It will be Olomouc for the Holidays!! Hooray!!

November 9, 2011

Heya! Greetings from........Olomouc! Yes - I get to stay! I am so excited to be able to stay here in this city for at least another 9 weeks. It is going to be a great transfer. Starsi Ingalls is going to be a zone leader in Pardubice and my new companion here is Elder Buhler. I am way excited to serve with him. He's as tall, if not a little taller, than I am and is an awesome, hard-working elder. We just picked him up this morning, along with Elder Rhodes' new companion, Elder Page. Both of them came from Prague and I'm super excited for our district this transfer. Starsi Rhodes was joking that we'll be contacting machines - he said "who doesn't want to talk to 2 tall, dark and handsome american boys who speak czech?" haha, I thought that was funny. But yeah - Thanksgiving, Christmas, and my birthday all in Olomouc - boy, am I excited!!!

 

I'm so sad to hear about Bernie...if you can, give my puppy a hug or belly rub from me. When it's time, it's time. But let her know that I love her. Give her a few extra goldfish if she'll eat them. maybe popcorn. Thanks for taking good care of her.

 

So This week was great! Despite a lot of change in the mission, we are all looking forward to continuing the work. Just in the last week, two of our investigators have accepted baptismal dates, along with 3 other people from the other elders' area. Way exciting! It feels so good that we are really helping to grow the church here in Olomouc. One of our investigators accepted a date last night at Elder Ingalls' last lesson with him - it was a cool moment where the commitment just clicked with him. So he is going to get baptized on January 7, 2012. Please pray for him to get to church - that's really the only forseeable huge obstacle with him. Getting to church. I'm super excited for him, though. He is an awesome guy.

 

We also had an awesome lesson with one of our other investigators - she said that when she is around us she always feels so good. We extended the baptismal invitation and she said that right now she just doesn't know. Not no, not yes. We prayed about it and felt that the 7th of January would be a good date for her, and she said that she thinks its too early. I think she just doesn't quite trust herself. She thinks that she is too young to make such a big decision, because she said that her beliefs and religion is something that will stay with her for the rest of her life and beyond. And she's right. I'm so happy she recognizes the real life change baptism is, and now just pray that as we continue to meet she will feel the Holy Ghost confirming that this is the right path.

 

We've also been continuing to work with another investigator - he came to church again for all 3 hours and enjoyed it - he said that he feels a spiritual strength from it. We also had a lesson with him yesterday and he said that when we talk, he gets a feeling that what we are saying is more than just a story or pretty words, but it is really true. How cool is that? So we will continue to work with him and try to help him accept baptism also.

 

ALSO, the sister from the branch who had not been back for so long came to church again last Sunday and stayed for all 3 hours! It was so cool for us to see her renew her covenants again and enjoy the spirit of church. At our meeting yesterday, she told us that church was "zajemave", which at first I was scared about (sometimes that word, interesting, can have a bad connotation). But we came to discover that in fact she loved it - she said it was interesting because she said that the sacrament meeting testimonies and especially the relief society lessons were exactly what she needed to hear. She said that she felt like church was directly addressed to her. It was a way cool moment. She explained that it is very hard for her to forgive herself sometimes, and Satan was working really hard to pull her down and think that she wasn't worth anything, like I explained in a past email. But she said that now she feels like she is overcoming these feelings. It is such a testimony to me that church is so important for all people and if they come prepared, they can really feel the spirit testify to them of truth.

 

So a good week! I will be emailing again on Monday for P-day. Life goes on. We're working hard, doing what we can to help others come unto Christ. It's the best.

 

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

(PS, how fun that Alicia and Amanda came with the kids! Wish I coulda been there to play, but I know where I am is a good place. Tell them I say hi and have a gingerbread "mistake" for me!) 

Happy Halloween 2011

October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!!! I'm so excited to be emailing you this week - then again, I'm excited to email you EVERY week, so nothing new here haha. I hope all is going well back in CA - it sounds like you've been having an eventful couple weeks! The ward harvest festival sounds like a blast - that's definitely one thing I miss here in the Czech Republic - there aren't many branch activities. It's kind of a catch 22 - we as missionaries and the members don't want to spend inordinate amounts of time on an activity that will have 10 people at it, and people usually don't want to go to a party that isn't well planned...so it's definitely something I miss. But despite that, we are having a service project this Saturday in Prostejov, a nearby city, which I am excited for.

 

Thank you thank you thank you for the pictures! Landon is SO CUTE!!! I love his costume and huge smile. Can't wait to see that little boy again. And TYLER! Holy cow, how did you get so tall?? By the time I get back from the Czech Republic you'll be taller than I am! And I have to write a little hello to my girls (and their pet cow) - Hi, Kylie and Avery!! I loved seeing your pictures and am glad you had a fun time at the halloween party! I hope that you have a spooky and happy halloween and get lots of candy...but remember to not eat it all at once, otherwise you'll be giving your daddy some extra work in the future hahaha. I love you all!

 

So before I say a little about my week, here are the answers to your questions!

 

1.  Yes, I have received your letters and a response is on it's way in the near future! I love you, Gramma and Gramdpa Jensen!!!

2.   My camera is the Panasonic DMC-FH27. It's a great camera, too! Still working on the descriptions for my last SD card - it's full, and I'm already on picture 110 of SD card number 3! So that'll be something to look forward to for Christmas haha.

3.  Hmmmm, not really...Like I said, not much to wish for when you're serving the Lord full time! One thing I would like are some easy basic gospel doctrine-based object lessons to do for FHE and such - that would be nice! But surprise me! haha

4.  Transfers are going to happen a week from Wednesday. There is a high likelihood I will stay in Olomouc, but it's all up in the air. We'll just have to see what happens! I will find out on next Monday evening, so realistically I won't be able to let you know what happens until 2 weeks from now. Sorry! But whatever happens, I know it's from the Lord and what is supposed to happen.

5.  I should be fine on the winter coat - it's starting to get colder, but my trench from home is still plenty warm. Still no snow as of yet - when it gets colder, I'll definitely go buy a good coat (and don't worry, I won't skimp on it)

 

Halloween isn't really celebrated here...sad...a few days ago they had a "spirit festival" on the namesti where there were games and all of the kids carried around these paper lanterns for the spirits; but no candy, no trick-or-treating, and not really any costumes.

 

BUT, something that is kind of cool is what's going on at Dolni Namesti - all the christmas lights are going up! That's right - they're already decorating the namesti for Christmas. There are lights all around the square and they're setting up an ice-skating rink in the middle of the namesti. It's way pretty. I do have to say that I hope I stay in Olomouc for Christmas!

 

So now for a little about my week! Last week was the temple trip to Freiburg for the branch, which was way sweet for them...but unfortunately that made it hard for us to get members at our lessons this week. But despite that, we still were able to see miracles happen. Let me tell you about some of them!

 

First off, we've been continuing to work with one of our investigators, and I think he's do really well. He has done meditation for spiritual strength for a long time; but he came to church for the first time yesterday and told me that he feels a very similar spiritual strength from being in Sacrament meeting/sunday school/priesthood. So that was way cool to hear that he is recognizing the spirit - he also committed to reading the Book of Mormon from the start - I'm super excited for him. His big struggle now is making the step to commit to be baptized, so we're trying to help him see the personal nature of the baptismal covenant and how blessed he can be from it.

 

Unfortunately, one of our other investigators couldn't come to church yesterday because she was packing to go to America today! She and her son are taking a trip home for a month and will be back in December. We talked with her on the phone and she said that she definitely wants to keep in contact when she gets back and continue to meet and come to church - so that's definitely exciting, and I can't wait for her to return and to keep talking with her. She is so special.

 

K, so last Friday was kind of disappointing - we had 5 appointments fall through, which was kind of discouraging. But after we were waiting for one appointment that fell through, we started contacting and met a way cool girl.  She is pretty young - 16 - but is definitely a deep-thinker. We were afraid that she would just be a "Laska girl", but as we talked we came to find out that she is a believer, and had an experience that helped her change the direction of her life. She was already into smoking and drinking at a very young age, but she decided that that was not a good direction for her life and quit smoking and stopped drinking. That's really, REALLY rare for a Czech. So she already lives the word of wisdom, which is awesome, and we had a first lesson with her last saturday where we talked about baptism. She didn't accept or reject the invitation, and told us that she would think and pray about it. So we'll see where it goes from here - it's all up to her and the Lord now.

 

Well, that's all for this week - I love you so, SO much. Thank you for your prayers and continuous love and support. It means a lot to your Starsi. I love this work I am doing - and even when it's difficult, I just think of why I'm here and move forward. It truly is the greatest work I could be doing right now.

 

S laskou,
Starsi Mullen

 

(ps...BOO!)

Try Reading It!!

October 24, 2011


Hi, family!!!

So this week was pretty good overall!!! We had a zone conference in Olomouc last Tuesday, which was awesome. I loved seeing all of my fellow Elders, and especially my MTC brothers. It's amazing how close we get here doing the Lord's work. It was a wonderful conference, and we got a couple new things - first off, we received the Book of Mormon Liahona in both Czech and English! They gave each companionship like 17 Czech ones, and they are wonderful! We have already used them with investigators, and it is such an awesome tool to use in getting people interested in that sacred piece of scripture. President Irwin has also given us 30 minutes of extra study time daily that we can use until we read through and get to know that Liahona. To all of you reading this email/blogpost, try reading it! It is so well written and designed and is a perfect introduction to the Book of Mormon.

The second thing that we received last week was a portable DVD player! It's way nice - we can only use it in our apartment, but it is way nice to be able to watch clips from "The District" while we're waiting for dinner/lunch to cook. I really do think that watching those clips makes me a better missionary, which is way awesome!

Now, for a few stories from the week - first off, one of our investigators is doing awesome! We had a lesson with her on Friday about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and she was fascinated. She said that she really likes meeting with us because she thinks that we are "true Christians" and, despite some opposition from her friends, keeps meeting. She said that some of her friends told her that the Mormons are "weird", but she said that she just replied "well, I don't know about the guys that you met, but the guys who I meet with are really cool" haha. So we had a lesson with her that she loved. We talked about the 5 basic points of the Gospel, and she pulled out a binder and started taking notes about it because she "didn't want to forget anything". She is so cool. So anyway, we had a way good lesson with her, then she came back later that night for our game night and stayed for everything, including the spiritual thought. We're meeting again on Tuesday - please pray for her. Her main obstacle is just belief - she doesn't believe in God or Christ yet. And that keeps her from praying, because she says that it doesn't make sense to pray to someone that she doesn't know or believe in, and when she tried it, it felt kind of like just talking to herself. We're working hard to try to help her understand who her Heavenly Father is and how she can come to know Him. But in our last lesson, she told us that "maybe in 10 or 12 years I will be a Christian" - we smiled and joked afterwards that maybe it'll be in 10 or 12 weeks haha. But we just keep on working with her and trying to help her come closer to Christ.

I also had a really cool experience this week talking to Starsi Egger - I called him up and talked for a bit about how things were going in Plzen, Lochotin. I came to find out that our newest member there is doing so well! Unfortunately, he lost his job at Billa, a grocery store here - but it has kind of been a blessing in disguise, because now he can and has been coming to church every Sunday. He came to all sessions of General Conference. He found a new short-term job at a bakery. And, even when he works until 3 in the morning at the bakery to get ready for the next day, he comes to church at 9. He told the elders that it's not a big deal. Oh boy, does that feel awesome! Truly how great is my joy for him. It truly is indescribable - I am just so happy for him, seeing him going strong in following Jesus Christ.

Then, yesterday, guess who came to church? Our investigator and her son!! Her husband couldn't come because his father was visiting and he stayed home with them while his wife and son came to church. It was so great. The branch just ate her up - everyone who knew even a lick of English were practically lining up to talk with her and introduce themselves. She had a great experience, stayed for all 3 hours, and her son even loved Primary! It was a definite answer to my prayers. She is actually going back to America for a couple weeks starting next Wednesday, so we're praying that she will continue to meet and talk after she returns. She is so special.

So there are a few highlights of the week. I'm emailing from Prague because I came in to get my visa renewed. It's been great to see all of my fellow MTC elders and sisters here, and I'll be heading back in a little bit to Olomouc by train.

I'm excited for the surprise package and pics! and as far as Christmas goes...I honestly don't know. I'm happy and content with all that I have. The only things I can think of are kinda BORING hahaha - I'd like an extra battery for my camera (there have been a couple times where I wished I had just a little more battery life haha), a package of just white long balloons (I've used almost all of the white ones I have for spiritual thoughts making sheep...people love them), a couple plain black sharpies, and a couple thin tip black sharpies...and I always love pictures! But that's really all I can think of. I'll love all that you send, though, because it'll be from you. I love you so much.

Until next week,

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

One Precious Child at a Time

October 16, 2011
Hi family!

To start off, yes, I did get Aunt Sue and Uncle Steve's package and the Whitings - thank you so much! Letters in response are being written or are already on the way. It sounds like you had a wonderful experience with a little bonus trip built in to visit family! I hope you said Hi to all of them for me! Also, know that my prayers are continuously with Aunt Sue and also with Lyndie's baby (Sherry told me a little bit that she's having some sort of shivers).

This week was great here in Olomouc - much more success than last week! I just wanna tell you all about it, so here it goes -

So we had another lesson with our investigator from the USA which went awesome! She was so open to listen about the Book of Mormon and how she could know of its truth - it was so refreshing. Plus, it was kinda cool to teach someone in English - it's kinda nice to be able to say everything you want to exactly how you want to say it haha! She also brought her 5 year old son to the meeting, and he is hilarious. She asked him if he wanted to come with her to church and talk about God, and he said "Yes, mommy, I would love that!" How cool is that?! So we had a wonderful lesson with her, gave her the Book of Mormon, and she said she would read from it and pray about it. She said that she could definitely see how this requires a lot more faith - but we assured her that God will answer her sincere prayers to know of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She talked to her husband, and she said that he's willing to come with her to church next Sunday (they were going to come yesterday, but Filip came down with a fever on Saturday), and she wants to keep talking about the Gospel with us! So we might start teaching my first investigator family! How exciting is that?! So we're way excited to move forward with them.

We also had a lesson with another invetigator last week - we've really been struggling to help her to pray, because she says that it's weird and unnatural to pray to someone she doesn't believe in. So we're kind of in a catch 22 with her - she can't build a relationship with God until she starts praying and trying to reach out to Him, but she doesn't really want to pray or act until she has some sort of relationship with God...so that's kind of hard. She said she would talk to us more about what she's feeling on Friday when we're meeting with her next. Last time, we watched the Restoration video with her, which was really good for her - but now it's all on her. If she exercises even that "particle of faith" from Alma 32, and tries, we know her faith will grow and she will come to know it is true. But it's going to take a bit for her to really start growing and progressing.

Also, something kind of exciting was that we reestablished contact with another investigator last week! I was getting kinda worried because she wasn't answering her phone - but I finally got to talk to her last week and she said that she was in Prague and just got back to Olomouc and wanted to meet again! So that was exciting - we have a lesson set up for this Wednesday.

We also picked up another new investigator this week. She is around 20 or so and is a Roman Catholic, which is quite common here in Olomouc. Olomouc is apparently the Catholic capital of the Czech Republic. Anyway, I contacted her solo last week and she actually came to our first meeting on time! That doesn't happen too often haha....but she came and we had a pretty good lesson. She was really interested in the fact that God and Jesus Christ are two separate beings, and was really interested in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We gave her a copy and challenged her to read, ponder, and pray about its truthfulness. She said she would, and we set up a follow up meeting for this Wednesday - we're excited to continue meeting with her, and pray that she will do all that is necessary to qualify for Moroni's promise to know that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God.

We're continuing to meet with our other two investigators, but we know that they only will start really progressing as soon as they start getting to church - so we're really pushing for them to be able to come to church. They are awesome though - one of them always makes everyone in the apartment kneel when we pray and calls on someone to pray, even if they don't really know how to do it. He'll then explain it in super-fast Slovak and tell them to pray, which they do. It's way cool and way funny simultaneously. I love it.

But now for my favorite story of the week! We have been going to the house of a part-member couple at least once a week since the beginning of the transfer. The wife has been a member for quite a while, but has also been inactive for quite a while, and her husband is Catholic. We've been meeting with them for a while and both of them have trouble with commitment. We have invited them to come to church every week of the transfer, trying to help them realize its importance, but to no avail. So last Tuesday we went over there for our lesson. We had decided to share with them President Uchtdorf's talk from conference about each person being so important to God, and it really struck a chord with them. As we were watching it, the husband logged onto his facebook, posted the video of the talk to his blog, "liked" it, and added the comment - "Poslouchejte" (listen). It was cool. Then, after it, his wife told us that Satan definitely tries to appeal to her feelings of inadequacy and nothingness. I followed a wise sister's advice (she said that we just need to look her in the eyes and tell her that God needs her at church) and bore testimony of God's love for her and for him individually, that he wants us to be happy, and that the greatest happiness comes from keeping his commandments. It was a cool moment. So we challenged her to pray to her Heavenly Father to know if they need to come to church this Sunday. At the end of the lesson, she asked right out in her prayer - "Help us know if we need to go back to church." We left that night praying that she would receive an answer throughout the week that she needed to come. Fastforward to last Saturday - I called up their house and talked to the husband...and he said that they weren't sure if they were going to come and would just leave it as a "prekvapeni" (surprise). I was bummed, because in the past "not sure" always ends up being "surely not." So come Sunday morning, we weren't expecting them to come....so you can imagine how big my eyes and smile were when I saw her walk through the doors of the church building! I went up and asked her "So did you pray about it?" She said that she prayed last night about if she needed to come, and here she was. It was so cool, and all of the members who have been around for a while all were so happy and surprised to see her. Her husband unfortunately didn't want to come, but we hope that will change next week. I was talking with one of the members of the branch here and she said that it was an absolute miracle - she hasn't seen that sister at church since 1996. I have a testimony that prayer works. God will answer our prayers and will tell us "all things that we should do" - even come to church. He loves each of us individually and knows us, as Aunt Cori says, "by heart and by name."

How grateful I am for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the hope and happiness it brings into people's lives. This work truly is the work of God, and I am so humbled by the opportunity to be an instrument in His holy hands to help His beloved children, one precious child at a time.

I love you all,

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen