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