November 14, 2011
Well, hi there! This was a good week halfway around the world haha. I'll tell you all about it!
But first of all, I just want to thank you for what you did for Bernie. I would be flat out lying if I didn't say I was sad. When I read your email, a couple tears came. She will definitely be missed and was a big part of my childhood years. But I need to tell you about an experience I had last night. I was saying my nightly prayer out loud (Starsi Buhler goes into the other room and we both do our nightly prayers out loud. It's a great way to really talk to our Heavenly Father) and almost immediately after I started the prayer, I felt completely overcome with peace and comfort. The thought just came to my head that Bernie was OK and free from hurt right now. It was very peaceful and I just felt like it was OK. I have to admit that at the time I was wishing that that meant she picked right back up with her 101st life haha - but thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you did for her. That was really what moved me to tears - that you made her some popcorn that she could at least smell. She always LOVED that smell. That you stayed up with her and held her. Thank you so much...so much for that. I am glad that she is free from pain now and went peacefully out knowing that her family loves her. Thank you.
As far as Thanksgiving goes, the senior couple (starsi and sister Erb) are inviting us over to a big thanksgiving dinner at their apartment, so we should eat VERY well to celebrate this year. She is a very good cook and, while perhaps the rolls might not be AS good as Aunt Cyndy's, I'm sure they'll be delicious haha. Thank you very much for the offer, however. It's much appreciated.
I'm so proud of you, my missionary Marmee! Way to go. That is way exciting that your friend stayed for your class! Keep it up - missionary work is so important, and I wish we had an awesome gospel essentials class teacher like you to persuade people to come to church hahaha!
So now for a couple stories from the week...
First off, we had a great lesson with an investigator about the plan of salvation. She understood all of the doctrine and said it sounded like a really cool fairy tale and laughed a bit. We responded by saying that it's the BEST story ever because it's real! haha - she laughed and said it made sense. We told her that the reason it makes sense is because it's true. She is way cool and is definitely a breath of fresh air to teach. Our main obstacle with her now is just getting her to pray. It's really a hard thing for her to overcome. Please pray for her, and if you have any advice on how we might be able to help her pray, please pass it on to me - we're open to anything and everything that can help her develop a relationship with her Heavenly Father.
We also had a good lesson with two other investigators on Saturday. It was our first formal lesson with them. They own a window food stand that we pass several times every day and we have talked with them quite a lot. The other elders had them as investigators but passed them to us because they were having a hard time keeping up on them since they live further away. So we had a lesson with them where they definitely felt the spirit. One of them is definitely more hesitant and said that she honestly thinks that this message can't help her, that she has her own faith, and that the spirit around us is just because we are friends. But the other was definitely more open. Right from the opening prayer she said there was something different about us. She said it was like a light. We testified it was the spirit. We could see a change in her from the start to the end of the lesson. We asked them if we could return several times to share the message we are here for in its entirity. She said of course. It was a great lesson, and we pray that they will have time to be able to continue to meet. They're usually very busy, but we are praying that they will be open to letting us in more often to teach them about this wonderful gospel of happiness.
One more quick story - we had a District conference for all of Moravia and Slovakia in Brno yesterday. It was great! I got to see so many of my fellow missionaries and it felt so cool to be among so many saints here in the Czech Republic. We overflowed the Brno chapel, out into the hallway, and into the extra rooms that had speakers in them. It was way cool. I said "I haven't seen that many members of the church at once since I got here!" haha. It was great, and the spirit was so strong. President Irwin gave a great talk about when he was a boy that I want to share quickly. He said that at his school there was a group of boys who were notorious for bullying all the other students, especially the new ones. He being new, President Irwin tried his best to avoid them after school, but one day they were waiting for him. They picked him up and tossed him over a low fence into a huge pile of horse manure. He said that after he was tossed in, the other boys laughing, he had the distinct thought - "Well, I'm in it now. I might as well spread it around." He then started to pick up handfuls of manure and chucked it at the other boys. Everyone was laughing in the congregation. But then he likened it to the church. He said boldly to every member present - "You are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints. You're in it now. You might as well spread it around." It was so cool - it was exactly what the members here needed to hear. And me. That's the responsibility of us all - let's spread it around!
I love this gospel and the message I get to share with people. It can be scary sometimes for sure. But I just need to remember how great this message is and get out and go to work.
I love you all,
S laskou,
Starsi Mullen
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