Well, hello! Wow, it's crazy to think how it's just a week and a half until Christmas! What are the arrangements at home? Who'll be in Granite Bay for Christmas? Not me! I'll stay in Praha haha. I love it here. Praha is such a beautiful, wonderful city. Wish you could see all the beautiful Christmas decorations in the church and all over the city - ginormous trees, lights, Christmas lights all over the light posts and phone poles - it's beautiful.
I'm so glad you got the Christmas card! I hope you enjoy
it and that it gives you an idea of the missionaries and cities we serve
in. They're beautiful, aren't they? I liked Praha's best, but I'm a
little biased right now haha.
We have actually already had our first Christmas concert now, we had it on Thursday in Bratislava. It worked out perfectly - the branch had a branch Christmas activity planned out for that day, so they just invited us to take 30 minutes from the party to give our concert. Everyone really seemed to enjoy it. K, so here's the program - Jingle Bells (choir), The Holly and the Ivy (Sister Bean violin solo with Elder Egger accompanying on Piano), Good King Wenceslas ( a capella mixed sextet with Sisters Izatt, Bowler, and Barney and Elders Meredith, Utley and Mullen - I sing the part of King Wenceslas and it is a very fun piece!), In a Stable (Elder Utley vocal solo), Joy to the World (choir), Daleko tam na judejskych planich (Far far away on Judea's plains, Elder Loynes vocal and guitar solo), Nesem Vam Noviny (choir), Away in a Manger (Elder Egger piano solo), Oh, Holy Night (Elder Meredith vocal solo), Come Lord Jesus (Elder Mullen vocal solo), Nadherny Spasitel (Beautiful Savior, a capella male quartet, Elders Meredith, Utley, Mullen, and Knapp), and Ticha noc (Silent Night, choir). It is a beautiful selection of songs and thank you thank you thank you for all you did and sent, as you can see we used a good amount of them! We will perform some of the numbers in Uherske Hradiste on Sunday as a part of their branch choir concert, and then we have 2 additional concerts - one in Jicin and one in Praha. The one in Jicin will be on the 20th and the branch has gone all out - they've reserved the Jicin zamek (kinda like a chateau) for the concert, plus, since we aren't charging admission, they can rent it for free! It'll be an amazing place - members are inviting tons of friends and the Sisters there have already handed out over 350 fliers for it. The place has a grand piano also, which will be heaven for Elder Egger! The one in Praha will be on the 26th and will be in the building. It'll be beautiful, though, and members are really excited for it. Christmas is just the best time of the year!
We have actually already had our first Christmas concert now, we had it on Thursday in Bratislava. It worked out perfectly - the branch had a branch Christmas activity planned out for that day, so they just invited us to take 30 minutes from the party to give our concert. Everyone really seemed to enjoy it. K, so here's the program - Jingle Bells (choir), The Holly and the Ivy (Sister Bean violin solo with Elder Egger accompanying on Piano), Good King Wenceslas ( a capella mixed sextet with Sisters Izatt, Bowler, and Barney and Elders Meredith, Utley and Mullen - I sing the part of King Wenceslas and it is a very fun piece!), In a Stable (Elder Utley vocal solo), Joy to the World (choir), Daleko tam na judejskych planich (Far far away on Judea's plains, Elder Loynes vocal and guitar solo), Nesem Vam Noviny (choir), Away in a Manger (Elder Egger piano solo), Oh, Holy Night (Elder Meredith vocal solo), Come Lord Jesus (Elder Mullen vocal solo), Nadherny Spasitel (Beautiful Savior, a capella male quartet, Elders Meredith, Utley, Mullen, and Knapp), and Ticha noc (Silent Night, choir). It is a beautiful selection of songs and thank you thank you thank you for all you did and sent, as you can see we used a good amount of them! We will perform some of the numbers in Uherske Hradiste on Sunday as a part of their branch choir concert, and then we have 2 additional concerts - one in Jicin and one in Praha. The one in Jicin will be on the 20th and the branch has gone all out - they've reserved the Jicin zamek (kinda like a chateau) for the concert, plus, since we aren't charging admission, they can rent it for free! It'll be an amazing place - members are inviting tons of friends and the Sisters there have already handed out over 350 fliers for it. The place has a grand piano also, which will be heaven for Elder Egger! The one in Praha will be on the 26th and will be in the building. It'll be beautiful, though, and members are really excited for it. Christmas is just the best time of the year!
And oh mylanta,
Marmee! You will be such an amazing YW president. Your love is
absolutely contagious and I'm sure you just love those girls. You'll do
so well and I'm sure will have lots and lots of support from Tata (and
lots of lesson/activity ideas from Libs and Cori!). Know that your
favorite Starsi will be rooting for you, too!
Landon sounds absolutely delightful and I'm excited to get to know him. Sure do love you, little guy!
OK, so now for some answers to questions!
1) Have your boxes arrived that are not marked silver bells? Did you open them? Did you understand the organization? We have received both packages without silver bells and have opened them both. Wow. I was absolutely speechless. I opened the "hand carved" box and read your letter and was stunned. I showed Elder Coleman what you had made for the mission and he was blown away. President is very grateful, also, and we'll hand them out on Friday at the Christmas conference to each individual missionary after I read a portion of your letter. What an incredible gift. Elder Coleman commented "I can't even imagine how much time this must have taken" and President Irwin said "Your father DOES work, doesn't he?" What an incredible gift of time and talent you have given to each of us, and it'll be a treasure for each missionary. Love you, Tata!
2) Phone call details please...time and phone number...we will try to have a conference call if we can with Chris and Jenna in Maine once we know the time etc. We CANNOT WAIT... it will be our bestest Christmas present!! - Haha, I can tell you need some details! So, here's the scoop - the phone call will be for 45 minutes again this year, just like last time (the white handbook says they should preferably go no longer than 40 minutes, but President is giving us 5 minutes extra), and I'm excited, too! A time that would work for me would be around 7:15 pm Czech time - would that work for you and Chris/Jenna? If not, please let me know and we'll work out another time. We'll have at least one more emailing day before Christmas, so just let me know if it won't work out and we'll work out another time. Basically any time throughout the day would work OK, so just let me know if another time would work better. You'll have to find out online how to do the call from US to CR, because I honestly don't know. But I'm so so excited to hear from you all! (And maybe Landon will be able to tell me something more this year! haha)
3) Chris and Jenna sent their Christmas cards out this week. Really cute...ours are being printed as we speak. We think you will like them...you made the front page..hehe - Oh my, I hope it's a good pic of me! haha. I look forward to seeing it soon!
4) We sent Sister Bohne an email about your VISA card being rejected. We bet you were trying to buy a nativity. We are soooo sorry and so bummed. I called Wells Fargo and supposedly they noted that you are "traveling" and it should not happen again. Will you please let us know if there are any further problems? So sorry that happened. The disadvantage of being so far away. Do you need any extra money? - No problems since, I've used it to pull out money at an ATM and it worked no problem. And no, no money needed yet. Thanks though!
5) You have gotten a letter from the Marriott School because I guess they are making some changes in their programs. Not really sure how it impacts you but will try and find out for you. In a couple months we will need to register you for the fall semester so if there are any instructions you have for us just let us know. Also if you have any desires housing wise that would be helpful as well. - Wow, yeah, just let me know if there's anything I really need to take care of while I'm still here. I'd like to think of school as little as possible (I've got just a couple other things on my mind haha), but if something is urgent then it's no problem and I'll let you know. Otherwise you can just stick to my 4 year plan we did before I left. Housing wise, I don't know. If there are any of my close friends looking for a roommate, let me know, if not then I'll make a friend!
6) Most importantly, how is the teaching of your investigators coming along? Baptism dates still intact? Are you almost ready for your Christmas conferences with the missionaries? It must be extremely busy there but what wonderful memories you are creating....enjoy every single moment Joseph. - teaching is going well, even with the holiday season coming in full force! One of our investigators is continuing to make wonderful progress and has wonderful member friends. She is nearing the end of 2 Nephi and is reading daily. She's coming to church weekly and even likes staying for choir. She's keeping the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. She wants to have a strong confirmation that Joseph Smith was a prophet. She told us that she prayed about it and had a feeling that he probably was, but it wasn't a full "jistota" (assurance, certainty). But she loves all that we teach her and is planning on making her baptism. It's so cool, now when we end a lesson it's HER, not us, that asks when our next lesson will be. She's really getting it and we're excited for her. Another investigator's progress is slower, since she found work stocking goods in Kaufland (a grocery store) working nights shifts. She doesn't come to all meetings with her mom, but she is coming to church tomorrow and still has a desire to learn, so we're hopeful. Another investigator's mother is very ill and in the hospital, so we haven't met with her this week, but she's coming also to church tomorrow and we're having a quick catch-up lesson afterwards. We've also made amazing progress with another investigator this week! He's really thinking about baptism. He visited a baptism in Praha and said that when he saw her get baptized, a feeling just came to him that he would be in her place one day, but not yet. He's learning really well and understands the gospel so clearly, which is so refreshing, and we're hoping that he'll accept a date as goal sometime in January. He was even at our branch YSA party this morning - it was wonderful! He got to mingle with lots of members, stayed after to help clean up, and seemed to really enjoy himself. He's really stressed because he has a couple finals this week, but we testified of the importance of church and he said he'll come tomorrow for sacrament meeting, which is an awesome leap of faith. That's where the miracles happen! President Irwin told us (quoting someone else) that we can't stand in front of a fireplace and say "Give me heat, then I'll give you wood!" It doesn't work that way. It's so easy to understand applied in a situation like that, but so hard for some people to grasp when it's applied to faith. Faith without works is dead - so if you feel like you have no faith or that it is dead, it is probably because you're missing its fuel - works!
OK, so now for some answers to questions!
1) Have your boxes arrived that are not marked silver bells? Did you open them? Did you understand the organization? We have received both packages without silver bells and have opened them both. Wow. I was absolutely speechless. I opened the "hand carved" box and read your letter and was stunned. I showed Elder Coleman what you had made for the mission and he was blown away. President is very grateful, also, and we'll hand them out on Friday at the Christmas conference to each individual missionary after I read a portion of your letter. What an incredible gift. Elder Coleman commented "I can't even imagine how much time this must have taken" and President Irwin said "Your father DOES work, doesn't he?" What an incredible gift of time and talent you have given to each of us, and it'll be a treasure for each missionary. Love you, Tata!
2) Phone call details please...time and phone number...we will try to have a conference call if we can with Chris and Jenna in Maine once we know the time etc. We CANNOT WAIT... it will be our bestest Christmas present!! - Haha, I can tell you need some details! So, here's the scoop - the phone call will be for 45 minutes again this year, just like last time (the white handbook says they should preferably go no longer than 40 minutes, but President is giving us 5 minutes extra), and I'm excited, too! A time that would work for me would be around 7:15 pm Czech time - would that work for you and Chris/Jenna? If not, please let me know and we'll work out another time. We'll have at least one more emailing day before Christmas, so just let me know if it won't work out and we'll work out another time. Basically any time throughout the day would work OK, so just let me know if another time would work better. You'll have to find out online how to do the call from US to CR, because I honestly don't know. But I'm so so excited to hear from you all! (And maybe Landon will be able to tell me something more this year! haha)
3) Chris and Jenna sent their Christmas cards out this week. Really cute...ours are being printed as we speak. We think you will like them...you made the front page..hehe - Oh my, I hope it's a good pic of me! haha. I look forward to seeing it soon!
4) We sent Sister Bohne an email about your VISA card being rejected. We bet you were trying to buy a nativity. We are soooo sorry and so bummed. I called Wells Fargo and supposedly they noted that you are "traveling" and it should not happen again. Will you please let us know if there are any further problems? So sorry that happened. The disadvantage of being so far away. Do you need any extra money? - No problems since, I've used it to pull out money at an ATM and it worked no problem. And no, no money needed yet. Thanks though!
5) You have gotten a letter from the Marriott School because I guess they are making some changes in their programs. Not really sure how it impacts you but will try and find out for you. In a couple months we will need to register you for the fall semester so if there are any instructions you have for us just let us know. Also if you have any desires housing wise that would be helpful as well. - Wow, yeah, just let me know if there's anything I really need to take care of while I'm still here. I'd like to think of school as little as possible (I've got just a couple other things on my mind haha), but if something is urgent then it's no problem and I'll let you know. Otherwise you can just stick to my 4 year plan we did before I left. Housing wise, I don't know. If there are any of my close friends looking for a roommate, let me know, if not then I'll make a friend!
6) Most importantly, how is the teaching of your investigators coming along? Baptism dates still intact? Are you almost ready for your Christmas conferences with the missionaries? It must be extremely busy there but what wonderful memories you are creating....enjoy every single moment Joseph. - teaching is going well, even with the holiday season coming in full force! One of our investigators is continuing to make wonderful progress and has wonderful member friends. She is nearing the end of 2 Nephi and is reading daily. She's coming to church weekly and even likes staying for choir. She's keeping the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. She wants to have a strong confirmation that Joseph Smith was a prophet. She told us that she prayed about it and had a feeling that he probably was, but it wasn't a full "jistota" (assurance, certainty). But she loves all that we teach her and is planning on making her baptism. It's so cool, now when we end a lesson it's HER, not us, that asks when our next lesson will be. She's really getting it and we're excited for her. Another investigator's progress is slower, since she found work stocking goods in Kaufland (a grocery store) working nights shifts. She doesn't come to all meetings with her mom, but she is coming to church tomorrow and still has a desire to learn, so we're hopeful. Another investigator's mother is very ill and in the hospital, so we haven't met with her this week, but she's coming also to church tomorrow and we're having a quick catch-up lesson afterwards. We've also made amazing progress with another investigator this week! He's really thinking about baptism. He visited a baptism in Praha and said that when he saw her get baptized, a feeling just came to him that he would be in her place one day, but not yet. He's learning really well and understands the gospel so clearly, which is so refreshing, and we're hoping that he'll accept a date as goal sometime in January. He was even at our branch YSA party this morning - it was wonderful! He got to mingle with lots of members, stayed after to help clean up, and seemed to really enjoy himself. He's really stressed because he has a couple finals this week, but we testified of the importance of church and he said he'll come tomorrow for sacrament meeting, which is an awesome leap of faith. That's where the miracles happen! President Irwin told us (quoting someone else) that we can't stand in front of a fireplace and say "Give me heat, then I'll give you wood!" It doesn't work that way. It's so easy to understand applied in a situation like that, but so hard for some people to grasp when it's applied to faith. Faith without works is dead - so if you feel like you have no faith or that it is dead, it is probably because you're missing its fuel - works!
We are getting ready for the Christmas conference
and are very excited for it, although it has been a lot of work
organizing it, mainly on President Irwin's part. But I'm very excited
for it, and we will be performing many of the concert numbers for it.
Such fun!
Thank you so much for all you do. I love you all so much and am praying for you. May this Christmas time be one filled with joy and love and fun and fond memories and, MOST importantly, gratitude for the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Thank you so much for all you do. I love you all so much and am praying for you. May this Christmas time be one filled with joy and love and fun and fond memories and, MOST importantly, gratitude for the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
S laskou,
Starsi Mullen
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