Hello, family!!!

April 21, 2012


Hello, family!!!

Wow, what a crazy assignment for Elder Whiting! How exciting and new and crazy that must be - I will for sure be praying for him in this endeavor. What different experiences we truly are having! But both wonderful - we're surely going to have a lot to catch up on haha. Quite the Other Side of Heaven experience - but the Lord will watch over him and all will be well. 

So glad to hear the missionary work continues in Granite Bay - way to be awesome member missionaries! It is seriously so important to the Lord - He loves missionaries a lot haha!

Kinda jealous about Hawaii, but....I'm in Prague. Can't complain. I love it here.

Here are a few answers for your questions:

1.  We want to know all about the baptism obviously? - The baptism was wonderful. Our investigator is so special and so awesome. Getting the program all together involved a lot of craziness before and cleaning up was a lot of craziness after, but the program itself was wonderful. We got to the building about an hour early to get it all set up and there she was already sitting in the foyer front room, already wearing her white dress. She was so excited and said she was even a little nervous. But as the night went on it was absolutely wonderful. During the baptism itself, there was such a peaceful feeling - it wasn't a burning in the bosom feeling or a crazy manifestation of the spirit - there was just calm and peace. Everyone was so reverent and quiet. It was just still. How wonderful. Her mom and 2 of her friends even came to the baptism, and it was so cool to be able to connect with them a little and see how they are supporting her in her decision. There were a ton of people from the branch who came to support her and there was a huge line afterwards to go congratulate her. Sunday was wonderful as well, and her faith is absolutely amazing. We had a lesson last night about making a commitment to ourselves and to Heavenly Father to never fall away, which she loved - the spirit was strong and she said that it gives so much hope and it is so cool - she told us how she knows what life is like without the spirit and she never wants to return to it. I am so glad and happy for her.

2.  When will transfer day be for you?  It seems like your time in Prague will be winding down in the next 3 or so weeks, but we are not sure - Transfer day is May 16th, so I will get to do our call from Prague! The tradition in the past is that the leaving office elder either goes to be a zone leader or a branch president somewhere, so we'll see if one of those options or something different lies in store for this Starší! Sure am excited to talk to you, though!

3.  Are you getting excited for your classical concert? ...it sounds like so much fun especially in the center of music as you are!! - Yeah, one week! It'll be great - I am so excited for it. Praha is simply the best!

4.  Cori sent your final blog posts and your cd so it should be getting there soon.  Any other requests? - nope! Just prayers and pictures every once in a while would be fun to see and show members here. Thank you so much, auntie Cori!

Let's see, some other things to add...

The baptism from Olomouc went well, I heard, which is wonderful. Please continue to pray for him and for the Olomouc saints. I got to see President Šlézar last week when he came to pick up a car here, which was so fun. We gave each other a big hug and got to catch up on all the latest happenings there in Morava. What a good man he is. 

This week was a week of exchanges for me! I got to go on 3 exchanges - one a finding exchange with Sisters Bean and Sears (where we just split up and go finding together for an hour and talk about how the work is going for each of them individually), and also 2 full day exchanges with Elders Greener and Stradling in the district. Taught some lessons, found some awesome people - you know, the norm. 

Out of time for today because of picture sending and mother's day call set up, but know that I love you all. I love the gospel and I am so grateful for the power it has to change lives for the better, no matter where we are now. God loves us. And I love you!

S láskou,

Starší Mullen

Ahojky!

April 14, 2012

Hello, Family and friends!

What an eventful, exciting week! First off, I'm so glad to hear that all is well on the home front. I loved, loved, LOVED my sprinkles, Gram - thank you so much. They made my day. I loved getting to see you on your comfy bed - I hope you're doing ok! I sure do love you and am sending you špetky z Prahy! (sprinkles from Prague!)

How exciting for soon-to-be Elder Hilburn. How hard it must be to miss the other Elder Hilburn by so few days - it is a wonderful show of his faith and trust in the will of the Lord that he is going on time.Good for you, Chad! Can't wait for you to come over here to beautiful Europe - I talked with a missionary in the Lyon mission about getting Slovak materials a couple weeks ago, so maybe he'll get to meet some of the wonderful Slovak people there in France. So exciting to be doing the Lord's work.

As for your questions....

1.  Fill us in on the baptismal plans. Will she be confirmed on Sunday in the branch?  

 - So the baptism is happening tonight at 7:00 Prague time, and it will be wonderful! We have lots of people who have said they're coming from the branch, along with lots of investigators from the district. It will be so wonderful. She is so excited. She came to every session of general conference last week and is just loving the gospel as much as we do! It is so refreshing to see - I think of it like Disneyland. Disneyland will be fun for me for the rest of my life (yes, that is a goal of mine haha), but it's so much fun to go there with a little kid for whom everything is new and exciting and amazing. It gives me a refreshed and glorious view of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to see somebody experience it for the first time and absolutely love it. We talked yesterday after our lesson and she said she is just amazed at how quickly these past 6 weeks flew by. I have to agree - time's fun when you're having flies, I guess! She will be confirmed tomorrow morning at Sacrament meeting by Elder Curtis, and along with him in the circle will be President Irwin, Bratr Čaněk (chan-yek) (the gospel principles teacher and former branch president), and Tomáš Vašiček (Toe-mawsh Vash-ee-check) (a recent melchizedeck priesthood holder who is awesome and preparing to serve a mission). She invited her family to her baptism and none of them rejected it - she's not sure if all of them will accept the invitation, but she and we are praying hard for them to come and see and feel the spirit. At yesterday's lesson we went over the program and practiced how the baptism will work and snapped a picture of all of us in the baptismal font (See the pictures). In the pictures are our investigator, a member from the branch (the awesome recent convert - they're such good friends!), Elder Gleue, and I. I am so excited for tonight - it will for sure be a spiritual highlight of my mission. There's no words that can describe the feeling - just smiles and the spirit. I'll be sure to send pictures next week.

2.  Cori made your cd's this week and was sending them today.  Any other requests from home? - nothing for now - Cori, thank you thank you thank you so much! I got your second batch of blog writings and am so, so excited to read them! They are each of them priceless treasures. Love you bunches!

3.  We loved your sunrise run to the Charles Bridge...any other adventures?  What else do you do for your exercise?  You were worried about that before you left and we were wondering how it is working out?  We saw a picture on Starsi Meiling's blog of you in front of a clock.  Way cool. - Hmm, well last Saturday like I said was in Ostrava, which was quite an adventure! But today we're going to the mini eiffel tower in Petřín, which should be very fun. Who needs Paris anyway when we have their main attraction in Prague? Hahaha - just kidding - but I love Prague! Excercise mainly consists of sit ups, pushups, stretching, some weights, and running (although it's been raining in the mornings, which has stopped that recently). But working out is working out good!

4.  Do missionaries in your mission celebrate hump day (1 year anniversary) in any special way? - Not really - burning stuff is highly discouraged just because it's unsafe and in most cases illegal in the places where we would have access to. But we're thinking of going out to dinner with Elder Medonich and Stradling and Sisters Bean and Sears to celebrate all of our year marks. So that should be fun! How crazy to think I've been gone for almost a year...yeah, weird...

5.  What other teaching opportunities did you have this week?  Any other special moments you want to share? - We had an amazing lesson on temples with our investigator and Sister Irwin on Monday which was such a highlight - we used the temple Liahona and went through the pictures and additional ordinances performed there. She is so excited - she thinks the temples are just so beautiful but not overbearing like so many cathedrals in this area. She loves how simple and clean they are and is excited to prepare names of her ancestors for baptisms in the Freiberg Temple in the near future. It was a spiritual highlight just to be able to share the joy of the gospel and of temples with someone so willing and so excited to apply it. Another highlight this week was I got to do an exchange with....Elder Heath! It was a blast and we worked hard together. We ended up teaching 2 bench lessons in our contacting block and had a wonderful time catching up on the work. He's a blast to work with in the field and is a workhorse. So it was very fun to catch up with him on things.

6.  How is your district doing?  Are you enjoying being the DL?  What are you teaching them in your training meetings? - The district is doing well - we've really been picking it up these last 2 weeks and the work is going great. I love being in a position to serve and work with all of these wonderful missionaries in a close and personal way. We have amazing missionaries in Prague right now and it is a joy to be able to work with and support them. District meetings are focused on the 8 fundamentals of Preach My Gospel - the doctrine of christ, the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion, Revelation through Prayer, revelation through the Book of Mormon, revelation through Church attendance, Teach people, not lessons, We invite, they commit, we follow up, and How to begin teaching. Each week is focused on a different fundamental - next weeks will be Teach People, Not Lessons. It's really quite fun to be able to present these trainings.

Well, my question answering contained most of my stories and exciting experiences of the week, but there is one other way exciting one that I want to share before I send this off to you. Guess who else I heard is getting baptized today? Our investigator from Olomouc! How amazing is that?! I talked with Elder Spencer (he's in Olomouc South right now) and the Erbs and they said that he is very excited. So today will be an extra good day! He now is ready to make this covenant with Heavenly Father. How exciting to see that efforts are never, ever wasted. I'm so excited for both of these individuals being baptized today - it truly will be a day to never be forgotten. 

I love this gospel so much - it is so true! What a wonderful cause. It is, as I have mentioned before and will yet mention many times, the path to lasting happiness that will never waver or fail. How grateful I am for this gospel and for all the blessings that come from it.

I love you all,

S láskou,

Starší Mullen

(ps...the other pics are Starsi Heath and I contacting in the park on our exchange and coloring easter eggs for an FHE activity )

(pps...dum dum!)

Thank You!!

Thanks to a visitor to Prague we have a great picture of Joseph and his district in Prague.  He looks so very happy.

Happy Easter!!

April 7, 2012

Hi there, family!

So I'm emailing late tonight because we were on a little road trip for the past 2 days! So sorry - so we went to Brno to switch all of the winter tires out for summer ones while all the Zone leaders were in Zone leader council. It was very fun being there as the Erbs came up and helped us out with all the tire changes. They are so great and it was very fun to catch up with them and all the happenings of Olomouc. So then after the Tire switch in Brno was all done we headed off to Ostrava!!! (the three exclamation points is a big Ostrava thing haha - it's kind of like one of their trademarks) for a baptism. A young guy who Elder Gleue taught for a while got baptized today and it was a wonderful service. He will be a great strength there in the Ostrava branch. So then it was back in the car and back to Prague! Lots of driving in 2 days haha.

So now for a few answers and then I'll go at it:

1.  Are you invited somewhere for Easter dinner?  Any traditions that are different in the Czech Republic when it comes to this holiday? - We're going over to the Bohne's for Easter, which will be wonderful. The main different tradition is the Easter whipping (look it up online) - which we aren't doing. It's not considered inappropriate for people to do it here, but for missionaries it's a little out of hand. So we're forgoing the whipping this year (although I have still memorized the song haha)

2.  Did you get our Easter package?  Hopefully you did and there was plenty to share. - Yes, and there's still plenty to go around - the office loves it!

3.  What was your spiritual highlight this week? - Spiritual highlight was definitely planning our investigator's baptism. We had 3 lessons with her and all went wonderfully. It is so cool to hear her bear her testimony now. We taught her tithing and law of the fast, just to find out that she fasted last week on fast sunday without us teaching it and already has an envelope with "CJK" on it for tithing and offerings. We went over the baptismal interview questions with her and she is ready. Her testimony of the church is so awesome and strong, especially for someone who came in contact with the church a little over a month ago. We planned out her baptismal program (she's picking out all the people she wants involved) and she asked me if I would baptize her. Wow - I'm humbled for sure. I pray for her to have the strength to endure as she has begun her journey. We'll be holding her baptismal service next Saturday at 7:00 pm and I am so excited. She has so many friends in the branch and is truly being changed for good by the Gospel. It's amazing to see.

4.  We assume you will watch conference this weekend...we especially loved Elder Hollands and the first Presidency talks...really really great conference...will be interested to see what you pick up as a theme.  We wrote about our feelings in our letters to you this week.  They should get there soon.  Look for David Archeleta in the MTC choir...he is going to Santiago Chile mission. - We watched almost 2 full sessions in Ostrava before the baptism, and it's so cool - there is a sister missionary from here in the MTC and we also saw her in the choir! She is from Prague and we visit her family often. So cool! So far I've noticed a strong family theme - we'll see what else I pick up on tomorrow.

5.  How was the baptism?  Was it so amazing to see your recent convert exercising his priesthood?  You should feel so good about what you are achieving in your mission. - the baptism was great. Our current investigator was there along with so many of the people I love from Plzeň.  It was so cool to see the tears in her eyes from the spirit after the meeting. How cool, though, to already see the work spread on and move forward.

6.  We got a such a wonderful email from Sister Bohne.  She thinks you are an amazing missionary and she loved her birthday surprise you and Starsi Gleue gave her.  She sent us a couple pictures which we loved.  You look so good Joseph...and so happy. - K, so this isn't really a question, but that's ok - I still love you! I also love Sister Bohne - she is the light of the office. I'm glad you liked the pictures!

So yeah, we're moving forward this week looking towards Saturday and every awesome day in between. Sorry I have less time to get this off to you, but we must get home to plan and bed! The church is true, and Christ lives! Love you so much!

S laskou,

Starsi Mullen

Well Hello There!!

March 31, 2012


Hey, everybody! I'm excited to be able to fill you all in on the latest happenings here in Prague. Sounds like things at home and in Utah are all going well - busy and well! I sure do love our family. So glad to hear Gram is doing a little better - sure do love that Gram! I received and have read the first 14 postings from Cori's blog and love each one. I have been sharing them with Sister Bohne and she absolutely loves to read your writing, Aunt Cori! She's read all of the song backgrounds you sent me in the MTC and absolutely loves them. So now you're famous in Farmington, Kayesville, AND Prague! haha

What a blessings to have such a strong YW program. It's kind of hard to look at the membership records here and see so many names with no faces. But we help those who will accept it and move forward with faith! Those YW are sure lucky to have you, Marmee!

Conference will be next week for us here in Prague, and I'm so looking forward to it! I love conference so much. 

So I'll jump right into some answers for your questions!

1.  Did you get the girl scout cookies? - YES! They are (and for most of them WERE) delicious haha. I've been sharing them with the office and District - I'll often times put a thin mint or Samoa (the caramel coconut ones - I still like the old name haha) on the top of the separator of the cubicle between Elder Gleue's desk and mine and after a bit he'll see it and eat it with an enthusiastic "Dík!" (Deeek). Thanks so much!

2.  Did you get your Easter box? - Still not yet, but I'm excited for it when it comes!

3.  Were you able to talk or meet with your investigator/friend? - Unfortunately no...but not for lack of trying. We've tried to get a hold of them several times this past week and they haven't picked up or returned calls. Of course I'll keep trying with faith!

4.  How is your other investigator?  She has so much been on our minds and we put her and you and your comp and your other investigators on the prayer roll on Tuesday night..oh, yeah and we put the Irwins on there every time too!! - see below

5.   Anything we can do for you?  I have asked Cori and Libby to make your cd so I will try and make that happen this week.  Sorry that has been delayed... - Keep on praying for each of these good people. Ask Gram to send some sprinkles over to Prague. Keep writing letters - I treasure and have saved each one. Thank you for all you do - and no worries on the CD, send it when it's convenient for you.

6. Have you been any fun places on your p days?  How r u and elder gleue doing?  Have u found a new apartment? - Yeah, we have been to some cool places the past couple P-days. We went to the communism museum 2 weeks ago, last week we went on a shopping trip (Elder Nichol was looking for a new suit) throughout the big shopping district in Old Prague, and just this morning we went on an early morning run to Charles' Bridge. We got permission to wake up at 6.00 and Elder Gleue, Nichol, Meiling and I all ran to the bridge and walked through Old Town before all the tourists got there. It was so cool and I got some good pics! I still have a hard time believing that I'm in the Czech Republic sometimes. It is such an amazing place with so much history and so many people who need the gospel! Elder Gleue and I are doing great - he is an awesome Elder. We are working hard in the office to get all the computer files organized and tidy and to get all the missionary material production streamlined - it's keeping us longer in the office now, but we hope that our work put in now will save a lot of time for not only us later on, but for every new office elder who comes in. We've found a couple apartments, but all of them have had one problem or another (one landlord got a higher offer we couldn't fight, one landlord doesn't like the church's attourney's contract, etc.). So we're still looking, and in the meantime are enjoying being nice and close to the building and office.

So now for some miracles of the week! 

First off, we got an awesome text from one of our investigators last week - she told us that she hasn't forgotten about us and that she is continuing to read through the Book of Mormon. She told us that "everything we placed in her heart she still has in her heart" (sorry, that kind of translates weird, but it is so sweet!) I continue to pray for her to be able to continue as she would wish sometime in the near future. 

Another investigator continues to do great! We had 3 lessons with her this week and each one was wonderful. We specifically taught about prophets, general conference, the law of chastity, and enduring to the end. She accepts everything with such faith and trust that what God wants for her is the best. She continues to be accepted and loved into the branch. She told us that she loves the community of the church - we talked about Mosiah 18:8-10 and how we covenant at baptism to help and support each other in difficult times. I have had some of the most spiritual lessons on my mission with her. She is such an awesome girl and already has such a strong testimony. I know that the Lord is truly with her and with us and is helping all of us to learn and grow. We've been teaching her with another amazing recent convert here in Prague, and she commented to us the other day that when she helps us teach she feels like she learns more than she teaches - and that is exactly how teaching should be! I feel uplifted and edified every time we get to teach and talk with her - she is still excited for her baptism in 2 weeks time (and I guess we are a little, too) haha. 

Another cool thing today - the girl that my first mission convert referred is getting baptized at 2 today! He will be baptizing her, and I'm playing piano for the service. One of our current investigators should be coming to the baptism, too, which is awesome! I'm excited for the service, though. 

So all is well here in Prague. I love you all so, so much! I wish you all a wonderful week - be happy! We have so many blessings. I am so, so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ - it brings purpose and direction into every life that sincerely applies its teachings. I have seen that truth in myself and in the people here. 

Lots of love,

S láskou, 

Starší Mullen