August 19, 2012
Hello,
my favorite family ever!
Wow,
what a family gathering! How wonderful family is. Know that although I cannot be
there in person, I am there in spirit - not in a distracted-missionary kind of
way, but in the way that love for your close ones has no boundaries. My endless
love to Gram and to all there. Come thou fount is one of the favorite hymns
here, it's in the hymnbook and is a beautiful translation - it's called "Prameni
vsech pozehnani" (The fount of all blessings, Prah-men-knee fsh-ehh
poe-zheh-nah-knee). I'll have to sing it to you all one day.
How
crazy that Emmett is now Brother Florence - it must be a very mixed feeling,
but how happy I am for him! And now Elder Whiting coming home?! Wow, where did
that time go? Crazy. I'm so glad I can still be here in the Czech republic,
serving the people of Brno. Not that I wouldn't love to see you all, but
everything has its time and season and this is a season for missionary work.
Other seasons will come, but I am determined to make this season the most
enjoyable and rewarding possible.
So
here are some scintillating answers haha!
1.
Is your baptism still on for the 25th? Any others scheduled in your zone.? -
Our investigator is doing great, although he most likely will not make this Saturday for
baptism. So we're praying for him to just keep going. He came again to church
yesterday and it was wonderful. We're meeting with him tonight to
teach all the 10 commandments and talk about the Book of Mormon and how central
of a role it plays in our conversion to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
There are currently 10 baptisms planned in our zone in the next month and a
half, so we're praying for each of them to be able to make the progress and the
change necessary to take that step of faith. We're excited for
them.
2.
Tell us about your week. Have you had any teaching experiences that you can
share? - We have some awesome ones this week! We've been booming as far as
teaching goes - now 2 weeks in a row we've taught 18 lessons, which is close to
the highest I've ever taught on my mission. I feel so blessed to be able to work
here in Brno in this area at this time. We started teaching some wonderful
people. One of our investigators has been reading the Book of
Mormon and we're excited to talk with her about it tonight. We also got to teach
another couple! They are doing great and have
great questions about the Book of Mormon. In his broken Czech, our investigator was able to
explain that they found that all the Book of Mormon agrees with the Bible except
for a few questions they want answered (mainly questions in 2 Nephi) - but they
are so wonderful and we're super excited for them to meet with missionaries from their home country
through skype. Let's see, what else...we also had a great lesson with a Ukranian investigator, and he came to church! It was so cool, the
entire branch was so happy to see him again and almost everybody knows him. He is wonderful. We also
had a new investigator come to church this week! She is wonderful - she's a little older and is raising her 2 granddaughters who
came with her to church! They are so cute and we're super excited for them. They
loved church and said they're coming next week early to get a building tour
before church. So we truly have been blessed this week - how I love missionary
work!
3.
What have you been studying in you personal and companionship study time? Any
insights or thoughts you can share with us? - I've been studying in 1 Nefi and
the importance of doing what the Lord wants. The Lord's will is set, and if He
wills something to happen through us, it will happen if we are willing. Nephi
was able to build a boat and do the seemingly impossible not just because he was
amazing, though he surely was. It was because the Lord commanded it to happen,
so he was able to make it happen. What inspiration that is to me and to all of
us - we are not called to fail. We are called to succeed, and though we will
have trials, what the Lord promises, He fulfills. How I love the
scriptures!
So
yes, hope that gives you a little taste of what's going on in Brno. I love you
ALL and pray for you often. Miracles are happening in the Czech Republic. Just
on Sunday we sustained the first Czech brother, Bratr Podlipany, who will
receive the sealing power of the priesthood. This is so wonderful - he will be
able to perform marriages and sealings in Freiburg for the members in the Czech
temple weeks, instead of it just being in German or English. How excited we are
for the church here. I love this work and these people, and I sure love you.
Know that I am happy and healthy and well.
If
possible, give my Gram another kiss - you know how much I love giving one more
kiss for my Gram. Love you, Gram!
I
love you all!
S
laskou,
Starsi
Mullen
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