November 3, 2012
Wow, time for sure does fly! I'm super excited to write this week, it's been another good one!
Thanks so much for the pics, Christers! I loved seeing you all in your costumes - Landon is such a cutie! He makes a very fiercely cute lion, I think (perhaps he's a Czech lion...haha). But thanks so much for the pics! I loved the video of you reading the book to him, Jenna. You must be such a great mom for little Landon and ??? (the bump) on the way! Sure do love you and Christers!
And what great news for Stuart! Please send him and his future bride my best.
Well in the Czech Republic they do not have a halloween of any sorts. The only resemblance of a holiday they have here was yesterday, translated as the day of souls. The only activity they do is visit the graves of deceased relatives, which is a good thing - just not as fun as trick-or-treating! And if only those trick-or-treaters knew what they were missing out on at 6125 Rockhurst Way! They probably could have gotten a couple king-sized...their loss haha.
It also sounds like Thanksgiving will be a blast in California! How fun it'll be to have all the family around the dining room table - you'll have to eat some extra turkey and rolls for me!
The work is hastening due to many factors and the Lord is truly in charge. With the huge influx in missionaries we are expecting several new companionships and areas to open in the coming year or so. Very fun, and very exciting to be a part of. We will be able to look back on this time and say "I was there when it was all happening."
So here are a few answers:
1) It is not unusual for Assistants to serve more than one transfer together, so we very may well stay together next transfer, which would be great with me! Elder Coleman and I continue to get along great and I really enjoy serving with him. Transfer week is a crazy one for President and us - our main responsibilities are taking care of the new missionaries, so we pick them up at the airport, get them all situated, drop off their luggage and stuff, and then take them on a tour of Prague. We drop them off at the hostel and then pick them up the next morning for breakfast and pair them up with their trainers. Of course there's a lot of extra stuff squeezed in there, but that's kind of the gist of it.
2) Yes, I got them! It was funny, because yesterday I got both the halloween and thanksgiving package, so everyone in the office was laughing - "Two packages? really?" President loves your drawings, Tata, and says that you must spend a fortune on me just in packages haha. No other real requests, though - I'm pretty happy!
3) There is an auxillary plugin in the car, so we can plug in an mp3 player into the car and it'll play through the speaker system! It's very nice. So don't worry about speakers, just an mp3 player would be great!
4) The Bohnes will be returning on January 21 and we will miss them! And yes, this is the last transfer for the sisters in my group - the mission will dearly miss Sisters Brimhall and White after this transfer. They have served so well. We are lucky to keep Sister Bean for an additional 5 weeks or so into the new transfer, so she will be going home next transfer.
5) Thanks for forwarding the email of the member. He is a great man! Our investigators are doing well, we have had some of the most amazing miracles this week with finding new people! We have begun 4 new investigators this week already and could potentially get 3 more this weekend if they come to their meetings. They are so amazing - I'll tell you a bit about a couple of them. On Tuesday we met with a younger guy who is just so cool. He's an athiest but is so open to listen and learn. He's kind of quirky and we both really like him. He's a successful businessman and has sincere interest in the Book of Mormon - we have another meeting with him before church tomorrow morning. Another new investigator is from Zimbabwe and is in such a perfect spot to accept the gospel right now! We contacted her at a singing display on Tuesday and met with her on Wednesday. She is so amazingly humble and has a 3 month old daughter who is so cute! Because she has maternity leave from studies (she's studying for her masters in IT) she said that she can meet often. At the end of our last lesson we asked her what her native language is and she told us it was an African language called Shona. She said it wasn't a well established written language, so at the end of our lesson we went to the basement to pick up an English Book of Mormon for her and just decided to check if it existed. We look down at the bottom of the shelf - and there it was, a Book of Mormon in Shona. We gave it to her and said "can you read this? Do you understand it?" and she said with a smile "Yes!" It was so amazing, and she said she'll be at church tomorrow! So many miracles this week!
It also sounds like Thanksgiving will be a blast in California! How fun it'll be to have all the family around the dining room table - you'll have to eat some extra turkey and rolls for me!
The work is hastening due to many factors and the Lord is truly in charge. With the huge influx in missionaries we are expecting several new companionships and areas to open in the coming year or so. Very fun, and very exciting to be a part of. We will be able to look back on this time and say "I was there when it was all happening."
So here are a few answers:
1) It is not unusual for Assistants to serve more than one transfer together, so we very may well stay together next transfer, which would be great with me! Elder Coleman and I continue to get along great and I really enjoy serving with him. Transfer week is a crazy one for President and us - our main responsibilities are taking care of the new missionaries, so we pick them up at the airport, get them all situated, drop off their luggage and stuff, and then take them on a tour of Prague. We drop them off at the hostel and then pick them up the next morning for breakfast and pair them up with their trainers. Of course there's a lot of extra stuff squeezed in there, but that's kind of the gist of it.
2) Yes, I got them! It was funny, because yesterday I got both the halloween and thanksgiving package, so everyone in the office was laughing - "Two packages? really?" President loves your drawings, Tata, and says that you must spend a fortune on me just in packages haha. No other real requests, though - I'm pretty happy!
3) There is an auxillary plugin in the car, so we can plug in an mp3 player into the car and it'll play through the speaker system! It's very nice. So don't worry about speakers, just an mp3 player would be great!
4) The Bohnes will be returning on January 21 and we will miss them! And yes, this is the last transfer for the sisters in my group - the mission will dearly miss Sisters Brimhall and White after this transfer. They have served so well. We are lucky to keep Sister Bean for an additional 5 weeks or so into the new transfer, so she will be going home next transfer.
5) Thanks for forwarding the email of the member. He is a great man! Our investigators are doing well, we have had some of the most amazing miracles this week with finding new people! We have begun 4 new investigators this week already and could potentially get 3 more this weekend if they come to their meetings. They are so amazing - I'll tell you a bit about a couple of them. On Tuesday we met with a younger guy who is just so cool. He's an athiest but is so open to listen and learn. He's kind of quirky and we both really like him. He's a successful businessman and has sincere interest in the Book of Mormon - we have another meeting with him before church tomorrow morning. Another new investigator is from Zimbabwe and is in such a perfect spot to accept the gospel right now! We contacted her at a singing display on Tuesday and met with her on Wednesday. She is so amazingly humble and has a 3 month old daughter who is so cute! Because she has maternity leave from studies (she's studying for her masters in IT) she said that she can meet often. At the end of our last lesson we asked her what her native language is and she told us it was an African language called Shona. She said it wasn't a well established written language, so at the end of our lesson we went to the basement to pick up an English Book of Mormon for her and just decided to check if it existed. We look down at the bottom of the shelf - and there it was, a Book of Mormon in Shona. We gave it to her and said "can you read this? Do you understand it?" and she said with a smile "Yes!" It was so amazing, and she said she'll be at church tomorrow! So many miracles this week!
Please continue to pray for one of our friend- he found out he has throat cancer, probably due to his smoking, and is very depressed. He'll be going into the hospital on the 20th of this month and so we're going to have to postpone his baptism to after he is hopefully released from the hospital.
So yes, this week was wonderful. We got to go on an exchange with the Elders in Bratislava this week and it was a wonderful, inspiring experience. We did a singing display with all the elders there, even in the rain, and it was successful! No matter the weather, no matter if we're speaking Czech or Slovak, no matter the circumstances, the work of the Lord will move forward.
So yes, this week was wonderful. We got to go on an exchange with the Elders in Bratislava this week and it was a wonderful, inspiring experience. We did a singing display with all the elders there, even in the rain, and it was successful! No matter the weather, no matter if we're speaking Czech or Slovak, no matter the circumstances, the work of the Lord will move forward.
I love you all and pray for you often. Please send my best to the ward. This church is true - my testimony of it is strengthened every day. Jesus Christ is our Savior, and God is our Father. They love us all. What a blessing.
S laskou,
Starsi Mullen
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