Thank you so much for sharing that story of Tyler's. It really touched me. You are the man, Tyler! I sure do miss you and your family. How are you doing? Is school going well? I'm so honored to receive the Tyler W. Abinante award, even from half a world away! Keep being awesome - you're the winner of the Joseph M. Mullen award in my books.
Now for some answers:
1. Were you able to visit with one of your contacts? Not much new from last week - I will try harder to get a hold of them this coming week, however. They are so special and I really want to see them again (and again and again! haha).
2. The Concert sounds so cool...Is it the Prague Philharmonic and where will it be held? The concert will be in St. Nicholas Church in the old town square on April 28 at 5:00. It should be really fun - I'm buying the tickets today!
3. What were your favorite contacting moments of the week? My favorite contacting moments...probably the singing display we had last week. We have a big district, so singing displays are fun to do and we have plenty of manpower to do them right. We're working on other ideas that will be fun to do as a district, too, which I'm looking forward to. Another cool moment was at lunch 2 days ago - this man leaned over to us from the next table and told us he heard our choir on TV (MoTab) and wants a CD. We invited him to church that Sunday on the spot and he said he'd be happy to come! He was such a nice man and hope that we see him again tomorrow at church!
4. Are you doing any driving yet? Yup! I drove for the first time since starting the mission last week - I thought it would be a lot scarier than it actually was. I got us to our appointment and back safely - Just like riding a bike!
5. What did you teach at District Conference? This last week I taught about the importance of the Holy Ghost in conversion, and I think it was received very well. District meetings are focused on the 8 fundamentals of Preach My Gospel, so this week I'll be teaching about revelation through prayer. It's an awesome topic and I'm excited to teach about it!
6. How do you handle General Conference there? Do you get to see all sessions? General conference will be shown a week after it is given here in Prague, I'm pretty sure, just like it is in Olomouc. I reread the entire October conference and am excited to hear what our modern day prophets have to say to us!
Landon just sounds so, so cute! I had a sweet dream the other night with him in it - I was standing on the porch of a house and saw him with Chris and Jenna across the street kinda wobbly walking around. He stopped and looked at me across the street and I opened up my arms and called out "Landon! Come here, buddy!" He got a big grin across his face and ran across the street and gave me a big, big hug. It was such a sweet dream. Can't wait to meet that little guy one day!
I'm excited for the easter package! And yeah, not much weight put on (I think I'm 165 or something). Still your lanky guy!
The baptism sounds so, so sweet. That's what missionary work is all about. The light that is in peoples' countenances is amazing to see as they accept the restored gospel. You can literally see it!
OK, so now for part 2! (I cut and pasted the part from last week so you have the whole story):
"So now for the miracle of the week. One of our investigators is having miracles in her life happen right now leading her to the gospel. After the conference, we had a lesson with her on Monday before FHE, which was amazing. We were talking about the restoration and at one point in the lesson, she just asked us - "guys, how does somebody join this church?" We explained baptism and confirmation to her again, and she said OK. We set a date with her right then, and the spirit was so, so strong. We talked about the blessings of the gospel and she left saying she felt good about it all. Tuesday evening, I get a call from her - she said that she talked with her family about baptism, and they were very concerned. She said that she didn't know what to do. She said that she started reading the Book of Mormon and felt good about it but didn't know if she could handle continuing right now while she was getting such opposition from her parents. She agreed, however, to a meeting on Wednesday so we could talk about it face to face. We set up for two sisters from the ward to be there and ..." ... had the most amazing lesson. They were so good with her, as both of their families were against the church also when they got baptized. We asked her if she had prayed about if she should continue and she said that she did that morning and felt that she should continue. We testified of the power that comes into our lives as we follow the promptings of the spirit and she totally agreed.
So after closing the lesson with an amazing kneeling prayer, off she went. Later that night we texted her to see how she was doing. My stomach was just turning because we went to bed without a text in reply. I prayed so hard for her that she would make it through this trial of her faith - I remember having a peaceful feeling that all would be alright. That next morning we woke up to this text "Ahoj, all is dobrý :) I would be happy to continue with you guys". We were just beaming. We set up for a lesson the next day and it was amazing.
We taught her more about the restoration and invited her to pray to know the Book of Mormon (which she is now reading every day) is true. She said that she didn't need to again, because in our first lesson she got an answer that it was true when she prayed. We taught about church and how we keep the Sabbath day holy and she loved it - she was really touched by the doctrine of the sacrament, that after her baptism she can renew her covenant and feel totally clean every week. She came to sports day the next day (last Saturday) and seemed to have a really good time. We sat down at one point and she shared an experience with me she had that morning. She told me that I was so lucky to have had this in my life from birth, and that she just wishes that she knew about this sooner.
So then, Sunday comes! We had told her to come like 10 minutes early, and there she was at 8:40 - 20 minutes early. She was all smiles and said that she woke up just so excited to come to church - it was awesome. The spirit was so strong at church and she liked it. After church we were trying to find her to say bye before we left and we found her in the back of the RS room, chatting away with 3 relief society sisters in the branch. She loves everyone and everyone loves her. It's so cool to see. We set up 3 meetings this week which all went well - we taught the plan of salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the word of wisdom, and all of them went amazingly. In lessons, it's her who is testifying as much as we are about how much the gospel is helping her life. It's so amazing.
On Thursday we found out that she, without any arrangement on our part, was going to a birthday party of one relief society sister with 7 other sisters from the branch. I heard it went very well. Oh mylanta, words can't even express how awesome it feels! She has been so prepared by the Lord and our Heavenly Father for this message. When we taught the Word of Wisdom yesterday, she told us how she stopped smoking last September and quit drinking coffee 4 months ago because she didn't feel healthy and felt like she didn't need chemicals to be happy. As we read the Word of Wisdom pamphlet with her, she would just stop as she read sometimes and say "that is so true". She committed to live by it with no hesitation. She's coming to sports day again tonight and to church tomorrow. I am just so excited for her. Seeing her grow in her faith has grown my own faith. It helps me realize the true blessings that come into our lives when we allow the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to touch our hearts.
So with that, I am unfortunately once again out of time. At least there's not such a big cliff-hanger this time! I love this gospel so, so much. Miracles happen, family! You never know who the Lord is preparing to hear and accept this message. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and that the gospel contained within it has the power to bring happiness, purpose, and light into each of our lives. I love you all and pray for you every day.
S láskou,
Starší Mullen
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