Mission Address (use exact wording below for letters)

Mission Address

(use exact address below for letters -

packages require a different address)

Církev Ježíše Krista Svatých posledních dnů

Elder Joseph Mullen

Badeniho 1

160 00 Praha 6

Czech Republic Europe

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Another Week in the Country He Loves

November 16, 2012

Well it sounds like there was quite the week back home with another great one coming! Thankfully the same can be said here - we have had a very uplifting week and are still looking forward to another great one in the near future. 


First off, as I sent last week, Happy Birthday, Landon! It sounds like it was a great party - sure do love that little guy! 

And how exciting that Diana got her call! She will be a wonderful missionary. I still remember our Boston adventure and California adventure - great memories! And how exciting that we will get Sister Bruno next year - every missionary who comes to this mission is really special and we're thrilled that we will be getting more missionaries in the future!


Grams birthday sounds like it was a wonderful experience. Sure do love that Gram of ours! Please send my best to all the family and be sure to let them know how much I love them and think of them. I'm also really glad to hear that the newest little Mullen is growing up healthily (if that's a word...). What an exciting time in their family and in all of our lives. 


And Happy Thanksgiving to you! There are so many things to be grateful for, but I'd just like to mention one in particular that's been on my mind. Last night on our way back from the Brno specialized training I was driving and Elder Coleman's and mine conversation turned to the time when Tata was in the hospital. I told him the story in depth (we have a lot of time in the car) and it just made me all the more grateful for the blessings and miracles we saw in that time. I thought of what an example each of you was to me during that time - of Christer's dedication to studies while still balancing talking to his bro so often when I was home; of Marmee's complete loyalty to Tata in staying by his side, of her courage to sign the spousal refusal, of her ability to let me know that, even though perhaps I couldn't be with her all the time, she loved me all the time and always took care of me (I still remember the day you took me out in San Francisco to have some time together); and of Tata's unshaking courage and faith that, no matter what happened, everything would be OK. How grateful I am for every letter I get from you - what a miracle that you can write me letters and still draw me pictures after all that you went through. The blessings are overwhelming - "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me." I love you all.


Sorry for the sentimental musings, but I thought it was important to share with you what I am especially grateful for at this time.

The house concert sounds as if it will be wonderful! I bet it'll be a full house and people will be lining up to come hear Aunt Cori - she's famous in Farmington, Kaysville, Granite Bay - and Prague! haha. I love listening to your music, Aunt Cori, and sure do love you!


Now some answers for the week.
 
1. With transfers this coming week, do you know yet if Elder Coleman will continue as an AP or if not who your new companion will be? - Yes I can tell you - *drumroll please* - Elder Coleman and I are staying together! Yup, we get to have another transfer together and I am so excited! We are on a great roll together and are teaching some amazing people, so I am thrilled to be serving another transfer with him. I really have enjoyed this transfer with him and look forward to another fantastic 2 months - plus, we'll get to spend Christmas and Thanksgiving together, which will be very fun. 


2.  Do you know who the new office manager will be replacing Elder De Angelis?  We would assume those changes will happen this weekend in preparation for helping with logistics related to the remainder of the transfers/ departing missionaries/ and newly arriving missionaries.  Super exciting times. - Yes, his replacement will be Elder Clyde who is currently serving in Praha. He's a great missionary and we're excited to welcome him into the office!


3.  Please tell us about your investigators and your experiences with the spirit this past week. - Two of them continue to progress very well - we're meeting with them both twice a week and one extra time with one of them. They're reading regularly in the Book of Mormon and came to church last week as well! It's very exciting to see their testimonies grow. One of them is still waiting for a strong witness of the spirit that the Book of Mormon is true, but has the right attitude and is very patient with the Lord as he fulfills his promises. They're attending the baptism today and we're having a lesson afterwards with them and one of our recent converts! She is doing great and it's wonderful to serve around her again. We are also continuing to teach another young man and he should be attending the baptism today as well! So exciting things happening with these wonderful people we're teaching. Yet another investigator came to church last week with her daughter and really enjoyed it. It was so cool, one of our investigators stood to introduce himself in Priesthood opening exercises, said (translated) - "Hello, my name's _______, I'm from Prague...this is my first time here, and I hope that in the future I'll be a member." and sat down. All the YSA and missionaries smiled - it was great. I love all our investigators! We also started teaching this way cool lady yesterday. She and her sister, and her 9-year-old son all live here and she owns a nail salon down the street from the church building. We taught her yesterday and will be teaching her Czech and the Gospel every Saturday. So many miracles. Please continue to pray for these people to continue making progress and learning about the gospel - they need our prayers!


4.  How was the baptism last Saturday?  Any more scheduled in the coming weeks? - the baptism was wonderful and Elder Knapp and I sang at it, which was nice. We are having one here in Prague of a girl from Jicin (the daughter of the lady who was baptized 2 weeks ago) today at 4, and we should have many more in the coming weeks and months. 


5.  Would you like us to send a little something that you could hand out at zone conferences like See's Awesome bars or anything like that for object lessons?  If so just let us know what and how many... - Thanks so much for your offer, but I think we're good for now. I still have so much candy that I could actually gain weight if I ate it all! haha. But I like to share it, so don't worry! But yes, I will let you know for sure if we could use any sort of candy handout.

6.  Let us know if you want the music scanned and sent via email or express mail or priority international and we will get it done today….We do have five copies of each piece already made.  There are quite a few pieces so that you can look through and pick what works for the voices you have. - OK, so I talked with President and Elder Coleman and we think the safest bet would be to email it if it's not too much trouble. The post service here is usually very reliable, but we don't really want to take any chances on losing the music! So if it's ok with you, scan it in and send the music via email and we'll print it out here. Thank you so, so much for that - it'll help so, so much!

So yes, here we are, looking forward to another amazing and busy week! We'll be having transfers next week, which will be very exciting, but don't worry, my emailing day will remain Saturday. We will also be having a Zone Leader council and we're just looking forward to every moment! We're off now as a district to lunch at Ceska Kuchyne (Czech Cuisine), where I had my first Czech meal - I love my mission and I love missionary work. I'm grateful that I will always be a missionary wherever I am. And I'm grateful for the Savior.


I love you all!

S laskou,
Starsi Mullen

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