December 31, 2012
So Sylvester is what they call new years eve here because the name for December 31 is Sylvester. Czechs take their "name day" pretty seriously and it's not uncommon to have some sort of celebration for it. But yes, it is the end of another year, my first full year outside the US! It is crazy how time flies. I still haven't gotten the card yet but look forward to receiving it. It was so good to talk to you all and Christers and Jenna sounded wonderful! I thought Landon was just the funniest when his crying turned into a resemblance of "hohoho" and "merry christmas". So cute - thanks for waking him up for that little bit - but sorry little buddy for making you get up to talk to me! How fun for Neal to be home and for the Smilaneks to be going - please tell them how much of a difference they will make and how much I loved being with the senior couples on my mission here. They will be a great force for good there in Zimbabwe.
I wanted to also send a big thank you to my Utah Aunties for their box - I got it and loved it! Thanks for all the goodies and I love the tie - the best missionary gift is a tie! haha. Sure do love you all!
I look forward to the birthday package as I do getting anything from you. You are so good to me and I love you all sooooo much. I'll probably try to treat everyone to a district lunch before our district meeting on the 8th. I'm not quite sure what to look for yet but I'll start looking around if there is anything that I would really like for a future home. Thanks so much for that and I'll be sure to let you know what I end up finding.
So, as far as questions go...
1 - My plans are... missionary work! It's the best birthday present ever haha. But nope, nothing special, perhaps I'll get something extra yummy in our dinner hour and President usually calls us the morning of our birthday and sings happy birthday. So that'll be fun. Hopefully we'll get lots of lessons on plan - that'd be a good gift!
2 - We are having the baptism this Saturday because of a scheduling complication. Our investigator is very excited and her daughter should be coming to the service, which is wonderful! Basically she needed to do a job because of the work contract, so she had to work right after church on Sunday. But she shouldn't have that work much longer so all seems like it's going to be a go for this week! We're super excited.
3 - So, these are my thoughts - I'd still prefer to come home before going around the Czech Republic if that's OK. I've just seen how it's been kind of awkward to try to differentiate it when missionaries have been picked up and go touring the republic. I think that it would be fun to be able to still go that summer while it is all still fresh. President has told us that we will be having a mission reunion in October in Utah right before conference, since the Irwins will be coming to Conference! So if scheduling doesn't allow us to return within the 2 weeks you would still be able to meet them later in the year, or we could stop by England and pay them a visit. Whatever will work out best for the family schedule. My only real preferences are that I get to fly home at the beginning of June and that we return to visit together sometime that summer. Elder Coleman is also going to fly home alone and return at a later time to visit. Thanks for asking and I hope it gives you some direction.
4 - This week was crazy limited in our time in our area. So I'll give you the rundown - Monday was Christmas eve, which is the major Czech Holiday so we had no lessons, Tuesday was our big Christmas Celebration as a district with the Irwins, Wednesday was a lot of prep for the following 3 days and the Prague Christmas Concert, then on Wednesday evening we drove to Brno to spend the night. On Thursday we had specialized training for Brno and Olomouc zones, then drove back to Prague to have our evening departing missionary program with Sister Izatt. On Friday we had specialized training in Praha for Praha and HK zones, then we had a 5.5 hour drive to Zilina in Slovakia. We spent the night in Zilina and had Slovakia specialized training on Saturday, after which we drove all the way back to Praha. Sunday we had church and a couple lessons, which was wonderful. We still had 4 investigators at church but we just had almost literally no time to meet with them all this week! It's been crazy as far as scheduling and planning goes, but all very good. The specialized training was a success - President Irwin had a training where he introduced the Czech/Slovak Mission Vision Statement 2013, which was wonderful. Elder Coleman and I presented a training on the Standards of Excellence 2013 for our mission and on what makes a missionary successful (see Preach My Gospel pg. 10-11). Then in the afternoon, after lunch, we did a teaching exercise with the whole mission where each companionship taught either Elder Coleman or I about how through Jesus Christ we can be cleansed from sin. One of their zone leaders listened in and gave feedback and it was a real success and we left each companionship with an individual commitment to improve their teaching skills in some way. I was very impressed with many of the companionships and how clearly they taught - it is so apparent when someone has prepared. Preparation and practice is so key to having the spirit with you. So yes, this week was full of lots of training and teaching missionaries, and I'm pleased with how it went. As I said, though, we did get to teach a bit on Sunday and we had a good lesson with our investigator before Church. She is solid and excited for her baptism on Saturday. The other lesson was with some former investigators who Elder Coleman knew .
5 - The final concert was a huge success. We had around 45 or so people attend, including a good amount of investigators! It was wonderful. Two of our investigators attended and absolutely loved it. I gave one of them one of the extra pens Tata made and he was so grateful. He sent a text later that night saying (translated) "thanks once again for the beautiful gift and well wishes. It surprised and touched me." Everyone loved the pens. I gave some other extras to other members and investigators here and they all loved them and wanted me to tell you thanks, Tata. Anyways, back to the concert, it was a huge success. Elder Coleman likes to sing and we've been practicing every day - his voice is really improving and it's fun.
Before I end, please thank Spencer for his email. It made me laugh so hard and it is so true - I think that European missionaries are able to really understand each other haha. And yes, don't be surprised if I say "good day" or "hello" to random people for the rest of my life. Yes, Marmee, I used to think you were weird for doing it but it's engrained in me now. And I'm really grateful for the update on all the happenings in the ward and with our group. Let him know that I'll pray for him to be able to relearn english. I'm sure he'll do great back up at BYU-I. Please say hello to all my friends if you get the chance.
I love you all and wish you all the best going into this new year. 2013 has come and will bring with it many wonderful memories. Lots of change will happen this year. But change can be good, and I'm looking forward to all that I'll learn and experience. As I said, it comforts me to know that my mission never ends and that all I really am is transferred to another area (I like how Spencer hinted at that, too - President Irwin says that when we go home we just have a "big transfer"). I love you all so, so, so much. My mission has changed me and continues to change me. I am learning so much. I don't think you understood, but as part of my testimony in our call last week I said "Thank you so much for letting me come here. I know it probably wasn't easy for you, but I have learned so much and am so grateful you gave me this opportunity to serve as a missionary in the Czech Republic". I mean it. Thank you so much.
The Gospel is true, as is the Book of Mormon. Christ is our Savior and loves us. It is through our application of His sacrifice that we can feel His love for each of us individually. I love you all and pray for you often.
S laskou,
Starsi Mullen
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