of Humble Birth, which went very well and really brought the spirit. It's such a neat song that repeats the theme of what Jesus once was and did, and what He is and does now. Really cool. During Sister Wixom's address, we had the awesome opportunity to sing some Primary songs, including "I hope they call me on a amission and I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Laztter day saints" - it was so fun to be in that auditorium with at least 2,000 other missionaries singing out the songs of our childhood that we are now living out! It truly was wonderful.

 

Last thursday, we had the opportunity to go to the trc again - and it was yet anogther great experience. It's crazy to think i only have one more visit there (we don't have trc this week)!!! Going into the lesson, I wasn't feeling super prepared, but some how the Lord makes up the rest and it worked out great! Both brent and the 3 girls we taught all said we were speaking very well. The 3 sisters we taught said w'ere doing better than any other group of mtc missionaries before, and brent said that he didn't hear any problms with our czech that wouldn't be fixed from just living there. That was a great confidence booster! I'm convinced that the Lord will always deliver us from feelings of sorrow, doubt, or despair.

 

Our teaching of Milan and Jarka is continuing to go very well. We taught Milan about the law of Chastity this week, which he said would be hard, but he would try to keep it. When we met with him yesterday, he shared with us that he has a habit of breaking it which he is finding hard to break - so we had a wonderful lesson on what he can do to help keep his thoughts and actions clean and pure. We also advised him to talk to his girlfriend, and ask her if she's willing to help him keep it. I pray that he will be blessed with success in overcoming this trial.

 

Our teaching of jarka is going very well, also!! As a companionship, we were a little concerned about her personal motivation and drive to accept and live the gospel - so this week, we taught her about repentance and how baptism is the first fruits of repentce. Because she has expressed continuing interest in the idea of a "way/path to God", we read 2 Nefi 31:17, which talks about the "gate by which we should enter is prepentance and baptism" - then Starsi Smith issued the baptismal challenge - and she accepted! She's getting baptized on the 20 of July! We were all so happy for her, and we just beamed( or at least i know I did haha) with happiness for her decision. She is really coming unto Christ, and that's a beartiful thing to see.

 

It's weird to think that this really was only a simulation of investigators - i'm actually going to be sad to lose them when we go to Prague...But boy oh boy! am i ever so excited to get to prague! On sunday, we had Brother mciff speak to us (the brother of an MTC presidency counsellor) and basically he just shared stories from his mission and i just had theis overwhelming feeling of excitement that i want to get there and start making stories of my own! Wow, I'm so excited!

 

I was asked by Presidnet Creer (my brach presdident) if i would be willing to accept an assignment to speak next Sunday in a big combined meeting of 15 berancehs in the big gym...wow! what an opportunity! The only thing i'm going to have to figure out is how to teach my topic - the atonement - in my allotted time - 3 to 4 minutes...yeah...but hopefully i'll come up with something that will uplift somebody in the congregation!

 

Thank you so much for your package this week! As far as what i'd like, i'd say just to surprise me! I love anything you make, marmee!!! The rob's oatmeal cookies this week were such a n awesome surprise! I went down that night, got a bottle of creamery milk, and chowed down on them - i think i probably ate around 6-7 that first night! haha they were a wonderful taste of home, so thank you thank you thank you for that!

 

Happy father's day/early birthday again dad! I hope you liked your present! I figured pictures are what'll be best anyway! LIke i said, a lot of them might start to look familiar...but that's just life here at the MTC!!!

 

This week, the mtc is hosting the new mission presdient seminar, so there a lot of extra firesides/small changes to the schedule which will be happily received! Our district has the wonderful opportunity to be hosts for new missionaries tomorrow! I'm so excited to help those new missionaries feel welcomed and happy here at the MTC - it makes me think back to my dropoff. LIke i said earlier, I don't think my dropoff could have gone any better - we were smiling, happy, excited...everything it should be! It wasn't sad in the least - a little bittersweet, yes - but sad? Not at all.

 

A couple more small things - could I get some of Kimber's pics from new york? and also, I need the dates for my first 2 hepititus B doses for the immunizations record. Thanks!

 

I love you SO much, and look forward to emailing again next week!

 

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

Crazy, just Crazy

Ahoj, rodino!

 

I'm so glad to be emailing you once again! Just think - in three weeks, I'm either going to be IN Prague or on the plane flying there (after a much anticipated phone call!) Crazy - just crazy. Time flies here - I'm learning so much, and I can't even tell you how excited I am to get to Czech. What an incredible opportunity!

 

Last week, I forgot to mention that we sang "Let Zion in her Beauty Rise" for Elder Packer of the 70 - he talked about the conversion process: how they need to hear, remember, understand, apply, and become to be converted. It was a wonderful address dense with wonderful advice. Then last Tuesday, we sang "Look at the World" for Elder Kikuchi of the 70. He was such an inspiring speaker, and the spirit was SO strong - he taught us that we need to master the first 3 lessons in our mission language so we can teach by the Spirit and with real power; he then shared his incredible conversion story (look it up - it's amazing!) when he was a boy in Japan. In response to this challenge, Sestra Brimhall suggested that we make a goal to master 1 bullet point of the first 3 lessons (God is our Loving Heavenly Father, The Gospel blesses Families, etc) a day until we leave - it fits perfectly! So each day we focus on learning that principle in Czech and then teach it to each other right before nightly planning. I'm really liking this goal - it gives me a focus that involves learning the Gospel and learning Czech simultaneously - it doesn't get much better! We taught each other the Great Apostasy this morning in the laundry room - again, I just feel so blessed by the Lord with how the language is coming along.

 

The Bulgarians, our former Zone Leaders, were actually delayed because of visa complications, but they received them yesterday and will leave this week! They are so excited, and we are so happy for them!Our new Zone leaders are the Croat/Serb trio - Elders Mattsen, Bell, and Schouten. They're great missionaries and are doing really well.

 

We're getting to the point now where we can actually communicate in Czech beyond the teach-the-gospel setting, which I'm really excited about. I want to really master the Czech language, and I'm so pleased that we are really starting to communicate in every setting.It's such a wonderful thing to speak and be understood! I've been creating a more challenging long term language study plan, which I'm hoping will challenge me without being unrealistic. But again, I am truly amazed at the progress I've made here. We have a little language oral assessment for the teachers to see where we are with speaking Czech. It's graded on a scale from 1-7, 7 being the best. I didn't feel super confident in it after I had finished it, but Bratr Johnson, who graded it, gave me a 4.5/7! Wow! I was so pleased - we were marked on grammar, vocab, fluency, etc, and I didn't think i had done too hot. But 4.5/7?! After 5 weeks? The Lord must be on my side - I couldn't have done that alone. Our teachers told us that Czech missionaries usually leave the mtc with a score of 3/7. This pilot program is hard, but it sure is rewarding and creates the perfect environment to rely on the Spirit and the Lord to carry me through.

 

We're continuing to teach Jarka and Milan, which are both going really well. Both of them "came to church" with us on Sunday and had good experiences. And the best news - Milan has a baptismal date! We're working on teaching him the commandment now - I hope he'll rely on his testimony and realize the blessings that will come from obeying the Law of Chastity, the Word of Wisdom, and the Law of tithing. He is such a wonderful person though and has good, honest desires to follow God. Jarka is progressing also - she didn't have a testimony of Christ before, but she told us after we talked about Christ a lot that she prayed and believes now that Jesus Christ is the way to God. How wonderful! Prayer really does work - God answers the prayers of his children. It's hard to remember sometimes that these are only simulations - boy, am I excited to teach the Czech people! I had a distinct /prompting this week about my mission in Czech - it was a feeling of love for the Czech country and people. How excited i am to serve there in their own tongue! I will get the language - it'll take time and effort, but I will get it! I imagined getting off the plane, being so overwhelmed, but just so excited to get to my first area to serve with a trainer who I pray is being prepared currently for me to arrive. It will be hard - but it will also be so, SO good! How truly excited I am!

 

As a district we are also growing in the language as we continue to grow closer. We've started setting a lot of SYL (speak your language) goals, including only speaking Czech for a couple long blocks of the day each week. I think we surprise ourselves at how much we really can say. It truly is a wonderful thing!

 

Gym continues to be a highlight of the day - the norm now is to go outside, usually with Starsi Salas, Gabrielsen, and Heath, and run, then play Kan Jam (kind of a mix between horseshoes and Frisbee golf) We have a lot of fun, and Starsi Salas and I really enjoy quoting our favorites movie lines to each other. Another of our favorite pastimes is to pick a Disney movie and theorize who each person in our district would be in the movie. It's very entertaining.

 

Thank you so much for your continuing letters of love and support. I love coming back to my room at night, snack on some trader joes food (or that delicious bread!) smile at dad's drawings and just read your letters. You are giving me such a  gift through those - it'll be weird only getting mail once a month or so in the field! (from what my teachers tell me, once a month is pretty standard ) SO I am just soaking it in now! Thank you thank you thank you!

 

Dad, I'm so excited to hear you're teaching with Sis. Smith for GD. That'll be a wonderful experience - let me know how your lesson goes!

 

Marmee, know that I am definitely still your happy boy and know who loves me! Tell my cows I say Hi!!! (dum dum)

 

My only requests are another bottle of tea tree, and maybe a few of Kimber's pics from new york. I'd love to see them! But other than that I'm good!

 

Know that I love you and think of you all often. This is the Lord's work on the earth today!!!

 

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

Word of the Week...ECSTATIC

Ahoj, moje rodino!!!

 

Jak se mate? I trust all is well on the homefront - the mission front is doing just great! It's amazing how time flies here - I'm over halfway done with the MTC already! WOW! To think, that in less that 1 month I'll be in the Czech Republic - it's exciting to consider and I'm ECSTATIC to get over there. I hope you got my letter with the photos - did you deliver the Jensen's letter by any chance? In any case, know that all is well here and I am truly loving this work.

 

Sestra Bean has recovered and his back in our regular schedule, which is wonderful. She said thanks so much for your prayers and putting her on the temple prayer roll. She was out for a couple of days in the sick bay for recovery, but is doing well, and I think that there will be no delay for her in getting to the Czech Republic with all of us. We are all so happy for her!

 

A new tradition was born yesterday in our district - we were sitting in our classroom during language study, all having a little bit of "cabin fever" in our blood, when I heard Sestra White and Sestra Bean start to sing hymns together. After their song, we asked if we could join them - so with Sestra Bean on soprano, Sestra White on alto, Starsi Smith on tenor, and me on bass we started just singing a couple hymns all together - it was so wonderful and brought us all some peace and sanity, which is always good. They don't allow us to play music from our iPods here, including hymns, because of problems they had in the past, so it's so nice to get a taste of good music through our singing. We actually sound pretty good to boot!!! The harmonies are very nice, and I think we're going to try to make this a daily tradition.

 

Gym continues to go well here - for the past couple of times, I've gone outside with Starsi Salas, Gabrielsen, and Heath. We all run 2-4ish miles together, then stretch our for a bit. Starsi Salas and I also like to throw a frisbee around together afterwards and talk, which is a lot of fun. We've become great friends, and we also like it when Starsi Gabrielsen and Heath join us. We all are so different, yet still have so much in common. How cool!

 

The language continues to go well - at times, when I think of the enormity of the task of learning Czech, I get a bit overwhelmed - but it's at those times that I have to remind myself that I've only been speaking Czech for 5 weeks, and it is a miracle that I know what I do already - the Lord truly is mindful of his servants. A couple funny and neat language/teaching stories from the week:

 

On the 2nd, we taught Milan again, which went very well. We talked about repentance and the infinite nature of Christ's atonement for us. The funny part, though, was at one point in the lesson, I wanted to say "through the atonement, we can overcome sin...", but after I started the sentence, I couldn't remember the verb "to overcome"! So i said "Skrze usmireni, muzeme..." then, after breaking, I punched the air a couple times (with sound effects of course) and said "hrichy!" Everyone laughed, and Milan understood the principle, which was good. We all had a good laugh from that one, though.

 

Last Thursday, we also taught in the TRC, which was wonderful. We were nervous going into it - we were teaching on revelation through church attendance all in Czech - but as soon as we prayed and entered the practice rooms with the Czech Return Missionaries, my fear melted away. How wonderful is the power of the Spirit! At one point, however, we were teaching a Czech RM, Dan, and I bore my testimony about Sacrament meeting and revelation. I had a definite gift of tongues experience - I don't even remember thinking in English and translating it in my head like I usually do. I think I actually thought in Czech. Wow - 4 weeks?! Really?! The Lord must be on my side - I could never do that alone. I don't even remember everything I said - but I said it. In Czech.  The spirit was very strong - what a powerful experience that was.

 

I've been working on setting more challenging goals for myself to stretch my learning - and it's working! Last week, I had the goal to finish the end of Romans and 1 Cor., read in the BoM daily, finish Preach My Gospel while taking notes in the margins, and memorize completely both the singular and plural declination charts, on top of preparing for teaching our investigators - and somehow I did it all! The Lord is truly helping me in every respect here - it's very rewarding to set challenging goals that I'm not quite sure I can finish, then to accomplish them.

 

Our teaching with Jarka is going well also - she really has wonderful desires to follow God. Here in the MTC, we have to remember to "teach people, not lessons." I think we're getting better at that. Investigators of the Church and potential investigators won't care how much we know until they know how much we care. (I love that line!) 

 

One goal we have as a companionship in our teaching is to speak more evenly and in tune with the investigators individual needs. I have a tendency to speak a lot...oops...haha, you know me - I just love to talk, and get so excited teaching the Gospel! But this is a learning experience for ALL of us, and so we're working hard to balance our talking time. I have to remind myself often, but I am truly astounded and humbled at the task I have of learning Czech - I have learned SO much, yet still have so much left to learn. I can already predict myself arriving in Czech and having a "Best 2 years" moment when we get there - "What language was that, (Starsi)?" "That was (Czech)" "Oh man, am I in trouble, cause that aint the language they taught me in the MTC." Haha - But i just continue to learn every day and try my hardest.

 

I love getting your letters so much - they make my night every time I sit down and read one! Thank you for that, and the balloons - they're fun to play around with. The address book sounds great - could you also send Kate Connor's address with it? I have a letter to send her :)

 

Know that I love you and I love this work - it truly is the work of Heaven. Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God, and Jesus is the Christ - our advocate with the Father. I love my Savior, and I love missionary work!

 

Until next week,

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen